If you’ve driven an interstate highway through Michigan, you’ve been bombarded with billboards for weed. The state approved recreational marijuana five years ago and the ads immediately proliferated, with competing companies boasting homegrown products, free delivery and puns. (“Stop by and say high!”) That’s in part because federal laws make advertising marijuana illegal on TV and radio. Detroit is cracking down on billboards near schools, parks, libraries and more, in part because schools are seeing widespread cannabis use in kids. But Ohio won’t have the billboard problem because the state – where dispensaries were allowed to begin selling to adults aged 21 and older on Aug. 6 – has no plans to allow billboard advertising for pot. At least one advocate calls the ban an unfair limit on free speech. — Laura |
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A proposed rules package would allow pre-rolled joints to be sold in Ohio. (Laura Hancock, cleveland.com file photo) |
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Marijuana rules: Ohio will not look like the borderlands of Michigan, with dozens of billboards along the highways advertising dispensaries, under a new rules package proposed by the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control. The proposed rules prohibit advertising on billboards, radio or television, on the internet, or other ways “with a high likelihood of reaching persons under the age of 18,” reports Laura Hancock. The rules package also allows pre-rolled joints and makes other changes to Ohio’s new recreational marijuana program. Nuclear contamination: At least 78 gallons of water containing radioactive chemicals were spilled at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Lake County in 2024, according to a voluntary report from its parent corporation, Texas-based Vistra Corp. Zachary Smith reports that “manipulation of a lid upon a container holding radiological waste” in an outdoor area spilled “contaminated water from the container” onto the ground of the Lake County facility. Vistra described that figure as a “conservative” estimate. Child welfare: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine last week expanded a fellowship program helping solve workforce shortages in child welfare offices, but Cuyahoga County, which has struggled to fill hundreds of vacancies over the years, didn’t make the list, reports Kaitlin Durbin. DeWine announced a $2 million investment to expand the Child Protective Services Fellowship Program, which allows college seniors majoring in human services-related fields to work part-time at county public children services agencies. Today in Ohio: Are the two Intel microchip plants east of Columbus at risk? We’re talking about the company, the factories and the CHIPS act on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Data centers: Amazon Web Services intends to invest an estimated $10 billion to bolster its data center infrastructure in Ohio, creating hundreds of new, well-paying jobs by the end of 2030 and strengthening the state’s role as a major technology hub, reports Robert Higgs. The company, along with the Ohio governor’s office, announced the plan Monday. The investment is on top of more than $23 billion the company already committed to spending in the state by the end of the decade. Legislator pay increase: Before Ohio lawmakers wrap up their two-year legislative session this week, they may pass a last-minute measure giving pay raises to themselves and most other state, county, and township elected officials, Jeremy Pelzer reports. New jobs: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Monday 14 projects that will receive tax credits, which promise to create 1,202 new jobs and retain 2,978 jobs statewide. Laura Hancock reports the Ohio Tax Credit Authority reviewed the proposals brought by JobsOhio, the state’s economic developer that uses bonds from liquor revenues to entice companies to Ohio, and its regional partners. FirstEnergy: Newly released documents show that former FirstEnergy executive Dennis Chack was fired for lying about and backdating a contract to a politically connected vendor who was simultaneously paying Chack’s daughter $500,000, reports Jake Zuckerman. FirstEnergy fired Chack, its senior vice president of branding and marketing, largely without explanation in October 2020. |
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OD alerts: The state’s prescription drug monitoring program will now alert healthcare providers about patients who have experienced a non-fatal overdose, reports Olivia Mitchell. The alerts are a part of the state’s plan to combat fatal overdoses and opioid addiction. In 2023, Ohio saw a 9% decrease in overdose deaths from the previous year. Emergency food: Cuyahoga County scrambled to help residents replenish food supplies after two tornados caused widespread power outages over the summer. Officials don’t want to be caught unprepared again. Kaitlin Durbin reports the county’s Board of Control unanimously approved a $45,000 contract on Monday to establish a Crisis Recovery Food Response Fund to help keep residents fed during future disaster events. Hospital site: Lakewood City Council was expected to vote Monday night on a $115 million mixed-use development project to build a nearly 300-unit apartment complex, over 30,000 square feet of retail space and a 17,000-square-foot public plaza on the former Lakewood Hospital site, Cory Shaffer reports. Earthworks: Central Ohio’s spectacular Octagon Earthworks, off-limits to the public for more than a century while it operated as a private golf course, will open for visitation starting Jan. 1, reports Susan Glaser. The opening in Newark follows a legal settlement between the Ohio History Connection and Moundbuilders Country Club earlier this year. |
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VeloSano: The Cleveland Clinic’s VeloSano Cancer Research Accelerator Fund raised a record-high $29 million in 2024, reports Julie Washington. Bike to Cure weekend, held each September in downtown Cleveland, is the Clinic’s main cancer research fundraising event. |
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Baseball cards theft: A Brunswick man who stole $2.1 million in vintage baseball cards from a Strongsville hotel will spend at least the next four years behind bars. James Paxton, 27, was sentenced Monday to between four to six years in prison for swiping cards of Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Cy Young, Roberto Clemente and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, among others, Lucas Daprile reports. Death investigation: Police are investigating the cause of death for a man found dead inside of a vehicle Sunday in the city’s Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner identified the man as Vadym Fedorchuk, 42, of Seven Hills, reports Olivia Mitchell. |
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Classic CLE: A popular West Side spot since the late 1930s, the Tick Tock Tavern was purchased by the brothers Tripodis in the early 1990s. Rather than go for a full upgrade of the space, they tackled Tick Tock with a DIY attitude and approach – something that further endeared the place to its melting pot audience, Peter Chakerian reports. Ask Lucas: If twigs and leaves fall on your side of the fence when your neighbor trims a hedge, who has to clean them up? Lucas Daprile writes that in the short term you should probably just pick up the prickly leaves. But then, get even. Every once and a while, just chuck something else over there. George Clinton: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee George Clinton and the current iteration of Parliament-Funkadelic are hitting the road this winter “Just For the Funk of it” and they’ll be funking at the MGM Northfield Park on Feb. 8. Clinton is known as the mastermind behind the many strains of the P-Funk mob that were a huge influence on R&B and funk, and have been sampled by hip-hop and pop producers for decades, Malcolm X Abram reports. One Star Bar: One Star Bar has officially opened to add to Lakewood’s roster of approachable neighborhood hangouts, reports Alex Darus. One Star Bar, 13601 Detroit Ave., opened on Sunday during the Browns game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Large TV screens, two large bars with ample lounge seating and plenty of comfort food made it the ideal opening day for the ultimate game-viewing spot. 'Superman': The first trailer for “Superman” is set to premiere this week and Joey Morona writes that the big question for local fans is how much Cleveland will be in it? Sparkling wine: Still looking for your New Year’s Eve sparkling wine? Try a curated collection of local and international bubbles at the Sparkling Soiree held Darkroom Brewing in Geneva, reports Paris Wolfe. |
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