After Justice Sharon Kennedy voted for gerrymandered maps, how will that play out in her

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A cold weekend is ahead, despite sunshine also being in the forecast. Highs on Friday will be around 20 degrees with partly sunny skies, but overnight lows will dip close to zero. Highs will stay in the mid-20s the rest of the weekend, with sunny skies on Saturday and a chance of snow showers Sunday. Read more.

Sharon Kennedy: Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy, a Republican expected to run for chief justice, would have upheld the Ohio maps for Congress and the state legislature rather than throwing them out as unconstitutional gerrymandering. Laura Hancock reports the redistricting decisions will almost certainly become an issue at the forefront of judicial elections for the state’s highest court. It remains an open question whether Kennedy’s views will help or hurt her as she campaigns for the Nov. 8 election.

Cuyahoga vs. Ohio: The omicron variant continues to rage in the state, based on cases per 100,000 residents, except in Northeast Ohio, where it has dropped. Laura Hancock reports that on Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health reported an average 2,154.8 cases per 100,000, up from last week’s 1,883.8 cases. Cuyahoga County, on the other hand, had 939.5 cases per 100,000, compared to last week’s 1,551 cases.

The COVID-19 omicron surge appears to be over in Northeast Ohio. In the 18 counties in the two hospital regions that include Cleveland and Akron, the number of COVID-19 patients is down 24% in the past week, while dropping just 1% in the rest of the state. We’re talking about what the numbers mean on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s half-hour news podcast.

Intel: Ohio officials have announced they will make an “historic economic development announcement” in the Columbus area this afternoon, when they are expected to make public plans from Intel to build a massive semiconductor factory in the state. Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and officials from JobsOhio, the state’s private economic-development arm, are planning the announcement in Newark at 2:30 p.m., reports Andrew Tobias.

Tim Ryan: U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan has been traveling the state of Ohio in an effort to win the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Republican Rob Portman’s retirement, and the “unbelievable level” of economic anxiety he hears from Ohioans he meets are making him urge Joe Biden to “hit the reset button,” reports Sabrina Eaton. Ryan says Biden needs to prioritize economic initiatives that will put money back in people’s pockets instead of wish-list items that won’t fly in the U.S. Senate.

House seat: State Sen. Sandra Williams, a Cleveland Democrat who is barred from running for re-election due to term limits, is among those who have applied to be appointed to a vacant Ohio House seat representing Cleveland and Garfield Heights. Andrew Tobias runs down who else is running for the Ohio House 11th District seat, formerly represented by Williams and most recently held by Cleveland City Councilwoman Stephanie Howse.

Party politics: The Ohio Democratic Party is granting access to some of its internal voter files to candidates who aren’t necessarily endorsed by county parties, Seth Richardson reports. Candidates vying for office typically had to receive a county party endorsement to gain access to VoteBuilder, which includes the valuable voter file that candidates can use to build more targeted campaigns.

Redistricting: As it works toward approving new House and Senate district maps before a Saturday deadline set by the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio Redistricting Commission spent Thursday trying to publicly hash out an agreement over just a couple key areas of the state. Republicans and Democrats on Thursday publicly exchanged proposals for Senate and House districts for the counties that contain Columbus and Cincinnati, Andrew Tobias reports.

Jail settlement: The family of a man who authorities say died after being attacked by his cellmate in the Cuyahoga County Jail settled a lawsuit against the county for $1.1 million, reports Adam Ferrise. The settlement is the largest for a lawsuit related to the jail since 2018, when eight people died in the jail. Of the 30 lawsuits, the county has settled nine for $3.46 million.

New jail: Cuyahoga County on Thursday got its first peek at what the inside of its new jail could look like, though its location, size, cost, and funding remain in question. Kaitlin Durbin reports from the first meeting of the year with the jail’s 12-member oversight committee. HOK, the project’s criteria architect and engineer, showed renderings of modular cellblocks that could house as many as 48 inmates in a standard locked-cell unit, or as few as 24 in a more dormitory-style unit, depending on inmate needs.

Bibb appointments: Mayor Justin Bibb has tapped Joyce Pan Huang, vice president of community development at the nonprofit MidTown Cleveland Inc., to become the city’s new planning director. The administration also announced late Thursday it has appointed Ricardo León as its senior strategist for equity, Steven Litt reports.

Train-truck crash: A train crashed into a pickup truck Thursday morning in Mentor, killing the 42-year-old driver, reports Kaylee Remington. Witnesses said the F-150 passed two stopped vehicles, went around the gate, and was struck by the train on the passenger side.

Daily cases: The state of Ohio on Thursday reported 21,664 new cases of COVID-19, reports Julie Washington. Except for a handful of days, the state’s number of new cases has stayed above 19,000 since late December.

Surge: State health and hospital leaders expressed optimism Thursday that Northeast Ohio has hit the peak in omicron cases and hospitalizations, meaning the worst of the surge is over. But Laura Hancock reports that case and hospitalization levels remain higher than the previous coronavirus peak in December 2020.

Blood shortage: The worst blood shortage in over a decade is putting patient care at risk in some parts of the country. In recent weeks, the American Red Cross — which provides nearly 40% of the nation’s blood — had less than a one-day supply of critical blood types, reports Julie Washington.

COVID in schools: The Cincinnati Public Schools reported more than 1,300 new coronavirus cases among students and staff this week as COVID-19 numbers remain high throughout Ohio, Alexis Oatman reports. The latest weekly update shows 11 school districts reporting at least 300 combined cases (students and staff) and 17 reporting at least 200. In total, 55 school districts reported at least 100 new cases.

KeyBank: KeyBank reported record revenue for both the year and the fourth quarter on Thursday, and beat analysts’ expectations. The Cleveland-based bank reported $7.29 billion in yearly revenue, up from $6.72 billion from 2020, reports Sean McDonnell. KeyBank plans to reduce its real estate footprint nationally, but CEO Chris Gorman is adamant that the bank is committed to downtown Cleveland, McDonnell reports.

Assets sought: Federal attorneys Thursday continued their legal assault on a Ukrainian oligarch who is suspected of laundering tens of millions of dollars through U.S. real estate, including properties in Cleveland. Prosecutors sought to seize more than $6 million linked to office towers in Dallas that are tied to Igor Kolomoisky, a billionaire industrialist, John Caniglia reports.

Photo ops: Cut-out logos touting the upcoming NBA All-Star Game have been added to five Cleveland script signs in the city, reports Marc Bona. The All-Star Game is Sunday, Feb. 20, culminating three days of games, events and festivities starting Friday, Feb. 18.

Happy Dog: Happy Dog has made foodie website Mashed’s list of “The Absolute Best Bars In The U.S.,” reports Joey Morona.

Sanibel: Susan Glaser travels to Sanibel Island, Florida, to revisit a favorite location, to reconnect with family, and to reclaim some sanity after a difficult couple of years.

Celeste Ng: Shaker Heights native Celeste Ng announced her third novel, “Our Missing Hearts,” is slated for October. Anne Nickoloff reports the dystopian novel is set in a world that’s “governed by laws written to preserve ‘American culture’ in the wake of years of economic instability and violence.”

‘Christmas Story’ sequel: Reports say that Ralphie, the 9-year-old hero of “A Christmas Story,” the beloved 1983 movie that was partially filmed in Cleveland, is set to return to the screen as an adult in a sequel, with Peter Billingsley again starring as Ralphie, Cliff Pinckard reports. Unfortunately, there are no plans to return to…