By Nick Pedone/Broadcast version by Mary Schuermann Kuhlman

Reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The baseball world will be focused on Cleveland today as the city hosts the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

But a familiar face to Cleveland baseball, Chief Wahoo, won’t be on the field for the festivities. The team dropped the controversial logo from its uniforms last fall, although the Chief’s cartoonish face will surely be plastered on shirts and hats, in the stands and outside of the stadium.

The Cleveland Indians officially erased Chief Wahoo from the players’ jerseys and hats ahead of their 2019 season, and removed all signage from Progressive Field that portrayed the Wahoo logo. With the full rebrand underway, the team now sports the basic, red “Block C” logo.

Wahoo’s removal stems from pressures by the Cleveland American Indian Movement, as well as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. Despite hesitation from the team’s ownership, both remained instrumental in campaigning to remove the image that many Native Americans feel is harmful and racist.

The Cleveland Indians organization would not comment for this story, outside its original statement that Wahoo would be removed from the uniforms in 2019 because of “ethical issues” surrounding the mascot.

Sundance, a member of the Muscogee tribe and the executive director of the Cleveland American Indian Movement, explained that his organization will continue to protest the use of the "Indians" team name and continued licensing of the Wahoo logo.

“I am happy that Major League Baseball took notice of us after a half century. But that’s a half century too late,” Sundance said of the logo’s removal. “It should have been stopped before it started.”

Although banned from the field, the team still holds the trademark to Chief Wahoo, and the licensing for his merchandise sold outside Progressive Field. Sundance described this situation as “problematic, exploitative and obscene.”

The team still makes money from Wahoo’s likeness, profiting from such retail establishments as Rally House using the logo on gear. In order to keep the trademark rights, the MLB and the Indians organization are required to prove some sort of retail presence.

“Quite frankly, it is basically to make money,” Sundance said.

Outside Progressive Field, Vern Thompson owns a retail business selling various teams’ sports apparel downtown, before home games and other big events.

Thompson’s business, Vern & Ozzy’s Sports, and other retailers stocked up on Wahoo gear in anticipation of the logo’s removal.

“It’s definitely made our Chief Wahoo inventory go quick,” Thompson said.

For Thompson and other merchandisers, the controversy creates a monopolistic opportunity. Since Wahoo is no longer available from the Indians’ MLB Shop, other retailers are striving to create a surplus of Wahoo merchandise, which they hope to sell at a premium for years to come.

Sundance isn’t the only person who disagrees with the ethics behind all of this. Indigenous people have protested in front of Progressive Field and Jacob’s Field for decades.

Sundance thinks one protest sign in particular caught the attention of the MLB.

“It meant that they were paying attention,” Sundance said of the Wahoo’s removal. “Especially once we were using the sign that said, ‘A Dollar Spent on Major League Baseball Equals a Dollar Spent on Racism.’”

He added that his group believes the removal of the Chief Wahoo logo from the field was merely a public relations tactic used by Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Indians to keep themselves safe from bad publicity, not to engage with indigenous people.

He said they will continue to protest profiting the logo, and to focus on to changing the team name.

“The logo is offensive, but no less exploitive than the name,” Sundance said.

So far, neither the Indians organization nor the MLB has shown any movement toward a name change. Retailer Thompson believes they understand the negative effect that a name change could have on their business.

“I think it would be detrimental,” Thompson said. “ I think you would see lower attendance, I think you would see lower sales across the board; and personally, I don’t think it will ever happen, because I know they’re aware of those negative effects that could happen from that.”

And Thompson doesn’t believe fans will give up Chief Wahoo.

“Chief Wahoo is an icon in Cleveland,” he explained. “It’s just something that people always love and always buy. I don’t see that going away, ever.”


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by The George Gund Foundation.


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Missouri residents are gaining new insights into the powerful role of food in health care as experts and organizations advocate for a shift toward food-as-medicine initiatives.

Kelsey Gardiner, assistant professor of nursing and health studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, emphasized the critical link between access to healthy food and improved health outcomes. She noted individuals facing food insecurity often experience higher rates of chronic diseases, highlighting the urgent need for systemic changes to enhance food access.

"There are things we can do and there are certain shifts nationally that are happening, whether that be through policy or through infrastructure changes," Gardiner pointed out. "We can be doing more in the state of Missouri in order to help increase access to healthy food that can directly tie into better health outcomes."

Gardiner underscored the potential of food-as-medicine interventions in preventing chronic conditions and reducing health care costs. She said recent studies show such interventions can lead to $13.6 billion over one year in cost savings and several improved health outcomes, making them a valuable addition to health care strategies.

Kael Martin, people impact strategist for the Health Forward Foundation, said focusing on communities affected by structural racism, socioeconomic challenges and limited health care access is paramount. Food as medicine is seen as a strategic approach to promote health equity, particularly in areas where systemic barriers hinder optimal health.

"We know that eating healthy can prevent chronic disease, but it can be a treatment option as well," Martin stressed. "To have that connection within our health care system, to really integrate these interventions, can be really impactful for many patients."

While progress is underway nationally and in other states such as Massachusetts, California and North Carolina, Missouri is still developing its approach to integrate food as medicine into health care systems and policies. Efforts to push for legislation supporting these initiatives are in progress, with some federal legislation around medically tailored meals garnering support.

As many Wyomingites await their 2023 federal income tax refunds, a new National Priorities Project report breaks down how the money they won't get back is being spent.

Co-author Lindsay Koshgarian, program director for the National Priorities Project, said this year's Tax Receipt shows that - while many school districts in Wyoming and across the U.S. are facing major budget cuts - the average taxpayer is contributing thousands of dollars to military contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.

"So whereas the average Wyoming taxpayer was giving almost $2,300 to corporate pentagon contractors," said Koshgarian, "they were giving only $455 for public education in our K-12 schools."

The average American household paid over $5,000 for militarism and support systems, but invested just $110 in the Child Tax Credit - which cut child poverty in half during pandemic era changes.

The Pentagon has failed to account for money spent in audits for the past six years. But its defenders argue tax dollars create jobs and maintain global security in the face of competitors, including China.

Koshgarian said corporate contractors can create jobs, especially in key Congressional districts.

She pointed to Brown University research showing that $1 billion in military spending adds roughly 11,000 jobs.

By comparison, $1 billion would add nearly 27,000 education, and 17,000 healthcare jobs.

"But if we put that same money into other things like education or infrastructure or healthcare," said Koshgarian, "we could actually create more good jobs with the same amount of money."

The U.S. Department of Defense has known about the existential threat of climate change for decades, and wildfires now cost upward of $394 billion in damages each year.

But the average taxpayer invested just $14 in wildfire management.

Koshgarian said she believes concerns about protecting international security, which largely serve corporate interests, are overblown.

"The U.S. is already the top military spender in the world by far," said Koshgarian. "We spend more than the next 10 militaries combined. We have the most capable military by far in the world, and no one disputes that."




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A New Mexico resident will attend President Joe Biden's State of the Union address tonight as legislation is pending to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

The measure was passed in 1990, with money going to residents of the Southwest who were harmed, either from uranium mining or atomic tests in 1945. The original legislation included "downwinders" in Arizona, Utah and Nevada. But New Mexico was left out, despite the state being home to the world's first atomic bomb testing and explosion.

Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, has made it her life's work to get New Mexico families compensated.

"I've been working for 19 years to bring attention to the negative health effects the people of New Mexico suffered," Cordova explained. "The Trinity bomb was detonated in the middle of our state and adjacent to a bunch of towns where 13,000 people lived in a 50-mile radius."

Cordova was invited to the annual Presidential address by Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. In the coming days, the Senate is scheduled to vote on legislation to reauthorize the act, now scheduled to end in June.

Cordova pointed out the more than 30-year-old compensation program was an admission of guilt on the part of the government but left out many of those harmed. She knows families who have lost relatives to cancer, some within 10 years of the nuclear bomb testing.

"I just hope that people who know I'm present, realize that we will never give up the fight," Cordova asserted. "We will work very hard to get the RECA amendments passed this year, but if by some chance that doesn't happen, we will continue to fight this fight for justice as long as it takes."

This Sunday, the Hollywood blockbuster, Oppenheimer, about the creation of the atomic bomb, is a favorite to win best picture at the 2024 Academy Awards. The film did not address effects to those downwind of the bombing site.


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