Welcome to the Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable from Ideastream Public Media.

I'm Stephanie Haney in for Mike McIntyre.

Thank you for joining us.

Here is what is on the table today.

In an effort to bring down the cost of living, Ohio lawmakers convened this week for a special session to pass a 90-day state tax gas holiday.

We'll talk through what this means for the state budget and your bank account.

This is as the United States continues its costly war against Iran, as Ohio's Republican senators Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted voted against a resolution calling for President Donald Trump to end it.

We'll tell you what they're saying.

Meanwhile, Medicaid cuts are starting to take effect in Ohio, impacting thousands of immigrants in our state.

We'll share what this means for people in different groups here in Northeast Ohio and the state.

And the Cleveland Community Police Commission is taking a stand against the use of Flock cameras, but do they have the authority to stop Cleveland police from using them while a policy is put in place?

We'll talk through these stories of the week and more with our roundtable of reporters.

Joining us today, we have News 5 Cleveland's Michelle Jarboe.

Michelle, welcome back to the show.

Good to be here.

We appreciate it.

Also, Ideastream Public Media's senior arts and culture reporter Kabir Bhatia.

Kabir, welcome back.

Thanks for having me.

And we also have Ideastream Statehouse News Bureau Chief Karen Kasler joining us from our Columbus studio.

Hello, Karen.

Hey, good morning.

Happy to have you with us.

If you would like to share your thoughts with us, you can send us an email at soi@ideastream.org, or you can message us on Instagram on The Sound of Ideas.

First up on the roundtable today, this week Ohio lawmakers approved a 90-day suspension of the state's gas and diesel taxes.

Karen, how much will drivers save during this gas tax holiday?

Well, this takes effect immediately, and in the government world, immediately is Sunday.

So what will happen is that gasoline prices should drop by 38.5 cents and diesel prices should drop by 47 cents.

Now, obviously, gas prices are all over the place.

They're set by commodities markets and other things that are happening around the world.

And so this should be reflected.

You should be able to say that you will save about I think it's $5.77 per 15-gallon fill-up if you're using gas.

But the savings are supposed to be right there this weekend as you're filling up.

So did a little bit of math on this.

A quick Google search says the average person fills up their gas tank once a week, maybe twice a week.

So let's generously say $6 a gallon, $6 a tank here.

You're looking at maybe $70 for the average person over the course of that 90-day span.

How's the state going to make up for this gas tax revenue that's lost, Karen?

And that, that's interesting because when Republican candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy talked about this, which is what really I mean, it was Democratic candidate for governor Amy Acton who first called for a gas tax holiday.

Then Ramaswamy followed with his own proposal, which had details of how legislative leaders were going to pass it.

He estimated that the savings would be about $165 for a 2-driver household over 90 days.

So it doesn't sound like a lot to some people.

To other people, it does sound like a lot, but it is $726 million to the state, which is a lot.

That's more than half a billion dollars.

And at first, the idea was to take the money from Ohio Department of Transportation funds, but then the Office of Budget and Management said that the funds that are in that account are already spoken for.

They're already assigned to other projects.

So the final bill that went through says the money will be taken from general revenue funds, which legislative leaders and Republicans keep saying are there, But, you know, when the gas tax revenue finally gets through and we're done with this in January, we'll have to see how this all shakes out.

Okay.

And Karen, what are Ohio's candidates for governor, Dr.

Amy Acton and Vivek Ramaswamy, saying about this?

Well, they're both taking credit for it, essentially.

I mean, it was we were literally on the floor of the House talking to the Speaker of the House at the end of the vote.

Right after the vote, and we got the notification that Ramaswamy was going to have a press conference right across the street.

So he was very quick on the, on the jump here to try to make sure that he got some credit for this.

And he said it was his leadership that made this happen, that if Democrats were in charge, they wouldn't have been able to do this as quickly.

But of course, Acton was the one to call for the gas tax holiday first.

And so she said that this was she was glad that Republicans were following her leadership.

And what was interesting here, too, was Democrats came into this with a lot of power.

They could have bargained for a lot here.

Because it was clear that Republicans needed Democratic support to get this through as emergency legislation.

They needed 66 votes in the House, and there aren't 66 Republicans in the House.

But Democrats ended up kind of splitting over this.

Most Democrats did vote for the gas tax holiday, but you heard some Democrats saying it's not enough.

They're worried about the cost to the state.

And, and even Senator Bill DeMora, who's a Columbus Democrat, said that he thought it was a terrible idea, and he had told Amy Acton himself that he thought it was a terrible idea.

Well, one of the reasons gas prices have gotten so high is the ongoing US war on Iran, which is disrupting access to global oil supplies, among other things.

Ohio's Republican senators, Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno, have each called for the end of the war with Iran this week, but they also voted against a House-approved resolution directing President Donald Trump to end the war.

So, Karen, let's start with Senator Husted.

What were his comments?

Well, and this is interesting because in the national media, there's been a lot of talk about senators breaking with President Trump over the war in Iran.

And Husted was cited as one of those as an example because he told Politico that I'm trying to look for the quote here the war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices.

So that sounded like he was really calling for an end to the war.

But then later on, when my colleague Sarah Donaldson talked to him, he was he backed off that a little, saying, I don't know anybody who doesn't want the war to end, but we need to make sure that when it does, Iran does not control the Straits of Hormuz because Iran will then hold the whole world hostage in terms of oil.

And Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted both had the opportunity to vote on this when it came to the Senate and the War Powers Resolution that came through.

It had passed the House, and that would have forced Trump to end the war, essentially, and they both voted against it.

So, you know, it's interesting to hear their public comments and then to see the actual vote.

And can you tell us what Senator Bernie Moreno had to say about all of this, commentary-wise?

Well, he has said that he thinks President Trump wants to end the war in Iran, and obviously, prices of gas and diesel especially are a big part of that.

But, you know, that's it's interesting.

In the whole gas tax holiday debate, there was this question about why isn't anyone talking about the war in Iran?

I mean, Democrats were bringing that up, saying that Republicans need to acknowledge that that's the reason gas prices are high.

And Republicans kept saying, no, there are lots of other reasons that gas prices are high.

So this underlying current of the war in Iran being the narrative here is Democrats are trying to point to it and Republicans Republicans are saying, no, there are other things that need to happen.

We all want that war to end, but other things are causing these high gas prices.

Karen, you mentioned that there was some conversation about some Republicans breaking with the president on this.

Can you tell us any more specifically about which Republicans did vote to end the war with that resolution?

Well, I think that there have been some comments made by some national Republicans running in other races.

I think I'm going to I'm going to mess up who they are, but they're in close races.

And a lot of this does come down to these are close races that some U.S.

senators are running because obviously Republicans want to keep control of the U.S.

Senate and Democrats feel that they have an opportunity to take control of it.

And so there's been some, some Republicans who have been saying the war needs to end.

But then, you know, these are Republicans who were not asked to vote on this because they're not currently senators.

But that's really what matters is you can say whatever you want to say.

But when it comes down to how do you vote on something, that tends to be the thing that people notice more than anything else.

Bringing things back home to Ohio now, the first of several Medicaid changes took effect this week, leading to thousands of Ohio immigrants losing their health insurance.

Kabir, how many people in Northeast Ohio could be affected?

Well, there's 11,000 noncitizens, that's the word that's been used, who are on Medicaid.

And of those, about a third, 3,500, got letters saying your coverage might be impacted.

That's just Cuyahoga County.

Patrick Kearns with Re:Source Ohio, he did an estimate and he said in Northeast Ohio, he's estimating 1,600 will completely lose coverage.

Okay.

And who will keep their coverage under the new restrictions?

Well, I mean, there's 344,000 people on it in general, Medicaid in Cuyahoga County.

And that includes a lot of U.S.

citizens.

They'll get to keep it Green card holders, of course, they'll get to keep it.

They're also going to let anyone keep it who is pregnant or they're giving birth within, within a year.

They can keep it.

And there's also some noncitizens from places Haiti, Cuba, Micronesia.

A couple other spots that they'll get to keep it too.

And can you give us a little more information about the people who are losing that coverage right now?

People who are losing it, usually they're here, they're seeking asylum, they're refugees from past wars, maybe they were human trafficked, you know, victims of sex trafficking, and then also a lot of interpreters who worked with U.S.

forces overseas and then were able to come here.

They're going to lose it.

I think it's an important distinction to make here too that these people that we're talking about are here in the United States legally.

They just have not achieved the level of citizenship.

So what happens to those people who are losing that coverage, Kabir?

Well, they're setting up something called an immigration hub, and that's all it says is it's going to provide additional resources.

We're not sure exactly what that means.

There is going to be a program, an official program.

It's called the Noncitizen Emergency Medical Assistance, and that covers just ER visits.

Okay.

More Medicaid changes are coming in January.

So we're kind of seeing the first of things roll out now.

What's coming at the beginning of the year, Kabir?

Well, even the rules for people who get to stay on it who are here as citizens whatnot.

They're going to have to prove that they're in school 80 hours a month, volunteering, something.

And only the ones between ages 19 and 64.

Young kids, obviously this doesn't apply, but they're going to have to be able to prove all that.

And they're going to be doing the, the checks, the renewals every 6 months now.

We'll continue to watch and see how that plays out.

Thanks for sharing that with us, Kabir.

Now, the Cleveland Community Police Commission wants to pause the use of Flock license plate reader cameras by Cleveland police if the city does not have a new policy about their use in place by January 1st.

In the meantime, the commission is seeking input from residents and community stakeholders about what that policy should look like.

So for background here, Cleveland City Council rejected the Public Safety Department's request to renew the Flock contract for another year this summer, later extended the contract for 6 months despite the objections of an opposition group called Flock No Cleveland.

So Michelle, the recently passed resolution calls for a thorough review process of the city's current policy.

This policy is laid out in a 6-page document, so not an incredibly large document that was passed in October of 2025.

And the Cleveland Community Police Commission Commissioner Piet van Lier has said in hindsight that one of the issues for him is that who can access the data is not necessarily sufficiently laid out in this policy.

What would a thorough review of a policy potentially look like, Michelle?

And obviously, as you alluded to, this is part of this broader debate over the use of Flock and other technology.

And based on the resolution that the Community Police Commission passed, they're looking for an examination process that would bring in the voices of community members, policy experts, police, and city council members.

And they want that process to begin within just a few weeks.

They also want oversight of any new or renewed contracts that the city has with providers of technology like this.

And, you know, it's not just these automated license plate readers, you know, the Flock cameras, it also could apply to cameras in patrol cars that can read license plates.

Okay, and we have alluded to this, but can you tell us a little bit more context why the commission wants the current policy reviewed?

Sure, so one of the commissioners said she proposed this pause because of concerns about who is accessing the data, as you mentioned, questions specifically about searches of Cleveland's data by other law enforcement agencies and an apparent vendor mistake that let some immigration-related searches take place when they weren't supposed to be And what does the Cleveland Police Department say about the use of these cameras, Michelle?

So police broadly have talked about these cameras as one tool they're able to use to help solve crimes and advance investigations.

But the police chief also has expressed support, support, and this is a quote here, for clear, consistent consequences for intentional misuse of law enforcement technology.

And she's talked about the need for ongoing review of the city's policies.

Now, big question related to this: is this resolution that was passed by the Cleveland Community Police Commission, is it legally binding?

Does it have any teeth for the Cleveland Police?

So that is unclear at this point.

One of the commission members, who's a retired municipal judge, abstained from the vote, and he told Signal Cleveland that he believes that resolution is non-binding, that the commission doesn't have oversight over the city's contracting process.

Other members of the commission believe this This rarely falls underneath their umbrella.

So it'll be interesting to see what happens from here.

I want to return to our gas tax holiday conversation for just a moment.

We got a couple emails in from audience members of the roundtable.

We got a note from Bob in Cleveland Heights.

Bob says, if Ohio legislators believe Ohio drivers deserve a 90-day reprieve on the gas tax, I respectfully speak up on behalf of EV drivers, electric vehicle drivers, who pay an extra $200 surcharge when we purchase our annual tags.

Don't EV drivers deserve a $50 rebate?

That question comes from Bob in Cleveland Heights.

Bob, thanks for sharing that.

Another email, this is a hot topic for our audience members today.

Wesley writing in about hybrid owners and that hybrid owners pay an extra $100 when registering their car for license plates.

Wes writes, that surcharge was justified to make up for reduced fuel taxes due to reduced fuel consumption.

Wes wants to know, will hybrid owners get about $25 back from their registrations, have it reduced for next year, or are the hybrid owners just additional losers are the losers in the fuel cost situation.

Those are interesting points.

I want to point out State Senator Casey Weinstein, he had said now, this was 2 days ago.

I don't know if this went anywhere.

He said he was going to put up an amendment to take the $600 million that went to the Haslams, put that to the general fund to deal with the gas tax, and also EV and hybrid owners would get some sort of relief under his plan.

I'm not sure if that went anywhere.

I'm just I vaguely remembered that I'd seen this.

And if people want to look into that and see what his proposal was, I don't think it went through.

That sounded interesting.

Sure, Karen, please.

Yeah, it didn't go through.

And I'll tell you a little bit about the process to put the gas tax holiday suspension in place.

There were 2 bills that were proposed that would have created the gas tax holiday.

Well, then to move it quickly, they ended up putting that into a bill that had already passed the House back in November, a bill on car thefts.

So it went to the Senate.

The Senate was going to be the only place that amendments could be offered.

But then there was a vote very quickly that would shut down all debate and shut down any opportunity for Democrats to make any sort of amendments or changes.

So Democrats didn't get a chance to propose that one or propose a resolution urging the U.S.

to end the war in Iran, or Senator Bill DeMora had wanted to add in an amendment to ban child marriage.

So that was how it went in the Senate.

Then when it went over to the House, Republicans or Democrats had no opportunity to speak to anything other than the bill itself.

They weren't allowed to offer any amendments.

So yeah, we didn't hear any of those ideas.

And I'll tell you, I get a lot of emails from people about hybrids and EVs saying, hey, where's our, where's our discount here?

And I myself drive a hybrid, so I, I know your pain.

2 more comments I want to share from audience members who have emailed in here.

Jason writes, can we be honest, this isn't going to save us money in the long term.

The long-term costs of fixing roads will just increase.

This is a reckless and irresponsible decision for the people of Ohio.

Thank you for sharing that, Jason.

Another note here from Chris in Hudson.

Chris The gas tax holiday is a political stunt.

Five or ten dollars per week savings, savings in quotes in Chris's email, will not change anyone's finances.

How do we know that gas stations won't leave prices where they are and pocket the savings intended for consumers?

Is there any legal way to prevent this?

Chris, thanks for sharing your perspective.

We appreciate it.

Karen, please.

Yeah, there is a provision in the bill that says that the savings need to be passed on to consumers, but there are a lot of questions.

Again, gas prices.

Fluctuate all the time based on different factors.

And there were a lot of discussions in this very brief debate that we heard about this bill from economists and other people who had ideas about how gas prices might not move even though the gas tax has been suspended for 90 days.

So I guess we're going to kind of wait and see.

But the whole goal was to make sure that retailers did not just pocket that money and did pass the savings on to customers.

And that, that remains to be seen.

We'll find out, I guess, on Sunday when gas prices should start dropping because of this.

Well, we'll have 90 days to take a look at how this experiment plays out, and then we'll see what happens in the aftermath.

All right.

Now to the adult beverage industry.

THC-infused drink sales in Ohio have been halted again for the 3rd time since January.

A federal appeals court reversed part of an earlier ruling that had allowed some businesses to continue selling the products.

Karen, what does this decision mean for Ohio businesses now?

Well, this once again means that they can't sell these beverages.

And this is just kind of a back and forth.

Like you said, this is the 3rd ruling that we've heard on this.

So this just keeps moving back and forth and back and forth.

And it's, it's causing a little bit of whiplash, I think, for certainly people who want to buy them, but also the people who are trying to sell them.

And it's a small number of breweries that are trying to sell them because they're the ones that actually filed the lawsuit.

And so this has just been it's been very uncertain.

And what these people are also these businesses are also facing is a federal deadline coming up in December that would ban these beverages nationwide.

Now, there's been an effort on the national level to try to move that, that that deadline's already been moved once, but to try to move that or soften that because these beverages have proven to be pretty popular.

And so the idea of banning them, which is something that came from a bill that President Trump had pushed forward back last year, the idea is that, hey, maybe this is not something that people really want.

But then on the other side, you have folks who were trying to regulate hemp, including Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio legislators who passed a bill saying that this should these beverages need to be available only at dispensaries.

They say that this is about public safety and making sure that these products are safe for people.

And we did speak about this ban on an episode of The Sound of Ideas that was on April 8th.

We talked with owners of Saucy Brew Works and Great Lakes Brewing Company, 2 of the businesses impacted by this.

So, Karen, what happens next with this case?

That's a really good question.

I mean, I think the national ban is something that people are looking at because obviously that would cover basically what we're talking about here.

I mean, the question still is, you know, lawmakers had carved out the hemp beverages in Senate Bill 56, and then Governor DeWine vetoed that, saying that this is about, again, protecting people, making sure that the products that are sold in Ohio that have THC-related things, that they are they come from Ohio, they are tested in Ohio, they're not brought in from out of state.

That's been the concern that Some of the people who have been critical of these beverages have said that these come in from out of state.

We don't know what's in them, whereas we know what's in stuff from Ohio because we grow it here and we test it here.

And what we do know is that some of these businesses are taking the products that they have and they are selling it out of state because they cannot currently sell it in Ohio.

This is something we'll continue to follow over the rest of the course of this year.

Now, in Cuyahoga County, we are learning more about how funding could be cut for homeless shelters and a program combating infant mortality, among others.

If an upcoming levy is not passed.

Excuse me, Michelle, how much of a deficit is Cuyahoga County facing?

Yeah, so the health and human services agencies are facing a roughly $18 million shortfall in 2027.

That's according to reporting by Sean McDonnell here at Ideastream.

And the county's general fund is combating, you know, about a roughly $19 million deficit.

Okay, and how much money would the proposed levy raise, Michelle?

So it's predicted to raise about an additional $111 million each year.

And I should say, this is a levy renewal and increase.

And for the typical homeowner, you know, you're looking at potentially an extra $87.50 for every $100,000 in your home's value over the course of the year.

In that taxable value of the home, property value.

Michelle, we talked about a couple of them.

What programs could see cuts if this levy fails?

So we're talking about things like the Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative.

There's a partnership with United Way of Greater Cleveland, a program, as you mentioned, combating infant mortality, the AIDS Funding Collaborative, funding for universal pre-kindergarten, a bedbug extermination program, and Say Yes Cleveland.

So lots of different programs addressing lots of different constituencies.

And do we have any insight into why the county is facing these budget problems right now and is in need of this levy?

Well, clearly revenues just are not keeping up with expenses, and so departments have been asked to look at potential cuts across the board.

And all of this is preliminary, it's subject to change, and obviously, you know, some of this will depend on what happens with that levy.

But the county executive and the council president have asked many departments to look at roughly 3% budget cuts and how that would shake out, while these offices that receive levy funding for Health and Human Services were asked to look at what an 8% cut would look like.

And a lot of these agencies tended to focus on, you know, not filling vacant positions or cutting back on spending on professional services.

But that alone is not enough to fill the gap.

Okay.

Voters will have an opportunity to weigh in this on the ballot that will be decided on November 3rd here in the midterm election.

Another comment I want to share from an audience member related to our conversation about Flock cameras.

Marvin writes in, I think cameras need a statewide policy, if not federal, and one provision should be that they can't be inconspicuous.

Flocks in particular are all black and often with obscure placement.

They should be brightly colored and lit at night.

Marvin, thank you for sharing your perspective.

We have plenty more to talk about here on the Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable, including political ads for the U.S.

Senate race in Ohio that are catching national attention, and what's happening with proposed changes to Ohio's E-Check program for personal vehicles.

Now here's Sound of Ideas and Reporters' Roundtable producer Aya Cathey to preview what we'll bring you next week on The Sound of Ideas on 89.7 WKSU.

Hi, Aya.

Hey, Stephanie.

Here's what's coming up next week on The Sound of Ideas.

On Monday, we'll talk about a documentary exploring constitutional rights, First Amendment protections regarding satire, and law enforcement accountability.

Then we'll hear a conversation with legendary scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson about the search for extraterrestrial life.

Then on Tuesday, we'll bring you an interview with 2 of the candidates running for Ohio's open Supreme Court seats.

And we'll bring you a preview of the Ideastream midterm election voter guide.

You can find more information at ideastream.org.

On Wednesday, we'll share conversations with the remaining candidates for Ohio's open Supreme Court seat.

Then we'll bring you a conversation with Ashik Siddique the co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.

And we'll round things out on Thursday with your guide to fall and winter gardening.

And we'll bring you a new installment of our music podcast Shuffle.

Back to you in the studio, Stephanie.

Thank you, Aya Cathey, Sound of Ideas producer and Reporters' Roundtable producer, making her debut here on the Reporters' Roundtable.

We appreciate you giving the breakdown of what's happening next week.

I also want to let people know, as we continue our election coverage, if you do want to find a dedicated playlist with responses for the gubernatorial candidates, we do have that available at youtube.com/Ideastream.

You can also find that at ideastream.org, and you can find those full interviews wherever you get your podcasts, of course.

You're back now with The Sound of Ideas Reporters' Roundtable from Ideastream Public Media.

I'm Stephanie Haney in for Mike McIntyre today.

I'm joined today by Ideastream's Kabir Bhatia and News 5 Cleveland's Michelle Jarboe.

Ideastream Statehouse News Bureau Chief Karen Kasler is joining us from our Columbus studio.

A reminder for you before we get back to the show that you can take our Ideastream news quiz You can find that on our website at ideastream.org/quiz.

Now, as the 2026 midterm election gets closer, a new campaign ad from Democratic candidate for senator Sherrod Brown is drawing national attention for profanity included in that ad and its criticism of Republican Senator Jon Husted's comments about poverty.

Karen, what did Jon Husted say about poverty that Brown is highlighting in the ad?

Well, this is an ad that's airing on traditional TV stations and on Black radio stations.

And in the ad, it just features Husted apparently from a podcast or some appearance somewhere where he's sitting behind a desk talking into a camera saying that people who live in poverty, they're not very experienced at navigating the real world and they and that people have to literally be taught how to budget.

And I can recall when that first came out and Democrats made a big deal about how that shows that Jon Husted is completely out of touch with how a lot of people live.

And so Sherrod Brown's ad took that and put that in and showed him, or showed someone going around and showing people what Husted said, like on the street, and people reacting to it.

And at one point toward the end, there was the reaction of that Husted has no clue what no clue in hell what he's talking about.

Well, that's the version that aired on TV and Black radio stations.

There's another version online that has a stronger word in there.

So it's just, it kind of shows just how serious this campaign has gotten, how nasty this campaign has gotten in a sense, because it's very close.

And so candidates are trying to do whatever they can to get people talking, to notice their ads and try to throw mud on each other.

We did check the content of the ad to see if and when Husted made the comments.

As Karen mentioned there, he did make the comments during a March 10th, 2026 appearance on the Sutherland Institute's Defending Ideas podcast.

Husted's campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce told us that the comments were presented out of context, that Husted was recounting a conversation with a young woman who described the financial challenges she faced after spending much of her life on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

In listening to the ad, the part where Husted said he was recounting a conversation is included in the ad.

So that context is shared in the ad itself.

So Karen, you've alluded to this about the strong language that's included in this ad from Sherrod Brown's campaign.

Campaign.

Why is this getting so much national attention?

What's the conversation about what Democrats are doing with this particular piece of advertising?

Well, I think there's been a conversation for a while about lawmakers now using stronger language, and specifically the F-word.

That's the one that comes up with people, uh, getting really questioning about whether that's appropriate in political discourse.

And so I, I've heard this discussion throughout this year, uh, when you hear lawmakers on Capitol Hill or people in ads use really strong language.

There are those who feel that that's just not appropriate.

But then there are those who feel, hey, this is how people talk, and we need to reflect what's happening.

People are angry, and when they're angry, they tend to use stronger language.

And so I think that's part of why this is getting attention, because yeah, the one version of the ad, no clue in hell what he's talking about.

The other version of the ad says, F that.

So that's a, that's a little bit of a different, uh, stronger message on the, uh, on the other ad that's not airing on TV.

Candidates and campaigns in Ohio have increasingly used social media and short videos to draw attention to attacks against their opponents.

Earlier this year, the Ohio Flyer Political Action Committee also drew attention for artificial intelligence-generated material in a political ad attacking Sherrod Brown.

In that ad, Brown's likeness was portrayed using AI.

Now, in other campaign ad news, Sherrod Brown's campaign says his campaign suffered a major setback when about half of their Facebook ads went offline for roughly 48 hours.

This was last weekend.

Costing the campaign thousands of dollars in expected fundraising, according to the campaign, and they said potentially costing them thousands of votes as well.

A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, said an error impacted Brown and several other advertisers.

So Karen, why does Brown say the timing of this ad this outage matters for his campaign?

Well, we are going into early voting next week, and so this is the time when you really want to push your ads out there to get people before they vote, and this is that critical period You hear about October surprises and things like that.

This is a critical period for campaigns, especially campaigns that are running close.

And you'll see potentially more ads that could be coming out.

I mean, part of the problem here is that a lot of the ad space has already been taken, the ads have been reserved for candidates and campaigns.

And so it's difficult to try to get that attention without using social media at this point.

And again, the whole goal is to win an election, and to do that, you, you need voters and you need money.

And so if, if you lose that opportunity to reach people through ads that you've paid for, well, that really can cost you a lot of money and potentially votes.

And Karen, do we know what is the campaign saying?

How much money does Brown's campaign estimate it lost when those ads went down?

I haven't seen that estimate yet, but I think it's really hard to put a dollar figure on that.

I mean, certainly the Brown campaign is going to say this has been a bad thing because, again, the timing of this is just so bad.

But, you know, the campaigns roll on, so we'll, we'll have another thing to talk about next week.

Yeah, certainly vague there and hard to quantify exactly how much was lost.

We do know that the Brown campaign said that it had hoped to raise $50,000 from those particular ads over the weekend.

We don't know what the disruption actually did to that goal.

Now to the latest news about FirstEnergy, which Senator Jon Husted has been linked to due to his support for passing House Bill 6's nuclear power plant bailout for the company.

That turned out to be dubbed the state's largest bribery scandal ever.

FirstEnergy has installed the second of 2 new transformers at its Lakewood substation as part of efforts to improve electric reliability.

But Lakewood's mayor says short-term solutions are needed while the longer upgrades continue.

Kabir, tell us what Lakewood Mayor Meghan George said, that request to the Public Utility Commission of Ohio.

That was the letter she sent last week, and she basically said, you know, we would like generators or some other sort of backup power source to take care of things when there's blackouts when it's over 100 degrees in the summer.

She also wants a long-term plan, what they're going to do to get this sort of the electric grid shored up so it's a little more reliable for Lakewood.

Okay, and how did PUCO respond?

Well, as you would expect, Matt Schilling, the spokesman, said they'll they're considering it and they'll formulate a response and, you know, they'll let them know essentially what their plans are going to be.

So what do these new transformers mean for Lakewood residents, of which I Myself am included.

So how's this going to improve our reliability, Kabir?

I was going to is it bad where you live, the reliability?

It can be really tricky.

You know, we actually have been very fortunate over the summer.

We weren't as impacted as many of our neighbors, but right next door there were people who were impacted much more severely than we were.

Well, your electric grid, the whole system there in Lakewood is aging.

And they said, you know, the transformers, they are part of that effort to shore things up and make it more reliable, which I think, you know, that's pretty obvious.

Why else would they install another massive transformer like that for Lakewood?

What do FirstEnergy's long-term plans look like in Lakewood, Kabir?

They said that last month, they said, I'm sorry, in August now, they said they're going to, by the end, by the end of this month, they are going to figure out which equipment needs replaced, the aging equipment stuff.

They're going to have their overall plan for upgrades out by the end of the year.

But they have warned that this could take a decade to replace all this aging infrastructure.

Okay.

I want to read a note that came in from Spencer Weeks from Great Lakes Brewing Company.

He's the quality manager there.

This is related to the conversation we had before the break about THC-infused beverages.

Spencer writes, hemp products made in Ohio are tested.

Our license from Ohio requires testing inputs and outputs for potency and safety.

These are the same tests required of marijuana in Ohio.

We know exactly what is in them.

The reason that they aren't tested at labs in Ohio is that Ohio banned labs in Ohio from testing hemp products.

Products.

This is a false narrat and a self-manufactured problem intentionally introduced by marijuana lobbyists.

Spencer, thank you for sharing that with us.

As we said, we will continue to follow what's happening there.

Now back to Cleveland, where a new behavioral health crisis center opened this week.

It aims to serve adults experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis.

Michelle, this is the Glick Recovery Campus.

Tell us about some of the features there.

Yeah, so this is Cuyahoga County's first dedicated facility like And it offers 24/7 walk-in crisis care, assessments, triage, short-term stabilization, and periods of observation.

And you can go there without a referral or any sort of appointment.

Okay.

How is this intended to differ from a traditional emergency room, for example?

So this is really specifically focused on people who are struggling with problems like addiction or mental health struggles or suicidal ideation.

So there will be people there who are trained peer supporters and behavioral health professionals who can help with those specific challenges.

And the goal here is to reduce the number of people struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues who are going to traditional emergency rooms where, of course, doctors are dealing with all sorts of physical health issues and trauma.

There are some additional outpatient services that will be available at the Glick Recovery Campus.

Can you tell us about those, Michelle?

Yeah, so, so they're going to have primary care, psychiatric help, counseling, case management, and other services.

And then I believe early next year, a withdrawal management unit is scheduled to open there.

And this facility is operated by a group called The Centers, and they're expecting the campus to serve about 12,000 people a year.

Okay, 12,000 people.

That's a significant number of people.

How's this new facility been funded, Michelle?

So it's a mix of funding sources.

Overall, the project cost about $34 million.

It received some federal pandemic relief.

Recovery money through the state, money from Cuyahoga County's opioid settlement funds, money from the county's Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board, philanthropic sources, and, and other contributors.

And the state Department of Behavioral Health also is contributing some money.

Now, there are still questions here about funding for long-term operations.

So the project is online, but there's an ongoing conversation about how everyone's going to keep this afloat.

Okay, let's turn the conversation now to gambling, which is another behavior that has a lot of opportunity for addiction and some issues that may need some help there.

In gambling news, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine wants to hold the prediction market platform Kalshi accountable for what he called, quote, illegal operations.

In a unanimous decision, the U.S.

6th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, ruling that Ohio can enforce its gambling laws against Kalshi.

So Karen, what does Ohio say Kalshi needs to do to comply with state law?

Well, what this is about is the sports angle that Kalshi has.

And prediction markets have these sports contracts because they have a lot of contracts.

They have contracts that you can bet on current events, elections, the weather, you know.

And this is specifically about sports.

And so what the state said was when Kalshi started offering sports event contracts in Ohio, that they were basically conducting illegal sports gambling, that they needed to go through the process of being licensed and pay the 20% sports betting fine and all of that.

And they say Kalshi didn't do that.

And so this lawsuit has gone through the courts now, and there are other states that are also pursuing prediction markets in the same way.

And this ruling from the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals says that, yeah, the state can regulate this as sports gambling.

And so Governor Mike DeWine has said, okay, well then we are going to impose this fine that we levied on Kalshi back in April, a $5 million fine to Kalshi for running an unlicensed sportsbook.

And so we want Kalshi to register as a sportsbook, and we want Kalshi to pay that fine, and we want Kalshi to act like the other sports gambling operators that are out there.

And DeWine says he feels like Kalshi's just trying to get around the law and run a sportsbook without being licensed.

What does Kalshi say about this move for it to comply with Ohio's rules, Karen?

Well, Kalshi says what it deals in is federally regulated swaps, not bets that the state can regulate.

And so they say that they're governed by federal laws.

And so all of this, again, this is other states that are having to deal with this as well.

This will probably end up in the U.S.

Supreme Court to decide really, is it states that get the chance to regulate what Kalshi is doing here with sports, or are federal regulators the one who get to set the rules for Kalshi and other prediction markets.

And Kalshi has also, I understand, made an argument that having to comply with Ohio law would hurt their viability.

Yeah, I mean, I think once again, the question is still, who is in charge here?

Who actually gets the opportunity to regulate this industry?

And prediction markets are just kind of a different thing.

They're not traditional gambling, because again, you're dealing in contracts, you're dealing in trades, you're not really dealing in gambling in the sense of how sportsbooks operate.

But DeWine says, hey, this is still gambling.

At the end of the day, it's very simple.

You can call it whatever you want to call it.

But at the end of the day, it's gambling.

And that he feels that the state of Ohio has the opportunity to regulate it.

All right.

Well, we have good news now for classical music lovers.

The Cleveland Orchestra's musicians' strike has ended following the approval of a new 3-year contract.

Kabir, what did the musicians and management agree to with the new contract?

Is it over?

Oh, I thought it would never end, that strike.

This is news.

No, the contract is 5% raises every year over the next 3 years, which if you're keeping track, Philadelphia and Boston, they just signed new agreements.

Theirs were less than that.

So Cleveland outdid them by a few, a partial of a percentage point.

They're also going to get more time off when things are, when they're short-staffed, when there's vacancies, especially string players, because they get those repetitive stress injuries.

They need more time off, you know, simple take care of their hands.

So those are 2 of the main things.

Plus they're gonna have more of a voice in the audition process.

It's not going to be, I mean, it wasn't quite unilateral, but it was unilateral.

And now they're going to have more of a voice in that, more input as far as recommending some of the players after they've auditioned.

Okay.

And how does this contract compare with what musicians were asking for during negotiations?

So I was told the president of the orchestra said in passing that, you know, 25% we cannot do.

So apparently they were asking for 25%.

The last contract negotiations were right during COVID.

Um, they, they took a little bit of cuts here and there, that sort of thing.

It didn't wasn't quite a normal one.

Uh, so I'm wondering if they were maybe trying to make up some of that with the, the 25%.

I'm curious about that audition process that these musicians will get insight into.

I think it might be quite interesting to have insight into who your co-workers could be.

True.

Yeah, I love all of my co-workers.

I wouldn't change a thing, but I'm curious about this.

Well, so, uh, previously they were not blind auditions, as I understand.

I've never been in an audition for the orchestra, of course.

But They are missing out, Kabir.

They are.

I mean, I played bassoon for I don't know how many years, never got the call, right down the street from them.

But the way the process now will work is that a certain number of players will audition, and the musicians who are on the committee hearing alongside the maestro, the music director, they will get to say, we recommend this person, that person.

If there's someone out of the group of auditioners who was not given a recommendation by one of the other musicians, then the music director cannot consider them for the final decision.

And this is kind of important because Franz Welser-Möst, he's retiring.

There'll be a new music director a year from now, and these new rules will be in place for them.

That's interesting.

Do have a note from our producer, Aya.

With the percentage increase being lower for Boston and Philadelphia orchestras, apparently their base salaries are higher.

So, yes, not sure how that will shake out math-wise in terms of how that actually results money in pockets, it's, well, and André Gremillet, the president of the orchestra, pointed out you have to look at cost of living.

And a lot of this discussion was comparisons between Cleveland and the other 4 orchestras.

They make up what's called the Big 5.

New York, they didn't have one this year.

Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, all recently signed contracts, and their base pay starts at about $200,000.

Our base pay starts at about $190,000.

But the percentage that those are going to go up will be more here in Cleveland.

In Cleveland.

Okay, Kabir, tell us what happened to the European tour that was in jeopardy during the Cleveland Orchestra strike.

I was sure they, they were gonna something was gonna happen.

They needed to load in their equipment last Monday morning, and on Sunday afternoon they finally came to the agreement.

So the tour was definitely in jeopardy of being called off.

The players left on Tuesday themselves, and, uh, that tour, it's sort of a victory lap.

Franz Welser-Möst being from Europe, and a lot of the repertoire and the guests are all going to be people he's been influenced by or that he's influenced.

So, uh, the tour might not have come off, and this will be his last one as the music director of Cleveland.

So they're there now.

All right, well, good, good news there.

Now, in other employer negotiation news, the Akron Metro Regional Transit Authority Board has approved a new contract with one of its unions, avoiding a strike of its own.

As a result, a bus operator making $66,000 today, for example, will make more than $80,000 by the end of the 5-year period.

Kabir, tell us what that entails in this regard.

Now, you thought the Cleveland Orchestra contract was good.

Listen to this.

This is, this is a lot of numbers today.

The contract, it's retroactive to June of 2024.

Okay.

It runs through May 2030.

They get $8,300 in retroactive pay, a $2,000 signing bonus, a $2,000 attendance bonus annually, and then annual raises of at least 3% over the next 5 years.

Years.

And that's supposed to outweigh the increases in the health insurance contribution.

Now, this is retroactive to 2024.

Is that because the union has been operating without a contract for such a long time?

They've been out of no contract since then.

They did have a unanimous strike vote, which the orchestra that we talked about a minute ago, they had done that too.

And I guess that got things moving.

So now, after 2 years of no contract, they've got this new contract.

Those sound like very positive terms.

Of course, everything is relative to what you were hoping to get.

So how does this contract proposal compared to the final agreement?

Well, the proposal, and this was fact-checked and approved by the Metro board, it was only 3 years.

This new one's 5.

It was 2 years without a raise, a $3,500 signing bonus, and one 4% pay increase, but no retroactive pay.

So they did quite well.

Maybe next time they can do the orchestras also.

I'm sure there'll be some conversations happening behind the scenes.

Sure.

All right, back to Cleveland now, where affordable housing for seniors and community event spaces might be coming to the site of 9 former school buildings.

The facilities will be repurposed by 8 developers recently selected by the city.

Michelle, remind us why these schools were closed.

Sure.

So the schools we're talking about here, um, were part of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's big consolidation that they announced during the last school year and executed in the spring.

Um, the district ultimately eliminated 29 schools through mergers or closures, and that left them with 12 well, it left them with 18 district-owned buildings that they emptied out.

They dropped some leases, and then ultimately 12 of the district-owned buildings ended up being put in play for developers or other organizations to look at doing something with.

There are 6 buildings that weren't part of this potential deal that was announced late last week.

Those 6 buildings will be used for the district for other purposes.

Like swing space during construction or by the City of Cleveland for future public safety needs, you know, to be replaced with fire stations or a public safety center.

Okay.

And there are several proposed planned land swaps as a part of this.

Tell us about that.

Yeah.

So a lot of moving pieces here.

What the city announced last Friday was deals involving 9 buildings.

7 of them would involve land swaps.

And those are cases where the city of Cleveland would take properties near existing active CMSD schools, properties that are in the city's land bank right now, and they would trade those properties with the school district for former school buildings.

Then the city would execute deals with developers for those school buildings.

Separately, there are a lot of other land swaps that are working their way through the school board and city council right now.

Not related specifically to the Building Brighter Futures Consolidation Plan.

For example, there's there are some property swaps involving schools that had previously closed that will help facilitate construction of a new East Side high school.

And as part of that, the City of Cleveland is looking at trading a health center that's in Glenville with the district, and that health center site would become part of the future high school property.

Okay, you're right, a lot of moving parts there.

A lot of moving pieces.

Certainly.

So what's next now as this moves forward?

Yeah, so as I mentioned, you know, every piece of this has to go through either City Council or the school board or both for approval depending on how the deals are structured.

So the way officials have described this to me is, you know, this is all proposed.

It is one step in a process.

Some of these deals ultimately would be executed between the city and developers, others would be sales leaseback agreements between the district and nonprofits or other organizations where the district would sell a closed school and then lease back part of the space for, say, classroom needs or other educational purposes.

So we're gonna see all of this playing out over the next few months.

Okay, we will keep an eye on it.

Thank you, Michelle.

Now, in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, voters will decide whether to approve a $6.5 mil operating levy the district officials said is needed to support daily school operations.

Kabir, this is issue 4.

What would this property tax levy cost residents?

Here's, here's more numbers.

My, my 6th grade math teacher, Mr.

Theiss, I know he listens.

Thank you, Mr.

Theiss.

This is, this is all because of you.

County officials, they say that this is going to be about $228 a year for every $100,000 of home value.

So this tax will kick in next year if it passes this fall.

And it's just going to continue going.

There's no expiration on this one.

All right.

And when was the last time the board asked voters to approve a levy?

That was right during the pandemic, November 2020, 6 years ago.

And that was only $4.8 mil operating levy.

Okay.

Compared to this one being $6.5.

What's the deal with the school district's financial situation?

Why is this being asked for right now?

Well, the medical term is they're going broke.

So they did a new forecast in August, a 5-year forecast.

And right now, general fund balance, it's $32.2 million.

But starting next year, it's going to go down to 20 in 2030, they'll be negative $3.7 million.

So $32.2 million right now, plus $3.7 million negative by 2030.

And that's why they got this levy.

They got to deal with that decline.

And for this $6.5 mill proposal, how much money would it then generate to support the school?

They're thinking about $11 million, $11.1 million annually that they will be able to add to that.

So that will, that will keep them out of red.

Okay.

Well, let's return to something we talked about at the beginning of the show, your vehicles.

We've got important news for you about your vehicle registration.

After more than 30 years of the program existing, Governor Mike DeWine is starting the process of ending mandatory E-Check emissions testing in Northeast Ohio.

So let's start with setting the level here.

Karen, what are the current rules related to E-Check in Northeast Ohio?

Well, the program is in place in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit Counties, and it's been there like you said, for 30 years.

And it's the it's been kind of, uh, the bane of the, of the existence of many Northeast Ohioans who have to go and get their emissions checked every 2 years.

But, uh, this is something that Republicans especially have wanted to see the end of, and Democrats in that area too.

I mean, there's the balance of, is the air quality good enough that we can finally end this emissions testing?

Are our cars getting to the point where their emissions are low enough that we can end emissions testing?

And so now apparently it's been determined that yeah, the, the state could go ahead and start ending the process of e-check.

Federal government needs to weigh in, and it wouldn't happen until next summer possibly, but it looks like it's, it's the beginning of the end is here.

Okay, so like you said, the end is not here right now, the beginning of the end.

So drivers can't stop getting their e-checks at the moment, right, Karen?

Not yet.

And what, what the situation is here is that, uh, Governor Mike DeWine has asked the Ohio EPA to start moving toward the end of E-Check.

And so there's a process here.

There's a 30-day comment period, and then it has to be submitted to the federal government.

But the whole goal is to try to get the program done by the end of June next year.

And when I talked to Representative Bill Roemer, a Republican from Richfield, about this, he's proposed ending E-Check several times.

I mean, over the last 8 years.

And so he says he's thrilled about this, and this will actually free up about $25 million that the state now needs to operate the E-Check program.

And that's money that can be used in other ways.

Okay, we've got a comment in from Barb.

I want to share this message from Barb.

Barb emails in, Ohio E-Check was not fair at all.

It should have been abolished decades ago.

A tiny little sensor that causes the check engine light comes on.

The sensor or sensors do not really affect the air pollution but might cost money that the car owner does not have.

Thanks for sharing your perspective with us, Barb.

We appreciate it.

Now, speaking about air quality and modes of transportation, the city of Cuyahoga Falls has launched a new bike safety initiative in response to a rise in the popularity of e-bikes and motorized scooters.

Michelle, we have seen a growing number of incidents involving e-bikes in Northeast Ohio.

Tell us about that.

Yeah, there have been a lot of stories out there over the summer.

There was reporting about a teenager on an e-bike who suffered serious injuries after an accident with a semi-truck in Westlake.

Mentor-on-the-Lake Police responded to a crash involving a man on an e-bike.

And the Lakewood Police Department has said that they've noticed an uptick in injuries and crashes.

Okay, and so this Cuyahoga Falls new initiative, tell us about that.

Yeah, so this seems to be more about education rather than, you know, going after people.

The idea of being more proactive instead of reactive.

And the goal here is to give people the knowledge they need to ride safely.

You know, people are being asked to watch a short bike safety video, both children and parents, to review a bike safety handout, to complete an online form attesting that they've reviewed those materials.

All right, well, now for our green thumbs who are looking to create a garden or maybe build a community gathering place.

Applications are now open through November 20th to buy or lease a vacant piece of land through the Cleveland Land Bank.

Michelle, who's eligible to apply for this vacant land?

Well, pretty much anybody individuals, developers, agencies, nonprofit groups but you have to be up to date on your property taxes.

You can't have any active code violations on properties that you own.

And if you're a landlord, you have to be current on your rental registration with the city.

All right.

Well, how much does it cost if you are approved for your application?

Well, it depends.

So depends on the size of the property, the proposed use, and the neighborhood.

Some of these lots could cost as little as $200 if you're planning to use it as like a side yard.

Let's say you want to expand your yard, have a garden next door, or say you want to put affordable housing in.

Others will go at market rate.

So, you know, what a developer would pay for a vacant lot that they wanna put a traditional house on.

Leases could go for $1 a year for community spaces or gardens.

Okay.

And if people want to apply for this, is there anyone they can reach out to for help?

Sure.

So there are community specialists who can help with that.

You can call 216-644-7482.

Or you can send an email to CDCP@ - I'm trying to make sure I say this right theclevelandohio.onmicrosoft.com Or you can just go to City Hall and visit the Department of Community Development, and they're there Monday through Friday from 9 to 4:30.

All right, thanks for sharing that with us, Michelle.

That's all the time we have for today.

My thanks to Michelle Jarboe, Kabir Bhatia Kabir Bhatia, why am I having such a hard time saying your name?

Because I told you to do that.

You know, okay, there it is.

And Karen Kasler today If you missed any part of today's show, you can check out the rebroadcast tonight at 9 on 89.7 WKSU, or you can find the show wherever you get your podcasts and on the Ideastream YouTube page.

You can catch the TV show tonight at 5 on WVIZ PBS.

Monday on The Sound of Ideas, we'll talk about a documentary exploring constitutional rights, First Amendment protections regarding satire, and law enforcement accountability.

And we'll hear an interview with legendary scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson about the search for extraterrestrial life ahead of him coming to Playhouse Square.

I'm Stephanie Haney in for Mike McIntyre, who will be back next Friday.

Thank you for listening and for watching.

We hope you stay safe this weekend and every day.

And now for our closing song for today, Garden Song, originally by David Mallett, made famous with this version by John Denver.