Two weeks into the trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, testimony is delivering exactly what we hoped: a spotlight on the inner workings of Ohio state government. Reporter Jake Zuckerman is camped out in a federal courtroom in Cincinnati for the trial as prosecutors weave details about under-the-table checks and threats – joking or not – about blowing up the house of an informant. Politics writer Andrew Tobias is analyzing and writing from Columbus, where the scheme to make Ohio taxpayers foot a $1.3 billion nuclear bailout took place. We’re watching every day. If you want to see the dirty under-workings of how bills get passed and the sausage gets made, you should too. - Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Northeast Ohio Monday weather forecast: More sunshine, mild temps |
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Prosecutors have spent the early days of Larry Householder's trial walking jurors through a maze of FirstEnergy spending they say was critical to putting Householder in a position so powerful he could deliver the bailout the company craved. (cleveland.com file photo) |
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FirstEnergy: FirstEnergy Corp. is sometimes joked about as a lobbying firm that also happens to be in the utility business. The Akron power company’s lobbying campaign, as detailed over seven days of testimony in the criminal trial of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, was unparalleled in terms of its cost and its audacity. Jake Zuckerman reports FirstEnergy was an octopus, plunging its tentacles into Ohio’s government, looking for anywhere it could find a firm grip in Ohio’s legislative, executive, and regulatory sectors, bending them to its whims. Jake Paul: Jake Paul is a boxer, head of fighter advocacy for a division of the Professional Fighters League, a venture capitalist, a YouTube celebrity, TikTok personality, social-media influencer and businessman. Not bad for a kid who grew up in Westlake playing all kinds of sports. One of his most recent ventures is betr, a gambling app he co-founded with Joey Levy, reports Marc Bona. The app, part of the onslaught of books that sports gambling ushered into Ohio, launched last month. Today in Ohio: Right-wing fraud peddlers Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl unleashed tens of thousands of robocalls on Black voters in Cleveland and other cities across the country to suppress their vote in the November 2020 election. We’re talking about the largest Federal Communications Commission robocall fine in the agency’s history on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Householder trial: While former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and his allies sought to personally enrich themselves as part of the House Bill 6 bribery scheme, according to investigators, they also had another objective: power. FBI Agent Blane Wetzel was cross-examined by Householder’s defense team Friday in the ongoing corruption trial, report Jake Zuckerman and Andrew Tobias. Householder defense: Defense attorneys highlighted gaps in the FBI’s investigation into former GOP Speaker of the House Larry Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges on Friday, which marked the end of Special Agent Blane Wetzel’s nine days on the witness stand. Jake Zuckerman reports the end of his testimony sets the stage for the direct witnesses to key events to tell jurors what they know. Anna Lippincott, a Householder political staffer and fundraiser, will testify today. EPA rule: A federal court on Friday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its 2020 decision to gut an Ohio rule that lets citizens bring federal nuisance lawsuits against industrial air polluters. Before the EPA action, Ohio residents were able to invoke the state’s “air nuisance rule” to bring cases against polluters like coal and steel plants whom they say endanger the public health, reports Sabrina Eaton. Nazi home school: A rabbi with a Jewish global human rights organization is calling on Ohio’s political leaders to change laws and regulations to ensure home-school students cannot learn from the neo-Nazi content an Ohio family posted online. Laura Hancock reports Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the California-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the content is an attempt to indoctrinate children and that Ohio’s elected leaders should intervene. |
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Antoine Tolbert: Antoine Tolbert, a 31-year-old community organizer, stages civilian armed street patrols in the city’s most crime-laden neighborhoods to deter violence and provide uplift. He believes citizens are better equipped than officers at preventing most crime. John Tucker reports that Tolbert’s rift with police has intensified since last May, when his armed presence in Glenville led to his arrest, with dubious legal justification, and a night in jail. On Tuesday, the city’s Civilian Police Review Board is scheduled to consider Tolbert’s case and potentially make disciplinary recommendations for the officers involved. West Creek: Part of West Creek, a nine-mile meandering tributary of the Cuyahoga River that drains a large portion of Parma and parts of several neighboring suburbs, is due for a dramatic makeover, reports Peter Krouse. The nearly $20 million stormwater management project, the largest ever undertaken by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, is designed to enhance water quality, improve fish migration and reduce erosion. Train derailment: Norfolk Southern has been offering $1,000 checks to residents in and around East Palestine, Ohio, but Rocky River attorney Michael O’Shea wants concrete assurances that they aren’t an attempt to limit potentially larger payouts stemming from last week’s fiery train derailment that released hazardous chemicals into the air, reports Peter Krouse. Human trafficking: Over the past six years, the Northeast Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, which is headed by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department, has rescued 241 victims and helped convict 57 traffickers, reports Kaitlin Durbin. Most local survivors, across all ages, are victims of sex trafficking. Each of them is groomed and their vulnerabilities exploited. East CLE: Brian Gerhard became East Cleveland’s police chief last fall amid an investigation that led to charges against nine city officers, including the department’s former leader. He also faces low pay for officers, instability at City Hall and a culture that encouraged dangerous police chases through town. Gerhard remains undeterred, reports Olivia Mitchell. He said he cares deeply about residents and wants to give them the services they need from a police department. Biased comments? Cleveland Safety Director Karrie Howard is under fire among the police rank-and-file for recent comments many are calling racially and culturally biased, reports John Tucker. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, the union representing patrol officers and detectives, is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting today for directors, followed by a no-confidence vote on Howard. Play House: Cleveland Play House issued a statement late Friday admitting to “missteps” in its handling of a sexual assault of a female cast member of the play “I’m Back Now: Returning to Cleveland.” Those missteps led the playwright to pull the rights to the play and the director to leave the production, effectively canceling the show a month before opening night. Joey Morona reports the theater apologized and said it was time for them to do better. |
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Blood clots: A vascular neurologist from Cleveland’s University Hospitals encouraged colleagues at a key stroke conference on Friday in Dallas to rethink their approach to treating blood clots in the brain following large strokes and instead to surgically remove them. Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports most patients don’t fare well with clot-busting drugs. COVID-19 map: Cuyahoga and most northern Ohio counties stayed yellow, for moderate COVID-19 spread, while most of the rest of the state turned green for low spread on the latest U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map, reports Julie Washington. There were 75 counties classified as green, the highest number since July 2022. |
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Beating: A neighborhood is outraged after a beloved West Side community member was beaten and robbed early Wednesday morning. Joe Lewis was walking near West 130th Street and Carrington Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. when he was beaten by a group of three men who also sprayed him with a water gun, reports Molly Walsh. |
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Chateau Hough: Just off the beaten path in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood sits a ¾-acre lot with 13 rows of meticulously trimmed and tied grapevines and a micro-winery. Bonded in 2019, the Winery at Chateau Hough was the brainchild of the late community activist and writer Mansfield Frazier. Paris Wolfe reports his wife, Brenda, learned about the winery/vineyard business by working it with Mansfield. Rock Hall: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum celebrates Black History Month with a mix of events and spotlighted exhibits and programs, reports Malcolm X Abram. Theater closing: Regal Montrose Movies Stadium 12 in Copley Township, which opened in 1988, closed permanently Sunday. Joey Morona reports the end comes three weeks after Regal parent Cineworld, in the throes of bankruptcy since September, named the theater as one of 39 locations it would close in an effort to save $22 million annually. House of the Week: A house in Moreland Hills, 50 Falls Creek Circle, is a private sanctuary located just 20 miles southeast of downtown Cleveland. Built in 1997, the property takes full advantage of its tranquil surroundings. On the market since mid-January, the home is available for $2,250,000. |
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Teens, 14 and 16, shot in Tremont Saturday night Read more Father accused of killing child’s mother, kidnapping his child in Cleveland’s North Collinwood neighborhood, police say Read more Suspect arrested in Georgia, accused in slaying of Maple Heights boy Read more Dissenting members welcome Boyd to Cleveland Heights council, offer take on process Read more The Boyds are back in town: Cleveland Heights mayor makes council appointment Read more Expert extols benefit of planned unit development process in Berea Read more |
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