CLEVELAND, Ohio - Sports betting companies make big money off Ohioans betting on pro sports. So why not tax those companies to build the stadium for those pro sports?
On Today in Ohio, we’re talking about why Ohio legislators would rather spend hundreds of millions out of the state budget, to build a $2.4 billion Browns stadium in Brook Park. (Hint: we think lobbyists are involved.)
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.
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Here‘s what we’re asking about today:
It makes the most sense of just about anything to come out of Columbus, so of course the bought-and-paid-for dodos in the Ohio Legislature are killing it. Is there not a single person with a brain in the Statehouse to fight for Mike DeWine’s sports stadium funding plan?
What are they hiding? Years after the scandal about the HB6 bribery scam came to light, why are four corporate types still refusing to testify about what they know?
How is Ohio’s congressional delegation coming down on the possible shutdown of the federal government this weekend?
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are slashing federal spending left and right, including money for critically important health studies. How much of that kind of money came into Ohio last year alone?
What is the only reason that Ohio and Cuyahoga County gained population last year?
It’s to be a glorious day, one for getting out into parks, so let’s end with a parks story. How many people went to state parks in Ohio last year?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris Quinn (00:01.185)
Another blow to common sense coming from our legislature. First thing we’re talking about on Today in Ohio, it’s the news podcast discussion from Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Leila Tasi, Lisa Garvin, and Lara Johnston. Lara, it makes the most sense of just about anything to come out of Columbus. So of course, the bought and paid for dodo’s in the Ohio legislature are killing it so they can take care of their friends in industry.
Is there not a single person with a brain in the state house to fight for Mike DeWine’s sports stadium funding plan?
Laura (00:37.998)
I don’t know if anybody would fight for it, but the Finance Committee Chair, Brian Stewart, who’s a Pickaway County Republican, says, nope, we’re planning to dump this. We don’t want the increase in taxes on sports gambling or marijuana or cigarettes because they don’t like the idea of being said that they are raising taxes. So that means that all the other ideas that DeWine had, like $1,000 per year child income tax credit,
funding for things like police training and local jails, all of that required more income from Ohio to make that work. So those are just going to be eliminated. And I’ve got to say, I think it is short-sighted. There’s a lot of needs in this state. And those taxes that we’re talking about were not something that everybody was going to have to pay. They’re not income taxes. They’re not sales taxes. They’re not property taxes. These are things, if you want to smoke marijuana or cigarettes or gamble, that is your choice.
And that’s why it’s called a syntax. And that’s why DeWine chose that.
Chris Quinn (01:36.257)
Yeah, on the marijuana, look, we’ve talked about this. The voters passed a law. They said what they wanted and we’ve criticized the legislature for trying to change that. If you’re going to criticize them for the other changes, you got to criticize them for changing the tax. We voted on the tax. So that’s a little bit different. I know you liked what the money was going to go for, but that was a voter initiative. Sports betting wasn’t. Sports betting was something the legislature created. They could have set that tax rate in any amount they wanted.
Laura (01:43.981)
Mm-hmm.
Laura (01:55.779)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (02:04.152)
They set it lower than most other states. And it was a brilliant idea by Mike DeWine to say, look, let’s double that. Let’s use that money to build sports stadiums and end this debate. The people who are betting on sports will help pay for the sports stadiums that host what they’re betting on. was common sense. But these guys in the legislature, man, they just, get bought and paid for by lobbyists. There is no reason not to do that.
Laura (02:24.739)
Right.
Chris Quinn (02:33.461)
except that you’re catering to special interests instead of the people. Nobody in Ohio would have felt that tax. The only people to feel that tax were the betting companies. That’s it. mean, you bet on odds, so you don’t lose money because the company that’s hosting your bets has to pay more in taxes. It comes out of their pockets. They cannot justify it. They give us gobbledygook, but really, they’re just bought and paid for. They’re the worst human beings in leadership.
Laura (02:47.214)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (03:03.225)
probably across the country. never look out for the people. So the alternative is the Haslam plan. They’re going to help the Hasm’s borrow $600 million. The Hasm’s are doing a lot to make sure that the taxpayers don’t ever have to pay that back. But if they went with the divine way, all those taxes that the Hasm’s plan to use to pay the loan back would be available for local governments to use. It’s just idiotic. Our legislature...
in both houses, just morons that are sleazeballs because explain this to me. Give me one legitimate reason to turn this down.
Laura (03:42.286)
can’t give you a reason because it doesn’t make a lot of sense. And we talk all the time about how we want bold ideas. We’re talking specifically about Northeast Ohio, but this was a bold idea for the entire state of Ohio. And you’re right, it wouldn’t have cost Ohioans a penny. And it makes perfect sense. It’s very circular. We want pro sports in Ohio. We need a place for them to play. Let’s tax the company that’s making money off of our pro sports, because if we didn’t have pro sports here, people wouldn’t be betting on it. I mean, it makes perfect sense.
Lisa (04:07.361)
wouldn’t keep adding on it. It makes perfect sense. And it is a great idea. I just thought of it. I don’t know who came up with it, but the one who picked it. It’s a great idea. And it’s not just for pro-poor people. have this commission made up of bipartisan legislators that have all given money to youth sports. We had a series on how expensive that is and how actually the number of kids in youth sports is going down because it gets to be this incredibly competitive extension.
Laura (04:10.708)
And it is a great idea. He thought of it. I don’t know who came up with it, but DeWine’s the one who pitched it. And it’s a great idea. And it’s not just for pro sports. You could have this commission made up of bipartisan legislators that could also give money to youth sports. And we had a series on how expensive that is and how actually the number of kids in youth sports is going down because it gets to be this incredibly competitive, expensive experience that only the most elite kids are going into. So yeah.
Lisa (04:34.657)
I got to say, totally full excited. hope somebody else will pick it up later.
Chris Quinn (04:36.993)
Yeah, right.
Laura (04:39.726)
I gotta say, totally short-sighted. I hope somebody else will pick it up later, but this is a state where... No, I know.
Chris Quinn (04:44.889)
They’re not going to pick it up later because they’re going to give the people who give them their campaign donations exactly what they want. The one argument that we get from the sports betting companies is this will show competition and that’s just not true. There’s so much money they’re making here. This just takes away some of it. It’s a billion dollar plus industry. They’re not walking away from free cash. That’s just nonsense. It’s just a terrible
Lisa (05:00.641)
Mm-mm.
Chris Quinn (05:15.001)
We just have the worst legislature I can imagine. They want coal burning and gas burning plants. They don’t want to have solar power. They want to drill under state parks while boasting about our state parks. And when a great idea comes up like this, they kill it because the guys with the money tell them to. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. What are they hiding years after the scandal about the H-
B6 bribery scam came to light. Why are four corporate types still refusing to testify about what they know Lisa?
Lisa (05:49.877)
Yes, it’s kind of a tangled web here. So yesterday, three lobbyists and one executive from First Energy had a Zoom meeting with Pucco. They continued to refuse to answer questions about House Bill 6 invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. They are Joel Bailey, who is a First Energy state and federal lobbyist. He was part of emails about forming a dark money nonprofit that moved $15 million.
Ty Pine, the director of state affairs. set up many meetings where house bill six was discussed. Former senior vice president, Dennis Chaac, prosecutors say he altered a consulting contract and an internal probe by first energy found that he backdated and forged a contract and lied to investigators about it, but he is not accused of any crimes just yet. The fourth one is state and regulatory affairs director, Justin Blitz.
He was named in documents suggesting he was aware of the $4.3 million payment to former Pucco chair Sam Randazzo. So the hearing was to establish a process and build a record that Pucco could take to the Franklin County Common Police Court where the judge could order them to testify and then give them immunity from criminal charges if they do testify. But their attorneys say it only blocks a state prosecution, not a federal prosecution.
It’s possible that Jack and Pine have already signed non-prosecution deals with prosecutors. Jack did tell Pucco that he signed with both state and federal prosecutors. Pine attorneys declined to confirm or deny whether he had signed a non-prosecution agreement.
Chris Quinn (07:29.145)
If they’ve already signed non-prosecution agreements, they don’t have the right to claim a Fifth Amendment protection. mean, the only way you can claim that is if you’re in danger of being charged. And of course, these guys almost think they did something mighty wrong to be taking that Fifth Amendment right. But if they have signed it, then why is the judge not saying, nope, nope, nope, start talking? We need to know what you know.
It just shows how deep the rot was. These guys are all bums. Every one of them is a sleazebag who’s trying to hide because they know what they did, corrupted our entire state and saddled Ohio with a a real criticism of their legislators who never seem to get better.
Lisa (08:10.805)
And apparently there’s an old law in Ohio, a 75 year old law that sells self-incrimination is a not a legitimate excuse to avoid testifying. So, but the same law gives immunity to witnesses. So I don’t know. It’s, it’s very weird.
Chris Quinn (08:20.417)
Hello.
Chris Quinn (08:24.479)
Yeah, the US Constitution gives you that right. So unless they’re they do not face prosecution and they all ought to get immunity so we can find out what they know the chief guys you want to get where the two guys run in that company, the ones that are now charged in both state and federal court. And this is evidence that could be used to lock them up for the rest of their lives. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Well, how is Ohio’s congressional delegation coming down on the possible shutdown of the federal government at midnight?
Leila (08:57.316)
Our delegation is pretty sharply divided along party lines on this possible shutdown. All of Ohio’s Republican lawmakers are backing the temporary funding bill that just passed the House earlier in the week. They’re saying it’s the responsible thing to do to avoid the shutdown. Folks like Senator John Husted and Senator Bernie Moreno are blaming Democrats for dragging this out. Husted says Republicans are making progress on rooting out waste in the federal government.
And Moreno is accusing Senate Democrats of playing games with people’s lives. Over in the House, Republicans like Max Miller and Dave Joyce say that the bill boosts military readiness and secures the border and even extends Medicare telehealth flexibility. So they’re pushing hard to get it over the finish line. On the other side, Ohio Democrats are rejecting the bill. They argue that it’s bad for their districts. Representative Chantel Brown says it cuts 13 billion from things like senior food programs and veterans' health care and social security staffing.
Amelia Sykes is upset that 38 million in local projects for her district would be frozen, including funding for a new fire station in Cuyahoga Falls. And Marcy Capter says the bill is ruthless and cruel. She says it cuts funds for veterans exposed to toxins and for Great Lakes cleanup projects. So they’re, they’re also raising red flags about giving too much spending control to Donald Trump and Elon Musk with very little oversight. So right now Republicans need some democratic votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster so far.
Only Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman has broken ranks to support it. Ohio’s Democrats are really holding firm. They say that they’re
Chris Quinn (10:26.585)
Chuck Schumer came out overnight and said that he’s going to vote for it and he’s aligned some other Democrats because he’s desperately afraid if you have the shutdown that puts more power into the hands of Donald Trump and Elon Musk because they get to pick what’s a vital service. They would effectively be able to cut everything they don’t want, which they can’t do now. So even though it’s a terrible bill, overnight, things have changed a bit.
Leila (10:32.323)
Mm.
Leila (10:55.865)
Hmm. Yeah. basically, Ohio Republicans are saying the bill is necessary to keep the government open and the Democrats say it’s a raw deal for Ohioans. want a better option.
Chris Quinn (11:08.633)
There is no better option. If Donald Trump gets to decide what is an emergency service, he wants the shutdown. That gives him full power to curtail all government. It’s a terrible quandary for the Democrats, but I think Schumer is probably right. They should pass this so that there isn’t a shutdown. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Leila (11:26.777)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (11:31.501)
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are slashing federal spending left and right, including money for critically important health studies. How much of that kind of money came into Ohio last year alone, Lisa?
Lisa (11:43.169)
Yeah, this is, know, as somebody who worked for a research hospital, this is just a bummer. So there’s a group called the United for Medical Research. They issued a report finding that Ohio got $1 billion in NIH grants and contracts in fiscal year 2024. That supported 12,000 jobs, 2.6 billion in economic activity in the state.
and our top five NIH funded institutions are the big ones. Case Western Reserve, Ohio State, University of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital Columbus get a lot of that money. So this is a coalition of research institutions, health advocates, and industries, and they try to promote NIH funding increases.
so they can advance innovation and boost economy. Their president, Caitlin Leach, says they’re really concerned about drastic reductions in funded research and clinical trials, which will eventually diminish the overall effectiveness of NIH.
Chris Quinn (12:40.281)
There’s all that they said about the jobs and the economy, but what’s really sad about this is our research institutions have made great strides in keeping people healthy longer. The research they do has real-world benefits in terms of saving lives and making lives better, and cutting all that money will just delay what we can learn to deal with things like cancer and
Lisa (12:51.745)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (13:07.787)
infant mortality. It’s sad that that’s the money that they have in their crosshairs.
Lisa (13:13.363)
And what happens with clinical trials? are millions of clinical trials. Millions of people are in clinical trials. Do they get shut down? You know, what happens to the data that they learn from these trials? I mean, this is just a big suck of knowledge, basically.
Chris Quinn (13:28.257)
Yeah, well, it’s that anti-science side of the Republican Party. They issue science because they don’t understand it and they just want to rely on the Bible. Sad, and it will affect our area in a big way. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Laura, what is the only reason that Ohio and Cuyahoga County gained population last year?
Laura (13:50.062)
Immigration. So we’ve been losing population. We talk about it all the time. But deaths outnumbered births in Cuyahoga County again last year, 215. And a net loss of 6,700 people moved out of Cuyahoga County. And that was that many more than moved in. But the good news is the county grew by about 1,900 people to 1,240,594 residents, reversing those last two years of losses because
we gained so many immigrants from international migration. And statewide, we’re looking at the same trend. Ohio picked up 62,378 residents through international migration and was up 59,000 overall to about 11,883,000 people. So the thing is, we’re not really growing compared to the rest of the country. But if we didn’t have immigrants, we would be shrinking a whole lot faster.
Chris Quinn (14:47.961)
I think we’re going to continue to lose people because of what’s happening with the state. Young people are not going to want to go to college here because of what we’re doing to the colleges and we will continue to drain. It’s interesting, this comes out right after the Greater Cleveland Partnership put out an annual report saying, we got a problem, we need more people. And yet the party they generally vote with, the Republican Party, is going to kill immigration, which is the only way we’re growing. If we didn’t have it, we’d
have lost again as you pointed out but that’s where we’re headed. We will not have the same conversation this time next year.
Laura (15:23.394)
And we are doing things in Cuyahoga County to make it easier for people to come here. We have the Cuyahoga County Welcome Center for immigrants and refugees, and those are limited English proficiency. We have an increase on the Cleveland City website that’s making it easier for people to come here. So locally, we’re working for this. And of course, we did have the whole thing with the Haitian migrants in Springfield. What’s really interesting is Rich Exner, who looked at these numbers, they’re all pegged to July 2024. So before...
Donald Trump took office. Springfield only gained 420 residents through international migration last year. And since 2020, only 1,023. I thought that was fascinating considering what everybody was saying about how Haitian migrants had completely overrun the city of Springfield. So you just wonder what is fact and what is perception here because these immigrants are giving us future.
Chris Quinn (16:19.073)
Yeah, there was a complete fiction that worked. They got it out there. All the conservative news places reported it without ever coming back to say what the truth was. They got what they wanted out of that. JD Vance was quite willing to slam his own state, the people he represents in his bid to become vice president, and it worked. Lies work. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Who is East Side Eddie Layla and what is he doing to protect
life savings of all those grandmothers out there.
Leila (16:49.657)
This guy is kind of a local hero, at least when it comes to messing with scammers. Eastside Eddie is a 73 year old retired IT guy from Northeast Ohio who spends his time fighting back against robo-call and text scams, but he’s doing it in this really unconventional way. He actually baits the scammers. He keeps them talking and ties up their phone lines and learns how their scams work so he can warn the rest of us. He’s like,
a scammers worst nightmare and he’s having a fun time doing it. Apparently he got started during the pandemic after he watched other internet vigilantes expose these scams online. And as a senior citizen himself, he was really furious seeing so many people, especially older folks getting tricked out of tens of thousands of dollars. Some victims even lost their homes. I mean, in Cuyahoga County alone, scams cost residents over $3 million just last year.
So now Eddie records his scammer encounters and posts them on his YouTube channel under his handle Eastside Eddie. And he shows people how these fraudsters operate and what red flags to watch for. He also offers free classes at libraries and senior centers. He teaches folks kind of the basics, like if you get a sketchy call, take a breath and think, is this legit? And of course, if someone’s threatening to send the cops to your house or asking for payment and gift cards or crypto, it’s not legit.
But this is just such a great story by Caitlin Durbin. Go check it out on Cleveland.com
Chris Quinn (18:20.013)
The sad part about this is that the scammers often are people who are living in bondage in other countries like Myanmar. They’re basically kidnapped. basically taken into these factory-like settings, warehouse settings, and forced to make these calls and tortured if they fail. And it’s just a desperation situation all around. It’s the organized groups that
Leila (18:35.513)
Yeah.
Chris Quinn (18:48.127)
set up these scams are the ones that need to be held to account. And it’s great that he’s preventing people from being scammed in Cuyahoga County. But when the scammers fail, if they spend an hour talking to somebody and they don’t get any money, there’s a punishment for them on the other side. It’s a horrible situation.
Leila (19:06.575)
It is. I it’s interesting that Eddie keeps these people on the phone so long that they eventually start to divulge information about themselves. And in one video, he, got a scammer to admit the whole thing was a scheme. And this person told Eddie that he is impoverished wherever he is living in the globe. He was making like $40 a week working for this call center that was forcing him to make these calls. He had no other option for his life. And
and that Eddie kind of advised him, find a better line of work. And that is a sad reality of this terrible industry.
Chris Quinn (19:45.335)
Yeah, the scams have gotten so sophisticated. More and more people have fallen for them. The county’s scam office is in overdrive trying to get the word out. This was another way to publicize it. We put that on the front page of the Plain Dealer today so everybody could see it. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Lisa, why is the ACLU criticizing Northeast Ohio Medical University, also known as Neomed, because of some decisions it made last month?
Lisa (20:12.735)
Yeah, ACLU sent a letter to NeoMed. They were critical of the university’s decision to stop funding Black History Month to comply with Trump executive orders. The letter called it a disturbing overcorrection. NeoMed will also be stopping financial support to student organizations that are based on race, gender, or ethnicity. And the ACLU says, wait one, that’s a First Amendment violation.
Neomed president Dr. John Langale told students at a meeting last month that he’s consulting attorneys about the funding cuts, but he said students can still hold events and raise money, but without any help from the university. He says, you know, we’re all about free speech and congregating to celebrate what we do and that won’t change. But the ACLU says there is no federal law that bans schools from supporting events or organizations on campus.
Chris Quinn (21:05.272)
I don’t understand the way colleges are reacting to what’s going on with Trump. guess what I don’t understand is just how much federal money goes to institutions of higher learning. I thought most of that was paid for by tuition and endowments, but schools like this must be getting a giant chunk of money to be running so scared.
Lisa (21:23.265)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (21:29.165)
based on what he’s saying, you really aren’t seeing schools stand up to him at all. They’re all caving. saw Akron, the worst one was Akron, where they were just having a forum to talk about race, which they’ve had for decades, and they canceled it. A conversation out of their fear instead of standing up and saying, you know what, this is perfectly fine. We should be talking about race. It’s a longstanding issue in Northeast Ohio.
Lisa (21:35.745)
Yeah.
Lisa (21:39.957)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (21:57.357)
going stop under a silly threat like this. We’re not going to allow the Donald Trump administration to quash the First Amendment, but they’re all caving.
Leila (22:05.775)
To your question about what kind of federal funding they’re getting, I think a great deal of it is for research that that’s on the line, like National Institute of Health kind of grant funding. I don’t know, but I know institutions around us get plenty of money for that.
Lisa (22:14.859)
Mm.
Chris Quinn (22:19.915)
Neomid gets that.
Lisa (22:26.279)
Yeah, University of Texas does for sure.
Chris Quinn (22:28.825)
Well, Case does and Ohio State does. And I know Akron gets polymer money and things like that. But I don’t know, are all of these schools really sucking in that kind of money? I don’t know. I just am surprised that they’re just caving. They’re putting their principals out the door to get this almighty dollar. And you’d love to see one that says, look, we’re going to have to cut.
Leila (22:29.113)
Case Western, I’m in.
Chris Quinn (22:56.685)
This going to be painful, but principles matter. And we’re not. We’re just not seeing it. I guess you are seeing a case. He is standing up.
Lisa (23:05.077)
Yeah.
And on another subject, we also asked Dr. Langell about Senate Bill 1, and he said that Senator Jerry Serino told him that the social determinants of health which they teach at Neomed can still be taught.
Chris Quinn (23:23.469)
Yeah, we’ll see. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Who’s the latest Northeast Ohio mayor to join the protest against Donald Trump’s ridiculous tariffs on Canadian goods, Leila?
Leila (23:34.113)
It’s Lorraine Mayor Jack Bradley. He actually just got back from Washington where he joined nearly 30 other U.S. and Canadian mayors to push back on Trump’s proposed tariffs. Bradley’s worried that the sweeping tariffs could hit Lorraine and the entire Great Lakes region pretty hard. And it matters because Lorraine’s port is gaining momentum for development and trade between the U.S. and Canada already generates over a billion dollars a year for Lorraine County alone. But Bradley says
These broad tariffs on goods crossing the border could disrupt supply chains, especially in industries like automotive manufacturing, which is huge for the local economy. In fact, he’s heard estimates that the tariffs could cost Lorain County families up to $2,000 more each year on basics like food and medicine. Not exactly what people need right now in their lives. Bradley isn’t against targeted tariffs, he says, but blanket tariffs. He calls them devastating.
disrupting the relationship between the US and Canada could drive up inflation even further and hurt businesses on both sides of the border. And half of the economic activity in the Great Lakes region depends on cross border trade. So during his trip, he and other mayors made their case directly to lawmakers. And they even had conversations with Ohio senators, Bernie Moreno and John Husted, though they couldn’t get formal meetings because the senators are still setting up shop.
Chris Quinn (24:32.281)
Yeah, very.
Chris Quinn (24:55.533)
Haha.
Chris Quinn (24:59.211)
Yeah, that’s why. It’s sad that Donald Trump was handed a roaring healthy economy by Joe Biden and in less than two months has crashed it. I I’ve never seen anything quite like it and he doesn’t care. It makes you wonder if he’s got a bunch of guys he’s working with who are profiting on this, that every time he’s about to make a decision, yes tariffs, no tariffs, yes tariffs, no tariffs, that moves mountains in the markets.
Is somebody profiting from that? Is there any knowledge getting out? Because these decisions seem to make no sense otherwise. Bernie Moreno was out saying, hey, what you got to remember is if Harris were elected, the stock market would be down by 50 % or some ridiculous number, which is total nonsense. But the Fox News watchers will all buy that. Well, it could have been worse. And it couldn’t have been worse. What Donald Trump is doing to the economy is unconscionable. And it’s going to affect
Leila (25:34.148)
right.
Leila (25:44.621)
Right.
Chris Quinn (25:54.969)
people in tangible ways and he ran on a promise of fixing inflation. It’s a disaster that we’re in a full out correction now. The markets are losing huge percentages of their value because of this silly antiquated 1900s style policy that Bernie Moreno is championing.
Leila (26:19.619)
And this is why Moreno and Houston are avoiding talking to the public because there are no, there’s no logic behind these policies. What is the end game for the tariffs? At what point would Donald Trump say he achieved what he wanted out of these? There’s the, the, the, argument about fentanyl coming from Canada has been completely debunked. So what is the point of this? And Moreno and Houston know they can’t answer that question on his behalf.
Chris Quinn (26:40.857)
It’s total nonsense, it’s just made up.
Leila (26:48.867)
So they’re just hiding out. And it’s cowardly.
Chris Quinn (26:51.229)
I do wonder if somebody is getting rich off of this because I when you start to say it makes no sense to do what he’s doing. You have tariffs one day pulls them back the next you have them again you pull them back that that’s nonsense. Nobody operates like that. What are people getting to make a lot of money or his rich friends getting to profit and you said it lately they’re cowards they don’t face the people that are clamoring to talk because they’re cowards.
Leila (27:05.752)
Right.
Chris Quinn (27:18.829)
We’re still trying to work on our own town hall because people really want us to have it. We’re not quite there yet. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. It’s to be a glorious day, one for getting out in the parks. So let’s end with a park story, Laura. How many people went to the state parks in Ohio last year?
Laura (27:35.702)
Well, they welcomed more than 1.1 million overnight visitors last year. That’s a new record of 1.3 % from the year before. And four out of five of those visitors were campers camping overnight in the campsites. The rest were in the cabins and lodges. I know I was a camper at Mommy Bay State Park. I’ve gone camping in state parks every year for the last five years. And they are overall wonderful. We don’t know how many people just visited for the day.
have a count really. There’s no fee to get in. You don’t have to talk to anybody. So that’s anybody’s guess. But Hocking Hills State Park, which I know Leila’s been to, opened a new overnight lodge in 2022. That was the most overnight visitors last year with about 66,806. So I have to ask if we are celebrating these parks, we’re so proud of them. ODNR director, Mary Merd says it’s a cornerstone of our states and the identity.
then why on earth are we drilling under?
Chris Quinn (28:39.241)
Hey, exactly. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Before we go, we had a great conversation yesterday about infant mortality in which Leila and Laura discussed how exhausted mothers are and that that leads to a good bit of this problem. And one of the people who subscribe to the texts I send out each day about stories we’re working on and what have you, sent a note saying, why isn’t there a hotline for that? Where a mom could call
and say, I desperately need sleep, can I get some help? Would that have meant anything to you?
Leila (29:16.739)
Yes. Especially if I’ll tell you what, I had a baby at the very beginning of the pandemic. Now, and granted that was a time when nobody could be together, but the loneliness of that I felt, it made me feel exactly how I could imagine some parents out there would feel in times of isolation. And if you’re a single mom, that could mean all the difference. So,
Yes, I think so. In fact, after we had that conversation yesterday, I started thinking I would personally volunteer. I would volunteer to go hold someone’s baby for a couple hours while they got some sleep. I would do that. If someone started a nonprofit that was all about that, you know, parents helping parents, I would do that.
Chris Quinn (29:58.784)
Eh, eh.
Chris Quinn (30:05.624)
Yeah.
Laura (30:05.774)
I agree, Leila. I would definitely do that, especially if it’s in your own community and you can just do it really easily because you’re still managing your own family. Absolutely. But I do think there is a stigma against asking for help and there shouldn’t be. I’m not saying that’s right, but I think a lot of moms have this idealized envisioning that their lives are going to be this beatific mother-daughter baby bonding session. And then when it’s not like that, they feel like a failure and they feel like it’s their fault.
So I think there would have to be an education campaign along with that, that everybody needs help. It’s okay to reach out.
Chris Quinn (30:42.041)
But would you, if you dialed the number, say, you know, 711 or 1111, something, and somebody came, how would you feel about trusting them with your precious little infant? Would you be able to do that?
Leila (30:57.805)
I think that whoever is organizing this effort, I mean, they’d have to be fully vetted, background checked, you know, all the things. I mean, I don’t know.
Chris Quinn (31:11.033)
It’s a great idea. mean, when I saw it, it came overnight. They sent me some other messages about my text yesterday, and then they listened to the podcast, and they sent a follow-up saying, hey, I listened to that conversation. What about? And I thought, huh, that’s an interesting one. That, you know, if...
Laura (31:26.668)
I wonder if you could call 211, right? The United Way helpline. Because there are agencies out there.
Chris Quinn (31:32.137)
Yeah, but I get back to the trust. And I think you’d almost have to have a bunch of people that you know are vetted and trustworthy and that you can rely on. And you’d almost need a separate nonprofit to do that. come on, it’s your infant child. You are going to want to be absolutely certain you’re not putting that kid into the hands of a crazy person.
Leila (31:55.501)
Right, you’re right.
Laura (31:57.09)
Well, maybe then we do need the education campaign anyway to let everybody know how difficult it is and like that friends and family should rather than say, I just want to give the new family time together, you know, to bond instead of saying, you know, let me know how I can help. Just show up. See if you can help people. That would be nice.
Chris Quinn (32:15.415)
Yeah, great, great stuff. I appreciate the comment and I appreciate the conversation. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the week of news. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Laura. Thank you for being here. We’ll return Monday if we get some news over the weekend.