A fourth victim of Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell has been identified as 43 year old Nancy Cobbs. Cobbs was last seen in April and her family had fled a missing persons report to the police in June. Cobbs was a mother of 4 children.

In other news on the case, Sowell stated that he wanted the death penalty after being caught by police this weekend. And in a strange twist, Mayor Frank Jackson's niece said that she had a relationship with Sowell and even asked questions about the repugnent odor at the Imperial Ave residence. Sowell said that the smell was from the sauasage factory that the house was next door to.

I wasn’t planning on writing again until this weekend. My plan was to get through tonight’s circus in New York and then recap the week from the comfort of my couch on Sunday. But I’m far too angry to let this go. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the rant short.

On Tuesday, the Cavs continued the trend of starting off games like they are taking a siesta. They got routed by the hapless Wizards and quickly found themselves in an 18 point hole. This is a red flag. Mike Brown is not properly preparing his team for these games. Acting like these games don’t matter isn’t working!

Luckily they cranked up their defensive intensity and destroyed Washington over the next three quarters to get the win. Smiles all around and horseplay ensued. Seemed like old times! I thought they had turned a corner. Everyone did. Now they were going to go on a run, right?

As if the Cleveland police don’t have enough on their hands. Now they have another missing person: Mayor Frank Jackson.

Where is Frank Jackson?

I’ve covered a lot of mayors going back to Ralph Locher. I don’t know one of them that would not have had a strong public presence in a situation as the one where 11 women have been murdered. And where so much evidence points to an embarrassing lack of policy, execution and service from the city and its bureaucracy.

I don’t know any of the Mayors for more than 40 years who would not be very visible, trying to guide the city, calm the city and give it some assurance of action. I don’t know any of them who wouldn’t be consoling the residents, trying to reassure them in every way, every day that the Mayor has concerned for them, for what has happened and for a just resolution.

This Mayor is absent without leave. He can’t hide behind, “What is, is.”

It won’t fly. Not this time.

The city’s police department has been seen as embarrassingly inept or worse, seriously unconcerned. This is his police department. They represent him.

The absence of the mayor is unforgivable.

Tim Belcher, a former first overall draft choice and Buckeye State native, has been selected as the new pitching coach for the Cleveland Indians. Belcher won 146 games games in his 14 years in the big leagues. He starred at Mount Vernon Nazarene College in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and was selected with the first pick in the draft by the Minnesota Twins in 1983.

The 48 year old has spent the last eight seasons in the Indians organization as special assistant of baseball operations. His new post will be a challenging one. The Indians had the 2nd worst pitching in all of baseball last season with an ERA over 5 and the team lacks a true number one pitcher after trading away CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee the past two seasons.

Former Cleveland State men's basketball players J'Nathan Bullock and Cedric Jackson will each get an opportunity to play professionally this winter in the NBA Development League after each had their rights claimed this week.

Jackson will play for the Erie Bayhawks after his rights were assigned to the team, which is affiliated with both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors, while Bullock was tabbed as a sixth round pick (96th selection) by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds in Thursday's NBA Development League Draft.

Bullock, a 6-5, 240-pound forward from Flint, Mich., earned first team All-Horizon League honors in each of his final two seasons. Bullock, who is one of three players to lead the team in scoring in four straight seasons, finished his Viking basketball career by ranking fourth in CSU history with 1,800 points. He played in a school-record 130 games, also holding records for career starts (124) and consecutive starts (106), and is the only player to score more than 1,500 points and grab more than 750 rebounds in a career.

Adidas terminated its $3 million endorsement contract with the University of Central Florida's athletic department after one of Michael Jordan's sons played in a game for the school wearing the Nike shoes named after his father. Marcus Jordan, a freshman guard at UCF, said he would only wear Nike Air Jordan shoes in deference to his father.

Everyone on the team except Marcus, 18, wore Adidas shoes in the UCF Knights' 84-65 win over St. Leo University in an exhibition game Thursday night.

Adidas spokeswoman Andrea Corso said:

"The University of Central Florida has chosen not to deliver on their contractual commitment to Adidas. As a result, we have chosen not to continue our relationship with them moving forward."

The school was operating under a tentative contract with Adidas that ran through 2015 and was valued at $3 million. The Germany-based company supplied the UCF's sports teams with shoes, apparel and equipment.

UCF spokesman Leigh Torbin responded:

"We are disappointed to learn that Adidas has chosen to discontinue its relationship with UCF Athletics. Once we receive official notice, we will be able to further respond."

During their 11 o' clock broadcast, WKYC reported that suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell may be linked to a handful of murders that occurred in East Cleveland prior to his incarceration in 1990. The murders involved prostitutes who were also linked to drug use and the circumstances are eerily similar to the victims on Imperial Ave.

Sowell happened to live in East Cleveland at the time. All of the victims also died by strangulation, and the deaths stopped around the same time he began to serve his 15-year prison sentence.

Two detectives are now working on re-opening the cold case files. All of the detectives that worked on the case at the time are now retired, but will be contacted and consulted about the cases.

Alcoa announced today that it wll rebuild and enhance the forging press at its Cleveland plant. The company will put $110 million into the project.

“This could not have happened without the support of our employees, community leaders and leadership of United Auto Workers Local 1050,” said William F. Christopher, Alcoa executive vice president and president of Alcoa Engineered Products and Solutions. “When this project is completed, Cleveland Works will be the home of the most advanced, productive large forging presses in the world.”

State leaders applauded the news as well. Governor Ted Strickland stated:

Tanja Doss, 43, went up to suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell's third-floor bedroom for a beer and said that he seemed like a "civilized person", until, she says, he leapt up and began choking her and threatening to killer. Doss says she survived the night with him through a combination of calm, prayer, trickery and cajoling.

Doss says that she met Sowell in 2005 after his prison release, but did not know the real reason for his sentence. She said that she found him to be "a civilized person, siting outside drinking beer, a nice person." So she didn't hesitate to join him for a drink. However, things quickly turned ugly.

"And then he just clicked. I'm sitting on the corner of the bed and he just leaped up and came over and started choking me," she said.

In a state of shock, Doss said that she laid back and tried not to struggle. She said:

"He said, 'If you want to live, knock three times on the floor.' And I knocked on the floor."

With his hands still around her throat, Doss says that he then told her using a string of profanities that she could be "dead in the street" and no one would care. He then made her strip and lay on the bed. But she says that he did not attempt to rape her.

The San Francisco Giants have another problem with drug use and it has nothing to do with Barry Bonds and steroids. Superstar pitcher Tim Lincecum, who was the Cy Young Award winner in the National League last season, has been charged with marijuana possession and use of drug paraphernalia. Lincecum was pulled over for speeding by the Washington State Patrol, and when they searched his vehicle they found the 3.3 grams of the drug and a pipe to smoke out of.

Both marijuana charges are misdemeanors. The 25-year old was fined $622 for going 14 miles over the speed limit as well.

Neither the Giants or Lincecum have issued a public statement regarding the charges.