Ohio in 2016 pledged to reduce phosphorus levels in the Maumee River by 40% by 2025 to reduce the scummy, green, harmful algal blooms that plague Lake Erie each year. The state is nowhere near meeting its promise. So the Environmental Law & Policy Center sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act. They – and the Lucas County Commissioners who joined as plaintiffs – won. A judge ordered a consent decree. But the center says the Ohio EPA’s response, a plan to reduce the total maximum daily load of phosphorus, is woefully inadequate. It doesn’t specifically address dissolved phosphorus, which comes from big barns of livestock overrun with manure. Lucas County already has asked the state to require two proposed confined-animal feeding operations – with a total of 14,400 swine in the Maumee River watershed – to treat pig waste to the same standards as human sewage. But so far, many of the operations are unregulated. Which leaves us humans swimming each summer in a lake coated with toxic sludge. -- Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
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Phosphorus is the critical element in the formation of Lake Erie’s toxic algal blooms, which threatened the Toledo water supply in 2014 and have become an annual health concern for people and animals in the western basin of the lake. (Garret Ellison, mlive.com file photo) |
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Harmful algal blooms: The Environmental Law & Policy Center is blasting the Ohio EPA’s plan to address harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie, arguing it will not solve the chronic environmental problem. Peter Krouse reports the Ohio EPA recently submitted its plan, referred to as a TMDL for “total maximum daily load,” to the U.S. EPA for approval after being ordered to do so by a federal judge in Toledo. The U.S. EPA has until Sept. 30 to accept the plan or come up with its own. Today in Ohio: When Cleveland EMS worker Lachelle Jordan went missing for five days in May, Cleveland police repeatedly asked the public for help finding her. But we haven’t heard anything since. We’re talking about the similarities with the high-profile missing persons case of Carlethia Russell in Alabama, and how the police have treated it differently, on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Unemployment: Ohio’s unemployment office said Monday it’s paid nearly $189,000 to scammers and frozen more than 28,000 accounts as the result of a flaw in their system’s computer code, reports Jeremy Pelzer. The flaw was “the root cause” of a surge in unemployment fraud attempts in recent weeks and led thousands of Ohioans to spend four hours or longer on the phone in order to unfreeze their accounts. LaRose reversal: Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose on Monday reversed his longstanding position of declining to endorse presidential candidates because of his job as Ohio’s chief election official by publicly declaring support for ex-President Donald Trump’s bid to regain the White House, Sabrina Eaton reports. Heat protection: Citing record-breaking heat across the United States and world, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown on Monday asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to implement federal workplace heat standards as soon as possible. After recent Texas deaths, Sabrina Eaton reports they are pushing an enforceable federal standard to ensure workers and employers can recognize and respond to the signs of heat stress. Issue 1: Ohio is entering the final two weeks before the special election on Aug. 8, when voters will decide whether to approve State Issue 1, which would make it harder to amend the state constitution. If you’re doing your homework before casting your ballot, Andrew Tobias has a useful guide of news stories we’ve published. Robert Higgs has a collection of opinion pieces on the issue. Ask Me Anything: Andrew Tobias has asked every question about Issue 1. Now you get to ask him at noon Thursday during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session on the Ohio subreddit, r/Ohio. |
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Rethinking Child Care: Despite the recent boost in the Ohio budget to raise the state’s threshold for receiving child care subsidies from 142% to 145% of the federal poverty level, Ohio still ranks at or near the bottom nationally, reports Zachary Smith in our ongoing Rethinking Child Care series. Only North Carolina has a lower threshold at 133% - or $33,063 for a family of three. But even in North Carolina, the state is more generous when it comes to caring for younger children, with the threshold at double the poverty level for children ages 0 to 5. Jail proposal: The first public hearing over plans to build a new jail in Garfield Heights and pay for it with a 40-year sales tax had little community engagement Monday, but County Council members expressed enough skepticism that the legislation appears unlikely to advance as proposed, Kaitlin Durbin reports. Executive Chris Ronayne wants to spend $38.7 million to buy 72 acres in Garfield Heights for a new jail, but council continues to question the location, size, price and timing of the purchase before a funding mechanism is in place. Browns stadium: There are many unknowns about the future of Cleveland Browns Stadium, but one thing the Haslams know for sure: the Browns aren’t going anywhere, Dan Labbe reports. “The only thing Dee and I would say for sure is we’re not leaving Northeastern Ohio,” Jimmy Haslam said in the owners’ annual training camp news conference. Conference cost: Eleven days after announcing he would be leaving Cuyahoga County for an economic development job in Sandusky, former Chief of Staff Eric Wobser attended an economic development conference – paid for by Cuyahoga taxpayers. Kaitlin Durbin reports Wobser’s travel expenses in the amount of $2,042.44 were approved by the county’s Board of Control on Monday. Ask Lucas: What do you do when your husband bought a gun for protection and you’re opposed? Lucas Daprile writes that you need your own tool for self-defense, something with the potential for incredible violence, but one that can’t be brushed off as just another American vice. |
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Insulin lawsuit: Cleveland officials on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against a slew of companies over the recent drastic spike in insulin prices. Law Director Mark Griffin and several private attorneys filed the lawsuit in federal court in Cleveland against manufacturers such as Eli Lilly and Co., pharmacy giants like CVS and major pharmacy benefit managers such as Express Scripts, reports Adam Ferrise. |
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Weekend violence: The city’s mounting violence continued this past weekend: A woman’s body was found, three men died, and several people were hurt in separate downtown shootings, Olivia Mitchell reports. Cleveland police have recorded at least 119 homicides so far this year. K9 OT: A Bedford Heights police officer sued the city last week, saying he should be paid overtime as the department’s police-dog handler. Adam Ferrise reports Ryan Kaetzel has been an officer since 2011 and the K-9 handler since 2018. $2 million bond: The man charged with murdering his girlfriend and dumping her body in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood last week appeared in court Monday morning, reports Molly Walsh. Michael Roarty-Nugent, 31, was arraigned in Bedford Municipal Court on a murder charge involving the death of his girlfriend, Breneisha Lightfoot, 26. Fatal shooting: Euclid police say a 24-year-old was fatally shot at a gas station Saturday night. Molly Walsh reports police Capt. Mitch Houser said officers responded to a Sunoco gas station in the 19000 block of Euclid Avenue after shots rang out just after 11 p.m. |
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Happy Dog: "Good Morning America" launched its “7th Inning Snacks” feature from Progressive Field Monday morning, reports Paris Wolfe. For the segment, Guardians mascot Slider joined chief meteorologist and Managing Editor of the Climate Unit Ginger Zee and former Guardians second baseman Carlos Baerga to test specialty hot dogs from the Happy Dog concession at the park. Big cheese: Kandice Marchant, cheesemaker and owner of Marchant Manor Cheese in Cleveland Heights, took home three first-place awards and a third-place award in the 2023 Ohio State Fair Cheese Contest. Only one other Ohio cheesemaker matched Marchant’s success with three first places, reports Paris Wolfe. Joe Thomas: An innate desire, ability and willingness to work combined to help fuel Joe Thomas on fields and courts. Thomas will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 5, and we’re excerpting five parts of a new book by Marc Bona and Dan Murphy based on interviews with Thomas’ family, friends, teammates and Thomas himself. NEO hero: Fans of the Canadian Football League are getting a taste of what Northeast Ohio football fans have seen for years from quarterback Dustin Crum. The former Midview and Kent State star is 2-0 as a starter for the Ottawa Redblacks, with each of his wins coming in comeback fashion, reports Tim Bielik. RV Rocking: On this week’s episode of “Rocking the RV Life,” the Kinzbachs give fans an update on how Jeff is doing following triple bypass surgery. While he is on the mend, Jeff advises readers not to ignore warning signs from your body. |
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Drive-by shooting wounds man as he stands in driveway of Akron home Read more Suspect admits to killing Toledo man in Parma apartment, police say Read more South Euclid, Lyndhurst, Highland Heights to celebrate their safety forces with National Night Out, Safety Service Night events Read more Attorney offers tips to protect yourself from predatory nursing homes Read more West Shore Meals on Wheels board members reflect on 50th anniversary Read more With ‘Noble Station’ taking shape, Cleveland Heights looks to bolster business districts Read more Shannon Carter to head up Medina County tourism bureau Read more Bay Village girl heading to World Scout Jamboree in South Korea Read more North Ridgeville Schools cut back on bus transportation in wake of bond issue failure Read more |
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