It’s an elusive goal to keep kids from smoking. The U.S. Congress banned flavored tobacco in 2009, before e-cigarettes and vaping products entered the marketplace. But the innovative tobacco industry found a way around the ban by introducing e-cigarettes and vape pens with flavored pods and cartridges. The flavored pods and cartridges were barred in February 2020, but the tobacco industry evolved yet again to offer disposable e-cigarettes and vapor tanks. Which is why Ohio cities stepped up with their own ordinances to keep the products off convenience stores shelves. The legislature, controlled mostly by rural Republicans, said consistency was needed. So when Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed the legislative measure stopping cities from imposing flavored tobacco bans, the legislature overrode it. Now DeWine is taking on low-THC hemp products – delta-8 packaged to look like candy and often called “weed light.” Will the legislature again side with industry, or regulation? — Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
Northeast Ohio weather forecast: Sunny but chilly Presidents' Day |
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Gov. Mike DeWine, on a Zoom call with The Plain Dealer/cleveland.com editorial board on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, holds up a package of gummies that he said a 15-year-old boy purchased at a BP station. |
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Tobacco vs. THC: Gov. Mike DeWine hasn’t had much help in the past from the state legislature in regulating tobacco products. Laura Hancock explores DeWine’s push to keep hemp products from kids and whether the industry has the same influence. Prince scheme : Zubair Al Zubair boasted about marrying a princess and his vast business and family connections to world leaders. But that veneer of success and prominence came crashing down earlier this month with a federal indictment accusing the East Cleveland man of leveraging his many lies to trick two people into giving him $10 million for bogus businesses, Adam Ferrise reports. What's a TIF? Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb wants to remake the city's downtown and waterfront, and he hopes to fund it by collecting between $3.3 billion and $7.5 billion over the next four decades by designating all of downtown as a tax increment financing district. What exactly is a TIF? Courtney Astolfi explains the mechanics of the development tool. Today in Ohio: It takes 70 dump-truck loads of dirt to transform Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse into Monster Jam: special local dirt, free of rocks and debris, with the consistency of the perfect snowman-making snow. We’re talking about how the show rents the same dirt every year on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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FirstEnergy bribery case : In a criminal justice system that grossly over-represents poor, non-white, and younger to middle-aged Americans, the arraignment Tuesday of two Fortune 500 executives from FirstEnergy and a former power lawyer-turned-public official stands in stark contrast, writes Jake Zuckerman . Ex-FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, the company’s former top lobbyist Mike Dowling, and former Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Chairman Sam Randazzo – collectively worth tens of millions of dollars – sat at defense tables in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, the kind of courtroom through which defendants of lesser means and more typical crimes are routinely paraded. Marijuana dispensaries: State regulators are considering rules that would slash fees for medical marijuana patients and caregivers and pave the way to license recreational marijuana dispensaries as soon as September. Laura Hancock reports a new package of rules meant to ready Ohio for recreational marijuana includes provisions scrapping the fee for medical marijuana patients and caregivers and setting a Sept. 7 deadline to grant provisional adult-use cannabis licenses to dispensaries, cultivators, processors and testing laboratories. Project funding : Earlier this month, the Ohio House rushed through a $2 billion spending bill that includes money for a “land bridge” and a new pro women’s soccer stadium around downtown Cleveland, among dozens of other projects. But now that the bill is in the Senate, Senate President Matt Huffman has stated that the Senate will shelve the bill until late May or early June, when they’ll fold it into the main capital bill that the legislature is preparing, reports Jeremy Pelzer. Moreno campaign: Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s son, will visit Ohio later this month to stump for Bernie Moreno’s U.S. Senate campaign. Andrew Tobias reports Trump Jr. has three stops planned for Feb. 28, holding fundraising events in the late afternoon near Columbus and Cincinnati. |
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Lowest property tax : Nearly 30 taxing districts in Ohio have property tax rates under $960 per $100,000 of home value - the lowest in the state - up from just 15 that were this low in 2023. Zachary Smith reports none are in Greater Cleveland. Summit bridge: Summit County will get $5 million in federal money to help design a replacement for a bridge that connects Summit County’s two largest cities, reports Sabrina Eaton . North Main Street Bridge over the Cuyahoga River, also known as the High Level Bridge, which connects Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, will be replaced. Cannabis market: Dozens of cannabis enthusiasts descended over the weekend to OhioCannabis.com's first-ever farmer’s market to see what Ohio’s budding cannabis industry has to offer. Attendees had the opportunity to speak with local vendors about how to grow and take care of their plants, Megan Sims reports. Call response: Callers to the Cuyahoga County call center responsible for a variety of social services, including food benefits, had to wait on average 55 minutes before someone answered in December, the highest wait time for the center since at least the beginning of 2020, according to state data. This data comes a year after county officials promised improvement from what had been an even more abysmal rate of just one-third of the calls being answered, Zachary Smith reports. |
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Pop-up clinics : Remote Area Medical, a nonprofit that organizes pop-up medical clinics around the country to deliver services to people who otherwise have limited access, is coming to Northeast Ohio in April with a chance to receive free medical services, reports Julie Washington . Communities across the country that need medical support typically invite Remote Area Medical to set up a pop-up clinic. Nursing scholarships : In an effort to help boost the dwindling number of nursing professionals, Cincinnati-based travel nursing company Ingenovis Health has awarded $100,000 in scholarships to help 20 nursing students complete their education. Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports the scholarship recipients, who each received a $5,000 award, included military veterans, new students and current nurses seeking transitional or advanced degrees. Frostbite treatment : On Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Aurlumyn, generic name iloprost, an injection to treat severe frostbite in adults and reduce potential amputations, Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports. |
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Apartment explosion : A man whom police say lost control while driving more than 120 mph, crashing into a Mount Pleasant apartment building and causing an explosion that killed a 69-year-old woman, has been arrested by federal authorities. Christopher Terry, 39, of Cleveland, was wanted on a warrant for aggravated vehicular homicide, Cliff Pinckard reports. Boy found: The foster mother of a missing 5-year-old Columbus boy was arrested Thursday night in Brooklyn as she walked along Tiedeman Road, reports Molly Walsh . Hours later, authorities found the body of the child, Darnell Taylor, in a sewage drain in Columbus. Law-enforcement hub: A planned law-enforcement hub in Cleveland aimed at curbing violent crime is expected to launch sometime in the spring, reports Adam Ferrise. The agency’s leader, Steve Dettelbach, said the Crime Gun Intelligence Center is a few months away from opening and touted the data-driven approach to curbing violence. |
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Classic CLE : If you’re like Peter Chakerian, the “pizza shop aesthetic” evokes a quintessential part of childhood. Having spent so much time in them — replete with jukeboxes, neon signs, cocktail arcade tables, checkerboard floors, and stained-glass fixtures — Chakerian can say those shops are burned in his memory. Chakerian waxes nostalgic about Geraci’s, the iconic family restaurant that opened in July 1956, founded by Frances and Michael Geraci and grown to four locations. Orchestra schedule : The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2024 Blossom Music Festival will include the debut of Leslie Odom Jr., a pair of movie nights, the traditional Salute to America, classical performances and guest musicians, Marc Bona reports. The annual season runs from June 29 to Sept. 1. Electric rental cars: Some rental-car companies overinvested in electric vehicles in recent years and regularly assign them to renters who haven’t requested them. Customers may find they end up with one when they didn’t request it. Susan Glaser warns about taking one when you don’t know where to charge it. House of the Week : Designed by renowned Cleveland architect Tony Paskavich, 8230 Devon Court in Bainbridge Township is nestled in a private nature-preserve setting with walking trails, a picturesque lake and views for days. Built in 2001, the country-style house offers three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms in nearly 4,800 square feet, reports Joey Morona. |
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Single-car crash on I-480 kills 1, injures 5 others, including 4 children Read more Middleburg Heights mulls new 20-year Cleveland Water contract Read more Lyndhurst names streets to be repaired this summer; council to approve 2024 budget Read more Rocky River School District advances school bus safety Read more Polaris Career Center students benefit directly from generous DEWALT grant Read more Brunswick voters to see school district renewal levy on March ballot Read more Senior Citizen Prom provides fabulous fun for old and young Read more Mayfield Heights mother, autistic son herald Spelling method as a better way to communicate for those labeled nonverbal Read more Avon Lake council bans marijuana use on city property Read more |
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