TOLEDO, Ohio — It's been an amazing week in news that affects all of us, especially stories we have followed and will continue to on this show.
EdChoice is the hot potato in Columbus as legislators work to fix the mess that, let's see, they have made. It does look like the number of schools tagged with that EdChoice label will be coming down.
I find it sad that it had to get into some of our state's well-heeled suburban districts to get Columbus' attention but we're staying on it when Teresa Fedor, lead Senate Democrat on this issue, sits at my table next week.
The Lake Erie Bill of Rights was the topic of an important hearing in federal court in Toledo this week. This is that thing that voters approved saying the lake, which supplies our drinking water, has a right to "flourish." OK, it's out there but this natural rights movement is given life when, five and a half years after the Toledo Water Crisis, we are still feeding the lake's algae supply, when no one thinks phosphorous reduction targets will be met this year. Or in 2025. When people get fed up enough, they sometimes take things into their own hands. And we're following their efforts.
It's Super Bowl weekend and in that vein, I'm welcoming a former 9-year-NFLer to my table this morning. We'll talk football, sure, but I'm really intrigued about him returning to his roots kickoff (get it?), the next phase of his career. Alright, he's a punter but kickoff...That's football term right there, OK?
So, speaking of returning to his roots, as in hometown, the young man at my table made quite a splash in Toledo this week. This is Pete Kadens. He first came on my show to announce the formation of an effort to raise enough private funding to pay for universal pre-K in the city of Toledo. Some money came in, not enough to cover the tab and, as we have reported, the inclusion of pre-K in the city of Toledo in the upcoming city income tax increase levy, which will be decided in March is getting a bunch of pushback. At least, councilmembers tell me. And have told us.
There is no way we themed the program this way but on this Super Bowl weekend, another story of a local kid making good but then, bringing his future back home.
Brandon Fields could kick a football, probably still can, but could punt it higher and further than anybody else in high school. He was the state's top punter. That will get you noticed. Sparty came calling, Michigan State. The Big Ten.
He led that conference in punting his freshman year. By the next year, just a sophomore, he led the nation. That'll get you noticed. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins of the NFL and spent nine years in the league. All but one in Miami. How big is punting in football? In the NFL, you do it well enough, they'll pay you millions. That's nothing to kick about. Brandon Fields is here and we'll talk some football, but I mentioned coming home. He and his wife Katie and his business partner (and former roomie) are the folks behind the wildly popular Inside the Five brewery and restaurant in Sylvania. And he is not stopping there.
