Ohio
Ohio cannabis festival hiring joint-rolling judges at high hourly rate
View a Yellow Springs growing facility’s inaugural crop of recreational marijuana in the video player above.
POMEROY, Ohio (WCMH) — As an Ohio cannabis festival prepares for launch, it’s also looking to make multiple hires with a high pay grade.
Chad Thompson, the organizer behind the Stargazer Cannabis Festival, told NBC4 that he was planning to hire multiple judges for the event’s joint-rolling contest on July 27. The festival, weeks away from its inaugural three-day run at Wisteria Campground, is taking place in the first full year that Ohio has legalized recreational marijuana, and a little over a month after the state opened applications for sales at dual-use dispensaries. Thompson launched the job posting online late Monday.
“There’s two divisions, a classic division and artistic division,” Thompson said. “And in both of those divisions, one of the criteria is, ‘How does it smoke?’ The potential smokability.”
While the classic division will focus on traditional joints, Thompson said the artistic division could see intricately designed joints shaped like “tanks, cars and birds.” He also broke down several other factors the judges would be expected to review, as well as the eyebrow-raising dollar amount offered for their time.
“We’re going to be checking for the draw of the joint and the joint stability, like checking for runs and so forth and all that’s going to go into the judging process,” Thompson said. “And we’re hoping that the pay will be enough to get a large pool of potential candidates. … We are paying $100 an hour, you know, to just smoke joints.”
That hourly rate won’t be for a short span either, according to Thompson. He estimated the judging would take “a couple hours, if not more,” and for that reason the applicants need to be experienced beyond casual users.
“If they’re somebody who smokes maybe once a month, maybe they might not be the best person,” Thompson said. “But you know, if they’re a pretty regular smoker, I think they’ll be able to handle it.”
Thompson previously clarified that no vendors at the festival — spanning July 26 to 28 — would be selling recreational marijuana, and a farmer’s market at the event would mainly sell hemp-derived products. However, he did note recreational marijuana will still have a presence at Stargazer in other forms. Vendors will be allowed to sell cannabis seeds, legal even at the federal level, and with which Ohioans can grow up to six plants under the state’s current law.
Festival-goers will be allowed to use their homegrown marijuana at the campgrounds as well, including in the joint-rolling contest.
“It’d be completely legal to be homegrown cannabis, or they may roll it with hemp or they may not, I’m not gonna ask,” Thompson said. “I’m sure that there will be attendees that have legal cannabis with THC and will be consuming it, but there’s going to be no person-to-person sales.”
He also noted that while festival tickets are still available online, they have been selling quickly. Thompson told NBC4 that the Stargazer team would have to decide whether to sell tickets on the weekend of the event “based on capacity,” but did say that they are no longer accepting new food vendor applications.
“If you definitely want to get into Stargazer, you definitely should buy your ticket as soon as possible,” Thompson said. “If you wait, there will be a likely chance you will not get in. I’m getting calls from all over the region.”
Thompson said applicants interested in applying to become joint-rolling judges, or just buying standard tickets, should visit the Stargazer festival website, and scroll all the way to the bottom for a link to the event’s job postings.
Ohio
Sieh Bangura runs for 149 yards and a score, helps Ohio beat UNLV 17-10 in Frisco Bowl
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Sieh Bangura rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown and Ohio beat UNLV 17-10 on Tuesday night to win the Frisco Bowl.
The Bobcats (9-4) have won their last seven bowl games — dating to 2017 — after losing eight of their first 10.
Defensive coordinator and interim head coach John Hauser led Ohio to this victory after head coach Brian Smith was fired earlier in the month for having an affair with an undergraduate student.
Ohio’s Parker Navarro had a 5-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper five minutes into the second quarter for the only score of the first half. The lead was 6-0 after David Dellenbach’s extra-point kick hit the right upright.
UNLV (10-4) had a first down on the Bobcats’ 33-yard line with 32 second left, but DJ Walker picked off an Anthony Colandrea pass in the end zone to keep it 6-0.
Bangura scored on a 23-yard run less than four minutes into the third quarter, and Navarro passed to Chase Hendricks for the two-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.
Hendricks muffed a punt at the end of UNLV’s first possession and Kayden McGee recovered at the Ohio 30. The Rebels settled for a career-long 50-yard field goal by Ramon Villela to cut it to 14-3.
Dellenbach kicked a 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, but Colandrea scored on a fourth-and-goal run from the 2 to get the Rebels within 17-10 with 4:45 remaining. UNLV never got the ball back in falling to 4-4 all time in bowl games.
Navarro completed 11 of 15 passes for 143 yards with an interception. Bangura did his damage on 19 carries.
Colandrea totaled 184 yards on 19-for-30 passing.
UNLV had the nation’s longest run of scoring at least 20 points end at 35 games.
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Ohio
Ohio AG on human trafficking: It’s not rich and poor, it’s literally all around us
COLUMBUS, Ohio — For the second time in two years, the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force and the Steubenville Police Department have joined forces to combat human trafficking crimes.
In October, the operation led to the arrest of eight individuals for sex trafficking offenses, including men from Follansbee and St. Clairsville.
Earlier, in July 2024, 10 men from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia were apprehended and charged with solicitation and possession of criminal tools.
“It just goes to show that human trafficking happens everywhere,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “This isn’t a big city thing, it happens in small towns, it happens out in the country. It’s not rich and poor, it’s literally all around us.
“I am hopeful that the message is going out around Ohio and Steubenville and the Mahoning Valley — Don’t Buy Sex in Ohio!”
He also highlighted the support provided to survivors during these operations.
“We always have social service providers that partner with us that are on site. So, whether it’s something simple like a meal or a shower or something as necessary as an addiction treatment bed — we’re there to try and help provide the resource,” Yost added.
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For those affected by human trafficking, a victim services directory is available here.
Ohio
3 kids lead police on Ohio car chase after learning to steal vehicles on YouTube: officials
NEWBURGH HEIGHTS, Ohio — Three kids, ages 12, 11, and 8, led Ohio police on a chase in a stolen car on Saturday, according to police.
According to the Newburgh Heights Police Department, an 11-year-old was driving a car that was stolen from Parma, WEWS reported.
Officers chased the car on Harvard Avenue west over the Denison Bridge. Shortly after the chase began, the car crashed into a house on Denison Avenue, police said.
No injuries were reported.
Newburgh Heights PD said two brothers, an 8-year-old and an 11-year-old, along with a 12-year-old, began running from the police.
After police caught them, the kids told officers they watched YouTube videos to learn how to steal cars, police said.
According to the department, the boys were released to their parents, and police will file charges in juvenile court.
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