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From the Sidelines

By Mike Stegall

When I was working in radio in Wilmington, Ohio (WDHK) I was fortunate enough to be there and have a sports show every day. I was the only person who had a radio program live from the football field with legendary coach and owner of the Bengals, Paul Brown. I got the chance to interview quite a few famous athletes because of that program, Bengals and other team’s members too, and I also got to meet a lot of the Reds players. I have been fortunate enough to meet Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and others from other teams too. I guess I have been lucky enough to meet plenty of famous people. I have met MLB All Stars, NFL All-Pro players, NASCAR Champion drivers, Military Leaders and others. But, in all the people I have met and interviewed, I have never had the chance to talk to a High School All-American…until Tuesday!

Susie Blocher is a special person. She is one of only 48 athletes in America to earn the ALL-AMERICAN title in softball. That puts her in an elite group of athletes in other sports who are the best in their sports too. She is also an outstanding student. Susie and her parents, Kent and Tonya Blocher, are good people (I have known her dad a long time!), and they have done a great job in raising such a happy, charming, responsible, and fiercely competitive daughter.

We met at the Coffee Pot and I had a wonderful time listening and talking to Susie. She watches all sports, except hockey, which she just can’t get excited about, and watches as much softball, mostly in the S.E.C., as she can. She is interested in going south to play softball and casually mentioned Georgia and South Carolina, but nothing solid yet.

She has a part time job at the Dairy King here in town, (she is special if she can put up with Dave McCartney! I owed him that!) and seems to be handling everything that has been thrust upon her this year, and coping fairly well. It is easy to see that there is a fire within when she talks softball, and is very quick to give her teammates and her coaches credit. I asked her why she came to Greenville, and she stated she saw the history of the program’s success, and was sure she would learn more get more opportunities here. She said the difference between Jerrod and Greg Newland, the coaches, is that Jerrod is more of a tactician (my word) and Greg is more old school. She also stated that the coaches trust the players, and that leads to success in her opinion. She thinks the combination works well.

I asked if she feels like an All-American, did she feel special? She paused for a moment, you could see it in her eyes the thought she was putting into the question, and how to answer it. She said yes, and the responsibility that comes with it can be stressful. That is a tough question to answer without sounding arrogant. She explained she knows because of the award, she has a leadership position and must live up to it. She nailed it — it was a completely honest answer said without a hint of arrogance. I asked her what she did to became an All-American and she immediately said it was because of all the work she puts in. Hard work does not bother her, she is goal-driven and you can tell it. She will put in hours down at the Academy this winter getting ready for softball, and helping others to get better too. Susie does not want to disappoint anyone, and she takes her leadership seriously. She did mention the stress she has inflicted upon herself because now she feels the burden of being an All-American in her senior year again. She did however state that once the game starts, she can shut all that off and just play ball, what she really loves to do. College softball is in her future and she would like to get a degree and become an athletic trainer, or something in that field. I asked her why and she stated with a laugh that she seems to be always injured! When she was younger she injured an ankle playing basketball and all she said she did was jump up! It still bothers here, somewhat.

Our talk lasted about 45 minutes and covered a number of topics. Susie is dealing with the burden of being a student, a leader, and special athlete because of her award. She feels the pressure to be an All-American again. That is understandable. Once you get to the top of that mountain, it is tough to get there again. Whether or not she becomes All-American again, she is still, and always will be an All-American PERSON. Her mother and father have done an amazing job with her, keeping her down to earth. Of all the All-Pros, All-Stars, and other high achieving leaders I have met, she has become my favorite. She is living in a tough time for her generation, and they get maligned all the time. This young lady is the poster child for everything good about kids now. She is focused, driven, and knows her responsibilities, and the burdens they bring with them. She is generous, hard working and caring towards others. She is everything you could want in a person. I am happy to tell everyone I know her, and am proud to call her my friend. That’s the way I see it, from the sidelines.

Contributing columnist Mike Stegall a 27-year former OHSAA high school football official and current Darke County Commissioner.

Stories appearing in our World pages originate from aggregated news feeds obtained from various subscription news sources.

LONDON (JTA) — Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz was a teenager when she began to feel Judaism calling her back. Her family had left the synagogue behind, and in the mid-1970s she was living in Cornwall, about as far away from Britain’s Jewish centers as one can.

She wrote letters to Jewish institutions and asked them to send her pamphlets. She pored over Jewish entries in the thin pages of an Encyclopedia Britannica. She began deciphering unfamiliar words and learning about Israel. She couldn’t yet visualize all the traditions, and there were things that she knew weren’t in the books – for the moment “everything was theoretical.”

Theory became practice at Cambridge University, where Taylor-Guthartz would attend synagogue and learn Hebrew. She would eventually live in Israel. She went on to teach at the London School of Jewish Studies, or LSJS, which is associated with the United Synagogue — roughly equivalent to the Modern Orthodox movement in the United States.

Taylor-Guthartz, now 62, burst onto the agenda of Britain’s Jewish community after being ordained in June by New York’s Yeshivat Maharat. The egalitarian “Open Orthodox” yeshiva is where other women like her in Britain go for what the seminary calls a “traditional Orthodox semikha [ordination] curriculum” for women. Graduates choose their own titles, and Taylor-Guthartz chose “rabba.”

Britain’s traditionalist Orthodox establishment reacted quickly, sacking Taylor-Guthartz from her teaching position at LSJS, where she had been for 16 years. Her research fellowship at the school was similarly revoked.

That might have been the end of it, but something unusual happened: A senior research fellow at the school resigned in protest, donors threatened to take their money elsewhere, community figures wrote critical opinion pieces in communal newspapers and many people spoke angrily behind closed doors.

The controversy has kickstarted a conversation about how far British Orthodoxy is willing – or able – to adapt to women who want to see it move in a more egalitarian direction.

A letter signed by 30 Liberal and Reform rabbis accused the United Kingdom’s chief rabbi of maintaining a “glass ceiling of Torah above which half your community may not ascend.” Taylor-Guthartz was even given a hearing on the BBC’s flagship women’s issues radio program “Woman’s Hour.”

The establishment backed down. Her teaching roles were restored — but only after a compromise in which she agreed not to use the rabba title.

“For all the protestation that nothing had changed,” she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, “something has changed.”

Some suggested that Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, spiritual leader of United Synagogue as well as president of LSJS, was worried how more conservative elements of the Jewish community both at home and abroad would react if he were to permit a female rabbi to teach at a college under his watch.

Like Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks before him, Mirvis is squeezed between the liberals and the increasingly assertive haredi Orthodox community that is growing in numbers and influence.

Others wrote letters supporting Mirvis, saying he was was holding the line in support of a position that is widely accepted across a range of Orthodox streams. Yeshivat Maharat’s graduates have found positions within the Orthodox world, but seldom in roles that would conflict with the notion that only men may serve as congregational rabbis or ordained clergy. In 2015, the Modern Orthodox Rabbinic Council of America ruled that Orthodox institutions may not “allow a title implying rabbinic ordination to be used by a teacher of Limudei Kodesh [Jewish studies] in an Orthodox institution.”

Rachie Binstock, the senior rebbetzin at St. John’s Wood Synagogue in London, defended the Orthodox position during Taylor-Guthartz’s appearance on “Woman’s Hour.”

“The title of rabbi today connotes the leader of a community in a synagogal context,” she explained. “That’s problematic to Orthodoxy, it’s always going to be, because the synagogue is built as the place for male prayer. Women and men have different roles in prayer, different expressions of prayer.”

Binstock’s title indicates that she is the wife of the rabbi at St John’s Wood, where she serves as an educator and program director in her own right.

“We don’t believe that equality is sameness,” she said. “Judaism celebrates difference, and we have many different roles.”

Others noted that Rabbanit Shira Marili Mirvis, the wife of the chief rabbi’s nephew, in April became the first woman to be appointed – albeit not under the formal title rabbi – as the spiritual and halakhic, or Jewish legal, authority of an Orthodox community in Israel.

Taylor-Guthartz says Britain lags “10 to 15 years behind Israel and the United States.”

“We’re a small provincial community in comparison,” she told JTA in a Zoom interview. “We’re very old-fashioned. We’re very conservative. We preserve a conservativeness that I think as characteristic of Britain in the 1950s, but which Britain has grown out of. Britain has moved on, but the Jewish community preserves it.”

She is hoping to change that.

“It may take a long time,” Taylor-Guthartz said. “It may take an age – it may even take more than my lifetime — but you’ve got to keep moving. You’ve got to keep coming. I think we’re at the beginning of that process.

“I am a great believer in facts on the ground, and there are now facts on the ground that there weren’t before,” she added.

Taylor-Guthartz, who during her time in Israel attended an egalitarian Orthodox synagogue that prided itself on a decentralized and democratic model, said she experienced culture shock when she came back to Britain in 1998.

“The London communities just seemed odd to me,” she said. “They were all very frightened of things. I wasn’t used to this.”

Taylor-Guthartz talks about female pioneers who came before her, and friends encouraged her to think about investigating Maharat. She talks about her dissertation on Orthodox women for her doctorate at University College London, which has recently been published.

But there is one story that jumps out to her: Shortly after she had returned to Britain, a Jewish woman came up to her and asked: “‘Can I pray in my own words, and can I pray outside the synagogue?’”

Taylor-Guthartz was floored.

“I thought it was devastatingly sad,” she said. “Even before I got ordained, I was already being asked questions by people who didn’t feel comfortable going to their rabbi for one reason or another: Either they were asking something that was a bit out of the box, or for whatever reason didn’t feel they could ask somebody.

“It’s very important that there are women who are resources for other women.”

The United Synagogue movement has taken a hard stance against allowing women to take on rabbinic posts, even as Britain’s progressive denominations have had female clergy since the 1970s. Because of that, United Synagogue has been accused of lagging behind other mainstream denominations and wider society in opening itself up to women. The organization only allowed women to become trustees in 2014 after opening synagogue chairmanships to them two years earlier.

“It is such a lumbering, prehistoric beast,” Taylor-Guthartz said. “I don’t know if it can adapt. It has tried, but it is always playing catch-up.”

Still, she is optimistic.

“I think the community is way ahead of its leaders here,” she said. “They are getting a bit impatient, and it just seems ridiculous to many people that you can have top judges and top doctors sitting silently in shul where they can’t say anything.”

Taylor-Guthartz says the communal reaction to her firing from LSJS proves her point.

‘What surprised me, and what I think is really significant about what happened, is the amount of solidly centrist United Synagogue people that stood up and said this is not OK, this is ridiculous, this is crazy,” she said.

Britain’s most recognizable Reform and Liberal Jewish figures, such as Rabbis Julia Neuberger, Laura Janner Klausner and Charley Baginsky, are all women. By contrast, Britain’s Orthodox women are “invisible both inside and outside the community,” Taylor-Guthartz said.

“A lot of people are very angry and a lot of people have left. There is a silent drain of people because they feel unwanted, unheard, disrespected,” she said.

“You’ve got to have women. You’ve got to talk to women.”

--

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A worker works on the light fixture over the North Portico of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)AP

By Associated Press

The White House is warning state and local governments about severe cuts to disaster relief, Medicaid, infrastructure grants. school money and other programs if Congress fails to raise the U.S. debt limit.

A fact sheet for state and local officials that was obtained by The Associated Press is an attempt to ratchet up the public pressure on Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. President Joe Biden has insisted so far on bipartisan backing to increase the cap on debt that was almost entirely accrued before he took office, but McConnell, R-Ky., has been unmoved and has repeatedly said that Democrats must act on their own.

The Treasury Department has engaged in extraordinary measures to keep the government running after the suspended debt limit was reinstated in August at a level of $22 trillion, about $6 trillion less than current total debt load. Treasury’s extraordinary measures will be exhausted by October, creating the potential for default.

The debt limit is the amount of money Congress allows the Treasury to borrow to keep the government running.

It was suspended three times during the Trump administration and has been lifted dozens of times since 1960. Created at the start of World War I so Congress would no longer need to approve each bond issuance, the debt limit has evolved into a political weapon as borrowing has sharply escalated over the past two decades.

With the total debt standing at $28.4 trillion, the government would be forced to cut deeply into programs unless the restrictions on borrowing are lifted or suspended. The risk of a recession and turmoil in the financial market would make it harder for states and cities to borrow, while also playing havoc with public pension investments.

The Biden administration’s fact sheet makes the case that the pain would be spread among the states because many programs rely on federal dollars. The government’s ability to respond to natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes or wildfires would be curtailed.

States would face severe Medicaid shortfalls because the federal government covers two-thirds of the costs. About 20% of Americans get their health insurance through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Roughly $100 billion in infrastructure grants for highways, airports and public transit would be jeopardized. The more than $50 billion for special education, school districts serving poorer students and other programs would also be threatened, as would $30 billion in food assistance and $10 billion for public health.

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The new Brunswick Middle School has pods strewn throughout the building, with comfortable seating areas like this one. (Rosie Till/BEAT Video Program)

By Rosie Till, BEAT Video Program

BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- “Have you seen the new middle school?” “Wow, it’s so big!” “I wonder what the inside looks like!”

Brunswick’s new middle school has been a frequent topic of conversation for almost a year. And, while a formal ribbon-cutting and open house planned for Sept. 12 has been postponed due to high COVID-19 community spread, the excitement in eventually sharing the new facility with the public is greater than ever.

“It takes the entire community to have successful schools, and it takes high-quality schools to have a successful community,” said Susan Palchesko, principal of Brunswick Middle School.

Isabella Heinbaugh-McCroskey practices her trumpet in the new band room at Brunswick Middle School. (Rosie Till/BEAT Video Program)

“It’s always fun to hear people’s reaction when they see the cafeteria, the pods, the Performing Arts Center -- there are lots of oooohs and aaahhhhs,” Palchesko said.

The enthusiasm is warranted. For example, the massive cafeteria that features all kinds of seating, ranging from tall chairs to booths to normal lunch tables, is a truly impressive sight.

And then the pods: Each pod has a common area that features a semi-circle booth that doubles as a bookshelf. They also have armchairs and other flexible seating in the common area. Branching off from the common area are four classrooms, each one dedicated to one of the students’ core subjects: math, language arts, science and social studies.

Inside, the classrooms have tall chairs and tables, as well as regular desks and chairs.

The Brunswick Middle School cafeteria is huge and features a wide variety of seating, including booths, high tops and more. (Rosie Till/BEAT Video Program)

The school has two gyms. The orchestra classroom has a separate room dedicated to just bass violins and cellos. The choir room has risers built in and a wall of mirrors for the students to practice their techniques while singing. The band room has a wall of lockers, as does the orchestra room, for students to put their instruments in.

“We have great kids, supportive families, a dedicated staff and a community that has proven they are committed to the success of students,” Palchesko said.

While the public will have to wait a bit longer for the new middle school’s public unveiling, the event will undoubtedly be worth the wait.

Guest contributor Rosie Till, an eighth-grader at Brunswick Middle School, is one of over 50 student “backpack journalists” (grades 6-12) in the award-winning BEAT Video Program. The program is sponsored by Scene75 (www.scene75.com), Plum Creek Assisted Living Community, Baskets Galore, Medina County Women’s Endowment Fund, Medina County Community Fund, Brunswick University Center, Brunswick Eagles 3505, 100+ Women Who Care Medina and the Brunswick Rotary Club. Go to www.brunswickschoolsvideoprogram.org to learn more about the program, or visit https://thebeat.viebit.com to view videos produced by the students.

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Coach K's Sports owner Kevin Weisenberg poses with some of his oversized, bobbleheaded friends at the South Euclid sports collectibles store, which opened this month at 14433 Cedar Road.

By Jeff Piorkowski/special to cleveland.com

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- There are some businesses people enter to purchase necessities, while others are all about fun.

A newly opened South Euclid business, Coach K’s Sports, definitely fits into the “fun” category. Those who have enjoyed during any time of their lives collecting sports memorabilia will have their memories jogged by just looking at what’s hanging on the walls, or kept under glass in the store’s display cases.

But, Coach K’s isn’t strictly about sports items. Owner Kevin Weisenberg’s store, at 14433 Cedar Road, just off South Green Road, also includes things such as vintage toys, autographs of former US presidents, dolls and other collectibles.

“I like anything that’s unique,” said Weisenberg of what he is willing to buy from customers.

Weisenberg, a Pepper Pike resident, opened his store the day after Labor Day (Sept. 7), making it the only such sports shop in the area. The storefront, vacant the past two years, has been totally renovated and, unlike some stores that sells collectibles, is neatly kept. The walls are well decorated with some top notch, for-sale stuff, such as autographed Kobe Bryant, Patrick Mahomes and Barry Sanders jerseys; a framed Jackie Robinson 1954 Topps baseball card and authenticated autograph; a Derek Jeter Yankees jersey; a program from the 1920 World Series, featuring the Cleveland Indians and Brooklyn Dodgers, from Ebbets Field; and a signed Tom Brady old-style “Pat the Patriot” New England Patriots football helmet, among many other items.

Originally from Beachwood, Weisenberg, 40, said he began collecting sports trading cards at age 5 or 6 and remained an enthusiast until attending college, at a time when the market for such things went dead after booming in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. He went to the University of Miami in Florida, where he earned a master’s degree in business administration and then started a business in Boynton Beach, Fla. that specialized in sports collectibles, and in providing activities (a play area, trampoline and other equipment) for children.

A father of two, he returned to the Cleveland area to raise his children. Upon his return, Weisenberg attended a couple of national sports memorabilia conventions, and renewed his interest in the hobby of his youth.

Autographed jerseys for sale adorn the walls at Coach K's Sports, including those of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and former NBA great Shaquille O'Neal.

“I got back into it and then, right before COVID started, I got presented with a couple of opportunities to buy big collections locally, and that’s how it all started. I bought one collection for a lot of money (five figures) and started selling some on ebay, and Instagram locally, and started piecing it out, and I made good money with that. Then I got another deal presented to me (to buy another large collection). It was word of mouth. I thought, ‘I’m having fun and making good money doing this, so the rest was history.”

Browsing the store’s offerings, one will find old-school baseball cards such as a Whitey Ford Topps card from 1953, or Hank Aaron’s Bowman card from 1955. Also under glass are today’s cards, which often include more than just a photo and a player’s stats. Collector’s these days are excited by limited runs of cards that may, for example, contain a photo of Baker Mayfield together on the same card with an autographed piece of his jersey.

Coach K’s also sells pre-packaged boxes of new cards, such as those by Panini that cost $40 or, for the person who may be seeking a Tom Brady rookie card, a year 2000 Upper Deck box that sells for $4,000. The thrill, or hope, is that when one opens the box, a Brady rookie card or two will be inside and pay for the purchase.

One quite unique “card” Coach K’s has for sale is actually made of cloth and dates from 1917. The so-called “blanket card” features famed hitter Shoeless Joe Jackson and can be had for $2,500.

When asked if there was anything in the store with which he would hate to part, Weisenberg said that perhaps the Kobe Bryant jersey would be such an item. But, he added, “I have what hobbyists call a PC, or personal collection that I don’t keep at the store. You know, a Jim Brown rookie (card), some LeBron rookies, some Kobe Bryant autographs, a Michael Jordan rookie. I have one or two of all of the best players. A Hank Aaron rookie. I have a Mickey Mantle. I have one or two of all the hero players for myself and then for my son, to pass on.”

Coach K’s also features goodies for those not looking to spend a lot. There are boxes through which customers can browse for single cards from all eras selling from $1 to $20, and grab-bag boxes of Cleveland Browns trinkets and other items for children from $2 to $10.

Many people don’t realize what collectibles they have in their attics or basements, but Weisenberg said that just about everyone has something they have saved, often with a personal story behind it. These items can be turned into cash, especially in the COVID era. Prices of collectibles are particularly healthy at this time as people, while confined by the virus, have looked back at what they’ve collected, and are seeking to add to their collections.

“We are always actively looking to evaluate and buy new collections,” Weisneberg said. “We’re the perfect place whether you’re into collectibles, or if your husband or boyfriend is into it, we’re the perfect place to buy a gift for them.”

Coach K’s is also a great place to relive old memories and, to just have fun.

Coach K’s is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sundays noon to 4 p.m. The store is closed on Mondays. Call 216-777-9616.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There doesn’t need to be a roster breakdown to know that the Ohio State football team has more talent than Tulsa.

For the next two weeks, the gap between the Buckeyes and their opponents will be wide enough that it will be impossible to tell if the problems exposed in the first two weeks are close to being fixed. That won’t be determined until they get back on the field with an opponent with a chance of making them sweat.

The Golden Hurricane won’t be able to do that. OSU has one of the five most talented rosters in the country while Tulsa’s is second-to-last in the 11-team American Athletic Conference.

Here’s a look at where each projected starter for Ohio State and Tulsa was rated on Signing Day. The ranking is against all players in that class. The position lists where they fall among their position groups. For example, C.J. Stroud was the 42nd-ranked player and the No. 2 pro-style quarterback.

Ohio State’s offense vs. Tulsa’s offense

Ohio State: Class of 2017-2020

The Buckeyes’ projected starting offense features players from classes ranked second, second, 14th and fifth nationally.

Note: Thayer Munford was Ohio State’s starting left tackle for three years before moving to left guard.

The complicated thing about talent composites is that sometimes the people most responsible for the high ratings aren’t on the field yet. There are plenty of people on the Buckeyes’ roster who fall under that category, and for the next two weeks, fans will get a chance to see plenty of them, given the score.

Stroud is Ohio State’s starting quarterback, and nothing he’s done — or hasn’t done — the past two games will change that. But eventually, Kyle McCord (0.9858), Jack Miller (0.8951) and potentially even Quinn Ewers (1.0000) will throw their first passes.

Miller got the first chance to take the field last season against Nebraska and scored a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. McCord was a five-star quarterback in the 2021 class who may have used his first offseason to claim the role as QB2. Ewers is the prodigy who reclassified from 2022 to 2021 and showed up a week into fall camp. He’s a long way from being even garbage time ready.

Saturday could also be a chance for OSU to show off its depth at wide receiver. Olave, Wilson and Smith-Njigba have played almost every meaningful snap the first two weeks, while Julian Fleming (0.9979) subbed in when Olave needed a breather. Then there are freshmen Emeka Egbuka (0.9945) — who’s served as a kick returner — and Marvin Harrison Jr. (0.9583). Both got rave reviews all offseason, but their only snaps came at the end of an already decided game against Minnesota.

Tulsa: Class of 2017-19

The Golden Hurricane’s projected starting offense features players from classes ranked 85th, 97th and 107th nationally.

Note: Dylan Couch started his career at Kansas State before transferring to Tulsa.

Deneric Prince (0.8452) will also play at running back. This is the second time the Buckeyes have played an opponent that has a former Texas A&M player on its roster. Minnesota had wide receiver Dylan Wright.

Crawford played is from the same high school as Smith-Njigba, Rockwall High School in Texas. He was a senior during Smith-Njigba’s freshman year.

Ohio State’s second tight end Cade Stover (0.9487) is a converted linebacker. Tulsa has its own version of that in Hall, who was also originally an outside linebacker coming out of high school.

This is the third straight OSU opponent with starters who didn’t have a rating coming out of high school.

Here is a breakdown of how both teams’ offenses grade out:

Ohio State’s defense vs. Tulsa’s defense

Ohio State: Class of 2017-20

The Buckeyes’ projected starting defense features players from classes ranked second, second, 14th and fifth nationally.

Note: Antuan Jackson started his career at Auburn before spending time at a junior college where he was the No. 1 JUCO player in the country.

Changes are coming, especially at linebacker and safety. It’s safe to assume the front four plus Taron Vincent (0.9884) will get meaningful snaps. Freshmen J.T. Tuimoloau (0.9989) and Jack Sawyer (0.9980) will continue to get some run. Burke and Brown can be written in ink as starters the rest of the season with the way they’ve played. Whether that ever becomes a three-man rotation with Sevyn Banks (0.9166) will depend on if the 2020 starter ever gets on the field.

The Buckeyes have played practically every linebacker not named Reid Carrico (0.9615) in the first two games, and at some point, they’ll have to narrow that rotation. Tulsa isn’t going to force that decision, but Saturday’s first half could reveal some early decisions. Now that former five-star Palaie Gaoteote IV has gone through a week of practice being eligible, it will be interesting to watch his role increase.

Losing Josh Proctor (0.964) for the season forces Ohio State to find answers at safety. That could mean moving guys like Ransom, Ryan Watts (0.9206) and Kourt Williams (0.9291) from their respective positions. That could open up roles for Cameron Martinez (0.8958) or even freshman Andre Turrentine (0.9269), who lost his black stripe this week.

Tulsa: Class of 2015-18

The Golden Hurricane’s projected starting defense features players from classes ranked 109th, 95th, 85th and 97th nationally.

Note: Cullen Wick did not have a rating coming out of high school but was a 2-star recruit coming out of JUCO. Tyon Davis spent two years at a JUCO before coming to Tulsa. Travon Fuller started his career at Texas A&M.

Tulsa runs a 3-3-5 defense of three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs.

‘The Golden Hurricane only have three four-star players on their roster. Fuller is the only starter.

As a 2015 graduate, Williams is the oldest player on either roster.

Here is a breakdown of how both teams’ starting defenses grade out:

Vulnerabilities exposed, OSU players took an unfamiliar perspective into practice

Day to change defensive coaching approach vs. Tulsa

Emphasis on the run leads to monster day against Tulsa: Outrageous Predictions

What’s up with Mirco, Gaoteote IV and Smith-Njigba? Buckeye Bits

2023′s top DL taking recruitment day-by-day; two other D-linemen offered

Wilson on the defense: ‘They’ve got some things they’re working on’

Three defensive players lose black stripes

Ohio State vs. Clemson a season-long beauty contest: College Football Playoff Show

Ohio State-Tulsa tickets: How to get them and how much they cost

Seven Hills’ Hillside Middle School currently has 39 students quarantining and two confirmed cases of COVID-19. (John Benson/cleveland.com)

By John Benson, special to cleveland.com

PARMA, Ohio -- After spending the first three weeks of school hoping a mask-wearing recommendation would keep Parma City School District students and staff safe, Superintendent Charles Smialek announced at last night’s board of education meeting starting Monday (Sept. 20) face coverings will be required by students, staff and visitors.

“While we ended last week in decent shape with 220 quarantined students -- which is high but not alarming -- we’ve just continued to climb throughout this week,” Smialek said. “Right now, our COVID dashboard is showing 464 students in quarantine.

“When we look at the entire year and the number of students who have been impacted, we’re at 871 students -- including 133 students with COVID -- who have been quarantined. We just can’t continue to send students home in droves. We can’t continue to have positive cases, which are obviously a risk to a student’s health and their family’s health. We have to take clear action at this point to keep our students in school. That has to be our highest priority.”

Not only did Valley Forge High School varsity girls volleyball team athletes have to recently quarantine but this week’s Normandy High School football game was cancelled due to COVID. Going forward, all indoor extracurricular activities will require visitors to be masked.

The superintendent noted had students and families heeded the district’s strong mask-wearing recommendation the majority of quarantines would have been avoided.

“An excellent example is (Wednesday) at Hillside Middle School, we quarantined 20 students,” Smialek said. “If we had a mask requirement in place, 19 of them would have stayed in school.”

Citing a clear correlation between mask-wearing and quarantine as the motivation behind the mask-wearing mandate, Smialek said according to the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and the Ohio Department Board of Health guidelines if masked students are exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19 in a classroom quarantining is not required.

So far on average, the district has been quarantining 50 students per day. The biggest fear for Smialek is the numbers would rise to the level where the district is forced to return to remote learning.

“We expect pushback from some families but the message is we’ve really worked to not implement this,” Smialek said. “We understand that we have families who feel this is sort of inconvenience, but when you look at the numbers we’re not getting from the (mask-wearing) compliance with the strong recommendation that we made, we have too many students missing too much school.

“So it’s not a debate. This is a requirement and this is something we’re going to have to enforce with our students. We looked back to last year and know that while adults sometimes struggle with the issue our students complied. We anticipate we’ll continue to have high compliance.”

The superintendent also announced beginning on Monday the district will start offering Google Meets during normal class time to students in quarantine.

While the curriculum is not interactive and students aren’t required to participate, it does offer those kids out of school an opportunity to listen in to their classroom lectures in order to keep them up to date in their studies.

Regarding how long the mask-wearing mandate will be in place, Smialek said conditions will be continuously monitored.

“One of the pieces we learned about COVID is anytime we try to point to a specific timeline or specific threshold, it really didn’t work out well,” Smialek said, “So we’re going to keep looking at our numbers and when we feel our data warrants a change, then we’ll make one.”

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10

Park Synagogue seeks innovative uses for its Eric Mendelsohn building and campus,

By Steven Litt, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Park Synagogue alarmed historic preservationists and fans of mid-century modern architecture earlier this year when it listed its main sanctuary and education building off Mayfield Road for sale.

But now it’s time to exhale. The 152-year-old Conservative Jewish congregation, which is centering its operations at a new worship and education campus in Pepper Pike, has come up with a new plan to preserve its historic building in Cleveland Heights, designed by the German-Jewish architect Eric Mendelsohn, a leading exponent of early 20th-century Expressionist architecture.

The congregation announced today that it has chosen to work with Sustainable Community Associates, a Northeast Ohio real estate partnership created in 2002 by three newly minted Oberlin College graduates who have spent two decades building or renovating more than $100 million worth of projects in Oberlin and Cleveland.

That represents good news for the synagogue building, a masterpiece by Mendelsohn, who fled the Nazis in 1933 eventually to establish himself in the U.S. as a designer of Jewish houses of worship.

Completed in 1950, Park Synagogue is widely considered a masterpiece by Mendelsohn, who fled the Nazis in 1933 eventually to establish himself in the U.S. as a designer of Jewish houses of worship.

Photos of the landmark Eric Mendelsohn Building at Park Synagogue's 28-acre campus in Cleveland Heights.Courtesy Park Synagogue, Ardon Bar-Hama

Sustainable Community Associates has agreed to spend a year creating a master plan for the synagogue’s Cleveland Heights campus, and then carry out the resulting project as its master developer.

Park Synagogue’s goal is ultimately to transfer ownership of its Mendelsohn building and the surrounding 28-acre campus at 3300 Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights while preserving and finding vibrant new uses for one of America’s most important examples of 20th -century religious architecture.

The central aim is to create an intergenerational community of new users on the campus, possibly including the arts, culture, education, housing, and human services in any number of combinations. In theory, the project would generate enough income or donations to preserve the historic Mendelsohn building.

The process will include market research and fundraising, plus discussions with foundations and potential users of the campus.

The synagogue and the development firm want to hear from interested organizations via the Sustainable Community Associates website, sustainableca.com/park/.

The Mendelsohn building is known for its massive copper dome and sanctuary with a triangular chapel extending from its north side like the prow of a ship cutting through waves. A fan-shaped education wing and courtyard extend on the south side of the sanctuary.

Saving a masterpiece

The building is viewed widely as the most significant of the four synagogues Mendelsohn designed in America before his death in 1953 in San Francisco at age 66.

It is also arguably the most important building by a first-generation modernist architect in Northeast Ohio, a region long dominated by clients with unadventurous tastes in design. In that sense, the synagogue is especially significant locally as a rare progressive outlier in the region’s architectural history.

The building is showing signs of age. The congregation’s leaders estimate it could take at least $3 million to stabilize the structure, which needs masonry repairs and upgrades to its roof. They see the building overall as in fair condition.

Photos of the landmark Eric Mendelsohn Building at Park Synagogue's 28-acre campus in Cleveland Heights.Courtesy Park Synagogue, Ardon Bar-Hama

When it listed the building for sale through Allegro Realty in May, the congregation raised the specter that it was eager to walk away from a costly burden, but that was never the intention.

“We all felt a real responsibility to making the best solution for Park Main because of its architectural importance, because of Park’s history and because of our commitment to Cleveland Heights and the good relationship we have with Cleveland Heights,” said Susan Ratner, president of the congregation since 2019. “We didn’t want to become part of the urban exodus.”

The Sustainable Community partners, Naomi Sabel, Josh Rosen, and Ben Ezinga initially learned that the Park Synagogue campus was on the market from friends in the congregation. After a visit, they entered discussions with the congregation’s leaders, which led to a memorandum of understanding earlier this month.

The agreement coincides with a separate project by Park to expand its facility in Pepper Pike, where it built a new sanctuary, library, and education wing in 2005.

The congregation has raised $29 million in a $32 million capital campaign that includes money for the new building and an enhanced endowment. Construction is scheduled for completion in a year.

Ratner and Stuart Deicher, Park’s executive director, estimated that operating the Cleveland Heights campus, which includes a community mikvah, or ritual bath, and a daycare building, costs the congregation roughly $350,000 a year.

Precedent in St. Louis

During the upcoming year, Sustainable Community Associates will consult on the Park Main project with a longtime mentor, 1964 Oberlin College graduate Richard Baron, co-founder and chairman of the St. Louis-based real estate firm of McCormack Baron Salazar.

Baron established a powerful precedent for adaptive reuse of Park Synagogue when he led a successful effort in the mid-1980s to convert another important Mendelsohn synagogue, B’nai Amoona, into the home of the Center of Creative Arts, a leading regional arts center for children. Located in the St. Louis suburb of University City, the building now hosts programs for a racially diverse population of 50,000 children a year.

Speaking of the Cleveland Heights building, Baron said in an interview Wednesday that “it’s an exceptional piece of architecture, just extraordinary. My hope is that whatever emerges from the planning process will excite everyone in [Greater] Cleveland, and it becomes an important part of the fabric of the Cleveland cultural community.”

Baron is independently engaged in Cleveland as the developer of the first phase of Innovation Square, a project designed eventually to provide hundreds of new apartments south of the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood along the new Opportunity Corridor boulevard.

A rendering of an apartment building set to go up as part of the "Innovation Square" development in Cleveland's Fairfax neighborhood.

Also consulting on the Park Synagogue project is Cleveland architect Jack Bialosky, leading principal of a firm established by his father, architect the late Jack Bialosky Sr., who knew Mendelsohn, and whose firm designed an expansion of the Park facility in the 1960s.

More than a building

The master plan could involve specifying the potential for new construction on undeveloped portions of the synagogue’s Cleveland Heights campus, including a large surface parking lot next to Mayfield Road currently used to park buses used by the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District.

Forested areas on the campus would be preserved, but the developer and the congregation are also interested in exploring how the synagogue campus could become part of a system of trails and greenways that could connect to Cain Park in Cleveland Heights and to Forest Hill Park, part of which extends into East Cleveland.

Pursuing such goals would be one way to honor Mendelsohn’s original vision for the entire Park campus in Cleveland Heights.

“It’s the Mendelsohn campus that needs to be revitalized, not just the sanctuary,’’ Sabel said.

In a general sense, the congregation wants to emulate the example set by The Temple-Tifereth Israel in 2010 when it transferred ownership of its architecturally significant building in University Circle to Case Western Reserve University, which renovated it as the Maltz Performing Arts Center.

Images of Case Western Reserve University's Maltz Performing Arts Center at the Temple-Tifereth Israel, where demolition of a 1950s addition is underway in preparation for construction of an expansion starting this fall.Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer

Under an agreement between the university and the Temple, the Reform congregation will have access to the facility for 99 years for eight days a year for use on major holidays and other events.

Ratner said Park Synagogue is looking for a similar arrangement at its facility in Cleveland Heights.

The issues faced by Park Synagogue are typical of those faced by numerous faith communities in urban areas across America, where congregations are migrating from older buildings in urban centers toward new facilities in ever-expanding suburbs.

Ratner said she was elated when Sustainable Community Associates expressed interest in Park Synagogue and offered to take on the project.

“This is the embodiment of everything you could hope for as you leave a place that holds your whole history,’’ she said. “I am really excited about this.”

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Fencing has been reinstalled around the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021, ahead of a planned rally by far-right supporters of former President Donald Trump who are demanding the release of rioters arrested in connection with the 6 January insurrection. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP

By Mike Rose, cleveland.com

A look at some of the top headlines trending online today around the world including the latest on this weekend’s rally in Washington, the ozone hole over Antarctica, coronavirus updates and much more.

Top stories

Washington braces for ‘Justice for J6’ rally: The Note (ABC News)

DHS intelligence bulletin warns of small number of online threats of violence ahead of “Justice for J6” rally (CBS News)

This year’s giant Antarctic ozone hole probably due to climate change (Space.com)

Aukus: UK, US and Australia launch pact to counter China (BBC)

Biden’s deal with UK, Australia angers France, EU (AP)

Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, a Republican who voted to impeach Trump, won’t seek re-election (NBC News)

Coronavirus news

What to expect as FDA advisory panel debates Pfizer COVID booster shots (ABC)

From China, through Telegram: Fake Covid vaccination card market booms (CNBC)

Schools Reopen But Obstacles Remain as COVID-19 Surges (US News)

The White House offers a call to Nicki Minaj to discuss vaccine safety (NY Times)

Fauci says there is “no evidence” to support Nicki Minaj’s suggestion that the COVID vaccine causes impotency (CBS)

Other trending headlines

Mayim Bialik And Ken Jennings Will Host ‘Jeopardy!’ Through The End Of The Year (NPR)

Jane Powell, Hollywood golden-age musicals star, dies at 92 (AP)

Patrick Dempsey’s exit from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ came amid ‘HR issues’ (Yahoo)

World’s largest sequoias wrapped in aluminum insulation as fire nears Giant Forest (SF Chronicle)

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"Ever since hearing about the fall armyworms I have actually been hoping to find them at the garden, and to know that the space I’m taking care of is helping Ohio wildlife in another, unexpected way," David J. Tomashefski

David J. Tomashefski i

Guest columnist

Recent articles have depicted the fall armyworm as an unwelcome visitor, a scourge of lawns, and a pest requiring prompt insecticide application.

That’s one way to look at it, but not the only way.

I want to share a rarely heard perspective on the fall armyworm.

A little background first: The fall armyworm is the caterpillar of the fall armyworm moth, a native Ohio species that arrives from the south in late summer and persists until the onset of cold weather.

More:Fall armyworms march across Ohio, causing damage to crops and grass

Conditions have been right for an unusually high population this year, leading folks to take notice as the caterpillars consume their favorite diet: our lawns.

How can you know if your lawn is housing fall armyworms?

One tip is to look for increased bird activity as the birds devour the caterpillars. The fall armyworm presence in Ohio is exceptionally well-timed for birds because it coincides with their fall migration, when the birds need extra fuel for their journey south.

The moth itself is also an excellent food source for birds.

In the US there has been a 29% reduction in bird abundance since 1970, and the many species that rely on moths have suffered some of the steepest losses. Fall armyworms can therefore serve as a crucial food source for imperiled bird species.

Surely this is a good thing, but what about the lawn damage? Although the caterpillars can turn a lawn brown, they don’t directly kill the base of the grass which sends up new shoots

As long as the base stays hydrated then the grass can regrow. Running a sprinkler during the heat of the day can help ensure that the grass rejuvenates.

This may be practical for some, but it won’t work for those with large lawns, or for people who aren’t around to run a sprinkler midday. So how can these folks judiciously respond to fall armyworms in their yards?

To answer this, we should first acknowledge two points: Ohio wildlife needs our help, and we can offer that help through what we choose to plant in our yards.

Although lawn supports fall armyworms, it supports little else.

In order to help moths, butterflies, bees, and birds, the best strategy is to fill our yards with the plants that these creatures have evolved to utilize: Ohio native plants.

With this approach, lawn is still a useful groundcover for paths between native plantings and other places of foot traffic. The extent of the lawn, however, will be considerably reduced. When fall armyworms descend upon a yard such as this, any resulting damage is similarly reduced, and to speak from my own experience, frankly welcome.

I’ll elaborate. Last spring some friends and I started a pollinator garden on a vacant lot through the City’s land bank garden program.

Watching bees and butterflies busily gain nourishment from the plants that one has planted is a very satisfying experience, I can attest.

More:Letters: Afghan airlift, COTA, teen drivers, armyworms

Ever since hearing about the fall armyworms I have actually been hoping to find them at the garden, and to know that the space I’m taking care of is helping Ohio wildlife in another, unexpected way.

If anything can soften one’s heart to the fall armyworm, it’s gardening for wildlife.

David J. Tomashefski is a research associate at Ohio State University's Soil, Water, and Environmental Lab. SWEL is a service laboratory within the School of Environment and Natural Resources. Tomashefski holds a Master of Science in environment and natural resources with a specialization in ecological restoration from OSU.

Oregon running back CJ Verdell, center, scores a touchdown against Ohio State during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The upset of Ohio State by two-touchdown underdog Oregon last weekend led to some serious introspection at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.

Third-year coach Ryan Day, who was dealt his first regular-season loss, said every detail is being evaluated. On the hot seat immediately is defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs, whose unit was shredded by free-running ball-carriers in the first two games.

“Took a long, hard look the last 48 hours at everything that’s going on and certainly going to make some adjustments,” Day said this week. “Not only of how we’re attacking other offenses, but also just structurally how we’re doing our day-to-day operations.”

Working in favor of the No. 9 Buckeyes is the schedule. They face Tulsa on Saturday and second-tier Mid-American Conference squad Akron the week after. Tulsa (0-2) comes in as a 24 1/2-point underdog, according to FanDuel SportsBook.

“The energy and just the attention to detail the last two days, I feel like it hasn’t been like that since camp started,” receiver Garrett Wilson said. “We knew we had some problems, but whenever you lose, it magnifies them all. There’s no room for messing up in practice anymore. If there was before, there’s none at all.”

The Ohio State defense, whose issues have lingered from the pandemic-delayed 2020 season, can really use the tune-up games. Mohamed Ibriham ran all over the Buckeyes in their Week 1 win over Minnesota until going down with a leg injury in the third quarter. CJ Verdell romped for 161 yards and two touchdowns in Oregon's win, sometimes without being touched until he reached the secondary.

To compound the situation, the most experienced defender in the Ohio State secondary, senior safety Josh Proctor, was lost to a season-ending leg injury last week. Starting cornerback Sevyn Banks is still out with an injury.

“We’ve talked about before — is it personnel, is it coaching or is it scheme?" Day said. “And finding the right people in the right spots is part of coaching and making sure the right guys are in the right spots."

Asked if he's looking at shifting coaching duties, he said: “I’d rather not get into all that, but right now, we’re looking at all those type of things.

“You want to act, you don’t want to overreact,” Day said. “You want to make sure that you do things the right way and you allow people to do their jobs. But when it gets to a certain point, you have to get things fixed, and that’s what we’ll do.”

Here are other storylines to watch:

THROWIN' IT AROUND

Freshman C.J. Stroud was put in the unenviable position of being named the Ohio State starter without ever having thrown a collegiate pass. He put up gaudy numbers in the Oregon loss — 484 yards and three TDs — but his mistakes underscore his inexperience. He threw a fourth-quarter interception that sealed the win for the Ducks.

TULSA GETTING CLOSE

The Golden Hurricane suffered an upset of their own, with FCS school UC Davis knocking them off 19-17 in the opener. Then Tulsa came back and nearly beat Oklahoma State. The Cowboys needed a fourth-quarter comeback to secure the 28-23 win.

RB ROULETTE

In Ohio State's opener, carries were split among running backs Marcus Crowley, TreVeyon Henderson, Master Teague and Miyan Williams, the starter who had 125 yards and a touchdown. Last week, the carries were divided between Williams (14 carries, 77 yards) and Henderson (12 carries, 54 yards and a touchdown).

TURN IT UP

Operating amid the noise generated by 100,000 people in Ohio Stadium presents challenges for teams that don't often play in larger venues. Tulsa home field, H. A. Chapman Stadium, seats about 30,000. The Golden Hurricane played in front of 52,000 last week in Stillwater.

“With a stadium that big, it’s something you’re definitely emphasizing throughout the week and it’s something you’re definitely thinking of as an offense.” Tulsa guard Dylan Couch said.

Some are questioning Gov. Mike DeWine's sincerity when he says he's doing all he can to fight the spread of coronavirus among children.

Posted Fri, Sep 17, 2021 at 8:02 am ET

Some are questioning Gov. Mike DeWine's sincerity when he says he's doing all he can to fight the spread of coronavirus among children.

DeWine and the leaders of children's hospitals are in a panic over the lack of masking in Ohio schools. Hospital admissions of children with covid are up 536% since July and the hospitals report that they're being overwhelmed by the surging delta variant and an unusual jump in other respiratory illnesses.

Find out what's happening in Cuyahoga Falls with free, real-time updates from Patch.

DeWine and the hospitals are pleading with local school officials to enact their own mask mandates because DeWine says his hands are tied by Senate Bill 22 — a law the GOP-controlled legislature passed in March over his veto.

It circumscribes the governor's ability to issue health orders such as his 2020 statewide mask mandate by limiting them to 30 days. After that, the legislature would have to sign off in order to continue them.

Find out what's happening in Cuyahoga Falls with free, real-time updates from Patch.

Asked on Tuesday why he wouldn't impose a mask mandate as a temporary measure, DeWine said he didn't want to muddy the issue.

"All that will do is cause a great deal of confusion and then I think people would say, 'Well there's no mandate on, there's no requirement on, we can go back, there's really no reason to keep masks on," the governor said. "I'm afraid what would happen is we would slide backwards, we would go the wrong way."

However, some noted that when SB 22 was passed, the governor, who is a lawyer, didn't believe it would stand up in court.

Lots of talk out there excusing @GovMikeDeWine's refusal to issue a school mask mandate.

His hands are NOT tied. He could issue a mandate today and if the legislature fights it, he could take them to court.

A thread.

— Katie Paris (@katiebparis) September 15, 2021

She followed up with a thread that included the statement DeWine issued when he vetoed SB 22.

"We believe that significant portions of SB 22 are unconstitutional," the statement says. "Parts of the bill violate the separation of powers doctrine embedded in our Ohio Constitution; other parts violate Article II, Section 15 of the Ohio Constitution, proscribing how laws must be made; and even other parts of the bill likely violate Article IV, Section 5 of the Ohio Constitution, by exercising power reserved to the judiciary."

The Legislative Service Commission also questioned the legality of a draft of the bill, writing that it "might be vulnerable to a constitutional challenge on the grounds that the legislature cannot take such an action by resolution." But for some reason, it was dropped from the final version of the bill, which was otherwise unchanged.

Asked why DeWine doesn't just impose a mask order and fight it out in court, Press Secretary Dan Tierney on Wednesday said it was too risky.

"Somebody who's advocating for that is hoping that a judge puts on an immediate restraining order that would allow (the mask mandate) to continue, but you also have to weigh the chance that a judge could rule the other way: that the legislative recision is perfectly valid," Tierney said.

.@GovMikeDeWine told reporters in Circleville that he voted for maps he wasn't happy with because he didn't think there would be an agreement, even if they kept working.

"I felt we needed just to get it over with and move on."

— Haley BeMiller (@haleybemiller) September 16, 2021

Mike DeWine on Tuesday: the gerrymandered Republican supermajority is keeping me from protecting kids and keeping them in school.

Mike DeWine on Wednesday: ok, let's have four more years of an even more gerrymandered Republican supermajority.

— John Hagner (@JHagner) September 16, 2021

He added that DeWine's current approach — persuading local officials to put on their own mask mandates — is making rapid progress. The portion of students in schools with mask mandates has jumped from 35% on Sept. 1 to 54% on Tuesday, Tierney said.

"We went from a little over a third to a little over a half of students being in a school where everybody wears a mask in less than two weeks," he said.

But while DeWine is blaming the GOP supermajority in the legislature for sapping his ability to fight his coronavirus, on Wednesday he signed off on legislative maps that would preserve that supermajority. Even as DeWine helped to approve the maps, he questioned whether they would survive a court challenge, Gannett journalist Haley BeMiller reported.

The move by DeWine — who has also criticized President Joe Biden's vaccination-or-test mandate — prompted a blast from John Hagner, campaign manager for Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who is seeking the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

"Mike DeWine on Tuesday: the gerrymandered Republican supermajority is keeping me from protecting kids and keeping them in school," Hagner tweeted. "Mike DeWine on Wednesday: ok, let's have four more years of an even more gerrymandered Republican supermajority."

Reporter Jake Zuckerman contributed to this report.

The Ohio Capital Journal,a hard-hitting, independent, nonprofit news organization, connects Ohioans to their state government and its impact on their lives. The Capital Journal combines Ohio state government coverage with relentless investigative journalism; deep dives into the consequences of policy; political insight; and principled, progressive commentary. The Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.

Cincinnati tight end Noah Davis (82) reacts after catching a touchdown pass during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Murray State, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

CINCINNATI (AP/WKRC) - Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell spent this week preparing his team to hit the road.

He talked about the sellout crowd, the hostile environment the eighth-ranked Bearcats expect to face Saturday at Indiana and the potential impact it could have on the game plan.

Then, suddenly, Fickell was dealing with a different kind of noise — coaching rumors. He and his players have tried to tamp down speculation by keeping the focus on football.

“The great thing about college football now is it's really back and you have the environments, you have the crowds," he said. “For us to play a really, really, really good Indiana team that we’ve been talking about since the summer and then you throw the road changeup and the crowd, it's something we haven't experienced in a year and a half."

Yet almost as soon as Southern Cal athletic director Mike Bohn fired coach Clay Helton on Monday, the murmurs began about Fickell being reunited with his former AD in Los Angeles.

Quarterback Desmond Ridder, last season's American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, quickly explained on Twitter his coach wasn't going anywhere. Fickell concurred Tuesday.

“Can’t even talk about Indiana yet?" he cracked after the first question. “Look, I know nothing. We know nothing. I don’t talk to anybody, I barely even talk to my own family during the season. So I wouldn't ever talk about it nor would I even answer a phone call."

And all this ahead of the first of two showcase games, with potential playoff implications, for Cincinnati (2-0).

Indiana (1-1) opened the season at No. 17 — its highest preseason ranking since 1969 — before falling out after an embarrassing season-opening loss at Iowa.

Michael Penix Jr. rebounded last weekend by throwing two touchdown passes, running for another score and taking advantage of two special teams scores to blow out Idaho. Now, in front of what could be the biggest non-conference crowd in Bloomington since 1987, Indiana wants to get its season back on track.

“We’re not changing anything," all-Big Ten cornerback Tiawan Mullen said. “We know they have a very good offense, but we want to show who we are truly."

Fickell sees a difference in these Hoosiers, too. Instead of using the game to send a message, as some previous Indiana teams attempted, Fickell sees a program similar to Cincinnati's that has only one goal — keep winning.

Here are some other storylines to watch:

THROWBACK SATURDAY

The first game in this series since 2000 will be a throwback weekend for Hoosiers fans.

Memorial Stadium will be sold out for the first time since a 27-20 overtime loss to No. 17 Michigan on Oct. 14, 2017, and it comes on the first parents' weekend in two years. It will be the largest non-conference draw since the Hoosiers squared off against Kentucky on Sept. 17, 1987, in front 51,077.

The Hoosiers will be dressed in the same retro uniforms they used that day when the late Bill Mallory was coaching. He won a school record 69 games. Everyone expects another large turnout.

“It just shows the support we have, that people believe in us,” Penix Jr. said, referring to last weekend's student section. “I remember when we first came back inside (the locker room) we were pumped. We were very excited to go out there and play.”

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Cincinnati has beaten its first two opponents 91-21, so this will be the Bearcats most challenging test yet. It's also one of two key chances to impress the playoff selection committee members. For the Hoosiers, it's an opportunity to prove the Week 1 debacle at Iowa was a fluke. Winning Saturday would likely put Indiana back in the Top 25 and their big aspirations back on track.

POWERED BY FORD

Bearcats running back Jerome Ford, a transfer from Alabama, seems to have found a home in the Queen City.

He ran for 97 yards in his first career start, last season's Peach Bowl. He's already topped the 100-yard mark in both of this season's games while running for 7.8 yards per carry. Fickell said he believes he's still capable of bigger and better things.

“He really was what changed the momentum (last week)and he opens things up for Desmond and the other guys,” Fickell said. “He’s very very adept to running routes, catching the football and making contested catches.”

FICKELL PERFECT VS. HOOSIERS

Fickell is quite familiar with Indiana. He's 17-0 against them as a player or coach, all when he was at Ohio State

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is meeting Friday about COVID-19 vaccine boosters, but the long-awaited discussion may not yield an answer as to whether all vaccinated Americans will get a third dose, experts said.
"What I think we're going to hear from the FDA advisory committee is a go-ahead to boost people over the age probably of 60 because that's where the data is most solid," CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner said. "The question is what does this mean for people who are younger, and do we need to start boosting them now?"
Three reports published Wednesday supporting the argument that people may need a booster dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine over time are part of a batch of data that will be discussed by the FDA's vaccine advisers as it considers a request by Pfizer to approve a third, booster dose for most people six months after they get their first two doses of vaccine.
But there isn't unanimity right now. On Monday, a group of international vaccine experts, including some from the FDA and the World Health Organization, wrote in the Lancet that current evidence does not appear to support a need for booster shots in the general public right now.
"Typically, we have a pretty good idea of how (these meetings) are going to go ahead of time," CNN Chief Medical Analyst Sanjay Gupta said Thursday. "I gotta say, I'm not so sure on this one."
The outstanding questions, Gupta noted, included: Is immunity waning? How severe are breakthrough infections? How long does the booster effect last? And how much do boosters reduce transmission?
The questions are impacted by where the U.S. stands in the pandemic.
The proportion of the population that is fully vaccinated — now at around 54.2% of the entire population — is still far below where experts have said it needs to be to slow or stop the spread, and cases have been on the rise.
The advisers will be looking at the data to balance safety and efficacy with the rise in infection and severe illness the U.S. is facing, Reiner said.
"We want them to do this, we welcome this. But my guess is we're not going to hear sort of a blanket opening of boosters for the entire population," Reiner said.
The pandemic has impacted different populations differently, and people of color are bearing a heavy burden, according to new research.
Black people, those over 40 and people with pre-existing conditions were the most likely sufferers of long Covid symptoms, which impacted a third of the COVID-19 patients, according to a study by the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services in California.
The most common extended symptom was fatigue, followed by loss of taste and loss of smell, the team reported in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
"The odds of experiencing symptoms 2 months after a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result were significantly higher among females, persons with at least one preexisting condition, and those aged 40--54 years," they wrote.
Black people had higher rates of difficulty breathing, joint pain, and muscle pain than other racial and ethnic groups. These results show a need to monitor demographic disparities in extended COVID-19 symptoms, the researchers said.
And an analysis published Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the race-based disparities among children mirrored those among adults.
Compared to white children, kids of color have had more cases, deaths, and have had more mental health and academic problems related to the pandemic. While the most vulnerable, they're also less likely to be vaccinated, according to the analysis.
While COVID-19 hospitalization and death are rare among children compared to adults, those kids who were hospitalized were more likely to be Black and Hispanic. Black and Hispanic kids were also more likely to have a COVID-19-related condition called MIS-C — multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children — and Black children were more likely to be admitted to intensive care for it.
Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native children were more likely to die from COVID-19 than white children.
"Because children make up a significant share of the population and are more racially diverse than the rest of the population, equitable vaccination among this group is key for achieving an overall high rate of vaccine coverage among the population and may help to reduce disparities in vaccination rates more broadly," the report said.
Meanwhile, new research published this week indicates the alpha variant of coronavirus spread more easily as people breathed or spoke but showed that even the simplest masks can greatly reduce transmission.
"Our latest study provides further evidence of the importance of airborne transmission," said Dr. Don Milton, professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, who worked on the study.
The intensive study, conducted at the University of Maryland, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and elsewhere, showed people expel virus in their breath and saliva — findings that support the now widely accepted idea that the virus is spread in droplets of all sizes that fall to surfaces or float in the air. They measured RNA, the genetic material most commonly used to detect virus.
Loose-fitting masks stopped about 50% of virus-laden particles from getting out, the team found.
Milton said they're now testing to see what happens with the delta variant, which is far more transmissible than alpha and which now accounts for virtually all infections in the U.S. currently.
But the implications of the findings about alpha are clear.
"SARS-CoV-2 is evolving toward more efficient aerosol generation and loose-fitting masks provide significant but only modest source control. Therefore, until vaccination rates are very high, continued layered controls and tight-fitting masks and respirators will be necessary," the team wrote.
"We know that the Delta variant circulating now is even more contagious than the Alpha variant. Our research indicates that the variants just keep getting better at travelling through the air, so we must provide better ventilation and wear tight-fitting masks, in addition to vaccination, to help stop spread of the virus," Milton said in a statement.

A new problem is testing schools from Mason to Northern Kentucky.
Students are stealing or destroying school property, all for viral TikTok challenge called "devious licks" on social media.
"Last week it was like, oh my gosh, what is happening here," Camp Ernst Middle School Principal Stephanie Hagerty said.
She said someone damaged a water fountain and soap dispensers were yanked from the wall.
District officials said a couple of students have been arrested and charged, and one has been suspended.
"We didn't know that this was happening until we started seeing these soap dispensers being stolen and broken destroyed things being shoved into the toilets," Hagerty said.
Past national TikTok challenges have included playing with outlets or eating protein powder out of the container, also dangerous practices.
Now, teachers have now decided to come up with their own solution.
"I was thinking, 'how can we turn this around where we can empower our students to use their energy for good?'" reading enrichment teacher Autumn Kiefner said.
The middle school officially started the Camp Ernst Community Cares Challenge, aimed at rewarding kids for their good, helpful deeds such as picking up litter, washing tables, sweeping classroom floors or even lending a hand at home by doing the dishes.
"There's a certain point system and if they get to a certain point students can actually win a pizza party," technology teacher Kristen Franks said.
School officials will be posting the kind acts on Twitter and Facebook as well.
Wednesday, TikTok confirmed it has banned content around the "devious licks" trend.

Some are questioning Gov. Mike DeWine's sincerity when he says he's doing all he can to fight the spread of coronavirus among children.

Posted Fri, Sep 17, 2021 at 8:02 am ET

Some are questioning Gov. Mike DeWine's sincerity when he says he's doing all he can to fight the spread of coronavirus among children.

DeWine and the leaders of children's hospitals are in a panic over the lack of masking in Ohio schools. Hospital admissions of children with covid are up 536% since July and the hospitals report that they're being overwhelmed by the surging delta variant and an unusual jump in other respiratory illnesses.

Find out what's happening in Avon-Avon Lake with free, real-time updates from Patch.

DeWine and the hospitals are pleading with local school officials to enact their own mask mandates because DeWine says his hands are tied by Senate Bill 22 — a law the GOP-controlled legislature passed in March over his veto.

It circumscribes the governor's ability to issue health orders such as his 2020 statewide mask mandate by limiting them to 30 days. After that, the legislature would have to sign off in order to continue them.

Find out what's happening in Avon-Avon Lake with free, real-time updates from Patch.

Asked on Tuesday why he wouldn't impose a mask mandate as a temporary measure, DeWine said he didn't want to muddy the issue.

"All that will do is cause a great deal of confusion and then I think people would say, 'Well there's no mandate on, there's no requirement on, we can go back, there's really no reason to keep masks on," the governor said. "I'm afraid what would happen is we would slide backwards, we would go the wrong way."

However, some noted that when SB 22 was passed, the governor, who is a lawyer, didn't believe it would stand up in court.

Lots of talk out there excusing @GovMikeDeWine's refusal to issue a school mask mandate.

His hands are NOT tied. He could issue a mandate today and if the legislature fights it, he could take them to court.

A thread.

— Katie Paris (@katiebparis) September 15, 2021

She followed up with a thread that included the statement DeWine issued when he vetoed SB 22.

"We believe that significant portions of SB 22 are unconstitutional," the statement says. "Parts of the bill violate the separation of powers doctrine embedded in our Ohio Constitution; other parts violate Article II, Section 15 of the Ohio Constitution, proscribing how laws must be made; and even other parts of the bill likely violate Article IV, Section 5 of the Ohio Constitution, by exercising power reserved to the judiciary."

The Legislative Service Commission also questioned the legality of a draft of the bill, writing that it "might be vulnerable to a constitutional challenge on the grounds that the legislature cannot take such an action by resolution." But for some reason, it was dropped from the final version of the bill, which was otherwise unchanged.

Asked why DeWine doesn't just impose a mask order and fight it out in court, Press Secretary Dan Tierney on Wednesday said it was too risky.

"Somebody who's advocating for that is hoping that a judge puts on an immediate restraining order that would allow (the mask mandate) to continue, but you also have to weigh the chance that a judge could rule the other way: that the legislative recision is perfectly valid," Tierney said.

.@GovMikeDeWine told reporters in Circleville that he voted for maps he wasn't happy with because he didn't think there would be an agreement, even if they kept working.

"I felt we needed just to get it over with and move on."

— Haley BeMiller (@haleybemiller) September 16, 2021

Mike DeWine on Tuesday: the gerrymandered Republican supermajority is keeping me from protecting kids and keeping them in school.

Mike DeWine on Wednesday: ok, let's have four more years of an even more gerrymandered Republican supermajority.

— John Hagner (@JHagner) September 16, 2021

He added that DeWine's current approach — persuading local officials to put on their own mask mandates — is making rapid progress. The portion of students in schools with mask mandates has jumped from 35% on Sept. 1 to 54% on Tuesday, Tierney said.

"We went from a little over a third to a little over a half of students being in a school where everybody wears a mask in less than two weeks," he said.

But while DeWine is blaming the GOP supermajority in the legislature for sapping his ability to fight his coronavirus, on Wednesday he signed off on legislative maps that would preserve that supermajority. Even as DeWine helped to approve the maps, he questioned whether they would survive a court challenge, Gannett journalist Haley BeMiller reported.

The move by DeWine — who has also criticized President Joe Biden's vaccination-or-test mandate — prompted a blast from John Hagner, campaign manager for Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who is seeking the 2022 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

"Mike DeWine on Tuesday: the gerrymandered Republican supermajority is keeping me from protecting kids and keeping them in school," Hagner tweeted. "Mike DeWine on Wednesday: ok, let's have four more years of an even more gerrymandered Republican supermajority."

Reporter Jake Zuckerman contributed to this report.

The Ohio Capital Journal,a hard-hitting, independent, nonprofit news organization, connects Ohioans to their state government and its impact on their lives. The Capital Journal combines Ohio state government coverage with relentless investigative journalism; deep dives into the consequences of policy; political insight; and principled, progressive commentary. The Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.

Sep 17, 2021 8:30 AM

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Within his first week back at school after a year and a half, 7-year-old Ben Medlin was exposed to a classmate with COVID-19, and he was sent home, along with 7,000 other students in the district, for 14 days of quarantine.

Not much learning went on in Ben's home.

On some days last week, the second-grader was given no work by his teachers. On others, he was done by 9:30 a.m., his daily assignments consisting of solving 10 math problems or punctuating four sentences, according to his mother.

“It was very much just thrown together and very, very, very easy work,” Kenan Medlin said.

As coronavirus outbreaks driven by the delta variant lead districts around the U.S. to abruptly shut down or send large numbers of children into quarantine at home, some students are getting minimal schooling.

Despite billions of dollars in federal money at their disposal to prepare for new outbreaks and develop contingency plans, some governors, education departments and local school boards have been caught flat-footed.

Also, some school systems have been handcuffed by state laws or policies aimed at keeping students in classrooms and strongly discouraging or restricting a return to remote learning.

The disruptions — and the risk that youngsters will fall further behind academically — have been unsettling for parents and educators alike.

The school board in Ben's district in Union County, outside Charlotte, relented on Monday and voted to allow most of its quarantining students to return to the classroom as long as they aren’t known to be infected or have no symptoms. On Wednesday, the state’s top health official threatened legal action against the district unless it returns to stricter quarantine procedures.

Union County school officials said they are not offering virtual instruction but are contacting parents of affected children to help them line up tutors or other help for their youngsters. One in 6 students in the mask-optional district were quarantined last week.

In the rural district of Wellington, Kansas, students got a week off from schoolwork when a COVID-19 outbreak struck. Instead of going online, the district decided to add 10 minutes to each day to make up for the lost time when it reopened on Tuesday. Masks also are required now.

Districts in Kansas risk losing funding if they offer online or hybrid learning for more than 40 hours per student per year.

In Georgia, Ware County's 6,000-student district halted schooling altogether for three weeks in mid-August. The district said it was unreasonable for teachers to have to offer virtual and in-person instruction at the same time. It also cited a lack of internet service in some rural areas.

In Missouri, the Board of Education rescinded a rule in July that allowed school districts to offer hybrid and remote instruction for months at a time. Districts that close entirely because of COVID-19 outbreaks, as eight small rural school systems have done this year, now are limited to 36 hours of alternative instruction, such as Zoom classes. After that, they have to make up the time later.

The U.S. Education Department said Tuesday that states and school districts should have policies to ensure continued access to “high-quality and rigorous learning” in the event COVID-19 cases keep students from attending school.

The Illinois State Board of Education recently passed a resolution forcing districts to make remote instruction available to quarantined students.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said laws restricting virtual instruction are short-sighted. She noted that some of these states have no mask or vaccine requirements either.

“It is just crazy because this is a pandemic still, and as much as we had all hoped that it would be over, delta has made clear that it is not over," she said.

In North Carolina, state health officials in July eliminated the requirement that districts provide remote learning for quarantining students, saying virtual options are “not supported by current evidence or are no longer needed due to the lower rates of community transmission and increased rates of vaccination.”

In the meantime, parents are left with some difficult decisions to make.

Medlin on Thursday pulled her two children out of school and plans to home-school them as she did last year.

Emily Goss, another Union County parent, said she likewise is planning to home-school her 5-year-old kindergartener after he was put under quarantine six days into the school year with no remote learning option in place.

“He’s supposed to be playing outside, riding bikes and learning how to make new friends, and he’s wondering what’s going to happen to him. That’s not how childhood is supposed to be, and it’s just heartbreaking," she said. "We can’t do this all year.”

Caption

Afghan women and children receive bread donations in Kabul's Old City, Afghanistan, Thursday, Sept. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Credit: Bernat Armangue

Credit: Bernat Armangue

Nation & World

Updated 57 minutes ago

The Taliban’s education ministry says all male students grades six to 12 and male teachers should resume classes across Afghanistan, starting Saturday

ISTANBUL — The Taliban's education ministry says all male students grades six to 12 and male teachers should resume classes across Afghanistan, starting on Saturday.

The statement published on Facebook on Friday did not include girls of that age, and the lack of guidance highlighted ongoing concerns that the Taliban might impose restrictions on girls and women.

Since taking over power last month, the Taliban had allowed girls in grades one to six to resume classes. When they ruled Afghanistan previously in the 1990s, the Taliban had forbidden girls and women from attending school and work.

In some of the provinces, women still are not allowed to continue their work, with exceptions for women who have worked in health departments, hospitals and education.

___

MORE ON AFGHANISTAN:

— Friction among Taliban pragmatists, hard-liners intensifies

— Indiana Marine killed in Afghanistan remembered as hero

— Afghan killed by drone praised by co-workers in US aid group

— Iran resumes commercial flights to Afghanistan

— AP Interview: UN refugee chief says Afghan stability needed

___

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

___

BERLIN — Germany’s president has bestowed one of the country’s highest awards to the commander who led the evacuation of Germans and some Afghans from Kabul last month.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Brig. Gen. Jens Arlt’s leadership of an operation that he said was “unprecedented” in Germany’s post-World War II history.

The German military evacuated more than 5,300 citizens of 45 countries from the Afghan capital, as part of a wider international effort to airlift 120,000 people after the Taliban takeover last month.

Steinmeier noted that Arlt had managed to bring home all of his 500 troops unharmed, despite the risks they faced on the ground. He added that “we bear some of the responsibility for human tragedy” in Afghanistan.

___

ISLAMABAD --- Pakistan’s prime minister has met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Afghanistan.

The Foreign Ministry's statement on Friday said the two leaders met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's meeting in Tajikistan’s city of Dushanbe. The discussion centered on Afghanistan and other bilateral issues, with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan underscoring his country's vital interest in a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

Khan is visiting Tajikistan to participate in the meeting of members of the China and Russia-dominated organization. Afghanistan's future has dominated the summit.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan last month. So far Pakistan, like other countries, has not recognized the new government next door. Pakistan says any such decision will be announced after consultation with the world community.

According to the statement, Khan said it was essential to take urgent steps to stabilize Afghanistan's security, humanitarian and economic situation.

Caption

A prosthetic leg lays in a window frame during Friday prayers at a mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Credit: Bernat Armangue

Credit: Bernat Armangue

Childhood Sweethearts Make It Offical on a Beautiful Summer Day

Kiana James and Cameron Cunningham met at their school bus stop and their romance blossomed from there.

Photograph by Images Photography and Video

When Kiana was in eighth grade and Cameron in seventh, he asked her a fateful question at the bus stop: “Will you be my girlfriend?” Kiana, who already had a crush on Cameron, agreed.

Photograph by Images Photography and Video

Today, the couple lives in Dayton, Ohio, where Kiana is a full-time student, working for a gastroenterologist office and Cameron is a truck driver. The beautiful Magnolia Estate served as the site of their wedding on August 23, 2020.

Photograph by Images Photography and Video

Kiana’s obsession with Crocs, the classic foam clogs, was on full display during her big day. She even had a pair of bedazzled shoes custom-made, just so she could wear them while getting ready with her bridal party.

Photograph by Images Photography and Video

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