The national illegal immigration push was felt in northeast Ohio this week.

Ohio lawmakers are looking to rein in recreational marijuana regulations.

And a three judge panel suspended the mayor of East Cleveland as he faces corruption charges.

Ideas is next.

Hello and welcome to IDEAS.

I'm Mike McIntyre.

Thank you for joining us.

Dozens of immigrants in northeast Ohio were taken into custody by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers this week, part of a larger push nationwide by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration.

There is no one in the mayor's seat in East Cleveland.

A three judge panel this week suspended Mayor Brandon King, who is under indictment on corruption related charges.

And a new mayor will be appointed next month.

Ohio's fledgling recreational marijuana law is less than two years old.

Sales only started last year.

And here comes the buzz kill.

State lawmakers are moving to tighten regulations.

And Cleveland City Council will introduce legislation to tackle pay inequity by requiring employers to post pay ranges on job postings.

Joining me for the roundtable from Ideastream, Public Media Reporters Abby Marshall and Gabriel Kramer in Columbus.

State House News bureau chief Karen Kasler.

Let's get ready to roundtable.

President Trump promised to crack down on immigrants who lack legal status.

And this week, nationwide, enforcement, which included Northeast Ohio, garnered headlines.

Gabriel, you did some reporting on this.

And while there has been a push locally, as there has been nationally.

One of the things that the folks told you in terms of ICE detention is that it's the numbers right now are really not all that unusual.

There were deportations under the Biden administration as well.

Right.

So I called the Diego County Sheriff's Department and they told me that was as the Job County jail, as the place where ICE detainees go in the region.

There's two jails in Ohio, Seneca Jail in Tiffin, Ohio.

There's they had 20 people brought in on Sunday, which brought their total people of the total number of ICE detainees to 58 people.

And they said, you know, 50 to 60 is really where they're at on any given day.

And to bring in 20 people might be a little bit larger than normal.

But they said 12 to 15 is also a pretty normal number to have.

Bringing in on any given day.

So it wasn't out of the ordinary for them numbers wise, numbers wise.

So, you know, we had immigration attorneys this week.

Tell me that, you know, this is kind of part of a spectacle, is kind of putting on a show by the administration to to say we're really going after it.

But even the 986 that were arrested nationwide on Sunday was not the highest it was the highest of Trump's administration, but was there were higher instances and higher days during the four years that Biden was in office.

There were 1100 or so the next day, day after day after day.

What we're seeing is there's going to be more of this enforcement.

There had been an original thought that people who are violent criminal offenders would be the folks who would be rounded up first.

This is something that the Trump administration said.

And what we're seeing, though, is that people who are being rounded up may not necessarily be violent offenders.

They're simply people who are here without papers.

Right.

So you're seeing places, perhaps restaurants being targeted, places where ice can get to kind of easily, because if you think about what the the laws are, according to an immigration attorney that we spoke to this week, there are if you think about a workplace, there is a public place where ice is like to go and enter just like any customer would be.

But there are private places as well, so it gets a little iffy about what part of a restaurant needs a judicial warrant.

And then there's confusion about what kind of warrant is now needed to be able to enter someone's home or enter that private place of a of a workplace.

You have what's called an administrative warrant, which doesn't provide the the power that a judicial warrant, a federally provided judicial warrant signed by a federal judge or magistrate is what really is needed.

So these immigration attorneys are recommending the people, if ICE approaches you at your home or at a workplace, make sure you're behind, you're closed, lock a door and ensure that that paperwork is, in fact, a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge or a federal magistrate.

And to ask whomever is at your door to slide under your door, bring it over window so they can take a picture, send it to a lawyer and get inspected properly.

Otherwise, you don't have to open your door.

The same protections that apply to citizens in these cases apply to people who are not documented.

Right.

So in an instance where ice approaches you, you have the right to remain silent.

You have the right to attorney.

So, you know, it's different than if you get stopped by local police, for instance, and you know, you're at a traffic stop and they ask you to provide your your license, your insurance, your and your registration, which is which is standard practice.

But, you know, local police, you know, if they ask you for your document, your immigration documentation or immigration information, you don't have to provide that to them.

So in any instance, like any person, you have the right to remain silent, their right to an attorney, and you can exercise those things if you feel uncomfortable about how to answer any questions they provide you.

And it's interesting because you sought out those bits of advice, because a number of organizations we're seeing now sort of the mobilization on both sides, we have the push for immigration enforcement, and then we have a number of groups representing diverse communities, immigrant communities, in some cases undocumented immigrants as well, who are putting out these these educational videos and fliers and emails to folks essentially saying, know your rights.

Right.

Because I've had several people come to me after reading my reporting and saying, you know, what should I what should I tell people?

What should I tell people that I'm working with?

People are nervous.

People are scared.

There was a local restaurant over the weekend that people showed up in and and had to take some people away for that cilantro.

Yes.

A lot of people in Cleveland Heights, there were people taken away.

I spoke to the attorneys of the restaurant and they said, look, the people who are around the situation are scared.

They are worried.

They're concerned.

And what happened at the restaurant in Cleveland Heights, as people showed up and showed support.

If you go outside to that restaurant right now, you'll see a lot of signs supporting the people who are working there, supporting the owners of the restaurant.

And a lot of signs that are, you know, anti ice and anti deportation and pro-immigration.

So, you know, people are coming out in droves to show support to, you know, what they consider this community.

And I can tell you, I've supported the Lakewood Cilantro with $15 at a time.

Every time I get a burrito on Mondays, it's terrific food, Mondays on salads.

I'm working on a treat myself.

Abby More about the immigration and reaction locally.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bieber said in a statement he won't enforce federal immigration law.

That's interesting because it's not necessarily the purview of a city or the responsibility of a city to go out and round people up for feds.

I don't know if they're being asked to, but he's sort of making a preemptive statement.

Yeah, he said, you know, Cleveland police is here to protect people.

They're not going to play any political games.

That's not their role or be, quote, used as a tool for fear.

So he said that, you know, they're they're not going to go after any individual that has not committed violent crimes.

He said.

In the case of violent crimes, when it comes to public safety, they'll, you know, enforce the law and take action against anyone, not just immigrants.

But he says that there is no law that requires the city to enforce the deportation of individuals that have not committed crimes.

And, you know, I would encourage anyone to to see what their council members are saying to go back and watch Monday night's meeting at City Council.

There were there was a lot of really strong rhetoric about this topic, particularly a really compelling moment with Jasmine Santana, who represents a majority Hispanic ward here in Cleveland.

And people are really concerned and they're scared.

And Council President Blake Griffin said, you know, the things that are happening are things that maybe many of us haven't seen or felt in in generations.

A three judge panel this week ruled 2 to 1 to suspend East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King immediately.

He was indicted last fall on corruption related charges, including theft in office.

Abbie, they decided, yes, he has to be suspended.

That happened immediately.

But there's no mayor in place now.

What's the process for getting someone in that seat?

Right.

So I went to a press conference over there and and the city council president said, you know, according to our charter, the city council president assumes the mayor.

Is that was that part or.

No, no, no, no.

I'm sorry about that.

Not the president, right?

Yes.

But according to state law, Cuyahoga County Probate court will appoint King's replacement.

So right now, they're accepting applications are going to be reviewing those and the probate court will decide.

And they did say that they will comply with that.

But the city council President Shabazz, said that he expects to assume that role.

So who's in charge now?

No one.

There is no acting mayor at the moment.

So this is I think it's a beleaguered is probably a fair word.

The people of East Cleveland have endured corruption at the top levels in the mayor's office for years.

There have been various aspects of that controversy, at the very least when it wasn't corruption.

And then when we look in the police department, a number of indicted police officers, a police chief who left after saying some terrible things and and tax charges.

And now we've got another police chief who there are some investigations about his relationship with a witness in a in a case.

It's a series of scandals in East Cleveland.

Yeah.

And even with King himself, he survived what was his second recall election last year.

And and I think that when I speak to people out there, there is a feeling of kind of being Disha.

And but I spoke to Dante Gibbs, who is a lifelong resident over there.

He runs a really great gift exchange that I did a story on last year.

And he said, you know, this is a very heavy moment for residents, but it's also a moment of reflection and maybe like looking forward to how things can be different going forward.

So he still had some hope.

But I think it is easy for a lot of residents out there to lose hope given that this government has had substantial problems.

I think decades.

I think our first Sound of Ideas community tours more than five years, maybe seven years ago was at the East Cleveland Library.

And I was just blown away by, as I mentioned, beleaguered was the term before that.

And certainly the publicity is usually never great in East Cleveland.

What great people and what resolve they had to say.

We're going to we want to be an independent city.

There's been all kinds of discussion about them being swallowed up by Cleveland and not becoming a jurisdiction anymore.

And what we heard there was, you know, we we deserve good leadership and we are residents that deserve what other residents get.

And interesting to to to hear that.

I remember that.

I remember that community tour distinctly.

And I wanted to mention that.

So sorry, I think you're stealing my thunder.

But here's the thing.

That is a proud community.

Every time you go to East Cleveland, a cover story, the people there are proud more distinctly than any other community surrounding the city of Cleveland.

They are proudly to be distinctly East Cleveland.

So I imagine a lot of people there are are up in arms or at least really engaged in this.

I do want to note, because it is important to do and I did earlier, Brandon King is under indictment, has not been convicted of anything in this three judge panel didn't rule on whether the charges were were provable or that he was guilty of anything.

They simply ruled 2 to 1 that he should not serve as mayor while he's under indictment.

It's still pending.

So we will definitely keep an eye on that as it proceeds and report, you know, who eventually takes on that mayoral role.

Cleveland's Ward one, Councilman Joe Jones, issued an apology yesterday and said he'll participate in comprehensive sensitivity and professional conduct training.

This after several women accused him of improper conduct.

He stepped down from committee appointments earlier following an investigation that showed he likely violated council sexual and non-sexual harassment policies, policies after allegations of inappropriate behavior made by five women.

I read your stories.

They're pretty bad behavior.

This is a guy who is banging on the desk and he's yelling at people.

And in other cases, it appeared said some kind of things that I guess at the very least you could say are creepy toward a woman artist.

The reporting on that we looked for an investigation to be released.

We didn't actually see the whole investigation.

Right.

So what I did get was an investigation findings summary.

City council said that they were not going to release that investigation.

They cited attorney client privilege, but they did send me the summary.

And basically what we heard was that there were five witnesses.

It appeared that many of them were women, just based on some of the testimonies and public records that I got back and reviewed.

But they said that all of the sources were credible and it said there was evidence that Joe Jones likely violated council sexual and non-sexual harassment policies, things like bullying, unwanted physical touching, comments about their appearance.

So we saw through this public records request some of these email exchanges of people documenting, you know, things, things like the bad temper that you mentioned, you know, yelling and verbally abusing a female employee to the point where she said she was leaving the room crying, banging on, you know, he's banging on a table.

But things also like, you know, patting a woman on her shoulder and touching near her breast.

And that was a complaint that was made as well.

So Joe Johns came out yesterday after all of us have been reporting on this and said, you know, that it was unintended to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

But he recognizes that he did.

So he has agreed to do that sensitivity training, which is something that in that investigation was recommended by those investigators that he undergo that Now.

Jones, I remember his first go round.

He was a council member back until 2005 when he pleaded guilty to felony mail fraud charges tied to the Nate Gray investigation.

He left council, then he gets back on council, though, in 2017 because the record, it was expunged.

Yeah.

So this is not, you know, his first scandal I guess and and count city council told me, you know a city council spokesperson said, you know how when I asked, how would you can you punish someone beyond just, you know, a censure, which hasn't happened yet, but that's basically a public reprimand which was outlined in the recommendations as well.

If he didn't undergo sensitivity training, which, again, he has said he will do.

But the only way to really remove someone from office is at the ballot box.

So they're everyone is up for reelection this fall.

And or unless there is a federal felony charge, if he's banging on tables, bullying people, harassing people, as this investigation summary tells us that he is.

The question is, how is that able to continue to go on?

You've got five different witnesses.

So apparently many different instances of this.

The investigation into this recommended not only that he get off committees, which he did and have this training, but policy changes need to happen in the city.

Right.

And I did speak to a city council spokesperson that said their lawyers are currently reviewing some of those recommended changes.

I don't know what those are, but it looks like they are, you know, say they're taking this seriously and will look how they can implement policy changes to try to avoid any problems in the future.

The Ohio Senate has reintroduced a bill that would roll back some of the provisions in the state's recreational marijuana law.

Voters overwhelmingly passed the bill in 2023 that allowed for recreational sales, as well as the ability to grow pot at home.

Public sales of recreational marijuana began in Ohio last August.

It took that long to get the regulations and procedures in place.

But now Karen, the Senate and the House eventually will want to tighten those restrictions.

Senate Bill 56 has provisions in it similar to those proposed last year.

Let's talk about those.

Yeah, this shouldn't be a huge surprise to people who actually supported the law that was passed by voters in 2023.

Lawmakers can do this even if voters pass a law.

Lawmakers can come back and change that.

They can do that with constitutional amendments, but they can do that with laws.

And so lawmakers have talked about making changes to the state's recreational marijuana law for a while, not just changing the composition of the products being sold, but also where the taxes go.

And this is a bill from Senator Steve Huffman, who is the cousin of now Speaker Matt Huffman, and he's been talking about this bill for a while.

It does things like it cuts home grow from 12 plants, which was in the original proposal that voters approve to six.

No.

It also makes I just telling you and it hasn't passed yet, so don't anybody get worried here, I guess.

And it also I think the biggest thing it does here is it does change the taxes.

It changes the taxes from 10% to 15% and diverts them instead of to a social equity program which was set up to help people who had been convicted of drug issues come back and start businesses and that sort of thing.

It diverts from that fund and puts it back into the state's general revenue fund.

And so I think that that's really one of the biggest parts of this whole proposal, though, that there are some other things in here.

So customers might look at this as the potency is reduced, the price is raised.

And my workaround, which is growing at home, has been limited.

I guess you could look at it that way.

It does.

It's I again, I think that you've got some especially Republican lawmakers who really do want to put some restraints on the recreational marijuana program that voters approved, but it didn't really gel in the last session.

And now we're the beginning of this two year session.

So there is plenty of time to talk about this.

But one of the things that this does not do, it does not regulate Delta eight THC, which is something that Governor Mike DeWine has called for saying this.

He calls it intoxicating hemp or diet hemp.

It has no regulations.

It's not regulated like marijuana at all.

And kids can buy it.

It can be purchased anywhere.

And he wants to see regulations on that.

But this bill does not include that.

It only talks about regulations on marijuana.

It'll only be a matter of time before it's called Hemp zero.

Right.

Never did, I guess.

Yes.

I'll ask you all, by the way, for emails on anything we're talking about today, feel free to reach out.

So I at idea stream dot org as a way to get through to us.

I'm checking them out on my phone as we go along.

And earlier today when I talked with Amy Eddings about what we're going to be talking about, I made this joke as I just did with you.

Oh, we can't grow 12 plants anymore.

Only six.

By the way, I'm not growing any plants, okay?

I'm just saying.

But I did get an email from Jeff who says, if you're concerned about the 12 plants, you're growing at home being reduced to six plants, just pick one up and smoke it and you probably won't care anymore.

So that's Jeff's point of view.

Cleveland City Council introduced legislation Monday that would require employers with 15 or more workers to list the pay range for jobs when posting the openings.

They say it's a way to prevent people at the bottom of the scale from lowballing themselves and agreeing to work for less than what a job should pay.

How is that going to happen with this?

What are the Cleveland council members say, Abbi, about how this increases transparency and helps people at the lower end of the scale?

Right.

So in addition to that pay range that you mentioned that will be required of any job posting in Cleveland with employees over 15 from companies, with employees, over 15 people.

It will also ban companies from asking people what they make, salary history, that sort of thing.

So basically what council members are saying is happening, particularly for low income workers and women, is that they go in, they say this is how much I'm making in a company that might have a higher budget will say, okay, great, you know, they want to save money.

So it perpetuates this cycle of low wages.

So they're saying that, too, If people know what other people are making, then they can make a more informed decision of of what they should be requesting.

So like, if you say I make minimum wage and they say, great, we'll pay you $0.50 more than that, when they would have paid $5 more than that.

So that is the tool that going to give them.

What you heard also is that this is something aimed at women workers and and others as well.

Right.

Right.

And as we as we know, just generally speaking, women tend to be paid less.

Minority employees tend to be paid less than their white male counterparts.

So this is just a way to kind of even that that playing field council members are saying, and other states have adopted these kinds of measures.

Yes, but other states, I believe that there are 14 other states that already have similar policies in place.

Ohio does not have a statewide one, but other cities, including Cincinnati and Columbus, have some sort of pay.

Trans parents legislation, be it that pay range or barring employers from asking about salary history.

A bill introduced in the Ohio Senate this week would prevent employers from enforcing non-compete clauses in worker contracts.

It's another bipartisan bill, Senate bill 11.

It's expected to get pushback from businesses.

But what's the gist of this?

Well, it's interesting because I think a lot of us here on this show may have encountered non-compete clauses.

We don't have them here.

Right.

But they're very, very common in broadcasting.

They're not as common.

I thought, in other industries.

But it turns out that they are a lot more common.

Could be one in five workers are having to sign non-compete clauses.

And so you have Republican Bill Blessing and Democrat bill tomorrow.

They've come together to propose this bill that says you just can't you can't do this kind of stuff.

You cannot prevent or penalize someone from taking another job in the same field or within a certain time frame.

And that's really the essential element of a clause.

I mean, it's expected the business community is going to push back.

But this really does it sees is seeks to protect workers who are just trying to take opportunities that are out there and earn a living.

On the other hand, the reason that non-compete clauses exist, businesses say, is they it would give an unfair competitive advantage to a competitor.

You train somebody up, you've got all of their talents in place, and then they take it to your competitor in the very same market in a very certain amount of time.

So a lot of these non competes are not in our market or not within a year, those types of things.

Right.

That's the argument that they're going to continue to make.

Right.

And now the sponsors say they are amenable to possible carve outs like senior level executives, people like that.

But their real concern is how how these have proliferated, how there's so many businesses now that are potentially using non-compete clauses in contracts.

One of the most notable is Jimmy John's the sublease.

They had a contract.

They had a lawsuit over a non-compete clause in a contract and had to settle for $100,000.

That's somebody who's not making a whole lot of money and they're making sub sandwiches.

You know, if they wanted to go to Subway, they couldn't do it before.

And that's really kind of amazing to think that people who are potentially making minimum wage are being held to a contract don't don't go from Jimmy John's to the subway.

Don't do this.

Build a more a had a really interesting quote about that he said the fact that there are some places now sub submarine not building submarines but sandwich shops that have non-compete clauses.

So building a sub now is some trade secret.

It's meat and cheese on a bun with dressing on it.

That was his point of view.

In this age of Doppler and high tech weather forecasting.

Sunday is the day we turn the long range forecast over to a groundhog.

Science Schmidt's Sunday is Groundhogs Day.

Please punxsutawney Phil and Buckeye chuck.

Don't see your shadows You guys, we're all counting on Buckeye Chuck and Punxsutawney Phil, are we not?

Every meteorologist favorite day of the year, right?

I know.

Come on.

You're telling me a groundhog can do my job?

All right.

And I do want to note, as we walk off today that we mark the start of Lunar Lunar New Year on Wednesday, It's the Year of the Snake.

Our elephant sent me the most beautiful e-card from Jacki Lawson cards.

To mark the occasion, you can find events celebrating the lunar New Year across northeast Ohio.

Celebrations last for 15 days.

Kind of cool.

I always love the year of whatever it is and the snake seems to be a good one this year.

Yeah, I mean, Lunar New Year.

I mean, it's it's not a huge deal in the United States or Ohio, but it's one of the biggest holidays in the world.

So it's if you get a chance to celebrate in some fashion, I recommend Monday on the Sound of Ideas on 89 seven.

KSU.

An executive order freezing federal funding this week was rescinded in a fit of confusion, causing whiplash for organizations that rely on that money to help others.

We'll talk about how organizations are dealing with the fast moving directives from the White House.

I'm Mike McIntyre.

Thank you so much for watching.

And stay safe.