Ohio
'Failing Ohio': Hundreds of thousands without power in Cuyahoga County, but officials refuse help from state
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine is offering help to Northeast Ohio after the devastating storms Tuesday, however, Cuyahoga County claims they are handling it. This comes as hundreds of thousands of citizens are still without electricity and wifi, prompting outrage from lawmakers.
Tuesday’s storm was the most powerful to hit Northeast Ohio since 1993 in terms of impact, and crews are still out in the field restoring power to the 400,000 customers who lost it.
“This is becoming a public health crisis,” state Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D-Cleveland) said. “It’s catastrophic.”
Upchurch lost power and wifi but said his community members are facing worse.
“The refrigerator isn’t running, people lose food,” he said. “And not to mention, you have residents that have medical conditions that rely on the electricity for their oxygen tanks.”
FirstEnergy’s Ohio President, Torrence Hinton, provided an update on the company’s progress in restoring power to thousands of Northeast Ohio customers Friday morning, saying most customers will have their power back on by next Wednesday.
State Sen. Kent Smith (D-Euclid) also lost power and wifi. He is incredibly frustrated by what he calls FirstEnergy’s lack of preparedness.
“FirstEnergy took $456 million for a grid maintenance fee that they essentially never did any grid maintenance for,” Smith said. “Now, if they would have used that half billion dollars to better prepare the service area, to make the grid more resilient, to replace aging equipment, to do tree trimming in places where lines might be in jeopardy — I got to believe that if that half billion would have been used for its intended purposes and not squirreled away to FirstEnergy shareholders, then we would not be in as bad of a position now as we are.”
The senator is the ranking Democrat on the state’s Energy and Public Utilities Committee and has been a watchdog on FirstEnergy ever since the company bribed Statehouse leadership and admitted to the $61 million bribery scheme.
FirstEnergy has continuously said that this was simply a bad storm.
“The illuminating company has not seen a storm of this nature for about 30 years,” Hinton said.
According to the president, the company is in collaboration with more than 5,000 contractors to help with restoration.
In the wake of the storm, a large swath of News 5’s southern viewing area was flooded by overnight storms early Friday morning.
News 5 and the Scripps Howard Fund are teaming up Friday through Monday for a tornado and flood relief textathon to benefit the Red Cross.
News 5 and Scripps Howard Fund launch textathon for tornado and flood relief
Amid this disaster, Upchurch, Smith and the coalition of Northeast Ohio lawmakers have been asking for help. Gov. Mike DeWine says he is listening. The governor issued a proclamation requiring all state departments and agencies to be ready to use their resources to help the area.
Ohio’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA) has been monitoring the situation, according to DeWine. His release stated that, at this moment, the Department of Health had issued the only request for assistance regarding medical supplies.
“The state might be able to help the utilities get power restored by helping to clear down trees that are blocking access to streets and, and buildings,” Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Entin said.
But Entin explained that the governor’s office can only do so much. The chain of command starts with the Cuyahoga County EMA, which has to request help. DeWine’s spokesperson, Dan Tierney, told us that so far, they haven’t. When the state team reached out to them to assess, Cuyahoga County allegedly declined.
State Rep. Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) said this is reprehensible.
“I don’t know what they’re doing down at the county EMA, but whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it way too slow,” Patton said.
We pressed the agency to see why they hadn’t reached out for help. After this story aired, spokesperson Kevin Friis talked with us. In a roundabout way, Friis said that they can handle the requests so far.
“For what we’ve gotten as requests, we’ve been able to fulfill,” Friis said.
However, he then said that they are waiting on jurisdictions within the county to come to them with requests.
“The communities have to identify what their needs are first and that takes some time,” he said. “Then let us know what they need so we can try and source it for them.”
The spokesperson gave an example, admitting that people have been requesting generators for senior high rises.
“We need to know how much power does it need to supply to do emergency power and potentially an elevator,” he added. “The requests that we are still waiting to submit to the state are ones in which we needed more clarification.”
Eventually, the federal government should get involved, Smith said.
“The federal dollars will be needed to make individuals whole who are paying out of pocket for things that insurance won’t cover,” Smith added.
In order to get federal emergency dollars, the county must hit a certain amount in damages, according to the governor’s office. With that formula, Cuyahoga County EMA needs to prove they have $6.7 million in damages.
“What the administrator is saying is to ‘keep your receipts.’ Patton said. “If he wants to physically have receipts to show the $6.7 million, or estimates, he’s waiting too long.”
Tierney explained that it is common for FEMA to come after state assistance with supplies or boots on the ground. Patton doesn’t understand why no supplies or boots have even been on the ground.
“When [the state] contacted locally, [Cuyahoga County] said ‘we have everything under control,’ Patton said, recalling his Zoom Friday morning with the NEO lawmakers, Public Utilities Commission, Ohio EMA, governor’s office and Cuyahoga County. “As of today, there are still 196,000 people without electricity three days later — and they think this is under control?”
“Do you think the County EMA is failing Northeast Ohioans,” I asked Patton.
“Absolutely. The people of Cuyahoga County, they pay their taxes to the state to get this type of relief when a disaster occurs and the fact that somebody at the county level is reluctant to ask the state to come in is beyond my ability to understand,” Patton responded. “They are failing Ohio.”
Like Patton, Upchurch said the lack of action and lack of preparedness by the utility company warrants the need for change.
“There absolutely must be some legislative work done so that we can prevent this from happening again,” Upchurch said.
The governor’s team said they are ready to help as soon as they hear from Cuyahoga County.
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WEWS
Your donation will be used right here in Northeast Ohio to support our neighbors who have been affected by the recent storms.
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No. 18 Michigan State extended its win streak to seven games with its 69-62 victory over Ohio State on Thursday.
The Spartans went into Columbus and were able to pull off the road win, despite blowing a 14-point lead in the second half.
It was a valiant late-game effort for Michigan State, which improved to 12-2 on the season and is 1-0 to start 2025. The Spartans are also 3-0 in conference play.
Our Aidan Champion recaps the contest on this postgame edition of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast.
You can watch the episode below:
Michigan State senior center Szymon Zapala led the way with 15 points. He also recorded two blocks. Spartan senior guard Jaden Akins did his part on offense as well, scoring 14 in the victory.
Redshirt freshman guard Jeremy Fears Jr. was arguably the MVP of the game for the Spartans as he posted 6 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
Sophomore forward Xavier Booker had a bounce-back performance after falling off in his last two outings. He finished with 9 points and two blocks.
Junior forward Jaxon Kohler nearly ended up with another double-double, scoring 8 points while collecting 10 rebounds.
Sophomore forward Coen Carr tallied 11 points. He was efficient from the charity stripe, knocking down 7-of-8 free throws.
The Spartans were tested by veteran guard Bruce Thornton, who was a huge part of the Buckeyes’ comeback late. They also had to deal with Ohio State’s leading scorer in the contest, junior guard Micah Parrish, who finished with 13 points and also excelled down the stretch.
Michigan State struggled from deep in the contest and continued to have trouble turning the ball over. But it was able to overcome those issues and secure the road win, a tough feat in the Big Ten, especially considering the setbacks.
The Spartans will look to build on their perfect start to conference play with a home matchup against Washington on Thursday. It will be the first time the two teams face off since 2010 when Michigan State narrowly defeated the Huskies, 76-71, in the Maui Invitational. That game is set for 8 p.m. EST.
Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.
The Ohio State Buckeyes look like a buzzsaw at the moment, and Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is well aware of that fact.
Ohio State will be facing Texas in the Cotton Bowl next Friday with a trip to the National Championship Game on the line, and Sarkisian understands that the Longhorns are big underdogs.
The Buckeyes have opened as 5.5-point favorites over Texas, which actually seems like a rather slim margin considering what they just did to the previously undefeated Oregon Ducks.
But keep in mind: the Cotton Bowl will actually be played in Arlington, so the Longhorns technically have homefield advantage.
Still, it will be difficult to find anyone outside of the Lone Star State actually picking Texas in this game, and Sarkisian knows that.
“I need Longhorn Nation to show out in Arlington. We’re going to need everything we’ve got to try to win this game,” Sarkisian said, via Eleven Warriors. “Clearly, we’re massive underdogs. Nobody’s going to give us a shot. So we’re going to need all that we can to try to win this game.”
The Longhorns are one of the best teams in the country, but they don’t quite match Ohio State in terms of raw talent.
We saw the Buckeyes’ scary talent on display in the Rose Bowl, when they jumped out to a 34-0 lead against Oregon and ultimately came away with a 41-21 victory.
Meanwhile, Texas nearly lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Peach Bowl, surviving in a double-overtime thriller.
Of course, stranger things have happened on the football field, so Ohio State absolutely cannot take the Longhorns lightly.
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler previews Michigan State, Big Ten play
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler previews Michigan State, Big Ten play in this Jan. 2, 2025 press conference.
Devin Royal’s internal clock told him he was out of time.
The green-and-white-clad crowd of 14,797 was screaming as the Ohio State freshman held the ball, and likely the game, in his hands. A Tyson Walker free throw had just pulled Michigan State even against upset-minded Ohio State with 6.4 seconds remaining as Royal tried to get the Buckeyes set up for a final shot. Frantically, the freshman looked for his primary outlet to inbound the ball only to find the Spartans had taken it away.
“I’m counting in my head,” Royal said Thursday, thinking back on the moment. “I’m at five (seconds) myself, so I’m trying to hurry up and get it in.”
No whistle blew, and Royal managed to thread a pass into Bruce Thornton amid three Michigan State defenders. What happened next set off a celebration not seen in 12 years: Thornton pushed the ball up the court, found Dale Bonner along the 3-point line and fed his teammate for a game-winning shot that swished through the net with 0.2 seconds remaining.
The shot will live on in Ohio State lore as the first road winner against the Spartans since William Buford’s jumper lifted them to a share of the 2012 Big Ten title in the final game of the regular season. It also snapped a 17-game road losing streak for the Buckeyes. But while Bonner’s name gets the headline for the play, that shot doesn’t go in – and Ohio State isn’t in position to shock the Spartans – without the first true standout game of Royal’s career.
On that Sunday afternoon, Royal finished with 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting and added two steals and two rebounds in the most playing time of his freshman season to that point: 17:54. It was a glimpse of why the Pickerington Central product had been such a coveted recruit, one who picked the Buckeyes despite a hard push from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.
Friday night, those two teams meet for the first time since Bonner’s shot when the Spartans come to Value City Arena in the lone matchup between Ohio State and Michigan State this year. This time, Royal features prominently atop the scouting report amid a breakout sophomore season that was hinted at last season.
He leads the Buckeyes in rebounding (7.5 per game) and is second in scoring (14.8) after averaging 2.4 and 4.7 last season, respectively. It’s the kind of growth players sometimes show from freshman to sophomore seasons, but coach Jake Diebler said that’s not exactly how Royal’s summer went.
“At times you can just assume (that growth) is going to happen, but there’s a work, there’s a mentality, there’s a maturity required to make that jump,” Diebler said. “He was a little inconsistent with that at times in the summer. We talked about it. He owned that, and then he took off because I think he was honest with himself.”
When the Buckeyes reported for fall camp, Diebler said Royal had flipped the page and quickly began to assert himself as a high-level player.
“You’re seeing a great deal of benefit from the hard work and mentality he had really starting in August,” the coach said. “He’s a great story about what I want our program to be about. I want guys to come in and grow and get better and he’s certainly done that.”
When Ohio State returned from holiday break, Royal was hardly able to practice due to an illness that had him questionable for the Dec. 29 home game against Indiana State. He gutted out 19:44, finishing with 13 points and four rebounds in the 103-83 win against the Sycamores.
In two Big Ten games this season, Royal leads Ohio State in scoring average (20.0) and rebounding average (7.5). For the Buckeyes to knock off No. 18 Michigan State, Royal will have to play a big part.
Just like he did last year.
“It taught me a lot,” Royal said of that experience. “It’s a very physical game. Tom Izzo definitely put in them (the mentality) to be physical a lot. I know coming into this game I have to put it into some of the younger guys who might not know about it.”
ajardy@dispatch.com
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