Householder redux in the Ohio Statehouse? Jim Jordan as U.S. House Speaker? Welcome to 2023 Today in Ohio
Jim Jordan #JimJordan
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Hours before the vote for Ohio House Speaker, while drama also played out in the U.S. Congress in Washington, Ohio Democrats banded with Republicans to pick Rep. Jason Stephens as their leader.
We’re talking about the speaker drama on Today in Ohio.
Listen online here.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with impact editor Leila Atassi, editorial board member Lisa Garvin 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 for free by sending a text to 216-868-4802.
Here are the questions we’re answering today:
The rumblings became a true surprise Tuesday, as the early choice for Ohio House speaker lost to a guy who built a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes, like Larry Householder did 4 years ago. The new speaker ranked high in our annual Sloopy awards as nicest lawmaker but also as lobbyists’ best friend. Who is he?
The vote for U.S. House speaker also featured some turnabout, and a prominent Ohioan played a prominent role. How did Congressman Jim Jordan figure into the machinations? (Will need to pay attention as the voting continues.)
Speaking of Larry Householder, whose trial starts in weeks, we had another revelation about FirstEnergy’s illegal and deceptive practices Tuesday, and it came with another large fine. What’s the story?
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has a series of bills awaiting his signature, including a ridiculous move to declare natural gas green energy. He pulled out his pen for the easy work Tuesday. What did he sign into law?
DeWine was busy Tuesday. He also fired a shot across the bow at the sports gambling companies that are blitzing Ohioans with advertisements. What did he warn them about?
One more about our governor. Reporter Jeremy Pelzer put together a piece looking at the legacy of DeWine has he heads into what are sure to be his final years in office. With no more need to seek approval from voters, what does Jeremy say we might expect from the governor in his second term?
People might remember a company from some years back called Things Remembered, which sold all sorts of knick-knacks that could be engraved. It was founded in Cleveland, and news came Tuesday that all but spells its demise. What was it?
One of the biggest story out of the holiday season was the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange amid allegations of fraud and embezzlement. Did Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown see it coming, in his role as chairman of the Senate banking committee?
We’ve been hearing for years about robotic competitions in local schools, but this is a different kind of robotics story. How have high school students in Cleveland and a non-profit created robotics that are changing the life of a girl in Ecuador?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris: [00:00:00] The first News day of the New year turned out to be a big one, both nationally and in Ohio. It’s what we’re talking about on today in Ohio. The news podcast. Discussion from cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. I’m Chris g Quinny. I’m here with Laura Johnston, Lisa Garvin, and Leila Tassi. We got some good stuff to talk about.
Let’s. To it. The rumblings became a true surprise. Tuesday. As the early choice for Ohio House speaker lost to a guy who built a coalition of Republican and Democratic votes like Householder did. Four years ago. The new speaker ranked high in our annual Sleepy Awards as nicest lawmaker. But also as the lobbyist friend.
Lisa: Who is he? Lisa. His name is Jason Stevens. He’s the Republican from Lawrence County. He was elected 54 to 43 as the Ohio House speaker with a coalition of Democrats and, and, uh, Republicans. All 32 Democrats in the house voted for him, and 22 [00:01:00] Republicans did as well. This was an upset because we reported yesterday, apparently erroneously that Derek Maron from Toledo was going to be.
Beaker. He got all of his 43 votes were from Republicans. He was selected in November during a closed door caucus vote, and there was a third candidate that dropped out and gave his votes to Maron. So I guess that’s why they thought he had the inside track. But you know, the worry is, you know, with Maron is that he might move.
An already right-leaning house further to the right. But Jason Stevens, of course, you know the house speaker is very powerful. They get to decide which bills get voted on and which dying committee or move through committee. He can servee though until his 2029 term limits, you know, so he’s termin limited in 2029, so he would’ve been house speaker longer than Marin.
House minority leader Alison Russo, the Democrat from Columbus says they decided to support Stephen’s only two hours before the vote was cast. Uh, they said there was no grand deal [00:02:00] made, but there was a lot of talk and discussion in areas of disagreement and agreement.
Chris: Uh, it sounds like everybody likes him.
I mean, that’s why he was voted, uh, whatever Third most friendly I, I do worry about the shades of Larry Householder. Larry Householder put together a coalition of Democrats and Republicans to take the speakership away. He was also very close to lobbyists, especially with First Energy, and it’s worrisome that this.
In the voting, which is done by legislators and people familiar at the State House was identified as somebody who’s really close to lobbyists, we’re gonna have to do some homework to figure out, you know, which ones in which industries. But he’s also being called a moderate. So is is, is that a good sign that maybe when they start talking about abortion, In the house.
It won’t be on the ridiculous fringe of it that they’ll be looking for a solution that Ohio might embrace.
Lisa: It’ll be interesting to see, and we, I don’t know [00:03:00] much about him. I’m sure you guys have, you know, a dossier on this guy, but I’m sure we’ll be digging into his past votes and, and that kind of thing.
So I’m just gonna take the benefit of the doubt right now. He sounds like a better choice than Marin would’ve been just based on ideology alone.
Chris: Yeah, the I, although the Democrats, I think greatly regretted what they did with householder, and I saw some chatter yesterday from people saying, don’t you remember what happened the last time you did this?
Uh, I, I think it’s inter, we were all kind of surprised at Maron, right? Because he’s. Young guy, newcomer stride in as hell. Um, and I wonder if people just got more afraid of that kind of stride sea in the State House and wanted to go with somebody who’s more congenial.
Crickets. No, no congeniality in the State House. . Uh, it was a, it was a fascinating turn of events that was in the shadows. What happened nationally? You’re [00:04:00] listening to today in Ohio, the Vote for You House. House speaker featured some big time turnabout, and a prominent Ohioan played a prominent role. How did Congressman Jim.
Figure into the machinations. Layla,
Leila: Jim Jordan. On Tuesday, he, he stood before his colleagues in Congress and delivered this speech to support Kevin McCarthy from California as the house speaker. But then moments later, Congress, Congressman Matt Kates from Florida gets up and says, wait a minute. Maybe Jordan is the best person for the job, and he called him the most talented, hardest working member of the Republican conference and basically said, you know who, but Jordan has the guts to stand up to lobbyists in special interests.
So the next thing you know, a small handful of his colleagues are voting for Jordan, and that’s enough to. Disrupt Kevin McCarthy’s path to victory. He needed 218 votes to win the speakership. So the Republican majority split its votes between McCarthy. He got 203 votes. Arizona’s, Andy Bigs got [00:05:00] 10, Jordan got six with, and then single votes for Indiana’s gym banks and, and former New York.
Representative Lee Zelda, um, and, and Florida’s Byron Donalds. So it should be noted that, you know, all of the Ohio Republicans backed McCarthy, uh, including Jordan and all of the Democrats supported Hakeem Jeffries from New York. He got 212 votes, but the magic number here is two 18. So all of that chaos just kind of continued through multiple rounds of voting Tuesday with Jordan.
Actually getting more votes with each, each, each time. And he’s siphoning them from McCarthy. So they called it a day yesterday. They’re gonna reconvene today, I believe, at noon after the Republicans get their act together. But apparently this is, you know, the first time the house has gone to multiple ballots to elect a speaker in a hundred years with this group of ultra conservatives, stymieing, McCarthy’s, bed, and, and they can’t do anything else until they choose a speaker.
Everything’s grinding to halt right now.
Chris: Yeah, we’re, we’re [00:06:00] seeing history be made. I mean, there are people who have been born and died. This has never happened and it, I had read an analysis early in the day that speculated that Jordan would be proposed and, but, but with no thought that he could win. He can’t get the votes, but it was to increasingly show the weakness of McCarthy.
Leading to ultimately another choice. What I think we have a, a rare moment if, if we had one decent leader in the center in Washington, this would be a chance for moderate Republicans like Dave Joyce to reach out to moderate Democrats and say, look. Let’s pick somebody together. It would have to be Republican cuz they have the the votes or somebody that’s not in Congress, which is allowed and get the French people out of the conversation.
We can get some stuff done. Let’s show America. We know how to work together. Let’s unite behind somebody. Let’s create our centrist agenda and work with the president in the very close Senate to get it done. This is the moment you don’t, [00:07:00] we won’t have another moment like this probably for a long, long time, but it.
Reaching out and what you got yesterday was the Democrats reveling in the dysfunction of the Republicans, which is a shame. Yeah, and
Leila: I, I, I agree. These ultra conservatives, I think, are pushing others toward the center. The only way to get past this is, is to reach across the aisle and come up with a solution.
Chris: Well, it’s a Dave Joyce moment, right? Dave Joyce is seen as moderate, even though he votes pretty far to the right and, and he participates in bipartisan conversations. So do it Dave Joyce. Go reach out to the people you deal with on the Democratic side and and suggest somebody get it going. There’s not gonna be another moment.
Yeah, and think what you could do if you had Republicans and Democrats working together. God forbid. When’s the last time that happened, Lisa? It was probably pre-Bill Clinton.
Lisa: Well, right.
Chris: All right. It’s, uh, it’s, they get [00:08:00] back together to vote at noon today, right? I think so, yeah. So we’ll have more drama out of the, out of Washington today.
Whe back in 1923, Lela, I think it went weeks right? Or longer.
Leila: I don’t know though. I don’t know actually. What is the story behind that? Do
Chris: you know? I, I think it went a long time. It was not something that they resolved in a couple of days. You’re listening to today in Ohio. Speaking of Larry Householder, whose trial starts in just weeks, we had another revelation about first energy’s illegal and deceptive practices.
Tuesday and Laura, it came with another large fine. What’s the story?
Laura: Yeah, yeah, a large fine, but probably isn’t that large to First Energy, 3.9 million because First Energy failed to disclose nearly 94 million in lobbying and support of legislation. Now at the center of the House, bill six scandal, so this was a.
This came out of a consent agreement signed last Friday. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said, first Energy in 2019 and [00:09:00] 2020 withheld this information from it about lobbying payments regarding HB six millions of dollars in payments to Householder. And Sam Randazzo, the former chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Ohio, who has not been charged and.
Maintains that he did nothing wrong. So remember, WHE after Householder was arrested, four other people, four allies first, energy provided regulators with information about its lobbying efforts, and those records say it spent nearly seven 94 million pushing for the bill that was including 71 million to 5 0 1 nonprofits.
Those are the ones that get the dark money. 22.8 million to Renzo. So, yeah, I, you, you gotta wonder, we’re getting this revelation now, two and a half years after this broke. What else we’re gonna find out in the trial? Well,
Chris: I, this is just further evidence in my mind that first energy felt it could do anything it wanted because it had the house speaker in its pocket.
They, they didn’t have to follow [00:10:00] any rules. They didn’t have to disclose anything that’s required, and they just had the worst possible behavior you could imagine. And I think we’re gonna learn more. It as the trial goes on, Jake Zuckerman’s gonna cover that thing, gavel to gavel, and I’m expecting there’ll be revelations on a fairly regular basis about what the hell was going on in Ohio Government.
It gets back to the new choice of how speaker, if he’s really the friend of the lobbyist, that should be a concern.
Laura: Yeah, that does raise a red flag. I mean, first energy earned more than 11 billion in revenue in 2021. This is years after, you know, uh, house Bill six. And remember, they entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice.
They admitted to paying nearly $60 million to a nonprofit secretly controlled by householder, but I mean, they weren’t even fessing up then facing criminal charges to the full
Chris: amount. Yeah. A, a very scummy situation with them. It’d be interesting to [00:11:00] see who from First Energy is called to testify in the Householder trial, given that the utility has pleaded guilty to paying bribes to him.
It’s, that’s
Laura: a really good question because those people so far have not been charged.
Chris: Okay. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has a series of bills awaiting his signature, including the ridiculous move to declare natural gas, green energy. He pulled out his pen for the easy work Tuesday. Lisa, what did he sign into? Law
Lisa: Senate Bill 2 88. A 1000 page. Legislation that was signed into law yesterday by Governor DeWine.
It, uh, it had overwhelming support in the legislature. It’s one of the biggest criminal code changes in decades. Uh, DeWine, as he signed yesterday, said, Ohio may not agree with every part of the bill, but everybody’s opinions were heard. So some of the highlight. Of this bill, it reduces the maximum punishment for underage [00:12:00] drinking from six months and a thousand dollars fine to 60 days and a $500 fine.
Um, uh, it requires a minimum five year sentence for a vehicular homicide that involves fire or EMS personnel. This, of course, stems from the November death of Cleveland Fireman, Johnny Terick, who was killed while directing traffic on I 90 around an accident. It decriminalizes. Test strips that are currently listed as drug paraphernalia, and you can get 30 days in jail for that.
Also, you can, if you were convicted of possessing marijuana paraphernalia that can be expunged from your criminal record and it’s re removed from the list of disqualifying offenses for jobs in certain industries. Um, one that was kind of troublesome to. Um, it creates a 10th amendment center in the Attorney General’s office to monitor federal executive orders for abuse and overreach.
Chris: Yeah, that was the, the . That’s because Dave [00:13:00] Yos keeps intervening in other states’ affairs and other lawsuits, and he wants to have , an official imprimatur about it. It was pretty clear Mike DeWine was gonna sign this bill. This is not one that anybody had suggested he wouldn’t. Um, and it goes along with a secondary kind of law enforcement bill having to do with texting and driving.
Which will now be a more serious offense.
Lisa: That’s correct. Uh, before you could not be pulled over for a primary offense of distracted driving. You know, they could only ticket you if you were pulled over for something else, so now they can actually pull you over for that as a primary offense. Um, there are certain exceptions, like if you’re making an emergency call or you know, public safety officials making a work call if you’re stopped or pulled over or at a red light if you’re on the speaker phone, as long as you’re not holding the phone.
So, there are several exceptions to this, but yeah, you better be careful if you’re gonna be holding your phone up so everyone can see it, cuz [00:14:00] you can now get pulled over for.
Chris: It’ll be interesting to see what happens with some of these other bills. There have been some requests that he pull out the veto pen.
We’ll see if he does. He doesn’t do it often. It’s today in Ohio. DeWine was busy Tuesday. He also fired a shot across the bow with the sports gambling companies that are blitzing Ohio with advertisements. Sports gambling became legal on Sunday. Layla, what is he warning the company’s about? So these
Leila: comments came during a conversation with reporters.
This week, governor DeWine spoke out against the, the gambling companies that appear to be towing the line with their advertising. They’re not supposed to be sending advertisements to underage customers or, or advertising your college campuses. He pointed to the $350,000 fine that the Ohio Casino Control Commission wants to bring against DraftKings for mailing.
You know, thousands of advertisements to people under the age of 21 Bar Stool. Sportsbook also was issued a notice of violation earlier in December because of some event [00:15:00] that they held at the University of Toledo’s campus. So DeWine then took issue with the company’s promotions, offering free bedding credits.
He says that those offers are very misleading. And aren’t what they appear to be. You have to read the fine print to realize that, and DeWine said he wants gambling companies to, to heed his warning that that breaking the rules is not gonna be tolerated in Ohio, and that he personally is ensuring that the Casino control commission is on top of
Lisa: this.
Chris: Yeah, I wish he would’ve offered some examples of what he thought was wrong. Yeah. Because I have not seen ads from the gambling companies that I thought were deceptive. I, you know, I’m not under 21, so I can’t speak to getting ads for people under 21, but the, but what I’ve seen seems like what you see in other states, and it’s the mad dash to get those first time betters.
Uh, and he didn’t offer any examples. Right, right.
Leila: Yeah. He. Reporters pressed him for that because he did say, you know, we’ve seen this happen several times already. And they were like, well, like for example, [00:16:00] what? And he wouldn’t say, so I don’t know if he was just sort of hyperbolizing, a little bit, but, um, yeah, he, he just pointed to the DraftKings case, as you know, example number one.
Chris: and look, it’s a good idea to, to let everybody know we’re, we’re gonna follow the law and we’re watching you, and you better follow the law. He signed the bill so he’s not against right. Sports gambling. He, he could have vetoed the bill if he were, but, but the fact that they’re telling everybody, and from what you can see, the sports gambling c.
Or paying attention. Yeah, there’s lots of disclaimers and this is the
Leila: time to come out strong though and make sure that they understand that the cons Casino Control Commission is, is going to be watching. I mean, I think that, you know, it’s, it’s probably appropriate for ‘em to just send the message and otherwise, you know, you might lose control.
So.
Chris: Well, I, and I wonder too about gambling addiction. It that, I wonder if the governor is worried that all sorts of people are being [00:17:00] induced to gamble for the first time, who might not know that they have a gambling addiction potential, and that suddenly we’re gonna see a big increase in those kind of cases where people.
Their lives. I, I don’t know if there have been studies done in states where sports gambling has been legalized. Uh, has there been a big increase in gambling addiction cases, but we’ll have to see. Mm-hmm. , it’s today in Ohio. One more about the governor reporter Jeremy Pelzer put together a piece looking at the legacy of DeWine as he heads into what are sure to be his final years in office.
With no more need to seek approval from the voters. What does Jeremy say we might expect from the governor in his second term? Laura,
Laura: he wants to focus on things that will outlast him. Things like mental health services, kids, and education. The common thread is that all of these problem policy proposals, Are going, it is going to require money to accomplish.
He needs support from the legislature, which as you, I’m sure [00:18:00] remember, didn’t go along with his strong Ohio gun reform plan. So he can have all the plans, he wants to get the money to make them happen. He’s going to need some help. So, uh, if mental health in, in late November, DeWine out outline that’s, Outlined a broad plan to improve the mental health system.
He wants to expand the services and research in the state, remove barriers to young people getting mental health training and jobs. We don’t know exactly how much that will cost, but we should find out soon In his two year budget education, he puts hand in hand with job training. He wants Ohio to learn more companies like Intel, but he also believes in the importance of early childhood education, and that’s been a long term, uh, priority of him.
While he’s been governors to, to put more money toward that and for kids, he’s proposed a sweeping set of changes to expand Medicaid eligibility and publicly funded childcare for lower incomes. Ohio mental health resources goes along with that. For postpartum mothers. He wants to boost foster care spending.
Chris: So I wonder whether if he [00:19:00] had another crisis like the coronavirus, whether he would stick to his guns now that he doesn’t have to seek reelection or cave again to the fringe elements of his party. We talked a lot during the pandemic in the early months about how dedicated he was to following the public.
Advice. Then Amy Acton was gone and he seemed to be kowtowing to the fringe people who didn’t want any regulations whatsoever. Did Jeremy have any sense of whether he now, because he doesn’t have to answer and anybody will just do what he wants to do.
Laura: I, it, it didn’t really, the story didn’t really concentrate on that, but I had the exact same thought because he has been, you know, he’s 75 years old.
He’s gonna be sworn again on January 9th, so he’d be 79 when he leaves office. He’s held political office for the better part of five decades. County prosecutors, state lawmaker, Congressman, Lieutenant Governor. Us Senator, state Attorney General, and now governor, and you’ve gotta think like, he’s just gonna be like, this is [00:20:00] it, guys.
This is the pinnacle of my career. I’m gonna do what I think is right and I’m gonna push for it. Now, obviously, he hasn’t brought back those gun reforms that he originally pushed for in his last term, but I hope to see him stand up and say, this is what you’re gonna get. I don’t have to. Compromise. I mean, I, I want him to work with other people, but I do want him to stand up for what he thinks is right, regardless of what the little loons in the State House think.
Chris: I thought I was the only one that called him loons. You’re listening to today in Ohio. People might remember a company from some years back called Things Remembered, which sold all sorts of knickknacks that could be engraved. It was founded in Cleveland and news came Tuesday. That all but spells its demise.
Lisa, what was it?
Lisa: Yeah, I’m sorry to hear about this. I’m actually s. Staring at a clock that was given to me by my, uh, coworkers at K U H F when I left. And it’s from things remembered. It has a little engraved plate. So it’s been a, a big part of a lot of [00:21:00] people’s lives for several decades. But things remembered as a national retailer.
They’re closing their Richmond Heights corporate offices on Curtis Wright Parkway and their distribution center in Mahoney. They sent a layoff notice to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services saying that 160 workers will be let go this month, including over 50 of them in Richmond Heights. The company website is down.
Anyone who goes to that address will be redirected to things remembered Amazon Page. This was founded back in 1966 by. Coal. It was called a Can-Do Shop. It was in Louisville, Kentucky, and it offered engraving while you wait, which was what Things Remembered is known for. You could buy anything there and have it engraved while you wait.
Um, in 2019 they filed chapter 11 and they were bought out by a, a group called esco. They kept some stores open under the things remembered brand, but many stores have closed since then. So this is kind of sad news. I also just bought a Things Remembered [00:22:00] Flask at a thrift store the other day. . Not my initials, but I had
Chris: I had no idea. It’s Cleveland Connection. All the news that I didn’t either
Laura: saw the stuff it, I didn’t either. And I remember this, you know, at the mall growing up and you’d want it, it was, it was a big part of, that’s where you went and got gifts for people, right? Like little jewelry boxes or, uh, something silver engrave for a baby when they were born.
Or a first communion gift or blankets embroidered and. Yeah, I mean, I had a monogram bracelet. I, I do think that people feel very fondly about this store. Mm-hmm. , and it shows in our, uh, rankings for stories. This has stayed in the top for the la the, the last day since Sean McDonald. This is, uh, published.
This things
Leila: remembered is the ultimate last minute gift. Stop. . You need something that’s said to me. It’s, it seems so thoughtful, but they don’t realize you went that day and had it engraved with like, you know, that’s at the mall. Greatest mall love, you know, whatever . [00:23:00] So
Chris: see, I looked at it as the place you go, I have no idea what to get this person.
I’ll go there
Leila: and slap their name on it. It looks so personal. Yeah, look. Well, it was great
Lisa: for corporate gifts too. You know, a lot of corporations will go in and buy several things for their employees.
Chris: So, yeah. Yeah. I know. I just, it’s sad that, that, that it’s collapsing the way it has. Um, and somehow all these years I had missed its Northeast Ohio connection.
It’s a good story by Show McDonald. It’s on cleveland.com. You’re listening to today in Ohio. One of the biggest stories out of the holiday season was the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange amid allegations of fraud and embezzlement. Did Ohio Senator, she Brown, see it coming in his role as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee?
Leila?
Leila: Yeah. It appears he did. He is. He’s been loudly sounding the alarm against cryptocurrency for quite a while. Really prophetically at at this July, 2021 hearing on cryptocurrency. He said there’s [00:24:00] nothing democratic or transparent about a shady diffuse network of online funny money. And since then, as you said, Chris ftx.
You know, they were previously valued at 32 billion, but they’ve been forced to file for bankruptcy after a run on deposits. Left it with an 8 billion shortfall, and that caused huge losses for investors. The run was triggered by a report that questioned the stability of. An affiliated company, Alameda Research, whose finances are really entwined with ftx.
So Brown says, you know, duh, predictable. He said, the collapse of FTX is, is a loud warning bell that cryptocurrencies can fail. And just like we saw with over-the-counter derivatives that led to a financial crisis. , these failures can have a ripple effect on consumers in other parts of our financial system.
He says, FTX failed to exercise basic corporate controls or risk management over its operations, and they improperly relied on their own proprietary crypto [00:25:00] tokens, which led to inflated valuations that that fueled irresponsible risk taking. He Brown has asked treasury secretary Janet Yellen and, and other federal financial regulators to take a look at how to regulate cryptocurrencies and the role that they play in the US economy.
He says it if, if it behaves like securities, commodities or banking products, they need to be regulated.
Chris: Well, I, it, it always seemed like a Ponzi scheme to be, but my favorite moment in this whole sorted affair over the past few years is that everybody claimed that cryptocurrency allowed you to transact business anonymously.
And then lawmakers and, and law of, uh, officers figured out actually it doesn’t. And they were able to tie all sorts of people to terrible misdeeds because, Eminently traceable. So what is the point, right? I mean, I just, it seems like it’s exactly what she says it is. It’s a shady way of, of conducting business, and people have lost [00:26:00] their shirts, investing in it.
There’s nothing tangible at the other end. If you invest in a stock, there’s a company behind the stock. This is just. Dandy lion seeds floating in the wind. I know. Uh, interesting that she will have a key role in regulating who
Leila: would trust their money to a system like this. Well, but
Lisa: correct me if I’m wrong, but if I recall, didn’t Ohio said that they were gonna accept cryptocurrency for payment for certain fines?
Am I misremembering?
Laura: Yeah, I think it was a Dave Yo special,
Chris: right? No, it was after. No, no, it was, it was after Bernie Moreno kind of fooled Cleveland into thinking it could be the center of of block blockchain. Um, he got the state to, to do that for a while. I don’t even know if they do it anymore as a sign that we’re all in on blockchain.
So yes. Lisa , we were part of the Ponzi scheme. . It’s today in Ohio. We’ve been hearing for years about robotic competitions in local schools. They constantly beg for attention [00:27:00] from the media, but this is a different kind of robotics story. How have some high school students in Cleveland and a nonprofit.
Created robotics that are changing the life of a girl in Ecuador. Laura,
Laura: this is so cool. Such a great story from Julie Washington. Samantha Chango is 13. She had her left la left arm amputated as a result of a bus accident, so she had nerve damage and in her, in her right arm that was. That left her unable to move that arm and she wiggle her fingers or open and close her hand.
So this team at Cleveland Metropolitan School District, uh, has, you know, they’re a robotics team. They were used to building industrial size robots for competitions, and they actually got in touch with this girl through MA helps a California based nonprofit that organizes medical humanitarian missions around the world.
That was because of. A mentor of, uh, John Dar Bradshaw. He was at this meeting with them, so he brought it back. [00:28:00] There’s 60 kids in this group and said, okay, let’s figure out how to do this. So they needed to learn how to use a 3D printer and make a prosthetic arm fit properly on a person thousands of miles away.
Chris: Yeah, I gotta acknowledge, I’m very jaded about robotics press releases. I barely look at them anymore because we get bombarded with them. So when this actually turned out to be an interesting story, I was surprised.
Laura: Yeah, exactly. And, and I think it’s, I mean, I gotta give credit to a bunch of high school kids that understand robots.
I mean, that to me sounds crazy. Anyway, but, uh, they do. And so they, they got these photos and videos of Samantha, along with her measurements. They modified an open source model of a prosthetic arm. They found it online. They used lightweight plastic that could be softened in boiling water and then reshaped so they could make these small fit adjustments pretty easily.
So one part, Fits on top of Samantha’s existing hand, and then she has a small cable attached to straps on her back. So she moves her shoulders back. She can pull the [00:29:00] cable, close the plastic fingers, so she got all of this dexterity and ability that she didn’t have before. And so the robotics team wants to keep doing this design and deliver more prosthetics to needy kids in Cleveland and across the.
Chris: Okay, good story. It’s today in Ohio. That’s it for our Wednesday episode. All Eyes will be in Washington today to see if we come up with a house speaker, and in Ohio. We’ll be watching to see what Jim Jordan’s role is. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks Layla. Thank you for listening. We’ll be back on Thursday.
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