Why won’t Ohio Republicans budge on the primary date? The Wake Up for Monday, March 7,

Subscribe to the Wake Up, cleveland.com’s free morning newsletter, delivered to your inbox weekdays at 5:30 a.m.

It will be cooler today, with highs only reaching the mid-40s and rain showers expected all day. It will get colder by late afternoon and eventually drop into the upper 20s overnight. Read more.

NBA: Cavs 104, Toronto Raptors 96

Primary date: Ohio’s elections officials and the state’s Republican attorney general have implored the Ohio legislature to move the May 3 primary, saying delays in setting new state legislative and congressional lines have jeopardized an orderly, accurate election. But Andrew Tobias reports Republican lawmakers have rejected the plea, citing a variety of factors, including concerns about the effect a late date change would have on the integrity of individual elections and frustration with what they see as the Ohio Supreme Court setting the election schedule.

Landlords: A new report shows that outside companies over the past two decades have ramped up how many homes they buy in Cuyahoga County, to the point where nearly half of the home purchases made on Cleveland’s East Side in 2020 were not by an individual. Eric Heisig reports the percentage of homes that outside companies bought in the county grew exponentially in recent years, from 7.17% in 2004 to 21.1% in 2020. The fear is that those new owners often do not have local roots and therefore do not maintain their properties, contributing to blight in some of the poorest areas of the city.

STRS: Retired Ohio public educators haven’t received a cost-of-living adjustment for the past eight years. Unsatisfied with the pension system’s answers as to why, a group of teachers hired a nationally renowned pension expert who has been battling the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio for information to obtain a clearer picture about management and activity in the pension. Laura Hancock reports the fight could result in Ohio Supreme Court rulings and changes to state law that would force more disclosures and transparency from all five public employee retirement systems.

Congressional candidates: A large field of candidates filed paperwork Friday to run for Northeast Ohio congressional seats, even though some of them don’t know exactly where they’ll end up running as the state’s congressional map faces legal challenges. The latest map was approved just two days before Friday’s congressional filing deadline and the new boundaries prompted several previously announced candidates to switch districts. More candidates likely will switch districts if the courts reject the latest map as the legal wrangling persists. Sabrina Eaton has the list of candidates after the filing deadline.

A former U.S. Department of Education official whose agency oversaw the gutting of a push to address racial disparities in school discipline is one of 27 people who applied to become Ohio’s superintendent for public instruction. Another applicant is a member of the Ohio State Board of Education who resigned Friday and claimed in December that he was asked to lead the search for the position. We’re talking about what that means for Ohio schools on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast.

Black Republicans: The Republican National Committee is focusing on an unlikely demographic for outreach in the 2022 and 2024 elections: Black voters. Through programming and a community outreach office in Cleveland, the RNC hopes to attract Black voters who have overwhelmingly supported Democrats for decades. However, while Black conservatives in Northeast Ohio laud the efforts, others remain skeptical, reports Seth Richardson.

Public Square: Mayor Justin Bibb is proposing spending up to $1.5 million to replace the Jersey barriers installed five years ago in Public Square in response to homeland security concerns, with less-obtrusive steel bollards — low steel columns strong enough to stop a vehicle. The $1.5 million needs to be approved by City Council, but it would be the first significant financial step toward solving a problem left unaddressed by Bibb’s predecessor, reports Steven Litt.

Cuyahoga railroad: A section of bank along the Cuyahoga River in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park requires emergency stabilization, prompting changes to the operations of Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Peter Krouse reports.

Plastic recycling: Only 9% of plastic gets recycled. But this year, in a small town in Northeast Indiana, a San Francisco firm called Brightmark Energy expects to start converting waste plastic – the kind that municipal recycling programs won’t accept – into fuels and wax. The technology was developed by Akron-based Polyflow with help from local angel investors, reports Peter Krouse.

Post-COVID: President Joe Biden’s 96-page road map has four goals: protecting against and treating COVID-19, including a “test to treat” initiative to give people antiviral pills immediately if they test positive at select pharmacies and clinics; preparing for a potentially dangerous new variant; preventing business and school shutdowns; and expanding vaccinations worldwide. Julie Washington reports the plan is expected to cost more than $30 billion.

Hospitalizations: Ohio is seeing relevant COVID-19 figures, like newly reported cases and hospitalizations, at their lowest point since last summer. In some cases, the numbers are as low as they were before the delta variant wave hit the state, Jane Morice reports.

Timeline: New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he will lift vaccine mandates on restaurants, bars, gyms and theaters by today. Marc Bona compiles the latest COVID news.

ZIP codes: Ohio continues its downward trend of COVID-19 cases after the omicron surge that peaked in December and early January. This shows up clearly in a ZIP code by ZIP code look at the case rates over the last two weeks, reports Zachary Smith. The lion’s share of the low-case-rate ZIP codes is in northern Ohio, a widening from two weeks ago when most of the lowest case rates were isolated to Northeast Ohio.

Market Wagon: Market Wagon is essentially the pizza deliveryman, but for grass-fed beef and free-range eggs instead of breadsticks. The ecommerce platform, which came to Northeast Ohio in late 2020, lets farmers and chefs sell their meat, produce, jams or eggs online and takes care of the delivery for a flat fee. Sean McDonnell reports the service recently hit $1 million in sales in the Cleveland market and has about 1,000 active customers.

17-year-old killed: Destiny Woodard was Crystal Butchart’s only daughter and best friend. She died Feb. 28 at MetroHealth, where she had been hospitalized since the shooting. Olivia Mitchell reports that Destiny wanted to be a heart surgeon.

Fish sandwich: The Lenten season has begun and that means fast-food restaurants will be touting their fish specials. Brenda Cain and Yadi Rodriguez recently visited 10 local fast-food and fast-casual restaurants in Northeast Ohio to taste-test their fish sandwiches.

The bandura: A world away from its birthplace in Kyiv, the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America rehearsed at St. Andrews Church in Parma on Saturday. Three dozen male singers bellowed in Ukrainian, driven by the striking sound of an almost mythical instrument called the bandura; nine of them, to be exact. John Pana has video of the musicians in action.

King James: Cleveland Heights native and two-time Obie Award winner Rajiv Joseph wrote “King James,” a new play that just opened at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. Joey Morona reports that LeBron James isn’t a character in the play, but his presence looms large. This is a story about the fan experience and how sports bring people together.

House of the week: The Georgian colonial at 3005 Glengary Road is classic Shaker Heights. Built in 1925, the home measures 4,100 square feet, with lots of updates and additions. Joey Morona reports the home is available for $825,000.

Suspect steals multiple vehicles, including patrol car, during police chase near Mansfield, authorities say Read more

Solon man gets more than 21 years in prison for drug trafficking Read more

Passersby unable to save driver in fiery crash in Akron Read more

Alcohol/drugs might be factor in fatal crash in Catawba Island, authorities say Read more

Man found shot to death between two East Cleveland homes, police say Read more

Lakewood police still searching for person involved in hit-and-run that injured 73-year-old man Read more

Find all Cuyahoga County home sales, other property transfer details for February Read more

Cleveland-area photographer raising money to help Ukrainians after Russia…