Cities across the U.S. have seen hundreds of protests since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a tracker from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).

The big picture: As Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip have ramped up and the death toll has increased, a growing proportion of the demonstrations have been in support of Palestinians.

• Opinion polling shows that younger Americans in particular have grown more sympathetic to Palestinians since the start of the conflict.
• More than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its military campaign, according to the Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza. Around 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

Zoom in: In Cleveland, hundreds of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators appeared at Cleveland City Hall through October and November, calling on Mayor Justin Bibb and council president Blaine Griffin to walk back pro-Israel statements and advocating for the council to pass a resolution endorsing a ceasefire.

• The weekly demonstrations were accompanied by marches on Public Square, Playhouse Square and in surrounding communities.

The trend: Initially after the Oct. 7 attack, most of the demonstrations in the U.S. were in solidarity with Israel. Within a week, with the Israeli military response underway, pro-Palestinian protests began to outnumber pro-Israeli protests, according to the data.

• Nonetheless, nearly half of all pro-Israel protests worldwide included in ACLED's tracker have taken place in the U.S., far more than in any other country.

The latest: Last night, the anti-Zionist organization Jewish Voice for Peace held a menorah lighting on Public Square in support of a ceasefire.

• "Free Palestine," "Ceasefire Now" and "Boycott Israel" banners have been dropped on highway overpasses downtown.

What's next: A pro-Palestinian rally is scheduled for 4pm Saturday at Market Square.

Go deeper

Distracted driving citations spiked in Ohio this fall with stricter rules now on the books, state data show.

Driving the news: Ohio law now prohibits drivers from texting, scrolling and manually inputting GPS directions as a primary offense, Axios Columbus reports.

• Texting while driving was already illegal before 2023, but as a secondary traffic offense, meaning law enforcement officers could not pull over offenders solely for this reason.
• There are exceptions for holding a phone to your ear during a call and texting while stopped at a red light.

By the numbers: The State Highway Patrol averaged around a dozen distracted driving citations per day during the summer.

• That changed Oct. 5, when a grace period for the new law ended.
• Troopers issued 49 citations that first day and a high of 86 on Oct. 10. The citation rate has generally stayed elevated since then.

Zoom in: In Cuyahoga County, Interstates 271 and 480 have the highest number of total violations so far this year — 219 and 124, respectively, through Dec. 10.

• There have been more than 700 distracted driving-related crashes in Cuyahoga County this year as well, with 17 resulting in serious injuries.

🛌 Cuyahoga County will create a "Child Wellness Campus" at the west side Cleveland Christian Home, hoping to end the practice of housing children at the Jane Edna Hunter social services building. (Signal Cleveland)

⚖️ The trial of two former East Cleveland police officers, charged with taking bribes from the operator of an illegal dump site, offers a window into the widespread corruption there, prosecutors say. (Cleveland.com)

🗞️ The Marshall Project is adding a Cleveland insert to "News Inside," the magazine it distributes to correctional facilities nationwide. (Ideastream)

🎙️ News 5 anchor Danita Harris is leaving the station after 24 years. (News 5 Cleveland)

Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are coming to Cleveland.

Driving the news: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, who played the four central Hobbits in Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, will headline the Fan Expo in Cleveland next spring.

• Marvel's "Daredevil" star Charlie Cox and action star Danny Trejo have also committed to attend.

Details: The third annual event will be at Cleveland's Huntington Convention Center from April 12-14.

• Fans will get to meet celebrities from across TV and movie genres and can expect cosplay and merchandise out the wazoo.

Between the lines: More stars will be announced in the coming months, but the rare Hobbit reunion — with autographs, photos and a live show featuring all four — is a significant get for the local Expo.

🎟️ Be smart: Tickets are already on sale — single day ($28), three day ($79) — and would make a fun Christmas gift for the LOTR lover in your life.

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👋 Sam here. In recent months, I've been covering the Cudell Park court case.

Catch up quick: Residents near the west side park — the one where Tamir Rice was shot and killed — are asking the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to amend its construction plans for a new Marion Seltzer elementary school to preserve mature trees on the site.

• The biggest and most treasured of these trees is a bald cypress (pictured above on the left).

Planting the news: This fall, through a Western Reserve Land Conservancy grant, community development corporation Northwest Neighborhoods planted nearly 70 trees in EcoVillage, the Detroit-Shoreway sub-neighborhood centered around the West 65th Street Rapid station.

• One of them, as fate would have it, is a bald cypress (pictured above on the right).

My take: I'm always happy to see WRLC and other organizations planting trees in Cleveland, but I'm also mindful of the scale of the challenge the region faces.

By the numbers: In 2020, the Cleveland Tree Coalition estimated that for Cleveland to hit its canopy targets by 2040, residents and businesses would have to plant roughly 28,000 trees per year.