Sound of Ideas

Legal experts as well as the media say they have been trying to keep up with the scope of actions coming from the new administration. We'll discuss the constitutionality of these orders and the impact on Ohioans.

Workers and union leaders rallied in Cleveland yesterday to protest federal job cuts. President Donald Trump’s administration has slashed jobs across a wide array of government agencies with a stated goal of cutting the federal workforce by as much as 10%. The number of federal workers in Cleveland is more than 17,000 employed by agencies such as Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, NASA and the National Park Service among others. The story begins our discussion of the week’s news on the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”

Sports Business Journal reported Sunday that Cleveland is expected to be the next city to be chosen for the league’s expansion. What would a new women's sports franchise mean for the region?

We're just a few weeks into the new session at the Ohio Statehouse and already lawmakers are signaling that this term bills will move quickly. In the last session, several bills, including some high-profile ones, failed to get across the finish line. The slow pace last term was driven by in-fighting within the Republican caucus. Now it’s a new term with new leadership and a much faster pace. Later in the hour, we will talk about efforts to help young people kick the vaping habit

Senate Bill 1, touted by supporters as a way to fight back against liberal indoctrination on college campuses, passed the senate 21-11 this week and is on its way to the Ohio House. It drew loads of opposition before the senate affirmed it. Among other things, it bans Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts and forbids labor strikes by professors. Jim Tressel, the former football coach of Ohio State University and president of Youngstown State University is now the lieutenant governor of Ohio. Is it a temporary foray into state government, or will he seek to move up to governor next year? Lee Fisher, the former Ohio attorney general and lieutenant govenor, now serving as dean of the Cleveland State University College of Law, will become president of Baldwin Wallace University on July 1. And Jo-Ann, the craft-retailer based in Hudson, is shuttering most of its Ohio stores as it closes 500 locations across the country amid bankruptcy We will discuss the bill these stories and more on the Friday “Reporters Roundtable.”

Two Northeast Ohio organizations that support residents with developmental disabilities made groundbreaking appointments to their boards last month.

In Season 2, co-hosts Marlene Harris-Taylor and Myesha Watkins talk to people who live in neighborhoods where gun violence is normalized, and discuss solutions to end the cycle of violence.

Spring training officially starts Tuesday, meaning there is less than two months until baseball's return. In a recent City Club of Cleveland conversation, Vogt discussed how a change in culture is helping drive success for the team. Later, we'll hear how for decades, community leaders have been trying to develop Cleveland's lakefront, including improving connectivity from Downtown to the lake shore. In a recent City Club conversation, Ideastream reporter Abbey Marshall moderated a discussion on the Lakefront Master plan with a panel of city leaders.

Ideastream Public Media reporters are asking what is being done, and what could be done to stop unnecessary firearm deaths in Northeast Ohio.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine's biennial budget tops our discussion of the week’s news on the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”

WVIZ first went on air on Feb. 7, 1965, originally broadcasting from the gymnasium of Max Hayes Trade School in Cleveland.

This week, President Donald Trump has taken executive action to impose or threaten new tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, and those countries have proposed retaliations. How could a possible trade war impact Ohio's economy?

Bird flu cases continue to rise in Ohio. Currently, there are 39 affected commercial flocks and more than 8.7 million birds infected.

Last week, the Trump administration announced and then rescinded a pause on federal dollars going to various government agencies and nonprofits.

Dozens of people in Northeast Ohio were taken into custody by United States Immigration and Custom Enforcement officers as part of a larger, nationwide push by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration. President Trump made immigration and deportation of those here without legal status a key part of his reelection campaign. His first week in office saw a flurry of executive orders on immigration. The story begins our discussion of the week’s news on the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”

The city of Cleveland is hoping to update the city's air quality standards for the first time since 1977, and is seeking input from residents through a series of public meetings this month.

Property owners are receiving their first-half tax bills from the county. The property tax bills reflect the new appraisal values and, in many cases, owners will see a tax increase.

The report explores unpublished letters from the movement's founders that detail a decades-long strategy to provide state funding for religious schools driven by a network of politicians, church officials and advocates.

Republican Senator Jerry Cirino of Kirtland introduced this week a new version of a bill to combat what conservatives view as liberal bias in higher education in the state. Cirino introduced a similar measure last session, Senate Bill 83, but it stalled in the legislature and died in the lame duck session. Now the bill is known as Senate Bill 1 and Cirino expects it to move quickly through the statehouse. President Trump ran as a candidate on a platform that called for mass deportations. On Monday, he signed sweeping executive orders that declared a national emergency at the southern border and suspended refugee resettlement. Now, immigration advocates are calling on county sheriffs to stand down and not participate in Trump’s plan for mass deportations. Jon Husted took the oath of office this week, taking the seat in the U.S. Senate vacated by Vice President JD Vance. Gov. Mike DeWine tapped Husted to be the replacement for Vance last week. The move upends the forthcoming Ohio governor’s campaign. DeWine is term limited and Husted had been viewed as the likely successor. We will discuss those stories this week on the "Reporters Roundtable" as well as the intense cold that impacted the area earlier this week.