Trump Highway but First Theft

Top of Mind

Ohio’s Most Predictable Plot Twist: “Almost $900K Missing” + “Hello, Mexico.”

Nothing makes you feel alive like realizing your workplace can lose almost $900,000, and the alleged culprit can just… relocate.

Kinley Lee, a former controller at Coldstream Country Club in Anderson Township (Cincinnati area), is accused of embezzling $883,000 and then leaving the country with his wife, Katherine. Prosecutors say the couple left the U.S. in June 2024 and have reportedly been living in Mexico, on property somehow tied to Katherine’s father.

If you’re thinking “Controller at a country club” is not the classic action-movie villain job title, you’re correct. But according to court documents described in reporting, the alleged scheme was not subtle: unauthorized credit card transactions, forged checks, and even a fraudulent vendor setup. The kind of stuff that reads like a list of “How to get caught” examples in an accounting ethics course.

Coldstream didn’t just shrug and move on.

The club previously filed a civil lawsuit that ended with a judgment of around $4 million, thanks to Ohio law allowing triple damages in cases like this. Prosecutors, meanwhile, say they’re pursuing the amount he’s accused of stealing, not the inflated civil number.

And now we arrive at the part where everyone in the legal system says a version of “don’t ask me when”: the extradition process is underway, but there’s no timeline, and the FBI is not exactly hopping on the record to narrate the chase.

If extradited and convicted, Lee could face two to eight years in prison, a fine of up to $15,000, and mandatory restitution. There’s also a statute of limitations angle, but fleeing can change that math.

The most Ohio part of this story is the vibe: a country club, a weird job called “controller position” and even tho he only worked there less than a year, all the sudden becomes a crime expert and escapes with his wife to possibly live happily ever after in mexico   Also, for anyone keeping score at home: this is not the first time prosecutors have watched a financial-crime suspect vanish and then waited years to get them back. Reporting points to a past example where extradition took about five years. So yes, this may be a long game.

Scarlet Letter Trivia

Question: On April 18th 2021, Google searches for Columbus Ohio, spiked and more than doubled. It was and remains the highest search day over the last 5 years. What happened that day/weekend?

A) Chitt Fest Riot
B) Crew Beats Cinci
C) Crazy flood when High Street was underwater
D) Actor Comedian Desi Banks sells out the funny bone

Pharmacists Might Be Able Prescribe More in Ohio Because Your Doctor Is Booked Until 2029

The keyword here is protocol. Pharmacists wouldn’t just freestyle this. Under the bill, treatment has to be done under a protocol established by a health care provider, and that provider must practice primarily within a 40-mile radius of the pharmacy where the protocol is used.

Pharmacists would also be able to:

• Order or perform certain lab or diagnostic tests or screenings (with appropriate training)

• Evaluate or interpret results

• Prescribe drugs and drug therapy-related devices

• But no controlled substances

There are also specific guardrails, like:

• Athlete’s foot prescriptions are restricted to topical drugs.
  

• For pharyngitis (sore throat), the pharmacist has to order or perform a diagnostic test before prescribing related drugs/devices.

And yes, the bill gets into the “please loop in someone who has your medical chart” part too. Protocol requirements include guidance for medical history, contraindications, and instructions for notifying a patient’s primary care provider. Pharmacies would also have to prominently display signage advising follow-up care. 

So what’s the real debate?

• Pro: Access. People can get treated faster for common conditions without waiting weeks for an appointment.
  

• Pro: Normalizing pharmacists as part of the front line, which they already are in practice, especially in communities with fewer providers.
  

• Con: Coordination and oversight, because expanding access is great until it becomes “who is actually tracking outcomes and complications.”
  

• Con: Health system politics, because anytime you move a slice of care away from the traditional lane, someone with a lobbying budget starts sweating.

The bill isn’t saying “pharmacists are doctors.” It’s saying “the system is clogged, and if we have trained professionals behind the counter, maybe we can stop pretending they can only point at aisle 6 and wish you luck.”

Columbus’ Top Searches of 2025: Diddy, Taylor Swift, and Jeff Teague. Sure.

Google released its Year in Search data, and Columbus showed up exactly how you’d expect: confident, chaotic, and somehow nostalgic about things it did not personally experience.

According to Google Trends’ Columbus area “Local Year in Search,” our top celebrity search was… Diddy. 
No further notes. Just a curious Columbus.

Top song search in Columbus: “Wood” by Taylor Swift.
Columbus is big swiftie country

Top ticket search: “Make America Slime Again Tour” by NBA YoungBoy. 
If you didn’t know this existed, don’t feel bad because neither did I.

Top slang search: “67” 
…I currently pretend like I know what it means…but Im lying to you and myself.   

Top jersey search: Jeff Teague. 
Why is this on the list, and yes, Jeff Teague. The city has spoken.

Now, if you zoom out and look at the world’s top “Year in Search” list, the contrast gets even more interesting. Globally, Google’s top trending searches included Gemini, India vs England, and Club World Cup, with major news trends like the Charlie Kirk assassination, US Government Shutdown, and a new Pope chosen showing up high on the list. 

So, to recap:

• The world: geopolitics, AI, global sports, and major news events.

• Columbus: Jeff Teague jersey, 67, and a Taylor Swift song called “Wood.”

This is not a criticism. This is a mission statement.

Which means Columbus is doing what it always does: existing in the same country as everyone else, while emotionally living in a parallel universe.

Ohio Republicans Want to Rename Part of I-70 the “President Donald Trump Freedom Highway”

Ohio politics has never met a moment it couldn’t turn into a sign.

A bill filed in the Ohio House, House Bill 638, would designate a two-mile stretch of I-70 in Franklin County as the “President Donald Trump Freedom Highway.” Specifically, it targets the eastbound and westbound lanes from mile marker 98 to mile marker 100, and it directs ODOT to install “suitable markers” indicating the new name. 

The bill was introduced by Reps. D.J. Swearingen and Jeff LaRe.

Now, the obvious question: why this stretch?

The bill text itself is not a “why,” it’s a “do.” It doesn’t explain significance; it just declares.

Which, in its own mest up way, is kind of the most honest version of politics: no backstory, justa couple dip shits going off vibes and a budget line for signs.

It’s also worth noting what this is not:

• It doesn’t rename all of I-70.
  

• It doesn’t solve traffic.
  

• It doesn’t fill potholes.
  

• It doesn’t make the downtown split less of a daily test of faith.

It’s branding. On a highway. Through Columbus. In a state that already has a proud tradition of naming roads after people, so we can argue about it, forget about it, and then argue again.

If passed, the bill would still need to clear both chambers and be signed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
So at the moment, this is a proposal, not a done deal.

But the concept is already doing what it was built to do: generate attention, force a reaction, and give everyone a chance to pretend the most urgent problem facing I-70 is a lack of commemorative signage.

Meanwhile, the rest of us will be over here begging for something radical, like lane markings you can see at night.

Trivia Answer:

A) Chitt Fest, where OSU kids flipped and burned a couple cars! here’s the graph…