Is George Jetson time ahead at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, with electric planes? Today in Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio — What a future-proof airport looks like isn’t entirely clear, but we may not be far from a Jetsons-like future with electric aircraft that takes off and lands vertically.

We’re talking about what the future of technology could mean for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

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.

Here’s what else we’re asking about today:

Had enough election news? Us, too. So let’s talk about the future. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is heading for a massive rebuild and overhaul, but the future of air travel likely is electric. So what might be different in an airport designed for the next 50 years?

Judges sometimes get into trouble requiring hearings about their fitness, as we’ve seen in local cases of Pinkey Carr and Angela Stokes, but one of the sets of allegations facing Geauga County Judge Tim Grendell is just horrifying. If true, he used his position to make life hell not just for a mom but for her two juvenile sons, without cause or authority. What is he accused of in this case?

After all those years of Smokey Bear’s warnings about preventing forest fires, how can it be that the people running the Cuyahoga Calley National Park are going to set three of them in coming weeks? Are we trying to get even with Canada for all that smoke they sent our way over the summer?

Here’s a terrific neighborhood conundrum. Seven Hills wants to put an observation tower in a park because of the incredible vantage points the park offers. Why are a bunch of nearby residents dead-set opposed?

The Israel-Hamas war has college campuses in America awash in protests and accusations. But Oberlin College is actually under a federal investigation. What for?

Okay, as tomorrow is Election Day, after all, let’s do one last election story. If the abortion issue on the ballot is about women’s health, as so many doctors and women say, why are the Ohio State Medical Association, Ohio Hospital Association and Ohio Nurses Association silent on it?

How often does the state of Ohio declare something officially extinct? That’s what it did last week. What is the creature that the state has officially decided is no more, and it’s not a statewide elected Democrat. Yet.

The fourth marker of Cleveland’s new African-American Civil Rights Trail has been unveiled. What does it commemorate?

Football fans across America know who the Kelce brothers are, and many know they both played in high school at Cleveland Heights. What did the brothers sign off on their alma mater doing to raise some money?

We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

And on PlayerFM, we are here.

Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.

Chris (00:01.673)

I had an interesting weekend of email in response to something I wrote about the Ohio Senate, the official website of the Ohio Senate ripping into us for trying to determine if our sources of our stories reflect the community we cover. Most people saw this as terrible and wrote to their senators, they told me to say, stop it. I didn’t use the word fascism, but some respondents said, this is the fascist playbook. You attack the media. You try to undermine the media.

The most distressing part, and I had predicted this in the column, was there were some people completely agreeing with the Senate, including a guy who wrote and said, diversity is the ruination of our country. That’s somebody who wrote to me not anonymously, and it just slapped me in the face. I wondered as I watched the mini-series over the weekend, all the light we cannot see, whether when these folks watch it, they’re rooting for the Nazis to win, because that’s kind of where they are.

It’s Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from Cleveland.com and The Plane Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Laura Johnston, Leila Tasse and Lisa Garvin. It’s the day before election. Have you had enough election news? Us too. So let’s talk about the future. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is heading for a massive rebuild and overhaul. But the future of air travel very likely is electric. Leila, what might be different in an airport designed for the next 50 years?

Leila (01:26.288)

Yeah, Susan Glazer tells us that a future in which electric airplanes play a big role in travel is not as far off as some might think. And that means that Cleveland Hopkins is going to need to keep an eye on the trends as it plans its major overhaul, this $2 billion project that’s expected to get underway in 2025 and will take probably about a decade to complete. Their plans might need to include electric charging stations for both aircraft and road vehicles and…

Possibly space for aircraft that take off and land vertically. That sounds so crazy and jetsonian, I guess. So accommodations like that, though frankly, I’d settle for airport bathrooms with functional faucets, but that sounds cool too. Susan says that several electric aircraft firms are making ground on plans to launch their groundbreaking vehicles in the next two to five years. In September, Joby Aviation out of California…

Chris (02:10.665)

Ha ha ha.

Leila (02:23.464)

announced its plans to build its first manufacturing plant in southwest Ohio at Dayton International Airport. It likely will take years for the company to start mass production, but eventually they say they’ll produce as many as 500 fully electric air taxis at that site. And all over the country, companies are working on small electric-powered regional jets that would be able to fly as many as 30 passengers on short trips of 250 miles or more.

And one industry expert told Susan he doesn’t think that all of this is going to come to fruition in his lifetime. He’s 65 years old, but probably in his newborn granddaughter’s lifetime. Cleveland’s airport construction is going to happen in phases, so hopefully that means that they can be nimble with that shifting trend in technology over time.

Chris (03:10.893)

I was surprised actually by that comment. The rest of the story is fine and it’s a mystery. What do you do to prepare for a future you can’t see? But for him to think it’s going to take until his granddaughter is flying for electric planes to be in effect? I don’t see that at all. You’re seeing lots of movement in that direction. I bet it’s much closer than we think.

Leila (03:31.504)

I guess it depends. If he’s thinking 30 years from now that will be a mainstay in air travel, then I could see where he’s coming from in saying it’s not going to necessarily happen in his lifetime. But go ahead.

Chris (03:44.63)

I imagine this will make piloting way easier because a lot of the challenges of flying planes is the takeoff and the landing. And if you get a switch and just go straight up and then go, it’s going to make it a lot easier getting in and out of airports.

Lisa (03:58.246)

But there are still some downsides though. The article said that the batteries are extremely heavy and then the electricity required to charge not only the planes but all the support vehicles in the airport is like immense. So yeah, there are still some problems that need to be worked out, I think.

Leila (03:58.265)

Right, right. Go ahead.

Leila (04:14.86)

Yeah, lots to consider. The airspace you need to be taking off and landing vertically, that’s such a change to how things are done currently. And yeah, the incredible use of energy that these things require.

Chris (04:15.088)

Yeah, no, it.

Chris (04:28.394)

with you.

Leila (04:38.054)

I know.

Lisa (04:40.011)

No.

Leila (04:42.024)

But, you know, it’s… Susan pointed out in her story though that airports are already thinking about this as they’re starting their planning for the future. I mean, Pittsburgh is one that, you know, their new terminal is set to open in 2025 and they have identified two places there where they could put a vertiport, which is that vertical takeoff and landing area. And in San Diego, they recently launched a study that looks at…

Chris (04:42.033)

Meet your Jetson. Now you’re all gonna have that jingle in your head all day long.

Leila (05:09.528)

all aspects of electric aircraft and what it means for land use and privacy concerns and noise and things like that. So this is on everybody’s mind in the industry.

Chris (05:19.837)

All right, good story by Susan Glaser. Looking at the future, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Judges sometimes get into trouble requiring hearings about their fitness, as we’ve seen in the local cases of Pinky Carr and Angela Stokes. But one of the sets of allegations facing Jogger County Judge Tim Rendell stands out as just horrifying. Laura, if it’s true, he used his position to make like hell, not just for a mom, but for her two sons.

Without cause or authority, what is he accused of here?

Lisa (06:33.343)

They said you’re going to be thrown into juvenile detention. They called the bombs to try to get him to go. She did, but the boys refused. So yeah, they ended up in isolation for a weekend. And the constable, Grandel’s constable, put them in there, said he was just following the orders. It’s incredibly, it seems like an incredible abuse of power. And again, this is all based on the court records

Chris (06:57.585)

Right.

Chris (07:06.045)

Well, it goes even deeper. I mean, the record shows that he had absolutely nothing that he could put them in detention based on. And it was so offensive that after it happened, the sheriff put out a memo saying, never again will this happen, that there was no reason for them to be there. There was no justification for their incarceration. So we’re never going to do this again absent something official. You don’t really see that very often, where the jailers say,

Lisa (07:13.63)

and it was so offensive, it was so happy and happy. The sheriff put out a memo saying never again will this happen, that there was no reason for them to do this. There was no justification. They didn’t have any explanation. So we never want them to do this again absent something of control.

Chris (07:35.234)

No way we’re going to do this again.

Chris (08:19.797)

Well, it looks like he’s just mad that he was defied. Look, the record is filled with court transcripts where he’s just bullying the mother. The mother’s trying to talk and he’s shutting her down, basically saying, hey, it’s my way or the highway, you’re gonna do this or I’m gonna yank them, you’re gonna lose custody. Over and over again, it’s threatening behavior to a mom who’s just trying to navigate it. And the day he locks them up, she dropped the kids off as she was ordered. The kids were…

crying because they did not want to go with dad. And so he said, Okay, I’m locking you up for three days during COVID the mom beside herself trying to figure out what’s going on. So

Chris (09:27.209)

Well, it’s horrifying and I’m glad that there’s a body that’s going to deal with it. There’s a bunch of other stuff that he’s accused of doing, but this alone is enough to say, what is this guy doing as a judge? He’s long been a controversial figure, but man, this takes it to the max. Good stuff. Check out Corey’s story. It’s on cleveland.com. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. After all those years of Smokey Bear’s warnings about preventing forest fires.

How can it be that the people running the Cuyahoga Valley National Park are going to set three of them in the coming weeks? Lisa, are we trying to get even with Canada for all that smoke they sent our way over the summer?

Lisa (10:04.564)

Well, first of all, the smoke from those fires wouldn’t go to Canada, it would go the other way but maybe. Yeah, so these are what are called controlled burns and this is done in forestry areas pretty regularly. So, they’re going to start today and they’re going to go through November 15th in three specific areas to control invasive vegetation. Of course, it has to be done under the right conditions. The temperature, the humidity.

Chris (10:08.093)

Hahaha.

Lisa (10:28.25)

and the wind have to be just right. So they have to wait for good conditions to do this. One of the sites is the old Richfield Coliseum site of 40 acres near 271 and route 303. That’s been taken over by autumn olive shrubs and multiflora rose. And there’s also thatch of dead grasses that they wanna burn off that as well to encourage native plant growth and to get ground nesting birds to come like the bobble link and the Eastern metal arc.

The second area is 129 acres, the Terra Vista Natural Study Area in Valley View at Canal and Tinkers Creek Roads. That area is inundated with autumn olive. It’s so thick that it’s nearly impenetrable in some areas. They tried using loppers and grinders, but they found that fireworks much better. And what they want to do is create a savanna type habitat because they noticed that the butterfly population was dropping and they want to, you know, encourage butterflies to come.

The last area is called the Barrow Pit. It’s in the Boston township off Boston Mills Road. And it’s so named because the dirt was removed from that area to build the Ohio Turnpike in decades past. So the problem there is seedling hawthorn trees are taking over and other woody vegetation that’s crowding out native wildflowers. So this is what they use. And you probably see, if you’ve ever seen a movie about fire, they use a drip torch and they just kind of, you know, drip the fire along and they created a fire break.

before they do this so the fire can’t leap out of the treatment area.

Chris (11:57.909)

The idea though of having a massive set of fires does raise questions about air quality. We all had huge air quality issues this year. Is part of the season that they’re doing this aimed at the time of the year when the air quality is generally pretty good?

Lisa (12:14.902)

I would think so, you know, but the prevailing wind in the winter around here is from the north and northwest. So whoever’s…

Chris (12:22.229)

So this is going to go to Pennsylvania, and we don’t have to worry about it. Okay. It just kind of takes you back when we’re intentionally setting fires, and, you know, nothing ever came bad from doing that.

Lisa (12:34.838)

But there are some plants that actually need fire to germinate the seeds. So fire is kind of a natural part of the habitat, except when it gets out of control.

Chris (12:45.489)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Here’s a fun neighborhood conundrum. Seven Hills wants to put an observation tower in a park because of the incredible vantage points the park offers. Laila, why are a bunch of nearby residents dead set opposed to this idea? And I can kind of see their, their perspective.

Leila (13:03.04)

Yeah, I can too. They’re worried it would be both a privacy issue and a liability for the city if someone were to fall off the tower. This would be in Calvin Park, which is in the northern part of the city. And apparently it offers spectacular views of downtown and the Cayuga Valley. But residents who are opposed to it say that criminals could climb this tower and case the neighborhood. They could easily take stock of who’s home, who isn’t, their comings and goings, and where children live.

Or worse, the tower could enable a mass shooting by providing a perfect vantage point. The city says that they gave the public a lot of time for input on this plan, which has been the tower has been a part of the park’s master plan for several years, they say. The city passed a levy three years ago to update all of the amenities, including adding several projects at Calvin Park. The park has been updated to include a splash pad and new playground, concession stand and restrooms were renovated and the parking lot was resurfaced.

But the tower is not scheduled for final site planning or bidding until next spring. So there is still time to take into account what residents have to say about this and potentially change the plan.

Chris (14:10.953)

Look, we all, I think, love a good vantage point. There’s a place in Lakeview Cemetery where you stand on the edge of a ridge and you can see all the way to the lake and all kinds of cool stuff. But you would be a little bit unnerved by having a big tower looking down on your street and backyards and everybody that’s coming and going. I kind of feel for them like, yeah, this would be the perfect way to case the place to figure out where I want to break in.

Leila (14:37.136)

Yeah, it’s creepy. I mean, you know, what’s the point of having fences and privacy and hedges to keep prying eyes out when someone could just be looking down upon you from above?

Chris (14:42.255)

Yeah.

Chris (14:49.805)

Yeah, I kind of, it sounds like it’s close enough to present a pretty serious security threat to these folks. It’ll be interesting to see how they end up resolving it. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. The

Chris (15:32.317)

Okay, let’s go to the next one. Okay, as tomorrow is election day after all, let’s do one last election story. If the abortion issue on the ballot is about women’s health, as so many doctors and women say it is, why are the Ohio State Medical Association, the Ohio Hospital Association, and the Ohio Nurses Association silent on it? Lisa.

Lisa (15:53.514)

Well, I think, and they’re not saying much about why they haven’t taken a stand on issue one, but a spokesman for one of the groups said, well, you know, we have members that are on both sides of this issue. So we didn’t want to, you know, discount one viewpoint or another. See, the Ohio State Medical Association has 15,000 physician members. The Ohio Hospital Association is 248 hospitals and 15 large health systems.

and the Ohio Nurses Association with 180,000 registered nurses in their membership. Also that are mom on issue one, but came out against issue two, the marijuana ballot measure was the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, which has really been at the forefront of the anti-marijuana movement and the association of Ohio health commissioners. So they are also mom on issue one.

Hospital Association spokesman John Palmer, as I said, we have members on both sides. And he said, sometimes you fear public scorn and cancellation in a politically charged environment. Robert Alexander, who’s the Ohio Northern University political science professor says, in this political environment, you can’t even talk about Goya beans without offending somebody. He does have a point there.

But supporting issue one, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Ohio, that’s 1,500 members, the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians, 5,000 members, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Ohio, 3,000 members, the Academy of Medicine for Cleveland and North Ohio, 6,000 members. These people have all come down in support of issue one.

Chris (17:33.865)

The part of the story that’s sad, but it’s in keeping with what I said at the top of the podcast is there’s some fear that if they came out and took a position that was contrary to what the elected Republican leaders of the state want, they’d be penalized and that they have a lot of stuff they’d like to get passed or get rejected in the legislature. And they fear that them stating their opinion as anyone is free to do in this country.

result in retribution. And sadly, I think they’re right. This is not a legislature that acts on what’s the best interest of the people. Look at look at the threats Larry Householder made. You’re if you work against me, I’m killing your bill. He did it to Greenspan, one of the guys who, who gave evidence to the feds and refused to go householders way there was going to be punishment. So I get why they’re sitting out they need to get things done. And we have very vengeful legislators.

Lisa (18:31.29)

Yeah, and I think it’s a pragmatic move on your part just because of what you said. We have a Republican supermajority, a veto-proof supermajority, not that the governor would veto anything with regards to abortion. But anyway, yeah, so I kind of can’t blame them. But, you know, as they said, there are probably some of their membership that are going to vote no.

Chris (18:54.141)

Look, it’s the most radioactive of radioactive issues. We didn’t endorse in it, not because we feared people would get mad at us, but because we knew we weren’t going to move the needle. But not endorsing on it does ease the pain. People feel so strongly about this. There’s no middle ground. You’re either you see abortion as the killing of babies or you see abortion as a women’s health rights issue and never between should meet. So.

I get why they’re doing it. It’s just kind of sad that’s the state we’re in this Ohio of ours. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. All right, Leila, how often does the state of Ohio declare something officially extinct? That’s what it did last week. What’s the creature that the state has officially decided is no more. And let’s face it, it’s not statewide elected Democrats just yet.

Leila (19:44.384)

Yeah. Well, the US Fish and Wildlife Service recently declared this Scioto mad tom extinct. This was a fish that was native to Ohio. It was a small nocturnal species of catfish that was found in a small section of Big Darby Creek, a tributary of the Scioto River. And its last known sighting was in 1957. And scientists say…

it’s gone. So it’s been officially removed from the endangered species list. It was among the first species added to Ohio’s endangered species list in 1974 and received federal protection a year later. The mad tom was endemic to Ohio, which means that it wasn’t found in other states at all. This fish used to hide during the day under rocks or in vegetation, and it would come out after dark to forage along the bottom of the stream.

Scientists believe that it met its demise because of industrial pollution and agricultural runoff and other factors that modified its habitat.

Chris (20:44.993)

It was strange as seeing that it was added to the list almost 30 years after its last sighting. It was extinct before it was even added to the list probably. But to officially declare it gone, that’s a sad moment.

Leila (20:50.623)

right.

Leila (20:58.24)

I know. It’s really, really depressing. Apparently the endangered species list only includes two species that were native to Ohio in that way. Only the Sciota mad tom and the tuber gold blossom pearly mussel had once been found in Ohio.

Chris (21:17.411)

Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. The fourth marker of Cleveland’s new African-American civil rights trail has been unveiled. Lisa, what does it commemorate?

Lisa (21:28.03)

Yeah, this marker was unveiled last week at the Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church on East 105th Street. This church was basically the headquarters for the United Freedom Movement to desegregate public schools. The Reverend Dr. E. Theophilus Cavaness led the church and the civil rights movement for 62 years. He’s still alive. He was at the unveiling. He says he was ecstatic for what this means to our community and to people still struggling in these difficult and critical times.

We’re going to get three more markers this year on the African-American Civil Rights Trail, one at Glenville High School where my dad went to school, one at the Huff Uprising site, and one at the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church. Three more markers will be announced later this year. That will bring the total to 10. The current markers, and including the one that was unveiled last week, there’s one at CORE United Methodist Church, the Ludlow Community Association,

one that recognized Karl Stokes.

Chris (22:28.997)

Forgive me if you don’t know the answer to this, but was there any public engagement for people to have the chance to nominate sites for this? Do you know?

Lisa (22:36.85)

You know, I wanted to know that, you know, because I feel like my grandfather’s house should be on the trail. The Cleveland Restoration Society is, you know, picking these areas for the markers, but I don’t know if there has been any public input. That’s a good question.

Chris (22:53.581)

Well, if there hasn’t been, maybe we should solicit it, because that’s why I asked. I wondered about your feelings on your grandfather’s house. And I’m sure that if we put this out there, other people would have some thoughts about things that should be on this trail. Why not make it at a community-wide kind of event with some committee picking and choosing?

We’ll see. We ended up losing Laura again for the second time in a week. Huge technical issue. She thought she had them fixed, sends along her apology, and we are short because of her absence. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks to the missing Laura. Thank you for listening to the podcast. We’ll be back on Tuesday, Election Day, talking about the news.