Republican President Donald Trump makes his 2020 Flyover state debut in Ohio. Wisconsin takes steps toward cleaner drinking water. And the fossil fuel industry is pushing back on the fracking attack in Flyover states.

Welcome to the show: Everybody has a comfort food in life and for Republican President Donald Trump, that happens to be campaigning in the state of Ohio, cleveland.coms Sabrina Eaton writes. Trump returns to the Buckeye State on Thursday with a rally in Toledo, his 15th visit to the state since his inauguration in January 2017. If Toledo seems like an odd choice, it shouldnt. As The Blades Liz Skalka writes, the city is right next to one of the premier bellwether counties in the state.

Catch me if you can: Ill be in Toledo covering Trumps visit, so check back with cleveland.com or Fridays edition of The Flyover. You can follow me on Twitter at @SethARichardson.

Turn on the water works: A bipartisan group of Wisconsin state lawmakers unveiled a $10 million plan to tackle water contamination in the state, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels Molly Beck reports. The chief focus of the plan is reducing fertilizer runoff and mitigating PFAS contamination. The plan comes after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, declared 2019 the year of clean drinking water, though failed to enact many of his proposals in the Republican-controlled legislature. It also comes the same day legislative Republicans passed a bill through committee restricting the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam, but declined to regulate the forever chemicals, per the Wisconsin State Journals Chris Hubbuch.

Lifes a gas: The fossil fuel industry is feeling the crunch as more Americans grow concerned about climate change, but plans on pushing back as hard as possible, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazettes Daniel Moore reports. That includes in Pennsylvania, arguably the epicenter of fracking, where Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said he would oppose any new petrochemical facilities. American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers said fracking was one of the most important environmental achievements in this country because it lessened reliance on coal.

Dealers choice: Dont count former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a Democrat running for president, among the fans of the USMCA trade deal. During stops in Chicago and Akron, Ohio, Bloomberg said the deal brokered between Democrats and Trump was basically just NAFTA, cleveland.coms Robin Goist reports. However, Bloomberg did appear to be a fan of NAFTA at least to some degree saying the much-maligned trade pact was something designed to help America, and by walking away from it, you help China.

Bonus question: Indiana teachers received a blow to their hopes of getting a pay bump, per the Northwest Indiana Times Dan Carden. Statehouse Republicans quashed a plan to give teachers a one-time bonus from state surplus funds. Its probably a safe bet that some of those 15,000 teachers who demonstrated on the steps of the statehouse will probably be returning soon.

Passing me by: A Wisconsin appeals court declined to rule on a lawsuit seeking to boot more than 200,000 people from the voter rolls before the 2020 election, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels Patrick Marley reports. A county judge ruled on the conservative-backed lawsuit in December, ordering the state to start the purge. The appeals court declined to take the case since the Wisconsin Supreme Court is deciding itself whether to rule on the matter.

Survey says: Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio recognized the importance of Midwestern states in the 2020 election and announced the launch of the Great Lakes Poll, which will track opinions in four Flyover states, cleveland.coms Rich Exner reports. The universitys Community Research Institute will administer public opinion polls in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania periodically throughout 2020, with the first results expected before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucus.

A league of their own: This shouldnt come as a surprise to anyone, but professional sports leagues made sure to wet their beak with Michigans new sports betting law, the Detroit News Craig Mauger reports. Bookies must pay for official statistics that come from the professional leagues, which the leagues will undoubtedly make a killing from.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was in Chicago and Akron, Ohio, on Wednesday, per the Chicago Tribune and cleveland.com.

Former Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts was in Nevada and Newton, Iowa, on Wednesday, per the Des Moines Register.

President Donald Trump will be in Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday, per cleveland.com. Vice President Mike Pence will join him.

Author Marianne Williamson will be in Des Moines on Thursday, per the campaign.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey will be in North Liberty and Mount Vernon, Iowa, on Thursday, per the campaign. Booker got a family heirloom earlier this week from his cousin in Des Moines.

Weld will be in Sioux City, Denison and Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, per the Des Moines Registers candidate tracker.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will be in Nevada and Perry, Iowa, on Friday, per the campaign.

Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland will be in Boone and Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday, per the campaign.

Democratic presidential hopefuls will be on stage in Des Moines on Jan. 15 for the final debate before the Iowa caucus, per the Des Moines Register. CNNs Wolf Blitzer and Abby Phillip and the Des Moines Registers Brianne Pfannenstiel will moderate.

Trump will be in Milwaukee on Jan. 15 to hold a competing rally, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Trump is expected to hold a re-election event in Iowa before the Feb. 3 caucus, per The Wall Street Journal.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is scaring former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, per the Associated Press.

You can dump your legal dope at OHare and Midway airports now, per the Chicago Tribune.

Michigan courthouses will soon enter the 20th Century (yes, the 20th Century), per MLive.

Were having to resort to pretty drastic measures.

-Polk County, Iowa Democratic Party chairman Sean Bagniewski describing to the Des Moines Register the prep his party is doing for the upcoming Iowa caucus. Party officials are expecting record turnout driven by the high number of candidates.

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Email Seth at SRichardson@cleveland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SethARichardson.

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Donald Trump kicks off 2020 Flyover state campaign with Ohio rally today: The Flyover - cleveland.com