Transcript
Speaker: This is the Crooked Rivercast, a show we hope will give us and our listeners a better view what's going on in Northeast Ohio. This is May 31st, 2025. I'm your host, Robert, and joining me every week to help us explore what's going on in this great state of Ohio is my friend, Tom.
Speaker: So let's see what we can get into today. How you doing, Rob? Good. How are you doing, Thomas? Thanks for joining me today. Not bad. It's a good, ah good weekend.
Speaker: And thanks for our listeners, all of them joining us today. We really appreciate you guys taking your time, time out of your day to listen to two old fools talk about the news in Ohio.
Speaker: That's about right. That's about right. I think maybe we should lean into that a little bit more. The old the old fools part is, but I'm- Speak for yourself. Oh yeah. The the old or the fool part. I'm not which one.
Speaker: Yeah. Because cause one you can argue, one you can't, really. ah Okay. Sorry, i'm I'm a little ornery. Maybe this day, don't know, maybe this, I'm a little crabby. I'm a little tired. ah tired ah yeah I spent a long duration of my day yesterday at Cedar Point.
Speaker: um That sounds fun. It was very fun. It was very fun. Did not expect to be there until close. Um, but we were and riding some of the rides. I and i haven't ridden a roller coaster at night in a long time. It is is quite different, but I conquered, ah I conquered the beast.
Speaker: ah conquered a top thrill too four hundred and twenty new buts to new. It's newish. So top thrill, the ride itself, majority the ride has been around 20 years.
Speaker: twenty years So they've always had issues, reliability with it. And the last two years ago, they shut it down and reinvented it. took it Brought another company in and they they kind of reinvented the ride. So Cedar Point and is acting like it's a new coaster.
Speaker: It's really not, but they made it better. So if anyone doesn't know, Top Thrill basically is dragster themed roller coaster. And it has had at the time a very innovative, unique launch system. It wasn't a chain or anything. it was ah It's magnetic and it pulls you up the hill.
Speaker: They always had problems with that, always breaking down. So what they've done now is they... Basically, the whole ride is they they start you from so from the stopping position, you shoot you up 420 foot hill, and you go up, over, and as you come down, you do a twist, and then you and that's basically the ride.
Speaker: So what they've done now, because they always had problems with the launch system, you go up halfway the hill, then you go backwards up a 200 and some foot spire that goes straight up. And that shoots you back up? Then shoots you back down through the station again. And then they boost you one more time and get you up and over the hill.
Speaker: That sounds fun. It was crazy. Yeah, it was it was it was pretty cool. It gets your heart pumping in there. Cool. burie And the line was only 30 minutes. Like you couldn't go wrong. so Not many people or just, uh, it, it still tends to break down a little bit, but instead of breaking down for days, it's like an hour. So I think we had just walked past right about the time they reopened it. So the line had gone down and I i just looked at my daughter. I said, it's 30 minutes. We're about to go eat dinner.
Speaker: I said, it's 30 minutes. She's like, we got to go. I'm like, yeah, we got like, sorry, hon. Sorry, honey. and We, uh, you guys got to wait for dinner. We got to go on this ride. And it it didn't go in under hour all day. You went on that once?
Speaker: One time. Okay. Cool. Yeah. It was pretty good. Pretty good stuff. oh You know, it was it was a a light day, I think, for Cedar Point, a medium, to so it wasn't too bad. But...
Speaker: It was a weekday or kind fright Friday, but it's right before all the schools get out. So there's still, there are some schools that are out now, but most of them are still at the tail end of their years. There was actually a few schools there from, we talked to somebody from New York.
Speaker: Oh, no kidding. couple of high school on their senior trip from New York. So they were freaking out trying to, there wasn't a line for, for top, top thrill. They were kind of freaking out, having second thoughts as we got closer.
Speaker: Yeah. at Cedar Point is great. ah Just a quick review. i mean, Cedar Point is Cedar Point. Everybody, if you've been there, you know what to expect. I would say they really need to improve their food.
Speaker: Really, really need improve their fuel food. it's you know You need to puke up better food. It's carnival food, but can you step it up a bit? you know Yeah, exactly. Maybe that's the point, right? Don't spend too much on food because you're just going puke
Speaker: All right. So that was ah that was that was yesterday. So I'm trying to trying to really keep the energy up today because, you know, <unk> I was after 11 before we got home. how was It's a late one for me. So that's where the old part comes in, right? The old part. The full part is coming in right now.
Speaker: Okay. So we're going to start, unfortunately, have to start the show on maybe a slightly sad note for those of us in Ohio and in the music industry. I think think ah Rick Derringer has passed away at 77 years old.
Speaker: And if you don't know who Rick Derringer is, you may know from this song here.
Speaker: So that is Rick Derringer
Speaker: that is rick derrringer singing for the mccoys and hang on sloopy It's so funny because i don't ah I don't even think of that song when I think of Rick Deringer.
Speaker: and so on No, me either. Yeah. You know, ah kind of a blast from the past when I heard the name. Yeah, yeah. it's ah To me, Rick Deringer, is which is my favorite all-time rock and roll song, is is this one.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: It's like rock and roll hoochie-coo was like the thing that got me wanting to play guitar. i mean. Yes. Oh, was it? Pretty much, yeah. I mean, there were there was a couple of um couple of songs out there that that made me want to play. And this is one of them. Whenever somebody asks me like what my favorite all-time rock song is, it's rock and roll hoochie-coo.
Speaker: Nice. Yeah, that is classic. I mean, that song specifically reminds me of, well, the movie, um, oh, Dazed and Confused. like Was it on that soundtrack? Maybe it wasn't.
Speaker: ah It could be. forget. should For sure. I mean, my My favorite version of that song is him and Johnny Winter doing it live. But like but that song is just it's timeless. It is. To me, for me, it's timeless.
Speaker: It's funny how you went there and I went I went to i went to this right here. are are um that's where Is that a recording of yours?
Speaker: No, that's a recording. That is, I pulled a clip. That's a YouTube clip of Ohio State. Yeah, yeah. it I think we're... It's you, probably. But for most, I think...
Speaker: Everybody's heard Rick Derringer in one way, there especially if you live in Ohio, either whether it's through that or through Hoochie Yeah, Rock and Roll Hoochie. He had some hits. He had an unusual career.
Speaker: um i think he had more of a live ah live playing career than like a recording career. He had his... I forget what album the Rock and Roll Hoochie Q was on, but that album was pretty good for him. But then after that, it was kind of just...
Speaker: He sold out concerts, but didn't really have many, um let's say like hits. He just kind of, ah he he did some producing uh, writing, but as far as like a recording artist, he, it wasn't that big of a, he wasn't that big of a recording artist, more of a live artist, which, which brings me, it's like, strangely, i was, ah I was playing down in Florida at an event with my band.
Speaker: And this is like back in 1998. I had to look it up when this, when I saw that Rick Deringer passed. There's the old part. Pardon? Pardon me? There's the old part of the fools.
Speaker: Yeah. Sorry. So you were in Florida in 1998. Yeah. i was, I was playing a gig down there with my band and, uh, I, we just got done playing a song and i turn around and I'm tuning my guitar and that takes ah few seconds. I hear some just racket going on.
Speaker: The next thing I know, i turn around and I'm looking out in the audience. I see my bass player out in the audience ah hell just happen and there's this guy on stage two guys and went ah a bass player and a guitar player I'm like what the hell's going on and then another guitar player gets on stage and like ah shoot this is not going to be good and then the owner of the club comes up and he starts ah ah now announcing that Rick Derringer is going to play a few tunes with ah you know with our band and
Speaker: i got ah I got a chance to play like, think it was about four or five songs. I would just standards. None of his stuff. really Yeah. Yeah. It's, that's pretty cool. Even weirder.
Speaker: I'll, I don't want to say it on the podcast, but even weirder, you could look it up on YouTube. It's, uh, there, there I am playing back up to, uh, Rick Derringer.
Speaker: it was it was it was pretty fun. So the LP was All-American Boy for Rock and Roll Ho Chi Koo? Yeah. Yeah, that's it. And funny anecdote is his first big time hit, it says, was for Weird Al Yankovic's Eat It.
Speaker: I think he played a later replica of Eddie Van Halen's iconic guitar solo from Michael Jackson's Beat It. Yeah, yeah. he Yeah, he did the Weird Al Yankovic. I think that was he played on that, but he I think he also produced it Well, yeah, he begun to produce yes has he also begun producing, eventually helming the first big hits for Where Do Iankovic's 1984.
Speaker: His Eat It I think he think he did the whole album. Yeah, i think so. And I think he did stuff for Cyndi Lauper. ah yeah he Oh, yeah, a bunch of people. He had a great career. Yeah. Don't don't get me wrong. I'm not saying he didn't have a great career. But whenever I think of Rick Derringer, I think of Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo and an in Hang On Sloopy.
Speaker: And as far as recording, that's about it. and But he always, he sold out concerts and he was ah he was a big deal. Other musicians loved him. He was a gracious guy. I mean, he was super sweet.
Speaker: um After we got done playing, he was just a very kind man. So it was cool. Which is noted notable because in the music entertainment industry, it's not always the case.
Speaker: Sometimes you really don't want to meet your heroes. Yeah, that is true. That is true. So RIP Rick Derringer. Yeah. think thanks for the Thanks for the music.
Speaker: You're still enjoying it today. So a first ah first thing off my list is in the state budget this year, apparently they're putting in ah two sexes in the state budget.
Speaker: They're going to actually put a line in the state budget stating there are two sexes. um In other news, two plus two is four and the sky is blue. So they're going to put that in there next, apparently.
Speaker: sweet Technically, the sky isn't blue. Robert, the sky is actually clear, but it's a reflection of the sky. Anyway. Thanks, Robert. Thanks. um
Speaker: So first real actual story I think I was looking at was this, there's a couple bills in in the state right now, or in the state legislature right now to bar Ohio, but to buy land purchasing purchases in Ohio, to barring some certain immigrants from certain countries from buying land in Ohio.
Speaker: um Okay.
Speaker: They are considering foreign adversaries, banning, quote unquote, foreign adversaries from buying property, a large swaths of property in protected areas. protected areas such as 25 mile radius around either military facilities and any other kind of ah critical infrastructure such as water treatment facilities, railroads and electric generating facilities.
Speaker: What countries? um Well, what countries do you think, Tom?
Speaker: yeah don' you get China? yes China. China is is top on the list. Imagine that. Cuba. Oh, no kidding. I'm not sure I'm worried about too many people from Cuba coming over here and buying a bunch of property. because But, I mean, Iran.
Speaker: Okay. North Korea. Makes sense. Russia. Yeah. Venezuela under the regime of Maduro. Okay. It literally says that.
Speaker: Venezuela under the regime of Maduro. Okay. Why would he say that? What's that? Why does it say that? Because normally... If it wasn't under Maduro, maybe Venezuela wouldn't be on the list because he's a big bad guy, I guess, in Venezuela, which I don't know.
Speaker: and I've heard of. i've He's not. But it's not is it Russia under Vladimir Putin? Like, no. North Korea without, you know, it's just weird. like and That's why I kind highlighted it. it um courting So yeah, these these would be considered foreign adversaries.
Speaker: Okay, that seems reasonable. Mm-hmm. Well, some of the proponents are a little upset. Vincent Wang, this is the quote of the day, I think, for me.
Speaker: I wish I had a clip. said Wang. I did. I'm sorry. i couldn't I know it's not safe for work anymore, but we'll have click that off the checkbox there. and So Vincent Wang, I said it again, he's the chair of the Asian American Coalition of Ohio. um I really wish I could have found this clip kind of if I dug a little hard. Maybe if I wasn't at Cedar Point so late, I would have found it.
Speaker: But he's saying they are targeting all of civilization. What? That's his quote.
Speaker: We must call this out. A racist agenda. um Xenophobic, probably, right? All of civilization. No, not really. Really, just China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela, only under Maduro.
Speaker: No, no, I don't, I don't think so. I don't, i don't think that's it, but don't know. That's, that's really it. They're, they're, they're trying to push this through and there's, you know, there's people crying.
Speaker: This is a Ohio HB one and HB one and HB. Yeah. Sorry. SB 88. Okay. Thank you. I forgot to mention it, even though it's big and bold right in front of me. mean yeah it's a Yeah, I think it's a good thing.
Speaker: and think but it should be a federal law. Arkansas just banned it. Yeah, I think there's multiple city or multiple states that are doing similar things. Yeah. And think a lot of them started out west.
Speaker: ah You know, and if you look on the map where like China owns large swaths of land and you then you see where the military bases are, you're kind of like sitting there going, hmm, this is kind of weird.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. it why exactly do you need why exactly does china need its own police force in america yeah that's one it's another thing yeah that's a whole other story like they literally have police stations in certain areas the country assumingly to follow their own people who are here but everybody else yeah okay right um and in 2020 here's a note here's A little anecdote, I guess. In 2023, they had a similar bill that DeWine vetoed.
Speaker: Of course. ah
Speaker: He did, but he I guess he did sign off on the language for this bill, but we'll see. Because he's the's just a back to agricultural. Because agricultural, that's the other thing, is buying large swaths of farmland from foreign countries.
Speaker: There's nothing we've been looking at over the... past few years at least. Right. So that's, they're pushing that through and seems, seems legit. I could see where maybe some people might get caught up in it as, you know, innocent bystanders, if you will, but I think it's something that should be.
Speaker: Something that should not be. E-checks. So the Ohio legislature has passed the E-check Act of Ohio and DeWine has signed it.
Speaker: What does this mean? Well, um... Oh, DeWine signed it? Well, wait minute. What it say? It says, yeah, he has signed it. Oh, okay. I didn't realize it got that far. Okay. But now, that's not the end of it.
Speaker: What? We signed it, and now it has to go to our EPA. that's funny. And then EPA has to then go to ah has to approve it, and then has to go to federal EPA director.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm not worried about that. I think they're going to get... And there's many reasons to look at it, even as environmentalists to say, okay, this makes sense. So one of the reasons, I think, in case anyone's wondering, it's $11 $12 million dollars a year for this program.
Speaker: That's what it costs, right? That's what it costs. For the last 30 years we've been doing this. Basically what they're going to now is you're going to have to sign an affidavit stating that your car is in compliance.
Speaker: It is yeah not malfunctioning. When you're getting your driver's license. yeah They're just, it just like you, when you say you're, you have insurance. Yeah. You know, you just sign a piece of paper.
Speaker: I think basically it's like you're just signing an affidavit saying your e-check light is, or your, and some cars do have, I think have an e-check light, but your check engine light isn't on, all that kind of Yeah, that it's running, you know, according to the way it's supposed to run.
Speaker: Right. And then, you know, like similar, I don't know, trying to figure out why we need that.
Speaker: we Just to make people happy? I don't know. It might be. it's go you're goingnna sign up two things You're going to sign two things now when you go get your driver's license. one One for insurance and one for the e-check.
Speaker: Yep, that's what you're going to have to and if anyone thinks the e-check should stay, I'd really like to hear from you. And you can get hold of us through quickerrivercast at gmail.com.
Speaker: If you think we're wrong, if you think it should stay, please email us at cricketriver at gmail.com. Oh, I don't know if I want to hear from those people. yeah yeah Why not?
Speaker: Why not? It might be interesting might be entertaining. and On the same note, there's also a bill in SB 80, which is a gas quality bill in the Senate.
Speaker: And what they want to do is have, they want to establish probably more government. That's what it's like. Well, yes, here's here's the key.
Speaker: ah Sponsored by ah Democrat, Catherine Ingram, and also Willis Blackshear, Democrat Dayton. So definitely in bigger government, would enable would enable county auditors to implement programs. That's what SB80 is, for testing the quality of motor fuel at gas stations.
Speaker: I'm kind of torn on this. I kind of want good gas for my car. How are they going to test it? what's What are the metrics of for testing? right i don't know. because each I don't think there's that much difference, but they do have different detergents in them.
Speaker: ah I just want to make sure that, I guess, the octane that you're paying for is what you're getting. Right. So, mom torn because do you rely on business to do this, which is what we're currently doing, or do we rely on government to do this?
Speaker: And neither of which, to to me, would be i would feel comfortable. So you feel like you need an outside source besides government. I would say you would need a third party source.
Speaker: besides the government i would say you would need a third party Right. Between the two, you know, the the companies and the governments, because we're talking about large gas companies and large governments.
Speaker: So I think for the people need a third party to make sure that They're getting what they're paying for because guaranteed this comes with some money because you can't, you can't have and ah county auditors doing any extra work without hiring, you know, many more people.
Speaker: Right. I'm sure their workload is just way too busy right now for starting new stuff. I mean, it's the but county auditors. i mean, they're busy. Yeah. I don't think we need this, actually.
Speaker: and No, and that's the other thing is how is it going so far? I don't know. Gas is pretty good. Yeah, I don't think we have a problem. i mean, 20 years ago, maybe?
Speaker: You know, I think cars are just tuned so fine now that, like... I don't think there's a problem with the gas. I think if you have a problem with, yeah, if you and in today's day, if you have a problem with gas or a company, you can do a lot on the internet to make sure they, you know, ah couple of couple of tweets or couple of posts on social media about bad gas at a gas station.
Speaker: And you've seen it all time and time again, companies will respond to that. Right. That peer pressure, that public pressure kind of stuff. So do we need a more government? No, I don't think so.
Speaker: But again, no, no, no. But again, if you, if you think we're wrong, crickervivercast.gmail.com.
Speaker: Yeah. That's what, that's kind of my, it was my, it was my kind of question on the whole thing. Do we need, because we all want to trust companies or governments and I'd say, eh, let's trust the people.
Speaker: Moving on to speaking of maybe some government overreach, as we're talking about getting rid of E-checks and gas quality bill. they want another Republicans and state legislature want to start meddling with their recreational marijuana.
Speaker: Yeah, we've talked about this before. yeah Yeah. yeah it the senate bill There's a Senate bill now, 56, so they're they're just moving forward board forwards with it. I can't talk today.
Speaker: ah They're just moving ahead with it, and they're taking two bills and combining them. And basically, ah the bill still limits t e THC potency. Ohioans can share product, which I think in the last bill...
Speaker: previous version, you couldn't. So they changed that. Limits consumer to partaking at private homes. So you can only, you know, you can only partake it in your home or your friend's home or whatever.
Speaker: But what they're doing is they're adding a um
Speaker: instead of a complete public smoking ban, they've revised it for certain outdoor concerts. um Really? which would yeah Yeah. I got a clip here, actually, if you want me to play it.
Speaker: Yeah. um Real quick. They've been trying to modify this since 2023.
Speaker: I guess the only other thing that's like the main thing is like right now, 36% the taxes go to the participating municipalities.
Speaker: So if your city has a... ah has a What are those places called? Dispensary. Dispensary. They get a portion of the taxes that the dispensary, the city gets it. So it was kind of a benefit for cities to say, yes, we want dispensaries in or in our town.
Speaker: They're going to drop that from 36% to 25%, and then after seven years, eliminate it. So the state wants to gobble up all the taxes. All the tax revenue.
Speaker: That... Which I don't know if I like. So... No. Yeah. There's something weird about that, which I don't like. And the the last thing is that um they're going to they're going to control where derivatives of THC derivatives like Delta 8 are sold. So you're going to only be able to get those at dispensaries.
Speaker: But I can play the clip here. Please. Roll with the clip. closer to making long debated changes to cannabis laws before they break for the summer.
Speaker: The newest version of the bill modifying state marijuana laws still puts limits on how potent THC products can be. But the latest round of amendments permit sharing some products at a person's home.
Speaker: And although it limits Ohioans to partaking at private homes, the public smoking ban now has one notable exception, certain outdoor concerts. Republican State Representative Jamie Callender, a longtime legalization advocate, says he's closer to getting behind the bill.
Speaker: That to me was a huge thing. if you go to a Grateful Dead concert, you shouldn't have to look over your shoulder when you're passing a joint. Legislative leaders say they want the bill to advance before June 30th.
Speaker: So that that's about it right there. yeah i just I just wanted to play that because it was funny to hear a lawmaker say pass around a joint. Say pass around a
Speaker: joint. I think the biggest thing in this bill is is that 36 to 25 to nothing after seven years. That is, um well, that makes me think.
Speaker: Hey, there's something off-way school going on around here. Yeah, DeWine wants his money. i don't know.
Speaker: they they i didn't The article didn't have any um information on this. I got this from ah ah the State House News Bureau. ah This was by Sarah Donaldson.
Speaker: I think she's the one who did the clip, too. so Not much info, but and they're moving ahead with it. and we We talked about it a little bit a few shows back, so... Yeah, you like I said, it's less less to do with where and when you could smoke it and more to do with who gets what money.
Speaker: That's what that's all about. and And honestly, I think the biggest issue for me on this whole thing is this is what happens when you leave it up to the little Congress critters instead of putting it in the Constitution.
Speaker: Because I think medical is in the Constitution and he really can't do much with it without editing the Constitution. And this is a bill, the recreational part of marijuana is a bill, you know, that they can tweak at any moment.
Speaker: So I think that's where kind of the, mean, some of it's good, but I think it feels like there's just, and on some of I don't understand. Like, why why are you limiting this and that? And it just seems like they're meddling with shit that they don't need to, excuse me, and meddling with stuff that they they need they don't need to.
Speaker: I don't know. They're just, it seems like it's all. Just to find their jobs. Yeah. I don't know. That's what it feels. They didn't even mention how many plants ah somebody can grow because they were going to were trying to cut Yeah.
Speaker: Cut it by a little bit. It wasn't, I mean, unless you're like a seller, yeah it it might hurt you, but. Right, I think that's they're trying to prevent that probably too. is Yeah, I think so. People are selling it under the table.
Speaker: And they don't a cut of that. so I think it was like at, or it is at 12 plants. I think you can have like six flowering. Yeah, that's a lot. That's considerable amount, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, maybe for a household of like a bunch of potheads. It's not that bad, but. Yeah. That's a lot. I guess. Yeah, it is a lot, I guess. But if you're.
Speaker: Yeah, depending on how you grow things, you you you don't want you don't grow them all at one time. You grow them in stages that you have harvests, a regular harvest. Well, 12 plants, so six can be in the flowering stage and six can be in the growing stage. Okay, there you go.
Speaker: So that's what they're doing. that But that that pretty much means you can have a um a rotation all year long. I mean, if you're doing it indoors.
Speaker: Yeah. all right, so more of the critters meddling with stuff, okay. Next on the list for me would be but more school school propaganda and what maybe me a little more Maybe we'll do a little.
Speaker: la No, know what's up that was not the right. That was not the right. it was supposed to be this. Propaganda. Propaganda.
Speaker: I feel this is a little propagandish, even though they do kind of put both sides in this, and this is News Channel 5 is, again, pushing the state, or they're pushing their propaganda on state funding for public schools.
Speaker: And that's kind of what I wanted to reach, really ah touch on was... this one story, first of all, there's two of them here I'm goingnna i'm going to touch on with with some clips here. And we'll start with ABC News, Channel 5, on the bill going through the Senate now for for school funding. And, well, you'll see.
Speaker: Down to Columbus now where lawmakers are working to bridge budgets. First, Governor DeWine unveiled his. Then the House passed its version, which cut public education funding by $351 million. dollars Lie. Caps the amount of money districts can carry over between their budgets at 30% and gives private schools $500 million. What?
Speaker: Wait, what does it do? on. Private schools $500 million. dollars Oh, but so it gives private schools $500 million. dollars No, don't think it gives private schools any money. it gives me money.
Speaker: Right. But not private schools. And it cut, we cut, wait, no, we didn't cut anything. Again, not a cut. And I keep touching on this show after show because we get, we get a lot of new listeners and I want to make sure this is they're putting this in front of everybody's face and they're, they're tugging on your emotional ah heartstrings and It is not a cut.
Speaker: Tom, can you explain? What are they doing with this? they're not They're just not getting as much as they thought they would, but there's no cuts. i I forget how much they're getting. How do you how do you claim you're cutting school funding when when the state has increased school funding by $226 million dollars for for the next two years?
Speaker: I think they were expecting like $600 million. Is that what it was? The Fair Funding Act, whatever this... i it it it comes with it It creates some metric that they're going around county by county and district by district and saying this district should have this much money, this district should have that much money.
Speaker: And so that formula stated that the state needed to and inject $800 million dollars in the school per year, more, into the school budget.
Speaker: What the schools were asking, if districts were asking for $660 million. increase what the state has right now been they kind of agreed upon is 226 million increase.
Speaker: Right. Nothing's being cut. Nothing's have been cut. And the democratic party, what they're doing is they're, they're spinning it to make it sound like there was a cut and that, that only the upper class people are getting the benefits of the, um, you know, the school vouchers, school vouchers and no public school,
Speaker: They're not just sending public school $500 million. dollars That's not how it works. I, as a parent, get to choose where I put i where i put my kid, and then i give them the the school the information, and then they ask the state for the money.
Speaker: So they're not just writing checks to blindly writing checks, which is the way they portray it. Okay, let's go into the second clip because there's more.
Speaker: Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District prioritizes musical expression for their students. I'm part of band and we go on trips. and Oops.
Speaker: Wrong one. Yeah. I could double up on something. I was very tired this morning. I was going to say there's no more late nights for you, Rob. Yeah, and no kidding. Let's go. ah Let's try this. Let's see what this one could be.
Speaker: grew a proposal to cap districts rainy day funds to 30% and refunding anything above that back to taxpayers. like the Schools are just sitting on. Actually, no, this was the right clip.
Speaker: Edit point. This was the right clip, I think. Yeah. Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District prioritizes musical expression for their students. I'm part of band and we go on trips and we play music, we perform. And for flautist freshman Kennedy Brown, she's been waiting for a trip for the musicians to go to New York.
Speaker: We do master classes, which which actually enhance our playing and make us better players. Brown and Emmanuel Gutierrez came to Columbus to represent the school testifying in the state Senate about the importance of education funding. The district should have received $7 million from the state under the expected funding formula. But under expected expected funding formula, right they they they were going to get $7 million dollars from the expected.
Speaker: Back a little bit. funding formula. But under cuts in the House version of the school budget, they would receive seven hundred thousand only you fear that that trip won't happen if school funding's cut? Absolutely. yeah And she worries the state will squeeze school budgeting even more.
Speaker: Oh, they're going to. So you're right. they're going to cut They're going to squeeze you even even more because the district for Cleveland Heights was expected to get $7 million dollars for these types of programs. $7 million. dollars That's just for one school district.
Speaker: That's crazy. But they're only getting $700,000. what can do with that? Next clip. what can i do but that
Speaker: next click Through a proposal to cap districts rainy day funds to 30% and refunding anything above that back to taxpayers. Schools are just sitting on a lot more money than they can spend. House Speaker Matt Huffman says it will provide much needed relief to property owners. The extra money that you have that you didn't need to spend and you don't need to start your year while you're your other taxes are coming in, we are going to reduce the real estate taxes in that school district on a pro rata basis.
Speaker: The Senate is currently reviewing hundreds of amendments to the House's past budget. And although the chamber's proposal isn't out yet, we do know that Senate leadership has already said that the 30% cap is too low.
Speaker: It's going to be a conversation we're going to have definitely. well there you go so that's how they pull on your heart strings the children oh my gosh they're not going to be able to go to some concert somewhere people I'm sorry this is where we're at we can't fund everything we just can't fund everything Tom oh I agree
Speaker: Totally agree. and And the fact that they are putting this crap out there and then at the end of the at the end of the clip, they put it right at the end of the report, they put in, oh, but actually, ah you know, you know, then they put the other side on you know i mean? It's like,
Speaker: how many people get to the end of the report, all that other stuff. I just, I just watched this stuff and it just makes my blood boil because of the, and and you, you know, like my parents and my, my, my siblings come back to me be like, oh yeah, they're cutting school funding. I'm like, they're not cutting school funding.
Speaker: you know anything about, no, they don't know. Cause all they hear is the headline. All they hear is the Well, that wasn't the only thing. There was another one they they that I found that they just, Tom, the national endowments, getting they're getting cut.
Speaker: Are they? Yes. The federal funding is being cut. they've got They've had letters go out. And it's it's a travesty. Let's see what, again, a that last clip was ABC.
Speaker: This is also ABC News Channel 5 in Cleveland. What's going on in national endowments? It was a surprise for several nonprofits in Northeast Ohio and one they did not want. Grants awarded from the National Endowment for the Arts were suddenly stripped and rescinded.
Speaker: The notices came as President Trump proposed his budget, calling for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts altogether, which provides hundreds of millions of dollars each year to individuals and institutions around the country.
Speaker: News 5's Clay Lepard shows us how local organizations are now scrambling. Scrambling.
Speaker: Notes from a guitar change the tune, set the scene, and can make us feel. That was beautiful. Exactly. How do we make this? Listen to them. Music can set the tone and make us feel.
Speaker: it gets worse. set the scene, and can make us feel. That's beautiful. How do we make that sound dramatic? For eighth grader Marshawn Gates. so We're back there, but we want to make sure that we're leading up to that building and anticipation. He's able to find the right note because he takes free lessons from the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. i love making music.
Speaker: Something he's done for four years now. four years Last year, this nonprofit received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a grant to help fund after-school guitar classes for kids in Cleveland with a focus on youth from local underserved communities.
Speaker: Not all kids get equal opportunities. under understand We want to make sure, really, that every kid has the opportunity to study an instrument and to become exceptional on it. However, earlier this month, one note changed it all. The nonprofit received an email from the National Endowment for the Arts saying it was terminating their grant to focus on other projects prioritized by the president.
Speaker: Hmm. What could those things be, Tom? I mean... what What could be more important than kids taking free guitar lessons for $30,000 a year?
Speaker: What could be more important? Let's let's see. Projects, including those that foster AI competency, make America healthy again, and focus on making the District of Columbia safe and beautiful.
Speaker: We didn't fit their priorities anymore in serving inner-city youth. Yeah, you could say, ah yes, yes, you did not fit priorities at this current time because $37 trillion dollars in debt and spending god-awful amounts of money. Okay.
Speaker: Yeah, that was... um I got more, Tom. That clip was something else there. Oh, I got more. It gets better. Let's try clip two. And it wasn't just them. Not just them, Tom. You know, any other notice. It was just terminate.
Speaker: The Chagrin documentary film festival was told it's. what how Here's a notice. Donald Trump was elected and he was saying this this whole election.
Speaker: And then he passed his his budget proposal and it had it in the proposal. It's not a surprise. You knew it was coming. Was told it's fifteen thousand dollar grant was gone, too. To get a grant is very exciting and to feel like, OK, we we've got this. We can plan.
Speaker: um Unfortunately, now we have to go back to the drawing board and really take a hard look at things. No, ah hard look at things. Oh no, I'm so sorry. eat Again, love that we could, love that we to be able, I'd love to be able to do this.
Speaker: But right now is not the time. It's cut until it hurts time. And that's what the people voted for. I'll continue. For others, like the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival, they're appealing the NEA's decision.
Speaker: How much had you already spent? How much? Almost all of it. Hoping to recoup money spent towards connecting children to films and filmmakers at the festival. Now we're looking at student programming that we might have to cut due to this. It's not clear.
Speaker: The students. Oh my gosh. Not the students. Hear when those appeals will be processed and decided. Grants are slated to be fully terminated and the end of this week. Clay Lippard, News 5.
Speaker: You know, I got to ask, like, why doesn't like, okay, so government is funding all this. And I think it's good stuff. I'm not going to say it's not. I think the arts are important. But like, very why doesn't like, why doesn't like white why doesn't like the art museum, the Severance Hall, or the Cleveland Orchestra, um and other institutions like...
Speaker: raise funds for this. Like, why does it have to be the government? Right. That's what I don't get. And why does it have to be the federal government sending the money? If you, it again, you want it, you want this stuff to really be impactful. Right.
Speaker: Well, it's not from the federal government. You need to do that at a local level, and you need get your own philanthropists, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's right. To put up their own cash, which is the way it used to happen. And the more, here's the here's the catch.
Speaker: The more the government funds of these things, the less the super, the the the wealthy, the super wealthy, you want to call them, will fund it. Because why? Why should I fund it when... Government's already doing it, just like charity.
Speaker: Well, right, right. and We get less and less charitable the bigger the government gets. They could probably have, they could probably raise more money just by like, hey if you're going to come see the Cleveland Orchestra, you know, $10 of your ticket is going to go towards this...
Speaker: and Endowment, you know. Those exact people. So what's the, what's the, the Get News Channel 5, they did have a little of the other side to it. But again, it's at the end of the heartstrings.
Speaker: Oh, being pulled so much about the children. So what what do the, what's the other side of this, eh? We did speak with Senator Bernie Moreno, who says this is all part of the larger push to shrink the size of the federal government.
Speaker: The government has continued to grow, skyrocketed, almost two and a half million federal employees, $2 trillion dollar a year deficits, $37 trillion dollars in debt. We had to make the government more efficient, more effective, deliver better services for less money. It's something taxpayers have been demanding for decades.
Speaker: Demanding for decades. Exactly what we talked about last show. This is what, this is the movement. This is the mandate. right now in America, like it or leave it. Yeah, it is.
Speaker: Cut, baby, cut. And all I can say to that is, give me a hell yeah. Hell yeah. right. in the lineup.
Speaker: you feeling a little bit better getting that off your chest? I do. And actually a little bit more awake now that my blood pressure is up. Can you tell me what is going on? I see in your lineup you have a story for Canadian wildfires and how is it going to be horrible for the air quality in Ohio? Anything on that that we need to touch on?
Speaker: yeah we had no talked We had talked about this a little bit. We talked about this, how how they ah manufactured the results of our air quality because of the because of the wildfires in Canada. It's it's just a meant quick mention. I wanted to actually hit... Similar to what i just we just talked about. is It's the BS in the media.
Speaker: It's how they craft it. Yeah, I guess this weekend this weekend. So it might be this weekend, next week. So ah anybody listening to this, you know if you're if the sky is hazy, it's because of Canadian fires, wildfires. So that's all I wanted to bring up.
Speaker: Yeah, certainly not because of' manufacturing in our area. That's definitely not. No, no. What? it so it' it's the ah It's the wildfire, so it might we might get a couple of weeks of hazy skies.
Speaker: I did want to... you know One thing we skipped over here is a the so of citizenship requirement for voting, Senate Bill 153. Did I skip over that? Yeah. Oh, my goodness. That's okay. um Ohio senators are considering considering a plan to require voters to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. And really, all it is... and I don't know how this changes, but... um
Speaker: Again, they're saying there's no widespread evidence of voter fraud displayed but you know despite Republicans warning for years about the possible threat of not non-citizen voters.
Speaker: So what basically what they're trying to do is like when you go to register to vote, you would have to show your ID. like i thought we did did I thought we did that already. We do that when we go to vote, but when you register, that's what that's what I saw of it. write When you register, they want you to show proof of, but you didn't have to do that before?
Speaker: that's See, I don't know. I mean, it's been so long since I registered. I i don't remember. I went to the post office and registered. So I don't remember if I gave ah but my ID, but I guess the BMV has typically has all the records if you're a citizen. So it's going to go through the BMV first. Yeah.
Speaker: They're going to say yay or nay on if you're a citizen. And if they can't verify it, then you have to bring in a ah valid birth certificate, U.S. passport, or a naturalization document before casting a ballot.
Speaker: And um if you're if if it still hasn't been cleared before you cast the vote, um you'll you'll have to do a provisional. Provisional, yeah. Yeah. um Excuse me.
Speaker: But um so what they're going to do a provisional vote. Opponents of the bill emphasize the complications it would create, which I don't understand what complications are. are They argued that the changes would lead to dramatic increases in provisional voting. Thirty four thousand of them got rejected in 2024. That sounds good to me.
Speaker: Yeah. Second most popular reason for rejection is lack of proper ID, which, again, that's. Duh. Good. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, and this it's a no-duh moment for me. Like, yeah, i think you need to prove who you are.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, we have an ID law here. So this is going to make sure anybody registering is a citizen. And this is my favorite quote. ah This means voters attempted to vote but did not...
Speaker: But because of our strict photo ID rules, they either didn't have proper ID or simply forgot to bring it. Now, who forgets to bring their ID? I mean, I guess it can happen, but okay, go home. I guess, yeah, occasionally. but So um ah this is a good bill. I think it should be.
Speaker: I think it should be stricter. I don i don't think you should be able to just show your driver's license when you go to register. I think you should actually bring in, um you know, you're your birth certificate or U.S. passport.
Speaker: Yeah. But I think it should go further, actually. That's what I'm saying. I think, yeah, I think it should go further too. I think you should only vote on one day instead of for three weeks, but that's a whole other story. I think and think that that has a lot of, there's a lot of voter fraud that comes with that.
Speaker: The extended voting and all this stuff. here's Here's the story for, um this is like a thing. This this made me laugh. Okay, Scott Sibley um recalled helping his 86-year-old grandfather get a state ID card when he was no longer able to drive.
Speaker: They gathered several documents, including birth certificate and social security card, but couldn't meet all five of the elements required by the state BMV. It took a total of three visits to get all the necessary documents. Okay, so they're unorganized. They don't know what they're doing.
Speaker: at the time of the government photo IDs were not yet a requirement for voting. But after this episode, I understood the argument against such requirements. what So he's arguing because it was such a pain in the ass to get an ID for his 86 year old grandfather who ah I'll get to this in a second.
Speaker: Anyways. um And this is my fit. And this, is this any way to treat an elderly world war two veteran?
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. So now I, um, uh, a neighbor last year went to, uh, he went to assisted, not assisted living, but he went to a old folks home, put it that way. He was 86 years old.
Speaker: The last time I visited him was, well, um, not the last time, but the, one of the times I visited him was right before the, uh, 2024 election.
Speaker: And i you know, he was a pretty, um,
Speaker: you know he he he was a conservative, you a hardcore Republican. I say not, not far right or anything like that, but just hardcore Republican. And I asked him, Hey, are you voting?
Speaker: He says, no. I'm like, Oh, why not? He's like, I don't know what's going on anymore. He's like, he's 86 years old. yeah Like this guy still had the wit about him to say, you know what? Maybe it's time for me to,
Speaker: Back out. Back out, because I don't know everything that's going on, because he used to really pay attention to the to the news and stuff. And he's like, I don't, he he watches the news and he's like, I don't know what the hell's going on anymore.
Speaker: And he did vote in 2016 and 2020, but he finally said, no, I'm not going to vote. Not good on him. Yeah. So this guy taking his 86-year-old grandfather and whining about it and then trying to tug at your heartstrings about him being a World War II vet, I'd like to know, is his father actually voting or is pulling the strings on the...
Speaker: or whatever you want call it. well this is exactly the same as, well, photo voter ID laws are racist because people of color or minorities can't, they don't know how. Are they too stupid to get voter IDs?
Speaker: is Is he too senile to get an ID? Well, if you're too senile to get an ID, if you're too stupid to know how to get an ID, you're probably too stupid or senile to vote.
Speaker: It's good with that. Yeah, it's just, they're trying to tug at your heartstrings with the story. you know they They've been doing it for years. with all every Every state that tries to enact voter or voter ID laws, it's just it this is the first time I've heard them go with the ageist view.
Speaker: Yes, yes, which which I found, that's what i i cracked me up, cause because I'm like, ah because of my neighbor. That just reminded me of my ah old old man neighbor here. Yeah.
Speaker: But yeah anyways, that's what's happening you with in the Senate houses. Senate Bill 153. All all these these last two or three stories, I'll come back to one quote in my mind, which I believe is Thomas Jefferson.
Speaker: Question with boldness, even the very existence of God, because he'd rather honest questioning than blindfolded fear.
Speaker: yeah Yep. So question everything with boldness, everything, especially when do you agree on you know, especially when it's your side or whatever you want to call it. That's what all this comes down to is don't let them take this for granted. be be objective. don't don't Don't let them just apply this propaganda to you and pull at your heartstrings.
Speaker: Step back for a minute and look at it logically. Look at it from your pocketbook. Look at it from whatever angle you have to. But Oh, Robert. I know. We'd have to repeal the 19th for that.
Speaker: Oh. Wow. That's like, I got me in the rant. i could We don't have time for but. On that note, I got it. I got to take a quick break. Yep.
Speaker: right. We're back. And thanks for pulling me back on that. That's it. That's an important voter but a registration thing. Yeah. All right.
Speaker: We'll move on to some of these other ones pretty quick because we're running up to an hour already. um Canadian wildfires. Oh, yeah. So um real quick, the city of Cleveland, as far as we can tell, has accumulated over a half a million dollars in legal fees.
Speaker: to to to try to keep the Browns. So there's that. So as as they struggle with the budget in Cleveland, they're dumping a bunch of money down an empty pit for team that's moving.
Speaker: um Can you touch on the Cleveland Clinic co-pay story real quick? Because I've touched on this. like I've looked at this a couple times and I never pulled it for a story because it seemed like a lot to do with nothing.
Speaker: yeah Yeah. You know what? I had it pulled ah last week or the week before, and then I just tossed it because of, I didn't think it was a big deal. ah Cleveland Clinic changed their policy to, um you needed to, ah if you if you had a copayment, you had to pay it at your appointment. So if you couldn't pay your co copay, you would, you would have to reschedule your, your visit.
Speaker: That's probably the biggest issues people aren't, don't know. So instead of having a build on to you later on, they're asking for it. they're They're asking for it right there on the spot, the copay.
Speaker: Right. So I get, I didn't think it was a big deal. I thought that's how it worked anyways, but you know, I honestly, I did too. don't Inexperienced. I just didn't know. And it's not for everything. It's just for like your standard, you go to emergency room or urgent care, they're not going to refuse you because you have your cocaine. No, no. This is just for... It's just for standard doctor's appointments.
Speaker: Right, right. So I guess there was an uproar. So they kind of... they they kind of they they walked that back. So now that now their policy is going to be, if you can't afford it, what they'll do is set up a payment plan with 0% interest rate.
Speaker: um you don't You won't have to reschedule your visit. So I guess- How much co-pays? Pardon me? Aren't co-pays like $50 or $100 or?
Speaker: I think it's different for ah what type of insurance you have. Yeah, but generally not like like they're generally not like three grand or anything, are they? No, no, not that, not that, unless you're having some, I don't think it was for surgery or anything like that. but I'm just questioning like the cop, your payment plan for the copay.
Speaker: Or are they talking about a payment plan for what your visit's going to be Because if for me, copays are like 50 bucks or whatever. Yeah. But I mean, I don't, I don't know what, what, everybody's insurance. For me, it's a i have $25 copay for like a regular visit. I think, I think it might be more for different types of, uh, just weird that they would set up a payment plan for what I would think is ah not a very large amount of money, but Hey, whatever. i I thought it was unusual. That's why I kind of tossed the story, but then I guess there was an uproar. So they're, they've, they're changing it back to not back, but they're changing it. So you still have to pay your copay, but you could set up a payment plan.
Speaker: Not a bad idea. I mean, I get it. I don't think it's... Not everybody can afford it, you know. but Well, not only that, but, you know, step it up or not progress granularly, whatever I'm trying to say.
Speaker: Yeah, maybe it was too big of a change. Yeah, do it, you know, hey, this next time you're going to have right up front, you know, give them some leeway or some time to get used to the program, maybe. I get it. It's a big change. And...
Speaker: And the other thing I did read real quick in of the articles is sometimes these appointments take months before you can get them and rescheduling will make make you wait months more for a new one. so Right, right. that's I think that was where one of the largest people were really complaining about is you just went right to the right to cutting us off instead of giving us a little bit of a runway. Because I guess people could have showed up and maybe just didn't have any...
Speaker: Didn't have cash on them or... Yeah, or didn't have it in their account. Yeah. So here it is. The scheduled office visits, ah therapy services, outpatient diagnostic tit testing, outpace outpatient ah procedural visits,
Speaker: that's what it covers you know That's what it's for. ah The new copay process does not apply to Medicaid or traditional Medicare or emergency department visits, urgent express care, surgeries, cancer treatments, inpatient hospital stays. So...
Speaker: right I was surprised it made such a fuss out of it. Just check your, what do you have to do next time go to doctor? Yeah. Which you should probably try. When you're making the appointment, don't check. Yeah, ask them.
Speaker: Yeah. Ask them if you can. All right. Moving on, um I'm going to touch on this real quick. ah What the heck is going on in Cleveland Heights? um we There's a couple of stories that keep popping up here and there over the past few months.
Speaker: And I kind of really haven't touched on it too much. But this week, there was like two two extra stories coming up. I'd like to know because I was following this for a minute and just seemed like a um a soap opera.
Speaker: So there's a recall going on right now for a reelection of the mayor, sounds like. and Okay. I'm just going to go through the headlines because we really have time to go over but we're going to dig a little deeper in this. Cleveland Heights mayor files for reelection as petition to remove him from office starts making the rounds. Okay.
Speaker: Cleveland Heights City Council has filed a loss of confidence resolution addressing the mayor's our capacities, capabilities. Natalie McDaniel, wife of the Cleveland Heights mayor, Kalee Serene, Serene, faces a lawsuit over allegations of bigotry and big bigoted remarks, excuse me. And then the one that popped this week that I was actually put into the mix was They've got video of the mayor going into this Cleveland Heights City law office in the middle of the night, I think it is, when nobody's there.
Speaker: no it wasn't night. It was a holiday. Nobody's there. What's the big deal? A, he's going into the law offices who are like looking kind of, you know, but maybe looking into the mayor. But also he stated on record he doesn't have access to those law offices.
Speaker: But yet they have him on video twice going into law offices when nobody's there.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Like Emmer said, something screwy is going on around here. Okay. So I think we're going to, you know, we'll table this and I want to start digging into this, especially him going into law offices. They got him on video.
Speaker: Yeah. Let's cover that next week. Well, and we'll kind of dig into that a little bit. Interesting. Okay. That's a little bit more than I thought it was. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I kind of brought it to the top. and And Cleveland Heights is like probably one of, i i kind of, it i puked a little bit in my mouth when this first started. Yeah.
Speaker: Because it's just like, it was like the most woke thing possible. And we've, we've done so many you like woke type of stories from Cleveland Heights already that I was just like, I'm done with this city. I don't even want to talk about it, but okay, here we are again.
Speaker: It feels like the left eating their own. That's what feel That's exactly what I thought. who did he piss off? That's kind of my mindset to all of these stories. Who did he piss off?
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. All right, we'll we'll keep digging into that. Next, um food pantry story from last week that we've tabled. What do you got for me on that? do we Do we have time?
Speaker: If we don't, I can hold off on it. All right, we can table it again. That's fine. I mean, it's not, there's no, it's just how the... the Doge is impacting parts of Ohio, but in a good way.
Speaker: Yeah. Okay. <unk> We'll table that for next week and noted it. A quick spin around Critter Corner for what's going on with our Congress Critters and in what state legislature. we got a couple more bills that I pulled that we can just mention.
Speaker: So 26 is to amend section blah, diddy, blah, whole bunch of numbers to enact a whole bunch more numbers for the revised code to require state and local authorities to cooperate with the federal government in enforcing immigration laws to prescribe funding reductions for noncompliance to name this act, the protected Ohio protecting Ohio communities act and to declare an emergency.
Speaker: And I was all for it until I saw this declared emergency. So again, If some some of these bills that we cover interest you and you want us to dig a little deeper into it or help us dig a little deeper into it, we would love help from our listeners in some of these things.
Speaker: Because again, the that's the old, that's the fools part of the old fools. I would say email us at crickorrivercast at gmail.com. Yep. Next, SB 11 to enact a bunch of numbers to revise code to prohibit agreements that restrain engaging in lawful possession or business, businesses after the conclusion of an employment relationship.
Speaker: This sounds like banning of non-competes to me. So again, SB 11 in the state Senate. That's what that sounds like to me, which sounds decent, I think. it's if you've but If you've spent time in industry and accumulated knowledge and you want to leave and you yeah can't because your company won't let you.
Speaker: And this is kind of something that's through federal. There's a federal lawsuit or something going on right That's what I thought, yeah. All right, next and lastly for this one SB200.
Speaker: This is to enact, again, whole bunch of numbers, of the revised code to create the Ohio-Israel Trade and Innovation Partnership and to make an appropriation.
Speaker: An appropriation means what? Do we know, kids, what does appropriation mean? They want money. So I did something that I'm going to start doing more of.
Speaker: And I downloaded the text of the bill and i ran it through Grok and asked Grok to summarize it for me. And it goes through all this other stuff. They want to appoint this senator, two senators to this and one senator to that. And this person, Senate president gets to get two senators in there.
Speaker: The Senate minority leader gets to put one senator in this committee. And then House Speaker gets to pick one, a House minority, all this other BS, just creating more more government and things.
Speaker: justifying their jobs, in my opinion. Who who brought this to the table? This is... here it is. Bill... Where did that... There it is right here. You said 200, was it? It's 200. HP 200 hp two hundred and
Speaker: Well, the sponsors are Casey Weinstein is the first one that doesn't build bipartisan bill. usually tells you who, who the, um, I think the, uh, first person supporting it is the person who put it in.
Speaker: Okay. So there's, but there's three Republicans and two Democrats supporting it right now. Hmm. Sounds convoluted. Sounds, yeah. So so i like again, I put it in Grok and it and it goes through all these, you know, committees and stuff. And then you get to the meat of it.
Speaker: And the meat of it is funding. They would like to appropriate $5 million dollars for this in 2026 and 2027 budget. Yeah. i would what Say that again? They want to appropriate $5 million dollars from the general fund for each fiscal year for this program.
Speaker: To fund the program. To fund $5 million dollars a year. To fund a program. getting paid? Exactly. To fund a program to partnership the state of Ohio with the country of Israel.
Speaker: Don't seem like you need $5 million. dollars Like, you shouldn't seem like you need any money, really. I mean, you've got Congress people to do these things, right? We already pay them. So why do we need more?
Speaker: Operations. so Members will... go ahead. Oh, nothing. I'm just wondering what the what the hell... Where's this money going? Who's getting the money? um Yeah, and it doesn't really...
Speaker: doesn't really say. The director of budget management will establish accounts for the appropriations in determining how they are maintained. Expenditures are subject to provisions of the 136th assembly.
Speaker: Sponsors, yeah, Weinstein and banner or this Republican Democrat, uh, sponsors, um, Yeah, the bill aims to strengthen Ohio's economic and innovation ties with Israel through a structured partnership supported by legislative and business community. What the what does Ohio have to do with Israel?
Speaker: i i don't i don't know. i don't i don't see a problem with them. because Well, Israel does have a very high-tech... They do a lot of chip development and stuff like that in Israel. Okay. At least they did. Okay. So I don't see a problem with our Congress creators going out and having a relationship to try to get investment from from other entities, whether it's Israel, France, or whatever.
Speaker: My problem with it is we already pay people for that. It's called House members and Senate senate members. Right. Yeah, they want to establish a ah more more ah bureaucratic yes slime. um I'm just trying to see if it doesn't bring in any... Where's the money going?
Speaker: Where's the money going? I don't Operations will... so Members will serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for expenses subject to available funds. Boy.
Speaker: Huh, that's pretty interesting. um let The partnership elects a chair. Partnership must issue an annual report. First due in 15 months, bla blah, blah, blah.
Speaker: So that's the key. Members serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for expenses like lunch, plane ticket, car, a vacation, know, expenses.
Speaker: All right. So I'm at this bipartisan bill. And so can't blame one side or the other. Can't blame both. Yep.
Speaker: So again, anyone else to help us dig into some of these, please email us at crickervivercast at gmail.com. On to our last segment, which would be the feel-good stuff. And ah we'll touch really quick on a couple things here. Steamboat Willie.
Speaker: Not this Steamboat Willie. Okay. I only play a short clip because it's Disney, and they're very they're very hyper-vigilant on on that kind of stuff.
Speaker: But Steamboat Willie, Steamboat William G. Mathers, turns 100%. one hundred So I guess the thing was built in like, I don't know, 1925. And it sits down by the Rock Hall of Fame on the water. It's been there for many, I mean, that a few decades. I don't mean, it doesn't even tell you ah how how long it's been there.
Speaker: But it is, oh, it was retired in 1980. Yeah, it it's slow forty over 40 years now. Yeah, been sitting yeah it's it's staple. It's a museum. You can go visit it. I can't remember last time I was there. I was so young.
Speaker: But it's right next to Science Center and in between the Science Center Rock Hall of Fame. so Right. Happy birthday to the steamboat William G. Mathers. And lastly...
Speaker: It sounds like there is a trail in Ohio that made the national list. Oh, cool. Of um hiking trails. Yeah, I saw the article. where Where is it at? Whisper Cave in Hocking Hills. five-mile hiking trail in Hocking Hills State Park.
Speaker: Cool. And has been named one of the best in in the United States. And it says it's top 10 here. in the top 10? I don't think so.
Speaker: But it's just in the top. There's some nice trails on this list. Whisper Cave is number four.
Speaker: ah Yep, five two five miles loop. And you go through a cave. um Offers hikers access to fun swinging bridge. And the second largest cave in the region.
Speaker: So summertime is here. Go hiking. We got some great, great, great hiking trails around this great state of Ohio. So take advantage. Our metro parks are are not to be taken for granted.
Speaker: So use them. You ever been on that trail? I haven't. No, I've never been to Hocking Hills, tell you truth. Yeah, I've i've been there once. I stayed there overnight for a couple nights. It's beautiful area. It's beautiful.
Speaker: It's actually lot of times hard to even get ah ah cabin in Hocking Hills. It's so busy. and so Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's the I think the last time i my wife and I were thinking about going down there, when we just couldn't find a place to stay. I think you've got to book it pretty far in advance. Mm-hmm.
Speaker: Yeah, we have friends that go there every year because they were married. That's one of the reasons we stayed there. We had friends that were married there, so they had their wedding there, and then the the next week they had a reception up here.
Speaker: Cool. did I think really just to make me get in a tux twice instead of once, but I was in the wedding. But ah yeah, it beautiful. Cabins were just, it was just awesome. Good stuff. If you like that kind of wilderness, you've got a great state for it.
Speaker: On that note, let's wrap it up here. CrookedRiverCast at gmail.com. What? What? What did I miss? Did I miss something? i got I got a clip here I wanted i wanted to play. Okay.
Speaker: It is a retard of the week. How you doing? This is Kira Sedwig, Kevin Bacon's wife. Oh. And she put a thing out on Twitter, or on ah TikTok, I guess.
Speaker: i when When I heard this, I just i had i had to clip it. So here it goes. I felt like it was important to get on the blower. and talk a little bit about how I'm feeling and wondering how you're feeling about the state of our union. I'm finding myself um pretty scared about a lot of things.
Speaker: She's 59 years old....about losing my rights as a woman, scared about losing my right to vote as a woman, scared about losing autonomy over my body as a woman, scared of my parents' social security checks.
Speaker: She's scared of her parents' social security check. She's a multimillionaire. I'm scared of food banks running out of food and not being able to replenish because they're no longer getting federal funding.
Speaker: Yes, the federal government can use improvement and there's a lot of things that they've done right over the decades. So and think the answer to being freaked out for me is about community.
Speaker: And I feel excited that that we're coming together as a nation on Saturday. you can look it up in your area. It's hands off March. and so that's from a few weeks ago. I was going to say they have another one.
Speaker: him This is so scared. ah I couldn't believe it when I heard it. I'm just like, this is like, ah you know, um an actress who's made multi millions of dollars. I know her husband, Kevin Bacon, lost a lot of money to...
Speaker: Who was this camera from years ago? Probably like Tony Madoff. Yes. Yes. He lost a ton of money, but i have a feeling he made a lot of money since then. So yeah, I think those, um I'm sure they get, they have deals where they get residuals from movies, right?
Speaker: Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah And Kevin Bacon may have been in some big movies over the years. Yeah. and Just, just a few. Yeah. and And I love that guy as an actor, too. I mean, i just we just watched a show that was on Netflix called Sirens, and he's so good on it.
Speaker: yeah Good show, by the way. it's like a It's a ah limited series, so it's eight episodes. It's really good. Anyways, I just wanted to play that. And then I also wanted to mention mention ah a local musician.
Speaker: Oh, that's right. We did have her on there. Yeah. That stuff it was the first one. I skipped right over it. Horrible today. That's all right. You had a late night. Anyways, this is local... Who is she?
Speaker: ah She's a local musician, singer She's ah just released a new single. ah Her name is Sophia Fisher. And I'm just going to play a minute of it just so you can hear her voice. She's 23 years old from from Cleveland here.
Speaker: And her single is called 20 Times This. And you could find you could find it on Spotify. I like it.
Speaker: Picking up girls off their feet while I'm falling off mine. watching you stare at me, but it's not the same.
Speaker: The tension between us, it fills the space. And neither us seem to mind, but you're still.
Speaker: The girl can sing. Nice. Yes. um Check it out. It's on Spotify. She just had a music ah she just shot a music video, cinematographer that worked on Jamie Gunn's upcoming Superman film. So I think she's getting some ah ah some backing here. So keep an eye out for her. she might She might go somewhere.
Speaker: Love it. It's awesome. Awesome. Cleveland Connections. Love it. Yeah. Need more of those from the rock and roll city, as they say. Hell yeah. Are we good?
Speaker: Yeah. So this is the first time I should have asked you if you were good at the end of the show, or every other time I ask you and you have nothing. So my fault. i'm I'm just, ah i'm I'm like sitting here old and foolish and and thinking about your late night. and i'm I'm being very forgiving.
Speaker: Yes. Thank you. Because, ah oh yes, it's the old and foolish part is coming up. With my late night. yeah That's no big deal. Yeah, it's all good. Hey, like I said, we're just two regular guys just doing this. So bear with us, people. We appreciate getting all the way to the end. And thank you very much for listening to today's show.
Speaker: And we will talk to you next week. Peace.
