CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio is one step closer to having a high-stakes redistricting reform amendment on the November ballot after backers submitted hundreds of thousands of voter signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office on Monday.
We’re talking about the future of our government on Today in Ohio.
Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.
You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.
You can now join the conversation. Call 833-648-6329 (833-OHTODAY) if you’d like to leave a message we can play on the podcast.
Here’s what else we’re asking about today:
The deadline was looming as we started this week. Did former Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and others seeking to end gerrymandering meet the signature deadline to get a question on the ballot to end gerrymandering?
We’re soon to head into the July 4 holiday, which for many will be a 4-day weekend. So let’s talk travel for a few minutes. First, how crowded will people find the airports and highways?
I doubt people are heading to Ireland for the 4th, but we do have a direct flight to Ireland these days. What great news was announced Monday for people who take that flight?
We have the flight to Ireland, but we’re about to lose an international flight that we have had more a quarter century or more. Where to, and why is it going away?
The rates that Ohio employers pay for workers compensation insurance are dropping to lows this state has not seen since, well, probably before we had that flight to Toronto. How low are they, and why have they been dropping?
Getting anything passed in Washington D.C. these days is a challenge, but Congresswoman Emilia Sykes is pushing for something she hopes might save some lives. What’s her proposal?
How long did Tim Loehman, the killer of Tamir Rice, last in his latest job as a police officer, in West Virginia?
How many degree programs has Cleveland State University suspended for the incoming fall class, why were they chosen and why is CSU taking such strong action?
Let’s finish with the Fourth. Fireworks are legal in Ohio these days, unless the town where you live prohibits them, as many do. Fire officials fought the legalization, saying the errant fireworks burn down houses. In the first two years that fireworks have been legal, did we see a resulting increase in fires?
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Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.
Chris (00:01.562)
going to do something unusual to start this podcast, which I’ll get to in a minute. It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from Cleveland .com and The Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn. I’m here with Lisa Garvin, Laura Johnston and Laila Tasi. And because the whole world is talking about the Supreme Court ruling yesterday, I’m just going to open the floor to say, go ahead, talk about the Supreme Court ruling yesterday. Lisa, you had some thoughts before we started.
Lisa (00:26.83)
Yeah, this is pretty horrifying. I mean, basically what it does is it allows the Supreme Court to decide what is an official act and what is an unofficial act. And with the Supreme Court we have now, we know how they’re going to rule against democratic presidents. It’s pretty, pretty scary. This is, you know, anyone who’s a constitutional originalist should be shaking their heads right now because this is far from originalist.
Chris (00:53.722)
Dara Layley, you’re just terrified about what the future holds.
Leila (00:56.891)
God. Go ahead, Laura.
Laura (00:58.318)
I was just going to say, you were just talking about the podcast and it’s just like, I would like to believe in this sunny summer holiday week that everything is just going to be fine, like in this little bubble, but you’re right. It’s terrifying.
Chris (01:15.354)
Leiva.
Leila (01:18.423)
I, you know, I’ve been so, the last week in general has been just awful. It almost makes me emotional to think about where we’re headed, what lies ahead, how awful this is going to be if Trump is reelected. I am, I’m kind of, I’m flabbergasted.
Chris (01:47.61)
Let me let me offer a thought that you’re all going to disagree with and people who are listening are going to clobber me about but about the ruling yesterday, I do think that they’re trying to parse the Constitution. There is a method in the Constitution to criminalize a president’s actions and it’s the impeachment process, which if you get convicted in impeachment, you can then be tried criminally because of people like Rob Portman. We failed there. That’s
Leila (01:48.027)
I don’t know it.
Lisa (02:01.806)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (02:17.53)
The Constitution does have a criminality check against the president. On the other hand, it is a scary prospect because if Trump gets reelected, he has said he would do it. He would lock Joe Biden up for doing his duty. Joe Biden has not broken any laws. We all know that, but it wouldn’t matter because Trump has said, I’m going to weaponize the Justice Department and prosecute him. What the Supreme Court did yesterday,
Leila (02:22.139)
Mm -hmm.
Leila (02:32.539)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (02:44.186)
was parse that, that you cannot be charged for official acts only on official acts. You’re right, Lisa. It’s confusing as all get out. And I was glad to see Amy Coney Barrett call out the majority for the absurd finding that if a president takes a bribe to appoint somebody as an ambassador, you can mention the bribe in his criminal trial, but you can’t mention that he appointed the ambassador. That makes no sense. And I think in time we’ll go away. But Trump is dangerous.
Lisa (03:07.278)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (03:13.818)
He doesn’t care about the rule of law. This ruling protects future presidents from monsters like Trump.
Lisa (03:24.334)
But it consolidates power upward to the Supreme Court. So now the Supreme Court is no longer co -equal with the legislative and executive branches. It’s not.
Chris (03:36.026)
Yeah, they’re giving more power to the courts. But I think in this, what I was surprised by yesterday was, there seem like just very extreme statements made on both sides of this. That this ruling turns the president into a king, that there’s no accountability whatsoever. It’s the end of democracy as we know it. That’s one of the dissents said. And people on the right, you know, saying their nonsense about Trump. But I do think if you look at what they’re doing here,
It has ramifications that could be positive and protect presidents need to go about their duties without worried about being thrown in prison by those who follow them. And what Donald Trump has done is changed that whole game. He would throw everybody into prison. He is clearly going in if he gets elected with that 2025 plan where you only work in the government if you pledge loyalty to him, not to the nation. It is the most frightening prospect.
we’ve ever seen, he is a terrible human being that wants to end democracy. This is a bit of a protection, I think, for democracy, not so much the end of democracy. He can still be held accountable. What he did with the records in Mar -a -Lago, that was post -president. That’s not an official act of president. He can be charged criminally for that. He legally had documents that he wasn’t supposed to have and has been charged with it. But when he’s talking to the vice president about whatever,
They’re saying, you know, that’s part of his job. He shouldn’t be, you shouldn’t be able to criminalize it unless Congress impeaches him and convicts him. Rob Portman is the villain here. He’s the guy that voted not to convict them in the impeachment process. That’s where this should have been taken care of. Then he couldn’t even run. He’d be out. Okay, let’s get to the news on the agenda.
The deadline was looming as we started this week. Did former Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O ‘Connor and others seeking to end gerrymandering meet the signature deadline to get a question on the ballot to end gerrymandering? Lisa, our state government is as screwed up as anything on the national level. This is a possible way forward.
Lisa (05:45.838)
Yeah, and they got way more signatures than they needed. This is the Citizens Not Politicians anti -gerrymandering campaign. They got 731 ‚036 voter signatures that they gave to the Secretary of State’s office yesterday. And this is, of course, to reform the redistricting process in Ohio, take it out of the politicians’ hands, and put it in the hands of citizens. They only needed 413 ,487 valid signatures.
from half of Ohio’s 88 counties to qualify, and they’re pretty sure they’re there. Former Chief Justice Maureen O ‘Connor says the Ohio Republicans trampled on the rule of law and ignored multiple rulings from the Ohio Supreme Court over maps in the 2022 elections, and basically ignored the previous anti -jerrymandering changes that voters approved in 2015 and 2018.
But Connor says that those changes failed because politicians on the commission, on the redistricting commission, protected their party’s interests in drawing maps. So the Citizens Commission only wants fair districts. The Republicans, Connor admits, will still have the advantage in Ohio. She says, but we need to have an independent, nonpartisan, transparent process. So Senate, there is no organized opposition to this campaign just yet.
but Senate, Senator Matt Huffman came out swinging. His spokesman, John Fortney says, this should be called political outcomes over people and the panel will have zero accountability to the people and we’ll be left holding the bag of sprawling gerrymandered districts for radical leftists.
Chris (07:23.482)
Can you believe Matt Hoffman is calling what they might do gerrymandering when he absolutely defied the orders of the Supreme Court to do his job? This is a great day. I love Moran O ‘Connor. I wish he’d run for governor in two years because we need somebody that’s strong, that cares about democracy and the future of the state. There is going to be opposition. Frank LaRose has already spoken up against this in previous iterations of the news. But I think this is like issue one last August.
The common sense of Ohio will prevail. This will win in a big way. I was glad to see they had a collection of people at the announcement from all regions of the state and from both parties saying, look, this is common sense. We got to get these bums out of the process. They have completely failed us in their duties.
Lisa (08:05.102)
Mm -hmm.
Lisa (08:11.566)
Yeah, and you know, we’re expecting that this campaign will be very well funded and state Republicans are already seeking support from national donors to kill this ballot issue.
Chris (08:23.066)
But they did that with issue one last August where they were trying to close the constitution to voters so that we couldn’t change it. It didn’t work. The voters got it. And this is identical to that. They all failed to do their jobs. From Mike DeWine to the heads of both houses of the legislature, all of them, they failed. And everybody knows that. I think they’ll spend a lot of money. There’ll be a lot of ads. Nobody’s going to believe it. And it will damage them in the future. If Matt Huffman has statewide
aspirations. Every time he does something like this, we’re going to remember it. We will put it before the voters. He was a chief guy involved in issue one last year. He was a chief guy in trying to protect gerrymandering and wrecking the future of the state with the nonsense they pass. I think it’s a flawed thing. What they should do, they should get behind it. They should say, look, we’re for good government. It’s clear that the elected officials couldn’t get this done. We salute this effort and we champion
Moraine O ‘Connor, a Republican for leading the way. You are listening to Today in Ohio. We’re soon to head into the July 4th holiday for which many will be a four day weekend. So let’s talk travel for a few minutes. Leila, first, how crowded will people find the airports and the highways?
Leila (09:38.587)
Quite crowded it seems. AAA is expecting 70 .9 million people will travel 50 miles or more during the holiday week. That would surpass even pre -COVID -19 pandemic records with about an 8 % increase over 2019 figures. They say that the worst time to hit the road is in the middle of the day. On Wednesday and Thursday, for example, you’re going to want to travel before noon, while Friday and Saturday people should hit the road before 10 a and before 11 o ‘clock on Sunday.
AAA says that 60 .6 million people will be traveling by car while another 5 .74 million will be flying. TSA is also predicting record numbers saying that 32 million passengers are projected to fly from US airports between June 27th and July 8th. At Hopkins, they’re expecting 325 ‚000 departing and arriving passengers during the July 4th period. That’s an 11 % increase.
in passengers.
Chris (10:39.802)
I’m a little bit surprised the prediction for traffic on Wednesday afternoon. I guess that’s people turning it into a four and a half day holiday weekend. I would have thought that the bulk of the travel would be Thursday morning on the highway, but evidently not.
Chris (11:10.97)
you’re listening to Today in Ohio. I doubt people are heading to Ireland for the fourth, but we do have a direct flight to Ireland these days. Laura, what’s the great news that was announced Monday for people who take that flight?
Laura (11:22.798)
Well, they can now use the TSA pre -check program, which is going to save you some time while you’re traveling. You don’t have to take your shoes off. You can leave your laptop in your bag and you get your own separate check -in area, TSA area in Hopkins. It’s the one kind of in the middle of the hot of the airport with that cool sculpture above it. And I have to say, I’ve been using pre -check for years. So if you could do anything to make it easier, you, this is great, great news. So they’ll be able to use that because of they,
the airline didn’t have the TSA ability before. So now you can do that before you head to Ireland. It also added Air New Zealand, Ethiopian Airlines and Saudi in case you’re flying from some other airport because they don’t have those at Hopkins. But I’m sure you will, Chris, you don’t fly that much, but I’m sure you have pre check.
Chris (12:14.266)
yeah, I’ve had Precheck since you could first get it. What’s nice about this is if you’ve ever flown back from Ireland, they already have the system where you go through customs in Ireland before you even get back into this country. It’s very convenient, but not having the TSC Precheck just made it more of a problem. And I was surprised that an airline that big didn’t have it. It’s great to have it for anybody that doesn’t use that. You just add delays to your time in the airport.
Laura (12:24.462)
Mm -hmm.
Laura (12:43.214)
Yeah, absolutely. Totally worth it. And I do believe that kids, you can take kids under 16 who don’t have it. If you are traveling with your family and you have it, your kids don’t have to. So that’s always good news for families.
Chris (12:55.258)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Well, we do have the flight to Ireland. We’re about to lose an international flight that we’ve had for a quarter century or more. Where to and why is it going away, Laura?
Laura (13:06.446)
Well, you’re not going to get a flight to Toronto anytime soon. That’s because Air Canada is suspending it. This is a short flight. Most people aren’t taking it for a long weekend, although I guess you could. But it’s a lot of what people use to connect to destinations in Europe, Asia and throughout Canada, because that’s where Air Canada flies and they fly out of Toronto. Now, I know quite a few people who do fly out of Toronto, but they tend to drive there. Of course, that adds an extra five hours of could be really headache driving.
to plus having to park near Pearson. So if you wanted it to be smoother, you’d you’d fly the airlines that it was suspending the route for commercial reasons. Somebody that Susan Glaser talked to said they’re experiencing issues with aircraft availability. So they also canceled service to Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Hartford from Toronto. That begins October 13th. They hope to have flights back in May.
Chris (14:00.314)
I don’t know about you all, but for me, if a flight is five or four hours or whatever, if the drive to the airport is four or five hours, I’ll drive rather than take the flight because the odds of the flight getting screwed up and wrecking your trip are so high. And I have driven to Toronto for flights overseas. I didn’t find it to be problematic at all. And the idea of going to Hopkins and taking the jump to Toronto, we’ve all been there where you just watch the clock.
Laura (14:14.702)
Mm -hmm.
Chris (14:30.138)
turning and turning with the unending delays. So it’s not, I don’t think it’s a huge inconvenience to lose that one. It’s just interesting that it’s been there for so long and so successful evidently for so long and they’re cutting it off.
Laura (14:33.23)
Right.
Laura (14:43.79)
Right. For a long time, I wondered, is that why we’re in international airport? Because we fly to Canada. But we have our Dublin flight, so that’s protected. But they hope to get this back on. My neighbors are actually in Portugal. They flew out of Toronto. They found a much better flight than they could get through Hopkins. So they just did it that way and drove. I’m sure there are lots of other people doing their summer vacations if they’re going somewhere international, that they’re driving to the airport far away rather than flying.
Chris (14:48.602)
Ha.
Chris (15:14.746)
You are listening to Today in Ohio. Lisa, the rates that Ohio employers pay for workers compensation insurance are dropping to lows this state has not seen well, probably before we had that flight to Toronto. How low are they and why are they dropping?
Lisa (15:26.478)
Mm -hmm.
According to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation, private employers, the rate that they pay for workers compensation will drop 7 % on average as of yesterday. So this is already in effect. That will save them $67 million over the last year. Public employers will see a 3 .9 % drop on average down by about $4 million. So private employers now are paying 68 % less.
in workers’ compensation than 2011, the public employers are paying 57 % less to participate in the state workers’ comp program. Well, the reasons why are better workplace safety. For one, there are fewer workplace injuries, so fewer claims are being filed, and also there are lower estimated costs of medical care. So they were overestimating the cost of medical care.
So Governor Mike DeWine is applauding the culture of workplace safety that resulted in these rate reductions.
Chris (16:28.986)
I wonder if this is really about people working from home. If you’re not in the workplace a lot because of hybrid working, there’s far fewer opportunities to get hurt in the workplace. And I don’t think many people are following workers’ compensation claims because they fall at home.
Lisa (16:44.814)
That’s actually a good point that wasn’t brought up in the in their reasons why. So, but that is actually a very good point.
Chris (16:51.578)
I suspect that’s a big big part of the reason you’re listening to today in Ohio. Getting anything passed in Washington DC these days is a challenge we all know, but Congresswoman Amelia Sykes is pushing for something she hopes might save some lives. Laura, what’s her proposal?
Laura (17:08.878)
Well, and Amelia Sykes is representing Akron, right? And that’s where Jaylen Walker was killed two summers ago, right around this time. So she wants to provide police with better training. This is bipartisan legislation that she introduced and she wants to improve the community police relations so that they don’t have more tragedies like this. So under the legislation, the US Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, which is abbreviated to COPS, would create real life scenario based training
with curriculum for law enforcement to cover a wide range of the issues that police face every day. And that concludes situational awareness, physical and emotional responses to stress, critical decision -making and problem solving, de -escalation, use of force, and crisis intervention. The idea is that all these departments, and some of them are very small or rural, they don’t have the ability to pay for this kind of training. They don’t have access to it. So this would be
give it to them so that they are better prepared. They’ve been through the scenarios before so that they know what to expect and then they know the best way to respond rather than just thinking on their feet and maybe not making the best decision. So the idea is to build trust, give them experience, help them know the best practices so everybody’s better prepared and we don’t see the same kind of breakdowns that we saw with Jaylen Walker.
Chris (18:29.242)
You would hope that people on both sides of the aisle would support this, because how could you be opposed to police training that prevents the killing of people? But I bet this doesn’t get wide support.
Laura (18:33.006)
Mm -hmm.
Laura (18:41.934)
I hope so. I mean, it does have bipartisan support to start, which is good. And Republicans do have a history of supporting the police. This is supporting the police. Nobody wants to go through these awful situations. And it’s I mean, this is about better protection of everyone. If these police forces are better prepared, they’re going to better protect their citizens, all of them. And maybe this would increase.
people entering the force, right? If you feel like you’re going to be more supported and have better training and be better prepared, maybe that would be less scary for the idea of joining a police department in the first place.
Chris (19:17.786)
Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Well, for one officer that could have used that kind of training, we’re talking about Tim Lohman, the killer of Tamir Rice. How long did he last in his latest job as a police officer in West Virginia?
Leila (19:31.995)
Lohman didn’t last much longer than a couple days after we found out about it. Reporter Adam Farice caught word Monday that Lohman had resigned due to the public backlash over his hiring in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Just days earlier, it had become widely known that the police chief down there, D .S. Tobert, had had hired Lohman because he didn’t think that…
His fatal shooting of 12 year old Tamir Rice or the lying that eventually prompted Cleveland police to fire him were reasons to deprive Lohman of a job in law enforcement. This is the third time in six years that Lohman has resigned from a small police department shortly after he had been hired. He was hired and then left Bel Air, Ohio in 2018 and Tioga, Pennsylvania in 2023. And yeah, Tamir’s mother.
weighed in on this and said that she doesn’t know why he seems to resurface every other year or why any law enforcement agency would even look at hiring him. And I think that we on this podcast, I’ll agree with her on that point.
Chris (20:38.266)
I, you try to read between the lines on these kinds of things and you get the feeling that the mayor down in West Virginia landed on that police chief like a ton of bricks. She’s not saying that, but she’s kind of saying that this chief is, it was just crazy to do this because he was hiring as a police officer, somebody that got fired for dishonesty in Cleveland. That’s why he was fired here for lying on his job application.
Leila (20:51.323)
Yeah.
Chris (21:03.002)
Which discredits him every time he takes the stand in any kind of prosecution case. No prosecutor wants to have their chief witness have to admit under questioning, yes, I lost my job as a police officer because I lied. And yet this guy hired him anyway. It was bizarre. His reasoning saying, I think he deserves a second chance. I looked at all the evidence. Clearly he didn’t look at all the evidence. If he looked at all the evidence, there’s no way he would have hired him. And I’m betting the mayor went to him.
and said, what are you doing to us? You’re setting us up for major liability in civil cases by hiring this guy. Anything he does wrong, the damages will be triple or quadruple what they should have been because we hired him knowing about his history. Yes.
Leila (21:49.531)
Yeah, you’re right. The mayor did not come right out and say that in her statement, but it was clear that she put, she pointed all the fingers straight at the chief and what she did say. She kind of said, our chief made this decision and you know, she really subtly threw him under the bus in that way. And I think you’re right. If you read between the lines, you can tell that she was very dismayed by this and I’m sure.
had a lot to do with applying the pressure that led to Lohmann’s resignation.
Chris (22:22.298)
You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Lisa, how many degree programs has Cleveland State University suspended for the incoming fall class? Why were they chosen and why is CSU taking such strong actions?
Lisa (22:35.79)
Well, they’re looking at a really big deficit over the coming years, as are many public schools and universities across the nation and in Ohio. So CSU is suspending admissions to 42 degree programs this fall. 20 of them have either been retooled or eliminated due to low student demand. Some of the examples of retooling include putting all language majors into a new degree program, possibly called cultural studies, to eliminate silos.
and also combining environmental engineering, environmental studies, and environmental science master’s programs for a unified experience. The other 22 on the list were just added for review, so they’re undergoing that now. They also want to avoid degree duplication with other area schools, and they’ve been talking with other schools about that, and they want to be able to complement each other with degree programs rather than compete with each other. Also yesterday in the editorial board meeting we had with CSU officials,
They said that they’re revamping their general education core courses in the fall of next year. These are the courses that every student has to take. So it’s going to be replaced by a new streamlined inquiry core and the options will be slimmed down. The current core courses, they said, were last updated in 2008. The spring faculty and staff buyouts were just completed that saved the…
university about $11 .5 million this fiscal year. It should save them $27 million over two years. And the report that they were talking about, they’re estimating $153 million in losses over the next five years.
Chris (24:17.786)
I feel for CSU because here they are dealing with the same economic wins that every higher ed institution is almost. And they’re doing it alone. And we keep saying, wouldn’t it be great if a state leader got them together to help with an organized calling rather than leaving each institution to try and figure it out by themselves. If we had an organized approach to this, schools could be
Lisa (24:37.646)
Hmm.
Chris (24:46.298)
kept strong in the areas where they have strengths and other schools could pick up what their weaknesses are. But CSU has to do it by themselves. So they’re taking these very strong actions, trying to fortify themselves. But they’re not doing this in a vacuum. There’s a whole bunch of these state institutions in Ohio and they’re all doing the same thing.
Lisa (25:07.022)
And you’re right, I think they should all get together because basically they’re cannibalizing each other right now. So, you know, they really have to deal with this demographic cliff that we’ve all been facing. So, you know, fewer people going to college, people having fewer children, it’s all adding up to this. So, but they were very, they also said in their meeting with us yesterday is that they really want to focus on the region, Cleveland, Northeast Ohio. They still want to attract international students, but they really want to focus
on the students in this area and the needs of the professions and businesses in this area.
Chris (25:42.65)
I guess my question is, what’s the point of having a state department that oversees these institutions if it’s not going to step in when there’s a bona fide crisis like this? It just seems this is why you have that kind of a department to help coordinate these things. Yeah, maybe. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Let’s finish with the fourth. Fireworks are legal in Ohio these days unless the town where you live prohibits them.
Lisa (26:00.814)
Sounds like a possible editorial.
Chris (26:11.738)
and many do. Fire officials fought the legalization, saying the errant fireworks burned down houses. Lately, in the first two years that fireworks have been legal, did we see a resulting increase in fires?
Leila (26:25.787)
You know, it doesn’t seem that that’s necessarily true. But you’re right. So the change in law happened in 2021. That’s when consumer fireworks like firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles, they were suddenly legal in some municipalities and on private property during certain holidays, including 4th of July. But now Ohio safety officials are issuing the stern warning to everyone about the risks associated with fireworks because
While we might not be seeing this dramatic uptick in the numbers of fireworks related fires and injury, the stats are still alarming. I mean, fireworks caused 128 fires in Ohio last year, according to the Fire Marshal’s office. 22 of those incidents resulted in residential building fires, totaling nearly $700 ,000 in damages. Five years earlier in 2018, fireworks were identified for the cause of 24 building fires, resulting in an estimated
$340 ,000 in damages. 13 of those fires occurred in July that year. So far in 2024, there have already been 10 incidents leading to almost $10 ,000 in losses. Nationwide, the U .S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported eight deaths and about 9 ,700 injuries from fireworks last year, with nearly half of those happening to bystanders, including kids. And the National Safety Council especially advises against using fireworks
while impaired by drugs or alcohol. And while I hope it really goes without saying, the safety council says fireworks should be used only outdoors, away from people and away from flammable materials. So I don’t know who needs to hear this, but take note. Protective eyewear, bucket of water nearby, those are also precautions. And even it seems the harmless fireworks, air quotes, like sparklers,
Lisa (27:59.022)
Hehehehehe
Chris (27:59.162)
Hahaha
Leila (28:18.171)
can cause pretty serious injuries if they’re mishandled. I think every single one of my kids, you know, at some point touched the end of a cold, you know, expended sparkler and never did that again. But they suggest, they suggest using alternatives like glow sticks. And I’ll tell you, I’m not a fan of amateur backyard fireworks, but glow sticks are pretty poor replacement for sparklers.
Chris (28:44.122)
Are you all hearing in your neighborhoods fireworks already this week?
Lisa (28:47.47)
yeah, over the weekend, absolutely. There’s somebody in my neighborhood that shoots off big ones like M80s and stuff.
Chris (28:54.234)
And do the dogs all bark after you hear that?
Lisa (28:56.302)
No, surprisingly not.
Chris (28:58.554)
So see, we’re getting a lot of email from people that are saying, please warn your readers about how traumatizing this is for dogs. And I guess there’s a much greater awareness of that now, but I don’t think it stops it. Laura?
Laura (29:11.982)
You know, I just asked one of our reporters to post a wire story about dogs in the Fourth of July. My dog, who is actually scared of rain, not even just thunderstorms, but rain freaks him out, has definitely been alarmed by the firecrackers in the neighborhood. But I just saw this phantom fireworks. We’ve all seen those, right? They are a big fireworks dealer. They are selling stuff for pets to calm your pet.
their fireworks store. I was like, how great is this? They’re smoking both ends of the spectrum here. Yeah, no, that wasn’t that was involved in it. And I thunder shirts, some other things. But I’m like, so they’re going to sell fireworks at the same time as they’re selling the the call the calming things for the dogs. But yes, I guess maybe we should wait till tomorrow. I can tell you the story of how we lost our
Leila (29:39.451)
Wow.
Lisa (29:41.294)
You
Chris (29:43.386)
Is it CBD oil, I wonder?
Lisa (29:44.942)
Yeah, right, doggy downers.
Laura (30:04.686)
six -month -old puppy in Mackinac City, Michigan during fireworks.
Chris (30:09.242)
No, I don’t want to talk about that again. That has terrified me. That is one of the scariest stories I’ve ever heard. I’m glad it ended well, but man, that terrifies anybody that’s ever had a puppy. Okay, that’s it for Tuesday. We’ll have one more episode this week tomorrow, and then we’ll be off Thursday and Friday back Monday. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Leila. It’s the first time we’ve all been together in more than a week. Thank you for listening. We’ll be back Wednesday talking about the news.
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