Sound of Ideas

The Rust Belt Humanities Lab at Ursuline College is using community events and guest speakers to help students and residents re-imagine the region and its future.

The pandemic has permanently altered K-12 education, leaving long-term consequences that are still felt today by students, teachers, administrators and parents. Many experts are concerned that these challenges will persist for years to come. Today, students—both locally and across the country—are still struggling to catch up. The latest scores from the Nation's Report Card reveal that fourth and eighth-grade students are still performing below pre-pandemic levels in both reading and math. Additionally, schools continue to face challenges such as chronic absenteeism and social-emotional issues.

Two MetroHealth medical professionals have published a collection of case narratives exploring health inequities among patients and health care providers.

Local organizations are working together to bring Shaker Square back to its glory days and make it a thriving destination for year-round shopping, dining, and recreation.

Cleveland lost two council seats this year as prescribed by the city’s charter and based on population numbers from the decennial census. Ward maps were redrawn to accommodate the reduction in the council’s size. That process means that a third of Cleveland’s voters will have to cast their ballots at a new polling location in the upcoming May primary. The potential for confusion has raised concerns that new wards combined with new polling locations will mean more voters will skip the process driving down Cleveland’s dismal voter turnout numbers. We will talk about the new polling locations to begin the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” on Friday.

The “Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act,” or Senate Bill 1, will eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, prohibit faculty strikes and grants university trustees more power over financial decisions.

A new Ohio law will lift driver's license suspensions for people with unpaid court fines and fees. The law takes effect on April 9. Going forward, courts can no longer issue immediate license suspensions when drivers don't pay a court fine or fee. It's a change advocates have been seeking for years, arguing that license suspensions unfairly impacted low-income drivers and people of color. Later in the show, a conversation about how Ohio food banks are dealing with the growing need from families in Ohio while also dealing with funding cuts at the federal and potentially the state level too. Finally, we bring you an excerpt of the next episode of Ideastream’s “Living For We: Keep Ya Head Up” podcast entitled "Something Greater Than Me."

The Trump administration is working to fully eliminate the Department of Education, and has started by closing some of the smaller offices and laying off staff.

America is becoming a nation of homebodies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we all spent more time at home - sometimes more than we'd have liked to. However, researchers have found that the trend of spending more time at home actually predates the pandemic by several decades. And perhaps unsurprisingly, technology may play a role in our reluctance to step outside the front door. In this episode, we'll explore the implications of how we spend our time - from working from home to shopping online to sleeping more. We'll talk about how it impacts our cities and urban planning, as well as our mood and well-being.

The mayor of Cleveland and the Cuyahoga County executive tag teamed this week to hammer the Cleveland Browns' plan to build a new complex in Brook Park with a domed stadium as its centerpiece. The story begins our discussion of the week's news on the "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable." Also on the Roundtable, Senate Bill 1 sailed through the Ohio House this week. The bill sponsored by Republican state Representative Jerry Cirino of Kirtland bans Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs on the state's public college and university campuses, among other restrictions.

How does Northeast Ohio measure up against peer cities regionally and nationally? Team NEO and the Cleveland Talent Alliance discuss where we're ahead of the curve and where we need to gain ground.

It's been 10 years since an Ohio law went into effect that gave 400,000 adopted Ohioans the chance to access their original birth certificates and adoption files.

Seeds of Literacy serves hundreds of Northeast Ohioans each year from a wide variety of backgrounds.

This month, President Donald Trump rolled out tariffs on goods coming from Mexico, Canada and China. Amid talks of economic uncertainty, the U.S. stock market is seeing historic declines.

The Haslam Sports Group laid out the case for state funding of a mixed-use development in Brook Park that would include a domed stadium for the Cleveland Browns. The team wants the state to approve $600 million in bonds, paid off with taxes generated by the project, and sought to reassure legislators that the risk to taxpayers would be minimized. One way to minimize the risk? The team would provide more than $38 million in upfront cash. We will talk about the Browns stadium financing plans and the pitch to lawmakers to start Friday's “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.” Plus, we will talk about other news of the week, including Gov. DeWine's State of the State speech. DeWine didn't break much new ground in terms of policy proposals in the speech. Instead, he drilled down on policy ideas that he's previously backed, including proposals put forth in his state budget. Much of the speech focused on Ohio's children.

Most people look forward to spring, but some scientists and entomologists are warning that with climate change, insects that spread diseases are wintering less.

Unemployment rates have been at historical lows for the past several years, but that doesn't mean it's easy to find a new job. Employers aren't hiring, and many job seekers are reporting that it's taking six months or longer to find

Tuesday on the "Sound of Ideas," we'll discuss air travel and safety with two experts, including some recent headline-grabbing incidents and the lessons learned from them. We'll also talk about the air traffic controller shortage and staffing and how that's affecting travel. Later in the hour, there's a new sheriff in Stark County for the first time in more than a decade.

March marks five years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and health officials warn that they are still fighting an uphill battle regarding public trust.

Cleveland City Council and Mayor Justin Bibb are tussling over the city budget, specifically over how much money is earmarked for neighborhoods. Council members wanted an allocation so they can control how $600,000 can be spent in each of their wards. In Akron, the budget season is marked by belt tightening. The $798 million budget proposed by Mayor Shammas Malik represents a two percent decrease over the last budget due to concerns of uncertainty around federal funding the expiration of federal COVID-related funding. Visits to food banks in Ohio are up 10% in each of the last three years, which is why anti-hunger advocates are concerned about a possible cut in state funding. Governor Mike DeWine's budget proposes a $15 million cut because money in the last budget was considered one-time funding. DeWine also wants some Medicaid recipients to get a job. He submitted his proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicaid covers about 3 million people in Ohio. Two Republican lawmakers want Ohio's school kids to spend more time in the classroom, proposing a bill that would add 53 hours of instructional time to the school year. We will discuss these stories and more on the "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable."