Latest news with #Clevelander
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FirstEnergy wants to raise prices following repeal of scandal-tainted legislation
FirstEnergy's headquarters in Akron. (Photo from Google Maps.) Ohio lawmakers plan to repeal the remaining aspects of scandal-tainted legislation, saving ratepayers money and eliminating FirstEnergy's House Bill 6. As this happens, the utility company wants to increase consumers' bills. Like clockwork, energy costs go up in the winter. 'It's been a long winter for us here in Ohio,' Clevelander John Makley said. With a shaky economy and increasing FirstEnergy bills, Makley worries about his retirement. 'Do I have to manage to get to work and walk with a cane or a walker just to maintain a paycheck?' he asked. FirstEnergy is now asking for even more money from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) for a $190 million increase in their charges. 'Instead of a $190 million distribution rate increase, the FirstEnergy utilities should be getting a haircut,' Agency Director of the Office of Consumers' Counsel (OCC) Maureen Willis said. 'Consumers electric utility bills are already packed with soaring transmission costs and rising energy prices. Affordability remains a key issue for Ohio families and businesses.' The OCC estimates that Cleveland Illuminating Company consumers will see a $13 price increase per month, Ohio Edison will have a $3 spike, and Toledo Edison a $1.50 increase. Makley is already frustrated by his current energy bill. Taking a look at his charges, in the fine print, there is a subsidy that requires ratepayers to fund two Ohio Valley Electric Corporation coal plants — one in Southern Ohio and one in Indiana. The main beneficiaries for OVEC are American Electric Power Company (AEP), Duke Energy and AES Ohio. Still, FirstEnergy collects payment for it. But thanks to the lawmakers, his energy costs may go down soon. 'They're thinking about the people and working to right a wrong that was put into the legislation so long ago,' Makley said. To find out which rider (a utility surcharge) on his bill benefited the plants — since it wasn't on the bill — we had to search through the 150-page document on FirstEnergy's website about tariffs. Still, there was no mention of OVEC under any of the riders. We reached out to the company to find out where it was — turns out it falls under a rider on page 146 with the 'Legacy Generation Resource Rider.' This handout was part of House Bill 6, corrupt legislation that landed former House Speaker Larry Householder in federal prison for 20 years. Back in 2019, Householder funneled $61 million worth of bribes in exchange for legislation to give FirstEnergy a $1.3 billion bailout, named H.B. 6, at ratepayers' expense. In March 2023, a jury found that Householder and former GOP leader Matt Borges, beyond a reasonable doubt, participated in the racketeering scheme that left four men guilty. Neil Clark, a lobbyist accused of bribery, died by suicide after pleading not guilty in 2021. In late June that year, federal judge Timothy Black sentenced Householder to 20 years in prison. Borges got five years. Two defendants — Jeff Longstreth and Juan Cespedes — took plea agreements early on, helping the FBI, and are still awaiting their sentencing. The feds are asking for zero to six months for them. Former FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones, former FirstEnergy Senior Vice President Michael Dowling, and former PUCO Sam Randazzo were all hit with state bribery charges. Each pleaded not guilty during their joint arraignment in mid-February 2024. They are accused of masterminding the corruption scheme. In April 2024, Randazzo would become the second defendant accused in the scandal to die by suicide. Recently, Householder's attorney said his team plans to use their connection to President Donald Trump to try to get out of prison. This past month, the Ohio House passed H.B. 15, and the Senate passed S.B. 2 — similar energy bills — but both repealed the subsidies for the unprofitable plants. 'If we leave this OVEC portion in place, it's going to cost our taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars for a bill that was bought and paid for in the largest scandal in Ohio history,' state Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, said. A study commissioned by the Ohio Manufacturers' Association found that in 2024 alone, these subsidies cost ratepayers roughly $200 million. The company lost more than $100 million the same year, so consumers are paying for plants that aren't profitable. The subsidies may not seem like a lot every month, but they add up when inflation is high and people struggle. You would be saving $1.30 and $1.50 per month, depending on your utility provider, according to the Energy News Network. While the bill was passed overwhelmingly in each chamber, former House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, argued that it could cause people to lose jobs if the plants shut down. 'There are Ohioans who work at this plant for generations — their grandfathers worked there,' Stephens said. The Ohio plant is in Stephens's district, and the former leader prevented similar legislation from being heard in the last General Assembly. He explained that in a previous G.A., part of H.B. 6 was repealed, but the lawmakers chose to keep the coal plant money. Then, in the 134th G.A., lawmakers passed H.B. 128 — which took out funding for nuclear power plants. House Speaker Matt Huffman didn't seem impressed by Stephens's remarks. 'This money doesn't go to Lawrence County to help that plant,' the speaker told reporters after the vote. 'It goes in Duke's checking account in Charlotte, North Carolina, and they decide over many states, not necessarily to spend any money.' Only three lawmakers voted against it in the House — Stephens and state Reps. Don Jones, R-Freeport, and Latyna Humphrey, D-Columbus. 'I understand and respect your — the corruption that everyone wants to attach to House Bill 6,' Jones said. 'I was here for House Bill 6 — it's the lens in which you look at it through.' He continued that his county has about 700 coal miners who rely on these plants. 'When Ohio makes a promise, whether we like the promise or not… We should honor that,' Stephens added. 'At whose expense?' Makley responded. OVEC and the utility companies are lobbying for at least some grace period — a sliding ramp of two years for them to eliminate the subsidies. 'Ohio Valley Electric Company power plants have provided Ohioans with reliable power, helped make Ohio's economic development possible and supported our nation's security interests,' Scott Blake with OVEC and AEP said. 'We continue to advocate for a reasonable timeline for transitioning the cost recovery for the OVEC plants and will work with policy makers as the legislative process continues.' There is still a process before you could see your bills go down. Each chamber will have to agree on one policy, which is then sent to the governor. Gov. Mike DeWine in January said, when asked, that he would support repeal. Asked what it would take to earn his trust back on energy policy in Ohio, Makley said that's a tough one. 'Transparency is really important,' he said. 'We need to see what we're paying for.' The lawmakers who support it say they are hoping to close this dark chapter in state WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers want to require state ID to watch porn
Republican state Rep. Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Twp. (Photo from Ohio House website.) Ohio lawmakers are getting closer to requiring all porn watchers to submit their state ID and other personal information before accessing explicit content. Expressing sexual urges by watching pornography is a good thing, said Clevelander Mallory McMaster. 'I think sexuality is something that is important for human well-being,' she said. But a new bill introduced by Ohio Republicans would prevent her from going on explicit websites because it would require a state ID. In an effort to crack down on kids and teens accessing porn, state Reps. Steve Demetriou, R-Bainbridge Twp., and Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, have proposed Ohio House Bill 84, which would require every porn watcher to provide age verification. 'I just want to help protect kids here in Ohio from this harmful content online,' Demetriou said. Verification would be done by submitting a photo of your state ID or by entering your personal information into a third-party system that will then run your details through other online databases — it could also use facial recognition technology, capturing photos of users. Companies would be penalized if they don't comply. 'Clicking a box that says 'Yes I am 18′ is not gonna prevent a 15-year-old boy from going on that website,' the lawmaker said. 'Any reasonable person understands that.' This is simply like walking into an old video rental store, the Republican added, noting that consumers would have been ID'd at the door or cash register. 'We're simply taking those same sort of measures from the Ohio Revised Code into the 21st century,' he said. This bill has mainly GOP cosponsors but does have support from at least three Democrats. McMaster believes H.B. 84 might as well be H.B. 1984, referencing the classic dystopian novel about government control by George Orwell, where society members were monitored at all times. 'I would not be watching pornography on a website that required me to upload a photo of my driver's license,' she added. 'I'm not sure where it would end up.' Numerous porn watchers have reached out, sharing concerns that data could be leaked, hacked, or sold for profit. 'We're creating a log of porn that every individual watches, and it's tracked with our driver's license and a photo of our faces,' McMaster argued. 'Whether it's hacked by someone who wants to blackmail and extort us or, ICE agents who question our citizenship, or local police investigating an alleged crime of some sort, they will all have access to this information.' She referenced cases where companies secretly provide facial recognition data to police — or law enforcement buys it from data aggregators, according to The Brookings Institution. Demetriou argued that companies would be required to have a system that protects sensitive information. 'It's not like that's stored for a long period of time, it's immediately deleted,' he said. PornHub, the most visited explicit content provider in the country, and their parent company Aylo gave us a statement about states that have implemented these requirements, saying in part: 'People did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content.' Aylo explained that they have always been a supporter of age verification of users but that parents can add parental controls to their kids' devices. The bill also makes it a crime to use artificial intelligence to create porn of children or nonconsenting adults. Aylo said that they have protocols in place to moderate and remove child sexual abuse material and nonconsensual videos, such as revenge porn. The company also raised a red flag about data safety. 'Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy,' Aylo said. We asked Demetriou if his bill could push people to utilize under-moderated, obscure websites. 'We're not trying to push adults into the black market of porn, we're just simply trying to create common sense age verification procedures similar to what online gambling operations already have to do in Ohio,' he responded. McMaster said all the lawmakers are going to do is increase the use of virtual private networks, or VPNs, which mask your IP address and let you bypass firewalls. The lawmakers said they did think about that and are working with organizations to geofence, which would be making a virtual perimeter around a location. 'I wouldn't want my local law enforcement agencies watching what pornography I'm watching, even though that would probably really entertain them,' McMaster said. The bill will continue to be debated in the coming weeks. McMaster said the lawmakers are amateurs and clearly should be working on bigger issues. Other online users agree, arguing that they should be dealing with sky-high property taxes, inflation, or child care costs. First, to be clear, Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults. Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous. Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy. Moreover, as experience has demonstrated, unless properly enforced, users will simply access non-compliant sites or find other methods of evading these laws. This is not speculation. We have seen how this scenario plays out in the United States. In Louisiana, Pornhub was one of the few sites to comply with the new law. Since then, our traffic in Louisiana dropped approximately 80 percent. These people did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content. In practice, the laws have just made the internet more dangerous for adults and children. The best solution to make the internet safer, preserve user privacy, and prevent children from accessing adult content is performing age verification at the source: on the device. The technology to accomplish this exists today. What is required is the political and social will to make it happen. We are eager to be part of this solution and are happy to collaborate with government, civil society and tech partners to arrive at an effective device-based age verification solution. In addition, many devices already offer free and easy-to-use parental control features that can prevent children from accessing adult content without risking the disclosure of sensitive user WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Axios
10-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
Shuckers fans confused by Clevelander plan to revive "subpar" menu
Shuckers Waterfront Bar & Grill was beloved for its laid-back vibes, bayfront views and historic status as a Miami staple before it closed last year. But the food? Many would say that came a distant second. Why it matters: An attempt by the Clevelander South Beach to revive classic menu items from the shuttered sports bar has received mixed reactions from longtime fans. "Nobody ever went to shuckers for the food," Miami food writer and editor Laine Doss wrote on Facebook. Catch up quick: Shuckers, which had a 35-year run in North Bay Village, closed last year after its parent company, Jesta Group, sold the property to make way for a mixed-use development. Shuckers was replaced by the Palm Tree Club, a restaurant and music venue, which received noise complaints from neighbors even before it opened. The latest: The Clevelander, which is also owned by Jesta Group, announced last month it would begin selling "beloved Shuckers favorites" like grilled wings, coconut shrimp and loaded nachos. The goal, a spokesperson tells Axios, is to honor Shuckers' legacy and attract its loyal customers. Between the lines: The revived menu items are more expensive at the Clevelander than on Shuckers' online menu. Five grilled wings will cost you $18, compared with $14 at Shuckers. A 10-piece is $35, compared with $24. What they're saying: Many Shuckers fans who responded to an Axios Miami callout on Facebook said Shuckers' secret sauce wasn't on the menu; in fact, some didn't like the food much at all. "I only went to Shuckers for the view. The food was overpriced and subpar," resident Sharon Weiss said. "The best part of Shuckers wasn't the food but the atmosphere," Alexandra Bassil wrote, adding that it was one of Miami's last oceanfront staples. Friction point: Some locals said customers who preferred Shuckers' laid-back atmosphere would probably avoid visiting the Clevelander, known for its touristy day club. "If Shuckers literally picked up and moved to Ocean Drive, I'm sure many locals would consider it," Christopher Jon Uriarte wrote. "But I'm sure the prospect of going to Clevelander just for a Shuckers Grilled Cheese is a hard 'no' for most people." "No local is going to the Clevelander unless they just moved into town," Joey Willig wrote. The other side: Some Shuckers fans said they enjoyed its wings and coconut shrimp and would stop by the Clevelander to check it out. "Shuckers was too far of a trek with Miami Beach traffic," South Beach resident Valerie Owen wrote. Caroline Gray, who also lives in the area, wrote that the Clevelander is "a great place for sports" and she's glad it's changing its menu. "I really liked Shuckers coconut shrimp, happy to see them back."
Fox News
24-02-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Guardians owner Larry Dolan, Cleveland native, dead at 94
Longtime Cleveland Guardians owner Larry Dolan has died at age 94, the team announced Monday. The Dolan family is the longest-tenured owner in franchise history, and its patriarch is a lifelong Clevelander who influenced his community both on and off the field over the years. "We are saddened by the loss of our Dad, but lucky to have him as part of our lives as long as we did," Dolan's son, chair and CEO Paul Dolan, said in a statement. "He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who was passionate about his family, work, our community and his love of our local sports teams, including owning the Cleveland Guardians." The Guardians added a video to its announcement of Dolan's death, saying "Cleveland sadly lost one of its own today." "Born in Cleveland Heights in 1931, Lawrence J. Dolan invested his entire life in Greater Cleveland and impacted our community on so many levels," the narrator says over a montage of Dolan pictures. "From his service to our country as a first lieutenant in the United States Marines, his many philanthropic acts in kindness, his career in law, business, education and sports, many benefited from his engagement, influence and passion, especially in the world of sports." Dolan was a multi-sport star at Saint Ignatius High School, playing both running back and defensive back on the football team and starring as a catcher on the baseball diamond. "He was blessed to realize two dreams [of] almost every Cleveland athlete of his generation: to play on the field at Cleveland Stadium, where his boyhood idol, Lou Boudreau, starred, and to own one of our city's professional sports teams," the narrator continues. "In February 2000, he purchased his beloved hometown baseball team. We are forever grateful for his passion and supporting the Northeast Ohio community and the Cleveland Guardians organization." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred also released a statement on Dolan, expressing his condolences to the family and organization. "I am saddened by the passing of Cleveland native Larry Dolan, whose family's quarter-century ownership has made their hometown team a consistent winner and a staple of their community," Manfred wrote in a statement. "Larry was a lifelong baseball fan who served our country as a First Lieutenant in the United States Marines. He strongly believed in mentoring young people and using the Guardians as a way to impact Greater Cleveland." Dolan purchased his hometown team for "323 million from Richard Jacobs, and he saw Cleveland post 14 winning seasons and nine trips to the postseason since then." In 2016, they reached the World Series as the American League pennant winners but fell to the Chicago Cubs at home in a thrilling game. Paul Dolan ultimately took over as the primary owner of the franchise in 2013, eventually overseeing the team's name change to Guardians in 2021. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
New York Times
24-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Cleveland Guardians owner Larry Dolan dies at 94
Larry Dolan, who spearheaded the longest ownership tenure in the history of Cleveland's baseball franchise, died Sunday, the team announced. He was 94. 'We are saddened by the loss of our Dad, but lucky to have him as part of our lives as long as we did,' said Cleveland Guardians Owner/Chairman/CEO and son Paul Dolan on behalf of the entire family. 'He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who was passionate about his family, work, our community and his love of our local sports teams, including owning the Cleveland Guardians. Advertisement Dolan, a lifelong Clevelander who graduated from St. Ignatius High School and rooted for the Indians for decades, purchased his hometown team through a family trust from Dick Jacobs in 2000 for $323 million. The sale price represented nearly 10 times what Jacobs and his brother, David, had paid for the club in 1986. The Dolans had fallen short in bids to purchase other teams, including the Cleveland Browns. They acquired control of the Indians just as the team was entering a period of transition, as the club shifted from being a perennial American League powerhouse with a nightly sellout crowd into a painful rebuild less than two years after they took the reins. Still, under the Dolan stewardship, the team has remained mostly competitive, with seven AL Central titles, two Wild Card berths and an AL pennant under their watch. The 2024 club reached the ALCS before sputtering against the New York Yankees. Cleveland does own the league's longest active championship drought, which dates back to October 1948. Since the start of the 2000 season, Cleveland boasts a regular-season record of 2,046-1,899, for a winning percentage of .519, which ranks seventh in the majors, behind only the Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, Braves, Red Sox and Giants. Dolan's son, Paul, took over as the control person for the organization in 2013, and a few years later, the family put in motion plans to relinquish its majority ownership stake. They brought aboard Kansas City energy magnate John Sherman, whose minority ownership pact included a path to eventual majority ownership. Sherman, however, divested his interests to instead purchase his hometown Royals. After a years-long search for a replacement for Sherman, David Blitzer was approved as Guardians minority owner in June 2022, and he is expected to assume majority control of the franchise in the coming years. Advertisement Prior to the Dolans' tenure, Alva Bradley held the longest ownership reign in team history. Bradley owned the club from 1927-46 before handing it off to Bill Veeck. The Dolan family received the Lifetime Achievement honor at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards in 2020. Their tenure, while regularly met with criticism about stingy payrolls, has been marked by continuity, with front office pillars Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff spending more than two decades and counting with the club. Both have declined opportunities to run other teams' front offices. Mark Shapiro, who became Cleveland's general manager shortly after the Dolans took over, worked in the front office for nearly a quarter-century before moving on to Toronto in 2015. Terry Francona spent 11 seasons as the team's manager. Pitching coach Carl Willis, who has spent much of the last 30 years helping the organization develop a reputation as a pitching factory, voiced in September that part of his motivation for coaching into his 60s was to try to win a World Series 'for the Dolan family,' among others. 'I just want to see it happen,' Willis said. Dolan's older brother, Charles, the founder of Cablevision and HBO, died in December. His nephew, James, owns the New York Knicks. Dolan was president and managing partner at the Chardon, Ohio-based law firm Thrasher, Dinmore & Dolan. He earned his law degree from the University of Notre Dame. He was a board member for The Cleveland Foundation and the Geauga County chapter of the American Red Cross, president of the Christopher Foundation and founder of the Geauga County Public Library Foundation. (Top photo of Larry Dolan in 2011: (Mark Duncan / AP Photo)
