The Weekly Dis
On a judge, a socialist, a Guinean, two NHL GMs and a tenderloin
In case you missed it:
On Dec. 23, the eve of the Eve, Franklin County Judge Bill Sperlazza halted a transfer of $1.7 billion in unclaimed funds (taxpayer money), $600 million of which is earmarked for Haslam Sports Group's new dome-home for the Cleveland Browns.
This corporate welfare plan is for "sports and cultural projects." It was written into the biannual budget by state senators who never, ever, ever listen to lobbyists and never, ever, ever check on which dark-money Super PACs are funding their campaigns. The cash was supposed to be transferred on Jan. 1.
The plaintiffs are two individuals with unclaimed funds. They are being represented by two former Democratic lawmakers, Marc Dann and Jeff Crossman. They lost and are appealing their case in federal court. They saw a different avenue for argument in state court and argued that it was illegal to, one, cram a bunch of unrelated crap (my word) into one law and, two, steal (my word) the property of Ohioans without due notice or compensation.
They won a 14-day restraining order.
Karen Kasler
If you like, you can read the entire ruling here.
"It sounds to me like you're going to be taking money from other people who are owed money and giving it to me," Judge Sperlazzo said before using the phrase, "Robbing Peter to pay Paul."
The court fight will continue in the new year.
I hesitate to give our Governor Poltroon credit for anything, but his idea to increase taxes on the gambling industry for a capital improvement fund earmarked for the state's sports-and-entertainment was a good idea. Then, the power brokers at the Statehouse got their Householder hands on the budget, tore up the Governor's plan and went the welfare-for-billionaires route.
There are a number of interested parties are following this case closely – including the Franklin County Convention Facility Authority, which is seeking city, county and state funding to pad private funding for a planned $400-million renovation of Nationwide Arena.
Posts
Monday
Michael Arace
Zach Werenski didn't break his ankle. Exhale. The Blue Jackets made a trade (for more, see below). Wilfried Nancy won a game.
Wednesday
Michael Arace
The Crew didn't get a new coach in place prior to Christmas, as I had speculated they might. Stay tuned. An announcement will come before players report Jan. 9 or 10. It might even pop before New Year's Day.
There was some news, though: Crew is bringing in a central midfielder, Sekou Bangoura, 23, in transfer from Kiryat Shmona of the Israeli Premier League. Reportedly, the Crew are paying a $1.2-million fee for the Guinean national.
Although there has yet to be an official announcement from Black and Gold Blvd., a report out of Africa (not from Isak Dinesen) says the Crew paid $400,000 to buy out the remainder of Bangoura's contract and will sign him to a two-year deal with an option for a third year.
According to this report, Bangoura was in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, by week's end, there to iron out his visa paperwork.
Friday
Christmas Dinner
Left to right: Randy Kilbride, Owen Arace, beef tenderloin.
Casa Arace was very busy this week as the kids came from hither and yon for a holiday convergence. Things were hectic, you know? Lost in the bustle was the Christmas dinner menu. Had to call audibles late in the snap count to get it done, and part of the solution was a beef tenderloin that has been sitting in the freezer for months.
My lawyer, Randy Kilbride, in February lost his battle with cancer. Among other qualities, he possessed a singular generosity. One of his things to do was surfing around on his phone to find things to ship to his friends. One of his favorite vendors was Omaha Steaks and, on more than one occasion, I came home to a large styrofoam box from Nebraska sitting on my front porch. He sent us one of those not long before he went into palliative care last winter.
I'm listening to Mahler 2 as I write this. Here's Bernstein whipping it down the stretch:
The entire symphony, all 90 minutes of it, is also available on YouTube.
On Thursday morning, I pulled the newly thawed tenderloin out of the fridge. I'd already made stuffing – sautéed spinach, pistachios, dried berries and Greyere – the night before. I was going to butterfly that beautiful, little roast and stretch the deliciousness of it.
I removed the packaging and ... well, I discovered the tenderloin wasn't a roast – it was cut into 10 petite filets. This was a wrench in the plans. I stared at the meat for a full minute, wondering what I was going to do. One of my daughters walked into the kitchen and said, "Dad, Randy is messing with you."
Somewhere, my friend laughed.
I spatchcocked and roasted two chickens and served them with mashed potatoes and gravy, sautéed spinach with garlic and caramelized carrots with thyme. I had a lot going on the stove and in the mad dash to the finish, I seared the petit filets in a cast-iron pan, rolled them in butter and popped them in the oven to finish. And I over-finished them. That's one way to put it.
Somewhere, my friend laughed.
I didn't write Thursday-for-Friday. I took the day off exchange gifts, to cook, to eat and to drink.
We had a lot of laughs at la casa del Arace. I hope you did at your place, too.
CBJ trade trivia
The NHL's holiday trade freeze went into effect at the strike of midnight on Friday, Dec. 19, and, just before the bell tolled, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Seattle Kraken got a deal under the wire. Interesting trade partners. They are an answer to a trivia question.
Q: Which two NHL teams have never made it to a conference final?
It's not so embarrassing for the Kraken, who came into the league in 2021. Different story for the Jackets, who are celebrating their 25th season.
Presently, the Jackets are in last place in the Eastern Conference and the Kraken are in next-to-last in the West. The trade they made was this: The Kraken sent veteran forward Mason Marchment, 30 years old and on an expiring contract, to the Jackets for a second- and a fourth-round pick.
The trade might be seen as a statement of each team's strategy going forward. Put simply, they're aiming in opposite directions from the same vantage point.
Blue Jackets president/GM Don Waddell: "I was very comfortable with the players we have here but, you know, my job as the GM – any time there's a chance to make your team better without sacrificing, you try to do it. We have lots of draft capital. And not having to give up anybody on your roster to get this type of player I think makes all the sense in the world."
Waddell's bet, then, is that his team can match the January (10-3-1) and the April (7-3-0) they had last season and, along the way, avoid the swoons in-between. Doable? We shall see.
New Kraken general manager Jason Botterill – who was hired in April when Ron Francis was kicked upstairs – said, "This trade gives us more capital and draft flexibility to improve our team moving forward."
I read that as, "We don't have enough guys and now's the time to get out bottom out and play the lottery."
Marchment had four goals in 29 games in Seattle – and he has three goals, two on the power play, through his first two games with the Jackets.
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Michael Arace
