Ohio lawmakers want to give even more money -- our money -- to the fossil fuel industry: Today in Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio House Republicans want to further subsidize the development of natural gas pipelines in Ohio.

We’re talking about state government using $20 million to create a revolving loan program that charges no interest for five years to governments that purchase easements for pipelines 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:

Will Ohio ever get behindenergy that comes from anything other than fossil fuel? What’s the latestproposal from Republican legislators to provide more taxpayer-funded gifts tothe fossil fuel industry?

When Mike DeWine was tryingto head off some anti-trans rules he did not agree with, he proposed some otherrules, and on Monday, lawmakers talked about DeWine’s proposal. Where does it stand?

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb suddenly has some genuine controversy on his hands. One top public safety official was fired, and another was hired under circumstances that seem shady.What happened in each case?

One of the most famous Ohioans in history is William T. Sherman, he of Sherman’s March in the CivilWar. A collection of his artifacts is up for sale. What are they, and how much might they be worth?

What did we learn from a forum of community leaders and childcare providers?

Why is the state spending $8 million on a bunch of recreational vehicles?

LeBron is not in the court room,but he is a big presence in a court case in Cleveland this week that has huge ramifications. What is at stake?

We’ve had far fewer crazy car theft stories of late involving Kias and Hyundais, probably because the automaker has been upgrading the cars to make them harder to steal. For peoplewho have yet to upgrade, what might be the perfect opportunity?

We are big fans of Richey Piiparinen in our newsroom. Over theyears, his statistics and analysis have informed a lot of our reporting. So we were quite sad when he was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer. Steve Litt caught up with him about a book he has written linking his cancer fight toCleveland’s fight for revival. What did he have to say?

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

Chris (00:01.618)

We’re talking about the Ohio legislature’s love with fossil fuels again. They just do not want to save the planet. It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. Chris Quinn here with Leila Tassi, Laura Johnston and Lisa Garvin and Lisa. Will Ohio ever get behind energy that comes from anything other than a fossil fuel? What is the latest WACO proposal from Republican legislators to provide more tax funded?

gifts to the fossil fuel industry.

Lisa (00:34.688)

It’s House Bill 349 and it’s being put forward by Republicans Don Jones of Freeport and Tim Barhorst of Fort Laramie. They want to create a revolving loan fund for governments that purchase easements for gas pipelines. These would be five-year loans with no interest at all and it would be paid for with $20 million out of state funds. And this is despite the Ohio Constitution prohibiting state issued loans.

for building facilities for the purpose of providing electricity or gas utility service. But the sponsors of the bill say, well, it doesn’t explicitly say that pipeline easements are not allowed. Also, this bill would change the property tax formula that would give a significant tax bill reduction for up to 10 years. What they would do is that would be via tripling the depreciation rate. So if the depreciation is 30 years, it would move to 10 years.

and then mandating that the tax commissioner reduce pipeline values by 75% in what’s called Energize Ohio zones. This is where insufficient natural gas infrastructure has a negative impact on economic conditions and growth. But again, data shows that natural gas booms really don’t provide meaningful economic gains for the immediate area. So Jones, who has a gas risk,

rich district in Guernsey, Harrison, Noble and Belmont County said he didn’t consider the climate impact when introducing this bill. He questioned wind and solar. He lamented the downfall of the coal industry. And he says that moving away from fossil fuels is drinking from the Kool-Aid.

Chris (02:03.424)

Ha ha ha.

Chris (02:12.702)

Look, think about this. One week ago, from when he said this, we were all standing outside, mesmerized by the power of the sun. Everybody talked about how when there was the tiniest sliver of sun wrapped around the moon, it was still daylight because the sun has so much power. The temperature plummeted while it disappeared, came roaring back. We all talked about it after, like, wow, why aren’t we tapping into this?

And this doofus wants to take our money. He wants to take our taxes and give it to this industry. It is just yet more evidence of how bought and paid for these guys are. They don’t care about the planet. They’re just in the pocket of these fossil fuel industries. Why on earth would you create a program to get more fossil fuels burning instead of a program to get away from them and save this planet?

Lisa (03:09.08)

And it’s a shame because, you know, he wore his heart on his sleeve. He says he doesn’t, he questions climate change and fossil fuels role in that. And this is despite evidence to the contrary about economic development. And it’s despite an Ohio law. So it just seems like a gift to the fossil fuel industry.

Chris (03:27.778)

We need the Justice Department to investigate the legislature. They are completely abandoning their duty to the residents of Ohio. They’re just not. They don’t care a bit about us. And now they’re taking our money and give it to their wealthy patrons. There’s there’s something wrong here. They’re they’re doing very bad things. And the Justice Department needs to come in and give these guys an enema for him to say, yeah, I’m not even thinking about climate change. I just want to burn more fuel.

What kind of moron is that? I mean, that’s just plain stupid, given what’s happening to this planet. Amazing, this was the most amazing story to roll across yesterday. You just sit back and think, how did these people get elected into office? They have no business representing Ohioans. You are listening to Today in Ohio. When Governor Mike DeWine was trying to head off some anti-trans rules he did not agree with, he proposed some other rules.

And on Monday, lawmakers talked about DeWine’s proposal. They obviously overrode his opposition to what they did on their own. But now they’re looking at this. Laura, where does it all stand?

laura (04:33.727)

So the big ticket part of the rules passed this legislative panel. And that would be banning gender surgeries for transgender youth. And yes, he vetoed this bill that originally would have banned minors from gender-affirming care and transgender girls and women from playing female sports teams in K through 12 in college. Obviously, the legislature overruled that. But what DeWine was going for was some kind of compromise. Because he had said after talking to families,

He included that healthcare decisions should be made by their parents in consultation with medical experts, not by government, which seems like a pretty reasonable stance. But he still unveiled this new rule banning transgender surgery for minors and a couple of other parts of the rule, which the committee has not yet considered. And that’s a requirement that transgender minors be treated by a multidisciplinary team that includes an endocrinologist and mental health therapist and

Doctors and other medical providers would have to submit information to the state about the age medication and other treatment for trans children and adults. Now, that is still being considered, but the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, that’s a mouthful, and a panel of state lawmakers, they don’t look at the intent behind the law or who it’s going to affect. They just look to see if it conflicts with any others and if it’s legal. And they...

said yes, this can go into effect as soon as May 2nd, even though nearly everybody who spoke at this hearing opposed it and said there are conflicts with other laws and that this should not be allowed, in part it conflicts with the Obamacare’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. So I don’t know that there’s any stopping it at this point though, lawsuits maybe.

Chris (06:13.358)

Now, and really, this was his stopgap measure to block them from doing their much more Dekronian measures. So what’s the point?

laura (06:22.551)

Right. I don’t know what the point is, but nobody ever pulled it back. I agree, but this is still going. And even though I guess this part of the rule is filed under a section of Ohio Department of Health rules that have to do with communicable diseases. So, State Representative Bill Demora asked whether being transgender was contagious, and if surgery rule goes beyond the intent of the communicable disease rules. And it does seem

Like, why is this necessary now?

Chris (06:52.87)

Right. That’s what my thinking was. They should keep their focus on giving money to the fossil fuel industry. Leave this alone. You know, listening to Today in Ohio, we’ve talked often about how Mayor Justin Bibb of Cleveland has been pretty controversy free during his years in his term, but he suddenly has some genuine controversy on his hands. One top public safety official was fired and another was hired under circumstances that seemed pretty shady.

Leila (07:14.987)

Thanks for watching!

Chris (07:22.874)

Layla, what happened in each case?

Leila (07:25.374)

Well, in the first case, we’re talking about Jaquima Dai, who was the city’s assistant safety director. Back in March, she was found to be negligent of her duty while damaging public property in a city vehicle. On February 17th, she had crashed her city car while she was driving four kids home from a basketball game. And as it turns out, both transporting kids in a city vehicle and using that vehicle for non-work purposes are against city policy. So that was the first problem.

Lisa (07:29.384)

was the city’s assistant safety director back in March. She was found to be negligent of her duty while damaging public property and city vehicle. On February 17th, she had crashed her city car while she was driving four kids home from a basketball game. And as it turns out, both transporting kids in a city vehicle and using that vehicle for non-work purposes are against city policy. So that was the first problem. But also, she was found to have been deceptive during the investigation for that incident which contributed to the disciplinary case again.

Leila (07:52.47)

But also she was found to have been deceptive during the investigation of that incident, which contributed to the disciplinary case against her. She didn’t initially report that there were children in the car and she claimed to not know the city policy around that. So she was fired Friday. The other personnel matter is really dogging Justin Bibb this week. He had created a brand new position called Senior Public Safety Advisor to assist interim public safety director Wayne Drummond with.

operational tasks, strategy, and data analysis. It’s a job that pays $124,000 a year. And the city chose Philip McHugh for the job, saying he was the most qualified of the applicants. But there are a couple things about McHugh that make him a problematic choice. First, he was Justin Bibb’s college roommate at American University in Washington, DC. So that alone just really smacks of nepotism. But second, and this is probably worse,

When McHugh was sued over allegations that he violated an elderly black couple’s civil rights and falsified a police report as a police detective in DC. The case stemmed from a 2015 incident in which this elderly couple was involved in a car accident outside a flower shop. And the person in the other vehicle, who later acknowledged that she has memory problems, claimed that the elderly woman was waving a gun at her and threatening to shoot her while her husband was egging her on.

Lisa (09:07.864)

and the person in the other vehicle, who later acknowledged that she has memory problems, claimed that the elderly woman was waving a gun at her and threatening to shoot her while her husband was pegging her on. And surveillance video was unclear on whether she actually had a gun, but McHugh’s investigation of this incident and his elderly couple was kind of relentless. He had them later pulled over at gunpoint, and their vehicles searched, and their homes searched, and there was no evidence of guns or anything illegal

Leila (09:18.466)

Surveillance video was unclear on whether she actually had a gun, but McHugh’s investigation of this incident and of this elderly couple was kind of relentless. He had them later pulled over at gunpoint and their vehicle searched and he had their home searched and there was no evidence of guns or anything illegal that ever surfaced from that. But the couple felt completely violated by his tactics and the case reportedly ended in a six-figure settlement for them. So,

Lisa (09:38.998)

but the couple felt completely violated by his tactics and the case reported ended in a six with your settlement. And so that’s the guy that has now been hired in this key spot that is in brand new position that I don’t know, I’ll hand it to you Chris.

Leila (09:49.791)

That’s the guy that has now been hired in this key spot. That is a brand new position that I don’t know, was it? Yeah, anyway, I’ll hand it to you, Chris.

Chris (10:00.474)

I just don’t get it. This is guaranteed to blow up in your face. You hire your college roommate who’s controversial to a new job that’s just been created, paying a lot of money. And then we didn’t break the story. Channel 5 broke the story. Salute to Channel 5, that’s good journalism. And so he had time after Channel 5 had talked to him for us to come back. He had time to fashion a response and their response is terrible. They’re just not addressing what seems like is

Leila (10:04.984)

Yes.

Leila (10:10.783)

Mm-hmm.

Chris (10:29.902)

a pretty big scandal at this point. What are you doing hiring your college roommate? I was a little bit surprised it didn’t seem to be an issue at the city council meeting yesterday. I would have thought somebody might have raised a question about it, but I didn’t see any indication of that.

Leila (10:42.974)

Yeah, it might have. The city’s defending him saying there’s never been a sustained finding related to his bias or his integrity, that he’s had an impressive career and his supervisors had great things to say about him. But yeah, others are calling for his job including the NAACP, which points to how unwise this hire is given that we’re trying to get out from under a longstanding consent decree with the federal government seeking to instill constitutional policing in Cleveland. Why would you...

Lisa (10:46.536)

and saying there’s never been sustained finding related to his bias or his integrity, and that he’s had an impressive career and the supervisors have reason to say about him. But yeah, others are calling him a job, including the NAACP, which points to how unwise this hire is, given that we’re trying to get out from under a one-standing consent decree with the federal government, seeking to instill constitutional policing in Cleveland, why would you invite someone on board who has a checkered history when it comes to that?

Leila (11:11.262)

invite someone on board who has a checkered history when it comes to that.

Chris (11:16.186)

Man, I just, so many times you’ve thought Justin Bibb has kind of threaded that needle and navigated his turn. He’s a young guy, so people expected him to stumble. The stumbles he has had have not been big time scandal. This is just dumb. This is guaranteed to have people raise questions. If somebody legitimate challenges him for re-election, this will be part of it. What are you thinking?

Leila (11:35.703)

Right.

Chris (11:44.73)

And still not explaining it. I mean, you’ve got to address this kind of stuff. You’ve got to have a public relations team that says, okay, we’re going to take some shots on this, let’s come out with our explanation and nothing. It’s really, I would argue crickets at this point. Interesting stuff. And again, salute to channel five. Good stuff. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. One of the most famous Ohioans in history is William T. Sherman, he of Sherman’s March in the Civil War.

A collection of his artifacts is up for sale? What are they? How much might they be worth? And Lisa, will you be lining up to view them?

Lisa (12:20.452)

Not with those starting bids, but, and I’m not interested in Civil War memorabilia, but there is a lot of good stuff. So General William T. Sherman grew up in Lancaster, Ohio. And as you said, he was known for the March to the Sea 1864 campaign that burned Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia and ensured the Union Army success eventually. So artifacts from Sherman Descendants Home in Sherman, Pennsylvania, will be auctioned off in Columbus May 14th.

Columbus auctioneer Adam Fleischer says, the family preserved everything so well for 150 years. Some of the items include a Sherman sword and a trunk, starting bids of about $16,500 there. The family Bible with notations of births and deaths. His general insignia expected to start at $5,250.

a personal march to the sea map that was made after the war, and that’s expected to start at about $3,200. And there’s also, there was a rare book expert looking through all the books there, and she found a biography of Ulysses S. Grant with handwritten notes in the margin by Sherman.

Grant had described his decision not to pick Sherman for a command because of a recent failure in another assignment. But Sherman wrote in the margins, it was no failure at all. So that’ll probably attract a lot of interest. But there’s a little bit of controversy over this because of the possibility that items will go into private collections and out of public view, bidders will be confidential.

The Sherman House Museum in Lancaster is trying to raise money via a Facebook campaign to buy some of these items for display at their museum. Director of the museum, Michael Johnson says, “’It has great national significance, “’especially the family Bible, the trunk and the sword.’ “’But he did have to apologize “’because some people criticized “’that he painted all private collectors “’with the same broad brush, “‘but he still stands by his message, you know, sentiment.’”

Chris (14:20.998)

I didn’t grow up in Ohio, so if I knew the chairman was from Ohio, I’d forgotten it. And it is striking how many significant historical figures come from this state. And what’s amazing is when you think of who the significant people are now, they’re just such a shadow. You know, JD Vance and Jim Jordan, and just not the same august political figures that this state used to produce. I wonder if we ever get back to big brains in our leadership roles.

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. All right, Laura, we’ve spent more than a year pushing to change the way we address childcare in this state. You’ve gotten all sorts of traction with this project that you’ve led. And now we’ve had a pretty big symposium bringing together the brightest minds to talk about the challenges. What did we learn?

laura (15:10.299)

Well, something needs to be done, right? This is a forum sponsored by Starting Point. That’s the nonprofit focused on quality child care and Collaborate Cleveland, which is a nonprofit working to change policies that disadvantage women. And they got both Chris Ronane and Justin Bibb at this forum to talk about the importance of it, saying, Ronane said that child care is fundamental for economic development. We have to think of it as part of health and wellness of young people because it gives us a healthy head start. So we’re looking at two huge proponents

you know, issues of quality of life, like both actual businesses and kids and families. And they all agree that something needs to be done. Ronan wants to support on-site childcare as an employee, benefit, childcare with flexible hours for employees working shifts, because it’s hard to find even eight to five childcare. If you need childcare in the off hours, it is really dire straits. And they agree that they have to...

Lisa (16:05.288)

And they agree that they have to get multiple sectors of the economy and the government to work together. There’s a story I want to do. There’s a $4.5 billion child care center being built on donated land in Ashland County Industrial Park that’s slated to open this year, owned and operated by a nonprofit with some funding from employers.

laura (16:06.931)

get multiple sectors of the economy and the government to work together. There’s a story I want to do. There’s a $4.5 million child care center being built on donated land in an Ashland County industrial park that’s slated to open this year, owned and operated by a nonprofit with some funding from employer-supported tuition assistance and grants and endowments, which Mike DeWine has mentioned too before. So I think that’s a great place to look.

I still think we need more, but I am so glad that people are talking about it and agreeing that something needs to be done.

Chris (16:40.69)

You know, we’re proposing to give a bunch of money to the natural gas industry. We’ve given, what, a billion dollars to charter schools, many of which are very questionable provenance. And here we have something that everybody involved in agrees with. We need to subsidize child care. It’s good for the economy, for economic development. It’s good for the children. It’s good for the parents. It’s good for communities. There’s no downside to spending money on this.

laura (16:49.854)

Mm-hmm.

Chris (17:09.522)

will get a return on it greater than what we spend. And yet Ohio doesn’t do it because we’re too busy. You know what childcare needs to do? They need to get some extra money and start paying the legislators to pass legislation for them. Because that’s the only way you get anything in this state. Go buy the legislature and then they’ll do what you want. Otherwise, we just keep foundering here. Parents are suffering, children are suffering. This really put it into a very clear gaze, right? If you listen to what they’re saying,

laura (17:11.227)

Mm-hmm. Huge.

Chris (17:39.182)

Everything about this says we should go. There is absolutely no downside and we won’t do it.

laura (17:45.819)

There are some lobbyists for the childcare industry for those really big corporate companies that are across the country, but they don’t have the same kind of power as the gas industry or name somebody that’s giving a whole lot of dark money away. They don’t have millionaires trying to change the law. They’re not cigarette companies. They just don’t have that kind of money to throw around. But I’m with you. We had Mike DeWine in the State of the State announcing...

Lisa (17:57.66)

You know, they think somebody is giving a lot of dark money away, and they don’t have millionaires trying to change the law. You know, they’re not cigarette companies. They just don’t have that kind of money to throw around. But I’m with you. I’ve had Mike DeWine and the State of the State announcing $85 million to make improvements. We have a state legislature symposium. I think it’s today that Jeremy Pelster is going to be covering. So it does feel like there is momentum here.

laura (18:13.619)

85 million to make improvements. We have a state legislature symposium. I think it’s today that Jeremy Pelzer is going to be covering. So it does feel like there is momentum here. And they are finally waking up to the economic argument. You know, I think for a long time, the argument was focused on the kids and it was too easy for people to be like, you have kids you raise them. You know, that’s the response I get from some people every time we write about this. But I think

Lisa (18:27.314)

to the economic argument. I think for a long time the argument was focused on the kids and it was too easy for people to be like, you have kids, you raise them. That’s the response I get from some people every time we write about this. But I think people are starting to understand the curator event going right. For every dollar you spend on early childhood education, you get up to a $9 return on investment for government.

laura (18:42.059)

people are starting to understand the greater benefit. And you’re right, for every dollar you spend in early childhood education, you get up to a $9 return on investment for government. Just in the less money you have to pay out in subsidizing lifestyles and if kids are better off, then you won’t be paying for juvenile delinquent problems later, so it makes sense to put the money up at the front.

Lisa (19:03.017)

subsidizing lifestyles and if kids are better off then you won’t be paying for Starting to see it in Ohio, I hope you get groundswell and a stop me of its support. So, we’re going to have to get going with this.

laura (19:08.223)

We’re starting to see it in Ohio. I hope you see a groundswell and a tsunami of support.

Chris (19:12.87)

Look, think about this. The billionaire haslums are going to Columbus next week to try and get money from legislators to help pay for a football stadium. What should we be spending our money on? The children or a playground for the billionaires? It just doesn’t make sense the way we’re going about business in this state. And our legislators are the ones to blame. I can’t believe we’re having the same conversation about child care we’ve been having for a year and three months.

In the same day, we’re talking about giving huge amounts of money to the natural gas industry. It just shows how cockeyed our system has become and why that gerrymandering amendment on the ballot in November is so vitally important.

laura (19:53.087)

A lot of times we point to this urban rural divide in Ohio, but everybody needs child care. There are some people that, you know, it’s worse in rural areas because they don’t have the company. So this affects everyone.

Lisa (19:53.148)

A lot of times we point to this urban rural divide in Ohio, but everybody needs to have care. There’s some people that, you know, that work in rural areas and some of them don’t have the company to give, affects everyone. Right, this isn’t about the urban and rural divide. It’s not about the urban and rural divide.

Chris (20:01.17)

Right.

Right. This isn’t about the urban-rural divide. It’s not about Democrat-Republican. It’s about who pays the legislature for legislation. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. LeBron is not in the courtroom, but he is a big presence in a court case in Cleveland this week that has some pretty big ramifications for one industry. Lisa, what’s at stake?

laura (20:06.739)

now.

Lisa (20:25.776)

The trial began yesterday in a 2017 lawsuit filed by Cleveland Heights tattoo artist Jimmy Hayden versus Take-Two Interactive Software, the makers of the NBA 2K video games. He claims copyright violation and use of two tattoos on LeBron James in his video game Avatar, and he’s seeking damages based on the game profits that are attributed to his tattoos. One of these is a

five stars on his left shoulder that signifies his best friends. And then the other one is his mom’s name Gloria on his right shoulder. They were done by Hayden in 2007 and 2008. But attorneys for Take Two say that Hayden and James had no written agreement on how the tattoos were to be used and implied that James can use the likeness how he sees fit. They also say that the tattoos are small and hard to see in the game as the avatar is, you know, moving through the plays.

Now, James agrees with take two. He has a sealed deposition. As you said, he’s not gonna appear in court, but they’re gonna unseal his deposition during the trial. He says, I have the right to license my appearance for merchandise and creative works. New York University law professor, Christopher Sprigman, says that ruling for Hayden would give tattoo artists a significant amount of control over celebrities’ bodies, and copyright law is not intended for that.

and Take Two attorneys concur, they say, James already gave permission to Take Two to use those tattoos on his avatar. But here’s the thing, there’s a 2016 case in New York, a federal judge ruled in favor of Take Two on another LeBron tattoo artist, but in 2022, an Illinois federal judge ruled against Take Two.

over the use of a WWE wrestler Randy Orton’s tattoos in the WWE 2K video game. And the artist was awarded $3,750. And this started yesterday. It’s in federal judge Christopher Boyko’s court. Jurors watch clips of these video games. And Hayden attorney Todd Tucker says, the client owns the rights on how his work is used and feel like he was railroaded by Take Two.

Lisa (22:40.772)

Um, so it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out, especially with the differing rulings and other courts.

Chris (22:46.362)

You know, I covered a lot of court cases over the years, but I never saw one where part of the evidence was watching video games we played. Very interesting going on in our august federal courtrooms. Hard to predict how this one ends. It seems like the common sense should be, it’s LeBron’s body, he can do what he wants. But as we know, copyright law is very, very specific. So I don’t know how this ends. The tattoo artist could win.

Lisa (23:13.228)

And you know, Hayden, the tattoo artist, did get $1,500 from Warner Brothers for LeBron being in the Space Jam 2 movie, so he did have one victory there.

Chris (23:23.974)

All right. Well, we’ll be talking about this when it’s over and you are listening to Today in Ohio. We’ve had far fewer crazy car theft stories of late involving keys and Hyundai’s probably because the automaker finally started upgrading the cars to make them harder to steal. But for people who have yet to upgrade, what might be the perfect opportunity, Laura?

laura (23:46.015)

you can head down to the Cleveland Aquarium this weekend, which seems way easier than having to make an appointment at a dealership. So from 8 AM to 6 PM Friday and Saturday, and 8 AM to 3 PM on Sunday, you can come down to the flats, don’t need to make an appointment, and you can get your car upgraded. Because if you have a Kia or a Hyundai, and you haven’t, it’s from a certain period of time, like 2011 to 2021, these were made without engine immobilizers. That’s a good point.

It’s a device that costs about $100, stops vehicles from being hot wired. But with these cars, you could watch a YouTube video and learn how to steal one with a screwdriver and a USB cable in seconds. So now you can get it upgraded. Maybe you can see the fish when you’re done or if it’s nice weekend, go stroll around the flats. And finally, get a little less worried about your car being taken away.

Chris (24:35.918)

I wonder if they finally found religion because their car sales dropped and who in their right mind would have bought one of these cars during the controversy and getting out there to upgrade them, duh, has made this much less of a trend. These cars were just getting stolen left and right a year ago, but we’re seeing less of that now.

laura (24:54.698)

Mm-hmm.

laura (24:57.915)

Yeah, you kind of think why they chose to make them without these $100 immobilizers, how much money they’ve spent on bad PR and lawsuits and fixing them later.

Chris (25:02.877)

I don’t know.

Chris (25:09.338)

You’re listening to Today in Iowa. We’re big fans of Richie Piperonin, Richie Pipes, for short, in our newsroom. Over the years, his statistics and analysis have informed quite a bit of our reporting. So we were quite sad when he was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer a few years ago. Steve Lit caught up with him about a book he has written linking his cancer fight to Cleveland’s fight for survival, revival. Well, what did he have to say?

Leila (25:36.338)

Richie, as you said, Chris, was diagnosed three years ago with the aggressive glioblastoma brain tumor and Steve had a wonderful afternoon with him. He tells us that Richie has now undergone a few rounds of treatment. He’s doing really well with no visible signs of tumors at the moment and he’s spending his days exercising, doing a lot of reading and writing and exploring realms of thought that are new to him, as Steve puts it. And among his recent work is his first published book called Octopus Hunting.

It’s a 231 page collection of 14 essays that link Richie’s own fight for life and Cleveland’s fight for revival. It’s a blend of memoir, urban history, economics and religious philosophy in this book that Steve describes as a genre bending journey through Richie’s struggle to make meaning and find connections between his medical experiences and the troubled city that shaped him.

pulls no punches in this book. He criticizes the region’s failure to address poverty and health disparities that afflict Cleveland’s poorest communities. And he shares his disappointment in the failure of well-paid economic development executives to turn the region around after decades of decline. But he’s also very hopeful in this book about the region’s ability to build upon its assets, its institutions and the lake, for example. And his book also builds upon the work that he did as a researcher. One of the key themes.

is the importance of improving the social determinants of health and making that the central focus of economic development. Those include schooling, employment, income, housing, neighborhood conditions, and health behaviors. And Richie’s life story is a fascinating one. Steve goes into it in more detail in his story on Cleveland.com, but in my conversations with Steve, my takeaway is that this is a deep, thoughtful memoir written by one of Cleveland’s most influential researchers of at least the past decade, and it’s really worth picking up.

Chris (27:30.422)

I was surprised. I didn’t realize until I read this story that he’d been laid off at CSU. And it’s kind of a crushing development. Tom Byer, Richie Perpernin, they had a long series of people who did great work looking at the economic disparities in Cleveland and the population shifts. Steve Lidd has spent a lot of his career writing about this, but CSU’s financial troubles have crippled that. So who’s doing that work now? Who’s going

Leila (27:35.81)

Hmm.

Leila (27:59.131)

I know that’s a great question.

Chris (28:00.738)

lay out the trends. I just it’s sad and it’s sad that he lost his funding and because of his treatment he couldn’t go raise the money himself. You would think the Cleveland Foundation or somebody would say no this work is critically important to our future. We’ll continue to pay for him to do it. I think there’s a vacuum now in our planning research.

Leila (28:10.499)

right.

Leila (28:19.339)

Hmm.

Leila (28:23.807)

I agree.

Chris (28:25.414)

Good stuff by Steve. It’s a terrific story. We published it in the Plain Dealer over the weekend and it is on Cleveland.com. That’s it for the Tuesday episode of Today in Ohio. Thank you for listening. Thanks to Leila, Laura and Lisa. As always, we’ll be back Wednesday talking about the news.