Tuesday afternoon, heavy rain and high winds traveled across Northeast Ohio, leaving a wake of destruction and around 400,000 people without power.

As of 8 p.m., the following counties were dealing with power outages.

• Cuyahoga: 221,851
• Ashtabula: 14,565
• Geauga: 26,885
• Lake: 61,183
• Lorain: 43,551
• Portage: 9,146
• Stark: 1,008
• Summit: 9,514
• Trumbull: 12,477

The entirety of the News 5 viewing area was under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning at one point, and half a dozen counties were under a Tornado Warning.
By the time the storms passed out of our area, trees were felled, power lines had been ripped down, and even boats at the marina in Lorain had capsized.

Other boats on land over at the Edgewater Marina overturned.

News 5 Cleveland

In Mentor, fire crews had to lift up a car after a motorist drove around a barricade and into some downed wires.

Car caught in wires in Mentor

In Bay Village, fallen trees were everywhere.

News 5 Cleveland

One home in Bay Village had its entire driveway blocked by a collapsed tree.

News 5 Cleveland

Over on East 127th Street near Bratenahl and East Cleveland, residents were out clearing damage after the storms passed. One person had a tree fall onto their front porch.

Cleveland storm damage

In Parma Heights, the entire roof of an apartment complex on Kingsdale Boulevard was shorn off.

Parma Heights storm damage

In Willoughby Hills, fallen trees over major roadways caused delays to motorists in the area.

Storm damage in Willough Hills

In Euclid, one resident’s 1969 Mini Cooper was damaged when a tree fell onto its roof.

Euclid residents cleaning up after strong storms wreak havoc

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Will Howard spent several weeks in college football purgatory after entering the transfer portal in late November.

Ohio State wanted to wait until after the Cotton Bowl before giving the green light to the former Kansas State quarterback coming. Howard spent a little too much of that time eating.

When he arrived in January and first stepped on the scale, it wasn’t pretty: 249 pounds on his 6-foot-4 frame.

“A little portal weight put on,” Howard said Tuesday with a chuckle. “Coach Mick had some words for me.”

That would be OSU’s strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti. But Howard didn’t need to be told.

More: Reunited at last, Ryan Day and Chip Kelly hope for Ohio State football glory together

“I didn’t feel great myself,” Howard said. “I knew I had to lose some weight.”

Marotti and team dietitian Kaila Olson devised a plan to help Howard reshape his body, and he has done so. He said he now weighs between 233 and 235 pounds.

“All I had to do was listen to what they told me and follow the plan, and it worked out,” Howard said.

More: Reunited at last, Ryan Day and Chip Kelly hope for Ohio State football glory together

He did extra cardio work. He learned to cook.

“I felt a little more grown up,” he said. “I had fun with it. It was cool. It feels good to eat well and treat your body right.”

The body change is already paying dividends. Though offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Chip Kelly said no front-runner has emerged in the quarterback competition, Howard looks poised to assume that status whenever it is announced.

All five of Ohio State’s quarterbacks can run, but Howard is the fastest. Kelly said Howard exceeded 22 mph in testing. In Saturday’s practice, he outran OSU’s speedy defensive backs for a long touchdown run.

“Not only can you see his ability to run faster, but I think he’s got a lot more stamina,” Kelly said.

Howard and Kelly also said the quarterback has improved his passing since the spring.

“I’ve tweaked some things in my mechanics,” said Howard, who completed 58.8% of his passes at Kansas State. “I’m getting a deeper level of coaching than I ever have. I have a deeper understanding of the offense and what the defense is doing.”

It’s a significant change from the spring when Howard looked tentative at times. That wasn’t surprising given that Howard was learning a new system and even had to adjust to a different coordinator when Bill O’Brien left to become head coach at Boston College.

“I feel in the spring I was, at the beginning, drinking from a firehose a little bit, especially with the way the offense was installed,” Howard said. “But I think that was good for me – learning how to go through a couple of practices without having any prior experience with an offense and the struggles I had.”

It wasn’t until midway through spring practice that he began to feel comfortable. He continued that progress in the summer.

“Coming into fall camp, it’s been completely different,” Howard said. “You can’t replicate actually doing it. The only way to do it is to do it. It’s helped me a lot this fall camp to just play rather than think about things.”

In the four practices open to fans and media, Howard wasn’t spectacular, but he looked in command. He didn’t throw an interception and took what the defense allowed, which usually wasn’t much.

“Going against this defense every day is a blessing,” he said. “It sucks at times. (I know) in games that guys aren’t going to be guarded like that.

“We’re going to play some really good defenses, but I think we’re playing one of, if not the best, defense in the country, and that’s just making me and us better.”

Howard said he is unconcerned that coaches maintain there’s no pecking order yet. He figures that will take care of itself in time.

“That’s not my decision,” Howard said. “I’m just going to be myself and keep fighting to be the best version of myself every single day and make the most out of my reps and show this team I’m going to give it my all. That’s all I can do. We’re going to keep competing and make each other better and have fun.”

Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts.

Rotunda Rumblings

You’re ganja have a good time: The state released the list of 98 medical marijuana dispensaries expected to receive certificates of operation Tuesday morning, which allows them to open to recreational customers. Laura Hancock writes that under the initiated statute legalizing marijuana for adult-use, people over the age of 21 can purchase up to 2.5 ounces of flower and around 0.5 ounces of extract a day. But dispensaries may have lower purchasing limits during the initial green rush.

Minor threat? The Libertarian Party of Ohio has officially regained state recognition as a minor party, making it the state’s first third-party in four years. As Jeremy Pelzer reports, Ohio Libertarians are fielding candidates in a number of races this fall – including the competitive races for U.S. Senate and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s 9th Congressional District seat, where the entry of a third candidate could affect the outcome.

Gassing up: Bernie Moreno, the Republican U.S. Senate nominee, is launching a bus tour this week. Per Andrew Tobias, Moreno’s first stop was Monday morning in Chillicothe, and he was met with protesters organized by the Ohio Democratic Party, including a giant inflatable cigar-chomping fat cat. In a speech, Moreno largely focused on bashing Vice President Kamala Harris, showing how Moreno is trying to tie Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown to national Democrats, who have fared poorly in Ohio recently.

Suit yourself: In his past business career, Moreno was sued by a former employee who said he was stiffed out of money that Moreno personally promised him before he was hired. Per Andrew Tobias, Michael Falcone alleged that he was fired in retaliation for complaining about the missing pay, which had to do with Falcone’s sales commission. But Moreno said Falcone was an at-will employee who failed to understand his compensation agreement. The previously unreported lawsuit, which was settled out of court, bears similarities to other old lawsuits that have become campaign issues for Moreno as he has run for the Senate this year.

Supported by the troops: Some of the Marines that U.S. Sen. JD Vance served with, while describing their own politics as comparatively more liberal, expressed respect for the now-candidate for vice president in interviews with The Washington Post. They described a bookish young man from a small town who needed to be warned against the predatory car loan advertisers that surround some military bases.

Adjustments for Usha: Donald Trump’s decision to pick Vance, a Cincinnati Republican, as his running mate has forced his wife to rapidly adjust to a constant Secret Service presence in their lives, in addition to constant political attacks on her husband, Sabrina Eaton writes. “We have code names now,” Usha Vance told Fox News in an interview aired Monday. “Our kids had a lot of fun with that.”

Not feeling lucky: In a massive ruling that could shake the tech world, a federal judge on Monday ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly over search engines and related ad markets. As Hancock reports, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost joined his counterparts in nearly every other state, as well as the U.S. Justice Department, in filing the antitrust action against Google, which will likely appeal the decision.

What we’re watching this week

1. How will Ohio’s maiden voyage with legal, retail marijuana sales play out?

2. The Ohio 10th District Court of Appeals is reviewing a case Tuesday morning challenging fracking in state parks

3. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted is scheduled to appear at a new Rumpke Recycling and Resource Center in Columbus on Tuesday

4. The National Conference of State Legislatures meets this week in Louisville. Gongwer News Service reports there’s an Ohio Night reception at Whiskey Row

On the Move

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Champaign County Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, spent the weekend in Iowa campaigning for GOP colleagues Zach Nunn, Ashley Hinson and Randy Feenstra.

Straight From The Source

“The strong opposition to the project that is documented by both the county and the sole township is especially noteworthy and compelling.”

-Ohio Power Siting Board staff, in a report recommending the full panel reject a permit allowing for development of a solar farm in Stark County, due to opposition from local elected officials.

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