Cleveland WNBA Names Jersey Sponsor, Colson Whitehead Headlines Inkubator Conference: CLE Daily

🌩️ 81°; Mostly Cloudy, Heavy Thunderstorm

🍻 Gold Lager: Ohio breweries earned 101 medals in the U.S. Open Beer Championship last week. Local winners included Market Garden Brewery, Butcher and the Brewer, and Hofbrauhaus Cleveland.

🧺 Full Cart: Constantino's Market, which has served the Warehouse District for more than 20 years, feels an increased responsibility to Downtown residents as Heinen's closes.   

ICYMI: About a dozen local entertainment spaces, which are teetering on the edge of profitability, are getting some much-needed tax relief.

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Trivia Question

Founded by Germans C.W. Schmidt and Robert Hoffman, Cleveland Brewery on Ansel Avenue is believed to be the first beer brewery in Cleveland. What year did it begin?

Sports: Cleveland WNBA announces partnership with Progressive Insurance.

By Chloe Banno

We don't know the team's name or colors yet, but today Cleveland WNBA revealed that Progressive Insurance will be its first jersey sponsor.

Brand Placement: The Fortune 500 company's logo will appear on both the chest and abdomen of the jersey. While NBA teams only have chest advertisements, most teams in the WNBA have more prominent corporate logos on the front or back. 

• While other teams have different logos from multiple brands on their jerseys, Progressive is the team’s only jersey patch partner, a first in the WNBA.

Allison Howard, president of business operations, Cleveland WNBA: “Partnering with Progressive and making league history shows what’s possible when two Cleveland brands invest fully in each other, in women’s professional sports and in the community we call home. When we make our debut in 2028, the Progressive name will live boldly on our jersey, carrying the best of Cleveland to the world and building a legacy of pride in our city.”

• Beyond the Court: As part of this partnership, Progressive and Cleveland WNBA will begin an annual community impact program — an initiative benefiting transitional housing organizations for women, children and families across Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western New York. 

• A Commitment to Women: Progressive is led by women, with a female CEO and chairperson of the board. CEO Tricia Griffith leads by example, expressing strong investment in the community of women’s sports. Previously, Griffith has even done some personal investment in bringing the first women’s pro soccer team to Cleveland with the Cleveland Astra. 

Mari Pumarejo, chief marketing officer, Progressive: “As a company that supports and champions women, prides itself in being headquartered in Cleveland and believes deeply in giving back to our communities, we’re thrilled to begin our multiyear commitment to the Cleveland WNBA who embodies these same values. When professional women’s basketball returns to Cleveland, we’re proud to have the Progressive brand displayed on the team’s jerseys and in our hometown.”

Talk of the Town

East Side families fear more street takeovers. After violent Fourth of July weekend gatherings brought gunfire and property damage, residents are demanding stronger enforcement and a long-term fix, describing hundreds of people flooding residential streets as "sheer chaos."

Solar isn't eating Ohio's farmland. Despite the political debate, solar panels sit on less than one-seventh of 1% of the state's prime farmland, according to industry data. Much more land is lost to suburban development or used for golf courses. The debate comes as electricity demands rise in the state.  

Amazon's delivery drones are coming. The company's custom drones are expected to start flying over Cleveland and its eastern suburbs within a couple of months. The goal is for a package to arrive within 30 minutes.

Say goodbye to a Wayne County stop sign. ODOT began work Monday converting the intersection of state Routes 94, 585 and 604 from a two-way stop into a single-lane roundabout.

Arts & Culture: Colson Whitehead is the Keynote of Literary Cleveland's 2026 Inkubator Conference.

By Annie Nickoloff

Literary Cleveland is gearing up for its annual free Inkubator writing conference, set to take place from Sept. 9 to 12. Today, the organization announced a notable lineup of writers hosting workshops, panel discussions, keynote speeches and more.

• "Freedom Is a Community": This year's theme comes from Colson Whitehead's book The Underground Railroad. Whitehead, who won Pulitzers for both The Underground Railroad and his novel The Nickel Boys, is the keynote speaker at this year’s conference. The author speaks at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12 at CPL’s Martin Luther King Jr. Branch.

• Toni, Too: The conference’s theme and events connect with Literary Cleveland’s ongoing “Ohio Celebrates Toni Morrison” program. On Sept. 9, a virtual panel discussing the impact of Toni Morrison will feature a slew of accomplished writers: Julia Alvarez, Sasha Bonét, Fanonne Jeffers, Imani Perry, Danzy Senna and Kevin Young.

Matt Weinkam, Literary Cleveland executive director: “In a time where belonging and freedom are contested in both familiar and emerging ways, writers are in a unique position to bring people into conversation towards unity. Poets, novelists and memoirists have the power to foster empathy, challenge assumptions, and imagine a more just future.”

Find more details about the 2026 conference.

Monday's Trivia Answer

Nicknamed "The Human Wall," this Lakewood native represented the United States as the starting goalkeeper in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups. Brad Friedel

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question

From the Editor

Sept. 12 is shaping up to be a big day. Colson Whitehead will be so incredible at the Inkubator conference, and I'm planning to RSVP once I'm able to. But when I was checking my calendar, I noticed I have another commitment: WRUW's annual Studio-A-Rama music festival on the same day. (I run a Friday morning radio show, "Sunny Day," at WRUW.) Luckily, both events take place within a mile of each other, so I should be able to make it to both! — Annie Nickoloff

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