CINCINNATI —

The letters that spelled out the name of football legend Paul Brown were taken off of the front gate of the stadium Wednesday to make way for a new name.

However, it seems like the county is more interested in the fine print of the naming rights contract.

“From a fan perspective, I was excited about it, but also as a county commissioner,” said Hamilton County commissioner Alicia Reece. “But, let’s put the emotion aside and get into what’s in black and white.”

Reece said she’s in favor of the new naming rights that will make the home of the Bengals, Paycor Stadium, but she’s concerned about some of the details.

The contract says that after the first $16.6 million, they split naming rights money with the Bengals getting 70% and the county getting 30%.

Reece said there are some other layers to the contract that her financial team has analyzed and determined that the county will get a much smaller amount than that.

There is also a clause that has the county paying for “fulfillment costs.”

Those are things like advertising, private suites, club seats and tickets among others and there is no cap on those costs.

Reese wants to renegotiate the deal because the county contract only extends to 2026 and the naming rights contract runs 13 years beyond that.

“We’re happy that it’s a local company. We’re happy for the Bengals. What I’m trying to get to is a win, win, a win for the local company, a win for the Bengals and a win for the taxpayers,” Reese said.

The Los Angeles Unified School District and union leaders said Friday they reached a deal on a new contract for workers after a strike that shut down the nation’s second-largest school system for three days.The agreement includes a pay raise for workers such as bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, special education assistants and other support staff. Union leaders from Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union say that will raise the average pay for those workers significantly.The deal must still be voted on by the full union.The roughly 30,000 workers represented by the union walked off the job from Tuesday to Thursday amid stalled contract talks. Classes resumed Friday.District superintendent Alberto Carvalho, SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced the deal together.Members of United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing 35,000 educators, counselors and other staff, joined the picket lines in solidarity.

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio —

Another shoe has dropped in the investigation of suspected abuse at Hillcrest Academy.

Hamilton County and Juvenile Court announced Wednesday afternoon they will end their contractual ties to Rite of Passage, which runs the treatment program for at-risk youth at Hillcrest.

The decision comes in the wake of allegations that surfaced within the past few days from a worker there.

An investigation is underway into whether a female staff member sexually assaulted at least one student.

There was an emergency Juvenile Court meeting about it over the weekend.

According to a joint statement this afternoon from Hamilton County Juvenile Court and Hamilton County Job and Family Services, "On Saturday, HCJC held an emergency shelter hearing to remove all 12 of the children the Court placed at Hillcrest. HCJFS is also in the process of relocating its residents. In addition, the County Administrator and the Administrative Judge have given notice that it intends to terminate its contract with Rite of Passage."

The statement mentioned there were 50 current residents at Hillcrest.

A dozen were placed there by Juvenile Court, six by Jobs and Family Services.

The rest of the residents were sent to Hillcrest by other entities from out of state.

Neither Hamilton County leaders nor anyone from Juvenile Court would say anything further about the separation, referring all questions to the Hamilton County Prosecutor.

As for the criminal investigation, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office said there is nothing new to release at this time.

CINCINNATI — Former University of Cincinnati men’s basketball coach John Brannen filed a lawsuit against the school, UC director of athletics John Cunningham and university president Neville Pinto.

Brannen, who coached Northern Kentucky University's men's basketball program to two Horizon League titles, was hired to coach the Bearcats in 2019.

According to court documents, Brannen’s suspension and termination were a result of a "sham" investigation and the university did so to trigger a contractual buyout clause that would have cost the school millions of dollars.

The lawsuit said Cunningham had a law firm with close ties to the university develop reasons to fire Brannen "for cause," thereby saving the university more than $5 million.

The documents said Brannen’s contract was missing language that would have paid him his potential buyout compensation in monthly installments, and that the remainder of the money he was owed under contract would have been due to him no later than 60 days following his termination.

The lawsuit accuses Cunningham of ignoring Brannen’s contractual rights and used the reprimand issued due to an Oct. 6, 2020 practice to fire him for "just cause" as outlined in his termination letter.

Brannen is seeking a name-clearing opportunity including an opportunity to cross-examine and hear testimony of Cunningham and other witnesses.

He also seeks to be awarded compensatory and punitive damages as determined at trial.

WCPO reached out to UC for comment Friday evening and will update this story.