CLEVELAND, Ohio — The bathrooms at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport rank among the worst in the country. But they’re getting a $2.7 million refresh.

We’re talking about the improvements and why bathroom cleanliness really matters to travelers on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

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.

Note: We’ll be off Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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:

We’ve talked about this topic too many times to count, but we have news. First, where does Cleveland rank when it comes to comparing the disgusting conditions in airports? Second, when will this finally be fixed?

George Szell is remembered as the dean of the Cleveland Orchestra, having served as its conductor for many years and making it international famous. He won’t hold the title of longest-serving conductor much longer, though. What’s the big news from the orchestra?

You can’t run for the Ohio Legislature if you’re convicted of specific felonies. So, why is there any debate – let alone a debate before the Ohio Supreme Court – on whether Steve Kraus can be a candidate?

Here’s another one. How can there be any debate about whether a lawyer should keep his law license after trying to bring meth into the Cuyahoga County jail? What’s the lawyer’s argument?

Is there tourism value of this one? What is a bipartisan group of U.S. Congress members trying to bring to the campus of the Dayton VA Medical Center, and is this really something that is a good use of precious taxpayer dollars?

Ok, Lisa. You lived there for most of your adult life, but you are a native and now full-time Clevelander. On the eve of the Browns playoff game with Houston, let’s talk about how the two cities are similar and how they are different?

Here’s an odd combo: Senator Sherrod Brown and the Country Music Association New Artis of the year Jason “Jelly Roll” Deford. How did those two come together for a good cause?

This bad news story just keeps rolling, with no one in a position to stop it standing up for common sense and the people of the state. What’s the latest step toward drilling for oil and gas under on of Ohio’s most pristine public parks?

The Tri-C high school rock-off has been a signature Cleveland event for 27 years, giving a platform for countless young bands to show their stuff and get some experience. What’s the bad news about the 2024 installment?

We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

And on PlayerFM, we are here.

Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.

Chris (00:01.081)

It’s a Friday on the eve of what I hope will be the coldest weekend of the year. I hope there’s not another. It’s going to get very, very chilly. It’s Today in Ohio. It’s the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn. I’m here with Laura Johnston, Lisa Garvin, and back for a Friday appearance, Courtney Astolfi. Leila is taking a day off already in the new year. What is it with her and Laura? Already blowing days when it’s just January.

laura (00:27.542)

This is so we don’t take them all off in November when we are getting to the end of the year. So this is good.

Chris (00:34.074)

Actually, Layla worked last weekend, so I owed her a day. That’s why she’s off today. Let’s go to the news. We talked about this topic too many times to count, but we actually have news on it today, which we normally don’t. First, Courtney, where does Cleveland rank when it comes to comparing the disgusting conditions in airports? Second, when will this finally be fixed?

courtney (00:56.394)

Cleveland ranks pretty low on the list, not the lowest worst bathrooms in the nation among the nation’s airports, but pretty low on the list. And I’ll tell you a little bit more about that finding later. But, broader point here is that a lot of people find the restrooms at Hopkins off putting, right? I know we can count you in that number. To get perspective here from a frequent traveler on the ground, we talked to a Cleveland author.

Miss Umargar who says that they’re among the worst in the nation and on her list of grievances for Hopkins are dirty stalls, trash all around, unflushed toilets, paper all over the floor. She says it makes it easy to think, my God, what a bad first impression for visitors to Cleveland and the good news here and I think everyone’s going to be excited is that change is supposed to be on the horizon. This week, yes, like

This week, they started work on what they’re calling the restroom refresh project and Hopkins is going to see 13 of its busiest restrooms get updated with new fixtures, better lighting, new floors, walls, partitions and ceilings. So hopefully this project once it’s complete in next by next spring is the hope.

that our bathrooms are in a better state than they have, then each restroom’s gonna be closed for approximately 90 days for each one to undergo its work. And like I said, that’ll wrap up about a year from now.

Chris (02:28.469)

It’s interesting to me that airports are just widely known for being gross with bathrooms. I haven’t noticed that when I’ve traveled. I have noticed it in Cleveland. I also wonder, doesn’t everybody else wonder how does the toilet paper get all over the floor? And how does the floor get covered with water? And God knows what. I mean, what are the bathrooms at home of these people who do that look like? I mean, it’s not that hard to keep a bathroom

in shape if everybody respects it, but they’re just disgusting. Laura, you’ve been through it recently and found the same thing.

laura (03:04.558)

I think I texted you guys from, I think when I flew to Key West, I texted you from Cleveland Hopkins. And then when I flew to Amsterdam over New Year’s, I took a picture of Newark and how nice the bathrooms were there. Because they do what I guess is called a distraction where they put giant murals up so you don’t notice there’s paper on the floor, if there is. And every stall had like a beach scene in it. And I mean…

Lisa (03:05.633)

I think I texted you guys from, I think when I flew to Key West I texted you from Cleveland, Hopkins. And then when I flew to Amsterdam over New Year’s, I took a picture of Newark and how nice the bathrooms were there. They do what I guess is called a distraction where they put giant murals up so you don’t notice there’s people on the floor if there is. And every stall had like a beach seat in it. I mean, this rest of the refresh isn’t going to fix everything.

laura (03:30.582)

This restroom refresh isn’t going to fix everything. We’re not going to have enough room in the stalls for the suitcases. I mean, that’s not going to get fixed here. But you do hope that they would just put some of that money into custodial staff that, you know, picks up paper. I don’t know why it’s like that at 6am. Like they should have a staff in there overnight. So at least we start clean in the morning.

Chris (03:52.509)

Michael R. White was mayor of Cleveland for, for what was it, 12 years, right? And I got a note from somebody that was very familiar with his time, remembered something I didn’t remember. I knew he was a stickler for details. I read his email and if he saw a pothole, he wrote a scathing note to the head of public works and there’s a pothole over here, get it filled. But according to this writer, he always left extra time when he flew and he flew a lot.

courtney (03:52.561)

Yeah.

Chris (04:18.397)

and he would do secret inspections of the bathrooms and it was hell to pay if they looked like they looked. And according to her, it pretty much worked to keep people on their toes. Maybe Justin Biv needs to make some surprise inspections and lay the law down over at the airport.

courtney (04:36.378)

You know, we and Susan Glaser in reporting out this story found some objective numbers about where Cleveland ranks. I found this very fascinating. She talked to Michael Taylor. He’s with J.D. Power’s annual airport satisfaction study. And we know that Cleveland Hopkins usually does pretty poorly in that annual survey, like overall. But, you know, Taylor tells us that Cleveland’s bathroom scores in particular, like just the bathroom.

portion of this survey is not bad, but not great. He said there’s at least a dozen airports with restroom scores worse than Cleveland’s. And Taylor wouldn’t give us the info about which airports they were, but the airports with overall scores that are usually lower than Cleveland. Laura, you’ll appreciate this one is Newark and Toronto, Seattle, Philly, Honolulu and Hartford. So apparently we are not the worst.

Lisa (05:14.702)

And Taylor wouldn’t give us the info about which reports they were, but the airports with overall scores that are usually lower than Cleveland, Laura Yosemite’s was newer. And Gerard Moci had old Billy’s. So apparently, we are not too worried.

laura (05:33.538)

But didn’t you think it was interesting that the bathroom scores correspond very clearly with the overall scores? That means like when people think about an airport, they might not be thinking about their food choices or the gift shops. Like the bathrooms matter the most when it comes to your whole impression of your city. Like that’s how important this is. This is not a little thing.

Chris (05:33.861)

You know-

courtney (05:57.462)

And that’s what the JD Power guy told us. You know, he said it’s a signal to travelers. If your bathroom’s clean, people think, you know, this airport really cares about the experience.

Chris (06:06.753)

So here’s a radical idea. This is, for many people, the gateway to the city. It’s their first impression and it’s gross. Maybe Destination Cleveland should kick some of its budget in to keeping them clean so that people have a more dynamic and pleasant experience when they first land in Cleveland. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. George Zell is remembered as the Dean of the Cleveland Orchestra, having served as its conductor for many years and making it internationally famous.

But he won’t hold the title of longest serving conductor much longer. What’s the big news from the orchestra, Laura?

laura (06:42.85)

So Franz Welser-Möst is going to be the longest serving, assuming he lasts till the end of when he says he’s going to step down. That’s in June, 2027. That would be 25 years leading the Cleveland Orchestra. He took over as music director in 2002. He has presided over more than 1,100 performances in Cleveland and in venues all over the world because Cleveland Orchestra is internationally known and respected and they go travel around.

Lisa (06:44.981)

is going to be the longest serving, assuming he lasts until the end of when he says he’s going to step down. That’s in June 2027. That was 25 years leading the Cleveland Orchestra. He took over as music director in 2002. He has presided over more than 1,100 performances in Cleveland and has been used all over the world.

laura (07:10.498)

So this decision was announced obviously three years out and that allows Wellesermost to identify a successor, give himself some time to complete a number of items on his bucket list. He wants to make some musician appointments. He wants to do some specific artistic projects. He says he thinks it’ll be this time that he’s never intended to stay so long, but that, I mean, he’s loved Cleveland. He’s only lived here part-time all of these years, but.

Obviously he liked it a lot to stay this long.

Chris (07:42.581)

The Cleveland Orchestra punches way above its weight. It is internationally renowned because of just how good it is and the quality of the conductors it’s had. It’s not the thing that all Clevelanders go to. It doesn’t have the same kind of crowd you get at brands games, obviously. But it is part of Cleveland’s cultural identity. So this is huge news, the changeover of a conductor for that orchestra, especially when you have people who serve as long as these guys have.

laura (07:45.39)

Mm-hmm.

Lisa (07:51.006)

quality of the process. It’s not saying that your culture is going to be replaced by a different kind of practice, or a different kind of practice. But it is part of the people’s cultural identity. So this is a great example of a productive and better way of doing things. Especially with the fact that the state of the world has been so important.

Chris (08:10.257)

It’s a huge event. We put it on the front page that I made it our lead story because it is so important to our identity.

laura (08:18.166)

Yes, I agree. And so important to the whole arts component of the city and university circle. So, Wellesermose said he’s gratified by three things he’s been able to do in Cleveland so far. The musicians he appointed, the orchestra’s uptake of opera, and the Daniel R. Lewis Composer Fellow Program. Obviously, they can survive both an economic downturn and a pandemic. That is not a small thing. Think about how many…

institutions suffered during the pandemic. And he said he tried to establish a cooperative space with musicians where the music director is not the enemy of musicians, but that they’re all in the same boat. So I think people will look really fondly not just on his leadership, but what he was able to do with the institution itself and how he treated the musicians.

Chris (09:07.113)

Well, people want to enjoy his presence. They only have a couple of years left to do it. So they might want to take advantage of it and get a ticket to the orchestra. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. You cannot run for the Ohio legislature if you’re convicted of specific felonies. So, Lisa, I’m just dumbfounded why there’s any debate, let alone a debate before the Ohio Supreme Court on whether the convicted felon, Steve Krauss, can be a candidate again. What’s going on?

Lisa (09:34.149)

Well, it seems to hinge on what the word expungement means in Ohio law. So Steve Krause, he is the former representative of House District 89, which is Erie, Ottawa, and Huron Counties. He wants to run again for that seat, and the Ohio Supreme Court is taking up this case. The Erie County Board of Elections ruled last week that Krause is eligible to run in the March 19th Republican primary, despite that 2015 felony theft conviction. But Erie County voter

Dennis Schreiner filed a complaint. He challenged that ruling. He says, Ohio law prohibits those with a felony record from holding office unless that conviction is reversed, annulled or expunged. And he argues that when the conviction against Krauss was sealed in January, 2023, he says that’s not the same as an expungement as the board ruled. He says these are two distinct concepts under Ohio law.

Chris (10:29.321)

Well, I know for a fact that’s true because we’ve had to be very specific in how we describe cases that have been sealed. Originally, when we started our right to be forgotten issue, we said expungement, but it became very clear, no, these aren’t expunged. They’re still there. They’re just sealed from public view. So I just I’m surprised at this. I would think that one, he would climb under a rock and not raise his hand to run again. But.

2. There shouldn’t be a debate. He violated the very laws that prohibit you from holding office. How on earth can he come back and hold office again?

Lisa (11:06.109)

Yeah, it’ll be interesting, and the Supreme Court has a very short time to rule on this. There’s a February 2nd deadline for absentee ballots for military and overseas voters to go out, so they have to make a ruling within the next couple of weeks on this.

Chris (11:18.997)

There ought to be a higher standard for people who hold office and get the public’s trust. He violated the public’s trust. So let’s hope the Supreme Court does the right thing. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Here’s another one. How can there be any debate about whether a lawyer should keep his license after trying to bring meth into the Cuyahoga County Jail? Courtney, what’s the lawyer’s argument?

courtney (11:42.946)

So we’re talking about Eric Norton here. Like you said, he’s the attorney who pleaded guilty to drug charges after that incident at the county jail in December 2022. And he’s facing a disciplinary complaint now against his law license. His license was temporarily suspended after the charges were brought, but this will be a permanent answer for us here. And to your point, you know, the Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Council said in a filing that Norton committed misconduct by engaging in a…

illegal activity, it adversely reflects his trustworthiness, and it calls into question his fitness to be a lawyer. But Norton, in a response filed Thursday, he admitted to committing the misconduct to which he’s pleaded guilty, but he also pushed back against other accusations in the complaint about two nude images discovered on his cell phone. He was initially charged with possession of child…

pornography after these images were found on his phone, but prosecutors dropped that charge as part of a plea deal. And, and so he’s pushing about that. He’s pushing back against that specific piece of the complaint and, and he doesn’t have a criminal charge that aligns with those accusations.

Chris (12:55.489)

Yeah, that doesn’t really work though. People make plea deals and charges get dropped, but it doesn’t mean that the thing didn’t happen. That’s what the deal does. And the disciplinary counsel doesn’t look at what you pleaded to. They look at the evidence in the case. But let’s get back to the drugs. That alone should matter. We know the jail has a colossal drug problem. How many people have OD’d and died in that jail? And the presumption is some of them come in already.

headed to the overdose, but not everybody. Some are getting drugs in the jail. This guy was carrying meth into the damn jail. There should be serious consequences for a lawyer, an officer of the court, who’s carrying drugs into a jail that has been plagued by drug issues.

courtney (13:43.254)

Yeah, and we’re going to get an answer here. You know, the three member panel of the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct is going to hear evidence on this complaint at a later date. So we’ve kind of got the initial each side of the story here. But but that board’s going to kind of look into things further later. And then eventually, the Ohio Supreme Court is going to decide whether to impose discipline or not.

Lisa (13:49.588)

answer here. Let’s remember your evidence on this complaint.

Chris (14:06.813)

Okay. You are listening to Today in Ohio. Is there tourism value on this one? What is a bipartisan group of US Congress members trying to bring to the campus of the Dayton VA Medical Center? And is this really something that is a good use of precious taxpayer dollars, Laura?

laura (14:25.318)

Do you think it’s a really good use of precious taxpayer dollars? Because I don’t see this as a huge tourism attraction. But they think that it could be if they highlight all the things that the VA has done in the past. Apparently, we’re approaching 100 years here and have historical information and documents and photos that people would want to see. So this is the Veterans Affairs Centennial and Heritage Act of 2024. This would permanently…

locate a National Department of Veterans Affairs History Center. It would be at the Dayton VA Medical Center campus. And it has bipartisan support, which I’m going to applaud in any form in this country at this point. Mike Turner, Dayton Republican, Cincinnati Democratic, US Representative Greg Landsman, JD Vance supports it. But I don’t see a dollar figure on how much this is going to cost. But apparently they’ve been talking about…

Chris (15:05.406)

Heh.

laura (15:21.474)

this establishment of it since 2020, they haven’t actually created the center yet.

Chris (15:27.709)

It just seems like a strange one to rally around. I don’t think people are going to visit. If it’s more for keeping historical records intact, seems odd that you would do that in Dayton. It’s just one of those that you scratch your head and say, what’s going on here?

laura (15:43.53)

Yeah, the president of the American Veterans Heritage Center said the facility is going to quote, create dozens of jobs and attract tens of thousands of in-person and virtual visitors annually. I don’t see this as like a Disneyland in Dayton.

Chris (15:54.249)

Ha ha

Chris (15:58.585)

Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. All right, Lisa, you live there for most of your life, but you are a native and now repeat repatriated Clevelander on the eve of the Browns playoff game with Houston. Let’s talk about how the two cities are similar and how they are different.

Lisa (16:16.817)

Well, the article that’s in Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer has a lot of facts and figures, but I guess I can flesh those out a little bit. So Cleveland is the older city. It was established in 1796. Houston was established in 1836, which is the year that Texas won independence from Mexico. Houston is the fourth largest city. Cleveland is the 55th largest. I remember when I left Cleveland in 1980, it was like the 10th largest city.

Chris (16:43.029)

Heh.

Lisa (16:44.065)

Houston is huge. I mean, it’s huge. It’s 665 square miles. Cleveland is only 78 square miles and actually there’s a it’s called the Grand Parkway. It’s a huge circle around Greater Houston. If you drove all the way around it, it’s a hundred and eighty miles long. Houston has about 50 inches of rain a year. Sometimes that has fallen within 24 hours as it did in Hurricane Harvey. Cleveland averages about 38 inches a year. Now here’s where I get passionate.

Cleveland is known for pierogies, Polish boys, corned beef, Lake Erie perch and Eastern European cuisine. You can find almost none of that in Houston. Houston is covered with Tex-Mex restaurants and taco trucks. Our barbecue is different. We do a dry rub there. We have Cajun. They have Cajun and Creole, lots of Vietnamese restaurants, huge population there, and they have proper chili that doesn’t have beans.

Chris (17:23.881)

Hehehe

Lisa (17:41.501)

and I can’t find proper chili here in Cleveland, nor can I find any Cajun food. So as far as music goes, nationally known acts like Beyonce or Destiny’s Child, her precursor group, and ZZ Top and Kenny Rogers have all risen to national prominence. In Cleveland, we have Frankie Yankovic and the Yanks, who’s the king of polka. We have Chrissy Hynde, who is the lead singer for The Pretenders.

Machine Gun Kelly, who was actually born in Houston, but then was raised in Cleveland and then singer songwriter Tracy Chapman, but just how Houston is huge, it’s car driven, you have to drive every traffic is terrible. It’s hot and humid there, but it’s a 24 hour city. When I came to Cleveland, like things shut down at 10 or 11 and Cleveland, I mean, in Houston, you can almost find a, you know, a bar or a restaurant 24 hours.

Chris (18:32.725)

You’re making me hungry. It sounds like Houston is a great place to go out to eat.

Lisa (18:36.785)

Oh my gosh, yes. And you know, there are so many and soul food, they have wonderful, wonderful soul food restaurants. And I’ve only found one soul food restaurant that I really, which is surprising because I think we probably have a larger black population here in Cleveland. But yeah, it’s, you know, I liked living there. I was there for 38 years, but I was really glad to come home because I, it’s a hurricane magnet. They have flooding problems there. You know, it’s a great city. It’s a dynamic city, but it’s got its environmental issues.

Chris (19:06.037)

Does it feel as much like a community as Cleveland does? I’m not a native Clevelander, but I’ve been here for almost 28 years. And this feels like a pretty tight knit community. Does it, did you find that? Yeah, did you find?

laura (19:06.635)

I-I-

Lisa (19:18.489)

here in Cleveland? Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, Houston is so sprawling, you know, and it’s really Houston is, you know, here with sprawl is like individual townships and stuff. Houston is just Houston. It just sucks up, you know, or surrounding areas through the ETJ. So yeah, it’s huge and disconnected.

Chris (19:37.58)

Laura?

laura (19:38.626)

I wanted to know what you put in chili if you don’t put beans in.

Lisa (19:42.125)

Oh dear Lord, chili does not, real chili does not have beans. Chili was invented in San Antonio, Texas. And basically it doesn’t even have tomatoes. Real chili just is like ground beef and peppers. It’s, you know, they used it to, they used up meat that was going bad. That’s how chili was invented.

laura (20:03.574)

Did not know that.

Chris (20:03.701)

Fascinating. All right, check out our story on cleveland.com comparing the two cities with all their statistics. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Here’s an odd combo. Senator Sherrod Brown and the Country Music Association new artist of the year, Jason Jellirold DeFord. Courtney, how did these two come together for a good cause?

courtney (20:24.658)

Yeah, this is kind of wild to see the photos from yesterday, but Jelly Roll went before Sherrod Brown, the committee chairs, Sherrod Brown’s, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. And Jelly Roll was in Congress yesterday to talk about, to talk about drugs and a bill and bills that Sherrod Brown is looking to get passed. So Jelly Roll kind of, you know, went before the committee to talk about how a plane load

worth of Americans die of drug overdoses every day. Jelly Roll described himself as not political. He can’t vote because of past drug convictions. And he says that means this topic is something that really transcends political ideologies and just matters to a bunch of Americans, whatever side or no side that they’re on politically. And when he went before the Senate, you know, he said America doesn’t seem to really care.

Lisa (21:16.801)

And when you went before the Senate, you said America doesn’t seem to care about the eviction and overdose issue because it changed that.

courtney (21:21.446)

about the addiction and overdose issue because it shames addicts instead of really addressing the root of the problems. In Jelly Roll, you can kind of see why Sherrod Brown wanted him to come in and testify here because he has past convictions for drug dealing that he sees the error of his ways now and didn’t quite understand what that all meant. He relayed a very sad story about

his daughter, whose mother he described as a drug addict. And he said, he’s just, he’s terrified that he’s gonna have to tell his kids someday that her mother’s become part of these statistics. And he wanted the Senate to pass Sherrod Brown’s bill here.

Chris (22:04.349)

All right, we should point out, Jared Brown is running for reelection, so I imagine we’ll be seeing him mixing it up with some other odd combos during the year. Get some attention. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. This bad news story just keeps rolling with no one standing up for common sense and the people of the state. Laura, what’s the latest step toward drilling for oil and gas under one of Ohio’s most pristine public parks?

laura (22:30.838)

You’re right, it just keeps rolling. So these are out to bid now. The mineral rights beneath Salt Fork State Park, which is one of the most well-known state parks, I think, as well as two state wildlife preservation areas. So now the companies can put in a bid to drill under them. And right now, the way the state is working, they’d have to drill next to it and then sideways underneath using fracking.

The bid window closes February 4th, the Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission then selects the highest and best bid. But just so you are aware, the public doesn’t get to see all these bids. This is the Management Commission, which is a very gas and oil friendly commission, gets to pick. We don’t know how much money this is going to bring to the state. A previous offer to drill in their salt fork was about $2.

Lisa (23:03.729)

So just so you are aware, the public doesn’t get to see all this. This is the management commission, which is a very, or staff-oil-friendly commission, gets to see.

laura (23:21.966)

billion over more than 15 years that included 20% royalties and $115 million signing bonus. But obviously, we’ve written a lot about this. Jake Zuckerman has done a great job drilling into the subject. And the gas companies and the industry had all of these letters from people who they purported to be supportive of this, but we really haven’t heard that. Those people said, I didn’t.

Lisa (23:22.369)

billion dollars over more than 15 years that included 20% loyalty and $150 billion signing bonus. But obviously, this is, we’ve written a lot about this, Jake Duckerman has done a great job really speaking to the subject. And the gas companies and the industry had all of these letters from people to make the order to be supporters of this, but we really

laura (23:50.122)

mean to send these letters. I don’t support this. Yeah, exactly. So who wants this?

Chris (23:51.453)

Yeah, that was bogus. That was made up letters. That’s just what didn’t exist. And it didn’t pass the sniff test. Right. No one. Look, we keep talking about this. It’s a repeated theme on this podcast. Our government is doing things that do not fit with what the most of Ohioans want. I cannot imagine that anywhere near most Ohioans want to start wrecking state parks. This is…

Lisa (23:53.426)

Yeah, exactly. So, who wants this?

laura (24:00.898)

So.

Chris (24:18.993)

out of control. They are doing something that none of us want them to do. And it’s because there are big bugs involved. I keep thinking that five, six, seven years down the road, we’re going to see a huge federal corruption investigation that finds the attraction of all this money is what caused us to destroy our legacy and the legacy for our children and grandchildren. I just, this is a terrible idea. Everybody knows that. And yet Matt Huffman

Jason Stevens, Mike DeWine, they go marching down this road and it will have an inevitable long-term effect that really wrecks the parks.

laura (24:55.886)

There are two separate lawsuits in Franklin County seeking to block this drilling. And so I hope that can put it off till cooler minds can prevail. But you’re right, this is about big bucks. And it’s not about the big bucks that it’s going to bring to state coffers because it’s not like they’re saying, hey, we really want to drill here. So we want to put billions of dollars towards public education in Ohio. No, like, I don’t think they’ve said what they want to spend the money on. The big bucks.

It feels like are coming from the lobbyists to the campaign contributions to the dark money that keeps these guys elected. I’ve said it over and over again on this podcast that it’s party over people, it’s power over people and they are not representing the people who elect them. We keep talking about progressive ballot measures in Ohio. We’re looking at a redistricting one. There’s the idea about fair wages. What if somebody put forth a protection of state parks?

Lisa (25:27.011)

money to keep these guys elected. And I’ve said it over and over and over and over and over again. There’s party over people, there’s power over people, and they are not representing the people who elect them. And you know, we keep talking about progressive ballot measures in Ohio.

Lisa (25:47.614)

What is going to put forth a protection of state parks? Is that the only way we can protect our wildlife and our undeveloped land from these politicians?

laura (25:50.734)

constitutional amendment. Is that the only way we can protect our wildlife and our undeveloped land from greedy politicians?

Chris (26:00.577)

But we have a Senate race. You would think some of the candidates, a Matt Dolan might stand up and say they should stop this. We’re going to have a governor’s race. We already have people who are candidates in Houston and Dave Yost. They could stand up and they could say, this is a bad idea. You just keep waiting for somebody to awaken and stop this madness. Because this is, in every way you look at it,

A terrible, terrible idea. We created these state parks to preserve a natural place for people to go and enjoy natural Ohio, and we’re just heading down a terrible road. When does somebody stand up and stop it? You’re listening to Today in Ohio. The Tri-C High School Rock Off has been a signature Cleveland event for 27 years, given a platform for countless young bands to show their stuff and get some experience.

Lisa, what’s the bad news about the 2024 installment?

Lisa (26:55.901)

It’s going to be the last one, unfortunately. Live Nation issued a statement saying that they’re ending their 27 year run with the event that’s coming up in February, but they didn’t say why. In the Live Nation Cleveland, Senior Vice President and Rockoff founder, Barry Gable says, it provided a pathway for young students in Northeast Ohio and beyond to gain experience and build professional relationships.

He says the rock-off may be ending, but the connections that these young musicians made will last a lifetime. There’s going to be three rounds as usual. The first, they’re on consecutive Sundays, starting February 3rd, the 10th, and the 17th at the Rock Hall. Three bands from each round will go to the final exam, which is March 2nd. Tickets are $15 for students, $20 for adults, and they start going on sale Thursday, January 18th.

And that ticket does include admission to the Hall of Fame. And this was like, they weren’t getting peanuts. I mean, the first place winner gets $3,000 in cash. They get $250 for their high school music program. Second place is $1,500 plus $100 for music programs. And third place is $500. And a lot of musicians have gotten their start here and have gone on to professional careers.

Chris (28:12.105)

I get why Live Nation may not be able to afford this anymore. They’re a business, they’re in competition, but we are the heart of rock and roll. We’re the home of the rock and roll hall of fame. Why doesn’t the rock hall take over sponsorship of this? We’re losing a cherished music event in the city that defines itself on rock and roll. I’m shocked that this is going away. This has been one of the cooler music events that we’ve had in this town.

Lisa (28:39.909)

Well, I assume we’re going to be digging into why they did it, because like I said, there was no comment on that. But yeah, I mean, musicians, I don’t know that there’s a comparable event anywhere in the US.

Chris (28:51.049)

We are trying to get answers because you’re right. We ask, what’s going on? Why are you doing this? Is it money? Is it that Live Nation can’t afford it? Have they lost interest in it? I didn’t think they had. The bands clearly are still interested. And shouldn’t we foster that in this city of all cities? Shouldn’t we figure out a way? Shouldn’t the Cleveland Foundation or the Gun Foundation or somebody say, hey, look.

We got to keep our reputation going. It is a stunner. I saw that headline roll across the screen yesterday. I thought, whoa, what’s going on here? So we will get some more answers. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the Friday episode. That’s it for the week. Stay warm as next week begins. There’ll be single digits. Thanks, Laura. Thanks Courtney. Thanks Lisa. Thank you for listening to Today in Ohio.