Ohio House’s craven vote guarantees more people will get lung cancer and die: Today in Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Ohio House this week steamrolled Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto on a state law preventing cities from setting their own restrictions on the sale of tobacco — particularly flavored products that are enticing to children.

State lawmakers are calling it a win for commerce in Ohio. We’re calling it a deadly move that will result in more people addicted to cigarettes, 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.

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:

Outrage number 1: The Ohio House went ahead and voted on something late Thursday that will guarantee more suffering and death for Ohioans, especially Black Ohioans, proving once again that they work for lobbyists, not us. What did they do?

Outrage number 2: The Cuyahoga Council abruptly called a special meeting Thursday to do something that County Executive Chris Ronayne repeatedly promised not to do without a vote of the people. What did they do, and how did they justify it?

Despite more than a month of bloviating, did Ohio lawmakers finish their work in 2023 without weakening, changing or crippling the marijuana legalization law that voters passed in a landslide in November? What’s ahead?

One more from the Legislature. Remember the initiative to create participatory budgeting in Cleveland? Remember how state senator Jerry Cirino, who has nothing to do with Cleveland, immediately proposed a law to stop the residents of cities from doing such things as participatory budgeting? Did the Legislature sneak this one through at the last minute?

Prosecutors had great catch phrases to open the trial of two East Cleveland cops accused of accepting bribes from an illegal dump operator. What were some of them?

We have another groundbreaking study on diabetes out of Cleveland. It has some major findings about something called Nitric Oxide. Lisa, you get to play a doctor on the podcast today. What is so important about this research?

What’s the latest direct flight travelers can get from Cleveland?

Pete Chakerian had an interview with the Corky and Lenny’s co-owner, which added a lot of detail to the discussion we had yesterday on the closure of the beloved restaurant. What did we learn?

Staying with the restaurant theme, which local ones are likely to get a boost from mentions on a popular podcast with a Cleveland Heights theme?

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

Chris (00:02.507)

The final Friday episode of the year, we will not have an episode next Friday. I’m not sure if we’ll have one on Thursday. So this is it. The final Friday episode of today in Ohio for 2023. And we saved up some good stuff to talk about. I’m Chris Quinn. I’m here with Lisa Garvin, Leila Tasi and Laura Johnston for the news podcast discussion and analysis from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. Let’s get to it, Laura. We got hot stuff to start this one.

This is outrage number one. The Ohio house went ahead and voted on something late Thursday that will guarantee more suffering and death for Ohioans, especially black Ohioans. Proving once again, they worked for the lobbyists, not us. I am just astounded they have gone through with this. What did they do?

laura (00:50.775)

Yeah, they’re like, Merry Christmas, kids. Have some cancer sticks. If you could be Grinch, I don’t think you could be worse off this time of year, even though one of these legislators called this a gift. So to be more specific, the Ohio House voted Wednesday to override this veto by Governor Mike DeWine that had nixed a proposal to block cities from setting stricter tobacco laws than the state has. And that’s because three cities had already banned flavored tobacco.

Chris (00:54.509)

Ha ha.

laura (01:19.991)

within their city limits and Cleveland was considering it. And so when the state house said, oh no, go ahead, they can do that, Mike DeWine vetoed that. He wanted to stand up for the cities for once, stand up for the kids. The flavored tobacco appeals to children and wouldn’t let them do that. Now they’ve got the votes to override that veto. It hasn’t gone to the Senate yet. That will likely be in early January.

If that happens, that means the state legislature is the final say in tobacco rules in this state. And I mean, what John Cross, he’s a Hardin County Republican. I could not pick out Hardin County on a map. He said the veto override was about saving jobs. He said, quote, we’re voting override the governor’s veto to simply keep Ohio open for business. In this holiday season, I cannot think of a better holiday gift, which is just so insane that could come out of your mouth.

Chris (02:12.679)

it. One, it’s not going to preserve a single job. There weren’t going to be any jobs lost because of this. But what they are doing will guarantee people suffer horrible people who get lung cancer. They don’t just die. They suffer for months and years leading up to their death. It is a horrible, horrible way to go. And they’re condemning it. These cities are trying to protect their children. They’re trying to stop people at a vulnerable age.

Lisa (02:14.698)

Oh dear.

laura (02:38.223)

Mm-hmm.

Chris (02:42.019)

from getting addicted to nicotine, which is devastating for health. That’s all they’re doing. And these guys are overriding a governor’s veto because they’re in the pocket of the cigarette industry. This isn’t about jobs, this is about the almighty dollar. I would argue there’s racism involved in this. They don’t care that black people are going to get sick and die in larger numbers. They just don’t. And so they’re willing to throw that to the curb to get some extra money. I just…

cynical as hell.

laura (03:13.075)

Yeah, I mean, House Minority Leader Alison Russo, she put out a statement. She said, this was a win for the tobacco lobby, pure and simple, not taking into account the health and safety of children. And I completely agree with her. What I was surprised by was that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, which we’ve lauded for having a fairly progressive view on childcare and the importance of that, put out a statement saying 100%, we back this.

Lisa (03:14.178)

minority leader Alison Russo, she put out a statement, she said that there’s a win for the tobacco lobby here in simple, not taking into account the health and safety of children. And I completely agree with her. What I was surprised by was that the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, which we’ve lauded for having a fairly progressive view on childcare, and the importance of that, put out a statement saying 100% to back this. They said local retailers have had to

laura (03:38.455)

They said, local retailers have had to weather the highest levels of inflation in 40 years. They already operate under razor thin profit margins. The average Ohio convenience store stands to lose tens of thousands of dollars from these bans. So, let’s be clear. You want the convenience stores to sell tobacco to children because that’s the only bans we’re talking about, selling tobacco to children, basically.

Lisa (03:44.292)

in the market. The average Ohio convenience store stands to lose tens of thousands of dollars from the ban. So let’s be clear. You want the convenience store to sell tobacco to children. That’s the only ban we’re talking about. Selling tobacco to children.

Chris (04:00.579)

Well, I look and that’s not true either. Look, I’m not surprised the Chamber of Commerce would be in the pocket of a big industry. That’s who they are. The legislators are supposed to represent the people. I don’t think there’s any better example of what a failure our government is than this vote. Every Republican, every single Republican, right, voted for this. Or were there a couple of holdouts?

laura (04:09.677)

Yeah.

laura (04:25.135)

I think there was one holdout, but let me check that.

Chris (04:28.059)

It’s just a stunning indictment of this government. They don’t care that people in Ohio are going to get sick and die in larger numbers because they’re getting their money from the tobacco industry. Every one of them. We should put all their pictures out there with their names. These are the people that voted to make sure more children get addicted to nicotine, get lung cancer, and die. That’s what that vote was.

laura (04:50.615)

We could do a whole spread inside, because there’s a whole lot of them.

Lisa (04:51.094)

the

Chris (04:54.531)

It’s amazing. I really, I thought they would back down on this. I thought that they would realize they couldn’t do it. Leila.

Leila (04:55.581)

And really when you think about the big, the big.

Leila (05:01.321)

When you think about the fuss that they’ve been making over cannabis just like trying to dismantle the What the will of the people over that issue and really so many people consume cannabis through gummies Gummies and things like that are I mean cigarettes are the absolute worst thing a person can do to their body my husband who works in the You know thoracic surgery unit at Cleveland Clinic is he comes back every day

Lisa (05:01.666)

Think about the fuss that they’ve been making over cannabis. Just like, trying to dismantle the…

laura (05:05.213)

Mm-hmm.

Chris (05:05.449)

Pfft

Lisa (05:11.078)

and I know that so many people consume cannabis through gummies, gummies and things like that are, I mean cigarettes are the absolute worst thing a person can do to their body. My husband works in the thoracic surgery unit at Plutonic, he comes back every day, don’t smoke kids, don’t know what I’ve seen today. And this is astounding that everything he does is so wrongly made about cannabis

Leila (05:29.045)

Don’t smoke kids, you don’t know what I’ve seen today. And I just, this is astounding that after all the fuss they make about cannabis that they would ram this through and say, oh, it’s a win for Ohio today.

laura (05:32.833)

Oh.

Lisa (05:40.354)

to win for Ohio team.

Chris (05:42.847)

And this is just about protecting the kids. I mean, that’s what the legislature is thwarting, is the ability of cities to protect children from the dastardly marketing of the sleazy tobacco companies. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Here’s outrage number two. The Cuyahoga County Council abruptly called a special meeting with almost no notice and no real idea what it was gonna be about.

Lisa (06:00.45)

listening to today in Ohio.

Chris (06:11.543)

to do something that County Executive Chris Ronane repeatedly promised not to do when he was campaigning for the job. What did they do and how did they justify it? Layla?

Leila (06:22.957)

The county council called a special meeting to push through Chris Rooney’s proposed legislation to extend the quarter percent sales tax for another 40 years to pay for a new jail and perhaps a new justice center. This tax would have otherwise expired 2027. It was passed back in 2007 to pay for construction of the Global Center for Health Innovation, you know, AKA Med Mart.

But after 2027, it will bring in about $52 million a year that presumably will be spent on the jail project. Though really, the county doesn’t have to spend it on that because of the way this legislation is written. The measure passed with a really deeply divided council. I’ll tell you who voted yes on it. Council President Parnell Jones, Patrick Kelly, Dale Miller, Marty Sweeney, Scott Tuma, and

Lisa (06:58.096)

on that because the way this legislation is written. The measure passed with a really deeply divided council. I’ll tell you who voted yes on it. Council President Grinnell Jones, Patrick Kelly, Dale Martin, I’m sorry, Dale Miller, Marty Sweeney, Scott Kumu, and Meredith Turner. There was a motion introduced at some point to put some guardrails around the plan to require a public vote. Councilwoman Sonny Simon was behind that effort. She and a handful of others wanted to let voters

Leila (07:15.745)

There was a motion introduced at some point to put some guardrails around this thing and to require a public vote. Councilwoman Sonny Simon was behind that effort. She and a handful of others wanted to let voters decide and wanted to build into the legislation a requirement that the money be used specifically for the jail and the justice center instead of just getting dumped into the county’s general fund. But that motion failed because some council members felt like pegging the money to a particular purpose.

Lisa (07:28.136)

I wanted to build this for my team, but you can do it probably with a couple of things. Specifically, for the job, the job is better instead of just getting the option to come and join us for it. But that will reveal.

Leila (07:43.569)

limits the county’s ability to think outside the box when it comes to criminal justice. Now, I mean, the elephant in the room here is Chris Ronane asking counsel to push this through. If he didn’t promise, he strongly implied on the campaign trail that he would not seek to do this without a vote of the people.

Chris (08:01.995)

No, let me stop you. Let me stop you. On the record with our stories, he strongly implied, but I’ve talked to a whole bunch of voters that said he looked them in the eye and promised. He knows what he said. The voters know what he said. He said this would go to a vote of the people, and he’s betraying that promise.

Leila (08:12.94)

Mmm.

Lisa (08:19.562)

and he criticized his predecessor, Armin Gubisch, for suggesting such a thing. He repeatedly said that…

Leila (08:19.761)

He criticized his predecessor, Armin Budish, for suggesting such a thing. He repeatedly said that times are tough for people and that he could not in good conscience extend the sales tax without making sure he had community support for it. Now these days he likes to split hairs and say he never came out and promised that he wouldn’t do it without a public vote and he likes to point to public hearings that have been held on this issue to claim that…

Lisa (08:30.378)

then the sales house without making sure we had community support for it.

Now these days he likes to split hairs and say he never came out and promised that he wouldn’t do it without a public vote. He likes to point to public hearings that have been held on this issue, but claim that hearing what people have to say counts as getting public input. Even if you decide that what the public thinks won’t change the outcome at all. It checks the box for Ronan and scrubs his conscience clean on this one. But if you want to go back and look at your quotes and tweets, he’s really playing semantic games.

Leila (08:46.293)

Hearing what people had to say counts as getting public input, even if you decide that what the public thinks won’t change the outcome at all. It checks the box for Ronane and scrubs his conscience clean on this one. But I mean, bro, go back and look at your quotes and tweets. He’s really playing semantic games.

Chris (09:00.989)

Lee Weingart predicted this. His opponent in the election predicted this is exactly what he would do. What I don’t get is why he’s not doing the right thing. If he ultimately has decided he was wrong in how he campaigned and that the council and the Norman Budish were right, why not come out and say it? Why not show humility and say, look, I shouldn’t have made that promise. I apologize for going back against it.

but we’ve got to take care of the people in the jail. None of that. You’re not seeing any of that humility. He’s just trying to pretend he didn’t promise it when everybody knows he’s on the record as saying this would go to a vote of the people. That’s what Sonny Simon’s pushing here. She was trying to get the guard rails in to make him live up to what he said. And I actually salute her for it. I’m not really holding it against the council that they voted for it because there is no other way to pay for the jail.

It’s about Chris Romain going back on what he campaigned. I do think it’s very sleazy, beyond sleazy, that the council threw this onto the agenda with almost no notice. There was no public comment. There was no chance for people to say, wait a minute, what are you doing? And they ram it through in this very, very close vote. They should have postponed this vote. They didn’t need to do this today, and they should have allowed the public to have it say before they snuck it through.

Leila (10:21.718)

It’s a classic government move, right? I mean, it’s just, it’s infuriating.

Chris (10:26.907)

I don’t know. Didn’t we expect more from our government when we changed the charter? I certainly expected more integrity from Chris Ronane. I mean, this guy just is not what we thought he’d be. It’s terrible. Look, I guarantee you, if you put it on the ballot tomorrow, let’s abolish the charter, go back to the County Commission for him. It would pass. It would pass big because people are disgusted with what’s happened here. This is just latest evidence. It’s a tax increase. This isn’t an extension of a tax. This is more taxes.

that will pay because if they didn’t do this our tax bill would have gone down in three years.

Leila (11:01.857)

You know, I think back to when Chris Roon, the last time Chris Roonane appeared before the editorial board, we were asking him about this and he still was stutter stepping around it and saying, well, it’s going to take some consensus building and blah, all these buzzwords. Not a day or two later, he introduced this legislation. Remember that? He had it already drafted, ready to go.

Chris (11:17.215)

I’m sorry.

Chris (11:24.84)

Yeah, right, right. He’s a weasel. I’ve had people ask me, do you think he’s doing a better job than Armin Budish? Which you would think is an almost, it should have an automatic answer, right? Well, no, nobody could be as bad as Armin Budish. I don’t know. I think maybe so. He’s making you miss Armin Budish as county executive. What have we become?

laura (11:48.039)

I think it’s funny that we were really worried about what the state house was going to drop at the very end of 2023, and this one just came out of the blue.

Chris (11:55.571)

Yeah, it’s just it’s such it’s such an abomination and the people that are against building a new jail. They think we should just let everybody go free. It’s a bizarre group. But they’re right in being critical of how sleazy this is because it is sleazy. We had no idea this was coming. There was an item on the that there was a agenda that showed there was a meeting with nothing on it until the last minute. And then they ram it through. These are our elected officials. So I want to point out.

first story we talked about, we’re talking about the Republicans, second story we’re talking about the Democrats, we’re not biased in the way we look at sleazy government officials. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Despite more than a month of bloviating, did Ohio lawmakers finish their work in 2023 without weakening, changing, or crippling the marijuana legalization law that voters passed in a landslide last month? Lisa, what’s ahead?

Lisa (12:37.334)

More than a month of bloating.

Lisa (12:51.618)

Yeah, there were no votes today on proposed changes in the Ohio House on Senate Bill 86, which was an amended alcohol regulation bill. They added things that would allow immediate purchase from existing medical dispensaries when the law takes effect, if it’s signed, and they want to do that to deter the black market filling in while they get rules and regulations in place.

limits plants to six per household, a 15% tax, and then funding for criminal record expungement. And then the limits would be 35% flower and 50% for extracts. DeWine supports this bill, but there’s one working its way through the House that’s still in committee though. House Bill 354, they want to change how the tax revenue is distributed. And we’ve gone back and forth on…

how they want the money to go. They want more money for law enforcement training. At one point they wanted to put almost half into the general fund, although that’s dead. But they also said that marijuana businesses can advertise on outdoor billboards subject to similar alcohol and tobacco, you know, rule, ads for rules there, like not near schools and churches and so on. So nothing going on. So…

Everything that was in the initiated statute is legal right now. Up to 12 plants per household, up to two and a half ounces in your possession and a tenth of an ounce of extract.

Chris (14:15.123)

I do think that there was, nobody’s admitting this, I think there was some polling done and legislators realized how angry Ohio voters were getting about the immediate reaction from the legislature to the votes of the people and to somehow subvert it. I’m still hearing from people about this. They just can’t believe that the people turn out in large numbers to vote and immediately these lawmakers decide, you know what, I don’t care what you think, I’m going to do what I want. They haven’t.

They were heading into the new year, like you said, with the bill intact as it was voted on. It likely will get some minor amendments in the new year, but I just don’t see them gutting it because they know how angry the voters are. So.

Lisa (14:57.802)

Well, in House Bill 354 sounds more sensible. It really leaves the original statute that we voted on untouched, except for where the money goes. So, you know, but DeWine is supporting the Senate bill. So it’ll be interesting to see how the both chambers reconcile it.

Chris (15:13.975)

Yeah, it will. It will. Something to look forward to. We’ll be talking about it in the new year. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We got one more from the legislature. Remember that initiative to create participatory budgeting in Cleveland that went to the voters? And remember how state Senator Jerry Serino, who has absolutely nothing to do with Cleveland, immediately proposed a law to stop residents of cities from doing such things as participatory budgeting? Layla?

Did the legislature sneak this one through at the last minute?

Leila (15:46.021)

Yeah, I think they did, Chris. The Ohio Senate and House passed Senate Bill 91 on Thursday, which contains Sereno’s legislation to guarantee that a local city council can maintain control over its budget and protect its appropriation power from the evil citizens who want to say on how their tax dollars get spent. How dare they? In a news release, Sereno said the bill protects the budgeting powers of municipalities and their statutory authority to make financial decisions.

He specifically mentions issue 38 in Cleveland. That was the proposed charter change that voters rejected here that sought to give the people of Cleveland control over 2% of the city’s general fund through that process known as participatory budgeting. For the record, 2% of the general fund is something like $14 million, and that’s a lot. So, you know, had issue 38 passed, there would have been a steering committee formed to collect ideas from the public on where the money should be invested.

would be a voting process to choose the best projects to fund. Many people, including Mayor Justin Bibb and some members of city council, initially loved the principles of participatory budgeting when it was first being discussed. But when city council rejected what was in hindsight a pretty modest request to fund it as a pilot project, there was an uprising. They put it on the ballot as a charter amendment that would have forced it down the city’s throat in a very big way.

And like I said, to the tune of $14 million, Bib couldn’t stand behind that level of impact to the city’s budget and the voters ultimately rejected it too. Now the million dollar question is, what the heck does Jerry Serino got to do with it? I mean nothing at all. He doesn’t even represent Cleveland. He said he introduced the bill after hearing concerns from local trade unions and he hadn’t even talked to Justin Bib about it. And I’m not sure if he said as much, but I assume Bib would not.

want this bill even though he

Chris (17:40.647)

No, he didn’t. The city testified against this bill.

Leila (17:43.421)

He, okay. He, I mean, it’s another example of the undermining of home rule authority. It’s awful.

Chris (17:50.211)

Oh, it’s more than that. Jerry Serino doesn’t want the people making decisions for themselves. He wants the Lord over them and tell them what to do. That’s what this was. He saw a community thinking about changing the way it goes about budgeting, a self-governing community thinking about it. Ultimately, they rejected it because it didn’t work for them. He doesn’t want anybody to have that decision-making ability. He wants to tell them how it’s going to be. It’s similar to the reaction

the legislators had when voters approved abortion and marijuana. It was this automatic, who the hell do you think you are voters? You don’t decide how it is. We decide how it is. Jerry Serino bigfooted a Cleveland issue that he has nothing to do with. I hope somebody runs against this guy. He’s up for reelection next year. Be great if he got primaried. But I hope somebody legitimate runs against him because he is just one dangerous lawmaker.

Leila (18:44.641)

Here’s one question I have about this. What if the city eventually wants to try participatory budgeting on a smaller scale with a smaller pot of money? Does this prevent that from happening or can cities still allocate a sum of money for citizens to determine how to spend it and that wouldn’t run afoul of the state law? I’m assuming that would be okay because it would be a matter of city council allocating the money for that purpose the way they would for any other purpose, right? By ordinance.

Chris (19:10.775)

Yeah, I think, I think, yes, I think if city council wanted to do it, there’s probably some methods they could do it. That would not be in direct violation of this law. What Jerry Serino has done is prevented the citizens of Cleveland from self governing. That that’s what this is. It’s plain and simple. You’re not allowed to change your charter to change the way you budget. We’re telling you how you have to do it. And

The bill’s gone to the governor, who likely will sign it because he signs them all. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Prosecutors had some great catchphrases to open the trial of two East Cleveland cops accused of accepting bribes from an illegal dump operator. Why, what were some of them?

laura (19:58.079)

Well, Corey Schaeffer captured this right of the way at the top of his story from the opening of this trial. And Kyga County Assistant Prosecutor Greg Musman said during the opening statements, there’s a right way and there’s a wrong way and there’s the East Cleveland way. That’s when you know what you’re doing is wrong, but you don’t think you’re going to get caught, which you could say probably about a whole lot of cops in the East Cleveland police force. But for this specific trial…

Prosecutors aim to show that two former East Cleveland police officers took bribes from this illegal dump operator and Show the depth of corruption that tore through this city Which we have talked about repeatedly with the corruption including police chases through the city and cops shaking down people they pulled over

Lisa (20:30.942)

show the depth of corruption that tools the city, which we have talked about repeatedly with the corruption, including police chases to the city and tough shaking down political motions.

Chris (20:43.667)

Yeah, it was the prosecutors seem to have a good bit of evidence on their hands so they can be somewhat flipping in their opening remarks because they sound like they’re pretty confident. I’m a little bit surprised this is going to trial and that there wasn’t a plea agreement.

laura (20:53.823)

Yeah. So the, I mean, the defense, and we’re talking about George Michael Riley here was the owner of the dump. I don’t believe he’s charged in this and operated this Arco waste facility with huge problems. They say that the FBI manufactured this case because Mike Riley needed an out. So, hey, you know, we’ll let you go if you get us proof that these are corrupt cops. So there,

police officers are trying to prove that there really was no corruption and it was just manufactured.

Chris (21:29.719)

All right, well, soon we’ll have a verdict. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We have another groundbreaking study on diabetes out of Cleveland, and it has some major findings about something called nitric oxide. Lisa, you get to play doctor on the podcast today. What’s so important about this research?

Lisa (21:48.106)

Yeah, this is fascinating. And actually I worked at a place where there was a Nobel Prize winner in 1998, whose nitric oxide research led to Viagra. But anyway, they’ve discovered, Case Western Reserve University and University hospitals researchers have discovered an enzyme that attaches nitric oxide or NO to insulin receptors. They’ve named it SCAN. That’s an acronym for a very long name, but they find that if this

scan enzyme is blocked or reduced in diabetes patients, it could be a very major treatment breakthrough. So it’s believed that NO, which dilates blood vessels and fights infection among other things, causes many diseases when too much of it binds to proteins and receptors on the cells that are involved with these diseases. So lead author, Jonathan Stamler, with UH’s Harrington Discovery Institute says,

Lisa (22:45.678)

Too much enzyme causes diabetes, but the case for many enzymes could lead to new treatments for many other diseases as well. So this could be a keystone discovery. In their tests, in their research, they had diabetic mice that produced too much scan enzyme. When the mice could not produce that enzyme, they were completely protected from diabetes. So the next step for researchers is to develop meds that would block scan in human trials. This is really fascinating.

Chris (23:15.395)

Yeah, because wouldn’t if it worked, it would alleviate the need for people to be constantly shooting up with insulin, right? I mean, this is this would be groundbreaking.

Lisa (23:24.43)

And as you said, as we talked about another thing early about sugar, was it sugar and diabetes? And this is something that you don’t have to develop, but it’s not gonna be hard to develop a drug for this. So yeah.

Chris (23:29.678)

Yeah, sugar to there.

Chris (23:38.791)

Yeah, I have really dramatic headline popping across the website today. And again, Cleveland research leading the world. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Here’s a quick one. Layla, what’s the latest direct flight travelers can get from Cleveland? And we’re going to want to take it to get away from all our lousy politicians.

Leila (23:56.253)

I know. The latest destination is Jamaica. Frontier Airlines is adding nonstop service between Cleveland and Montego Bay, Jamaica running three times a week, beginning in March. It’s been 20 years since a carrier at Hopkins has offered service to Jamaica, but it’s Frontier’s third international destination from our region and their 18th nonstop destination from Cleveland. That’s more than any other carrier. Susan Glaser tells us that we might be able to expect more.

nonstop routes from Frontier on account of their recent announcement that they’ll be establishing a crew base in Cleveland with 400 employees, including pilots and flight attendants and aircraft maintenance workers. Jamaica is the third most visited island in the Caribbean behind the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. And Montigopay is particularly popular on the island. Frontier already flies from Cleveland to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as Cancun in Mexico.

and it seems to be working out for them. They say more than 400 people a day travel from Hopkins to the Caribbean.

Lisa (24:57.43)

more than 400 people a day.

Chris (25:02.163)

Well, if we eventually experience some winter because we haven’t yet, maybe people will be thinking of heading off to the warm weather. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Pete Shikarian had an interview with the quirky and Lenny’s co-founder, which added a whole lot of detail to the discussion we had a couple of days ago about the closure of the beloved restaurant. Lisa, turning to you again, what did we learn?

Lisa (25:25.31)

Yeah, we talked with co-owner Amanda Kurland, who owned Corky and Lenny’s with her husband Kenny. This was an exclusive interview with PlaneDealer in Cleveland.com. But she said that my husband Kenny is a machine. He does 90% of the prep and the trays that go out. She said they were still making money, but he should have let go a year ago for his physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. He was working seven days a week. And she said, this week,

He woke me up at four o’clock in the morning and said, that’s it, I’m done. He told employees to put a closed sign on the door. And she said, at that point, I knew that he really meant it this time. And she said that Kenny really needs a mental refresher. They have been trying to get a sale. They’ve had several potential buyers and partners that they’ve talked to, but all of it has fallen through.

She says it will be a while, but they may reopen in a new form, certainly not as big or that, and they have that huge menu. She said they had considered a small grocery store renovation focusing on takeout, similar to the Galoochies on Euclid, but they have a liquor license that’s never been fully utilized. And so they really hope that this will attract a buyer or a partner so they can reopen.

Chris (26:39.671)

That idea of sitting bolt upright at 4 a.m. and coming to a major conclusion about your life’s direction, I wonder how many people have experienced that. I think something must happen as you’re sleeping where at that time in the night, clarity of thought jumps into your head and decisions get made.

Lisa (26:57.534)

And it sounds like from what she said that, you know, he’s probably considered it before, you know, a year ago he was getting tired. But yeah, he just, I guess you just hit that wall and it’s like, okay, that’s it.

Chris (27:08.755)

Yeah, it’s a good interview. I’m glad that she sat down to talk about it. And it was fascinating that shot right back up to the top of our story charts with people reading it in large numbers. You’re listening to Today in Ohio, and we’re going to stay with the restaurant theme for the final story. Which local ones, Laura, are likely to get a boost for mentions on a popular podcast with a Cleveland Heights theme?

laura (27:34.771)

Well, I guess we know where Travis Kelce will take Taylor Swift if he ever shows her his old neighborhood because he and his brother reminisced about their favorite spots on their podcast. So, like LeBron James, the Kelce brothers are huge fans of Swenson’s that did not exist at University Heights when I lived there, but it’s been there for quite a while now. They like Town Hall, they like Giorgio’s Pizza, and the iconic Italian restaurant, Gerace’s, right there in Warrensville.

Chris (27:39.299)

the

laura (28:03.839)

He says, neither one of us live there in 20 years. That’s Travis. But we need to get back over there. It’s been too long. I wholeheartedly agree. And Travis said he only traveled to the west side from the Heights to play hockey at Winterhurst in Lakewood, which I didn’t know he played hockey. So that was a fun fact in the story from Alex Daris.

Lisa (28:15.702)

play hockey at Winterhurst in Lakewood, which I didn’t know

Chris (28:23.547)

Has Town Hall been in there for 20 years? When they said they haven’t been back for 20 years, I’m thinking, well, how can you like Town Hall? But maybe I’m mistaken.

laura (28:30.183)

No, that’s a good point. You’re right, because it didn’t exist when I moved back to town in 2017 or 20 2007. So maybe He graduated what in like oh eight from high school

Lisa (28:30.294)

No, that’s a good point. You’re right.

Leila (28:38.345)

How old is he? He’s how old?

Chris (28:38.666)

Yeah.

Chris (28:44.819)

Yeah, but he said he said they hadn’t been back to 20 years. So I was just so surprised that Swenson’s in town hall. Geraises has been here forever and they he raved about Geraises.

Leila (28:45.976)

Okay.

Lisa (28:46.784)

Mm-hmm.

laura (28:50.167)

But you-

laura (28:54.443)

We have a picture of him throwing out a pitch earlier this year. I think it was earlier this year. If not, it was last season for the Guardians. So he’s been back in town, but I guess maybe he meant we haven’t lived there for 20 years. But he’s also really rounding up because he graduated from high school 15 years ago.

Lisa (29:03.618)

So he’s been back in town, but I guess maybe we haven’t lived there.

Leila (29:11.811)

Yeah. So, well, you know, football players aren’t great at math, I guess.

Chris (29:12.615)

Yeah, right.

Ha ha.

Lisa (29:16.594)

Well, well, and his mom is still here. Yeah, his mom is still here, so I’m sure he comes to visit her. Oh, she’s not. Oh, I didn’t know that. Oh.

laura (29:18.371)

Too many, too many hits.

Chris (29:22.567)

No, no, they sold their house. Yeah, they sold their house. They used to live two or three blocks away. My daughter was in the same class through school as Travis. So they that house sold a few years back. They were still here. What for the first Super Bowl win, right? I think but I think they sold it since anyway, cool. It’s cool that they’re this thing is a very popular podcast. These guys are pretty charismatic, I guess on it. And

laura (29:49.731)

They are. I was just gonna say I’ve seen it.

Chris (29:52.007)

And for them to be shouting out all of these great Cleveland heights and local restaurants, it’s sure to bring help. And I’m sure, Laura, that you’re hoping that this affinity for Northeast Ohio will bring Taylor Swift back at least a few more times.

laura (30:06.583)

He was wearing a Cavs jersey on this podcast, right? I think he’s doing great things for Cleveland. And this podcast is getting listened to because of people’s affinity for Taylor Swift. My sister posted on Facebook about it. I guess there was the documentary for, I think it was on Netflix, right, for Jason Kelsey. And they were making fun of what he wore to the premiere. He wore flip flops and a pair of shorts. And Travis was rousing him. And he’s like, why did you wear that? And he’s like, well.

Kylie, his wife, she forgot to bring me my jeans. And like they have three little kids and Jason, or Travis was like, why didn’t Jason remember Jason’s jeans? So like it’s getting a much larger follower following than you would think for like two football players talking to each other.

Lisa (30:46.246)

It’s getting a much…

Leila (30:53.173)

Maybe Taylor Swift will give this podcast some love. Come on, Taylor.

Chris (30:56.527)

Yeah. Okay. We’ll leave it there. That’s it for the week of news on today in Ohio. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, everybody who listens. We’ll be back Monday.

Lisa (30:57.258)

Oh, yeah.

laura (30:57.654)

I’m sorry.