April 15, 2026 • 29 mins
Bloomberg Report with John Tucker. Christopher Smitherman discusses his petition to change who can hire the police chief in Cincinnati. Tyler Bradshaw talks about the opening day of the Nuxhall Foundation.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Start listening.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Honey, money, time to water your money bush with sprinkles
of knowledge. This is the Bloomberg Money Minute on seven
hundred wlw AH. We say good morning to John Tucker
from the Bloomberg newsroom in New York City. John, we
heard the layoffs were coming at Disney. I guess they
start today.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
This is the new chief executive office, Josh Tomorrow, implementing
what they call organizational changes at the company. So a
thousand jobs being eliminated. The cuts are company wind. They're
going to fall particularly hard in the marketing department. So
the round of cuts follows more than eight thousand layoffs
at Disney since twenty twenty three. You know the number.
(00:40):
They You know, if you're getting lay it off, it's
a big deal. But the number is only a fraction
of the two hundred and thirty one thousand employees Disney
had at the end of the fiscal year twenty twenty five.
That's a gigantic company, and marketing is going to take
the initial hits. So we'll see. I suspect eventually gonna
(01:01):
be more to come at Disney, the world's happiest place,
Not so much for some of the employees. No quest anyway,
Tom Yesterday the S and P five hundred closed hovering.
I'm gonna say near a record, and I'll just go
through the major indexes. You're today DAL still up one percent,
the S and P five hundred up one point eight percent,
(01:22):
the NASDAK for the year up one point seven percent.
You know what, I'll take that. And this morning futures
indicate right now mixed open down futures up eight points,
the SMP futures they're up too, and the Nasdaq futures
fourteen points lower from Bloomberg. I'm John Tucker, A News
Radio seven hundred w LW.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
H.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Right, welcome back to the morning show here on the
Big one, seven hundred WLW. One of our favorites here,
born and raised Cincinnati and Chris Smitherman, former Vice Prayer,
vice mayor of Cincinnati, also a member of City Council,
the City Planning Commission, and most importantly, perhaps during his
(02:05):
tenure on City Council, Smitherman chaired the Law and Public
Safety Committee, which basically gave him authority to oversee all
the legislative issues related to police, fire safety policies, among
other things. He is in the news today and kind
enough to join us, former Vice mayor, Nice to have
(02:27):
you with us. Chris, how's everything with you and your family?
Hope you're doing well, doing very well.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
And thanks for having me on this morning.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I appreciate it. Hey, you want to.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Get signatures for a committee of petitioners to file a
petition to change the City of Cincinnati's charter in wake
of what we have seen happen to employment decisions which
were made by the current city manager. Cheryl Long, what
do you try and Chris to do.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
You know, the first of all, what we have here
is Chief Fiji, who's on administrative leave. We all know
that she's being fully paid, full health care, full contributions
to her retirement. At the same time, we have an
interim chief who is also being paid full. We also
have a fire chief who was fired I think wrongly
(03:21):
in a court seems to agree with that, and that
litigation has been going on for three years. And the
centerpiece of all of this is our city manager. So
these decisions were made by the city manager away from
the nine members of Council, the Board of Trustees. And
so what the petition does is the petition says, listen,
(03:42):
if you want to hire or fire the two most
important executives in our city, the thing that the citizens
of society are most concerned about. You need a super
majority of counsel to agree with you. If that had
happened in this situation, we wouldn't be hiring two separate
law firms to figure out why we are why we
(04:02):
terminated the police chief. Meaning it seems to me that
they're trying to figure out after the fact why they terminated.
But if you had had to have a hearing, all
of that would have been flushed out prior to any
termination of the police chief. So that's really where we are.
This is costing the taxpayers definitely thousands of dollars. But
(04:24):
I believe that Chief Fiji is going to this case
is going to be settled, meaning there's a reason why
they're not firing her, meaning they're paying her full time. Right,
you live long enough to know if they thought they
had a reason or cause to terminate or they would
just say you're fired. They can't do that because they
can't find a reason, and they're trying to find a
(04:45):
reason by hiring these law firms. The reality of it
is they're going to have to admit that they were
wrong ultimately here and settle with Chief Fiji. They then
are going to turn around and have to settle with
Chief Washington. I think his his appeal will calm down
in the month of June and it's going to be
right back at the lower court and the city is
(05:06):
going to have two choices, settle the case or go
to trial. Twelve in the box. I think the city
is going to say, we're going to settle the case.
Who pays that bill? Yep, the taxpayers of Cincinnati. We
pay the bill. And so what's frustrating to me is
we have a non elected person that has put the
city and the taxpayers in the middle of this, and
(05:28):
there's no elected person who the citizens have voted on,
who had an opportunity to weigh in on it. And
I just think that that is unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
All right, So if I hear you right, Chris, and
I could be wrong on this, but if I hear
you right, what you would like to see happen.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
So let's put this not in just theory, but in practice.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Whoever the city manager is would interview Chris Mitherman to
be the police chief and then for that to officially
happen Council would have to vote on that and approve
of that hiring.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Am I am?
Speaker 4 (06:01):
I am?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I getting that right?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Correct?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Okay, But let me ask you this because if we
want to, I don't know if we're trying to get
politics out of this whole thing, because we've seen some
of the decisions the way City Hall is made up
of now, I mean, Chris, why would I trust first
of all, Cheryl Long and now getting backed up by
(06:26):
the current city council and the way right now it's
made up basically of the same group that was responsible
for overseeing Chief Washington, overseeing Thief Chigi, overseeing Adam Henny.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Why do I want those guys weighing in?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
You tell me, well, because at least, in theory, you
have people who are reporting to the citizens of Cincinnati. Okay,
elections have consequences. I don't. I don't. I didn't agree
with the last election. But at least you have the
citizens saying I have a voice, and I voted for
(07:02):
these elected people, whether I agree with them or not.
What we have now is this non elective person who's
making these decisions that ultimately are costing us millions of dollars. Now,
let's just say that city council had made these decisions,
they did the termination, and it was costing us millions
of dollars. By theory, their names have to come on
(07:23):
the ballots and we have to choose whether we want
to bring them back. Here's the other piece that's very
interesting is the mayor. I believe this is by speculation,
so it is not a fact. He is absolutely involved
in the termination of both of these people. Meaning the
city manager wouldn't make this decision politically having been the
(07:43):
vice mayor without a green light from the mayor. So ultimately, ultimately,
what you have happening here is the mayor is able
to control these hires and fires outside of the people,
outside of the public having any discussions about it. And
so what I'm doing is the politics are already involved here.
(08:05):
This is very political. What I'm doing is saying we're
not going to have a conscious pilot situation with councils
saying I didn't know anything about this, I didn't know
what the city manager was doing. And then the Mayor's
over there saying I didn't know anything about this. I
didn't know that the city manager was making this decision,
meaning all the electeds none of them have any ultimate
(08:26):
responsibility here, and they're washing their hands like conscious pilot,
saying this is her responsibility. Here's what she doesn't understand.
She's probably unless that evaluation, meaning all of this is
going on, and her evaluation was perfect. She doesn't know
that when the music stops, they're going to pin this
on her because council and the mayor are going to
(08:46):
say I had nothing to do with it. What this
petition does is it remedies that and it puts it
right in the hands of where it's supposed to be
because the mayor, even though he doesn't vote that mayor,
presides over the nine member as a council bening. He
chairs that meeting, so he can't say he doesn't know
what's going on. He didn't have an understanding that the
(09:06):
city manager wanted to determinate the fire chief or want
to determinate the police chief. And you and I wouldn't
be talking about it this morning, right, we'd be talking
about it very differently if the electeds had been involved.
And I just don't believe we'd be hiring a law
firm saying let's figure out why we fired her. We know,
because there would have been a public hearing.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
All right, I got about four minutes here and I
want to get to how people can sign the petition
at the very end here.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
But I got a question for you.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
You know, they did this glowing review about share al
law here recently, about a phenomenal job. And three of
the points, if I remember him correctly, you know, the
conditions of the roads, which in my opinion are a mess,
just my opinion.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Wherever I go it's a mess.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Number two, the budget, they're twenty nine million dollars in
the hole, okay.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
And number three safety.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Now, all of a sudden, in this year, this year,
violent crime and OTR is up forty five The number
of people shot in Cincinnati who is up forty percent
from this time a year ago. So, I mean, I'm
trying to figure out what is it they are doing
(10:14):
right down there when, like you said, the number one
concern and it was in that pole that they did
and asking the questions about people that live in the
city Number one safety, Yes, So.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
What I see politically is they're pushing the city manager out.
They needed to give her an evaluation because this mayor
is turned out, he's leaving. He's already thinking about his
next gig. Is he going to run for Congress? Is
he going to get a job in Washington? Well, the
city manager needs a place to land. You can't go
somewhere on a poor evaluation from your nine bosses. So
(10:51):
what I think they're doing is creating a runway for
her to apply for jobs. And don't think that she's
going to finish out this term. I would suggest probably
in the next twelve month, we're going to hear her
resigning and moving to another city, because that's what city
managers do. She's not going to finish this term with
this current mayor. How people can get involved and this
is really weird, but city council right now has said
(11:14):
there's nothing wrong with our language. But what they've articulated
is that they have a Secretary of State form which
is new that we have to put our words and
our language on it, and failure to do that means
they won't release our petition to sign it. I just
want to tell you, I know this sounds convoluted, but
the city is positioning in itself to be sued not
(11:37):
by me, but by some other citizens. It shouldn't be
this difficult for a citizen to petition the government. Meaning
I just happen to be the outgoing Vice mayor. You
know I can afford to pay an attorney. You shouldn't
have to go through all of this in order to
collect signatures to petition your government. But this City Hall,
they continue to put more and more barriers up. That
(11:59):
makes it more difficult. And I'm just trying to get
through that quagmire of barriers that they continue to put up.
I just want I want to leave you with there's
nothing wrong with our petition. There's nothing wrong with the language.
The Fitty Law firm has delivered this. A lawyer has
written this petition. I didn't write it. It is very
strong and clear language. The issue here at City Hall
(12:21):
has a process that says that I have to fit
our language on one piece of paper. This is amazing.
And they're writing me back and forth saying your language,
your words are aren't fitting on our one piece of paper.
Therefore you have to resubmit your petition. I'm letting them
know who they're listening to this show, get ready for
another lawsuit. You guys are doing things down there that
(12:43):
are unconstitutional, these firings, this behavior, and you're going to
get sued again. It won't be me suing them, but
they're going to. They are absolutely going to get sued.
This is unconstitutional what they're doing to me. I shouldn't
have to jump through all of these these hoops order
for me to file a petition to petition my government.
It sounds like communists. It sounds like socialists that they're
(13:06):
running our government and they're making it more and more
difficult for the people to engage. And they cannot supersede
what the State of Ohio says. Mean the State of
Ohio has a process to petition your government. They can't
then go, well, I'm going to now make it more
difficult for citizens to do that. That's exactly what they've
done here, and they're going to I'm going to get
through the process. Ultimately, my petition will get out there,
(13:28):
we'll collect the signatures. We need seven thousand good signatures.
It'll take us most of the summer to do it.
But at the end of the day, there's going to
be somebody else that's going to submit a petition and
say I don't want to submit myself to this craziness.
It is unconstitutional, and they're going to get themselves sued
This is going to end up at the Ohio Supreme Court.
Remember I told you this, and the city of Cincinnati
(13:49):
is going to end up having to pay somebody I
have a million to a million dollars because yet again
they've created these policies that are unconstitutional because they're trying
to stop people from petitioning the government.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
All right, real question, Chris, how can people sign your
petition as it stands right now?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
What they need to do is once the city approves
the petition, which is illegal, we're going to go through
the process. That petition will be at Jim and Jack's
on fifty. That'll be one of the spots. But I'll
come back on with you. We'll probably have ten different
locations of where people in the city can go and
sign the petition. It's going to be a very popular petition.
(14:30):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
You're right, all right, Chris Mitherman.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Hope you have a great rest of you your day,
and God bless you, my friend, you and your family.
A good man, Chris Mithermy. He should be on city
council for the life of me. If I would have
been a betting man, and I've said many times it's
one of the few sins that I don't have gambling.
But if I were a betting man, I would have
bet a lot of money that he would have been
(14:53):
on council. And that's why I don't gamble, because he's
not and he should be a voice of reason. Twenty
four when we come back, we're going to talk with
Tyler Bradshaw. They're going to have the opening day parade
of the Joe nucks All Miracle League. There is nothing
like it, and I say it all the time. If
(15:14):
you've never been, please go. You will be more grateful
for what you have in your life, no matter how
great or how small. It will brighten your day unlike
any other experience. And opening Day is this weekend. Seven
(15:35):
undred American Stories.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
On our next episode, doctor Bill McLay shares the story
of Washington.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
All right, we got about twenty minutes left in the
morning show and one of my favorite topics when we
have a chance to get into it, so rounds a
Nucksall Foundation. Of course, everybody knows remembers the late, great,
the beloved Joe Nusall, but the knucks All Foundation is
the legacy of Joe nuxs All. It carries forward three
(16:02):
important legacy projects and a central project of the Nucksall
Foundation is the Joe Nuxall Miracle League Fields. And if
you've never seen it, and I've said it once, I've
said it ten thousand times. If you think you're having
a bad day, or maybe you're just a little bit
(16:23):
down in the dumps, or maybe you're having some issues
with your kids, Okay, you know, maybe they're doing something
in school that you don't like, their grades aren't, whatever
it is, then I would highly suggest take an hour
and go to the Miracle League Fields. It's an entirely
(16:43):
accessible baseball and recreational facility. Every player with every physical
mental challenge, ages as low as four high as ages
eighty three hundred plus half leads every summer with physical
or developmental disabilities get a chance, unlike let's say, healthy
(17:07):
kids to play baseball and to go up there and
hit a home run or to make a catch on
a fly ball. And Opening Day is finally upon us
in the executive director of the Nuxall Foundation, our buddy
Tye Bradshaw, Ty, you gotta be garrett and geared up
for Opening Day.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
My friend, I am excited and now I'm ulteary eyed
after hearing your kind introduction there and no surprise was
working for Joe Nuxall's foundation, that I might I might
cry a little easily, right, But yeah, we're super super
excited Tom. It's going to be a great weekend all right.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Before we get into the particulars about where people need
to be with time, they need to be there, I
just want to talk about generally the Miracle League Fields.
This was something that started. I'm trying to remember what
we said about four or five years ago or more
than that.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
No, it's I believe it or not. Fourteen years ago
the Miracle Fields. Yeah, yeah, isn't that incredible? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
And this actually yeah, yeah, time flies, my friend. And
this actually all started when when Kim Knuxall, Joe's son,
was watching Real Sports with Brian Gumble, saw a clip
about a young girl in Conyer's, Georgia named Lauren who
had brittle bone disease and she would bring home flyers
(18:30):
to you last to play baseball and soccer and basketball.
Her mom would have to tell her no, and the
community came together and said, well, what if we didn't
have to tell Lauren no? What if we built a
place that was just for her and other people with disabilities.
So they built the first Miracle League there, and Kim
saw the clip, He got a hold of the clip,
showed it to Joe. Actually this was before Joe passed.
(18:51):
They just kind of looked at each other and said,
you know, somehow, someway, someday, we're going to get one
of these things built in our community. So yeah, we
opened it in twenty twelve. Sadly, Joe never got to
see it in person, but he saw the plans and
knew that this was going to be happening. And we
all know he's watching down from the best seat in
the house and enjoying every minute of.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
It, no question about that.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
You know, you have to deal with a lot of
the administrative stuff in preparation of the league and family
signing up and wanting to get their kid or parent
or grandparents for that matter in some cases to be
a part of this whole thing. But I'm curious Ty,
as the executive director. Yeah, do you get a chance
to just go do what I said before you came on,
(19:38):
which is just to sit there and sort of take
it all in from time to time about the word
is joy?
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Yes, Yeah, I mean, I make a point of trying
to do that, and Tom just one of my favorite
Opening Day Parade stories. You know, many of our families,
when their child's born with Down syndrome or or you know,
born with a physical disability, whatever it may be. The
moment that child is born, they are already either being
(20:08):
told or already thinking, Okay, these are the expectations I
had for my child, and these are the things I'm
not going to be able to do with them. And
that's a that's a really desperate place to be in,
a sad place to be. And the thing I love
about the Miracle League field is that we take that
out of the equation, right And one of my favorite moments,
(20:28):
and it's it's hard not to get emotional about this,
but I I was actually running along the parade route
a couple of years ago, and I'm trying to make sure,
you know, okay, marching bands that they're good, and the
mascots are good. Everything, everything's the way it should be.
And I look to my left and I see a
little two year old, probably two year old baby with
(20:50):
a pacifier with Down syndrome, sitting in a wagon, and
on the side of that wagon, there's a sign that
says future All Star at the Joe nupsall miracles and
to know that that family from the time their child
is born is able to operate from a place where
they say, yes, my child is going to have a
(21:11):
place where they can play, where they can grow.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
That that means the world to me.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
So I try to go out and you know, get
on the field to dance with my buddy Tyree or
give high five to the little Sam Dwanger or other
players and just kind of see them in action because
it provides, as you said, so much perspective for me
as a as a father and and things. It's it's
(21:37):
just there's nothing like it.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Well, look, if you are blessed enough to be born
with healthy kids, if you're blessed to have healthy children, okay,
you know you're gonna walk through. And I'm as guilty
as today as long taking certain things for granted, there is.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
No doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
And I think I'm speaking for pretty much every parent
out there. I hate to think about doing that, but
I'm pretty sure that's accurate. Okay, Having said that, because
of what you just said of being told maybe initially
physical mental disorder handicap, whatever the case may be, that
something's not going to happen in your life and now
(22:18):
for you to actually be with the parents and hear from.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
The parents, Yeah, you know that, I'm not so.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Sure that there could be any price tag put on
those moments when you and the rest of your staff
are able to enjoy and see those share of those moments.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Yeah, And I mean that's you know, we we hear
from from families all the time about what this place
means to them and how special it is, and you know,
we actually one of our adultly players has got me
thinking about them. Her name's Carissa Lant and she's spoken
an event we had earned our parents a couple couple
(23:02):
months ago, and I remember them getting up there and
they're talking about the Hope Center of the building that
we're trying to build out at the Mirror Week Fields
to give our athletes, yeah, year round recreational experiences. And
they said, you know, this is a place where we
can come and we can breathe, right, we we this
is a second space for us where we can come
and experience community and we don't have to explain our
(23:24):
situation to other families because they they're in it right,
they get it, and we can bond with each other.
And I think that that that byproduct of being able
to serve the parents as well, that has been kind.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Of an unintended consequence.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
I think when we built the place, of course we
thought about the parents, but our primary focus was on
the kids and the adults who are going to have
a chance to play. But for the family members, you know,
they can come out and sit in the stands and
and and drink a coke and eat a hot dog
and watch watch their child's play. And you know, their
their weeks look a lot different from my. I mean,
(24:00):
some of these families are providing twenty four hour round the.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Clock care, no question, for their loved one.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
And if we can give them an hour every week
to come out and just rest and smile and.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Experience joy, it's.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
As much for them as it is for the all
stars who.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Play out there. Well, you hit the nail square on
the head right there. You know.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I always love a lot of times we get somebody
to be the grand marshal or grand marshals.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Of a parade and they're happy to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
But I love the fact a lot of people remember
Larry Handley, longtime media ralgis here in town. But Larry
and his wife, Debbie, they are the grand marshals this year.
But I mean they really have poured their hearts and
talents into the Joe Knutsall Foundation.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
They are they own a company, they're actually kind of
winding down and retiring the a video production company called
Little Brown Dog Productions. And from the moment we open
the fields, they have been there to help tell our
story and they have produced incredible, incredible video work. They've
even gone on the road with us. When we started
taking our players on the road to Pigeon Forge and
(25:11):
over to see Sean Casey and Pittsburgh and places like that,
Larry and Debbie just grabbed the cameras and they go
and they produce these incredibly emotional videos. Then we can
go out and show to potential donors and supporters and
other people who want to learn about the Miracle League fields.
And what most people don't know is that Larry and
Debbie have a son who plays in our adult league,
(25:34):
t Larry or Larry Junior we call him. But you know,
Larry is out at the field. He was on our
traveling team to Pittsburgh last year, So it's personal to
them what this story means and that it gets in
front of the right people. And I mean, I think
especially during COVID, we had to cancel our major fundraisers
and had to go to him and say, Larry Debbie,
(25:56):
we need like forty or fifty videos, interviews of our families,
things that we can put out on social media through
email marketing to get people to still donate. And they've
been all in in every moment to help out and
they've just got an incredible vision. So we're looking forward
to celebrating them for all they've done, for all they're
going to continue to do. It'll be special to have
(26:17):
them at the front of the parade.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
All right.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
For those of you just joining us, this is the
Joe Knucksaw Miracle League Field and season opening day, which
is this Saturday, April the eighteenth. All right, give me
some particulars, Ty Bradshaw about where people need to be
and anything they might need to know ahead of time.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
Yeah, for folks participating in the parade, we'll line up
at nine fifteen at Sacred Heart Church there in Fairfield
and then the parade.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Will step off at ten o'clock.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
We make about a mile and a half route, primarily
down Mississippi Drive there in Fairfield to the Miracle League Field.
So there's lots of spots along that route that you
can go to watch the parade. If you're familiar with
the Waterworks Park area, that's kind of where we make
the turn and always a good spot, Or you can
just go down to the Miracle League fields and welcome
us as we make our way into the parking lot.
(27:06):
We typically have about two hundred to two hundred and
fifty of our special needs athletes and families that'll that'll
go along that mile and a half route and nothing
better than seeing, you know, parents of individuals and wheelchairs,
of walkers pushing their children along that route, and people
in the community who don't know them, who don't know
their names, just cheering and getting excited. And then after
(27:27):
the parade concludes, we'll do an on field ceremony where
we'll introduce all of our our all stars, kind of
a red carpet introduction for them and get them get
them excited for the season ahead.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Did I lose tie there? I'm still here. I thought I.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Lost you there for a second. Maybe it was my
head said, you know, before I let you go, though,
I do want to ask you one thing, and if
I cut you off, please finish what you were saying.
I don't know if I did or not, because I
lost you.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Thank you? Goody okay? Before I let you go? I know.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Two years ago you launched a Nutsall Foundation twelve million
dollar capital camp paying to construct the Hope Center, now
year round recreational facilities for athletes with special needs. It's
going to be incredible. How are you coming along? And
if people interested in giving, how can they do it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
There?
Speaker 5 (28:14):
We're making incredible progress. So we have actually raised six
point six million dollars towards that project, which just gives
our athletes really something to hope for. And your dad
did an incredible virtual tour of what the building is
going to look like. I would encourage people to jump
online and check that out. If you go to Nusallmercle
(28:35):
League dot org slash Hope, you can watch the virtual
tour of the Hope Center. It'll be a thirty one
thousand square foot inclusively designed indoor recreational facility with an arena.
It'll have a multipurpose room with accessible fitness equipment, a
community room, and all of Joe's memorabilia and things will
be on display throughout the building. But it'll allow our
(28:55):
athletes to play new sports every season. No more rain delays,
no more cancelations for them.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
And it's going to really transform the way we think
about how we serve the special needs community, not just
here in Cincinnati, but I think it's gonna be a
gold standard for the world. So again, we're always looking
for gives. It was super nice Thom, your producer. While
I was on hold, he he told me we could
put you down for a million bucks.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
That was really on the morning show.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
On the Morning Show, Hey yeah, I can't thank you.
I can't today, brother, Best of luck. On Saturday, the
Bank
Start listening.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
Honey, money, time to water your money bush with sprinkles
of knowledge. This is the Bloomberg Money Minute on seven
hundred wlw AH. We say good morning to John Tucker
from the Bloomberg newsroom in New York City. John, we
heard the layoffs were coming at Disney. I guess they
start today.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
This is the new chief executive office, Josh Tomorrow, implementing
what they call organizational changes at the company. So a
thousand jobs being eliminated. The cuts are company wind. They're
going to fall particularly hard in the marketing department. So
the round of cuts follows more than eight thousand layoffs
at Disney since twenty twenty three. You know the number.
(00:40):
They You know, if you're getting lay it off, it's
a big deal. But the number is only a fraction
of the two hundred and thirty one thousand employees Disney
had at the end of the fiscal year twenty twenty five.
That's a gigantic company, and marketing is going to take
the initial hits. So we'll see. I suspect eventually gonna
(01:01):
be more to come at Disney, the world's happiest place,
Not so much for some of the employees. No quest anyway,
Tom Yesterday the S and P five hundred closed hovering.
I'm gonna say near a record, and I'll just go
through the major indexes. You're today DAL still up one percent,
the S and P five hundred up one point eight percent,
(01:22):
the NASDAK for the year up one point seven percent.
You know what, I'll take that. And this morning futures
indicate right now mixed open down futures up eight points,
the SMP futures they're up too, and the Nasdaq futures
fourteen points lower from Bloomberg. I'm John Tucker, A News
Radio seven hundred w LW.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
H.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Right, welcome back to the morning show here on the
Big one, seven hundred WLW. One of our favorites here,
born and raised Cincinnati and Chris Smitherman, former Vice Prayer,
vice mayor of Cincinnati, also a member of City Council,
the City Planning Commission, and most importantly, perhaps during his
(02:05):
tenure on City Council, Smitherman chaired the Law and Public
Safety Committee, which basically gave him authority to oversee all
the legislative issues related to police, fire safety policies, among
other things. He is in the news today and kind
enough to join us, former Vice mayor, Nice to have
(02:27):
you with us. Chris, how's everything with you and your family?
Hope you're doing well, doing very well.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
And thanks for having me on this morning.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I appreciate it. Hey, you want to.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Get signatures for a committee of petitioners to file a
petition to change the City of Cincinnati's charter in wake
of what we have seen happen to employment decisions which
were made by the current city manager. Cheryl Long, what
do you try and Chris to do.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Well?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
You know, the first of all, what we have here
is Chief Fiji, who's on administrative leave. We all know
that she's being fully paid, full health care, full contributions
to her retirement. At the same time, we have an
interim chief who is also being paid full. We also
have a fire chief who was fired I think wrongly
(03:21):
in a court seems to agree with that, and that
litigation has been going on for three years. And the
centerpiece of all of this is our city manager. So
these decisions were made by the city manager away from
the nine members of Council, the Board of Trustees. And
so what the petition does is the petition says, listen,
(03:42):
if you want to hire or fire the two most
important executives in our city, the thing that the citizens
of society are most concerned about. You need a super
majority of counsel to agree with you. If that had
happened in this situation, we wouldn't be hiring two separate
law firms to figure out why we are why we
(04:02):
terminated the police chief. Meaning it seems to me that
they're trying to figure out after the fact why they terminated.
But if you had had to have a hearing, all
of that would have been flushed out prior to any
termination of the police chief. So that's really where we are.
This is costing the taxpayers definitely thousands of dollars. But
(04:24):
I believe that Chief Fiji is going to this case
is going to be settled, meaning there's a reason why
they're not firing her, meaning they're paying her full time. Right,
you live long enough to know if they thought they
had a reason or cause to terminate or they would
just say you're fired. They can't do that because they
can't find a reason, and they're trying to find a
(04:45):
reason by hiring these law firms. The reality of it
is they're going to have to admit that they were
wrong ultimately here and settle with Chief Fiji. They then
are going to turn around and have to settle with
Chief Washington. I think his his appeal will calm down
in the month of June and it's going to be
right back at the lower court and the city is
(05:06):
going to have two choices, settle the case or go
to trial. Twelve in the box. I think the city
is going to say, we're going to settle the case.
Who pays that bill? Yep, the taxpayers of Cincinnati. We
pay the bill. And so what's frustrating to me is
we have a non elected person that has put the
city and the taxpayers in the middle of this, and
(05:28):
there's no elected person who the citizens have voted on,
who had an opportunity to weigh in on it. And
I just think that that is unacceptable.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
All right, So if I hear you right, Chris, and
I could be wrong on this, but if I hear
you right, what you would like to see happen.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
So let's put this not in just theory, but in practice.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Whoever the city manager is would interview Chris Mitherman to
be the police chief and then for that to officially
happen Council would have to vote on that and approve
of that hiring.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Am I am?
Speaker 4 (06:01):
I am?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I getting that right?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
Correct?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Okay, But let me ask you this because if we
want to, I don't know if we're trying to get
politics out of this whole thing, because we've seen some
of the decisions the way City Hall is made up
of now, I mean, Chris, why would I trust first
of all, Cheryl Long and now getting backed up by
(06:26):
the current city council and the way right now it's
made up basically of the same group that was responsible
for overseeing Chief Washington, overseeing Thief Chigi, overseeing Adam Henny.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Why do I want those guys weighing in?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
You tell me, well, because at least, in theory, you
have people who are reporting to the citizens of Cincinnati. Okay,
elections have consequences. I don't. I don't. I didn't agree
with the last election. But at least you have the
citizens saying I have a voice, and I voted for
(07:02):
these elected people, whether I agree with them or not.
What we have now is this non elective person who's
making these decisions that ultimately are costing us millions of dollars. Now,
let's just say that city council had made these decisions,
they did the termination, and it was costing us millions
of dollars. By theory, their names have to come on
(07:23):
the ballots and we have to choose whether we want
to bring them back. Here's the other piece that's very
interesting is the mayor. I believe this is by speculation,
so it is not a fact. He is absolutely involved
in the termination of both of these people. Meaning the
city manager wouldn't make this decision politically having been the
(07:43):
vice mayor without a green light from the mayor. So ultimately, ultimately,
what you have happening here is the mayor is able
to control these hires and fires outside of the people,
outside of the public having any discussions about it. And
so what I'm doing is the politics are already involved here.
(08:05):
This is very political. What I'm doing is saying we're
not going to have a conscious pilot situation with councils
saying I didn't know anything about this, I didn't know
what the city manager was doing. And then the Mayor's
over there saying I didn't know anything about this. I
didn't know that the city manager was making this decision,
meaning all the electeds none of them have any ultimate
(08:26):
responsibility here, and they're washing their hands like conscious pilot,
saying this is her responsibility. Here's what she doesn't understand.
She's probably unless that evaluation, meaning all of this is
going on, and her evaluation was perfect. She doesn't know
that when the music stops, they're going to pin this
on her because council and the mayor are going to
(08:46):
say I had nothing to do with it. What this
petition does is it remedies that and it puts it
right in the hands of where it's supposed to be
because the mayor, even though he doesn't vote that mayor,
presides over the nine member as a council bening. He
chairs that meeting, so he can't say he doesn't know
what's going on. He didn't have an understanding that the
(09:06):
city manager wanted to determinate the fire chief or want
to determinate the police chief. And you and I wouldn't
be talking about it this morning, right, we'd be talking
about it very differently if the electeds had been involved.
And I just don't believe we'd be hiring a law
firm saying let's figure out why we fired her. We know,
because there would have been a public hearing.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
All right, I got about four minutes here and I
want to get to how people can sign the petition
at the very end here.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
But I got a question for you.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
You know, they did this glowing review about share al
law here recently, about a phenomenal job. And three of
the points, if I remember him correctly, you know, the
conditions of the roads, which in my opinion are a mess,
just my opinion.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Wherever I go it's a mess.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Number two, the budget, they're twenty nine million dollars in
the hole, okay.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
And number three safety.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Now, all of a sudden, in this year, this year,
violent crime and OTR is up forty five The number
of people shot in Cincinnati who is up forty percent
from this time a year ago. So, I mean, I'm
trying to figure out what is it they are doing
(10:14):
right down there when, like you said, the number one
concern and it was in that pole that they did
and asking the questions about people that live in the
city Number one safety, Yes, So.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
What I see politically is they're pushing the city manager out.
They needed to give her an evaluation because this mayor
is turned out, he's leaving. He's already thinking about his
next gig. Is he going to run for Congress? Is
he going to get a job in Washington? Well, the
city manager needs a place to land. You can't go
somewhere on a poor evaluation from your nine bosses. So
(10:51):
what I think they're doing is creating a runway for
her to apply for jobs. And don't think that she's
going to finish out this term. I would suggest probably
in the next twelve month, we're going to hear her
resigning and moving to another city, because that's what city
managers do. She's not going to finish this term with
this current mayor. How people can get involved and this
is really weird, but city council right now has said
(11:14):
there's nothing wrong with our language. But what they've articulated
is that they have a Secretary of State form which
is new that we have to put our words and
our language on it, and failure to do that means
they won't release our petition to sign it. I just
want to tell you, I know this sounds convoluted, but
the city is positioning in itself to be sued not
(11:37):
by me, but by some other citizens. It shouldn't be
this difficult for a citizen to petition the government. Meaning
I just happen to be the outgoing Vice mayor. You
know I can afford to pay an attorney. You shouldn't
have to go through all of this in order to
collect signatures to petition your government. But this City Hall,
they continue to put more and more barriers up. That
(11:59):
makes it more difficult. And I'm just trying to get
through that quagmire of barriers that they continue to put up.
I just want I want to leave you with there's
nothing wrong with our petition. There's nothing wrong with the language.
The Fitty Law firm has delivered this. A lawyer has
written this petition. I didn't write it. It is very
strong and clear language. The issue here at City Hall
(12:21):
has a process that says that I have to fit
our language on one piece of paper. This is amazing.
And they're writing me back and forth saying your language,
your words are aren't fitting on our one piece of paper.
Therefore you have to resubmit your petition. I'm letting them
know who they're listening to this show, get ready for
another lawsuit. You guys are doing things down there that
(12:43):
are unconstitutional, these firings, this behavior, and you're going to
get sued again. It won't be me suing them, but
they're going to. They are absolutely going to get sued.
This is unconstitutional what they're doing to me. I shouldn't
have to jump through all of these these hoops order
for me to file a petition to petition my government.
It sounds like communists. It sounds like socialists that they're
(13:06):
running our government and they're making it more and more
difficult for the people to engage. And they cannot supersede
what the State of Ohio says. Mean the State of
Ohio has a process to petition your government. They can't
then go, well, I'm going to now make it more
difficult for citizens to do that. That's exactly what they've
done here, and they're going to I'm going to get
through the process. Ultimately, my petition will get out there,
(13:28):
we'll collect the signatures. We need seven thousand good signatures.
It'll take us most of the summer to do it.
But at the end of the day, there's going to
be somebody else that's going to submit a petition and
say I don't want to submit myself to this craziness.
It is unconstitutional, and they're going to get themselves sued
This is going to end up at the Ohio Supreme Court.
Remember I told you this, and the city of Cincinnati
(13:49):
is going to end up having to pay somebody I
have a million to a million dollars because yet again
they've created these policies that are unconstitutional because they're trying
to stop people from petitioning the government.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
All right, real question, Chris, how can people sign your
petition as it stands right now?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
What they need to do is once the city approves
the petition, which is illegal, we're going to go through
the process. That petition will be at Jim and Jack's
on fifty. That'll be one of the spots. But I'll
come back on with you. We'll probably have ten different
locations of where people in the city can go and
sign the petition. It's going to be a very popular petition.
(14:30):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
You're right, all right, Chris Mitherman.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Hope you have a great rest of you your day,
and God bless you, my friend, you and your family.
A good man, Chris Mithermy. He should be on city
council for the life of me. If I would have
been a betting man, and I've said many times it's
one of the few sins that I don't have gambling.
But if I were a betting man, I would have
bet a lot of money that he would have been
(14:53):
on council. And that's why I don't gamble, because he's
not and he should be a voice of reason. Twenty
four when we come back, we're going to talk with
Tyler Bradshaw. They're going to have the opening day parade
of the Joe nucks All Miracle League. There is nothing
like it, and I say it all the time. If
(15:14):
you've never been, please go. You will be more grateful
for what you have in your life, no matter how
great or how small. It will brighten your day unlike
any other experience. And opening Day is this weekend. Seven
(15:35):
undred American Stories.
Speaker 4 (15:36):
On our next episode, doctor Bill McLay shares the story
of Washington.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
All right, we got about twenty minutes left in the
morning show and one of my favorite topics when we
have a chance to get into it, so rounds a
Nucksall Foundation. Of course, everybody knows remembers the late, great,
the beloved Joe Nusall, but the knucks All Foundation is
the legacy of Joe nuxs All. It carries forward three
(16:02):
important legacy projects and a central project of the Nucksall
Foundation is the Joe Nuxall Miracle League Fields. And if
you've never seen it, and I've said it once, I've
said it ten thousand times. If you think you're having
a bad day, or maybe you're just a little bit
(16:23):
down in the dumps, or maybe you're having some issues
with your kids, Okay, you know, maybe they're doing something
in school that you don't like, their grades aren't, whatever
it is, then I would highly suggest take an hour
and go to the Miracle League Fields. It's an entirely
(16:43):
accessible baseball and recreational facility. Every player with every physical
mental challenge, ages as low as four high as ages
eighty three hundred plus half leads every summer with physical
or developmental disabilities get a chance, unlike let's say, healthy
(17:07):
kids to play baseball and to go up there and
hit a home run or to make a catch on
a fly ball. And Opening Day is finally upon us
in the executive director of the Nuxall Foundation, our buddy
Tye Bradshaw, Ty, you gotta be garrett and geared up
for Opening Day.
Speaker 5 (17:28):
My friend, I am excited and now I'm ulteary eyed
after hearing your kind introduction there and no surprise was
working for Joe Nuxall's foundation, that I might I might
cry a little easily, right, But yeah, we're super super
excited Tom. It's going to be a great weekend all right.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Before we get into the particulars about where people need
to be with time, they need to be there, I
just want to talk about generally the Miracle League Fields.
This was something that started. I'm trying to remember what
we said about four or five years ago or more
than that.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
No, it's I believe it or not. Fourteen years ago
the Miracle Fields. Yeah, yeah, isn't that incredible? Yeah?
Speaker 5 (18:09):
And this actually yeah, yeah, time flies, my friend. And
this actually all started when when Kim Knuxall, Joe's son,
was watching Real Sports with Brian Gumble, saw a clip
about a young girl in Conyer's, Georgia named Lauren who
had brittle bone disease and she would bring home flyers
(18:30):
to you last to play baseball and soccer and basketball.
Her mom would have to tell her no, and the
community came together and said, well, what if we didn't
have to tell Lauren no? What if we built a
place that was just for her and other people with disabilities.
So they built the first Miracle League there, and Kim
saw the clip, He got a hold of the clip,
showed it to Joe. Actually this was before Joe passed.
(18:51):
They just kind of looked at each other and said,
you know, somehow, someway, someday, we're going to get one
of these things built in our community. So yeah, we
opened it in twenty twelve. Sadly, Joe never got to
see it in person, but he saw the plans and
knew that this was going to be happening. And we
all know he's watching down from the best seat in
the house and enjoying every minute of.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
It, no question about that.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
You know, you have to deal with a lot of
the administrative stuff in preparation of the league and family
signing up and wanting to get their kid or parent
or grandparents for that matter in some cases to be
a part of this whole thing. But I'm curious Ty,
as the executive director. Yeah, do you get a chance
to just go do what I said before you came on,
(19:38):
which is just to sit there and sort of take
it all in from time to time about the word
is joy?
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Yes, Yeah, I mean, I make a point of trying
to do that, and Tom just one of my favorite
Opening Day Parade stories. You know, many of our families,
when their child's born with Down syndrome or or you know,
born with a physical disability, whatever it may be. The
moment that child is born, they are already either being
(20:08):
told or already thinking, Okay, these are the expectations I
had for my child, and these are the things I'm
not going to be able to do with them. And
that's a that's a really desperate place to be in,
a sad place to be. And the thing I love
about the Miracle League field is that we take that
out of the equation, right And one of my favorite moments,
(20:28):
and it's it's hard not to get emotional about this,
but I I was actually running along the parade route
a couple of years ago, and I'm trying to make sure,
you know, okay, marching bands that they're good, and the
mascots are good. Everything, everything's the way it should be.
And I look to my left and I see a
little two year old, probably two year old baby with
(20:50):
a pacifier with Down syndrome, sitting in a wagon, and
on the side of that wagon, there's a sign that
says future All Star at the Joe nupsall miracles and
to know that that family from the time their child
is born is able to operate from a place where
they say, yes, my child is going to have a
(21:11):
place where they can play, where they can grow.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
That that means the world to me.
Speaker 5 (21:16):
So I try to go out and you know, get
on the field to dance with my buddy Tyree or
give high five to the little Sam Dwanger or other
players and just kind of see them in action because
it provides, as you said, so much perspective for me
as a as a father and and things. It's it's
(21:37):
just there's nothing like it.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Well, look, if you are blessed enough to be born
with healthy kids, if you're blessed to have healthy children, okay,
you know you're gonna walk through. And I'm as guilty
as today as long taking certain things for granted, there is.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
No doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
And I think I'm speaking for pretty much every parent
out there. I hate to think about doing that, but
I'm pretty sure that's accurate. Okay, Having said that, because
of what you just said of being told maybe initially
physical mental disorder handicap, whatever the case may be, that
something's not going to happen in your life and now
(22:18):
for you to actually be with the parents and hear from.
Speaker 1 (22:23):
The parents, Yeah, you know that, I'm not so.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Sure that there could be any price tag put on
those moments when you and the rest of your staff
are able to enjoy and see those share of those moments.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Yeah, And I mean that's you know, we we hear
from from families all the time about what this place
means to them and how special it is, and you know,
we actually one of our adultly players has got me
thinking about them. Her name's Carissa Lant and she's spoken
an event we had earned our parents a couple couple
(23:02):
months ago, and I remember them getting up there and
they're talking about the Hope Center of the building that
we're trying to build out at the Mirror Week Fields
to give our athletes, yeah, year round recreational experiences. And
they said, you know, this is a place where we
can come and we can breathe, right, we we this
is a second space for us where we can come
and experience community and we don't have to explain our
(23:24):
situation to other families because they they're in it right,
they get it, and we can bond with each other.
And I think that that that byproduct of being able
to serve the parents as well, that has been kind.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Of an unintended consequence.
Speaker 5 (23:40):
I think when we built the place, of course we
thought about the parents, but our primary focus was on
the kids and the adults who are going to have
a chance to play. But for the family members, you know,
they can come out and sit in the stands and
and and drink a coke and eat a hot dog
and watch watch their child's play. And you know, their
their weeks look a lot different from my. I mean,
(24:00):
some of these families are providing twenty four hour round the.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
Clock care, no question, for their loved one.
Speaker 5 (24:06):
And if we can give them an hour every week
to come out and just rest and smile and.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Experience joy, it's.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
As much for them as it is for the all
stars who.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Play out there. Well, you hit the nail square on
the head right there. You know.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I always love a lot of times we get somebody
to be the grand marshal or grand marshals.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Of a parade and they're happy to do it.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
But I love the fact a lot of people remember
Larry Handley, longtime media ralgis here in town. But Larry
and his wife, Debbie, they are the grand marshals this year.
But I mean they really have poured their hearts and
talents into the Joe Knutsall Foundation.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
They are they own a company, they're actually kind of
winding down and retiring the a video production company called
Little Brown Dog Productions. And from the moment we open
the fields, they have been there to help tell our
story and they have produced incredible, incredible video work. They've
even gone on the road with us. When we started
taking our players on the road to Pigeon Forge and
(25:11):
over to see Sean Casey and Pittsburgh and places like that,
Larry and Debbie just grabbed the cameras and they go
and they produce these incredibly emotional videos. Then we can
go out and show to potential donors and supporters and
other people who want to learn about the Miracle League fields.
And what most people don't know is that Larry and
Debbie have a son who plays in our adult league,
(25:34):
t Larry or Larry Junior we call him. But you know,
Larry is out at the field. He was on our
traveling team to Pittsburgh last year, So it's personal to
them what this story means and that it gets in
front of the right people. And I mean, I think
especially during COVID, we had to cancel our major fundraisers
and had to go to him and say, Larry Debbie,
(25:56):
we need like forty or fifty videos, interviews of our families,
things that we can put out on social media through
email marketing to get people to still donate. And they've
been all in in every moment to help out and
they've just got an incredible vision. So we're looking forward
to celebrating them for all they've done, for all they're
going to continue to do. It'll be special to have
(26:17):
them at the front of the parade.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
All right.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
For those of you just joining us, this is the
Joe Knucksaw Miracle League Field and season opening day, which
is this Saturday, April the eighteenth. All right, give me
some particulars, Ty Bradshaw about where people need to be
and anything they might need to know ahead of time.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
Yeah, for folks participating in the parade, we'll line up
at nine fifteen at Sacred Heart Church there in Fairfield
and then the parade.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Will step off at ten o'clock.
Speaker 5 (26:44):
We make about a mile and a half route, primarily
down Mississippi Drive there in Fairfield to the Miracle League Field.
So there's lots of spots along that route that you
can go to watch the parade. If you're familiar with
the Waterworks Park area, that's kind of where we make
the turn and always a good spot, Or you can
just go down to the Miracle League fields and welcome
us as we make our way into the parking lot.
(27:06):
We typically have about two hundred to two hundred and
fifty of our special needs athletes and families that'll that'll
go along that mile and a half route and nothing
better than seeing, you know, parents of individuals and wheelchairs,
of walkers pushing their children along that route, and people
in the community who don't know them, who don't know
their names, just cheering and getting excited. And then after
(27:27):
the parade concludes, we'll do an on field ceremony where
we'll introduce all of our our all stars, kind of
a red carpet introduction for them and get them get
them excited for the season ahead.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Did I lose tie there? I'm still here. I thought I.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
Lost you there for a second. Maybe it was my
head said, you know, before I let you go, though,
I do want to ask you one thing, and if
I cut you off, please finish what you were saying.
I don't know if I did or not, because I
lost you.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Thank you? Goody okay? Before I let you go? I know.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Two years ago you launched a Nutsall Foundation twelve million
dollar capital camp paying to construct the Hope Center, now
year round recreational facilities for athletes with special needs. It's
going to be incredible. How are you coming along? And
if people interested in giving, how can they do it.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
There?
Speaker 5 (28:14):
We're making incredible progress. So we have actually raised six
point six million dollars towards that project, which just gives
our athletes really something to hope for. And your dad
did an incredible virtual tour of what the building is
going to look like. I would encourage people to jump
online and check that out. If you go to Nusallmercle
(28:35):
League dot org slash Hope, you can watch the virtual
tour of the Hope Center. It'll be a thirty one
thousand square foot inclusively designed indoor recreational facility with an arena.
It'll have a multipurpose room with accessible fitness equipment, a
community room, and all of Joe's memorabilia and things will
be on display throughout the building. But it'll allow our
(28:55):
athletes to play new sports every season. No more rain delays,
no more cancelations for them.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
And it's going to really transform the way we think
about how we serve the special needs community, not just
here in Cincinnati, but I think it's gonna be a
gold standard for the world. So again, we're always looking
for gives. It was super nice Thom, your producer. While
I was on hold, he he told me we could
put you down for a million bucks.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
That was really on the morning show.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
On the Morning Show, Hey yeah, I can't thank you.
I can't today, brother, Best of luck. On Saturday, the
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