DATA CENTRAL

Databases, statistics and other number crunching from The Plain Dealer

Ohio voter registration surges: Cleveland-area leads the state with new voters

by Rich Exner

Monday October 06, 2008, 5:05 PM

The number of registered voters in Ohio is up at least 485,000 this year, according to new data released Monday by the Ohio Secretary of State.

The biggest gain is in the heavily Democratic Cleveland area. Nearly 1.1 million people are now registered to vote in Cuyahoga County, up 75,000 from the first of the year and 88,000 since the last presidential election in 2004.

Cuyahoga's gain of 88,000 since 2004 far outpaces the second biggest increase -- 21,000 in Hamilton County (Cincinnati area).

Though Monday marked the registration deadline, thousands of voters could still be added to the voter lists as election officials catch up on recent filings and handle new ones. Registrations postmarked by Monday will be counted, a spokesman for the Ohio Secretary of State said.

In 2004, about 140,000 people registered or changed addresses on the final day.

Statewide, 8.2 million people are now registered. That's an increase from just under 8 million in 2004, 7.5 million in 2000 and 6.6 million in 2006.

Continue reading "Ohio voter registration surges: Cleveland-area leads the state with new voters" »

All-time Big Ten standings and records: Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes lead the way

by Rich Exner

Thursday October 02, 2008, 9:35 AM

Find Big Ten football season records for each school, and year-by-year Big Ten standings since the beginning of the league in 1896.

Click here to load this Caspio Bridge DataPage.

Michigan is the Big Ten's leader in all-time football victories, in large part because of the Wolverines' tremendous success during the early years of the sport when players weren't even required to wear numbers on their jerseys.

Michigan won 15 of the first 28 league titles from 1896 through 1933, though the school withdrew from the league in 1907. The conference has been known as the Big Ten since Michigan's return in 1917.

Ohio State joined the league in 1912 and began playing league games a year later.

In modern times, Ohio State has been the dominant team since each of the last two changes in league membership. The Buckeyes have compiled the best records since Michigan State joined the league in 1953 to replace Chicago (which left after the 1939 season), and since Penn State's entry expanded the Big Ten to 11 teams in 1993.

Penn State, meanwhile, hasn't been able to keep up with Michigan and Ohio State, winning 61 percent of its Big Ten games through the beginning of the 2008 season. During the same time period, Ohio State has won 78 percent and Michigan 76 percent.

Below are the all-time standings for each time period.

Conference and overall records since Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1993:

Continue reading "All-time Big Ten standings and records: Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes lead the way" »

Ohio voter registration: heavy activity in Cleveland area

by Rich Exner

Friday September 26, 2008, 5:25 PM

New voter registrations in Ohio this year are running especially strong in Democrat-heavy Cleveland, and other Cuyahoga County communities.

Cuyahoga County accounts for one out of every four voters registered in the state since December.

In fact, more new registrations have been recorded in Cuyahoga County than the combined total for the home counties of Columbus (Franklin), Cincinnati (Hamilton), Toledo (Lucas) and Akron (Summit).

About half of those new Cuyahoga County voters live in Cleveland, a city the Democrats typically carry by wide margins.

Statewide, 19 percent (137,730) of the newly registered voters live in precincts that Democrat John Kerry carried with at least 80 percent of the vote in 2004.

Continue reading "Ohio voter registration: heavy activity in Cleveland area" »

Foreclosure database: Cuyahoga County

by Rich Exner

Friday September 26, 2008, 4:00 PM

Updated: Sept. 26, 2008

Thousands of new foreclosure cases are filed each year in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. This database contains addresses and other information about those filings.

Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio profile data from the U.S. Census Bureau

by Rich Exner

Tuesday September 23, 2008, 12:03 PM

Greater Clevelanders tend to be a little older than people in the rest of Ohio but they also are more likely to have a bachelor's degree.

The U.S. Census bureau today released new estimates covering hundreds of topics for each place in the United States with at least 65,000 people.

Use this link to see a summary of statistics for more than 70 categories for Cuyahoga County, the Cleveland metro area, the Akron metro area, Ohio and the United States.

Some highlights:

Continue reading "Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio profile data from the U.S. Census Bureau" »

Autumn in Cleveland usually starts off with nice weather

by Rich Exner

Monday September 22, 2008, 11:25 AM

Like the weather today? It's no accident.

It's the first day of autumn in Cleveland. And that usually translates to comfortable weather.

Nearly 60 percent of the time, the high temperature is at least 70 degrees on Sept. 22, as recorded by the National Weather Service at Hopkins International Airport. And 91 percent of the time, the high is at least 60 degrees.

The odds of a dry day are historically pretty good as well, with a 69 percent chance that there either will be no rain or less than one-tenth of an inch.

See the chart showing Sept. 22 weather history or search The Plain Dealer database for the weather conditions on any date since Jan. 1, 1900.

Continue reading "Autumn in Cleveland usually starts off with nice weather" »

Ohio Politics: Presidential Election History

by Rich Exner

Thursday September 18, 2008, 11:55 AM

From Lyndon Johnson to George Bush, Ohioans have voted in favor of the winning presidential candidate for 11 straight elections.

However, in 1960, when John Kennedy won the national race, Richard Nixon won Ohio.

See this series of interactive maps for county-by-county presidential election results in Ohio since 1960.

Though most counties typically are in the red column (Republican), the vote tends to be closer, because Ohio's largest county, Cuyahoga, has gone blue (Democrat) every time since 1972.

Also see:

• Ohio is biggest prize among historical swing states

• Ohio has only a handful of swing counties

• Lake County has been the state's bellwether

• See political demographics by congressional district, county and ZIP code

• 2008 Ohio Primary: county-by-county results statewide and precinct-by-precinct results in Cuyahoga County

Northeast Ohio restaurant tip policies: a Plain Dealer survey

by Plain Dealer staff

Friday September 12, 2008, 4:35 PM

The Plain Dealer in late summer 2008 surveyed dozens of restaurants and did spot checks of many of them to determine their tipping policies.

Below is a chart with the findings. Column three shows whether servers kept all their cash tips or shared their tips with other workers (known as tipping out). Column four shows whether servers kept all their credit card tips or if the restaurant kept a percentage to cover processing fees.

Some restaurants refused to share the information.

Continue reading "Northeast Ohio restaurant tip policies: a Plain Dealer survey" »