CLEVELAND, Ohio – A week after an Ohio Senate Republican filed legislation to legalize online gambling in Ohio, a pair of House Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a separate, more limited proposal.

We’re talking about the push for casino-style games 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.

Here’s what we’re asking about today:

Now there are two. How are the competing bills to legalize online casino-style gambling in Ohio different?

We’ve talked for weeks and weeks about the secret moves in the proposed state budget from the Ohio House that would have enormous impacts on the state, without any debate or hearings. Finally, we see some official push back on the budget from the Republicans. What are the Democrats stressing?

Days like today, I’m grateful for the ACLU. What is the agency doing to combat the inexplicable secrecy in Geauga County over the ICE detainees in the ail there?

How many times have we noted the invisibility of the region’s chamber of commerce in the long-running debate over the future home of the Cleveland Browns. Not anymore. Where did the Greater Cleveland Partnership come down?

University Hospitals unveiled some grand plans for new construction on its main campus. What is it building, and where is it?

I didn’t know this, but federal funds have been available for families needing help with tutoring. And, there is some good news for families that use that money. What is it?

Why did two Cleveland suburbs that rely on Cleveland for EMS and firefighting rack up more than $1 million in bills without paying them?

Did we ever get the promised statement from the Cleveland Heights mayor about the antisemitic things his wife said over city communications channels?

This is the week heading into the kickoff to summer, Memorial Day weekend. But Memorial Day is about more than backyard barbecues. It’s a remembrance of service men and women who died for our freedoms. We mark that in cemeteries throughout the region. How many flags are placed on gravesites in Cuyahoga County each year for Memorial Day?

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

Chris Quinn (00:01.375)

Online gambling, Cleveland Browns. We keep talking about them on Today in Ohio and we’ll be talking about them today. It’s the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Courtney Astoffi, Lisa Garvin and Laura Johnston. And Courtney, now there are two. How are the competing bills to legalize online casino style gambling in Ohio different from each other?

Lisa (00:06.234)

Today in Ohio, when we’re about the day, it’s three o’clock.

Courtney (00:30.764)

Yeah, House Republicans have unveiled House Bill 298 and that would allow Ohio’s four casinos and seven racinos to offer internet gambling on virtual slot machines and table games like, you know, poker, craps, roulette, those kinds of things. And now when we’re comparing this to the separate proposal from the Senate, which was introduced a week ago, the key difference is that the Senate bill would also permit online Ohio lottery games

and internet betting on horse racing. This new house bill is more limited in scope and it only focuses on those casino style games. Now, both bills are expecting to bring in between $400 and $800 million annually in additional state revenue and that would come from licensing fees, taxes on operator’s gross receipts. Under the house bill, a 28 % rate would be levied for those tax purposes.

And under the Senate proposal, would be 36 to 40%.

Chris Quinn (01:31.459)

Interesting that they want to go 36 to 40 percent on this, but not with the other form of online gambling on sports. I guess the the casino style people have not been playing Columbus with money yet. The the idea that this is happening so quickly is interesting. And part of it might be because of a story we’ll be talking about in a little while about the Brown Stadium. Or part of it might be that that Ohio has been flush with money now for

quite a few years and is tight. And they like having money in Columbus, even though they’re trying to kill the income tax. So they want that cash to play with.

Courtney (02:11.864)

Yeah, neither bill here fully specifies how this new revenue would be spent. But, you know, when we’re talking about the Brown Stadium, when we’re talking about the income tax proposals, you can use your imagination on where you could apply that, right? But as far as the reasoning behind this new house proposal, we heard from Republican state rep who introduced it, Brian Stewart of Pickaway County and Marilyn John of Richland County.

They went before the House Finance Committee yesterday and they basically said that this proposal is a continuation of what Ohio’s been doing around loosening gambling laws since 09 when it started with the casino legalization and then in 23 when it moved on to sports betting. you know, Stewart said of this bill, you know, it’s reasonable for Ohio to take the next logical step here, letting Ohioans play these games online as well as in person.

Notably, when we’re talking about the difference between these bills, Stewart also said he was ambivalent about the Senate’s proposal to open up that online lottery gaming and he kicked it back to the Senate to make the final decision there.

Chris Quinn (03:22.039)

Yeah, and they’ll be hashing it out, I’m sure, in the conversations with the Browns. Lost in all of this. And really, we haven’t seen much on it at all is what is the impact of all this ease of gambling on folks with gambling addiction? You’ve got to think that that has gotten way worse once people could start gambling on their phones with sports betting, and this would make it worse. But we aren’t seeing numbers about it. They have set aside some money to try and combat it.

but you just don’t get the feeling that we’re paying close attention to how many lives might be affected by all this.

Courtney (03:57.452)

Yeah, but both bills here would set aside 1 % of revenue to address problem gambling.

Chris Quinn (04:04.075)

Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. We’ve talked for weeks and weeks and weeks about the secret moves in the proposed state budget from the Ohio House that would have enormous impacts on the state without any debate or hearings. Finally, we see some official pushback on the budget from the the budget that came from the Republicans. What are the Democrats stressing, Laura?

Laura (04:27.893)

Well, they have very little real power here because they’re in the super minority, basically. So they are reaching out to the public with a press conference, maybe with some hope that the public is going to pressure their representatives to do the right thing, because they say the $61 billion budget is packed with giveaways and sweeping policy changes that have little to no public discussion. We talk about that all the time on this podcast. So minority leader Nikki Antonio said.

We see this budget as a broken promise, handouts for the wealthy, and she’s in the Senate. So the Senate has the next step of the budget. So there is still time to do something to fix this. Her caucus has filed 423 amendments to this 5,000 page bill. And the thing is, to get any of them passed, they need Republican support. So basically they need the people to say, yeah, you’re right, and tell their representatives the way that they want to vote, because that Dems didn’t

offer a single vote for the House version of the budget. And that really didn’t matter. A couple of things they really want to do, they want to reinstate Dewine’s child tax credit, which the Republicans stripped out. They want to remove the $600 million in bonds for the Brown Stadium. And they don’t want to end Medicaid expansion if the federal government reduces its share of funding.

Chris Quinn (05:47.511)

Well, it’s good to see somebody speaking up. We talked after the podcast yesterday that that they’re the statewide candidates for office are not howling about what’s going on in Columbus, which is be a great way for them to make a name for themselves. Clearly, what Matt Huffman and the House have done with their budget runs against everything democracy is about secret moves that would create a secret police state and savage libraries. There’s so much in there that never had a hearing.

Somebody could make, hey, finally the Democrats are standing up and saying, hey, look, we do have problems with this budget. I just don’t think it’s vocal or specific enough. They need to get some public relations help in hammering out their points. Don’t you think?

Laura (06:32.597)

Yeah, I don’t think I mean, they’re kind of screaming into the void. We’re talking about it. Hopefully people are listening. But the thing about the budget is that it’s done without public discussion. They just come in and they put in these amendments. And as we’ve talked about, we don’t even know who adds the amendment. And then they vote on it really late at night. And that’s the end. So I hope the Senate process is more transparent than the House has been.

Chris Quinn (06:57.077)

Yeah, I just I’d like to see Amy Acton in Columbus calling attention and saying if I’m elected governor, this won’t stand. We’re not going to have secret police and there’s just it’s nonstop. We’re not going to abolish the state school board, which the voters created. And Mike DeWine is amassing his power back. I she could be calling all this stuff out and building her brand, but we’re not seeing much of it. So it’s a little step, but they need to be more effective.

You’re listening to Today in

Lisa (07:29.75)

Thank

Lisa (07:42.071)

The ACLU of Ohio is suing the Geauga County Sheriff’s Department for its refusal to make public contracts public that holds ICE detainees in their jail. So ACLU is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to order the release of those documents. They’re also seeking damages and attorney fees as well. The ACLU chief of policy and advocacy Jocelyn Rosnick says we know Geauga County Jail has housed ICE detainees for years.

Our lawful and timely demands must not be ignored. So they submitted their request on March 12th. Almost a month later, they were denied on April 8th. The county says that federal law and the ICE contract prohibits releasing that information. They’ve also refused a request from us, Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer when we tried to get the inmate list last month. So the lawsuit is asking to answer the question.

our municipal and county contracts public records under state law.

Chris Quinn (08:43.927)

Yeah, I I’m glad they’re doing this. think they’re running into a buzz. I think judges are going to be afraid of going against the federal law, which is pretty specific. What they really need here is Dave Joyce. He’s the congressman. He was a county prosecutor. He knows what the public records on is in Ohio. And if there’s a conflict now between this ridiculous federal law and our open government principles in Ohio, he should be speaking up. He should say, look.

The jail in Jogga County should clearly be able to explain to the people who fund it what they’re doing, right? I mean, we pay for this thing and the federal government’s getting in the way. He’s our representative. He represents this area. Speak up. You’re never going to get anything out of our senators, Bernie Moreno or John Huston. They’ve just turned into complete Trump puppets and they’re useless. But Dave Joyce has a conscience and he has a background in the county. He should speak up.

Lisa (09:41.614)

Yeah, and Ohio isn’t standing alone here. mean, Michigan’s ACLU also sued ICE over failure to release information on their arrestees in Michigan. So this might be a growing trend, whether it, you know, different states will probably make different rulings, but this is just wrong. I mean, all of this has been in secret. People are being taken off the streets. We don’t know who they are, where they’re going. It’s just a mess.

Chris Quinn (10:08.407)

Yeah, and I don’t know if this got vocal enough, if it was clear that this was a movement. Chalkin County is a pretty red county. If it got vocal enough with with a Republican representative speaking up, I’m not sure the administration would fight this kind of basic information. It doesn’t fly in the face of what they’re trying to do. These laws that created the secrecy were done in reaction to 9-11. And so they were way over the top and they went too far. They need to come back to reasonable.

We, the taxpayers, should know what is going on in the facilities we pay for. And I don’t think any normal right-thinking person would debate that, except for Bernie Marnone and John Husted, who, like I said, are useless. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. How many times have we noted the invisibility of the Regents Chamber of Commerce in the long-running debate over the future home of the Cleveland Browns? Not anymore, Courtney. Where did the Greater Cleveland Partnership come down?

Courtney (11:07.508)

After all these months, GCP has finally chosen their side here and they’re with the Browns and the state and they’re endorsing the plan for a new covered stadium in Brook Park over downtown. Now, oddly enough, GCP in its letter announcing this still described a covered stadium downtown as the ideal scenario here, but they cited with the Brook Park plan because it would be financially difficult to do that downtown work and it would be difficult from a development perspective, they said.

They just see Brook Park as the more practical option. And one of the main reasons along with that for siding with Brook Park is they talk about the additional events and expected growth in life entertainment that would come from a covered stadium in Brook Park. We know there’s a lot of reason for skepticism on those claims. We’ve picked that apart in story after story as far as what new events this could potentially bring into town.

But you know, after we learned of them finally taking a side, we did get an interview with the head of GCP, Bai-Zhu Sha, and he said his organization spent months researching this debate, working with local stakeholders, and he said that now that the state’s shown it’s willing to chip in, he said his group felt it was finally time to weigh in, because they want to ensure it’s truly a win for downtown in the region.

Chris Quinn (12:27.043)

the

Chris Quinn (12:31.811)

I’m not buying any of that. They’ve spent months saying it’s not our place to weigh in, which was always ridiculous. I think one of two things happened. You really got a sense as you talked to people last week that the discontent with their neutrality was reaching a fever pitch. don’t know how many people I heard say, say what you want about Joe Roman, but, and what they said was Joe Roman would have taken a stand.

as the long running head of GCP. He would have been in the room one way or the other, whether it was for downtown, whether it was for Brook Park, they wouldn’t have sat idly by. And so maybe the pressure from the business community got to the point where they had to do something. The other possibility here, we talking about this in the newsroom yesterday, is the Republicans in Columbus seeing Chris Ronane repeatedly saying, no, no, no, might have sent a message up here saying, hey, look, we’re about

to enable you to get 600 million. We want to make sure everybody’s behind this and way too many of you are being silent. Where are you? And that would have put the pressure on them to do it. We heard team Neo might be taking a position too. The fact that that’s happening in close proximity does make you believe there was a trigger, but I do think it’s remarkable. It’s not our place. It’s not our place. It’s not our place. Okay, okay. We go for Brook Park. And the same months of study.

Come on.

Courtney (13:59.386)

Yeah, know, hopping in at this late hour echoing a lot of the same talking points the Browns have been talking about for months just feels kind of extraordinarily anti-climactic, right? You know, what’s interesting now going forward, you know, and GCP talked about this in their letter is what this means potentially for downtown and the remaking of the waterfront and if the Browns are chipping in for that.

In its letter, GCP endorsed kind of the idea of the Browns finding a way to spend more than 100 or to send excuse me, more than 150 million to Cleveland to help develop the waterfront like a cash payment and consolation kind of thing.

Chris Quinn (14:44.179)

Yeah, yeah. Well, and that ups the ante. Look, the Browns when they started this were saying if we get the county to help us get a lower interest rate, that’ll mean $100 million for the lakefront and some more money here and there. The numbers fluctuated a bit. Never has it been 150 million. So tip of the hat to the GCP for raising the ante to get Cleveland something out of this. I wish they would have been a little more straightforward and said, look,

With it clear, the state giving money, we need to have a unified voice in Northeast Ohio. The Browns have come through with a deal that is the best thing for the taxpayers. We should get behind it. Everybody should get behind it. Chris, Ronane, Justin Bibbs, sit down with the Hasms, negotiate whatever that amount of money is, make a deal, lock it in so there could be no messing around later, make sure there’s a maintenance fund so that we don’t get into the problems in the future that we’ve had with the downtown stadiums.

I think that’s probably what was at work, but to say we spent months of study studying what? I mean, it’s not like this is rocket science. You are listening to Today in Ohio. University hospitals unveiled some grand plans for new construction on its main campus in University Circle. Laura, what’s it building and where is it?

Laura (16:03.829)

a new conference center, which I had no idea this was in the works, but they’ve been saving a 1.7 acre plot of green space on Euclid Avenue for this purpose for two decades. And we have renderings on Cleveland.com. This is a very cool looking building gleaming, dare I say, shiny white edifice of modern shapes. It’s called the Iris and Burt Wolstein Center, and it’s now slated to begin construction next year. Forty thousand square feet, three stories, and it’s going to include all sorts of things.

patient education, a medical simulation, which reminds me of the medical mart, but whatever, public art galleries and outdoor sculpture garden with access to the public, a two story ballroom, an executive boardroom, a cafe, an amphitheater that would be available to host weddings, concerts, farmers markets and food trucks. And it’s all going to be right there along Euclid Avenue, where you get a lot of pedestrian traffic. have Severance Towns, sorry, Severance.

Hall right across the street as well as Case Western Reserve. So really cool new building coming to a very hip area of Cleveland.

Chris Quinn (17:09.719)

Well, I was looking to see exactly where it is because I know that area and it looks to me from the map that we published that it’s right in front of the emergency room entrance at where I spent a good bit of time last fall. And there is some open space there. If I’m reading that map correctly, it’s just a little bit west of the main driveway, which isn’t really across from Severance Hall. It’s up the street a little bit, but

Laura (17:25.887)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (17:38.347)

Wow, it’s dramatic looking. It’ll change the way that looks and really bring some more dynamism to that region of the city.

Laura (17:46.385)

Absolutely. You just wonder where everyone’s going to park, because that is not somewhere that I like to drive at all. So there is really great public transit access there with the bus rep, the BRT, basically. So hopefully people are using that. And it’s a very walkable area, whether you’re going for the Botanical Garden or the Cleveland Museum of Art. There’s lots of stuff to do around there, lots of storefronts, restaurants. So one more cool new reason to go to University Circle.

Chris Quinn (17:49.652)

Ha ha ha.

Laura (18:14.675)

It’s a $30 million project and they have 15 million of it just from Iris Wolstein.

Chris Quinn (18:14.7)

Was there?

Chris Quinn (18:19.489)

Was there any discussion of the added parking? Because you’re right, that’s not a good thing. The parking garage is often pretty crowded and it’s not right next door. So I wonder, well, I guess it kind of is next door, but I wonder if they’ve thought about that.

Laura (18:35.807)

Well, it’s got to go through the planning commission. got schematic approval on Friday from them. So I hope there is more conversation about that.

Chris Quinn (18:43.787)

Alright, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. I didn’t know this, but federal funds have been available for families needing help with tutoring, and there’s some good news for families that use that money. Lisa, what is it?

Lisa (18:55.598)

Yeah, this program is called the After School Child Enrichment Education Savings Account, also known as ACE. This money pays for tutoring and educational activities before and after school. Account holders will now get an extension until September 1st to spend down the funds in their accounts. They have until December 1st to submit claims for reimbursement. So this was kind of a tangled web here. So what happened was is that

Ohio lawmakers used $125 million in COVID money for ACE accounts in 2021. In 2023, they increased the account amounts to $1,000 and expanded the income eligibility to $128,000 for a family of four. But US Education Secretary Linda McMahon told states back in March 28th,

that they had until the end of that day to spend any remaining pandemic relief funds, which would have affected these ACE accounts. 15 states sued, but not Ohio. On May 8th, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to stop blocking this money. So now it’s been freed up again, but with some restrictions. Ohio, instead of suing, they appealed directly to the US Education Department.

Chris Quinn (20:12.003)

which Mike DeWine was in the room for when Trump was announcing he’s pretty much abolishing it. It’s good news for the parents. I’m glad that there’s money available for tutoring. I had no idea how many students get tutored until I was at a retirement party for teachers recently, and most of the retired teachers were talking about how they tutored for years after they retired and that the schools have lists of students and teachers to do just that.

Lisa (20:41.038)

Yeah, I had no idea either. mean, but now the ACE accounts will only cover what they call direct academic services, tutoring, art, music, language services, homeschooling, curricular. So things like day camps and before and after school programs will be no longer allowed under this account.

Chris Quinn (21:00.155)

All right, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Courtney, why did two Cleveland suburbs that rely on Cleveland for EMS and firefighting rack up more than a million bucks in bills without paying them?

Courtney (21:12.844)

Well, on one hand, it sounds like Cleveland’s the problem. On the other hand, it sounds like the suburbs are the problem. And we, don’t think we really have clarity here, but something’s wrong. Bratnell and Lindale went years without paying Cleveland for providing their fire and EMS services. Now this is, this is fine. know, Cleveland charges them for services so they don’t have to staff their own whole departments. These are real small suburbs, right? But over several years,

This is mounted to a more than $1 million in payments that never made it to Cleveland from the respective villages in exchange for these services. Now, Cleveland says it was sending invoices to these communities since about 2020, 2021. But we also talked to Bratton Hall Mayor Keith Benjamin, and he said he and his predecessor had been asking for invoices for years, but not receiving them. And he notes that

the village needs to have those invoices before it can legally pay Cleveland for the services. This whole situation seemed to come to a head in October when Cleveland sent letters to both villages. Brantonall’s mayor said that’s when they got slapped with invoices as far back as 2021. And all those invoices came at once and they said Brantonall owed Cleveland over $800,000 from that period.

After that communication in October, it’s worth noting that both villages offered to pay up or get on a payment plan. So they’re, they’re no really longer like in super arrears with Cleveland at this point, the problem’s getting addressed, but how did this happen in the first place? We talked to one Cleveland councilman, Mike Polenzek. He wasn’t surprised at all. And, frankly, hearing about this, business can go awry like this at times at City Hall. So it’s not super surprising to me either, but.

This is a problem and I wonder how they’re guarding against it in the future.

Chris Quinn (23:09.023)

I mean, it’s not the biggest deal, right? Because they’re going to get the money back and everybody’s going to be right. But you would think in the budget, because of the way budgets work, this would have been a glaring thing that that money is missing, that as you prepare next year’s budget, you would look at your receivables and say, hey, last year we had a receivable here, but we don’t have a receivable here. Why not? I’m glad they caught it. But the idea that it went four years without being caught is a little

bit of a head scratcher.

Courtney (23:39.724)

Yeah, and you know, when we were talking to Bratton-Alls mayor, the idea came up that maybe this was things kind of lost in between the changing of the Frank Jackson administration and the Justin Bibb administration. said Bratton-Alls routine contacts under Frank Jackson’s time and those contacts were no longer working there in recent years under Bibb, but still like get your book keeping in order on both sides, please.

Chris Quinn (24:04.899)

right you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Laura, did we ever get that promised statement from the Cleveland Heights mayor about the anti-Semitic invective his wife offered over city communications channels?

Laura (24:18.255)

Not that I have seen. We don’t have it as far as I know. And that was after telling the public at Monday’s night council meeting that he was just going to there to listen, then left early. And he wanted to release a prepared statement on Tuesday. Maybe he just couldn’t come up with anything to prepare, because what do you say after you’ve been accused of basically letting your wife intimidate employees at City Hall and Monday’s meeting to dozens of protesters?

and that this special assistant to the mayor, Khalil Siren, had filed a civil rights complaint that accused Seren’s wife, Natalie McDaniel, of creating this hostile work environment at City Hall and making derogatory remarks about several Jewish city officials and residents. Really awful things that shouldn’t be coming from anyone, especially not a public official or relative a public official in a public government building.

Chris Quinn (25:11.299)

There’s just so much wrong with what’s going on here. told, he told Corey Schaefer said, he said Monday night, I have a statement already written. I will release it tomorrow. I’m here to listen, which is a nonsense. He, a real leader would have walked into that room, taking control of it. Been showed humility resigned, whatever you’re going to do. He should have done something. He still hasn’t done anything. A whole bunch of people, not the council, but a whole bunch of people demanded his resignation.

Laura (25:14.079)

Yeah.

Chris Quinn (25:40.115)

Our editorial board yesterday demanded his resignation. The amazing thing is that the lame people on city council haven’t demanded anything. They took a brave stand. This is such a brave stand in Cleveland Heights against anti-Semitism, right? I mean, yes, right. We all stand against anti-Semitism, but taking a stand against it is not bold in a city like Cleveland Heights. they never, right. But they never said, you, sir,

Laura (25:54.645)

The nuclear free zone.

Laura (26:02.087)

No. No. Or anywhere! It shouldn’t be bold anywhere. Let’s just make that clear.

Chris Quinn (26:08.695)

have disgraced the city, you are sucking the soul out of this city, you should go. And then they got up, I didn’t know this till yesterday. One of them got up and said, I hope the Cleveland Plain dealer understands now that this isn’t a leadership issue on both sides. It’s just one side, wrong. It’s both sides. Not one of them stood up and did the right thing. In our editorial, we beg people to run. No incumbent should get put back into office in this election.

Laura (26:12.885)

Mm-hmm.

Laura (26:26.257)

god.

Chris Quinn (26:38.433)

This is the biggest leadership vacuum I’ve ever seen. It’s just sucking the city dry. The rage you’re seeing on social media just keeps building.

Laura (26:48.615)

It’s really sad because Cleveland Heights has such a history of being a diverse, welcoming place. I mean, that’s its brand, really. Right. And you want great things for this town, which is adjacent to University Circle and has so much potential and has a very storied history. And to be mired in the muck of all of this crap is just not letting it be the city it could be.

Chris Quinn (27:11.649)

I would, I would love to see is a plank, somebody running for mayor along with council candidates for what’s open that lays out a clear vision for what they’re going to do, how they’re going to lead, why they understand what leadership’s about and how they’ll move the city forward. Run together, build some excitement, throw all the bums out, start over because right now it’s as bad as I’ve ever seen it. There’s not a member of the council.

that’s worth anything and the mayor clearly has to go. I can’t believe he promised the statement and didn’t issue the statement. What is, I mean, basically he lied. I’ll release the statement tomorrow and he doesn’t release the statement unless he’s released it somewhere that nobody can see it. You know, maybe he’s going to say, well, actually I lived up to it. You know, I sent it to my neighbor. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.

Laura (27:50.046)

Right.

Chris Quinn (28:07.339)

This week, we head into the kickoff to summer, Memorial Day weekend. But Memorial Day, as we know, is about way more than backyard barbecues. It’s a remembrance of servicemen and women who died for our freedoms, freedoms today that are threatened by our current presidential administration. We mark the day in cemeteries throughout the region. Lisa, how many flags are placed just on the grave sites in Cuyahoga County each year?

Lisa (28:33.87)

The Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission is going to place 130,000 American flags at cemeteries across the county. Its executive director, John Rice, he’s encouraging people to help. You can volunteer through your local cemetery or your VFW post to place these flags. He says doing this would be the ultimate thank you to fallen soldiers and their families. At Lakeview Cemetery, their

starting to place 9,000 flags Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. If you want to help, can email them at groffman at lakeviewcemetery.com for shifts available. And I have to tell you, I’ve been at Lakeview right after they placed those flags. It’s really quite humbling to see them.

also at Holy Cross Cemetery. The Sturba family is gonna place 18,000 flags at Holy Cross tomorrow. It’s a 63 year old tradition that was started by Neil Sturba’s dad, John, who was a World War II veteran who was also buried at Holy Cross, but they already have enough volunteers, but you’re certainly welcome to come out and see it. The flags are purchased by the county. They will remain on the graves for several weeks.

then family members will be invited to take them home. Any remaining flags are then donated to American legions or scouting America, formerly the Boy Scouts, and they’re burned in a proper ceremony.

Chris Quinn (29:53.717)

I wish this would be the year that people really do remember what Memorial Day is about. These folks died for our freedom. They died for the American way of life, for democracy. And we have an administration that is trying to turn us into a fascist state, which is not what these people died for. This is a day to remember why we’re here. They gave their lives for principles that are threatened.

And I think this Memorial Day more than any time in my life is the time we should be paying attention.

Lisa (30:26.18)

I would agree with you. I wonder if people placing flags at the cemeteries will hear the sound of soldiers spinning in their graves.

Chris Quinn (30:32.503)

Yeah, it’s it’s they certainly would be. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Before we go, we have for a few months now been turning these conversations into stories on Cleveland dot com. And they have become very quickly some of the most read stories on our website. People are sending us notes, thanking us. They’re spreading the messages today in Ohio, far and wide. What we’re thinking about is should we put together a newsletter once a week or twice a week to grab all those podcast stories up?

and send them to anybody who wants them or would that just be clutter in your email box? Let me know what you’re thinking. Would you like that email once a week, twice a week? Send me a note at cquin, c-q-u-i-n-n at cleveland.com. Let me know what you think. Thanks for listening. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Courtney. Thanks, Lisa. We’ll be back Thursday talking about the news.