When will Ohio Republicans finally disavow Donald Trump for trying to overthrow the government? Today in Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Former President Donald Trump has been indicted, again, this time for trying to deprive Americans’ rights of a free election.

We’re talking about how Ohio Republicans still think he should be president — and how Issue 1 would deprive Ohioans’ rights — on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

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:

Who is behind the fake newspaper called the Buckeye Reporter, which is aimed at persuading people to vote for Issue 1?

The big news from Tuesday was not local. The indictment of a former president for illegally trying to overthrow an election is about as big a story as it gets. But it has parallels to a local story, Issue 1. Laura, let’s talk about the connections.

Why is Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb cracking down on homeless people at the airport?

Why are people around the globe so exorcised over the dress code at Ken Stewart’s Grille in Akron?

Sometimes, there really are consequences to actions. Highland Tavern in Akron keeps trying to get its liquor permit back for violating limits on hours of operation set because of the pandemic. Is the Ohio Supreme Court helping out?

Cuyahoga County Council has been expressing a lot of reservations about Chris Ronayne’s Garfield Heights jail plan. They talked about it again Tuesday. What did they say this time?

Let’s talk milkweed, which has become a constant topic on social media. Gardening columnist Susan Brownstein has some, and she says she is seeing the results she hoped for. What do people who grow milkweed want?

What is up with the Boston Heights police chief, who was arrested in Florida last week?

We finally know what Cedar Point is doing about the much-loved Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster, which closed two years ago. What are the details?

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

[00:00:00] Chris: How many times will Donald Trump be the subject of an unprecedented news story as he is today? It is one of the subjects we’ll be discussing on today in Ohio, the news podcast. Discussion from cleveland.com and the plane dealer. I’m Chris Quinn. I’m here with Lisa Garvin, Laura Johnston and Courtney Alfi.

We have some issue one to talk about. We have some other politics to talk about. Let’s begin. Lisa, who is behind the fake newspaper called the Buckeye Reporter, which is showing up in mailboxes throughout Ohio and is aimed at persuading to people vote. To vote for the awful sinister democracy crushing issue one.

Yeah, the

[00:00:43] Lisa: Buckeye Reporter landed in a bunch of mailboxes, unsolicited Democrats and Republicans alike received this paper. It’s eight pages. It looks just like a regular newspaper, just like your plane dealer, and it included articles that supporting issue one, but it also painted issue one opponent [00:01:00] says Commies and L G B T Q Allies.

And a note from the publisher says the mailer is an inaugural. Print version of a three-year-old online publication, which is owned by Metric Media. So Metric Media has launched hundreds of locally branded websites promoting G O P candidates and causes during election cycles. Um, it’s associated with former TV journalist Brian Tempy and the New York Times described Tim in media metrics or metric media as.

A pay to play network. So the Protect Our Constitution group, which is supporting issue one, they’re paying to promote, uh, the Buckeye reporter on Facebook according to their ad transparency page, but they have no comment on that. But the director of Red Wine and Blue. Katie Paris, who has been targeted by this Buckeye reporter and Metric media.

She says they published a false mission statement for red wine and blue, and she said they have to invent a [00:02:00] newspaper to distribute their lies because they’re quickly losing support.

[00:02:04] Chris: The look I, you would hope that people would get this junk in their mailbox, see it for the junk mail it is, and not give it any credibility.

They keep doing it. So maybe it has some success. I mean, there is a general feeling that issue one is going down, but maybe all of this kind of stuff in the last weeks undermines that. I don’t know.

[00:02:26] Lisa: It seems desperate to me. I mean, and, and I hate to say this because we work for print journalism, but why would an online group all of a sudden produce a print newspaper?

That strikes me as odd, but I just can’t

[00:02:38] Chris: see anybody who gets this not seeing through the, it’s just. Propaganda nonsense. I mean, newspapers aren’t free. People just don’t send you newspapers suddenly. And I, I can’t imagine people are gonna see this as a, as a real thing. And they’re sending it in counties like ours where, you know, there’s, you’re just not gonna win over voters here.

[00:03:00] People in Cuyahoga County have had the benefit of our reporting, and they understand just how atrocious this move is by the Secretary of State to take away the power of the vote. I don’t know. So if you get it, throw it away or line your birdcage with it. It’s not real news. You’re listening to Real News.

It’s today in Ohio. The big news from Tuesday was not local. The indictment of a former president for illegally trying to overthrow an election and in effect, The entire government of the country is about as big a story as it gets, but it has parallels to a local story in issue one, and we have a lot of Ohio politicians that continue to pledge feely to Donald Trump.

Laura, let’s talk about this today.

[00:03:45] Laura: This is the third indictment for federal pros for Fed former President Donald Trump. Federal prosecutors are saying he’s determined to remain in power, uh, conspiracies that targeted a bedrock function of the United States Federal government, and that is [00:04:00] collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election.

So this goes to the heart of the last presidential election when he. Told all his supporters that the election was stolen and for how many months when after, uh, boards of elections and anyone he could try to get to, to try and say this wasn’t a real election, that he was still really in, in power. 45 pages, four counts, three distinct conspiracies saying he conspired to defraud the United States, disrupt in its official proceeding and conspire against people’s rights.

[00:04:33] Chris: Look, we all saw this in real time. We saw all the maneuvering he did to try and claim it was a false election, which was disproven every single time by the weight of evidence. We saw what he did on January 6th where he tried to overthrow the government of the United States while he was president. No one ever done that before we, everybody could see it.

And the only way you don’t see it is if you’re trying to blindly be [00:05:00] partisan. In Ohio, we have a whole bunch of politicians who have remained blindly loyal to a guy who is going to be proven to be an official criminal. Bernie Moreno is seeking his endorsement to run for Senate. Frank LaRose, the creator of Issue one, which has parallels here, went to New Jersey two weeks ago to endorse Trump for president.

In the next round and to have dinner with him. How can Ohio continue to stand behind politicians that back, A guy who tried to overthrow our government? It’s,

[00:05:34] Laura: it’s troubling to me that he’s the front runner for the 2024 Trump or 2024 presidential election for Republicans that that many people want him to run again and to be president again.

And you’ve got Jim Jordan saying, when you drain the swamp, the swamp finds. Fights back. President Trump did nothing wrong. It’s, it’s like they’re seeing the world through a very different lens than we do. And, and they just don’t believe any of the [00:06:00] facts that are coming out. No.

[00:06:01] Chris: I, I, I see. I don’t, I don’t buy the, they’re looking through a different lens.

Be the, the, the, the facts could not be more clear. It’s all been out there. The January 6th commission pulled it all out. The facts are clear. Yeah. He did criminality. Jim Jordan is just telling a flat out lie. He’s, it’s like we’re back in a fascist time where you’re just gonna say, forget the truth. I’m telling you what the truth is.

Although, Lisa, you said before the podcast, you think some politicians might finally start to stand mute and peel

[00:06:31] Lisa: away. I think this might be the tipping point. And let’s not forget, I think there’s still a case in Georgia, in Florida that Florida may come to light, you know, so, you know, these things are, are, are mounting and, and the, as you said, the evidence, you know, is really kind of, I mean, I think a third grader could figure it out, but I.

Jim Jordan obviously jumped out there first. There are six Unindicted co-conspirators in this case. They haven’t been named yet, but Jim Jordan could very well be one of [00:07:00] them. So I think those that death protest the most are the ones who have the most to lose As these indictments roll out, I.

[00:07:07] Chris: I just, I can’t believe there are people that aren’t believing their eyes.

Uh, the, it’s all there. Th this is incontrovertible. This isn’t a debate. This was there. And to deny it is to deny the truth. Let, let’s talk about, you know, he, he was trying to steal the election. Mm-hmm. He was basically trying to take power away from the voters. That’s what issue one is. Issue one is just doing it legally.

The the issue one is trying to take away the power of our vote in Ohio, but they’re trying to convince us to do it with lies about it protecting the constitution. It’s not a surprise to me that the guy behind this move. Also in New Jersey, having dinner with Donald Trump and endorsing him for president, it’s all part and parcel of the same thing to take over the country or the state and [00:08:00] take away all the power from the voters.

You’re

[00:08:02] Laura: right in that it’s this blatant lie, this double speak, right? Because when elect when Trump was trying to steal the election, he used the phrase Stop the steal when they are trying to get rid of majority rule in Ohio. In the Constitution, they say, protect our constitution. It’s the exact opposite of what they’re trying to do.

And they use words and, and it’s like, you’re right, it’s not a lens, but it’s like an alternate reality of truth that they believe anything that one side says is wrong and. Or just trying to twist it around.

[00:08:37] Chris: They’re denying what’s right before them and, and, and pedaling the fiction. When do the shades fall from their eyes and they say, geez, what am I doing?

I’m supporting a tyrant. A would be dictator that wants to end democracy in the country and rule for life. That’s what this is about. This is, I mean, everything they did was aimed at taking away the power of the [00:09:00] voter and taken over the country. And they’re trying to do it again.

[00:09:03] Lisa: But you know, they, you know, Trump says that he’s fighting for them.

And so, you know, they think that they’re gonna get all these riches and rewards if he becomes president again. But quite frankly, it’s gonna be the Trump Revenge Tour 2.0. There’s not gonna be any legislating going on. He’s gonna go after his

[00:09:21] Chris: enemies. Oh, I know. And he will try to establish the, the dictatorship that, that he wants and he’ll have people like Jim Jordan standing behind him there.

These people ran for office, took a swore an oath to support the Constitution, and they’re violating it every day. They support a guy who tried to destroy it. So it’s not a local story except it is. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Courtney, why is Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb cracking down on homeless people at the airport?

[00:09:51] Courtney: Well, the answer I got from the airport yesterday is mostly around safety and security, but I, I will say, the answers I got [00:10:00] didn’t. Didn’t compute. They were, they felt a little weak to me, to be honest. Um, you know, the airport has starting Monday, posted these no trespassing signs in the arrival and departure areas.

They’re also posted down where if you take the train in from downtown to get to the airport, I. The area where you walk through there and, and down there there was an audio message like warning people not to trespass, and that only people with legitimate airport business are allowed at the airport. Now, when I asked the airport about.

This change, this apparent change in policy and these new measures. They, they went out of their way to repeatedly say, this is not about, you know, homeless folks. They, it’s about anybody. It’s about anybody who’s at the airport without legitimate airport business. So, great pains to say it wasn’t. You know, a measure aimed directly at the homeless.

But you know, when I press for specifics [00:11:00] to say, okay, well what are these, you know, complaints or comments you’ve been hearing from folks that led you to enact this new policy? He named a myriad of things, including aggressive panhandling, but also, you know, damage to vehicles, thefts, assaults. There was a mention of teens causing mischief, cars being damaged out in the garage.

So the airport saying this is just aimed at. Anyone, I guess, causing issues that concern visitors to the airport who, who aren’t supposed to be there?

[00:11:31] Chris: Well, the complaints out there have been mounting. There has been more aggressive panhandling. One of the people who subscribed to my daily text messages sent a note suggesting that, look, they spend a lot of time riding on R T A trains because they’re safe and they’re temperature controlled, and that goes to the airport.

So maybe that’s how they started getting off there, but, You can’t have. It is a gateway to Cleveland business people, visitors, they come through the airport. If their first experience is to [00:12:00] get aggressively panhandled, it’s not a good message. So the airport needs to make sure that it is a welcoming place.

What you don’t see is the other side of the equation, okay? You’re gonna throw the, the homeless people out of the airport. What are you doing to help them get safe shelter? Right? And I didn’t see anything about that. I just saw we’re kicking ‘

[00:12:22] Courtney: em out. Right? And, and that was one of the explicit questions I sent to the airport spokesperson and mayor Bib spokesperson to understand, are you doing street outreach?

Are you trying to connect folks with services and you know, medical care or social workers, or you just threaten them with arrest and sending them on their way. To be dealt with or not dealt with later, I guess. And they didn’t answer that question. They didn’t tell me anything there. But I did talk to the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.

The executive director there, Chris Ne Tric, said, that’s really what you need to be looking at in situations like this. You’ve gotta [00:13:00] make sure you’ve got outreach in place to help folks and connect them with what they need here. And like I said, the city didn’t explain if they have any plans to do that.

Here. I, I think it’s. I think it is interesting though, one thing Nester told me that didn’t quite make it into my story last night is, is just how there have been locations in our community where homeless people have sought shelter or you know, sought to stay. And a lot of those places he said have been developed in recent years.

You mentioned somewhere down in the flats by Irishtown Bend, so maybe you know, folks. Folks need somewhere to be, there are shelter resistant folks. Mm-hmm. Who for reasons of trauma and other reasons don’t feel comfy going to the, to the homeless shelter. So, you know, tric really just hammered home the importance of, you know, we need to get these people housed and, and serviced, not necessarily just threatening them with arrest.

[00:13:55] Lisa: But isn’t it true though, that, I don’t know if it’s true in Cleveland, but homeless shelters don’t [00:14:00] allow drugs or drug use, so you know that that knocks a whole bunch of homeless people out of outta shelters.

[00:14:07] Chris: Yeah, I think, I think you’re correct. Um, look, I, like I said, you, you, the airport’s not designed for as a homeless shelter.

It’s not what it’s there for. And you do want people as they come into the city to feel it’s a welcoming place. It would’ve been nice to see the second prong, this is how we’re going to. Deal with this. We’re taking a new look. We haven’t really looked at the homeless situation in Cleveland in a while.

We’ve been preoccupied with things like issue one in the pandemic, but we’re going to do an assessment of where things stand because a few years ago they were talking about solving this problem for good by, by finding a way to house them. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Lisa, why are people around the globe so exercised over the dress code at Ken Stewart’s Grill in

[00:14:52] Lisa: Akron?

Because people want any stupid thing to be offended by. This is ridiculous. So Ken Stewart’s [00:15:00] Grill in Akron, they published a dress code reminder on their Facebook page. Recently they said that, you know, we, and. For us, an upscale dress code for our dinner service, and people took issue with it and it’s racked up 1400 comments and counting on that post.

So the dress code, they don’t allow beach wear gym attire, including sweatpants and hoodies. They don’t allow athletic apparel, ball caps, oversize or baggy clothing. No excessively revealing clothes or clothes that emit. Offensive odors, and they say they reserve the right to refuse service to those inappropriately dressed.

But some people had to get up on their, you know, hissy fit. And they said some saw it as racist, but Bob Marshall, a commenter from Washington said, well then you’re saying that dress codes are racist. Do you think that people of color are incapable of dressing? Well, very good point there. Others saw it as a class issue.

It’s infringing on their personal rights to dress however they want. Wherever they want. [00:16:00] Yeah. Try that in church. Um, and Michael Simons of master. Says, if you don’t like it, stick to Olive Garden. But I just think people are looking for reasons to be offended. This is an upscale restaurant. There are plenty of other upscale restaurants that enforce a dress code, so I, I don’t know why people got so excited about it.

[00:16:19] Chris: Yeah, that was what was striking about it. You’re right there. There are upscale restaurants that require you to meet certain dress standards, but. But, but even non upscale restaurants have dress codes even. Mm-hmm. You, I remember going to the Jersey Shore and you, you know, you couldn’t go into the restaurant shirtless even though you were at the beach.

Right. And, and it, a proprietor is trying to create an atmosphere in a restaurant. I. And this, this just went immediately to kind of accusations of, of racism. But it, God, it exploded. It was a it, it

[00:16:51] Lisa: really did. And you know, I worked at an upscale restaurant in Houston for a while in the early eighties, and we’d get these tennis ladies that would come straight and the ladies who lunch, we called them [00:17:00] and they would come in in their tennis gear.

To lunch and they would leave crappy tips. But finally, you know, the manager said, you are gonna have to dress before you come here. You can’t, can’t just come straight off the tennis court in your, you know, athletic clothes and come here. And some of them stopped coming and we were glad of it. ‘cause they tipped

[00:17:18] Laura: terribly well.

I went to Ken Stewart’s grill before prom, so that’s, and that’s how dressed up I was when I, the only time I’ve ever been to Ken Stewart’s Grill.

[00:17:30] Chris: All right. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Sometimes there really are consequences to actions. Highland Tavern in Akron keeps trying to get its liquor permit back for violating limits on hours of operations set Because of the pandemic or as the Ohio Supreme Court helping out?

[00:17:47] Laura: No, so they declined to rule on the constitutionality, constitutionality of this rule, which is the pandemic error rule that resulted in the, the loss of the license for the bar. It’s been. Without a license for nearly [00:18:00] three years now when the Ohio Liquor Control Commission yanked it for violating Rule 80, that was that 120 day emergency rule imposed by Governor Mike DeWine came out in July, 2020 because they wanted to reduce the hours that liquor could be sold in bars and restaurants.

At the beginning of the pandemic, before we had a vaccine, that’s when people were really worried about everybody congregating and one way of. Trying to keep people distant was to, you know, not let them get so liquored up. So Highland Tavern, which is a long time institution on West Market Street in Highland Square in Akron, it was the first bar in the state to lose the liquor license for violating it.

And basically the, the, the issue is moot now, but just because the pandemic is over and the rule is over, doesn’t mean you didn’t break it in the first place.

[00:18:50] Chris: Yeah, I, I, right. They broke the rule. We were all, back then, everybody’s trying to figure out how do we keep people safe? Mm-hmm. And they decided, yeah, the rules don’t apply to us.

[00:19:00] And they got caught several times and they’re paying the price. I mean, I imagine they’ll eventually get it back. But until then, I. That’s what you get. You might’ve been risking people, getting the coronavirus.

[00:19:10] Laura: Yeah. They tried three different ways to do this. They had Franklin County Common Police Court and a civil lawsuit, and those haven’t been successful, but that’s when they weren’t allowed to be drinking after 11, and that’s, that’s what they did.

[00:19:24] Chris: You’re listening to today in Ohio. Cuyahoga County Council has been expressing a lot of reservations about Chris Ronan’s Garfield Heights jail plan. They talked about it again Tuesday. Courtney, the vote did not go in Mr. Ronan’s favor.

[00:19:40] Courtney: Yeah, big vote. Yesterday County Council said no to Chris Rene’s legislation that would secure land in Garfield Heights for a jail and extend that sales tax for 40 years to pay for it.

Now we know from the county’s fiscal officer, you need that sales tax to be able to pay for a jail, [00:20:00] and they just said no to the whole shebang. Even so like three people on council, including President Pernell Jones, Jr. Said they still support moving the jail to Garfield Heights, and they encourage Ronne to resubmit legislation to buy that chunk of land out there for about $39 million.

You know, in this meeting, county Council also considered, I. A similar question here. This was proposed by Councilwoman Sonny Simon as a compromise, you know, without buying the whole big chunk of land, this amendment included an option where the county could put down 500,000, have an option on the land.

And if they were able to eventually secure a, a funding source and figure out what that sales tax question is going to look like, then they could go back and lock in that option per permanently. And at first council was moving against that kind of compromise option. Uh, council President Jones was [00:21:00] one of two who switched their votes to Yes.

And then they switched back again to no. And that backup Compromise Option also failed. Now on the sales tax side of things, some council members indicated they wanted a shorter extension, not that full 40 years that Ronin had been proposing. Others said they wanted to put the question to voters and that question unanimously failed.

Council unanimously said no to the 40 year sales tax. So where do we go from

[00:21:28] Chris: here? Well, I look on the sales tax. This is the consequence of what he said during the campaign and what he has said since. I mean, Chris, Chris Ronin is trying to get people to believe. He never said he’d put the sales tax on the ballot.

He’s trying to say, I only would’ve put the sales tax on the ballot for the plan that his predecessor. Armored Buddhist was pushing. Nobody buys that. Nobody anywhere buys that. Everybody heard the words he said and everybody knows his campaign was the [00:22:00] voters de should decide This. Now he’s gonna have to live by it.

And I don’t care what Jack Tron says, there’s no way voters are going to approve it. I just, they, they’re the history of Cuyahoga County. They don’t approve taxes for things like jails, which leaves to county high and dry. They won’t have the money. And if council stands by this saying, Hey dude, you said give it to the voters, we’re gonna make you live by that.

They’re not gonna be able to build a new jail ‘cause they will not have the money. I, I think the, the smarter move by Ronne would’ve been to say, to be, to show humility after he got into office and apologized for making that, that campaign pledge, because to do right by the people in the jail, which the county has to do, they’re wards of the county taxpayer.

They need the money, they gotta build the new jail. So it’s a fascinating conflict. Um, I, you know, the Ronne also ought to bend here and say, okay, I’ll buy the smaller site if that’s your wish. You’re in charge here. Let’s, let’s [00:23:00] get the smaller site. But there is no money to build the jail without that tax.

[00:23:05] Courtney: Yeah. And, and there is this site at Eddy Road in Kirby Avenue in Cleveland. That’s, you know, I guess kind of a, a backup option that’s still, still lingering here. Some on council support that, including Sonny Simon, who tried to strike that compromise and, and avoid what she called a colossal boondoggle.

But you know, there is some appetite for that, for that option. I just,

[00:23:29] Chris: I. Shit. But let’s, let’s face it, you wanna talk about a boondoggle? It’ll be that that’s got seven owners. It’s contaminated, it’s a mess. The, that will cost so much more than the Garfield Height site, which has a single owner and is clean.

Anybody arguing for that site? They’re just trying to be contrarian. They’re not trying to solve the problem that is. A terrible idea that’s not gonna work. It’ll take years to get there and for her to argue that that’s the option. And the other one’s a boondoggle. She’s, she’s furious that [00:24:00] Chris Renee embarrassed her and her colleagues last year when they were trying to put it on a site contaminated by benzene.

And just,

[00:24:06] Courtney: just to put it in context, I mean, we’ve been talking. In earnest about where the new jail’s going to be for five years. And there have been plenty of conversations that even predated that between everyone’s positions here. R Renee’s promise to put this to a vote. The sales tax to pay for it, it you just gotta marvel at at the pickle it appears.

We share our, with this.

[00:24:31] Chris: Yeah, we’re at a complete standoff right now. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Let’s talk about milkweed, which has become a constant topic on social media. It seems. Our gardening columnist, Susan Brownstein has some, and she says she’s seeing the results she hoped for. Lisa, what do people who grow milkweed want?

[00:24:52] Lisa: They don’t want common milkweed because it’s, uh, Got a spreading habit and gives it a bad reputation with a lot of gardeners, it [00:25:00] has rhizomes that grow underground and it’s very hard to get rid of. This is the stuff you see growing wild, like at Euclid Beach and other areas. So Susan Brownstein this year is raising 13 Monarch Caterpillars.

Um, she adopted them from a rescuer who left town. She raised three of them last. Year and they’re eating milkweed like crazy. Her daughter has to ride down the street to a field to get milkweed to, to feed their, their little caterpillars. But she said, the better choices for northeast Ohio are swamp milkweed only three to four feet tall with.

Deep pink flowers. I saw some at Sims Park yesterday. It doesn’t spread easily and you can cut it back in July for a rebloom. There’s butterfly milkweed, which I have in my garden. It’s 12 to 18 inches tall with beautiful orange flowers. The monarchs love it. You can find it at native plant nurseries. And I would like to add a third one that she didn’t mention that’s also in my garden.

I got it at the Shaker Lakes, uh, native plant sale this year. It’s called World. Milkweed, W H O R L E D. It has [00:26:00] needle-like leaves and creamy white flowers, about 12 to 30 inches tall, and it has a fragrance and it does spread, but it’s not invasive. So here are three good choices, you know, that you can put in your garden without it taking over.

I

[00:26:12] Chris: knew you were the right person to give this question to. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Laura, what’s up with the Boston Heights police chief who was arrested in Florida last week?

[00:26:24] Laura: Of course, his name is Chad. Like that just struck me as a, of course his name is Chad because it’s a, you know, it. Term that can mean bro, or an alpha male, or, you know, a extremely obnoxious, hyper-masculine male.

Anyway, so his name is Chad Ard. He was arrested in Florida. He’s accused of assaulting, assaulting a homeless man outside of bar and lying to officers about this. Honestly, reading what happened. It makes him sound like he has some mental problems because it was about 1:00 AM a taxi driver reports to police that McArdle, who’s 40 [00:27:00] banged on the his door and said he’d been stabbed in the face and the chest, but there weren’t any stab wounds on him.

There are a few minor scratches, but he told police he’d been pushed out of this bar, dragged into a car by two men and stabbed with a stick He did. Couldn’t describe the stick or the vehicle. He told the offenders one of the. Told the police, one of the offenders was probably dead because he was able to grab the stick and stab him in the throat.

But police, like I said, no evidence of this. So they went, investigated and found that he. Beat up a homeless man in an alley who’s now pressing charges. So he’s on leave while this unfurls in Florida,

[00:27:36] Chris: a police chief, it’s the the striking thing. But Boston Heights is a tiny little burg, right? I

[00:27:41] Laura: mean, it’s a township, right?

Yeah. So it’s all down by Macedonia and, and Boston Mills in the national Park. It’s not someplace you have a lot of high crime. It’s, it’s two lane highways and people who live there.

[00:27:55] Chris: All right. And he’s, he’s on leave, right? He’s not,

[00:27:58] Laura: yes, he’s on leave. He, you know, [00:28:00] he was on vacation when this happened ‘cause he was in Florida.

So the guy who was in charge while he was there is, is taking over the department and working there right now.

[00:28:09] Chris: All right. You’re listening to today in Ohio and we’re gonna, And in Courtney’s town where she came from, we finally know what Cedar Point is doing about the much loved top thrill dragster rollercoaster, which closed a couple years ago.

Courtney, what are the details?

[00:28:25] Courtney: Yeah, the new incarnation for the top thrill dragster is wait for it. Top Thrill. Two, they, they got real creative with the naming there, but let’s talk about the changes to the coaster. So when the Dragster was built in 2000, Three it world, it was the world’s first rollercoaster that topped 400 feet.

It, it, it sent riders going 120 miles an hour up this giant single hill. It lasted for about 17 seconds. And you were back in the station. I. The new iteration of this ride is, um, by all accounts pretty [00:29:00] similar, and it’s pretty similar to a coaster they got rid of a few years ago called The Wicked Twister, but it’s, it’s much taller now.

Folks are going to be shot out of the station like they would’ve before. I. They’ll only go up like halfway or so, a partial way up that first big hill. Then they’ll be shot backwards and there’s going to be a new tower at the rear of the ride. You’ll shoot up that tower and then you’ll be launched forward again and, and do the original ride.

That kind of folks are probably used to where you go up and over that original big hill and come back into the station and it’s over.

[00:29:34] Chris: Are you gonna ride this?

[00:29:36] Courtney: Yeah, I mean, I’ll, I’ll ride it. I just, you know, with the big talk two years ago, that poor Michigan woman was hit with a, I believe it was a metal plate, seriously injured off this coaster.

And we’ve been kind of waiting here for two years to figure out. Ooh, what are they gonna do with it? What’s gonna be the big difference? I was, I was just a little, I mean, of course I’ll ride it. I loved the original ride, but I’m a little [00:30:00] scratch in my head. It, it feels pretty, pretty similar to me

[00:30:03] Chris: at least.

Why are you going to ride this? Your kids gonna ride this? My kids

[00:30:08] Laura: still haven’t ridden roller coasters, so, um, big ones anyway, so not. Not anytime soon. I’m with Courtney. This doesn’t feel super different. I would like to know the mechanics. Like how are we making sure that a steel plate doesn’t fall off this one?

[00:30:21] Courtney: Yeah, that’s a good question. Susan asked, they said there’s gonna be canopies over where folks wait in line, but she didn’t really say it was necessarily for. For protection for that kind of a thing. She said something like, safety’s always top of mind, so I’m curious about that piece too. They also said they’re doing a different launch system.

Initially they used a hydraulics. Now they’re gonna use magnet.

[00:30:45] Chris: Lisa, are you a rollercoaster

[00:30:46] Lisa: person? I am not. I’ve stopped doing that probably when I was 18 years old, and I keep thinking of that video that was taken in that North Carolina amusement park where that, where the, the rollercoaster would go by and this, the crash, there was crack, [00:31:00] you know, that was like wobbling.

I’m like, oh no, thank you.

[00:31:03] Chris: Yeah. This sounds like not fun to me, but I understand it’s a thrill for a lot of people. Interesting that they finally came clean on what they’re going to do, and I’m sure people will be lining up for it. It’s today in Ohio. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks Laura. Thanks Courtney. Thanks for everybody who listens.

We’ll be back Thursday talking about the news.

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