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CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Ohio legislature has voted to allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on school nights, for $3.45 less per hour than adults get paid. We’re talking about valuing profits over people on Today in Ohio. Listen online here. Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston. You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn. Here’s what we’re asking about today: They stuck it to moms. They’ve stuck it to poor people. They’ve stuck it to homeowners. And now our esteemed Republicans in the state legislature have turned to a new target in their effort to return our society to the late 1800s. Who’s the target, and what are these poor excuses for human beings doing to them? Knowing that residents don’t like income tax increases, city officials keep trying to get them by setting them up to mainly hit outsiders who work in the cities. You know, the people without representation. King George has come to Northeast Ohio with all that taxation without representation. What are lawmakers doing to halt the anti-Democratic trend? Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has invested some effort in dealing with youth mental health problems, and some CDC data offers justification for that. How is Ohio working to address is? How did Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who owns a minor league baseball team and has a horse in this race, completely abandon his demand just a few weeks ago that Ohio ban prop bets? We cheered last week when we talked about some Cuyahoga County sheriff’s employees who stood before County Council and refuted what County Executive Chris Ronayne has been saying about cutting expenses in the sheriff’s office. Are they being retaliated against? Does Chris Ronayne think he’s more popular than he is? Does he really think going to voters with a charter change to give him more power will work? What is his plan? Ohioans voted in large numbers to enshrine abortion as a right in the Ohio constitution, but Republicans in the state legislature repeatedly prove they really don’t care what Ohioans think. All they care about it what they think. What’s the latest move to restrict abortion? We use AI a lot in our newsroom these days, but we don’t trust it. Too many errors. A human has to verify everything before we publish it. Seems like a good policy for a lawyer who’s now facing sanctions over his use of AI. What happened? Who is being honored with a new mural at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport? More Today in Ohio “The whole game of baseball is in Jeopardy:” MLB falls short after Guardians scandal Cuyahoga County cuts social services — and the sheriff wants more deputies? Cedar Point in peril? Class-action lawsuit exposes troubled Six Flags merger We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here. Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here. RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here. On PodParadise, find us here. And on PlayerFM, we are here. Chris Quinn (00:01.186) The first story we’re talking about today is astounding. It’s like we’re turning back the clock a hundred years. It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Laura Johnston, Lisa Garvin, and Leila Tasi. Laura, they stuck it to moms. They stuck it to poor people. They stuck it to homeowners and now our esteemed Republicans in the state legislature. have turned to a new target in their effort to return our society to the late 1800s. Who’s the target and what are these poor excuses for human beings trying to do to them? Laura (00:39.684) 14 and 15 year olds and note, I am answering this question as a mother of a 15 year old and a 12 year old, but I find this unconscionable because we beat this idea back in 2023, but it resurfaced and now it’s passed both the House and Senate. The idea of letting kids work until 9 PM at any time of year with their guardian’s permission. They can already do that during the summer. This would expand it to the rest of the year. And what is really comes with this is that don’t even have to pay those kids the minimum wage that Ohio has, which is 1070 right now. You can pay them about $7.25 an hour, which is the federal minimum wage. And by the way, the federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, does not allow 14 and 15 year olds to work past 7 p.m. Let me just remind people, these are eighth graders and freshmen in high school. Why on earth you should think that they should be working till 9 p.m. is beyond me. Chris Quinn (01:36.002) The thing about this is that there’s no thought about kids in this. This is because of rich employers can’t get enough employees. They want lower expenses and the legislature, which only serves their wealthy masters is doing it. If there had been a discussion saying, you know, kids need more responsibility today. This is a way of teaching them responsibility, yada, yada, yada. I’d still reject it because work until nine o’clock is not really a good idea for people that young. There’s no thought about the kids here. This is just about the needs of business and it tells you everything about what our society is becoming. We don’t care about people as in our elected circles anymore. It’s not about the communities they’re supposed to serve. They serve their wealthy masters. Laura (02:25.634) I definitely agree with that. And Representative Mark Johnson, he’s a Chillicothe Republican, was talking about this on the floor last week, talking about the value of hard work and its family going back to his grandfather who was a West Virginia coal miner, who was paid in company script that he spent at a company store. Is this what we want to go back to? Like, this is terrible. Do you want kids working in factories instead of going to school? I mean, probably we have the Department of Workforce and Education. Chris Quinn (02:44.224) Yeah, that is exactly what they want. Laura (02:55.758) together in Ohio. I think this is such a bad idea. mean, 16 year olds who can drive can work this late. I don’t think they should be. And you can say, OK, well, the parents don’t have to allow it. But that puts the onus on the families to protect their kids and to stand up to the boss at Chick-fil-A or McDonald’s and say, no, my kid’s not going to work that late. You need the protection. That’s why there’s a federal law for it. Chris Quinn (03:20.492) Well, the other thing is that they don’t care. They’re squeezing families in every way possible in Ohio. You know, the way they have fought child care help and the way they’ve increased taxation. So families are hurting and they might resort to this to help bail themselves out of financial distress caused by poor governing. The whole thing. We’re just going backwards. Laura (03:29.828) Mm-hmm. Laura (03:38.18) Mm-hmm. Chris Quinn (03:48.748) by decades and decades and decades. I don’t get why parents in the legislature haven’t stood up to say, what are you thinking? Laura (03:59.789) I don’t know, maybe there are not enough parents in the legislature, because they’re trying to balance all the other parts of their life. Chris Quinn (04:05.87) You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Knowing that residents don’t like income tax increases, city officials keep trying to get them by setting them up mainly to hit outsiders who work in the cities. You know, the people who have no representation. King George lives in Northeast Ohio. What are lawmakers doing to halt the anti-democratic trend of this tax movement, Lisa? Lisa Garvin (04:25.216) Thank Lisa Garvin (04:32.882) So Republican Portage County Representative Heidi Workman has introduced House Bill 503. This would require voter approval for changes to city income tax credits for commuters, and it would allow voters to petition for new credits. So she says the current patchwork system is confusing and burdensome for, you know, for employees, employers, and financial inequities exist among communities because of this. So current Ohio law says cities must get voter approval for anything above a 1 % income tax, but that doesn’t cover those paying to multiple cities. So if you live in one city and work in another, you’re paying income tax in both cities. So some suburbs offer credits for commuters and some don’t. There was a court case in the Ohio Supreme Court back in 1965 where a plaintiff argued that 1 % covered all but the Supreme Court disagreed and only lawmakers, they said, can limit income tax collections. So the bill would block cities from asking to change credits if they’re also asking about increasing income tax rates. So it’s kind of the carrot stick thing. It happened in North Ridgeville or tried to happen. They had an income tax increase paired with a larger commuter credit. Both voters soundly rejected that. Chris Quinn (05:55.438) I got a problem that goes beyond this. I think they should overhaul this whole system. I don’t think it’s really fair to tax people on their incomes where they work without giving them some sort of representation. The city of Cleveland is pretty much funded by people who don’t live in the city of Cleveland. So they keep raising their income tax rate and charging as much as they can. And the people who pay it have no say in it. I wish the legislature would do something to rein that in. Maybe make a limit that for people who work in a city, they pay half the rate that the people who live in the city pay, because they’re not getting anywhere near the services that the people who live there get. You can argue, well, you should pay an income tax to the city you work in because your employer gets some services from the city. Okay, but you’re not getting the full throttle of all of the services. So why not make an adjustment? Say if it’s a 2 % income tax in the city of Cleveland, people who don’t live there pay 1%. It would change the whole dynamic in a way that makes it more fair. Lisa Garvin (07:01.536) Well, I lived in Texas for 38 years that they don’t have an income tax. So when I came back to Ohio, I was like, what do you mean you’re, I’m a retired, why are you taxing me on my income? But yeah, so, but I’m sure at this point we can’t get rid of the income tax now. Actually, I believe some schools were being encouraged to have income taxes to replace other levies. Chris Quinn (07:22.566) My whole problem has always been that I’m paying a lot of money into a place that I have no say over it. I have no say over how the tax is applied. I have no say how it’s spent. And it just violates that whole idea of no taxation without representation. And this credits thing is just an outright, hey, we’re sticking it to the people that work here and giving you the discount. How is that fair? I’m glad they’re looking at it. I don’t think they go far enough. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has invested some effort in dealing with youth mental health problems and some new CDC data offers justification for that. Layla, how is Ohio working to address this? Leila (08:06.118) Well, that data from the CDC shows that 40 % of high schoolers nationwide say that they felt persistent sadness or hopelessness in the past year. And Ohio’s leaders say that’s exactly why they’re ramping up this mental health services effort for young people. Dwyane’s administration just expanded the state’s mobile response and stabilization services program. So it’s now available in all 88 counties instead of just 56. And the idea is pretty simple, but very powerful. When a young person under 21 is in mental or emotional crisis, a team of trained professionals can be dispatched within an hour, wherever that person is. And they help deescalate the situation. They create a safety plan and they stay involved for up to six weeks with counseling, skill building, and referrals for ongoing care. And this is a free service. It’s accessible through the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. The need is pretty clear. Between July 2024 and June 25, the program got more than 10,000 calls, and most of them were tied to suicide risk. Nationally, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death among people ages 10 to 34. So the data is pretty grim, but the message from Ohio leaders is definitely one of urgency and expansion, making sure that wherever a kid lives in the state, there is immediate help, a phone call away for them. Chris Quinn (09:32.45) Well, we’re going to solve this problem by having them work all day and all night so they won’t have time to be depressed and be sad. Put them to work. It just seems odd that Mike DeWine is all focused on this kind of thing while at the same time we’re talking about, I think, doing further damage to a kid’s psyche by this child labor law. Leila (09:35.356) Right. That won’t contribute at all. Right. Yeah, that’ll that’ll cheer them right up. But yeah, go ahead, Chris. Leila (09:56.455) Yeah, that’s a very excellent point. mean, it’s really no wonder that the numbers are so high when you think about everything that’s going on in our state, in our country, and then what kids are up against in general in their lives. Their lives are so much more connected and exposed than ever before. have social media, this constant comparing themselves to one another. And then in the background, you’ve got all the political things, climate anxiety and school shootings and and academic pressure that ratchets up younger and runs deeper. So it’s very difficult time to be a kid. Chris Quinn (10:33.164) I wonder how much though you could cut this problem just by getting rid of social media. I wonder how much of this is about the curse of social media. Lisa Garvin (10:43.584) Let’s say 98%. Chris Quinn (10:45.058) Yeah, I think social media has been one of the worst things that’s ever happened to our society and kids are the ones that suffer the most. Go ahead, Laura. Laura (10:46.787) I don’t know. Laura (10:54.104) My kids don’t have social media. I haven’t allowed them. mean, there is Snapchat. It’s not the same kind of thing as Instagram. I think there’s just a lot of, like Layla said, it’s always been difficult to grow up. screens without social media are a problem too. The way that the kids are addicted to them, the games that they play, they mess up your brain. And it’s so difficult to pull yourself out of it. The video games added to it. mean, kids are watching TV these days with a screen. Leila (11:09.328) Yes. Laura (11:22.604) on their cell phone in front of them. I’m constantly telling my kids to let their brains breathe because they are inundated with just all sorts of colors and noise and words. I think all of that adds up. Lisa Garvin (11:24.16) Mm-hmm. Leila (11:37.305) I agree. I agree. My kids don’t have social media, but they have screens in their lives. And I have no, you definitely notice a difference when they’ve been on a screen too long and they come off it, their mood is completely altered. It’s, it, it’s a very difficult thing to control, especially if you’re a working parent and you you come out and you notice your kids have been, they’re all on a different screen. It’s like, and they’re disconnected from one another and they’re just plugged into something that is, is not exercising their social muscles. It’s terrible. Laura (11:49.892) Mm-hmm. Chris Quinn (12:07.832) Where’s the nearest coal mine you can send them to? You’re listening to Today in Ohio. How did Ohio governor Mike DeWine, who owns a minor league baseball team and has a horse in this race, completely abandon his demand just weeks ago that Ohio prohibit prop bets in sports? Laura. Laura (12:09.684) my god. Leila (12:10.092) Yeah, that’s right. Lisa Garvin (12:10.72) That’ll build character. Laura (12:31.522) I love that you say horse in this race because horse racing is some old school betting and we are dealing with the most modern form of betting with prop bets at your fingertips, betting on a pitch at a time. And while Governor Mike DeWine was up in arms in August when the investigation began on the Cleveland Guardians pitchers, now he says he’s basically fine with letting the Major League Baseball police itself. And he says that it’s better to work with the organization than to try to legislate it. But this seems like a total walk back from when he had very strong quotes saying, the harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear. The benefits are not worth the harm. The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly. I call on the Casino Control Commission to correct the problem and remove all prop bets from the Ohio marketplace. Now we’re just talking about just the MLB, just micro prop bets. And he’s hoping that the rest of the leagues sign on to it. Chris Quinn (13:32.706) I know, this doesn’t, we talked about it yesterday. This doesn’t solve the problem. You’re letting the people that are out of control regulate themselves. And he took a principled stand and said, we are wrecking sports. And then MLB says, we got this. And he completely caves. There is only one answer here. End these prop bets. it’s just such a stunning waffle. Laura (13:41.412) Mm-hmm. Chris Quinn (13:58.542) And again, he is a baseball team owner. It’s not a pro team. It’s a minor league team. But is he really the right guy to be doing it? I wish the legislature would jump on this. This is a problem for sports fans. We know in Northeast Ohio how important sports are, and this jeopardizes all of it. We’re going to do a project on Emmanuel Classe. That guy had a .46 ERA all through the 2024 season. Laura (14:12.12) Wha- Chris Quinn (14:26.22) And in the two series at the end of the year, it was nine and he gave up home runs that were critical to losing games. Did he throw away the Cleveland’s chance for a championship? mean, what if that’s happened? What if that’s a true thing? What would fans think? The way to stop it is to ban it, not let baseball be the ones deciding how to regulate it. This is what government is supposed to be for. Laura (14:54.964) And you’re right, there’s so much riding on this because when Cleveland makes the playoffs, the economic boom is palpable, right? And the mood on the region, it affects literally millions of people and businesses. So this isn’t just like one guy and one sport and one game. And I agree with you, but the legislature, Mike DeWine’s the governor who said, hey, let’s tax the sports betting companies at 40 % and take that money and create a fund for stadiums, for professionals, but also for communities. and youth teams. And the legislature was like, nope, nope, can’t do that. Don’t want to text the betting industry. We have Brian Stewart, the Pickaway County Republican, who’s saying he’s going to resist any attempt by DeWine to ban prop bets. So maybe DeWine was looking at the writing on the wall and going, I can’t get the legislature to go along. If I get this, at least I look like I’ve won sort of rather than being completely abandoned by my own party. So maybe he’s just being Lisa Garvin (15:40.97) Hmm. Laura (15:52.783) trying to play the smart game, but I agree that he’s supposed to be the one who’s standing up for what’s right. Chris Quinn (15:59.052) He didn’t do anything. He just gave it away. I, that’s shame on him. He should have done the right thing and he didn’t. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We cheered last week when we talked about some Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s employees who stood before County Council and refuted what County Executive Chris Ronane has been saying about cutting expenses in the Sheriff’s office. Lisa, are they being retaliated against? Lisa Garvin (16:23.442) Apparently so. So Sheriff’s Department fiscal officers Donna Khalil and Chris Causton were transferred to the county central fiscal department just one day after questioning the county budget numbers involving sheriff’s deputy overtime. The directive, well there was a draft that came from the chief of innovation and operations Katie Gallagher that was later issued by Ronane’s chief of staff Eric Janis the next day. So Gallagher in her role was recommending $5 million in cuts to the sheriff’s overtime budget and trying to reduce their hours. That was in a November 4th meeting. Khalil challenged those numbers at the meeting. She said the hours are down, but increased salaries are keeping the costs high. And she estimates a $13 million shortfall in 2026 that would have to be covered by the general fund or the county’s limited reserve fund. So things got tense. There was a little heated discussion after the meeting with Janice and these two ladies. Janice got that draft lesson an hour after that conversation ended, and then he made it official the next day. But the county is saying there is no retaliation. They claim it’s just coincidental that they’ve been planning this transfer for weeks, and they said they discussed it way back in a September 10th meeting. Chris Quinn (17:45.698) I but okay, but was there resistance beginning in September? If I were the county and I even if I had this in the works say they’re telling the truth that this had been long in the works I would pull it back just to avoid the perception of retaliation Against people who are doing their jobs I mean they’re supposed to represent the public not be toadies to the county executive and they when they get up and they say yeah That’s not going to happen. We know the expenses are going to be X. They should be saluted for being truthful and trying to help the county council build a reasonable budget. This looks terrible. And that you want to avoid that perception. And I’m just surprised if they’ve been planning it before, they didn’t put a stop to it to avoid the perception or the other thing they did retaliate, which is really sinister. Lisa Garvin (18:39.624) And honestly, things kind of move slowly in a bureaucracy, and so they were moved within 24 hours of complaining. So yeah, that looks pretty bad. Chris Quinn (18:48.556) Yeah, it looks really bad and not a good. I mean, he’s up for reelection next year. Just a bad look. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Let’s stay with Chris Ronane. Does he think he’s more popular than he is? Does he really think going to voters with a charter change to give him more power will work? Layla, what’s his plan? Leila (19:09.52) Well, Ronane says he’s ready to take his feud with prosecutor Mike O’Malley straight to voters. At the heart of it is a question that’s been simmering since Cuyahoga County adopted the new charter back in 2009, which is who is really in charge of the county’s legal affairs? Is it the elected prosecutor or the executive’s appointed law director? O’Malley says state law makes it clear that his office should handle all county contracts and legal advice. And Ohio attorney general Dave Yost recently agreed with him. But Ronane says that’s not what voters intended when they created the county executive system. He believes his administration’s law department should manage those day-to-day legal duties, not the prosecutor. So rather than fight it out in court, Ronane wants to settle it democratically by asking voters to amend the county charter. He could do that either through county council, which would need a two-thirds vote to place it on the ballot, or through a citizen petition that gathers signatures from at least 8 % of registered voters. Either way, it would go before voters in a general election. Now a successful charter change could finally clear up 15 years of confusion about who represents county departments and that’s confusion that’s been papered over with these temporary agreements between the two offices. Renee argues that letting O’Malley take over everything would unravel the government structure that voters approved way back then. So to your question, Chris, does Renee think he’s more popular than he is? I don’t know, maybe not, but. He’s clearly betting that voters will back his interpretation of how the county’s supposed to work and that they’d rather decide this one themselves than watch another round of lawyers fight it out in court. Chris Quinn (20:49.038) Yeah, I just I’m surprised that he’s going that route because I don’t think people are happy with the way county governments working in. He could be in for a rude surprise. There’s also this effort. I don’t know if it’ll be successful to put a question on the ballot next year to abolish the charter altogether and go back to a county commission form of government, which if voters are angry, they sometimes make change just for change. Say, for me, the sad part about this is we keep wasting time on stupidity. This is a stupid spat. Two adults should get in a room. They should work the thing out. And we should be trying to move forward as a region. We just keep getting stuck on nonsense like this. And we see it everywhere. We see it in the county. We see it in the cities. We see it in things like Noacka. And it’s just frustrating. Why are we even having this discussion, right? Leila (21:40.433) Yeah, I mean, you’re absolutely right. But to the question of, you know, putting this issue on the ballot, abolishing the charter, putting that on the ballot, I think neither of these will shake out the way you think they might if they actually go to a vote, because the wild card is voter awareness. I just think people listening to this podcast are probably among the few who actually understand the nuances of county government. But beyond that inner circle, those ripples fade fast. mean, most voters in Cuyahoga County aren’t following the ins and outs of a turf war between the executive and the prosecutor. And if this lands on the ballot, I just think it’s likely to sound very abstract and confusing to most people. So it’s essentially a coin flip on a question that could end up reshaping how county government functions. Chris Quinn (22:29.666) Well, I suspect that if it went on the ballot, the council, the county council would put multiple elements into a charter change, like electing the sheriff and possibly at large members of county council. I don’t know. I just I think that there’s some thought that the charter needs changes in multiple ways. I would hope they would do it as individual pieces instead of one up or down vote for all of it. But I’ll be surprised if this shows up on the ballot alone. Leila (22:59.26) Well, there’s also a charter review commission, but that won’t be assembled until, what, 2027, I think is the next time that they’ll get a chance to do that. But we need some answers on this now. Chris Quinn (22:59.328) with no Chris Quinn (23:11.15) All right, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Ohioans voted in large numbers to enshrine abortion as a right in the Ohio Constitution, but Republicans in the state legislature repeatedly prove they don’t really care what Ohioans think. All they care about is what they think. What’s the latest move to restrict abortion, Laura? Laura (23:30.648) This is couched as a way to improve Ohioans’ health, right? A bill that would restrict mail order availability to certain medications, anything that could cause severe adverse effects in more than 5 % of their users. And so no more mail order sales that would require doctors to see patients in person before prescribing them. And the reproductive rights advocates say this is another attempt to chip away the abortion rights in Ohio, which Ohioans overwhelmingly wanted to keep in Ohio. They want abortion to be legal, but the state legislature doesn’t really care what Ohioans want because one of the drugs that would be covered by this is Mipha, I never say this right, Mipha pristone that’s often used for medical abortions. And think about how difficult it is to get to a clinic. We’ve talked recently about Planned Parenthood and And Layla detailed all the ways that shutting that down is terrible. With those very few places you can even go anymore in Ohio. So especially for rural Ohioans who want or need to have an abortion, this would be awful. Chris Quinn (24:37.41) Yeah, but it’s just more evidence that they don’t really care what we think. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We use artificial intelligence a lot in our newsroom these days, but we don’t trust it. It has too many errors. A human has to verify everything before we publish it. Seems like a good policy, Lisa, for a lawyer who’s now facing sanctions over his use of AI. What happened? Lisa Garvin (25:02.878) Yeah, Cleveland defense attorney William Norman used chat GPT to draft a motion to reopen an appeal for his client convicted of murder in Ashtabula County. He does face potential sanctions there. The motion included quotes that were not in the trial transcripts. So the AI hallucinated and things were improperly attributed to prosecutors and closing arguments. Norman did acknowledge the error. He blamed it on a paralegal and he said he paid a $2,000 fine to Ashtabula prosecutors. But those prosecutors say this was a willful violation of a professional rules on filings and called it significant misconduct, but they have not ruled about sanctions yet. There’s another case here in Cuyahoga County involving Norman. Prosecutors are poised to sanction him. for a document that sought withdrawal of a guilty plea for a client who admitted failure to comply with law enforcement officers. This motion included citations to non-existent cases. It included an AI prompt that said, would you like me to draft the next section of this document? And Cuyahoga prosecutors are saying he really failed to learn from prior warnings. So they’ll probably sanction him as well. Chris Quinn (26:17.454) There’s a story in the New York Times today where they do an analysis of all of the chats people have had with chat GPT that are public. It’s very eye opening. It’s amazing how many people are using it almost as a friend to have conversations with, but it’s loaded with evidence of why you cannot trust it. It does go off the rails in crazy ways and using it for this kind of research is a mistake unless you’re verifying it. And I think anybody with a brain knows that you don’t just take what AI gives you. You always have to verify it. And we’ve seen lawyers get pounded regularly for this. I hope anybody listening gets that just because you get it back in the AI or in the little Google chat box, don’t trust it without checking it out. Listening to today in Ohio. All right, Laila, who’s being honored with a new mural at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport? Leila (27:13.953) They’re honoring the Tuskegee Airmen with a pretty powerful tribute here. The Airmen were a groundbreaking black military pilot force who fought in World War II and helped pave the way for a desegregated U.S. military. This new mural is located in the baggage claim area and it stretches 23 feet wide and 10 feet high, has two companion pillars that help tell the Airmen’s story. It’s a collaboration between the airport the North Coast chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen and students from the Cleveland School of the Arts, whose artwork really brings these historic figures to life. The mural blends portraits of local pilots with archival photographs from the chapter’s own collection. It gives travelers this vivid reminder of the airman’s courage and legacy. The project was designed by Linear Creative and produced locally by Speed Pro Cleveland, and it’ll be on display through July of 2026. Chris Quinn (28:06.508) Was there any, you might not be able answer this, but was there any thought that the new terminal will be built, that there’ll be space for something like this? Leila (28:17.572) I don’t know. That’s an excellent question. I certainly imagine that they will have these kinds of murals. mean, throughout the airport, don’t we see things like this that honor specific people in our history here? I think so. Chris Quinn (28:32.558) I hope that they’re thinking about it. mean, you would hope that they would have some thought about it, but it’ll be, it sounds like it’s dramatic and worth seeing. Leila (28:38.746) Yeah. Leila (28:42.308) What I really love about this is that it’s connecting the past to the present here. You have these students from the Cleveland School of the Arts that help create this bridge between generations. kind of, I love that idea of bringing in young people to handle history in this way. Chris Quinn (28:59.95) All right, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. That does it for the Wednesday episode. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Leila. Thank you for being with us. We’ll return Thursday to talk about the news.
