CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb went public Thursday with a $461 million offer to publicly finance lakefront stadium renovations.

Why now? We’re talking about the Browns’ idea of a dome in Brook Park and Bibb’s idea of negotiating in public 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.

You can now join the conversation. Call 833-648-6329 (833-OHTODAY) if you’d like to leave a message we can play on the podcast.

Here’s what else we’re asking about today:

We had a major but somewhat confounding moment in the continuing saga of the future Browns stadium. Did the city of Cleveland, which long has been in negotiations with Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam, just blink?

We keep saying the Justice Department has completely dropped the ball in prosecuting the executives at FirstEnergy who corrupted the state. But this latest news makes it ever more suspicious. What revelation am I talking about?

Donald Trump told the National Association of Black Journalists that Kamala Harris really isn’t Black, which clearly was a play for his white supremacist supporters. What did some Black leaders in Ohio have to say about it?

We’re two full years from the governor’s race in Ohio, but the money race is in full swing. Who’s winning?

The only way to see a big part of Native American earthworks in Ohio – a Unesco heritage site — has been to be there on one of four days set aside for visits each year. That’s about to change. How?

Hard to believe this economic sector did not exist in Ohio that long ago. How big of an industry is Ohio sports betting so far in 2024?

You’d have to be in a bubble to miss the news that the Ohio State Fair is under way. It’s a celebration of all things agricultural in Ohio. But we have a new and burgeoning cash crop in this state. Is marijuana being welcomed and celebrated at the fair the way corn and soybeans are?

Can it be true that the Cuyahoga County jail has been so inhumane for nearly five years as to ban all in-person visits with inmates? How can the county justify that, and is it about to change?

You might recall earlier this summer when more than a dozen young men and juveniles pulled out guns in Edgewater Park and terrorized the families that were there. It was one of the most frightening scenes that’s come along in quite some time. What are the Cleveland Metroparks and county prosecutor’s office doing to deter such terror in the future?

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

Chris (00:01.625)

football season approaches and we haven’t talked much of late about the saga involving the football stadium in Cleveland. We’re talking about it on this episode of Today in Ohio. It’s the news podcast discussion from cleveland .com and the plane dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Lisa Garvin, Leila Attasi and Laura Johnston and Leila, let’s talk football stadium. We had a major but somewhat confounding moment in the saga of the future Brown Stadium.

Did the city of Cleveland, which has long been negotiating with Brown’s owners, and Jimmy Haslam, just blink?

Leila (00:38.776)

Yeah, you know, this was this consumed our, our conversation yesterday for sure. Bibb just put $461 million on the table toward this massive billion dollar Brown’s lakefront stadium project. This is a big move because Bibb had been keeping these negotiations pretty private while Dee and Jimmy Haslam have been open about their consideration of the other opportunity they see to build.

a domed stadium in Brook Park instead. And now Bibb has gone public just days after Jimmy Haslam hinted that Brook Park is still very much on the table and that in fact, his survey showed that fans are just loving that idea. So Bibb’s chief of staff, Brad Davy, says that they’ve been negotiating in good faith for over a year and it’s just time to get answers about the future of the lakefront. The Browns

the public to finance half of the renovation costs, whether for the lakefront or a pricier dome in Brook Park. The city’s offer includes $367 million from admission tax revenues and the city’s sheriff’s and tax money, as well as a bit from the city’s existing stadium capital reserves. And it includes 94 million from parking revenues. Itincludes $94 million for stadium capital repairs and improvements from the expected parking revenues at Willard Garage and the Muni lot, which would be turned over to the Browns for their exclusive use on game days and special events. Bibb argues that the city’s proposal would be less of a burden on taxpayers than moving the stadium to the suburbs. The offer would extend the Browns lease by 30 years with a possible five -year extension.

Lisa (02:47.08)

We wait for the grants to end so they take on insurance and cost payments. This plan also includes major development around the Lakeland area, building a new bridge to downtown.

Leila (02:49.964)

and would waive the Browns rent, though they’d take on insurance and tax payments. Bibb’s plan also includes major development around the lakefront area, like building a land bridge to downtown and adding more parking. He’s asked the Haslips to respond to this by August 12th, but, you know, that’s kind of where we’re wondering what happens after that,

Chris (03:08.081)

Yeah, look, the two pieces of news here, one is they gave us a number of 461 million total, which is getting very close to half, which is what the Hasm’s have said. They want a 50 -50 split. If it’s the Lakefront Stadium, it’s a 50 -50 split of a billion. If it’s in Brook Park, it’s a 50 -50 split with the public, not Cleveland, of $2 .4 billion.

Which so that’s new we we had heard, you know, we had heard numbers of 350 400 million But 460 million is pretty pretty high It’s foolish I think is a negotiating tactic to put that out there because now the hasms know what number they’re starting from That’s not the end number. That’s not the last offer. There’s no such thing So they’ll be trying to get up to that half billion dollar number But the second thing I think there was news is I do think the city blanks.

it did has been adamant i’m not going to do this in public and he’s doing in public and we know what’s going on in the background this is this is nothing to do with the fans warren is nothing to do with the house was one it comes down to money if they can get one point two billion in public funding they’re gonna build it in brook park that’s what they want they want their dome they don’t have it they don’t have anywhere close to it you know we’re all hearing whispers of the matcha nations going on in the background to join jack people for

some additional taxes in Cuyahoga County to do it. I don’t think they’re acting on the brilliant bold plan we put out there to do a regional funding for a facilities commission that would do stadiums in the airport. But I don’t think any of the things that we’ve heard about are realistic. We don’t have them on the record enough where we can report it, but none of them are realistic. They all have detractors that will stop them dead in their tracks. So as of now, the Hazams do not have.

1 .2 billion in public funding. They’re nowhere close to it. And Lakefront is where this would go if they don’t get it. I don’t understand why the city felt the need to put this out there. Everybody has said from the beginning, they have till the end of the year. The Hasms have said to the end of the year, everybody involved in this says, you know, we got time, we’re going to negotiate it. At the end of the year, we got to make a call. And then this comes out of nowhere in a way that I just don’t understand.

Leila (05:26.658)

Well, you know, I understand what you’re saying. hear everything you’re saying. But on the other hand, it’s been, this has been going on a long time and, clearly the city wants to nail down its lakefront plan. There are opportunities for federal funds on the table that if Donald Trump becomes president, they, those opportunities could evaporate in a blink of an eye. And I don’t blame them for not wanting to wait until the end of the year to nail down

you know, how the Browns factor into their lakefront lands. That makes sense to me. So I don’t know.

Chris (06:02.427)

But the problem with that is that is not where they were. Something changed up until three, four weeks ago. This was we have till the end of the year on all fronts. There’s no rush. We got till the end of the year. Something precipitated this. Something persuaded them to do it. And all the factors you just mentioned have always been there. And frankly, the Haslams are in the Trump tribe, right? They’re Republicans.

I’m not sure they lose the money. They might get more money. You never know. There’s a lot of Republicans in charge of the state, too, and that’s where the house is run. So I look, I don’t know. I mean, I wish we had the answers. I tried to speculate as to what this could be about. We’ve heard lots of stuff that doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. I do think it’s instructive that Chris Ronan is nowhere to be seen. I Chris Ronan has has been saying he’s in lockstep with the city and all of a sudden

bib is alone out there. And did we even get a comment from Ronane on this? I don’t remember.

Leila (07:02.38)

Yeah, we do have a comment from Ronane. He basically said that he hopes that the city and the Browns have come to some agreement. It was benign, mush mouth.

Lisa (07:11.394)

Thank you.

Chris (07:13.669)

wishy -washy, mealy -mouth, no meaning nothing. Yeah, but that’s strange because I would have thought that a statement like Bibb put out would have come with signatures of both him and Chris Romaine and the fact that it doesn’t says something. Interesting developments. We’ll keep following them. And you are listening to Today in Ohio. We keep saying the Justice Department has completely dropped the ball in prosecuting the executives at First Energy who corrupted our state. But this latest news makes

Even more damning, Lisa! What revelation am I talking about now?

Lisa (07:48.488)

In a newly revealed September 2023 deposition of former First Energy CEO, Stray, he said that he signed a plea agreement contract in 2021 with federal prosecutors that showed that he depicted his predecessor and mentor, Chuck Jones, as the architect of the $60 million House Bill 6 bribery scheme. But despite that revelation, he has yet to meet with the FBI.

the Department of Justice or the Securities and Exchange Commission about it. So, let me stop there and then

Chris (08:18.737)

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

It’s amazing to me. The guy who signed the document saying, we’re guilty, the one that agreed to pay the 200 plus million in fines, the guy who knows the details and they don’t even interview him and they want to look us in the eye with a straight face and say this was a serious investigation. This U .S. killed this case. There’s no way you can justify not interviewing this guy when he signs that document.

I’m mind boggled at the failures of this investigation. We’re going to be doing digging. I I’ve said it before, we’re going to send a couple of reporters and really start digging into this. Something stinks with the US Attorney’s office. Something stinks about this investigation. It’s been co -opted. What else did he say?

Lisa (09:08.518)

Yeah. Yeah. Also in a deposition in the investor lawsuit against First Energy, Stray did not affirm any questions about whether Jones led the scheme. This is in direct contradiction to what he said in the plea agreement. He says he doesn’t regret signing the deferred prosecution agreement, but he’s ambivalent about Jones. He said

He felt that Jones had an unrelenting ethical approach to business in all regards in their 20 year friendship. And he’s still very hesitant to speak ill of Jones even today. So cleveland .com and the Plain Dealer were seeking comment from the U .S. Attorney’s Office of the Ohio Southern District. Haven’t heard back from them yet. Stray went on to say that he had

personal knowledge of the facts in the deferred prosecution that he signed that resulted in that 230 million dollar fine, even though he attested to its accuracy to a federal judge. He says, have no reasonable doubt. You know, I have no reason to doubt any of it, but he hasn’t made any effort to confirm the conclusions.

Chris (10:08.633)

There’s a big difference between giving a deposition and having FBI investigators bring you in and ask you very probing questions about what you do and don’t know. He got text messages that are highly suspicious when compared to his testimony in this deposition. And the FBI is very effective at analyzing those kind of conflicts and statements. But they didn’t even talk to him. mean, come on, think about

It’s like not talking to people who witness a murder when you’re investigating a murder. This guy was the guy and they didn’t even bother to sit down and talk to him and they want to claim that this is a thorough investigation. It’s a joke what’s going on here and a major red flag that something stinks in Ohio.

Lisa (10:53.592)

Yeah, I’m worried that Chuck Jones and Mike Dowling are gonna walk.

Chris (10:57.359)

Yeah, but what juice do they have over people? There’s got to be a reason. If they had this evidence on you or me, we’d be sitting in a prison. So why isn’t that happening here? And why didn’t they even do the cursory work? Look, if they would have at least talked to him, it wouldn’t look bad. But to not even talk to him is the big red flag saying, look, look, this smells, everybody. We’re not going to do our job. We’re not going to represent the victims of this thing, which is everybody in Ohio. We’re going to let the wealthy guys off the hook. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.

Donald Trump told the National Association of Black Journalists that Kamala Harris really isn’t black, which clearly was a play for his white supremacist supporters. What did some black leaders in Ohio have to say about it, Laura?

Laura (11:40.172)

I think Congresswoman Chantelle Brown crystallized a pretty common feeling with her quote. She said, I’m flabbergasted, insulted, and appalled by his response to this question. Just when I think he cannot get worse, he proves me wrong every time, which is honestly something I’ve been thinking about Donald Trump for about nine years now. Every time you think, well, there’s no way he can come back from this. It just stokes the base. And from what I was reading about this is Trump

King of chaos, and that’s what he did with this question when he was asked about DEI hires, that he had this nonsensical answer about Kamala Harris and her background and whether she’s Indian or black, which is just insulting as if you cannot be multicultural and multi -ethnic in this melting pot of a country.

Chris (12:28.411)

Let’s face it, he’s been playing to racists all along. He’s been playing to white supremacists all along. The history of record is clear. I think his whole plan was to go in before this historic organization, this has been around a long time, and goof on them. So wink, wink, nudge, nudge to his white supremacist buddies. This had nothing to do with the NABJ convention. He wasn’t talking to the people in that room. He’s talking to exactly what you said, the base of racists.

that believe in Donald Trump. It’s terrible what he did there. And I think most common sense people are appalled, but he doesn’t care about them. He’s playing to that base.

Laura (13:10.52)

But he has to play to the majority of the country. mean, that’s how you win the presidency. I mean, we could talk about the electoral college and how that works. But for the most part, he’s got to get more votes than you would think. There’d be a lot of moderates in this country. So I still don’t understand the phenomenon. We’ve been talking about this for a deck. Well, not quite a decade. It feels like it about the support that he’s gotten. But the national media says that he is getting

black male supporters. And so I’m not sure what he was intending to do here. You’re right. He was not talking directly to the people at that conference. He kept saying that a journalist who asked him a question asked very rudely. And I was like, Donald Trump calling someone rude, does that equate at

Chris (14:00.527)

Yeah, because that’s the playbook. I mean, it’s really the fascist playbook. Take, take your opponents and accuse them of your sins. He’s done that all along. I mean, we’re getting a taste of that now. We have some Republicans that are accusing us of doing hateful speech. The Republicans in Ohio, these are the, have the most hateful speech anywhere. And they’re trying to take what their sin is and projected, but it doesn’t work. mean, I, I don’t think anybody believed what he was saying except

his base of very racist people who love to see him goofing on black people. It’s a sad spectacle, man. He is a candidate for president saying things that we all know are appalling and horrible. And I thought Harris dealt with it really well. She gave a speech that night, didn’t go over the top, but just portrayed it as what it is. This is a hateful man who’s tried to divide the country.

Laura (14:53.774)

And that’s what Mariah Crenshaw said in the story which Sabrina Eaton and Olivia Mitchell put together. She says nothing’s changed. She’s the same person who was in office in 2016. And that’s the thing. People elected him in 2016. They wanted to drain the swamp or whatever. They wanted a non -politician. They saw what we got. He’s been on the stage. He’s not hiding his ideas, the plan for 2025. There’s nothing secret. I don’t, it’s still.

Lisa (15:12.264)

not hiding his ideas, the plan for being 2025. There’s nothing secret, I don’t, I, it’s still.

Chris (15:22.501)

No, the difference, what makes it all work is he has basically state media. Fox News repeatedly lies to people. Their latest thing is about migrant crime. Doesn’t exist, but they keep saying it does. And you got people like Bernie Moreno running around towing that line. The only reason it works is because there’s a segment of the population that think Fox News is legitimate and believe what they’re told. And Fox News lies every single day that they’re on the air. They are the worst form

Laura (15:35.842)

Mm -hmm.

Chris (15:51.925)

of media that we have they pretend to be journalists they’re not journalists it’s pure propaganda the people that support trump are you know largely lower middle class people and he doesn’t help them he never help them but he tells them i help you and they buy it and it’s just a shame because he’s the worst thing that has ever happened to the lower middle class in this country although what he said at the

this thing is he’s been the best president for black people since Lincoln.

Laura (16:23.534)

But he just could say anything right I know I

Chris (16:25.753)

Yeah, well, he does. And then Fox News repeats it. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We’re two full years from the governor’s race in Ohio, but the money race is in full swing. Leila, it’s amazing that we’re talking about the governor’s race more than two years out, but who’s ahead?

Lisa (16:29.672)

This is the day in Ohio.

Leila (16:41.4)

Well, it looks like Lieutenant Governor John Husted is leading the pack. Houston raised $1 .7 million the first half of this year, which is more than twice the amount his two potential Republican rivals raised combined. With his earlier fundraising efforts since forming his campaign committee in February of 23, Houston now has a solid $5 million in his campaign bank account. In comparison, state treasurer Robert Sprague has $2 .16

Lisa (16:53.864)

raised from five. With his earlier fundraising efforts since forming his campaign committee in February of 2003, Houston now has a solid $5 million in his people bank account. In comparison, State Treasurer Robert Sprigg has $2 .16 million. To keep in mind, $935 ,000 of that is from a personal loan to his campaign manager.

Leila (17:10.488)

But keep in mind, 935 ‚000 of that is from a person alone he gave to his campaign last year. Sprague raised 310 ,800 from January through June. And meanwhile, attorney general Dave Yost has 1 .5 million after raising 354 ,000 this year. Although none of these candidates have formally announced their campaigns yet, they’re definitely gearing up to replace governor DeWine who will leave office at the end of 2026. This sets up a potentially

Lisa (17:17.448)

trade raised $310 ‚800 from January 2. And meanwhile, the trade general bid base has $1 .5 million and the reason $354 ,000 this year. Although none of these candidates are formally in the mail sent, they’ve set their path in a secure attempt to replace Governor DeWine, who we’ve obviously heard

this sets up potentially positive GFD primary showdowns among the statewide elected officials because running for governor is not cheap. The reporter, Andrew Fias, tells us that it often requires 10 million dollars or more to run a fire like this. So it really come as a test to see can factor in the state’s numbers. And nobody, not even the state, can figure out how to that.

Leila (17:39.192)

costly GOP primary showdown among these statewide elected officials because running for governor is not cheap. And reporter Andrew Tobias tells us that it often requires $10 million or more to run a viable campaign. their early fundraising success could be a key factor in who stays in this race.

Chris (17:57.999)

And nobody, not a single person has raised their hand to say, I’m going to run as a Democrat. How pathetic is that in this state? Nobody is raising their hand. So by the time a Democrat gets into this thing, they’re going be so far behind in the money, they’ll never catch up. I can’t believe we have nobody on the landscape that would make a viable candidate. This is all going to be a Republican primary that determines who the next governor

Leila (18:03.266)

You’re really this, right?

Leila (18:24.214)

Any takers on this podcast? Anybody? Anybody?

Chris (18:26.417)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. The only way to see a big part of the Native American Earthworks in Ohio, which is a UNESCO heritage site now, has been to be there on one of four days set aside for visits each year. Lisa, that’s finally about to change. How so?

Lisa (18:26.938)

I’m just thinking it’s on this hard mash, anybody?

Lisa (18:47.408)

A legal settlement between the Ohio History Connection and the Mound Builders Country Club lays out an agreement that the History Connection will buy out the lease for this closed amount of the Octagon Earthworks, which as you said, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the only one in Ohio. This ends decades of legal battles. And also, as you mentioned, the club only allowed public access to the Octagon Earthworks four times a year. They will do their final one.

this October, October 20th and 21st. Then the club will close at the end of the year. The golf features will all be removed and the clubhouse will be converted to a visitor center. So the Mound Builders Country Club has held this lease since 1910. They built the golf course the next year in 1911. And then the Ohio Historical Society acquired the property in 1933 and continued leasing it to the country club.

But then they tried to break that lease in 2018. They had a lease that actually ran through 2078 and they tried to break it when they were seeking UNESCO designation. The country club rejected an $800 ,000 offer saying land was worth a lot more than that. And then the Ohio history commission tried eminent domain that was upheld by the Ohio Supreme court in 2022. There was gonna be a jury trial about this in October, but this legal settlement heads

Chris (20:09.625)

It’s great that it’s going to be available. I didn’t visit this one, but I have visited other Earthworks down there. But all of it should be readily available to the public. The idea that you could do it four days and you had to show up when everybody else did. This is a big feature that you can’t really get in a lot of places in America. And the fact that it hasn’t been open to the public all the time is a shame. I’m glad they’re finally fixing

You listen to Today in Ohio. Hard to believe this economic sector did not exist in Ohio that long ago. Laura, how big of an industry is Ohio sports betting so far just this year?

Laura (20:48.27)

$4 .1 billion just this year, just through June, that’s up from $3 .8 billion in 2023. So there must have been some kind of lucky streak the gamblers must have been on because sports betting companies have a little less revenue than they did in 2023. $436 million in the six months down from $540 million in 2023. So that’s a lot of money that we’re talking about.

And this is the money kept after paying out the winnings and voided wagers. Ohioans placed $530 million in bets in the first six months. That’s up from last year. And even in June itself, they had $51 million in revenue up from $33 million last year. And you know how we have those sports books and we talk about that? There’s a lot of places you can go for sports betting, but the apps on your phone is 97 % of all of the bets.

Think about that

Chris (21:45.585)

I don’t know how we get at it, but it would be very interesting to look and see if there has ever been any industry that grew overnight to this level. I $4 billion in six months is staggering. What else has ever been created in Ohio that became that much of an industry at the snap of a fingers? I’m sure.

Laura (22:06.496)

Maybe recreational marijuana. think? Probably not. You can’t get that on your phone.

Chris (22:09.285)

Yeah, I don’t know. That’s going to be as big as sports betting, though. mean, this is this is it’s just. It’s it’s just staggering.

Laura (22:18.958)

Do you think that’s why? Because it’s just so convenient and people are just sitting there and we all, you know, this is terrible for our brains, but the two screen thing, you’ve got the TV in front of you and your phone in your hand and people want to do something with their hand on their phone. And this is, you know, maybe they’re online shopping less because they’re sports betting more. I don’t

Chris (22:39.249)

I think it’s one of those things, the ping your brain gets. It’s like using drugs. That’s what it’s about. And this obviously feeds it. But $4 billion in half a year is just hard to comprehend.

Laura (22:42.348)

Yeah, dopamine.

Laura (22:51.662)

So the state gets 20 % of the revenue. That’s 87 million just from 2024 so far this year.

Chris (22:58.427)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. You’d have to be in a bubble to miss the news that the Ohio State Fair is underway. It’s a celebration of all things agricultural in Ohio, but we have a new and burgeoning cash crop in this state. Lisa, is marijuana being welcomed and celebrated at the fairgrounds the same way as corn and soybeans?

Lisa (23:18.28)

Well, the Ohio State Fair does not currently have any displays, information booths or competitions of marijuana cultivation, even though we’ve had medical marijuana in the state for five years. The Ohio Agricultural Department and the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair say there’s no comment on whether marijuana will be included in future state fairs. Representative Jamie Callender, the Republican from Lake County who kind of shepherded the marijuana initiated statute through the, you know, through its policy.

stuff. You know, he says he doesn’t foresee it happening in the near future himself. He says to have the cannabis in the fair or an open market, it goes against concerns about minor access. So that’s his worry. Ohio Cannabis Health and Business Summit CEO Lenny Barry says there’s a knowledge gap among public policymakers and the general public about marijuana and hemp. He says he also doubts they’ll be featured at the state fair anytime soon. In California,

They’ve had marijuana booths at their state fair and other things. Colorado had their first medical marijuana booth in 2013. Oregon featured award -winning plants at their state fair. And in Minnesota, there’s no display or sale of marijuana on the fairgrounds, but there are tents outside the fairgrounds that are selling edibles.

Chris (24:37.115)

Look, it’s now part of our agriculture economy. How do you discriminate against it? How do you not have contests? There’s ways to do this where you’re not bringing it into the fair and exposing people, but are we really going to create a discrimination against one sector of the agricultural economy for all of our purient reasons? It’s legal. Voters made it legal. Why wouldn’t you figure out ways to celebrate it the way you celebrate it all? It could become a very sizable cash crop too.

I’ll be interested to see if this weakens or if they this. We’re all so careful with our the puritanism in this state that if they just keep discriminating against marijuana.

Lisa (25:21.522)

And of course there are marijuana horticultural competitions outside of state fairs. And really, if you study marijuana or you know anything about it, it’s fascinating. The botany behind it, the horticultural stuff behind it is fascinating. Cross breeding hybrids, the whole nine yards. It should be at the state

Chris (25:39.979)

It should be, and that’s why we did the story. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Can it be true that Cuyahoga County Jail has been so inhumane for nearly five years as to ban all in -person visits with inmates? How can the county justify that, Leila, and is it about the change?

Leila (25:59.145)

It’s shocking, but true. The Cuyahoga County Jail has maintained this pandemic era ban on in -person visitation from family members of inmates for nearly five years. This practice is now under scrutiny after a report from the Wren Collective. That’s a criminal justice reform group. They’ve called for the reinstatement of in -person visits. This group is also criticizing the county for allowing prosecutors to listen

unrecorded or to listen to recorded video calls without a warrant. The county initially ended these in -person visitations in early 2020 because of the pandemic, that makes sense, and they replaced them with video conferencing. Sheriff Harold Pretell defended this approach recently and says that it’s in the best interest of everyone’s safety and convenience to just keep going with the video conferencing in place of in -person visits.

But in response to the rent collectives report, County Executive Chris Ronane’s office said that they would work with the Sheriff’s Department to discuss bringing back in -person visitation. The county is of course planning this $750 million jail complex in Garfield Heights, and that is expected to include options for in -person visits. And so, you know, that’s good news. But Judge Brendan Sheehan of

Common Please Court was really surprised to learn that this policy hadn’t reverted back to its pre -pandemic state. And he highlighted the importance of letting defendants meet with family members regarding their cases, which is a practice that’s still permitted by many judges if defense attorneys request

Chris (27:42.757)

Yeah, it’s a shocking story. can’t believe that that’s continuing. We’ll have to see how quickly they can turn it around. It’s not humane. You should allow people to visit with their loved ones when they’re locked up. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.

You might recall earlier this summer when more than a dozen young men and juveniles pulled out guns in Edgewater Park and terrorized the families that were there. So one of those frightening scenes that’s come along in quite some time. Laura, what are the Cleveland Metro Parks and County Prosecutors Office doing to deter such terror in the

Laura (28:27.566)

They’re investing in upgrading the cameras at the beach, which should make all families feel safer. More than $100 ‚000 they’re going to be using, but the dollar amount’s yet to be exactly decided. Same with the same type of equipment. They’re figuring out the best to buy. But this is from that June, Saturday. was one of the longest nights of the year. It was one of the hottest days of the year. these group of juveniles just terrorized the beach. And one of them

and like a machine gun. It’s incredible that this is what happened. And thankfully, no one was seriously injured. But the video shows that people are scrambling. It shows the movement. But it doesn’t really show faces enough that they can identify these juveniles. So that’s what these new cameras would be able to do. So if anybody does this again, if they bring a gun, they’ll be able to clearly know who it

Chris (29:19.247)

Yeah, they got cameras everywhere so they can see license plates and everything. The saddest part of this is there are a whole lot of people that stop going. mean, who in their right mind is going to take their kids down to that park when that’s a possibility? And I think what the Metro Parks and the prosecutor’s office are doing in making public that they’ve put in these super high definition cameras is try to reassure the public that, hey, we’re telling everybody this is there. The bad guys now know if they come, we’ve got them this time.

Laura (29:45.752)

Mm -hmm.

Chris (29:47.993)

So don’t come. And it’s a credit because this is such a jewel that this should never have happened. I just can’t imagine. I’ve talked to so many different parents and said, would you go back there? And it’s like, no way. Are you kidding? If people whip out guns and start firing willy nilly, that’s not a safe place to go. So hopefully this will change that.

Laura (30:08.972)

Yeah, I agree. It is one of our gems. It should be open to all and we should feel safe

Chris (30:14.885)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the Friday episode. Have a good weekend. Thanks Lisa. Thanks Leila. Thanks Laura. We’ll be back Monday talking about the news.