Do you remember Bob Rivers’ “Twelve Pains of Christmas?” My sister and I know every word of the song, which regularly played on Q104 during our holiday childhoods. In it, seasonal tasks grow increasingly exasperating: Facing my in-laws. (“She’s a witch, I hate her!”) Writing Christmas cards. (“I don’t even know half these people!”) And of course, rigging up the lights. (“Get a flashlight! I blew a fuse!”) Not everyone enjoys climbing ladders and untangling lights as much as Clark Griswold in “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” More and more Northeast Ohioans are hiring professional lighting companies and landscapers to design light displays and string up bulbs. It’s not just for mansions with animatronic displays, either. LED lights have made holiday lighting more accessible. And especially in newer housing developments, where the homes have high peaks and high roof lines, putting up lights yourself has become more challenging. At my house, my son held the ladder while I placed a lighted wreath on our garage. My biggest headache was finding enough extension cords. Regardless of your festive décor, may you never again yell, “One light goes out, they all go out!” - Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Browns at Los Angeles Rams: Joe Flacco gives valiant effort but throws costly pick in Browns’ 36-19 loss to Rams Northeast Ohio weather: Messy few days ahead |
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More and more people are turning to professionals for their holiday light displays. Kyle O’Hearn at Pro Lights did this display in Bay Village. (David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com) |
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Holiday lights: Professional holiday light installers have been busier and busier, with more and more homeowners paying $1,000 or more for professionals to rig up the lights, reports Sean McDonnell. Landscapers, window installers, electricians or roofers often find work doing holiday light installations during the winter season. One Northeast Ohio company did over $1 million in business in two months. Asbestos: Military veterans, trial lawyers and state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are warning that a Republican-backed Ohio Senate bill would block cancer victims and their widows from getting asbestos cases to a jury. The legislation, passed through a split Senate committee last month, would require anyone launching an asbestos lawsuit to disclose highly specific information about their exposure within a 30-day window of filing the lawsuit. Plaintiffs' attorneys say this amounts to a sleight of hand meant to choke out the suits, reports Jake Zuckerman. Aer Lingus: Did it seem like all of your neighbors traveled to Ireland this year? A lot of them did. In June, during Aer Lingus’ first full month of operation at Cleveland Hopkins, more than 5,900 people took the new flight between Cleveland and Dublin – an auspicious beginning for a route that many in the community desperately hope will succeed, reports Susan Glaser. Today in Ohio: Environmental organizations are suing to block state approval of fracking for oil and gas in a state park and two protected wildlife areas. The lawsuit asks the Ohio Supreme Court to review the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission’s decision to approve seven requests to open tracts spanning thousands of acres for fracking, including at Salt Fork. We’re talking about protecting Ohio’s natural land on Today in Ohio. |
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Trump endorsement: The Ohio Republican Party has endorsed ex-President Donald Trump’s 2024 bid to return to the White House, reports Andrew Tobias. The state GOP’s central committee voted Friday at their quarterly meeting to endorse Trump, a move some members said made Ohio the first state party to do so in the country. HB6: The federal government moved Monday to claim another $6.5 million of FirstEnergy Corp.’s money, another ripple in an ongoing, seismic public corruption case. Jake Zuckerman reports the money comes from two accounts controlled by Partners for Progress, secretly used to fund the company’s bribery scheme between 2017 and 2020. Prosecutors say the nonprofit was solely controlled by and operated for the benefit of FirstEnergy. |
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Brunswick interchange: The board for the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency voted unanimously to oppose a controversial state mandate to build a new interchange at Interstate 71 and Boston Road at the edge of Strongsville in Cuyahoga County and Brunswick in Medina County. Steven Litt reports the NOACA resolution asserts that it — not the state legislature or Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine — will determine whether the exit will be considered. And, so far, NOACA has been against the project. Grace Gallucci: The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency is postponing a vote on renewing the CEO’s contract after the group’s board sparred with Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne. Lucas Daprile reports NOACA decided in a split vote that it will vote at its January meeting on whether to extend the employment contract for CEO Grace Gallucci and to increase her pay. |
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Women at work: The employment rate for women has been growing faster than men, rising to its highest point in U.S. history in 2023, according to a study released this week from Penn Wharton Budget Model at the University of Pennsylvania. Zachary Smith reports that employment for women aged 25 to 54, what the study refers to as “prime age,” reached an all-time high of 75.3% over the last few months. That is almost one percentage point higher than the previous peaks. Progressive buildings: Park Place Technologies, a data center and networking firm that has been looking for a new headquarters, has agreed to buy one of Progressive Insurance’s office campuses, reports Sean McDonnell. The office buildings being sold are at 747 and 755 Alpha Drive, one of a few campuses Progressive has along that road near Interstate 271. Gambling revenue: Ohio’s casinos and racinos had $187.8 million in gambling revenue in October, down 2% compared to the combined $192.1 million the 11 casinos and racinos brought in during the same month last year. Sean McDonnell reports the record for October for $192.7 million was set in 2021. KeyBank: The Ohio Business Roundtable, a statewide business group with members from Ohio’s largest companies, has elected KeyBank CEO Chris Gorman to serve as its chairman for a two-year term. Sean McDonnell reports Gorman, currently vice chair of the organization’s board, succeeds Frank Sullivan, chairman and the CEO of RPM International Inc. in Brunswick Hills Township. |
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I-77 crash: Two people died in an accident involving two vehicles and a tractor-trailer on Interstate 77 in Independence early Friday morning, reports Molly Walsh. Independence police responded to the crash on I-77 South near the Chestnut Road bridge about 12:30 a.m. Toddler shot: A 19-month-old was wounded Thursday in the city’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood in a shooting about 7:25 p.m. in the 3100 block of West 31st Street, reports Olivia Mitchell. The child was struck in the shoulder and the incident might have been an accident, police say. 'The Surgeon': He was known as “the Surgeon,” a man who seemed to gain joy from dismembering the bodies of his rivals as an enforcer for the Cleveland Mafia, reports Adam Ferrise. Hartmut “Hans” Graewe’s violent life ended far from Northeast Ohio, in a federal prison in Texas. He died Oct. 27 at the age of 78 and his life offers a reminder of a time when warring factions victimized the city. Fast-food sentence: Rosemary Hayne admitted Tuesday that she heaved her Chipotle burrito bowl at a cashier in September, a crime that could land her behind a restaurant counter rather than behind bars, reports Molly Walsh. Parma Municipal Court Judge Timothy Gilligan offered her a unique sentence after her guilty plea: She could slice two months off her three-month jail term if she worked at least 20 hours per week at a fast-food restaurant. Lawsuit settled: Ashtabula County agreed to pay $400,000 to settle a longstanding lawsuit with the family of a man shot to death by a sheriff’s deputy, reports Adam Ferrise. Attorneys for the county and the family of Vincent Palma reached the agreement after three days of testimony in a federal court trial in Cleveland. |
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Scott Hamilton: Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton is set to host an ice show at the Cleveland Foundation skating rink on Public Square on Thursday, reports Marc Bona. The free show is 6 to 8 p.m. The show will feature performances by local skating talent as well as several of Hamilton’s skating pals, including Eva Pate and Logan Bye. Pate is from Strongsville. House of the Week: If you’ve ever envisioned living in an apartment with New York City prewar building charm at Northeast Ohio prices, the co-op at 12546 Cedar Road in Cleveland Heights deserves your attention, reports Joey Morona. Built in 1930 near the heart of the Cedar-Fairmount historic district, the unit has four bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms, with a price of $437,500 and monthly maintenance fee of $2,400. |
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Man arrested after stand-off with Cleveland police Read more Highland Heights residents attend holiday lighting event, and take tour of newly renovated police and fire stations Read more Future Woodvale Cemetery expansions may require more funding Read more |
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