One strike in Flyover country ends, another continues, and another may be on the horizon. Weed laws get a second look in several states. And Pennsylvania lawmakers might reconsider living large on the public dime.

Check-in

40 days and 40 nights: After a protracted battle between General Motors and the United Auto Workers, the work stoppage between those two groups finally ended on Friday after members ratified a new contract, MLive’s Heather Jordan and Cole Waterman report. The union delivered the ratified contract to GM Friday afternoon, with the roughly 46,000 workers ready to head back to work at GM’s direction.

Driver’s seat: Next up on the docket for UAW negotiations is Ford Motor Company. The union has already said it is not afraid to call another strike if a contract can’t come to fruition, the Detroit Free Press’ Phoebe Wall Howard reports.

School spirit: Meanwhile, Chicago teachers and the city appeared to be making some progress on a contract – until a top Chicago Public Schools official accused the Chicago Teachers Union of “breach of trust” in negotiations, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jake Wittich writes. That doesn’t mean talks are necessarily derailed, but it certainly doesn’t help the dialogue after seven days of canceled class. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat, did announce a tentative deal with school support staff, but said she was enormously disappointed in the lack of movement with the teachers union, per the Chicago Tribune.

Doom and gloom: I realize political news can often seem fatalistic because of the inherent conflict, so here’s something fun: teachers on strike performing “Thriller.” Rich Miller at Capitol Fax has even more examples. The union also got a boost from Chicago musician Chance the Rapper during a bit on Saturday Night Live.

Drug dealer time: Michigan’s recreational marijuana rollout is moving at a glacial pace, with product not expected on shelves until March or April 2020, the Detroit Free Press’ Kathleen Gray reports. Voters approved recreational marijuana on the 2020 ballot, but regulatory holdups and low supply keep pushing back the date for legal pot.

Buzz kill: In Wisconsin, marijuana arrests from decades ago follow people around, hindering their job prospects and dogging them for the rest of their lives, The Cap Times’ Natalie Yahr writes. Lawmakers are considering expunging possession offenses from criminal records, which is restricted now to only people who were younger than 25 when they committed their crime.

It’s mine, I spend it: After Spotlight PA and The Caucus uncovered extravagant, unchecked and completely legal campaign spending by Pennsylvania politicians, the state Senate’s top Democrat is proposing a slew of new campaign finance rules. That would include instituting campaign donation limits for the first time in the state’s history.

Expected delays: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, said he will likely postpone the state’s scheduled next execution in December, cleveland.com’s Jeremy Pelzer reports. Ohio is still trying to figure out another possible method for killing prisoners after court rulings and demands from drugmakers to not use their products for lethal injection.

Do something: That’s the name of a new group founded to push lawmakers to address gun legislation, the Dayton Daily News’ Ismail Turay Jr. Writes. The name comes from the crowd chants leveled at DeWine following the shooting massacre in Dayton.

A good sport: Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, became the first Flyover state governor to endorse the idea of allowing college athletes to earn money off their likeness, the Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson reports. Republicans are likely to oppose the bill, which could make it difficult to pass in the upcoming veto session. But Pritzker’s backing makes a similar bill much more likely to pass in the future, given the Democrats control over the statehouse.

Cloudy with no chance: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, won’t be joining some of her Flyover state counterparts in issuing a ban on flavored vape oil, The Gazette’s Rod Boshart writes. As cases of vaping-related illnesses popped up in multiple states, several governors, including Michigan Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, have called for a ban on the product.

Courtly manner: Whitmer, however, has suffered her own setbacks in trying to pull products from the shelves after a court halted the ban from taking effect. Whitmer said she would appeal the lower court’s ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court, MLive’s Lauren Gibbons reports.

Cyber force: DeWine signed a bill in Ohio that creates a cyber defense reserve force in response to increased attacks on local governments, cleveland.com’s Andrew Tobias writes. The new law also has an election security component, requiring the secretary of state to hire an IT security chief.

Arrivals/Departures

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was in Newton, Toledo, and Iowa City, Iowa, on Friday, per the Iowa Press-Citizen.

Author Marianne Williamson was in Philadelphia on Saturday, per the campaign.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Des Moines on Saturday, per the Des Moines Register.

Sanders was in Detroit on Sunday for a rally that included Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and rocker Jack White, per the Detroit Free Press.

President Donald Trump will be in Chicago on Monday, per the Chicago Tribune.

Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer will be in Philadelphia on Monday, per the campaign.

Former President Barack Obama will be in Chicago on Tuesday, per the Chicago Tribune.

Sen. Kamala Harris of California will be in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Tuesday, per the campaign.

This Is Your Captain Speaking

“So Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio has finally dropped out of the race for President, registering ZERO in the polls & unable to even qualify for the debate stage. See Tim, it’s not so easy out there if you don’t know what you’re doing. He wasn’t effective for USA workers, just talk!”

-Republican President Donald Trump chiding Rep. Tim Ryan, a Youngstown-area Democrat, on Twitter after Ryan dropped out of the presidential race amid abysmal fundraising and polling. Ryan, who represents a district that swung toward (but did not vote for) Trump in 2016, responded with a picture of the closed Lordstown General Motors plant. Trump told people in the area in 2017, “Don’t sell your house,” because manufacturing jobs were coming back, which has not happened.

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