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Is an Ohio suburb’s “No Mow May” based on wacky, pseudo-science? Today in Ohio

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Is an Ohio suburb’s “No Mow May” based on wacky, pseudo-science? Today in Ohio


CLEVELAND, Ohio — No Mow May is a movement to not cut your grass for the entire month, with the theory that allowing weeds to grow will make more pollen available to feed pollinators.

We’re talking whether letting your grass get knee-high by June is really a good thing on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

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Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with impact editor Leila Atassi, editorial board member Lisa Garvin 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 we’re asking about today:

The Cleveland Heights mayor is celebrating No Mow May by declining to fine residents who let their lawns go to weed, but is he acting on silly science? Is there any good reason not to mow your lawn in May other than sloth?

We’ve been talking a lot about childcare and how it plays into American life, and we’ve used Hyland Software as a model for how employers can help. No more. What is happening to Hyland’s childcare center?

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Today is the deadline for Ohio lawmakers bent on ending majority rule in the state to approve a special election for August. They took a step in that direction. What did they do Tuesday, and one more time, what is at stake here?

With modern parking meters likely coming to Cleveland, we have an idea of how Mayor Justin Bibb wants to stick it to the people with higher parking fees and no more free weekends. What’s the latest?

How many cruise ships are coning to Cleveland this summer, and how much do some of these trips cost the passengers?

DigitalC rolled out its plan for rolling out high-speed internet throughout Cleveland, a subject we discussed Monday. What details did DigitalC offer up?

Who is the new CEO of the Cleveland Schools, and what is his background?

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We’re launching another newsletter this week, one to feature the work of a reader favorite in Northeast Ohio. Whose work are we highlighting?

The gambling steamroller keeps on going in Ohio. Did we break another record in March?

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

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[00:00:00] Chris: We’re talking the science of Mowing Your Lawn on Today in Ohio, the news podcast. Discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn. I’m here with Courtney Taffi, Laura Johnston and Lisa Garvin and Courtney, you get to deal with lawns. The Cleveland Heights Mayor is celebrating no MO May.

That’s not an easy thing to say by declining to find resonances who let their lawns go to weed. In the month of May, but is he acting on silly science? Is there any good reason not to mow your lawn in May other than sloth?

[00:00:38] Courtney: Well, you know, I might let listeners decide on that one, frankly, cuz I, I don’t know if I, I’ve been able to discern the real answer here, but our gardening columnists, Susan Brownstein kinda walked us through what this movement’s about and, and gives us some recommendations about maybe striking a balance somewhere in the middle.

So, so let’s back up. Like you said, Cleveland Heights, [00:01:00] mayor Khalil issued an executive order last week. He’s not looking to cite people for tall grass if they participate in this no mo May movement, which apparently. Has been gaining steam in the last couple years. It started in the uk and, and as part of this, the city is going to restrict its own mowing on public properties and, and roadway medians.

But, you know, the, the, the, the theory here is that letting weeds grow, especially during May and and letting them flower out, is gonna make more pollen available. Can feed the pollinators during a time of the year when there isn’t much else in bloom. So that’s kind of the theory behind this. But Susan kind of outlines, there might be somewhere in middle ground.

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You can kind of take, basically there’s two camps around, no Moe, there’s people who love, they’re green straight. Grass suburban looking, you know, lawns as you imagine ‘em. And then there’s the more ecological purists who want lawns to be replaced with [00:02:00] meadows of native flowers and tall grasses and. And basically these two camps do agree on one thing when it comes to no Moe, the dandelions gotta go.

You know, both of these groups kind of agree that either they’re ugly and they are pretty green grass lawns, or they’re a non-native invasive species that that don’t help the local environment.

[00:02:24] Chris: Yeah, I, I guess, look, let’s face it, lawns are stupid. We spend, you know, tons of money doing ‘em. People fertilize ‘em, it runs off, it does all sorts of things.

But when I read the mayor’s statement, I thought, Wow, that’s kind of cool. You’ll let a month of weed flowers grow, the pollinators jump in. But then we ran a wire story in the Plain dealer over the weekend and said, this is complete hokum, that this doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t do anything, and it’s just a phony feel good.

And like you said, Susan kind of came down in the middle. If we all got rid of our lawns and used native plants and did all [00:03:00] of that, it’d be wonderful. But the idea of letting your lawn grow to a foot high, remember in May. Grass grows really, really thick and gums down lawnmowers, and so you’re letting it grow even taller.

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It, it, the, the story that we ran over the weekend says, th this is dumb. It doesn’t do anything. You’re still gonna mow it all down.

[00:03:20] Laura: Well, I wanna know how you’re gonna mow in June if you don’t mow in May, because even mowing once a week in May is really difficult at times. And I, I’m with you. I didn’t know that dandelions were so bad.

Like I do use an herba. I still have spots popping up in my lawn, but I didn’t realize that they’re actually a problem. And it makes me feel like, you know, good that I’ve done something about it. But Susan does say, you know, keep your, your lawnmower at, I think she said it four inches. I’m at the tallest setting and it’s still difficult to mow my lawn at at points.

So like, you know, you don’t need the super short, like, um, crew cut grass right now, like let it grow a little longer. That’ll crowd out some of [00:04:00] those, uh, weeds anyway, so, Yeah. Like Courtney said, yeah, but you’re, there’s

[00:04:04] Chris: a middle ground, but you’re trying to get rid of weeds. What the no mo people are saying is let the gre, the weeds go to seed, let ‘em flower.

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The

[00:04:12] Laura: dandelions are not. Are not good weeds is that what I learned from Susan’s story is that that’s not what you want. The pollinators can’t use that. So you’re much better off planting native plants like you know, black-eyed Susans and all the other native plants that they have in your gardens. And we talked a little while on this pod podcast about that shaker heights pollinator garden that the kids have at the school bettered off to take your, your pretty annual beds and do native with that than try to do no mo me and help.

Bees.

[00:04:44] Lisa: Well, my landscaper has not done my backyard at all. So my grass hasn’t been cut since no November, I guess, in the back, um, because it’s too wet back there. So, um, and this is kind of late in the year for him not to be cutting, but I don’t fertilize or use [00:05:00] pesticides. So I have creeping Charlie that’s like, Kind of taking over my yard, but I kind of like it, and I think the animals do too.

I have more animals in my yard than my neighbors.

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[00:05:09] Chris: The, uh, the wire story, reran said that, yes, dandy lines don’t offer a lot of nutrition to the pollinators, but because of the time of year, it’s better than nothing. They get something out of it. Mm-hmm. Anyway, I, it’s interesting that a mayor has set a policy based on some science that is extremely.

Questionable. And the, the yards, the, the empty lots in Cleveland Heights are gonna look like hell by the time we get to June. You’re listening to today in Ohio, we’ve been talking a lot about childcare and how it plays into American life, and we’ve used Highland Software as a model for how employers can help.

No more. Laura, what is happening to Highlands Childcare Center?

[00:05:51] Laura: It’s closing along with part of that thousand layoffs that they’re doing. Company-Wide. Highland is just about the only company that I have [00:06:00] found, which offered its own childcare center where it owned the space and employed the staff itself.

And I was really looking forward to digging in, finding out their philosophy and asking why Mar companies didn’t do this. Like it seems like such a benefit that people would want to work at your company if they can visit their kids during the day, especially when they’re. Babies, you know, and, and you’re breastfeeding and, and you are, it’s hard to be separated.

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I would think it would actually be a huge benefit to lure people to work there. But, um, and, and that’s what they said. They founded it in it in 2002, the c e O determined that coworkers would be happier and more productive if they offered onsite daycare. It also made me think of like, you know, Google and those tech companies, they provide free breakfast and lunch for a lot of employees, and it’s like, okay, if I can eat at my desk, Then I’m just gonna keep working right, and I don’t have to worry about grocery shopping.

Like if your kids are properly cared for, you can work up till you know the very end. You don’t have to leave early to go get them. But they’re closing. They said they’re going to be changing some of their [00:07:00] Westlake footprint. They remain committed to northeast Ohio. Their headquarters will mine remain in Westlake, but their real estate portfolio will likely change.

[00:07:08] Chris: Yeah, I, you’ve pointed out that it shouldn’t fall on employers to provide this service. That it’s an expensive service and if we as a society wanna help people raise kids, have more kids, cuz we have a, a dwindling workforce, then the government should get involved. We talked earlier in the week about how Canada is making it extremely reasonable for people to pay for daycare.

It’s just sad that. It seemed like Highland had an answer for building its workforce for attracting employees, but I guess not. I guess it wasn’t as effective a tool at winning people over as we thought.

[00:07:44] Laura: Right, and, and like they said, they’re gonna change their real estate footprint, so I don’t know what that means about.

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Their headquarters there and what they’re going to do with it. I don’t, it’s not like they subsidize this childcare from what I’ve heard, and we, we didn’t get this information from the company, but it’s not [00:08:00] like it was cheap. You were paying market rate, but it was that idea of you didn’t have that drop off and then go to work.

Right. Everything was in one place, so it just made it a lot more convenient for families and, you know, it, it does make a lot of sense. I don’t. Really understand. I think there’s a KinderCare that’s in University Circle that’s close to the clinic, but then again, it’s not like owned by the clinic. So I I, I’d love to still dig in why this isn’t a movement among American

[00:08:27] Chris: businesses.

Well, if they have hybrid workers, then on the days they are at home True. They’re having to drive to the office anyway to drop their kid off. So maybe that plays into it. Just a, maybe it was a hot story on our site. Lots of people were reading it yesterday. It’s today in Ohio. Lisa, you got it. Today is the deadline for Ohio.

Lawmakers bent on ending majority rule in the state to approve a special election for August. They took a step in that direction. It all comes down to today. What did they do? Tuesday. And one more time. What’s at stake here? [00:09:00]

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[00:09:01] Lisa: The House Rules and Reference Committee voted seven to five yesterday to refer Senate Joint Resolution two to the full house for a vote.

All the Republicans on the committee voted yes except j Edwards of Athens County who voted with the Democrats. So as a reminder, s j R two is a companion two house joint resolution one which calls for 60% approval for any constitutional amendments put before voters. But this. Vote would just require a simple majority to pass.

So Representative Sharon Ray, who’s a Republican from Meina County, she proposed an amendment that would put it on the November ballot. She’s a former elections official, and she opposes August elections because of the difficult logistics that it opposes for election workers. But then she voted to advance the measure to the full house, so that November date amendment.

Could change back to August today when the full house convenes [00:10:00] house speaker Jason Stevens is non-committal on that issue. He said that many, uh, Republican caucus members are concerned with an August election. Uh, democratic minority leader, Alison Russo said she wouldn’t be surprised if the August election was restored, but the bill that was calling for that election Senate bill 92 was abandoned.

Uh, that would’ve allowed the special election and would’ve set 20 million as. To pay for it, but apparently some Republicans in the house believe that that’s not legally necessary.

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[00:10:30] Chris: Yeah, I know. But by doing that, I think they set up a serious legal challenge to what they are doing by not having that companion bill.

They jeopardize this in the courts. I, I have no idea what’s going to happen today. Uh, Jason Stevens has been non-committal. There are a bunch of Republicans that realize this could really work against them. Breaking the rules, bending the rules, being sleazy, and let’s face it, it’s an anti-democratic movement.

It’s to reduce the value of [00:11:00] your vote. It’s, it’s gonna put the 40% of Ohio in charge of the 60% of Ohio, and a whole lot of people are against that. There was a poll that came out, it was from one of the people fighting this yesterday that found 70% of Ohio’s dead set against this. This could blow up in all their faces if.

They proceed. It’s gonna be a big day for the future. Yeah. Of voting in Ohio

[00:11:22] Lisa: and judging by the, uh, letters to the editor. Just the ones that were published in the Plain Dealer. I mean, there are so many people, so it obviously is stirring up the public, judging by the volume of letters I’ve seen published.

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Oh yeah.

[00:11:36] Chris: I mean, I think this is hugely unpopular, but in state, after state, Republicans have thought that they could win these things on the ballot when it comes to abortion style issues. They’re gonna, it, it’ll blow up in their face and I, and build momentum from the November abortion amendment. I just don’t

[00:11:52] Laura: understand how that one representative, you know, she doesn’t want there to be an August election.

So she changes the changes, [00:12:00] what they’re passing, how she feels that they’re just gonna change it right

[00:12:03] Chris: back. Well, she vote against it. I mean,

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[00:12:05] Laura: she’s a vote, right? No. Okay. But she’s the one who allowed it to get to the floor in the first place and then they switch it on her like that doesn’t seem fair at

[00:12:11] Chris: all.

No. And you also have the Democrats, the supported Stevens for house speaker. You gotta think that they’re talking to him saying, Hey, we got you in. You have got to give us something here. This is vitally important. And Stevens isn’t in favor of August elections, or it sounded like at the beginning of the year, the issue overall.

We’ll be talking about it tomorrow. You’re listening to today in Ohio with modern parking meters likely coming to Cleveland. We have an idea of how Mayor Justin Bibb plans to make more money off them with higher parking fees and no more free weekends. Courtney, what’s the latest?

[00:12:50] Courtney: Yeah. Yeah. So some of the legislation that’s gonna need to pass city council to allow BIB to install these smart meters.

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Has has gone to [00:13:00] city council this week. So this is kind of a step where we could see what he was thinking when it comes to how rates could be raised, how enforcement could change. And, and like I said, we knew these changes were coming, but here they are and, and, and what these pieces of legislation introduced to City Council would do is, is really expand the hours of possible enforcement.

Right now, enforcement downtown on weekdays ends at 6:00 PM You can, you can stop feeding the meters at 6:00 PM right? What this change would do would allow the city to go as late as 10:00 PM for enforcement. Don’t know if that’ll be the final cutoff time, but it gives ‘em that wiggle room and ability, and it would also.

If city Council agrees to it, let members of BIB’s administration set the parking rates. So right now it’s between 50 cents and a dollar an hour. That’s, that’s codified in the city code. What BIB wants to do going forward is not go back to city council. To get approval for when those rates change. [00:14:00] He wants to be able to set them within his board of control and, and that kind of aligns with what his administration’s talked about before.

They wanna do dynamic pricing. Some spots could change and, and cost more during big downtown events like sports games. And I think that that would give ‘em more flexibility instead of having to go back to city council. Every time they wanna change or raise parking rates. But, but also as part of this slew of changes, this caught my eye immediately when I was reading through the legislation.

There’s a big price hike coming potentially to the muni lot. So Browns tailgaters. Could be feeling this as early as this fall.

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[00:14:41] Chris: The, well, I can’t wait to see how council deals with this, because as we’ve talked about before, when this came up 20, 25 years ago, it was stopped by council. The councils under Frank Jackson said, no, we’re not gonna charge people to park on the weekends.

We’re not going to make it more difficult for [00:15:00] people who are already. Dealing with financial strain. There’s the push pull. It’s like, well, but when people from the suburbs come in, they have money. They’re not, they’re not living in poverty. They can afford the park. In the previous administration, they said, yeah, but this affects our residents who a lot of whom live in poverty.

This isn’t fair. Where will this council come down? Do you have any prediction? I

[00:15:22] Courtney: am, I’m gonna. Uh, not wager a prediction at the moment. Uh, you know, we’re gonna have to see, you know, they could tweak it, right? So if bib wants to go till 10:00 PM there could be a compromise there, and they say no. Maybe the latest she can go is eight.

So there’s room for negotiation and meeting. Somewhere in the middle if, if that’s the TA council’s, you know, taken here. But what what would be interesting is, you know, a parking consultant hired by former Frank, former mayor Frank Jackson, really recommended tho these changes. To Cleveland’s parking saying the city could modernize in a lot of ways that other [00:16:00] cities have, and, and you’ve got to think that the change in work from home and what the pandemic has done to downtown life, you know, maybe, maybe there is an opportunity to get parking revenue for people coming.

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Downtown in the evenings to dine and go out in a way that maybe the need isn’t there as much during the daytime for the commuters. You know, there, there are changing patterns to downtown usage here and, and I think these changes would seek to capture more than nightlife and entertainment needs of people going out in the evenings and weekends.

[00:16:32] Chris: I don’t know though. You have television news, local television news, night after night, power, you know, just going on and on about crime, crime, crime, crime, crime. The thugs are out there scaring the hell out. Everybody in the suburbs who, who are hesitant to come downtown. Anyway, making it more expensive to park your car when you can drive to any suburban restaurant and park for free and conveniently might discourage a whole lot of people from coming downtown.

[00:17:00] They’re already afraid because television tells ‘em they’re gonna get shot to death, and now it’ll cost them a fortune. It it, there’s a, this could hurt traffic in downtown. This could harm the restaurant industry. Right. I

[00:17:12] Laura: hate paying for parking. I am the biggest fan of Park and walk, like wherever I can find a spot in the street.

And when I go down to Playhouse Square, I always park in Chester and I walk and, and cuz you know, parking meters end at six. And so I always park for free. And I mean, to be fair, if I’m spending hundreds of dollars at Playhouse Square for tickets every year, like. I should be able to pay a couple of bucks every time I park on the street.

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I don’t want to, but I do think it would be fair. I’m driving down there, I’m parking. I would be interested to know if the parking garage owners have put in a say on this. Because if you, if I were them, I’d be like, yes, you should charge, because then more people will park in my garage if they have to park to pay, pay to park on the street.

And

[00:17:51] Courtney: I would assume that the, the street parking fees, just based on the city’s analysis, what I was reading through, Would still be, you know, less than [00:18:00] garages and, and it wouldn’t be a forge, necessarily a normal weeknight.

[00:18:03] Laura: Right. I’ll pay $5. Like that seems reasonable to me. I just don’t wanna pay 50. I think that’s normal.

[00:18:09] Courtney: We’ll see.

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[00:18:12] Chris: We’ll see what’s next. You’re listening to today in Ohio, how many crew ships are coming to Cleveland this summer and how much do some of these trips cost the passengers? Laura?

[00:18:22] Laura: Okay, well if we’re talking about a lot of money after parking meters, you’re gonna be jaw drafted this because you could spend 12 grand on a week in the Great Lakes on a cruise ship.

Uh, 53 cruises will talk downtown this summer. That’s as many as 10,000 passengers, twice as many cruise stops as 2019, and it’s been growing every year. Obviously that was the year before the. Co, uh, COVID Pandemic basically shut down the cruise industry as well as the world, um, as well as the border with Canada because these cruise ships go between the countries.

That’s one of the, the reasons that people like these so much is you can see all sorts of different [00:19:00] places in two countries on a cruise through the Great Lakes in one week. So on Saturday, September 23rd. There’ll actually be three ships docked in Cleveland at the same time, which sounds kind of mind boggling.

Uh, there are a couple of news cruise lines making their first stops in Cleveland Viking, the Switzerland based company known for its high-end European River cruises that every time I ever watched Downton Abbey, I would watch a very long commercial for, um, opponent, a luxury French cruise line and Pearl Seas based in Connecticut.

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So, um, Overall, the Cruise, the Great Lakes Industry Trade Group, are expecting 170,000 passenger visits to Great Lake Ports. That’s up 15% over last year. Economic impact of 180 million.

[00:19:45] Chris: The, the idea of cruising all of the Great Lakes is appealing, but that price does

[00:19:50] Laura: seem a bit Okay. That is like, that’s Vi Viking.

The Viking, yeah, that’s Viking. And when I checked a couple of years ago on the one that was called Victory, but has since changed [00:20:00] their name, uh, it was about 5,000. So they’re not cheap. You, you know, you’re not gonna get a couple hundred dollars deal. And these tend to appeal to older, retired people who have more time.

Um, and these are smaller ships. They don’t have like, It’s the water slide of like a Caribbean cruise, but you, they have all sorts of itineraries, what you can do on the mainland, and that’s why people like Cleveland so much is there’s so much to do right there when you get off.

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[00:20:25] Chris: Yeah. It’s a lot of people coming into Cleveland.

It’s a, it’s a cool development for the lakefront, so people be able to use the lakefront from the waterside. Not as much on the landside until we get that fixed. You’re listening to today, Ohio. Digital C offered some more details of its plan for rolling out high speed internet throughout Cleveland. The subject we discussed on Monday, what details did digital C offer up Lisa?

[00:20:51] Lisa: Yeah. This is a 40 million public and private plan to provide internet service to Cleveland. So digital C says they’re gonna roll this out in. [00:21:00] Three, six month phases. The first phase will be the east side wards 5, 6, 7, and nine. That would be Central Fairfax, Asia, town, and parts of Buckeye, shaker and kinsman.

The second phase will be both east and west sides Wards eight. 10, 11, 14, and 16. So that would be like Mount Pleasant, Collinwood, Woodland Hills, Euclid Green, west Boulevard, Clark, Fulton, and Bellaire purist, Bellaire purist. And then the third phase would be the entire city. So the rest of the wards, um, what they’re gonna do is they’re gonna be replace placing remote nodes on top of 70 foot structures, be it a tower or a building or whatever.

And then these would connect to existing fiber optic systems. There is a. Presence in several neighborhoods already with digital C it’s available to 23,000 homes, but they have only 2000 customers. And there’s a little bit of skepticism about whether digital C can pull this off on an aggressive timeline.

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They’re saying it’s gonna take about 18 months. [00:22:00] Um, but they promised. Back in 2015, they promised they would be linking up 40,000 homes by 2024. We know that’s not gonna happen. And then Cleveland, the city fell behind on approving RFPs back in June, 2022. It took almost a year instead of just three months as they predicted.

And Councilman Kevin Conwell says, Can you live up to your promise? We’re gonna wait and see. And the City Utilities Commission chair Brian Casey says, uh, said to digital C, well, with your history, can we believe your aggressive timeline? So we’ll have to see. Yeah,

[00:22:35] Chris: I, I don’t see it. I’m highly skeptical.

Digital C always talks big, but has never delivered big. It delivers small already. The speed that they’re offering is a fraction of what the city had wanted. It’s still, I guess, technically high speed, but it’s not at the level the city had hoped for. Uh, I hope they can do it, but, but every time we’ve looked at them in the [00:23:00] past, they kind of fall short, so I’m not surprised to hear the council’s skepticism.

I think anybody that’s been paying attention would have a dose of it. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Who’s the new c e O of the Cleveland schools and what is his background,

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[00:23:15] Courtney: Courtney? Yeah. Dr. Warren Morgan was tapped yesterday, officially announced as the next c e O of Cleveland Public Schools. There was a press conference with the mayor and the mayor appointed school board, and they named Warren.

As the man for the job. He’s the Chief Academic Officer for Indianapolis Public Schools. I think that’s, you know, within about 5,000 students of Cleveland’s district. So they’re pretty similar in size and, and Morgan was one of two finalists up for the job to replace Eric Gordon. He’s been at the helm for 11 years and.

And Morgan was one of 132 applicants to seek to succeed Gordon. Little about Morgan. He’s a Chicago native. He spent much of his career in the Midwest, including two years in Cleveland from 2014 to [00:24:00] 2016. At at C M S D. He was a network leader and academic superintendent. And then his other big guy, big gig before he was at Indianapolis Public schools.

Was as a, the executive director for the Teach for America program in St. Louis, and he served as a White House fellow during the years between the, you know, Obama transitioning to Trump administration.

[00:24:24] Chris: I look, Eric Gordon has been a, a very special c e o. The kids that are graduating this year were in second grade when he became the c e o.

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He has stayed the long path. He has done incredible work. He’s once in a generation kind of leader, so replacing him is nearly impossible. I hope Morgan is good. I am troubled by the fact. That he has not spent more than a year or two in any one place, which you can argue that’s a good thing, right? If you, if you go to a whole bunch of different places, spend a couple years, you learn [00:25:00] all the best practices of those organizations and you can form a leadership strategy.

The downside is you never stay long enough to measure your success or be held accountable for it. If, if you go in for two years and you put in all these. Systems, and then you dance away. How do we know if they’re effective? The one line in the story that I thought was a little bit shaky was that he put in plans in Indianapolis that that helped the district recover from the pandemic.

And my question to that is, how do you know we’re still so close to the pandemic? How can you say that? Yeah,

[00:25:36] Courtney: I, you know, not, not, not sure on that it, he did start in that role in Indianapolis Public schools, just a few months into the pandemics. So he was there during the height and heat of all the changes in remote learning.

So, I mean, he did have a leadership role during the pandemic. The outcomes after that, I can’t really say, but we do know a little bit more about why, why BIB wanted him as the guy for the [00:26:00] job. Uh, you know, bib and student interview panelists during part of this vetting process named a couple things that stood out for Morgan that helped him pick him.

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They, they basically said his empathy, his approachable demeanor, And his track record so far, you know, were some of the things that really stuck with them. And, and Morgan told us that he’s already put together kind of how he wants to kick off his time in Cleveland and, and that’s kind of what, what you would expect.

He wants to listen, learn and lead. He said he wants to get to know the district, talk to people, understand what’s working and what changes people might wanna see that he might be ushering in.

[00:26:42] Chris: Did anybody ask him if he plans to stick around longer than he has stayed at his previous jobs?

[00:26:47] Courtney: I’m not seeing a sign of that in the story.

[00:26:50] Chris: It was weird. He said, I’m home and he is. Was in Cleveland for two years. It’s not really coming home. Look, Justin Bibb had the similar record. He never worked very long in any one place, and [00:27:00] so far we’re liking what we are seeing from him as mayor. Maybe that’ll be the case with Morgan as well. Lots to come.

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You’re listening to today in Ohio. The gambling steamroller keeps on going in Ohio. Did we break another record in March, Lisa? Yes,

[00:27:17] Lisa: we did. Ohio’s 11 casinos and casinos raked in 217.7 million in revenue in March. That break broke a monthly record for the third consecutive time, and it beat March of last year by 1.4 million.

So first quarter revenue for ours and casinos are just over 611 million. Um, thes raked in the seven Recinos, which just have slots. They broke about, even compared to last March, 122.7 million. The four casinos got 95 million in revenues from slots and table games. That’s up 1.7 million. So gambling [00:28:00] revenue in Ohio has increased.

Every year except for 2020. And the pandemic was, you know, the reason for that. And revenue equals the money that is kept by the, by the houses after paying out winners. But this is before state taxes and fees.

[00:28:15] Chris: I have been driven by the Recinos in a while, but I imagine that it’s a sea of parked cars because to rake in that kind of money, People have gotta be going there in huge numbers.

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And I just, who are these people that have all this time to go

[00:28:30] Lisa: gamble? But, but interesting, and this is kind of an outlier. Jack Thistledown, uh, brought in 16.7 million from March. That’s actually down a million from last year. But they’re the only ones who had, you know, a, a decrease. And

[00:28:45] Chris: this is all happening while sports gambling where people can do it from their sofas has also exploded.

So we thought when sports gambling allowed people to start gambling from home would cut into this, but clearly not. Except maybe [00:29:00] in the thistle down. Clearly they’re complimentary, which I don’t know that anyone saw coming. It’s today in Ohio. We’ll leave it there. Thanks Courtney. Thanks Laura. Thanks Lisa.

Thanks to everybody who listens. We’ll be back talking about the news on Thursday.

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Cleveland, OH

City launches ‘Cleveland Moves’ initiative, seeks public input on 5-year transportation plan

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City launches ‘Cleveland Moves’ initiative, seeks public input on 5-year transportation plan


CLEVELAND, Ohio — The city of Cleveland is seeking public input and engagement on its ambitious five-year transportation initiative that aims to enhance the safety, comfort and convenience of walking, biking and using public transit across the city.

In a news release Friday, the city said it hopes to harness the feedback and build upon the multimodal transportation plan, dubbed “Cleveland Moves,” which includes five key components:



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Cleveland, OH

Orioles vs. Guardians Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Friday, August 2

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Orioles vs. Guardians Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Friday, August 2


Two powerhouse contenders are squaring off this weekend in Cleveland, part of a massive four-game series that is going to help answer some questions about what we may see come October. The Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians are well in contention for a championship and it takes center stage all weekend long.

The Orioles continue a titanic battle in the American League East with the Yankees at 65-45, while the Guardians continue to shine with a current league-best 66-42 record. Both teams have surprisingly impressed this season, especially the young but mighty Guardians. Here’s how to play this Friday matchup.

Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook

Run Line:

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Moneyline:

Total:

Colton Cowser: Part of the rich youth pool of talent, the Orioles may have found a true gem with Colton Cowser. The 24-year-old left fielder has extended his active hitting streak to 14 games, recording one in each game since the all-star break. His average has increased from .219 to .247 in that span, along with 4 home runs and 13 RBI. His hitting streak is tied for the 2nd most active one in all of the MLB, behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (14) and Ezequial Tovar (17). Cowser is making 2024 a memorable inaugural full season.

Jose Ramirez: There may not be anyone hitting the ball better right now across all of the MLB like Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez. He opened this series on Thursday with a 2-run blast, marking his 3rd consecutive game with a home run. Ramirez has a ridiculous ledger of 3 home runs and 8 RBI in his previous three games. His 28 home runs and 90 RBI this season place him in the top 10 across all players. He continues to provide the power on this feisty, young team. Ramirez is the offensive spark the Guardians must turn to in their run to the postseason.

This is an exciting change of pace to the normal juggernauts that we have seen through the years in baseball. While we don’t quite know if these two will be near the top of the standings in October, all that matters is that both are positioning themselves for it. A pair of unlikely division leaders are battling for a little summer glory in Cleveland.

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Dean Kremer takes the hill for the Orioles on Friday. A lot of uncertainty surrounds this start as he’s amassed mixed results for much of 2024. Currently at 4-7 with a 4.20 ERA, 73 strikeouts and 14 home runs allowed, it hasn’t been pretty but at least is passable. Kremer anchors the No. 4 spot in this rotation and has yet to find much consistency. Last time out on Saturday against San Diego, he tossed 6 innings, allowing 4 runs (1 earned), 7 hits, a walk and 7 strikeouts. The Orioles have not provided him the best run support lately, with the team being 2-5 in his last seven outings.

Carlos Carrasco holds the fort down for the Guardians in this one. It’s been a lackluster season with a 3-9 record, a 5.68 ERA and 79 strikeouts. The month of July was very unkind to him, allowing 19 earned runs and 6 home runs across a total of five starts. Carrasco additionally has allowed 6 runs in each of his prior two outings. He is currently 20th in all of the MLB in home runs allowed (17), but a lower walk rate with just 27 free passes allowed. The 37-year-old is clearly beginning to hit a decline, and likely will finish his career here where he has so many great memories.

Both teams certainly check a lot of marks offensively and Thursday’s 10-3 Guardians win backed that up. We have another pitching matchup that is not pretty, so it’s absolutely fair to expect a lot of offensive fireworks. The Orioles are superior on paper, ranking 1st in home runs per game, 4th in hits and 3rd in runs. 

That’s the way I lean with this prediction. I get the feeling both teams will feed off each other’s energy all weekend long, especially with a lot on the line in this series. I’ll happily back the total to go over 9 runs in Friday’s contest at -115 (FanDuel), especially with a pair of starters that have been less than ideal for most of the year. 

Pick: Orioles-Guardians OVER 9 Runs (-115)

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Note: Game odds are subject to change.



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Cleveland, OH

Northeast Ohio road construction: What new delays can driver’s expect?

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Northeast Ohio road construction: What new delays can driver’s expect?


CLEVELAND, Ohio — There will be plenty of overnight lane closures over the next several weeks for various construction projects in Northeast Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has released an updated list of lane closures and delays for Cuyahoga County and other regions.

I-90 westbound just east of Columbia Road will be in a bi-directional traffic pattern beginning Tuesday and continuing through September for bridge deck replacement. All lanes of traffic are maintained. However, one lane of westbound traffic will be maintained on the I-90 eastbound side separated by a concrete barrier wall. Two lanes of traffic are maintained on the existing westbound side using a lane shift.

U.S. 422 westbound ramp to I-271 northbound will be closed from 9 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday. The detour is I-480 westbound to Miles Road to I-271 north.

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Harvard Road entrance ramp to I-271 north will be closed from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Chagrin Road entrance ramp to I-271 north will be closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Chagrin Road entrance ramp to I-271 south will be closed at 8 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. Thursday.

Westway Drive over I-90 will be closed from Aug. 12 through mid-September for bridge repairs. The detour will utilize Wager Road

I-271 southbound ramp to U.S. 422 eastbound will be closed 8 p.m. Aug. 9 through 6 a.m. Aug. 12 for bridge repairs.

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The following closures will be in place each night from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Tuesday until Thursday for pavement work.

I-71 northbound to I-480 westbound. The detour is I-480 east to Tiedeman Road to I-480 west.

I-480 westbound to Ohio 237. The detour is Ohio 17 east to Ohio 237.

The following ramps will be closed for resurfacing from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night from Aug. 7 to Aug. 11. All ramps will not be closed at the same time.

Ohio 176 north ramp to I-90 east. The detour is I-490 east to I-77 north.

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I-90 east ramp to I-71 north. The detour is I-90 east to I-77 north.

I-90 east/I-490 west ramp to I-71 south. The detour is Ohio 176 south to Denison Avenue to Ohio 176 north to West 14th Street to I-71 south.

Ohio 700 just south of Tavern Road has been reduced to one lane maintained by a temporary traffic signal beginning through early September for culvert replacement.

Ohio 91 (SOM Center Road) between U.S. 20 and Ohio 2 has various lane restrictions through mid-September for bridge repairs.

U.S. 6 between Rockefeller Road and Bishop Road will be reduced to westbound traffic only beginning Aug. 10 through early September for resurfacing. The detour for eastbound traffic is Bishop Road to Eddy Road to Rockefeller Road.

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Ohio 615 between Andrews Road and Center Street has various nightly lane restrictions between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. through October.

I-277/U.S. 224 westbound between I-76/Kenmore Leg and I-77 will have various lane restrictions beginning Aug. 12.

I-277/U.S. 224 westbound between I-77 and I-76/Kenmore Leg will be closed from Aug. 19 through Aug. 28 for resurfacing. The detour will be I-77 northbound to I-76 westbound to I-76/Kenmore Leg.

Brush Road over Ohio I-77 will be closed beginning Aug. 14 through late August for bridge repairs. The detour is Brecksville Road to Boston Mills Road to Black Road.

Ohio 303 under I-77 will be closed between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. each night beginning Aug. 19 through Aug. 26 for bridge-beam placement. The detour is Brecksville Road to Wheatley Road to I-271.

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Ohio 303 eastbound under I-77 will be closed from Aug. 21 through late November for bridge construction. The detour is Brecksville Road to Wheatley Road to I-271.

The ramp from Glenwood Avenue to Ohio 8 southbound will be closed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily beginning Aug. 19 through late August. The detour is Glenwood Avenue to Howard Street to Tallmadge Avenue.



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