CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio House Republicans are trying to hold a vote on overriding Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto earlier this year of a proposed ban on local tobacco restrictions — at least in part because of calls from lobbyists.
We’re talking about legislators’ blatant bent on Today in Ohio.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.
You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.
Here’s what else we’re asking about today:
This first story we discuss today is surprising only because their motivation is so naked. They openly admit they’re doing it because they’ve received so many calls from lobbyists. Not citizens. Lobbyists. What ridiculous action are Ohio House Republicans taking to get more tobacco into the hands of more people?
The experts say not to use it as evidence of climate change, but how can you not. What does the latest plant hardiness map from the USDA show for Ohio, and how has our growing zone evolved since the 1990 and 2012 maps?
Congressman Max Miller visited Israel last week and told reporter Sabrina Eaton what he saw. What was his takeaway, and how does it compare to what some other elected leaders think of the Israel-Hamas war situation?
Now that Ohioans have approved legalizing marijuana, might attitudes change on some other drugs for which the dangers have been overblown over the decades? I’m talking about LSD, magic mushrooms and ketamine.
It’s been 3 years since the feds raided the home of Mike DeWine’s public utilities chief. Later evidence showed him receiving a $4 million bribe from FirstEnergy. Reporter Jake Zuckerman took a look at the status of the case, which we hoped might answer the question on why Randazzo has not been charged with a crime. What did we learn?
When we talked last week about Goodyear announcing a transformation plan with the coming departure of its long-term CEO, I don’t think this is what we expected. What drastic move did Goodyear announce Thursday?
The late Viktor Schrekengost is one of Cleveland’s most renowned artists. How is the city honoring him in a way that should spread awareness of his legacy?
We have tent cities popping up in Cleveland this year. Is that a sign that the city’s homeless population is rapidly growing?
This is from last week but it’s worth talking about. How did a Cleveland police officer nearly die in a freak mid-air accident, and how have people come together to help her along toward what should be a full recovery?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris (00:01.22)
Reminder, we’re doing two podcasts this week, today and tomorrow and then we will be off until the Monday after Thanksgiving. It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plane Dealer. It’s Thanksgiving week. We have news to discuss. I’m Chris Quinn here with Lisa Garvin, Laura Johnston and Courtney Dostofi, Leila Tassi took the holiday week off. Let’s go. This first story we are discussing today is surprising.
only because their motivation is so naked. They openly admit they’re doing it because they’ve received so many calls from lobbyists, not citizens, lobbyists. What ridiculous actions are the Ohio House Republicans taking to get more tobacco into the hands of more people, Laura?
laura (00:49.473)
Yeah, I don’t see a regular citizen calling up the representative and say, please go easier on the tobacco companies. But they want to override Mike DeWine’s veto from the budget bill in June and make it illegal for cities to pass stricter tobacco bans than what is in the state law. Now remember the budget bill is like a back and forth process. Mike DeWine puts out his version, then there’s a House and a Senate version. And DeWine originally proposed a statewide ban on flavored tobacco.
and lawmakers significantly weakened it. And the issue is kids, right? Like if you make tobacco not taste like tobacco, they’ll be more likely to use it. What ended up passing in the budget would have barred local governments from imposing their own more restrictive tobacco ideas. This is when some cities in Ohio already have adopted bans on the sale of flavor tobacco or are considering them. And then DeWine used his line item veto to take that out of the budget.
Obviously this has nothing to do with the budget of the state. It shouldn’t have been in the budget to begin with, but now the legislature wants to overrule the wine and keep the ban because yes, they’ve gotten so many businesses and so many lobbyists calling them and saying, we don’t want this.
Chris (02:00.928)
think about it though, one of the legislators said it, he was quoted saying it, I’ve never received more calls from lobbyists than I’ve gotten on this, we have to do something. It is unbelievable that they’re that dumb that they stated it. We all know they’re in the pockets of lobbyists, they certainly aren’t serving the public, but he said it. So it’s not about preserving people from addiction to tobacco, it’s not about keeping kids from getting tobacco.
laura (02:04.853)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Chris (02:30.104)
It’s about serving the masters of the Ohio legislature, the business interests in the lobbyists. This is all the evidence you need to know. We are completely broken in our legislature. This is an absolute wrong. DeWine did the right thing. If cities are trying to preserve the health of children and stop people from heading down a path toward lung cancer, they should be allowed. Instead, the moneyed interests have called them and they’re calling in such large numbers that they have to do something.
laura (02:44.357)
Mm-hmm.
laura (03:00.253)
Yeah, it’s ridiculous really. And the guy Ferguson who said this, he’s been in the legislature since 2021. So not a whole lot of time here. So maybe he hasn’t learned to keep his mouth shut where his loyalties are. But we don’t know if there’s enough supporters of a pre-emption to get this passed, but we do know if the Republicans are told to vote one way, they normally do, and they’ve got the super majority because of gerrymandering in Ohio. So if they want to get it done, they will.
Chris (03:09.349)
Hahaha
laura (03:28.313)
They said they’ve gotten a lot of letters from business owners asking them to pass this override. I just, I don’t want to know what kind of businesses are they like corner stores trying to sell cigarettes to kids? This is not a good idea.
Chris (03:38.74)
It’s tobacco, man. Everybody who votes for this is voting for more death. You’re voting for lung cancer. I’m going to override your veto, Governor DeWine. I want more people to die of lung cancer. They cannot articulate a reason. So what they said was the truth. I’m getting more calls from lobbyists than I’ve ever gotten before. Unbelievable story. I cannot believe the guy was so dumb that he said the truth. But.
laura (03:45.932)
Right!
Chris (04:06.6)
for everybody that wants to know about how broken our legislature is. There it is. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. The experts say not to use this as evidence of climate change, but how can you not? What does the latest plant hardiness map from the USDA show for Ohio and how has our growing zone evolved since the 1990 and 2012 maps? Lisa.
Lisa (04:14.617)
Thanks for watching!
Lisa (04:30.234)
Yeah, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released an updated plant hardiness map last week. It’s the first one since 2012. And for those of you who don’t know, the plant hardiness map has 13 zones, each represents 10 degrees Fahrenheit. And then there are sub zones like A and B where the bands of like five degrees Fahrenheit difference. So half of the United States has shifted into a warmer half zone.
that signifies an overall warming of zero to five degrees in those regions. Chris Daly, who’s the founder of Prism Climate Group at Oregon State University, he helped produce the new map with the USDA. And he says, don’t go run out and buy new plants right away. There’s only very little warming change. And he says, climate change is real, but the map isn’t a good indicator.
They only used the lowest winter temperatures in the past 30 years to craft the new map. So that would be 1991 to 2020. And so he said that unusually cold weather in the 1970s and 80s was not included in this new map. Ohio, the 2012 map moved from zone five to zone six from 1991 to 2012. But with more precise data now in 2020, 2023.
almost the whole state of Ohio is in zone six. So that’s negative 10 to zero degrees Fahrenheit. My zip code 44124 is zone 6A. That’s negative 10 to negative five degrees Fahrenheit. That’s mostly Northeast and Northwest and Central Ohio. There’s also 7A, which is hotter.
That’s zero to five degrees, and that’s a narrow strip of Greater Cleveland, inland from Lake Erie, and the southern tip of Ohio.
Chris (06:16.708)
Laura, you must be in that warmer zone, right? Because you’re close to the, same with you Courtney, probably you’re in that zone as well.
courtney (06:23.818)
Definitely and you can tell with the plants it’s its own little kind of environment right by the water it is warmer.
Chris (06:31.2)
I, uh, anybody that’s lived here for any amount of time knows that our growing season is longer and that we are warmer. This is more confirmation of that. I just was surprised at how far the zone had moved close to the lake.
laura (06:31.51)
and
Lisa (06:47.53)
And it’s weird how there’s that weird band, like there’s a, you know, there’s that weird band that goes from greater Cleveland all the way down to the southern tip of Ohio. So there’s also a zone 6B, which is negative five to zero. That’s in southern Ohio, but also parts of northern Ohio as well, including most of Cuyahoga and Lake County. So type in your zip code. Mine was 6A. Apparently people around me are 6B.
Chris (07:13.032)
Look, it’s November 20th. How many frosts have we had? Yeah?
laura (07:13.622)
I, uh…
Lisa (07:16.546)
There’s one this morning.
laura (07:19.058)
I think I’ve maybe noticed one at my house. I did plant some hibiscus this fall. I mean, the deer then went to town on it, but I always see that in late summer, those big pink flowers. I was like, it feels so tropical, but I’ve seen them grow right along Lake Road and Bay Village. We’ll see if it works.
Chris (07:21.929)
Yeah.
Chris (07:38.376)
It just seems that 25 years ago, we would have had frost every day for weeks by now, and we’ve seen very temperate weather.
Lisa (07:44.338)
Mm-hmm.
laura (07:48.078)
I played tennis both days, Saturday and Sunday. It was in a skirt, it was great.
Chris (07:53.91)
It was a little bit of a bite in the air though. It wasn’t, it wasn’t balmy. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Congressman Max Miller visited Israel last week and told reporter Sabrina Eaton what he saw, what was his takeaway Courtney and how does it compare to what some other elected leaders think of the Israel Hamas war situation.
Lisa (07:55.671)
Mm-hmm.
courtney (08:13.998)
Yeah, the US representative from Rocky River, Max Miller, he was part of this bipartisan congressional delegation that went to Tel Aviv last weekend. It was apparently a trip that the US Defense Department didn’t want to happen, but Miller said it was important for lawmakers to see what was happening on the ground. And for Miller in particular, he said it was important that he went personally because he’s only he’s one of only two Republican Jews in Congress.
So this group met with Benjamin Netanyahu on this trip, and Netanyahu showed them a video of atrocities committed by Hamas in recent weeks. And Miller in this group also met with Israel’s defense minister and with some families of hostages who have been taken by Hamas. Miller recounted some of the atrocities he said he learned about on this trip, torture, just awful stuff happening to Israeli folks.
And he called this war an existential one, a war for the soul of the world, he said. You know, for one, Miller, Miller came out kind of questioning the Gaza health ministry’s fatality numbers here. And, and that organization has reported 10,000 Palestinian deaths over the last, you know, month or so. And Miller tells us he believes many of those killed have been Hamas terrorists, not innocent civilians.
And he said the U S doesn’t trust a group that puts its munitions in mosques, churches and hospitals. So Miller’s talking about these numbers being inflated. It’s worth noting that, that Biden has also been skeptical of some of these numbers. Uh, though a Washington post fact check tells us that the, the Gaza health ministry has a pretty good track record historically with death estimates.
Chris (10:01.44)
The Hamas atrocities are almost indescribable. He described some of them for Sabrina, and we’ve read them. And this is war crimes. It’s heinous. And you’ve got to feel for Israel, because they’ve gone in to try and eradicate this threat. And they’ve got to go where the threat is. And they’re saying it’s in hospitals and places. The New York Times had a story. They went into Gaza and visited the hospital and described that.
everything has just been bombed into bits. But there’s fear that because of that tunnel system that Hamas can pop up anywhere and continue to commit atrocities. Horrible situation. It was interesting to read his perspective.
courtney (10:46.162)
And Miller talked about those tunnels too, that’s something Biden has called a crime because of those locations under hospitals and civilian areas. And Miller also told us it’s his belief the battle is taking so long because Israel is trying to save every civilian they can. And Miller told us that Israel says they’re meeting a quota they have of evacuating 100,000 people a day from the war zone.
Chris (11:14.048)
read the story. It’s on cleveland.com and you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Now that Ohioans have approved legalizing marijuana, might attitudes change on some other drugs from which the dangers have been overblown for decades? I’m talking about LSD, magic mushrooms, and ketamine, Laura.
laura (11:33.317)
Apparently, these drugs can be really successful mental health treatments. And so the FDA and institutions like the Cleveland Clinic are doing more and more research on them, more and more trials. And they think that psychedelic drugs could be a potential game changer for psychiatry. They work when a lot of other medications don’t. For example, patients with clinical depression, they’ve tried a lot of things in therapy. They found relief for the first time in decades. And the idea is these drugs make your brain more moral.
moldable and plastic kind of, and then you have therapy after the fact. And so Lutheran Hospital has been a forerunner in this, and they’re looking at the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs. It’s kind of on a different track than marijuana because it’s not like this is a ballot issue that people are trying to use LSD for recreational purposes. We don’t see that. What we have is very specific clinical uses of these drugs.
Chris (12:30.5)
I don’t see a day when any of these would be just recreationally available. I’ve read a lot about them, though, and there are people, one use of magic mushrooms, it reprograms their brain and whatever problem they were dealing with is gone. And the fact that we’ve villainized them has given them this horrible stigma where scientists believe there’s a real use for them in the right kind of controlled settings.
I guess magic mushrooms could become legal recreationally because in other states they are, but LSD and ketamine probably not.
laura (13:05.205)
No, because I mean, I’ve never used these drugs. I’ve never had an experience with them, but you hear really scary stories about people who are using them for fun, right? And they’re not using the right dosage and they seem dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. And so that’s why these are with doctors in trials alongside psychotherapy and being used for really specific purposes, but they seem very promising.
Lisa (13:16.998)
and it’s really, really dangerous.
Lisa (13:26.638)
therapy and being used for really specific purposes, but they seem very promising. And just because there’s a backlog and a struggle, we just understand it in the past doesn’t mean we will be too sick or poor.
laura (13:31.685)
Just because there’s a stigma against some drug or we didn’t understand it in the past, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be able to use it going forward. So I’m really glad the FDA is allowing more trials and that doctors are optimistic about what we could do in the future.
Chris (13:44.984)
Yeah, the best way to understand is read some first person accounts of people who talk about how much it helped them improve their lives. Go ahead, Lisa.
Lisa (13:53.29)
No, I was just going to say Dr. Timothy Leary is probably saying, I told you so. But even recreationally, I mean, you know, I’ve, I’ve dropped acid a few times in college and we always did it in a controlled environment. You know, we, one person was there to watch us and we stayed in one place. And so even recreationally, although most people, you know, wouldn’t think that, but yeah, it’s in controlled situations. It can be very enlightening.
Chris (13:56.888)
hahahaha
Chris (14:20.556)
And Cleveland is at the center of some of that research. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Laura got the first outrage story. Lisa, you get the second one. It’s been three years since the feds raided the home of Mike DeWine’s public utilities chief, Sam Rendazzo. Later evidence showed him receiving a $4 million bribe from First Energy. Reporter Jake Zuckerman took a look at the status of the case, which we might hope, we hope might answer the question on why this guy has not been charged.
What did we learn, Lisa?
Lisa (14:51.938)
We didn’t learn a whole lot, unfortunately. And yes, it was three years ago on November 17th where the FBI came knocking on Sam Randazzo’s Columbus home. And we’ve pretty much heard nothing since then. The US attorney for the Southern District, Ken Parker, says only that the probe is ongoing. That’s all he’s gonna tell us.
He has asked the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to halt their own investigation because it feels like it’s interfering with the federal investigation. He has denied freedom of information requests for Larry Householder trial and case materials, but we’re running up against a deadline. Prosecutors have five years from the time of the last act of alleged conspiracy to file charges of racketeering. That would give us a rough deadline of July, between July and November of.
2024. We do have civil suits ongoing filed by investors. Investor plaintiffs’ attorneys say Randazzo is slow walking requests for evidence in their case. Special Master Sean Judge agreed with that assessment. He says that Randazzo is showing want and disregard for orders to produce documents in the lawsuit. Now Randazzo’s attorney, Jeff Corcoran, says, we shouldn’t assume that $4.3 million was a bribe.
It was part of a consulting agreement with First Energy dating back to 2013, and they say that the payment was a specified termination fee.
Chris (16:08.985)
Yeah.
Chris (16:18.02)
Yeah, that’s what they say. I just, I cannot believe how slow the prosecution has been on this. I was talking to one of the editors in the newsroom and he pointed out that back in the day of the Cuyahoga County corruption case, Ann Rowland, the prosecutor, she invited 60 plus people in short order, moved all their cases along with some help, but moved them along, got the case wrapped up, and it was so much more branched.
than this case. There were so many different tendrils that she had to go follow, and she did it much more quickly than this single case. I just don’t understand what’s going on with this prosecution. And I’m starting to think that because these guys are wealthy, they’re getting a different level of treatment, they’ll never get indicted. They’re gonna get off, and it’s going to be justice denied for the rate payers of Ohio.
Lisa (17:11.666)
And we’ve seen in evidence from the householder trial and other things. I mean, I kind of constructed a timeline. This started back in December of twenty eighteen when first energy CEO Chuck Jones and lobbyist Mike Dowling went to Randazzo’s home after a dinner with Governor DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Husted. And then there were a text later that night between Jones and Randazzo that mentioned the four point three million in payment over six years. Jones said, Don’t forget about us or Hurricane Chuck.
will come to your doorstep.
Chris (17:43.632)
I got an interesting email suggesting that this could play into the Senate race next year because Sherrod Brown was one of the ones that nominated this prosecutor. So it’s kind of his fault. This person was saying that these guys are not coming to justice. You do wonder why Sherrod isn’t calling the attorney general to say, hey, this is ridiculous. My state deserves justice. And you’re now pushing the statute of limitations. These guys could get off scot-free.
for one of the biggest crimes ever to take place in this state. Be interesting to see if the Republicans running for Senate use that against Sherrod because this prosecutor in the Southern District just is not doing his job. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We talked last week about Goodyear announcing a transformation plan with the coming departure of its long-term CEO, but I don’t think this is what we expected. What drastic move did Goodyear announce Thursday, Courtney?
courtney (18:41.774)
Yeah, good years planning to close down two of its tire plants. These are located in Germany. And these closures are supposed to happen over the next few years. And with this move comes a cut of 1,750 jobs. Now, most of those people are Goodyear employees, but it does involve a few hundred contractors. And like you said, this plan came out in Goodyear’s SEC filings last week, and it was one day after we learned about their new
Lisa (18:42.75)
planning to close down more of the entire front. These are located in Germany. And these closures are supposed to happen under the Max-T.
courtney (19:09.938)
transformation plan and that their CEO of 14 years, Rich Kramer, would step down next year. Now that transformation plan, you know, it aims to cut costs, restructure debt, boost revenues and shake up good years chemical business. But like you said, this was a little bit of an unexpected add on. Its tire manufacturing plant in Fulda, Germany will close its doors by 2025. And it’s one of its facilities in Furstenwald, Germany.
will close by the end of 2027.
Chris (19:42.996)
Yeah, it just was surprising coming on the heels of their big optimistic announcement about their bright and rosy future. And then a day later, they’re shutting down some huge plants. I mean, this is not a small number of employees that will be out of work.
courtney (19:55.886)
No, I guess maybe cost cutting is we’re seeing that in action now. Goodyear says that closing the plants will cost about, you know, just under $600 million, but it’s going to save them and expected $60 million to $120 million a year.
Chris (20:13.616)
Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. The late Victor Schreckengost is one of Cleveland’s most renowned artists. How is the city honoring him in a way that should spread some awareness of his legacy? Lisa.
Lisa (20:26.794)
Yeah, they dug up an old sculpture of his and reinstalled it at the Cleveland Hopkins Airport. This was a 1955 Shrek and Goss sculpture called Time and Space, and it was reinstalled at Hopkins Airport after being in storage since the 1990s when it was taken down as the airport was getting renovated. It’s an aluminum and steel ribbon. It’s very long. I mean, it’s like a mural, and it has accents that depict the sun and moon and earth and the 12 zodiac signs.
home is overlooking the center of the departure level of the airport. It’s right opposite the stairs and escalators that lead to the parking garage and the RTA red line. So a lot of eyes will be on it. Now, Shrek and Gost is a much beloved Cleveland industrial artist and designer. He died in 2008 at the age of 101. He was a long time teacher at the Cleveland art Institute, and he founded the industrial design department there.
So this, I don’t know if they forgot about this sculpture because the art department of the city say they rediscovered it in storage. And in 2015, the city approved $60,000 to restore it. And then last year they approved $160,000 to reinstall it at Hopkins.
Chris (21:39.816)
It’s odd how everybody seemed to disrespect him for a little while. The elephant sculptures on the National History Museum, they had been at the zoo for years and they took those down and hit them away. And they’re phenomenal. It’s so good to see that they’re back out. One of the best art museum exhibits I ever went to was dedicated to him because he dabbled in everything. He made toy cars that were famous for generations. He had these special bowls that he’s renowned for.
Lisa (21:48.341)
Mm-hmm.
Chris (22:06.716)
He just did a lot of different things. It was very dynamic. It’s so cool that they put this back up out at the airport. I hope it survives whatever the new plan for the airport is. I hope they don’t put it away when they start renovating and lock it up for another few decades.
Lisa (22:17.799)
Right.
Lisa (22:23.274)
And as you said, the mammoth and mastodon that he created were originally at the zoo, and then they were finally relocated to the Natural History Museum. They’ve been there since 2015. And you can see them on East Boulevard as you’re driving past the front of the museum. So, yeah, this is very exciting. I would think that Shrek and Gost, you know, if people had really noticed him for his influence in the world, he was kind of like the Godfather of steampunk.
Chris (22:47.756)
Yeah, it’s very cool. I wish they would come back and do a similar exhibit because it really was terrific. And it was one you could take kids to because it was very dynamic. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We have tent cities popping up in Cleveland this year, something that I just don’t remember having this kind of visibility in the past. Or is that a sign that the city’s homeless population is rapidly growing and has nowhere to go?
laura (23:13.889)
Well, I think they’re growing and the Cuyahoga County doesn’t have enough money to serve the population it already has. So there are more people who need help and less help to give. And the result is tent cities and families with kids sleeping on the street. And it’s a really disturbing pictures that we have on Cleveland.com and in the Plain Dealer.
People are struggling to find this affordable housing. They’re staying longer in shelters. That limits the number of available shelter beds at any time. They’re not even taking referrals right now. There’s a wait list of 47 families as of November 15th in the family shelter system. And that rapid rehousing program, that’s kind of the linchpin of Cuyahoga County’s approach to this is not accepting referrals. And one of the reasons is that the ARPA money ran out and they just…
Lisa (23:45.166)
47 families as of November 15th in the family shelter system. And that rapid rehousing program that’s kind of the linchpin of Cuyahoga County’s approach to this is not accepting referrals. And one of the reasons is that the ARPA money ran out and they just, you don’t have enough money in our county to meet the needs of federal funds. Don’t.
laura (24:02.338)
We don’t have enough money in our county to serve the need that we have. We depend on federal funds and we don’t have any more CARES money.
Chris (24:09.784)
Yeah, I, this was a very disturbing story because we have no solution. I mean, they’re, everybody that Lucas talks to basically says, yeah, we’re, we’re out. Chris Ronane has added what a million or two to the budget. Which is good. Yeah, it’s good, but it’s not nearly enough. And what I remembered, I couldn’t remember the year, but I found that this morning that we did a story not that long ago in which they were
laura (24:22.341)
3 million for next year that they want to add, but that still won’t fix everything.
Lisa (24:22.466)
3 million now for next year that they want to add. Which is good. It won’t fix everything. Yeah, it’s good. But it’s not what I remember. I don’t remember this year. But I remember.
Chris (24:39.572)
they would get rid of long-term homelessness in this city by the year 2020. We reported that in 2017 and we’re gonna go back and look what happened to that because we have tent cities springing up. Readers have sent notes saying what’s going on? I’ve never seen this before but there’s nowhere else for these folks to go and we’re talking about families.
laura (24:49.593)
Hmm.
laura (25:00.461)
Right. And we, I mean, we used to be downtown on Superior Avenue, right where we’re talking about near the Cosgrove Center. And I used to walk that route regularly, even in the winter. I started in 2007. I’ve never seen this. So this seems worse than it’s been in my memory of downtown.
Chris (25:16.9)
ever. Yeah, yeah. And that’s what the that’s what the guy said in the story. We’ve never seen this. I’ve never seen this in my years as head of the coalition. So I hope this sparks some action. But you know, it’s in the hands of the county council. And we’ve shown time and time again, they just don’t do anything. They didn’t, they won’t fix the jail. They won’t deal with the elections office. They squandered $66 million on slush funds. Imagine what that could have done for the homeless. And you just won’t see them.
Lisa (25:18.99)
Thank you.
laura (25:35.269)
I mean.
Chris (25:46.3)
grabbing this and running with it because there are utter failures at their role.
laura (25:51.193)
This is a lot of nonprofits work with this, right? And there’s such things as seasonal shelters that churches try to open up for the winter when it’s dangerous to sleep outside. And they have housing violations. They can’t house people because they’re not up to code, but it’s like, you know, catch-22, it might not be up to code, it might be better than sleeping in the cold. So I’m hoping that people saw this and really were moved. This is the time of year everybody’s looking to do something good for humanity that there’s…
Lisa (26:05.122)
they’re not up to code, but it’s like, you know, catch-22. It might not be up to code, it might better be sleeping in the cold. So I’m hoping that people saw this and really removed, this is the time of year everybody’s looking to do something good for humanity, that there’s some kind of outrage here, that people say, we won’t stand for this, not Cleveland. Great job, guys, with this, put it all together. Read it on Cleveland.com.
laura (26:20.737)
There’s some kind of outrage here that people say that we won’t stand for this, not in Cleveland.
Chris (26:25.72)
Great job by Lucas to put it all together. You can read it on cleveland.com. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. This is from last week, but it’s worth talking about. How did a Cleveland police officer nearly die in a freak midair accident? And how have people come together to help her along to what looks like is going to be a full recovery? Courtney.
courtney (26:45.834)
Yeah, we’re talking about Ashley shoot apologies if I pronounce that incorrectly, but she’s been a Cleveland police officer for five years. And she just she just went through it a month ago out in Draper, Utah. She was she was involved in a deadly midair paragliding accident out there and she’s been receiving treatment and last week, she was finally able to make her way home.
Lisa (26:50.338)
But she’s been a Cleveland police officer for five years, and she just went through it a month ago. I’m going to trade her Utah. She was involved in a death in the community of here. She was a company there. She’s been receiving treatment in the last few years. She was unable to make a phone.
courtney (27:13.05)
Chute arrived at the Akron Fulton Airport on Thursday to a warm welcome. There was more than two dozen family members there to welcome her back and, and fellow police officers from the Cleveland police department. She’d been hospitalized and what happened was she and another person were paragliding tandem style when they crashed into a hang glider out West and her paragliding partner, Joshua Ellison died in that collision. The hang glider was also hurt.
Ashley Shute was in critical condition, but she was nursed back to health and she’s made her return. Your husband, who we talked to last week, said that getting her to the hospital immediately after that accident was really crucial for her recovery. She was apparently paralyzed by this crash and doctors were luckily able to reverse her paralysis by doing a spinal cord surgery.
Chris (28:09.616)
Yeah, that was the most jarring part of it. She was going to be paralyzed, but because they got to her quickly and did that spinal cord surgery, she’s going to be fully back. I mean, it sounds like she’ll have a full recovery in an accident, like you said, killed somebody else. I can’t imagine how terrifying that would be to be up there, you know, floating around and then crash into somebody like that and fall to the ground below.
courtney (28:37.082)
Yeah, very scary. She she’s worked in two of Cleveland’s police districts. The head of the police union, Jeff Palmer, said, you know, she’s loved by everyone around here. There’s already been twenty three thousand dollar raised for her care. And in that trip home would have cost her family at least fifty thousand dollars. But a Tampa based air ambulance airline flew her back home for free.
Chris (29:03.72)
So there you go, good news story to start the week. That’s a good way to start the week. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Courtney. Thanks, Laura. Thank you for listening. Come back tomorrow. It’s our final episode of the week. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston. Read More
