What Happened Now? A Cleveland Newsletter
Issue 748: Feb. 20, 2025
"What Happened Now?" is a lively roundup and analysis of the top stories of the day in Northeast Ohio from News 5's Joe Donatelli. It’s like getting the news from a friend who hopes a law is never named after him. Subscribe Here.
----
We have salt mines. Why are we short on salt? Under Lake Erie – tons of salt. But in nearby communities and at the hardware store – no salt. What gives? Catherine Ross reports that Cargill sends salt to buyers throughout the Great Lakes region. And it’s been a brutal winter.
-----
Rally against federal job cuts in Northeast Ohio: We’re starting to see more local rallies, even with all the cold weather. That’s probably because we’re starting to see more Northeast Ohioans who work for the federal government losing their jobs – or living in fear that they will. Yesterday, a rally was held Downtown to protest President Trump and Elon Musk’s chainsaw effort to reduce the number of federal government employees. We don’t know yet what impact these layoffs will have on services or the economy. It’s something we’ll follow through on.
- Cuts are going down at NASA Glenn, reports Cleveland.com. How many? They won’t say. Maybe they don’t know yet.
-----
There has been a lot of talk about the Modell law: The City of Cleveland is using the law to prevent the Browns from leaving for Brook Park. Michelle Jarboe reports that the only other time the Modell law was used, it wasn’t what saved the Columbus Crew. But it was useful.
-----
I have never had Yemeni coffee: But after reading this Cleveland magazine piece about a Yemeni coffeehouse coming to Public Square, I now want to have Yemeni coffee, which is said to be the OG coffee.
-----
Not the paczkis! If you enjoy the local delicacy known as the paczki (pronounced pzxvyt@hj+#), you may be in for some sticker shock on Fat Tuesday. The Polish pastries require a lot of eggs, and the eggconomy (you’re welcome) is crashing due to high prices, meaning paczki prices are rising at some bakeries, reports Elizabeth VanMetre. The people of Northeast Ohio deserve better than this, Biden!!!! Oh, wait. Right.
-----
Sorry if I was sowing confusion yesterday: I accidentally wrote the words sewing confusion. A reader pointed out the error, which is the first mistake I have ever made. Please respect my privacy as I begin to grapple with the limits of my personal excellence.