CLEVELAND, Ohio - NASA Glenn faces a 40% workforce cut if President Trump’s planned budget goes through, and 500 career civil servants in the Cleveland area are facing layoffs, according to organizers of a rally protesting the cuts.
We’re talking about the Trump cuts against science on Today in Ohio.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.
You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.
Here’s what we’re asking about today:
Did the chairman of the Senate Finance committee really tell school officials to shut up about his budget proposal or face cuts to their funding? Aren’t legislators supposed to seek comment from stakeholders, not thwart it?
We’re still talking about the Senate version of the proposed Ohio budget, released a week ago today, and today we’re talking about libraries. Did the Senate hate on our beloved libraries as much as the House?
Better hope that Donald Trump doesn’t send in the National Guard to stop this next one. Who is behind the rally planned in support of NASA Glenn Research Center, with Trump bearing down with big budget cuts there?
Why did a rural Ohio county have a hovercraft in its possession, and how di that hovercraft end up now in the possession of Lorain County?
What is the thinking behind giving up to 2,000 Ring doorbell cameras to seniors in a part of Cleveland?
Is Cleveland suddenly overrun by rodents and other critters? Why is the city considering hiring help to trap a bunch of them?
Remember when the Towpath was just a dream? Now that we have it, in all its glory, is there a way to alert the rest of the world to this treasure and make some money off of it?
University Hospitals has a very cool new technology for more effectively dealing with such serious cancers as those that hit the pancreas. How does it work?
Leila, that big bill in Washington gets trumpeted for removing taxes on tips and overtime, something Ohio is aiming to do, too. You wrote a column that showed the downside to this idea, along with your suspicions about what the real purpose is. What did you say?
Is Ohio’s measles outbreak over? How many people had it?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris Quinn (00:00.962)
We are seeing in all forms of government these days, authoritarian tinges. Donald Trump certainly does it all the time and what he’s doing in Los Angeles is truly frightening. But we also see it in our state legislature. It’s one of the stories we’re talking about on Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from Cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Layla Tassi, Lisa Garvin, and Laura Johnston. Laura did the chairman.
of the Senate Finance Committee really tell school officials to shut up about his budget proposal or face cuts in their funding? Does he think he’s our king? Aren’t legislators supposed to seek comment from stakeholders, not shut it down?
Laura (00:48.573)
Yeah, this sure sounds like he’s basically saying, don’t complain or it’s going to get worse for you. And a great story from Laura Hancock, who’s paying very close attention to our public officials and our public education and our public tax dollars, because that’s what this budget is, right? Five thousand pages, 60 billion dollars, deciding what our priorities are as a state. And for 10 days, people have been going in, speaking to the Senate Finance Committee and saying,
Here’s where we think this should change. Here’s where our priorities should lie. And being tearful and emotional in their pleading. And here’s what State Senator Jerry Serino said to two education officials. He said, I would suggest for your members and the two of you that you do everything you can to support the Senate plan. Because as we go into conference, there’s going to be other competing viewpoints on how to do this. And it could only get worse for you. So I suggest that you support the Senate plan. I mean, that sounds like a threat to me.
what we would tell our kids like shape up or it’s going to get worse. Deliberation on this budget has been going on for six months. Everyone’s tired. They’re not planning to vote on this as a full Senate until next week. Today, there’s expected a full blown amendment to change everything. And the thing is, it’s still changeable. And he’s basically telling them, sit down, go home, or you know, you can’t change anything here.
Chris Quinn (02:09.9)
Right. Let’s start first with they’re tired. If they don’t want to do the job, give up the job. They ran for these jobs. Don’t tell me how tired you are putting together a budget. That’s nonsense. And two, you are supposed to hear from the people. That’s what we have in this country. The people reflect on what the government is doing. That’s the whole purpose for a budget hearing. Him trying to shut it down. Look, it’s the same attitude he had with his higher education bill.
He’s trying to stamp out anything that he thinks is left wing or DEI and turn them all into right wing training centers. This is a terrible thing he did. Shutting down comment by people who are invested in this budget, who may have many more insights into education than he does. And he’s saying, no, if you do anything, you’re going to lose money.
Laura (03:04.477)
Right. I mean, and he’s saying, I’m not trying to chill comment. That’s what he said when Laura commented, contacted him again for comment. He said, I’m giving them free advice. Do I want Jerry Cerrito’s free advice? I do not.
Chris Quinn (03:17.752)
Look, we know who he is. Our editorial board did not endorse him because we know what he’s about. He let it out. He showed his true colors with what he said here. And of course, he’s saying, no, no, no, that wasn’t trying to shut him down. I was just giving him a caution and trying to help him along. I’m not trying to quiet things down, but he said, shut up or else.
Laura (03:38.877)
Yeah, and let’s remind people of what people are complaining about, that the suburban school districts with low poverty and high enrollment, they fare better under the Senate budget than urban districts with high poverty and enrollment. And where do you think the districts who need the money are? Do you think it’s the well-performing suburban schools?
Chris Quinn (03:58.83)
It’s the state of the Senate. Do what we tell you or else. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We keep talking about the Senate version of the proposed budget released a week ago today. Today we’re talking about libraries. Layla, did the Senate hate on our beloved libraries as much as the House did?
Leila (04:17.209)
Indeed, they did. Just like the House plan, the Senate version scraps the decades old funding formula that guaranteed a portion of the state’s general revenue fund for libraries, which is currently set at 1.7%. Instead, it replaces it with this flat dollar amount and makes the library fund basically a line item in the budget. And that’s huge because once you’re a line item, that money becomes easier to change or even eliminate in future budgets with little notice.
So to put this in perspective, Governor DeWine had proposed a modest increase in library funding using the traditional formula, but both the House and Senate opted for a lower dollar amount. So right out the gate, libraries are getting less than what the governor thought they needed. And then there’s more. The Senate plan also pulls over $10 million each year out of the public library fund to pay for other library-related services before the money even gets distributed to counties.
That shrinks the pot even further for local libraries, especially those that don’t have a local property tax to fall back on, which for nearly 50 library systems in Ohio appears to be the case. So the bottom line here is that the Senate budget mirrors the House in all the key ways that spell trouble for public libraries. It’s a slash today, but it’s also kind of laying the groundwork for serious instability in the future.
Chris Quinn (05:41.966)
Think about the signs here. They’re destroying public schools by shifting money to private schools. They’re destroying higher education by requiring all sorts of nonsense that’s going to drive the smartest people out of Ohio. They’re taking aim, long-term aim. It’ll take a while to complete this mission at libraries. They want people to be stupid. They want people that just listen to them, do what they’re told, and don’t have independent thought. It is a program coming from our legislature.
This isn’t some accident. This has been the formula for the longest time. And Ohioans love their libraries. They show it every time there’s a levy on the ballot. They’re as popular as the parks. And yet these folks think they know better and they’re going to start savaging the libraries.
Leila (06:28.441)
Yeah, I think you’re right. They’re trying to quash anything that might inspire independent thought in a human brain. So that’s true. But this is just abominable. We’re talking everything from kids’ summer reading programs to job coaching and I think even Alzheimer’s support groups and things like that. Ohio has really long been home to some of the best public libraries in the country, but
Chris Quinn (06:34.613)
Yeah.
Leila (06:54.541)
They’re saying this kind of funding uncertainty could put that reputation and all those resources at serious risk. This is just terrible. There’s no way out of this.
Chris Quinn (07:01.368)
But lately...
But, Jerry Serino is just a former businessman who’s trying to bring his business acumen to the government and give back a little something. There’s no master plan here. There’s no politics going on. There’s no dog whistles. He’s just trying to make Ohio better.
Leila (07:15.833)
Yeah.
Chris Quinn (07:24.12)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Better hope that Donald Trump doesn’t send in the National Guard to stop this next one. Who is behind the rally planned in support of the NASA Glenn Research Center with Trump bearing down with big budget cuts there? Lisa.
Lisa (07:27.132)
you
Lisa (07:39.994)
Yeah, there’s a group called Stand Up for Science. They’re a nonprofit and they’ve been protesting aerospace budget cuts for a while now. They’ll be holding a rally at noon, from noon to 4 p.m. this Saturday at Willard Park at East 9th and Lakeside downtown. Community members and college students are helping organize the local event.
In their invitation, they said that NASA Glenn Research Center is facing a 40 % reduction in force, affecting 500 employees in Cleveland, and Trump wants to reduce the NASA budget by $6 billion next year. So NASA Glenn would probably, like I said, lose over 500 employees.
Stand Up for Science group has hosted about 25 rallies so far. They had a bunch of rallies on March 7th of this year and then 150 satellite rallies across the US and the world. And then the Planetary Society head Bill Nye, the science guy says, this is an extinction level event for NASA. NASA science is everywhere, not just at NASA facilities. It impacts 87%, he says, of the congressional districts in all 50 states.
Chris Quinn (08:50.956)
I grew up during the race to the moon when pretty much everybody was celebrating science and scientific achievements, culminating with man walking on the moon. One of the biggest moments in the history of our species. but that was it. It seems like after that, we started to denigrate science and today we denigrated big time. It gets back to what we just talked about. want, the government wants people to be stupid. They don’t want to have
thoughtful people having thoughtful discussions. How do we get back to that? How do we get back to people celebrating the best of us when we are learning more and more about how the universe works and exploring? It’s ridiculous that we’re attacking NASA. It’s one of the most respected agencies in the history of the planet.
Lisa (09:38.79)
Well, and it’s not just flying into space, it’s the experiments that they do in space. And, you know, the things they learn about, you know, living in low gravity, which we’d need if we’re going to populate other planets. So it’s not just about sending rockets to the moon.
Chris Quinn (09:53.794)
Well, and we have a president who I just don’t think has the capacity to understand complex thought. And so if he doesn’t understand it, nobody’s going to understand it. Let’s let’s crush thought. I’m glad this organization is out there trying to celebrate science and remind people how important it is. It has helped us in so many ways. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Why did a rural Ohio County have a hovercraft in its possession, Leila? And how did that hovercraft end up now in the possession of Lorraine County?
Leila (10:25.877)
Well, it all comes down to a creative trade between these counties that was born out of desperation and practicality. So Morgan County is a small and underfunded sheriff’s department in southeastern Ohio, and they were in a serious bind. They had only four working cruisers for eight deputies, and then two of those broke down in the same week. One of them had over 200,000 miles on it, and repairs were really costly.
So their sheriff, James Fisher, put out a statewide SOS to other departments offering up a pretty unconventional bargaining chip, a 2012 hovercraft and a trailer. Yeah, this is a real hovercraft. It’s the kind that can glide over land, water, mud, and even ice on a cushion of air. It’s this amphibious vehicle. It’s not something you’d expect to find in rural Ohio, but it turns out that
Morgan County had one sitting around and they didn’t really need it as badly as they needed a working cruiser. So Lorraine County saw the value here. They consulted their emergency management teams and realized that this hovercraft could actually be a game changer for winter rescues on frozen lakes or marshy areas around Lake Erie. So they struck a deal. One of their 2021 Ford Explorer police cruisers in exchange for the hovercraft and trailer and Sheriff Hall from Lorraine County called it.
a really fair trade. He noted that both vehicles are valued similarly, but more importantly, he said it was this chance to really help a fellow department that just doesn’t have the budget to keep its officers safe on the road. So now Morgan County has a solid cruiser and Lorain County has an amphibious rescue machine that’s ready for action.
Chris Quinn (12:11.49)
We’ve got to get them to give us a demo we can put on video. Everybody’s going to want to see this thing in operation going from land to water, wherever it’s going. And so I hope, because this was a very high interest story once we published it, I hope they see the value, the public relations value of showing people exactly what they have and how it can be useful in rescues. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
Leila (12:14.69)
that’d be so cool.
Chris Quinn (12:37.866)
Or what’s the thinking behind giving up to 2000 ring doorbell cameras to seniors in a part of Cleveland?
Laura (12:45.287)
Well, both Cleveland and Cuyahoga County governments want to make the neighborhood safer. And that’s the Lee Harvard Union miles and a section of Mount Pleasant neighborhoods, and especially for the senior citizens who live alone there. And what they’re saying is that they’ll be able to see and talk to the person before they open the door so they can be a little savvier and instead of just if there’s a knock opening it and see what’s happening outside their homes. And if they’re gone, they can see what’s happening outside their home, too.
So they could be over 55, they earn less than $40,000 a year and get this free ring doorbell. They can get an electric or battery operated camera when they apply.
Chris Quinn (13:26.968)
I don’t get the battery operated ones because they change the batteries a lot. Will they get help installing them? Because a lot of these people might not know how to do that.
Laura (13:32.925)
Yes. Yes, they have a company that’s going to do that. So yeah, I don’t know how to install a ring doorbell, nor do I want, you I don’t have one. But so there’s about about, I think, three hundred thousand dollars for this coming from discretionary funds, those pots of money that the council people get to spend on their own wards. They think that this will make it safer because anything happening in the street could be captured by these cameras. So.
Homicide and other crime suspects have been identified in the past and this will increase surveillance and help people just feel better about where they live.
Chris Quinn (14:08.078)
Yeah, I’m a big believer in them. I’ve installed one in my house. It’s a great tool to have. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. All right, Lisa, is Cleveland suddenly overrun by rodents and other critters? Why is the city considering hiring help to trap a whole bunch of them?
Lisa (14:25.51)
Yeah, apparently the wildlife situation in Cleveland is pretty bad in some words. I’ll tell you, it’s pretty bad out here in the suburbs too. But Cleveland is accepting proposals from contractors to help with wildlife nuisance issues, which have been growing. This contractor would trap them and they would educate the public on how to dissuade wildlife from taking residents in their yards and homes. And they would fix damage to homes in some cases. So Councilman Kevin Bishop says he’s got a
of complaints about groundhogs ongoing. Everyone’s worried about groundhogs. The population of groundhogs is growing rapidly in the city of Cleveland. Division Animal Control Manager Bruce Campbell says the sheer amount of wildlife in the city is overwhelming. He only has 13 officers so far. That’s in the 2024 budget. He’s hoping to get more. He says they do use an outside contractor to trap skunks, but otherwise they do everything else by themselves.
So they want a company that would trap nuisance animals from May to October with some emergency calls thrown in as well. And they would also educate the residents on how to discourage wildlife, like don’t have bird feeders. I found several chipmunk holes in my yard and some of my bird feeder is going, know, sealing up decks and all kinds of places where animals want to burrow. They also want a contractor to do up to 500 home repairs that have been.
you damage caused by groundhogs it’s typically groundhogs but chipmunks can cause damage to you and they would close up all points of entry
Chris Quinn (15:55.318)
Groundhog damage can be huge. If they start digging under your house, they can unsettle the whole house. And it is fascinating how much they have moved into urban areas, something that was as unthinkable as deer not all that long ago. I’m a little bit surprised we’re not seeing a corresponding increase in coyotes because there’s all this prey that our neighborhoods are loaded with food and protein. And while we have some experience with coyotes in neighborhoods,
Lisa (16:15.012)
Hmm. Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (16:25.164)
I don’t think they’ve proliferated in anywhere near the numbers of opossums and chipmunks and everything else. it’s staggering how much wildlife we are surrounded by. And because Cleveland has so many vacant lots, I think it’s even more attractive to this wildlife.
Lisa (16:39.238)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa (16:42.822)
Well, my friend in Glenville, not that I don’t think they consider turkeys a nuisance, but he has a flock of turkeys in the Glenville neighborhoods there. So yeah, they’re all over the place.
Chris Quinn (16:47.81)
Yeah.
Chris Quinn (16:51.926)
Yeah, it’s an interesting problem for Cleveland to have to solve. the number of traps, I didn’t realize that they would come, if you trap a skunk, they’ll come pick it up. That’s the problem with trapping a skunk, of course, is what do you do with it once it’s in the trap? And that’s something you’d want to find in your trap, but the city will come get it, which is great news. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Remember when the towpath was just a dream? No, of course you don’t, because you weren’t here then.
Lisa (17:03.6)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (17:19.756)
But it was a dream not all that long ago. And now it’s real in all its glory, a special, special asset for Northeast Ohio. Is there a way, Laura, to alert the rest of the world to this treasure and make some money off of it as the Pittsburgh to Washington Trail has done very successfully?
Laura (17:40.755)
Yes, and absolutely. And I do remember life before the towpath trail. It opened the first part of the path in Summit County in 1993, and it was a big deal. we, I mean, I was in high school. We used to use it regularly and because it goes to the National Park there and I didn’t live too far from there. But the goal is to let everybody know how amazing this path is. It’s mostly flat. A lot of it is paved, except through the National Park, which is a very thin gravel kept up really nice.
And it’s 101 miles long. That’s a long way to bike. You are not going to do that in a day. And a lot of people have goals to do that over a whole summer. It’s kind of a bucket list, but you could do it over a couple of days if there’s some places to stay. So Destination Cleveland has organized this effort to figure out what else is needed to really make it a destination and how they can market it. So they’re working with Cuyahoga, Summit, Stark, and Toxcararas counties.
and they’re conducting an inventory of available amenities. So places to eat, enjoy music, fix a flat tire. They know they need more camping places because if you’re biking, you’re probably outdoorsy and you don’t want to go to a hotel. So I think this is a really cool endeavor.
Chris Quinn (18:53.534)
It’s a great idea. And there is a disconnect between that Pittsburgh to Washington Trail. forget the name of it. It’s got a. Yeah, it’s. I mean, there’s there’s guides you buy to that that list all the places you can eat and stay and. Uncountable numbers of people go and do that trail regularly. I think Ted Dietman has done it, but but we don’t have that with this and we should. It’s a great long trail. It is actually the.
Laura (18:59.025)
Mm-hmm. It’s the multi-use GAP trail. I don’t remember what GAP stands for.
Laura (19:13.171)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (19:22.05)
the northern leg of a trail that you can take all the way to Cincinnati. So it’s smart by Destination Cleveland to figure out what can we do to give it the cachet some of the other tourism trails have.
Laura (19:34.687)
So the gap does stand for Great Allegheny Passage, and it’s from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, that section of it anyway. And if you think about it, that’s got to be pretty hilly. So you got to be pretty athletic to be able to bike that. We have a flat trail because it used to go along the canal, which is why it’s interesting. And it winds through cities and country. And a lot of it is very pretty. So I agree there should be websites and guidebooks. I was in Ohio Pile, Pennsylvania where that trail was. We were doing rafting and stuff during
the pandemic and there it’s a whole industry up around it. You know, there was bike shops and restaurants and everybody catered to the bikers. Yeah, Peninsula is lovely.
Chris Quinn (20:08.76)
Yeah.
Lisa (20:12.954)
Yeah, just like Peninsula. Peninsula does that.
Chris Quinn (20:13.261)
I know.
Yeah, it just it’s a great idea. I hope that you pull it off. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Lisa, University Hospitals has a very cool new technology that is more effective in dealing with such serious cancers as those that hit the pancreas. How does it work?
Lisa (20:33.402)
It’s called Varian Ethos 2.0. It uses artificial intelligence and computing power to get fresh high resolution scans of a treatment area before every radiation session. And here’s the thing with radiation is that what they do is they do a simulation before your treatment, because they have to know where all your organs are so they can pinpoint that radiation and spare healthy tissue. But those organs move around, especially the intestines. So Varian Ethos allows
for those real time pictures, high resolution, and that allows for a higher radiation dose because they know that they’re not gonna be hitting any healthy tissue. UH Radiation Oncology Chair, Dr. Daniel Spratt says this will transform the way many cancers are treated, especially pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is probably one of the five most deadly cancers you can get. It’s really hard to treat because of its proximity to the small intestine, but with Ethos 2.0, they can do that.
So is the only major system right now in Northeast Ohio to use variant ethos 2.0. They’ve treated 100 patients so far. They hope to eventually treat up to 30 patients a day.
Chris Quinn (21:44.226)
This is the science we were talking about earlier, the explorations of science. Julie Washington wrote a terrific story on this one. It was very easy to understand, taking a complex idea and making it simple. Good stuff. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Wait, well that big bill in Washington gets trumpeted for removing taxes on tips and overtime, something Ohio is aiming to do too.
You wrote a column that showed the downside to this idea along with your suspicions about what the real purpose is. What did you say?
Leila (22:15.871)
Yeah, so at first glance, mean, this plan to stop taxing tips and overtime sounds like a very big win for workers. mean, who would it want to keep more of their earnings, right? But when you really look at the details, it starts to look more like smoke and mirrors. I for one thing, nearly 40 % of tipped workers already make so little they don’t pay federal income taxes at all.
What actually keeps them afloat are refundable tax credits, like the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit. And if tips get excluded from earned income in future versions of this policy and tax experts warn that that is a real possibility, those credits could shrink or disappear for millions of low-income workers. And that’s thousands of dollars gone, which hits harder than any tax break could ever help them. And then there’s this very real
risk of loopholes. If we start calling tips non-taxable income, really what’s to stop big companies from reclassifying bonuses or salaries as gratuities to dodge taxes to? Especially when we’re in a time when the IRS is weakened and there are almost no guardrails in this proposal. It’s a setup for abuse and not abuse by waitresses, but by wealthy people with really clever accountants.
So yeah, this plan sells itself as a working class benefit, but in reality, it helps pave the way for more tax breaks for the rich and big business. And this is a pattern. I mean, they offer a little relief at the bottom to justify massive gains at the top. And in the end, it really is the people who can least afford to lose support who are likely to pay the price here.
Chris Quinn (24:01.098)
exactly what we described earlier this week or yesterday with the income taxes. You had a great line that said, come on people, when have the Republicans in this country ever looked out for the little guy? And I think you got what I always get if I say anything the least bit critical of Donald Trump. The Trumpers come out of the woodwork to accuse you of having Trump derangement syndrome. They don’t talk facts. They never have the facts. They just
Leila (24:21.053)
yeah, they hated that line.
Chris Quinn (24:27.202)
say, you hate Trump and Trump’s great and we won and he got more votes than anybody else and you just don’t, you’re a sore loser. My bet is you got a lot of that.
Leila (24:35.735)
Yeah, tons of it. think this is the column that triggered the most hate mail for me this year so far. And I don’t care. They were so offended by that line that said, since when has Trump’s party ever done anything for working class people? And you cannot defend against that statement when the
Chris Quinn (24:44.559)
Hahaha.
Leila (25:01.933)
The Republican Party is simultaneously gutting Medicaid, eliminating food assistance, just beating up on the working class while trying to hand this off as some big favor for them. Also, I just want to point out something else that makes this more insidious is that this could actually suppress wages in the long run because if tips are tax free, there will be customers.
who would feel justified in tipping less, thinking, well, they’re not paying taxes on it. There will be customers who do that. And that directly undercuts the income for workers who already rely on every dollar. But even bigger picture than that, this policy is very likely to derail that growing momentum to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, which is something that Donald Trump is so against, right?
Right now there are eight states and Washington DC, they’ve all moved to get rid of the sub-minimum wage altogether and more were on the way. But if workers suddenly see tax-free tips as a better deal, they might be persuaded to settle for the status quo and they’re not going to stop pushing for that. if it’s up to voters, they’ll say no. And it divides the labor movement, it weakens the fight for long-term structural change. And that’s the point, right? That’s what the GOP wants.
Lisa (26:09.788)
and that’s the point right? That’s what the GFD wants. Because it’s not about helping workers. It’s about making sure that the fight for fair, stable wages never reaches that commission.
Leila (26:24.313)
Because it’s not about helping workers. It’s about making sure the fight for fair, stable wages never reaches that finish line.
Chris Quinn (26:33.784)
Getting back to the reaction you got, I’d be curious to see if you see the same things I do. I get this all the time. But the people that are the Trumpers that write in, write with the least civility of anybody who writes me. It’s just dripping with condescension and scorn. Almost everybody else I hear from, it’s civil. It’s I disagree with you, but blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. With these people, it’s you poor dope. You’re...
you’re done, I can’t wait till your kind is gone. Did you get that kind of thing or maybe they were a little soft?
Leila (27:05.571)
Yeah, of course, the least civility and the least intelligence, I’m sorry to say. I mean, it’s just like, whatever snowflake, you know, it’s that kind of tone.
Chris Quinn (27:09.836)
Yeah.
Exactly.
Laura (27:14.879)
Well, aren’t they following the example set by the leader of our country? He does not speak very civilly to people.
Chris Quinn (27:23.138)
Yeah, no.
Leila (27:23.449)
Sure. I also got a lot of comments that were like, if the Democrats were pushing this, you’d be all about it. No, I wouldn’t because actually a lot of Democrats are in support of this too because they’re misguided. And Kamala Harris was pushing it. I thought it was a terrible idea then.
Laura (27:33.705)
Mm-hmm.
Lisa (27:35.82)
And Kamala Harris was pushing it. I thought it was a terrible idea.
Chris Quinn (27:40.32)
Okay, good column. Check it out. It’s on cleveland.com. Laila has a column every Monday. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. One more, Laura, is Ohio’s measles outbreak over? How many people had it in the end?
Laura (27:54.353)
It is over and that is good news. was part of this ongoing national measles outbreak. There was more than a thousand cases reported in 30 states. Here we had 34 recorded cases, one hospitalization, no death, thankfully. 96 % of the cases were in individuals who were unvaccinated or they didn’t know the vaccination status. So Bruce Vanderhoff, the head of the, I mean, the state’s chief doctor basically said, he said he hopes it has to do with awareness.
Lisa (28:20.284)
Thank
Laura (28:21.673)
that people understand the risks they take of acquiring measles if they’re unvaccinated, particularly if they travel.
Chris Quinn (28:29.422)
Okay, well, I’m glad that’s over. It’s had the potential to be much bigger in Ohio than it ended up being. It wasn’t nearly as bad as in Texas.
Laura (28:38.804)
Mm-hmm.
Chris Quinn (28:40.514)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the Tuesday episode. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Laura. Thank you for being here. We’ll be back tomorrow talking about the news.