There are more signs that Ohio once again is in play for the presidential election. The Columbus Dispatch reports that The Lincoln Project super PAC "is aligning with another group, Republican Voters Against Trump, for what they are calling 'Operation Grant,' a nod to Ohio native Ulysses S. Grant. That alliance's plan kicks off with a Lincoln Project advertisement attacking Trump's response to the COVID-19 pandemic that will air on broadcast and cable television from Friday through Monday in Columbus, Cleveland, Akron and Canton." The paper says the efforts "also will include a ground campaign that has had to move onto the web during the pandemic," according to John Weaver, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project and former top political adviser to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Weaver said the groups have 20,000 volunteers in Ohio and are planning a town hall meeting for next week. Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that two prominent polls of Ohio last month "showed the presidential race in a statistical tie. Turnout in the Ohio primary elections in April was higher for Democrats than Republicans for the first time in a dozen years, evidence of enthusiasm in the Democratic base. And the Trump campaign recently booked $18.4 million in fall TV ads in Ohio, more than in any state besides Florida a sign that (President Donald) Trump is on the defensive in a state that until recently seemed locked down for Republicans."

MLive Media Group in Michigan this week announced it will transfer production of its eight newspapers to Cleveland and close its printing facility outside Grand Rapids, Mich. The media company's eight newspapers currently printed at the production facility in Walker, Mich., will instead be printed in Cleveland beginning Oct. 5, said Tim Gruber, president and chief revenue officer of MLive Media Group. The newspapers will be printed at the same facility that prints The Plain Dealer. It's a case of corporate efficiencies, as Cleveland.com and MLive Media Group are owned by Advance Local.

Ohio's a great place to live if (when times are normal) you enjoy a good bar, according to Esquire. The magazine's new list of the best bars in America has no less than four Ohio spots: The Happy Dog and the Spotted Owl, both in Cleveland, plus Wdka Bar in Cincinnati and Law Bird in Columbus. Esquire calls The Happy Dog "a rock 'n' roll bar to its bones, with vinyl booths, Christmas lights, a no-bullshit beer list, and mics already set up for any ragged busker who's brave or drunk enough to climb onstage." The Spotted Owl won over Esquire's writer, who notes, "I was staring at a paper wheel that looked like a scrap of Ouija board. The wheel had words on it: bitter, potent, fruity, tropical, etc. Instead of ordering from a cocktail menu, I was instructed to select my desired mood (I went with relax) and a range of flavors (I went with umami and ginger) from this wheel. The bartender would then conjure something for me to drink. I figured this was all some sort of gimmick until I tasted my cocktail, which had been made with gin, lime, and a pho syrup yes, the Vietnamese soup. It was absurdly delicious, and it was then I decided the Spotted Owl is a next-wave mystic temple of cocktailing."

Grooming might not be all that high on your list of priorities during the pandemic, but if you're a man with a beard, you might want to check out this piece from The New York Times that offers tips for getting your bear under control and takes note of a product favored by Cavaliers center Andre Drummond. That product is a Kuschelbr, a heated beard-straightening brush made by Masc by Jeff Chastain. It has heated teeth that emerge from a heated plate, a compact version of the full-size hair-straightening brushes marketed to women. The Times notes that Drummond made a video of himself straightening his beard with it.

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