CLEVELAND, Ohio -- More than 90% of Ohio power outages since 2000 were weather-related.
We’re talking about thunderstorms and how Ohio has the fifth-highest number of weather-related power outages in the country 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.
You can now join the conversation. Call 833-648-6329 (833-OHTODAY) if you’d like to leave a message we can play on the podcast.
More Today in Ohio
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- With Ohioans ready to change the state constitution to raise the minimum wage, Statehouse Republicans suddenly offer compromise: Today in Ohio
Here’s what else we’re asking about today:
The East Coast has hurricane season. We have thunderstorm season, and we’re coming into it. How much is the weather to blame for the power outages Ohioans suffer, and where, surprisingly, does that rank us, given that other states do have hurricanes and big tornadoes?
Ohio is a bigtime farm state, and some members of Congress are pushing to expand how our farmers can profit from what they grow. It has to do with the ocean. And high altitude. What do they want?
We’ve got another agriculture story to take you higher and higher. A major marijuana grower in Northeast Ohio is getting ready for recreational marijuana sales. How so?
Remember monkeypox? It’s not called that anymore because the World Health Organization said the name carried a racial stigma. But the illness itself is still out there, and it’s here. Do we have an mpox trend in Cuyahoga County?
The guy running Cleveland Cliffs really does not take criticism well. What’s his latest effort to stifle a vocal anonymous critic?
When I brought this up in a text message, readers were fascinated, and now we’ve got the story. Why do people who have spring allergies react to specific tree pollens but not others?
What are the disturbingly familiar details emerging about the death of a man in police custody in Canton?
Top Thrill Dragster is back, as Top Thrill 2. And a couple of people on our team have ridden it. What do we learn from their experience?
I can’t believe this story didn’t go viral. Why did our food writer Paris Wolfe eat a bunch of bugs?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
chris (00:02.646)
Temperatures are supposed to finally warm up again this weekend and we’re supposed to get storms and it just so happens that storms are the first story we’ll be talking about on Today in Ohio. It’s the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plane Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Lisa Garvin, Leila Tasi and Laura Johnston. Lisa, let’s talk about the weather. The East Coast has its hurricane season. We have thunderstorm season and it’s about to begin.
How much is the weather to blame for the power outages that Ohioans suffer and where surprisingly does that rank as nationwide given all those other states that do have hurricanes and huge tornadoes?
Lisa (00:43.976)
Yeah, according to a study by Climate Central, 90% of Ohio power outages since 2000 are weather related. So that would be 87 of 96 outages. That puts us number five nationally. I’m kind of surprised, but we still are well below Texas, which is in first place with 210 power outages in that time. Also behind Michigan, California and North Carolina.
80% of outages nationwide are weather related. Most of them were due to severe weather, like 58%, 23% attributed to winter storms, and then only 14% attributed to tropical cyclones or hurricanes. So the study focused on outages affecting at least 50,000 customers or 300 megawatts or more of service being out.
Data analyst Jen Brady said, Ohio had a real diversity of events. The only thing we didn’t have here is wildfires. We had winter weather, we had severe weather, we even had some flooding. And some outages are due to interconnected grids. Like she said, for example, there are probably some connections between our power grid and West Virginia. So if it goes down in Virginia, it can also affect Ohio. But Ohio is set to outpace previous decades for weather-related power outages. Already,
There have been 19 outages in this decade starting in 2020, and that’s more than half of the two previous decades. It only had 33 per decade apiece.
chris (02:15.386)
I was surprised by the ranking until I thought a little bit more about it. I lived in Florida for nine years and in the summer for about five months every day you get a pounding thunderstorm. But in many of the neighborhoods down there the power lines are underground. You don’t lose power when the storms come through unless there’s a lightning strike on a transformer or something. But the fact that Michigan and Ohio
are so high on this, I think speaks to almost all of our power lines are above ground. And because First Energy is such a sleazeball company, they haven’t maintained them. They have not invested in the maintenance. They just go to the legislature and get freebies. So I suspect that it’s the poor state of our infrastructure, the fact that we haven’t buried them underground, that makes us really vulnerable to this increasing level of storm. We’ve gone on and on showing how climate change has...
Lisa (02:46.046)
Mm-hmm.
chris (03:10.182)
intensified the number and the power of our storms. And I wonder if someday we finally bite the bullet and spend the gigantic sum of money it’ll take to put our power lines underground.
Lisa (03:22.108)
And I think that’s what keeps people from doing it, is that, you know, but then the cost of power outages to businesses, you know, hospitals, you know, people’s health and everything else is enormous. So you have to weigh that against, you know, this, like you said, enormous cost of burying power lines.
chris (03:39.294)
Well, and a lot of people are installing transformers so that if the power goes out, they can keep their little grid running. Solar arrays are getting less and less expensive, partly because China is doing all sorts of things to drive US companies out of the market. But maybe in the end, it’ll be individual updates to their houses instead of underground power lines that keeps the power on. But a shocking kind of story. Ha ha ha.
that we’re number five. I mean, I just, I would never have predicted that given the gigantic storms that you see pounding on the coasts and in the plains area. Good stuff. Good, good, good background in that story. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Ohio is a big time farm state and some members of Congress are pushing to expand how our farmers can profit from what they grow, but it has to do with the ocean and high altitude.
Lisa (04:08.12)
Mm-hmm.
chris (04:36.562)
Lalo, what do they want to do?
Leila (04:38.09)
Well, this is a bipartisan effort to enable Ohio crops in the form of renewable biofuels to power ocean liners and commercial jets. Senator Sherrod Brown introduced legislation that would ensure renewable fuel used by ocean going vessels is eligible for a renewable fuel credit under federal renewable fuel standard programs that currently exclude them. And Representative Max Miller has introduced legislation that would clarify eligibility for sustainable aviation fuels within.
the current US Department of Agriculture bioenergy programs. Miller introduced that bill late last year and it has bipartisan support in both chambers. Dozens of interest groups have been pushing for that legislation to be included in the farm bill, which is currently being debated in a congressional committee. In fact, all sorts of organizations have supported both of these bills from the agriculture industry to the shipping and cruise line industries that are all increasingly seeking low carbon bio...
diesel and renewable diesel to meet their climate goals and consumer demand. The Senate legislation has been referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House legislation is before the Energy and Commerce Committee right now.
chris (05:46.998)
Ohio is such a major agriculture state that you could see this being a huge boon for the economy If if it were all to happen just fascinating that it would be the big ships out on the ocean using Ohio crops
Leila (06:02.576)
Yeah, good ideas from these guys. As I was reading it, I was waiting to hit the paragraph where the subject of renewable fuel breaks down into culture wars, but that wasn’t the case. It’s kind of exciting to see bipartisan efforts that are actually solving problems across different industries.
chris (06:19.218)
Although it is the federal level, not the state level. The state seems like it’s completely bent on burning fossil fuels. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We’ve got another agriculture story to take you higher and higher. A major marijuana grower in Northeast Ohio is getting ready for the recreational marijuana sales. What does it want to do?
Leila (06:22.08)
No.
laura (06:40.656)
So this is Buckeye Relief, and they have been growing marijuana since 2017. That’s longer than anywhere else in the state for what was at the time this newly legal medical marijuana market. But they expect to expand and grow as the recreational market comes online. So they have 35 workers. They’re hard at work growing and harvesting these plants in a 60,000 square foot complex. They have 20,000 plants, three different flower rooms that operate year round.
under special lighting. What we don’t know is when exactly the recreational business is going to launch in Ohio because rules from the state are approved for the first dispensary. They’re expected within a few months. We don’t have an exact date, but we know that obviously Ohioans want this. They voted overwhelmingly for this. And Megan Sims did this story. She said she’d passed this facility a lot of times and always wondered about it. So she said it was really cool to get to go inside.
chris (07:37.334)
Yeah, it looks like it’s a big operation and they’re poised to profit hugely once the recreational sales begin, which you keep thinking is around the corner, but it’s never here.
laura (07:50.352)
Well, I think it’s, I mean, it’s not as bad as the medical marijuana sales. We were, that seemed to take forever with the regulations and picking the dispensaries and getting that all settled. I think sometime this summer we’re going to see this and, uh, which is probably a good time to launch, although we will know we will not be smoking marijuana on restaurant patios. That’s going to be outlawed, but you can already be growing your own six plants if you want.
chris (08:17.666)
Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Remember Monkeypox? It’s not called that anymore because the World Health Organization said the name carried a racial stigma, but the illness itself is still out there and it’s here. Lisa, what is the M-pox trend in Cuyahoga County?
Lisa (08:36.312)
The Cuyahoga County Board of Health has confirmed six cases of MPOX from February to this week. Another three have been confirmed by the Cleveland Public Health Department. All the patients are age 17 to 44. Now this is the first time we’ve kind of seen a surge since 2022 when there were 139 Ohio MPOX cases and 61 in Cuyahoga County.
So they’re saying that anyone who thinks they might’ve been exposed should get tested immediately. There is a two dose geniose vaccine available. Those vaccines are taken two months apart and you can get them from a lot of local doctors or you can go to the Cuyahoga County Health Clinics in Parma and Warrensville Heights. So it’s spread pretty easily. It’s spread by skin to skin contact, respiratory secretions, contaminated clothes and linens. The symptoms include like a.
pimply, blistery looking rash on or near your genitals, anus, hands, feet, chest, face, or mouth, fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headache, exhaustion, and nasal congestion. So if you have any of these symptoms and you think you might’ve been exposed, it’s a good idea to get tested.
chris (09:45.442)
They’re not recommending everybody get the vaccine. They’re just saying that groups that are especially vulnerable to it should.
Lisa (09:54.236)
Right, and it seems to really affect men who have sex with other men, especially black men, and those with multiple or anonymous sex partners.
chris (10:04.558)
You would hate to see this thing just spread wide. This is not a fun virus to deal with. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. The guy running Cleveland Cliffs really does not take criticism well. It’s a good thing he doesn’t get the email I get. What’s his latest effort to stifle a vocal anonymous critic, Leila?
Leila (10:19.921)
Hmph.
Leila (10:24.31)
Chris, you better watch out. You’re going to end up the next defendant on a lawsuit claiming you defamed him by saying he doesn’t take criticism well. Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lorenco Guncalves has sued a stock analyst named Gordon Johnson. He’s accusing him of libel for posting anonymous online comments that urge people to sell Cleveland Cliffs stock and said that Guncalves lies to get government funding and acts like a
chris (10:28.319)
Hahaha!
chris (10:31.916)
Ha ha ha.
Leila (10:53.846)
This is the second time in seven years that Johnson has been sued. In the lawsuit, Guncalves claims that Johnson posted disparaging remarks on Bloomberg Professional Services Bloomberg Intelligence website, which includes an online chat room for metals and mining companies. The complaint says that Johnson, who is the founder and CEO of GLJ Research, posted under the screen name Member50604.
That member was banned in 2023 from posting on the Bloomberg Intelligence chat rooms, according to the lawsuit. And Cleveland Cliffs believes that Johnson is this anonymous poster based on the context of the posts. And the posts are similar to ones, apparently, that Guncalves and Cleveland Cliffs sued over in 2017. In that case, the two sides settled for an undisclosed song.
chris (11:40.15)
They don’t have it though. I mean, they don’t have the proof that it’s him. There’s the separate move they’ve made to try and out this person. But it’s an interesting lawsuit that says, we believe it’s him and we’re suing him for damages. I guess they figure the proof will come in the discovery because it’s a civil case and that’ll go the direction. But I also imagine First Amendment lawyers are gonna raise hell about this because this is an attack on anonymous speech.
Leila (11:41.801)
No.
Leila (12:09.691)
It’s so crazy how this guy is so tangled up in knots about what people are saying on these very obscure chat rooms. Who cares? Who cares, right? I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. Maybe people need to spend a week in our industry to know what it feels like to take some heat.
Lisa (12:20.376)
Maybe you’re right.
chris (12:26.258)
Yeah, it just seems very thin skin that, oh, how dare you criticize or say something disparage about me. You’re a gigantic international company that deals in numbers of dollars that are hard to think about. And here you are focused on one guy that’s out there going,
Leila (12:29.387)
Yeah.
laura (12:48.248)
And by filing a lawsuit, you just blew this way bigger than anyone who would have ever seen it on the obscure Bluebird chat. Right. No. No, I don’t hang out in that chat room.
Leila (12:51.048)
Right.
Lisa (12:52.025)
Right.
Leila (12:54.814)
Yeah, now we know about it. We wouldn’t have known about this garbage and... Right.
chris (12:55.062)
Amen.
chris (13:01.319)
Ha ha
Lisa (13:01.932)
Well, it was just like, you know, Parma, the city of Parma, the Beechwood police, they’ve done like similar things, you know, trying to find the anonymous, you know, critic.
chris (13:11.242)
It’s bizarre. I don’t know why people just don’t toughen up their skin and move on if they believe in what they’re doing. Who cares if there’s some people taking cheap shots for me? But evidently this guy cares a great deal. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. When I brought this one up in a text message, readers were fascinated and now we’ve got the story. Laura, why do people who have spring allergies react to specific tree pollens but not others?
laura (13:38.)
I’ve got to give a tip of the hat to the readers, obviously, who responded to this, but also to Pete Krause, who did a great job with this story and really nailed it. So 30% of the American population is afflicted with pollen-related allergies. That’s a huge swath of people. There’s all sorts of pollen-related allergies. It could be ragweed, it could be grass, different kinds of trees. They affect you at different times of year because that’s when they’re pollinating. They can cause itchy eyes, runny nose. One sufferer could be a
get it really bad, no effect on another. And this is because of the different shapes of these pollens, and it’s kind of like a lock and a key. And there’s a bunch of things that have to happen in order for you to feel as bad as you do. Basically, you have to have enough of it growing up that your body learns to fight it with these responses. And also you have to be genetically.
predisposed or maybe you were so your parents were concerned with avoiding germs in your youth so you didn’t get it healthily exposed to certain bacteria and that threw off your immune system. Also air pollution could be a factor here but what happens is you get your body reacts to one kind but not the other because of the different shapes of these and because of the different exposures over the year and this is why I’m very glad that
My mom was always like, a little dirt never hurt. My kids grew up with a dog, and we don’t have allergies in this household.
chris (15:09.09)
The story was interesting to me because I’ve dealt with various allergies in my lifetime. I had a bad ragweed allergy as a kid, although it doesn’t really bother me now. When I moved to Ohio, I didn’t have a spring allergy, but developed one to oak pollen. Seriously, it just drives my eyes nuts. This story answered why. It’s that there’s an enormous oak tree in the yard behind mine. It’s towering, it’s beautiful. I love that it’s there, but it’s right there.
laura (15:30.538)
Mmm.
chris (15:35.782)
And I bet that that’s what sensitized me the way the doctors in this story explain. There was one guy, one doctor that said, yeah, when I tested the guy, it came back that he was allergic to hickory pollen. And he said, oh, I got three hickory trees in my backyard. It’s duh. That’s what’s causing it. Fascinating. We did run some pictures of what the pollen grains look like because readers did want to see those, right?
laura (15:58.488)
Yes, we do. We have those. The story posted early today online. It’s in the paper at the Plain Dealer as well. So you can see those shapes. But yeah, it sounds exactly right. Like if you never had an oak tree in your backyard, you might not be allergic to oak pollen, which seems really unfair.
chris (16:18.566)
That’s fine. It’s part of the cause of the spring. I do want to give a salute to the people who subscribe to my texts each morning. They did provide good context for this story. And one of the people who wrote me, a doctor named Sam Friedlander, became a source in the story. So very helpful to have the readers contribute on subjects like this. Their fascination is what told us we’re on to something. Great job by Pete Krause pulling it all together. It’s written in a very conversational style.
laura (16:34.416)
Yeah.
chris (16:46.651)
It’s not science-y and nerd-like at all.
laura (16:49.144)
Right, which is why I really liked it. The pollen, especially oak, is one of the worst for the way it floats in the air. Oak, maple, and birch are really bad too, where it goes up your nose and down your throat. Just the shape of these pollens, the way that they’re carried by the air affects how much of you you’re going to inhale, which is fascinating.
chris (17:10.646)
Well, I mentioned in the text, I think, that I knew that any day the daily alert I get would have oak in it and that would be my doom. And then I think it was last Tuesday, it did show up. But Dr. Friedman said that’s not because they’re finding oak in the air. It’s all based on the season. And they base those it’s a prediction, not what’s found because it takes too long to sample the air and tell you what’s there. Good stuff. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.
laura (17:16.806)
Mm-hmm.
laura (17:30.212)
Mm-hmm.
chris (17:39.13)
What are the disturbingly familiar details emerging about the death of a man in police custody in Canton? At least I cannot believe how often this very similar set of circumstances emerges in these cases.
Lisa (17:49.549)
Thanks for watching.
Yeah, this has some echoes of George Floyd’s death back during the pandemic. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is looking into the April 18th death of 53 year old Frank E. Tyson, a black man who is in the custody of Canton police. He was accused of driving a car into utility pole and then fleeing the scene. He ran to a nearby bar on Sherrick Road where the bartender called 911 said, get this guy out of here. But when the cops came, he refused to leave.
a scuffle ensued, he was throwing barge stools around. And body cam footage from Canton police shows Tyson being held down and handcuffed. One officer had a knee on his back. Tyson said, I can’t breathe several times. One officer said, you’re fine. Five minutes later, they realized he wasn’t breathing. They began CPR until EMS arrived, but it was unsuccessful.
Canton Mayor William Shearer says the two officers involved are on administrative leave. He’s promising full transparency and he actually showed the body cam footage to the Tyson family before he released it to the press. Tyson had only been out of prison 12 days when this happened. He was in there for about 24 years for a burglary and kidnapping conviction. And he also had two previous stints in prison back in the 1990s.
chris (19:13.378)
What was striking about this is that they do put something on his back. He does say, I can’t breathe. They say you’re fine and then kind of walk away for five minutes. And then when they return, they say, are you calm down now? You would think that once you handcuff the guy, he’s on the ground, you’ve already leaned on his back and he says, I can’t breathe, that you’d sit with him to make sure he’s okay, not kind of ignore him for five minutes and then go, uh-oh.
Lisa (19:27.746)
Mm-hmm.
chris (19:43.43)
It just boggles the mind. You would think that standard operating practice would be if somebody’s handcuffed on the ground and has told you they’re in distress, you cannot move from their side and you need to monitor their health condition. This is a shocker.
Lisa (19:58.652)
It really is. And this is exactly what that officer Derek Chauvin did. I mean, he put a knee on Floyd’s back for much longer than, you know, five minutes or whatever. But if you’ve got somebody whose hands are behind their back, they’re face down on the ground, that’s not a good situation to begin with. And then to put a knee on somebody’s back, that just presses their face into the ground.
chris (20:18.004)
And they s-
And they tell you, I can’t breathe. But that should be the red flag of all red flags based on all the previous cases. And it’s inhuman to not then do it. That person, when they’re handcuffed like that, is your total responsibility. They are your ward. You have taken away their liberty. You’re responsible. And they just seem so cavalier. Okay, you calm down now. I mean, what? That’s not the way it should go. So it’ll be.
Interesting to see how this case proceeds. I’m surprised there aren’t huge protests brewing down there because this has all the signs of a ugly police case.
Lisa (20:56.264)
Well, give it time. I mean, the protests may be happening, you know, pretty soon, once this gets out. And, you know, remember there were, you know, celebrities like LeBron and stuff wearing I Can’t Breathe t-shirts after Floyd’s death? You know, gosh, it’s...
chris (21:10.246)
Yeah, right. You would think once those words are uttered, it changes the situation. And you say, okay, we got to really monitor this guy in case he’s telling the truth. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. All right, Layla, it’s coming on summer. It’s time to talk about your favorite place. Top Thrill Dragster as back as Top Thrill 2 and a couple of people on our team have actually ridden it. What do we learn from their experience?
Leila (21:36.814)
Well, first of all, I want to say my husband had sent me some videos earlier yesterday of some other reporters writing this and my initial reaction to it was like, oh, this doesn’t look as exciting as they were making it out to be. And he was like, yeah, that’s what you said about the eclipse. So I recognize I don’t have a great track record at predicting what’s going to be thrilling for people, but I did so enjoy.
chris (21:52.778)
Hahaha! Ooh, touche!
Leila (22:01.77)
watching the video of our colleagues, Susan Glaser and photographer Josh Gunter riding Top Thrill 2. They were absolutely joyful in those moments where they reached the peak acceleration, when they were experiencing the view or the feeling of being in free fall and when the car finally did go over the top. And as Susan explains it, this is a very different animal from the dragster. That ride lasted only 17 seconds. It was almost too short to enjoy it. But it did hit you with that immediate intensity.
of launching you forward on the track from 0 to 120 miles an hour in 3.8 seconds. This ride doesn’t have that intense start, but it sounds like it more than makes up for it with a much longer ride and other moments of intensity that are unlike the older version of it. Riders on Top Thrill 2 are launched three times. First, traveling forward at 74 miles an hour, but not over the hill. Then you roll backward to the starting position
backward up the rear spike traveling up to 101 miles an hour. And then after traveling back down to the starting spot again, they launch you forward again at 120 miles an hour, which then clears you over the hill. In Susan’s review of the ride, she says that she was really worried that the backward launch would be upsetting to her equilibrium, which is a problem for me too. So I was glad to hear that this was just pure fun. She did not have that problem on this ride.
Lisa (23:10.948)
then clears you over the hill. In Susan’s review of the ride, she said that she was really worried that the backward launch would be upsetting to her, people living in it, which is a problem for me too. So I was glad to hear that this was just pure fun. She did not have that problem on this ride. Cedar Point turned to Ken Hiddaly-based ride-creator, Dan Perlwell-rides, to pick him up in this new version of the ride. And the CEO of the company said, you sought to bring some Italian flavor and emotion
Leila (23:26.97)
Cedar Point turned to an Italy based ride creator, Zamprila Rides, to come up with this new version of the ride. And the CEO of the company said he sought to bring some Italian flavor and emotion to the ride, which I have no idea what that means, but I’m definitely intrigued. The cars are new. They feature lap bars that let you experience the feeling of being in free fall. And Zampra... Lisa doesn’t like it.
Lisa (23:42.002)
No, I didn’t. I think it’s, but it’s definitely a dream. The parts of you that you can rap artists that you experienced the feeling of really great ball. Yeah. And then, Sam Creekson. That’s the least of them, like. Sam Creekson also just had a dream of having that in your office. Thanks, Tom.
Leila (23:53.478)
Luzan Perla also replaced the rides problematic launch mechanism and they installed a much simpler one that’s powered by magnets so it shouldn’t be breaking down all the time. Which is exciting, they’ll have more capacity. They can get a thousand riders per hour through the line. So maybe, I still am predicting it’s going to be like a six hour wait to get onto this thing but when Dragster opened for years, it was still four hours to ride it. I mean without...
Lisa (24:03.784)
And, which is exciting, they have more capacity. They can get 1,000 riders per hour to move around. So maybe, you know, I still am predicting it’s gonna be like a six hour wait to get out of this thing. But when Drexler opened, for years, it was still four hours to ride it. That’s...
chris (24:14.955)
Really?
chris (24:20.859)
Oh my god, really?
Leila (24:21.902)
It was terrible for 17 seconds. I mean, it was, it was, it’s a very popular ride and I’m sure people are gonna be just clamoring on themselves. Maybe that means they’ll all be in line there and I can go ride Steel Vengeance. Right? Yeah.
Lisa (24:24.58)
I mean, it was just a very popular ride in the series. And they were going to have to stay over one and stuff. Maybe that means they’ll all be in line there. And I think they’ll be like, go to that place. Yeah.
chris (24:35.934)
I don’t know, 120 miles an hour doesn’t seem that fast to me, but I do spend a good bit of time on the turnpike and that’s thrilling because the trucks are veering in front of you at those speeds. So maybe it’s not. The... No, I’m kidding. I’m being facetious. So they have lockers there that you have to lock up all your stuff because they’re worried about cell phones and things flying off that thing at high speed. And that costs money, it sounds like, right? You got to...
Leila (24:44.462)
Hehehe
Lisa (24:46.312)
Yeah, but in three seconds, zero to 120 in three seconds?
Leila (24:51.31)
I’m gonna go to bed.
Leila (24:54.901)
Yeah.
Leila (25:01.678)
Right, right. Yeah, it sounds like Cedar Point was kind of questioned about whether or not this was a way to make more money. And yeah, they make a ton of money on those lockers. I’m sure it’s like five bucks to lock your stuff up. But one thing I noticed about Steel Vengeance, which is another ride in the park that requires you to take all of your stuff out of your pocket. You’re not allowed to have anything, anything. And they have metal detectors. They don’t want any loose articles flying around. They do want you to lock up your stuff before you get in line.
But then at some point in the middle of the line queue, they have free lockers for people who did bring their cell phone through the line. And you can just go, they give you a code and you pop your cell phone into a locker and you get it back at the end. So I’m sure they’re not advertising that there are free lockers on the inside, but I do believe that to me signals that this really is about safety and not about making money because they’re telling you midline, all right, listen.
Go lock yourself up for free. We don’t want you to bring it on the ride.
chris (26:02.89)
I gotta tell you though, after you spend all the money to get in there to get access to the rides, dinging you for a mandatory locking up of your stuff, that’s a scam. That’s just, that shouldn’t happen. You shouldn’t have to pay more. Right? There’s a cover price. It’s not cheap, except you’re a gold member, so I guess it’s cheap. Having to pay, and then you have to pay that every time you ride it. So if you get on it again, you gotta do it again.
Leila (26:11.699)
Yeah.
Leila (26:22.859)
Well, I mean...
laura (26:28.404)
Well, you can just leave your stuff in there, or leave it with a non-writer, right? Just like, find a friendly folk and be like, Do you mind watching my stuff?
Leila (26:28.454)
Yeah.
Leila (26:34.688)
Right.
chris (26:35.026)
Well, if Lisa or I are ever there, we’ll hold your stuff while you ride. Ha ha ha.
Lisa (26:38.172)
Right, because I ain’t going on it.
Leila (26:40.671)
I frequently stash stuff in the bushes or like, I’m the top of the locker, no one ever looks up there. I wouldn’t leave my phone there, but like, you know, the fanny pack with hand sanitizer in it, come on, who wants it? Go ahead, take it.
Lisa (26:47.739)
I don’t know.
chris (26:48.586)
Eww.
chris (26:57.018)
Alright, when are you gonna go?
Leila (26:59.33)
Oh man, I don’t know if I’m going to ride this one this season. This is too, these lines are going to be crazy. And my husband of course was like, you have a bad attitude about it. I’m not going to let you ride it until you cheer up.
Lisa (27:09.454)
And my husband, of course, is like, you have a bad attitude about it. I’m not going to let you. Cheer up. Ha ha ha.
chris (27:13.182)
Well, what if you get there first thing in the morning? What if you’re the first person through the gate? Can you get there quick and get online?
Leila (27:18.638)
Maybe, maybe. Yeah, that’s that. I mean, probably a lot of people have that plan. They do. I’m not sure if they’ll sell it for this brand new ride, but you can buy very expensive passes for specific rides that let you skip the line.
chris (27:22.386)
And then I’ll have the Disney thing where you can bypass the lines.
chris (27:35.506)
Okay. Well, check out the account. It’s on cleveland.com. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We got one more. I can’t believe this story didn’t go viral. Laura, why did our food writer Paris Wolf eat a bunch of bugs?
laura (27:50.276)
because they were delicious, I guess, because this is a Mexican delicacy. And she was at Clandestina in Ohio City, which is a restaurant that hasn’t been there quite a year. They have all sorts of mezcal and tequilas. I could not even tell you the difference between those two. I know I should. But co-owners Sam McNulty and Sierra Ahern really want to give you this feel for being somewhere else, for being in Mexico. And in Mexico, fried chaplains?
grasshoppers from the species Spinarium are a common part of the menu. And then there’s smaller versions that are harvested in a state of Ozaka. And that’s what we’re talking about here. They’re about the size of a peanut. They’re eaten by the handful or a top guacamole on a corn chip. She says they are powder-coated tan bodies that look more like larvae. And she called it a – this is Paris Wohl – she called it a crispy little snack between
chris (28:50.262)
I have not crossed that Rubicon and eaten bugs. Don’t know if I ever will.
Lisa (28:52.829)
No. The only way I’ll eat a bug is after the apocalypse when it’s only the only protein source left.
chris (28:59.126)
Ha ha
laura (29:00.816)
I was thinking the only time I eat bugs is when it’s cicada season and I’m running by the lake and then you’re like, ew, get out of my mouth, it’s so gross. Midge’s, yeah, that’s what I meant, midges, not cicadas. Those would be bigger.
Leila (29:08.515)
or midges, right?
Lisa (29:09.092)
Hehe
chris (29:12.47)
She did a delightful job with the story and we changed the headline even to say, hey look, she’s eating bugs, but for some reason this one just did not catch the fire. You never know what’s gonna work.
laura (29:23.456)
Yeah, they have a higher protein content than beef, chicken, or eggs if you’re really looking to get that protein.
Lisa (29:26.564)
Mm-hmm. Hahaha.
chris (29:29.378)
Yeah, but probably soda sawdust. I just, it’s not for me. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That’s it for the week. Thanks for being with us during these discussions. I hope you come back Monday for some more. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Laura. Thanks for everybody who listens to this podcast.
Lisa (29:32.152)
Hehehe