WKSU News Podcasts

PodcastDirectory / News and Politics / News
PodcastDirectory / Regions / NA / USA

WKSU News Headlines Primary Format : News Language : English Also Listed as: City : Kent State/Province : OH Country : USA Region : NA User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of WKSU News Podcasts Methings.com listings of WKSU News Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

Guilty pleas in one of nation's biggest mortgage scams Five people have pleaded guilty in one of the largest mortgage fraud cases in the country. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more on the case involving 500 real estate deals and $50 million -- and stretching across two continents. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Parole Board against clemency for Warren man The Ohio Parole Board has recommended against clemency for a Northeast Ohio man on death row. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stark State names new president Ohio's largest technical college has a new president. Stark State College named Para Jones the college's fourth president today (Wednesday). Jones has been Spartanburg Community College in South Carolina since 2009. She was the first woman to lead the college. Before that, she spent more than two decades at Stark State. Jones begins at Stark State February 6.  Irene Lewis Motts is Stark State's spokeswoman. She says Jones' was chosen from among 36 candidates for her connections to the area ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Voter's rights groups propose constitutional amendment More than two dozen groups are saying the map of Ohio's 16 Congressional districts denies voters real choices on Election Day. And they are pushing forward with a plan to do something about it. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Five Ohio executives plead guilty in mortgage scam Five Ohio business executives have pleaded guilty in what Ohio's attorney general is calling the nation's largest mortgage fraud case. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Portman: Cap income eligibility for entitlement programs Ohio's Republican senator says he is willing to cut eligibility for entitlement programs for wealthy Americans. Senator Rob Portman says he supports income caps on payroll tax cuts for the first $106,000 of income. WKSU's Valerie Brown and Anna Staver report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Teach for America could bring up to 100 teachers to Ohio by fall This fall, as many as one hundred Teach for America members could be working in Ohio schools. Teach for America places recent college graduates, many from elite colleges, into high-poverty classrooms across America.   Mike Wang leads Teach for America's efforts to expand into northeast Ohio. He says his focus now is on identifying school districts and charter schools in the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas that could hire Teacher for America's people. A $2 million grant from several Clevelan ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Payroll tax fight divides Ohio Republicans The standoff over a payroll tax cut extension has divided Ohio Republicans. Sen. Rob Portman voted for a Senate plan Saturday that extended the tax cuts and unemployment benefits for two months. He says he still wants a one-year deal, but thinks a short-term plan may be the most viable option to keep taxes from going up January first. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown agrees. He says the House vote caught him off-guard. WKSU's Anna Staver reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 12/21/11 Wednesday's headlines: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich applauds growth in Cleveland's medical economy The Cleveland area's reputation as a home of medical treatment and research has gotten another boost. Two global bio-medical companies have announced expansion plans that could bring 200 more jobs to the Cleveland area. The Steris Corporation says it will build a plant to manufacture medical devices at an existing distribution center in Mentor. It will also relocate a call center to the city. Phillips Healthcare will consolidate its research and development branch for medical imaging to Hig ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The anti-tour guide to Cleveland Whether you're suddenly hot in Cleveland, or you've always felt Cleveland rocks, a new book aims to show you a few places you probably don't know about.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Terry Pluto looks at why Mike Holmgren may have confronted critics Team president Mike Holmgren put-off some fans of the Cleveland Browns when he got angry at a news conference last week.  But fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers have typically had the opposite response to occasional fieriness from Cav's owner Dan Gilbert.  In a conversation with reporter Tim Rudell, Plain Dealer sports columnist and WKSU commentator Terry Pluto says the difference in reactions may be due to what made each of these "faces of the franchise" angry, and who they were angry with. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Arboretum fire takes a million dollars in damage One of the country's largest arboretums lost as much as a million dollars in property to a fire Monday night. Ten departments responded to the fire at the Holden Arboretum east of Cleveland. The Kirtland Fire Department says putting out the blaze was challenging because water had to be brought in on tankers. The arboretum is not attached to a municipal water supply. Arboretum spokesman Dave Desimone says the fire was contained to a single garage that housed maintenance equipment and seven v ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website NCAA ups the penalties against Ohio State Ohio State will not be allowed to play for the Big Ten football championship next year.  It won't be in a bowl game.  And its football program lost four more scholarships and faces one more year of probation than it had hoped. The NCAA handed down the additional penalties today. They came almost exactly a year after word broke that Ohio State players had traded memorabilia for cash and tattoos, and seven months after long-time coach Jim Tressel was forced to resign.  The sanctions go bey ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website WeAreOhio: Where do we go from here? The campaign that helped repeal new limits on collective bargaining for public unions is now deciding where to go next. The group says it still has a valuable supply of cash and voter contacts. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio racetrack slot machines could be open all night Gamblers would have the option of using Ohio's racetrack slot machines 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That's under preliminary rules approved by the Ohio Lottery Commission yesterday (Monday). Danielle Frizzi-Babb is a spokeswoman for the lottery commission. She says the changes do not mean all seven racetracks would suddenly be open around the clock. WKSU's Anna Staver reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio senators sponsor a bill to keep nuclear development going Ohio's two U.S. senators are introducing a bill to put $150 million in federal money into the uranium enrichment project in southern Ohio. A spending bill passed Saturday did not include the money for the Piketon plant. Piketon was first used to enrich uranium during the Cold War. Its new process would help nuclear power plants produce electricity. Both Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman have advocated the project. They met with Energy Secretary Steven Chu Saturday. Portman says the pr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 12/20/11 WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Northeast Ohio tremors raise concern, draw study The hunt is on for proof that injection wells associated with the shale gas drilling boom in Ohio are causing earthquakes.  WKSU's Tim Rudell has more on what scientists are looking for, and what they're finding. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Program helps poor Ohioans pay heating bills Ohio will get more than $165 million to help low-income Ohioans pay home heating costs this winter. That's $8 million more than a U.S. House plan that would have reallocated some of the funds from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program to states with warmer weather. Janet Cesner of the Ohio Department of Development says the state is still receiving about 50 million dollars less than last year. And she says Ohio received some of last year's funding too late.  WKSU's Maranda Shrewsbe ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich: First year in office was a success Governor John Kasich says he's taken many steps this year to turn Ohio around and improve the state's economy. And he says there's more work to be done. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich to "re-align" Ohio's community colleges Governor John Kasich says on his agenda for next year includes a plan to improve higher education. He wants community colleges to teach the job skills employers are most desperate for. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Southeast Ohio couple pleads guilty selling fake tickets A southeast Ohio couple has pleaded guilty to scamming hundreds of people in 36 states into buying fake tickets to sporting events and concerts. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen interviews Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine about the case. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Major construction on hold at Cleveland casino parking garage Officials from the downtown Cleveland casino are meeting this afternoon (Monday) with Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators at a parking deck that partially collapsed Friday. They'll start the process of figuring out why a 60-by-60-foot section of the second floor collapsed while a construction crew was pouring concrete. Howard Eberts is the area director for OSHA. Eberts and his team met with Rock Gaming on Saturday morning to take a first look at the garage. WKSU's A ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 12/19/11 WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - A new age for whiskey Every now and then an innovation comes along that dramatically changes an industry.  Tom Lix thinks he has such an innovation for the whiskey industry. He's a Boston transplant who's using a new process that could put Cleveland on the map as whiskey producer. In this week's Exploradio: A new age for whiskey. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Highway Patrol focuses on stopping drivers under the influence The Ohio State Highway Patrol is cracking down on impaired drivers and says that effort is making the roads safer. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Teach for America aiming for Ohio Four Northeast Ohio charities are donating more than two million dollars to bring Teach For America into area school districts likely by next fall. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and ANNA STAVER report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website President and C.E.O. leaving Cuyahoga County's MetroHealth Medical System The head of Cuyahoga County's public hospital will not renew his contract with the health care system. Metro-Health Medical Center President Mark Moran made the announcement today. Since Moran took over in 2008, the hospital has seen both success and some controversy.                            WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio juvenile courts criticized for shackling minors Some advocates for children's rights are criticizing the practice of shackling minors in Ohio's juvenile courts. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio wins millions in federal education grant Ohio has won a federal Race to the Top grant that will be used for early childhood education programs. In an interview with Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles, Patrick Galloway of the Ohio Department of Education explains how this money will be used. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio jobless rate drops Ohio's official unemployment rate dropped noticeably last month. New figures peg the November jobless rate at 8.5 percent. That's down a half percent from October. Ben Johnson watches the ups and downs of the job market from his spot at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. He tells statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen how the latest drop in the jobless rate stands out. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Akron jazz great salutes his friends in "Remembering You" Joe Augustine, artist-in-residence at the University of Akron School of Music, has recorded 51 albums. Ever since graduating from Youngstown State University in 1971, Augustine has been a national recording artist, currently with Revere Records. And since 1995 he's been a "designated Steinway artist", a life-long honor he shares with legends like Irving Berlin and Duke Ellington. Augustine's  just-released compact disc, "Remembering You", pays tribute to supporters of the work he does with ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website State worker union agrees to three-year contract extension Ohio's largest labor union that represents state employees has just given final approval to a three year contract extension. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio House approves consumer complaint plan The Ohio House of Representatives has approved a plan for a new way to resolve consumer complaints against businesses accused of rip-offs. Business advocates say it's a streamlining of the current system, and it could benefit companies and customers alike. But consumer advocates charge the proposal would make Ohio's consumer protection law one of the weakest in the nation. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports on the debate on the House floor. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Democrats want redistricting investigated Some Ohio Democrats are asking the state's legislative inspector general to take a look at the way the congressional and legislative redistricting process was handled. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio grants $2 million for state foodbanks Ohio Governor John Kasich has signed an executive order that would provide more than $6 million in federal funds for needy families to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Kasich's spokesman, Rob Nichols, says a third of that money will go to the state's foodbanks. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Brown, Portman optimistic on payroll tax cut compromise Ohio's two Senators say they are hopeful Congress can compromise on extending the payroll tax in the coming days. Without a compromise, many families would get a sudden tax increase on Jan. 1st. Democrats appear to be backing off a plan that the tax cut be paid for by raising taxes on Americans earning more than $1 million a year. Republican Senator Rob Portman says the cut can be funded by extending the current federal worker pay freeze and requiring federal workers to contribute more to t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GM Lordstown plan remains shut down General Motors' Lordstown plant will remain shut down until at least Friday morning. The plant that makes the compact Chevy Cruze halted production Monday due to a problem with a supplier. GM has not identified the supplier or the parts involved in the shutdown. Spokesman Tom Mock says testing will continue. WKSU's Maranda Shrewsberry reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland is finding creative uses for vacant lots, including an educational tool for kids Across the street from Cleveland's Buhrer Elementary School is a small vacant lot where a house once stood.  In the spring, that lot will be a garden for the students.  The school garden is one of 66 "Re-Imagining Cleveland" projects. It's a federally funded effort to find creative ways to reuse the city's many vacant properties. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier went to Buhrer Elementary to see how the future garden is progressing.   WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland pastor sentenced to 15 months in prison A Cleveland civil rights activist and pastor was sentenced to 15 months in prison Wednesday on tax evasion charges.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and GRANT ENGLE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sports and busing may return to Cleveland school district Preschool, busing and athletics could be continued next spring if the Cleveland board of Education approves a new contract with teachers.  Right now, all three programs are slated for elimination. But Schools CEO Eric Gordon says the board should fund them with half of the $8.1-million the new contract will save. WKSU's Anna Staver reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Senate stops debate on abortion law The Ohio Senate has put an indefinite hold on debate over a controversial law that would ban abortion at the point a fetal heartbeat can be detected.  Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles has more on the story. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Judge urges Ohio lawmakers to repeal death penalty There was unusual and emotional testimony today (Wednesday), calling on Ohio to wipe out its death penalty. The setting was a hearing of the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee, as lawmakers considered a bill repealing capital punishment. As statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports, the lead-off witness was an Ohio Supreme Court justice who's changed his stance on the life-and-death issue: WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Future remains unclear for many Northeast Ohio post offices Ohio's Democrat Senator Sherrod Brown says Congress and the U.S. Postal Service must work together to cut costs and avoid massive layoffs next year. The agency announced Tuesday it's delaying the closure of many of its post offices, including processing centers in Akron, Canton, Youngstown and Steubenville. The centers that were set to close early next year will remain open until at least May. Supporters of the moratorium argued that closures would result in thousands of job losses and disr ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News headlines 12/14/11 WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Holiday tree hunt  The Norman Rockwell version of finding a Christmas tree involves trekking out into the woods through deep snow  to discover the perfect evergreen, cutting it down and dragging it home for the holidays. Cleveland Metroparks is offering you a chance to do your own tree hunting --  as long as you leave the saw at home.      WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich: Exchange is good, but we need to understand the implications Questions remain about what Ohio is doing to prepare if the federal health insurance law takes effect as scheduled in 2014. By the end of next year, each state has to set up a health insurance exchange where people can shop for insurance, or the federal government will set up the exchanges. Republican Gov. John Kasich is no fan of the law, but has said the state should go ahead and set up an exchange. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Homeless kids in Ohio New numbers say the number of children who were homeless in Ohio grew by nearly 50 percent over the last five years. U.S. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports that the newest study released today shows Ohio ranks in the middle  WKSU's M.L. Schultze and VALERIE BROWN report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Akron, Canton postal centers get a breather Postal sorting centers in Akron, Canton and at least seven other Ohio cities are getting a five-month reprieve. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more on the next step for the troubled U.S. Postal Service. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Federal Boards boosts texting-while-driving ban bill The author of a bill that would ban texting-while-driving in Ohio says she's getting a big boost from the National Transportation Safety Board. The national board is unanimously calling for states to ban texting and all talking on cellphones while driving -- even when motorists use a hands-free device. State Representative Nancy Garland of New Albany won approval of her texting ban in the House, but has hit a roadblock in a state Senate committee. She's playing up the strong stand from the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kent State expanding Kent State University is growing -- physically, financially and programmatically.  The Board of Trustees approved across the board raises for some 14-hundred employees, and the purchase of three plots of neighboring land at Tuesday's meeting.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio students may spend more time studying historical documents Ohio high school students may soon be required to spend more time in social studies classes, focusing on historical documents like the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions and the Northwest Ordinance. That's because the Ohio House has just okayed a bill already approved by the Senate requiring the extra focus. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Production still suspended at GM Lordstown plant Production at the General Motors plant in Lordstown is still suspended, and officials have not announced when it will resume. The plant that produces the Chevy Cruze sent its second shift home Monday, after the company cited a parts shortage.  Bill Visnic is an analyst for Edmunds Auto Observer. He says if the company had to halt production, this was the best month to do it. Alison Ritchie reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website School mascots could be expelled Ohio's proposed ban on exotic animals would expel the best known high-school mascot in the state - and one of the best known in the country. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports on what may be the future for Obie, the Massillon tiger. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 12/13/11 Tuesday's headlines: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Proof of secret redistricting process surfaces A group critical of Ohio's new congressional and legislative maps says it  has a cache of documents that prove politics - and even U.S. House Speaker John Boehner - shaped those maps. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New bill proposes veto power for prosecution A Northeast Ohio lawmaker wants to give prosecutors the power to veto a criminal defendant's request for a judge alone to decide his or her case. Summit County State Representative Lynn Slaby says the bill will prevent bias in favor of the defense. For example, he says defense lawyers may opt for a judge-only trial if they know the judge is pre-disposed to believe their expert witness. WKSU's Valerie Brown reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Gov. speaks out against drug testing welfare recipients A bill that would require people receiving cash assistance from the state to submit to drug tests has a lot of critics. And the latest person to sound off against it may be a surprise. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Key phase of Towpath Trail expansion moves forward A key phase of the Towpath Trail that cuts through Northeast Ohio is moving forward. The Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission has approved $500,000 dollars in state funding to extend more than half a mile of the trail into Cleveland. The money will also help restore surrounding areas of the Cuyahoga River Valley. The project is expected to begin this spring and finish the following year in 2013.Tim Donovan is director of the Ohio Canal Corridor - one of the four groups spearheading the proje ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Black Keys give back Akron rock band The Black Keys are on a roll.   Their new album "El Camino" is getting strong reviews.  And for a band that used to play small clubs in Akron and Cleveland, they are now selling tickets for a show at Quicken Loans Arena in March.  But WKSU's Mark reports they haven't set aside their hometown. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 12/12/11 Monday's headlines: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - Obesity and memory The holidays are hard on just about everyone's waistline. But that's what New Year's resolutions are for. A new body of research, though, is showing that for seriously obese people keeping those New Year's resolutions can actually improve brain function. In this week's Exploradio, we look at the link between weight loss and memory gain. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website OH U.S. Senator sponsors Short Sea Shipping bill One of Ohio's two senators is sponsoring bi-partisan bill to increase shipping on the Great Lakes. The bill would exempt shippers from paying the Harbor Maintenance Tax for container shipments loaded at an American port in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway system. Ohio's Senator Rob Portman says it will encourage economic growth. WKSU's Valerie Brown reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website EPA says enforcement measures are working The Environmental Protection Agency says its civil and criminal penalties have helped to reduce land, water and air pollution in the Great Lakes--including Lake Erie--by 15 hundred tons this year. Nationwide, the agency says it reduced pollution by almost a billion tons. The EPA's Allen Walts says enforcement measures are cleaning up the environment. WKSU's Valerie Brown reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Why was Craigslist killer suspect released Among the scores of questions surrounding Ohio's Craigslist killings is why one of the prime suspects was free when three men were killed and one was wounded. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and GRANT ENGLE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio GOP's civil war The civil war that is apparently happening within the ranks of the Ohio Republican Party has gone public. But none of the participants are talking about it. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler sought out some experts to dig into what might be happening within the Ohio GOP. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Big Bath Salt Bust The Ohio State Highway Patrol has made another big drug bust - the second this week. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Internet to Appalachia in two years Millions of Ohioans now take high-speed internet connections for granted...but many people in the state's Appalachian region don't have broadband coverage. That's why a non-profit partnership called Connect Ohio is promising to boost high-speed internet in the southeastern quadrant of the state. Stu Johnson is directing the campaign, and he talks here with Ohio Public Radio's Bill Cohen.  WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Spectrum conference finds common ground A conference created by three think-tanks sought to talk about tough topics without partisan bickering.  Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports it drew hundreds of political observers, lobbyists and lawmakers - former and current - but there are questions about its lasting impact. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland's new casino is taking some cues from Pittsburgh's experience Cleveland is preparing to open the first of Ohio's four casinos this spring. About 2 hours away casino gambling has been part of that Pittsburgh's offerings since 2009. Both cities have both spent the last few decades adding entertainment venues to help replace the erosion of heavy industry.  WKSU's Kevin Niedermier traveled to Pittsburgh to find out how that city's casino has impacted its economy, entertainment venues and social issues. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website County land bank concept alive and well in northeast Ohio A pioneering program to help northeast Ohio communities deal with urban blight will continue.  WKSU's Tim Rudell reports that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Cuyahoga County Land Bank are renewing a 2010 agreement to work together on clearing or rehabbing abandoned and dilapidated property WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website EPA study links fracking to water pollution The U.S. EPA released a report Thursday that links a type of natural gas drilling to groundwater pollution in Wyoming. The process called fracking has spread across eastern Ohio and stirred environmental debate. Republican State Representative David Hall of Millersburg says comparing Ohio's fracking regulations to Wyoming's is like comparing apples and oranges. Alison Ritchie reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website OH Senate considers changes to Heartbeat Bill An Ohio Senate committee could possibly make changes to what's become known as the heartbeat bill--the plan that would ban abortions in Ohio after a fetal heartbeat can be detected.  WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio's senators react to Cordray's nomination block Ohio's two senators had vastly different reads and vastly different votes on the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. M.L. Schultze has more on why Ohio's highly respected former attorney general is at the center of a big fight. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website OH Highway Patrol drug bust breaks record The Ohio State Highway Patrol made another huge drug bust Thursday. Troopers say they pulled over a car on the Ohio Turnpike in Wood County near Toledo for following another vehicle too closely. When they got suspicious, they asked the driver to search the car. Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston sat down to an interview. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Noon headlines, Nov. 8, 2011 GOP senators block CordrayGingrich is Ohio Republican favoriteBrowns head to Pittsburgh tonightBlack Keys donate to home-town charity WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website GOP senators praise Cordray, and block his nomination Senate Republicans have blocked former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They used a procedural vote to keep the Senate from even considering Cordray's nomination this morning. Cordray has been widely praised even by Republicans, and is the bureau's director of enforcement. But as long as the agency has no official head, it cannot make new rules. Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown says that leaves big holes. WKSU's M.L. Schultze r ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio House speaker says split primaries may merge again Ohio would see its split primaries reunited, probably in May, in a bill the Ohio House leader says he plans to fast track next week. House Speaker William Batchelder, a Republican, told Ohio Public Radio's Bill Cohen that he hopes lawmakers can approve the change next week -- the last weeek of the 2011 legislative calendar. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Gingrich and Obama are about tied in Buckeye state polls A new independent poll shows Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich surging among G.O.P. voters in Ohio. But it also shows Ohio voters overall having a tough time choosing between Gingrich and President Obama.  WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Addicted to gambling Only about one percent of adults lose control when they gamble, but an increase of about 40,000 pathological gamblers is predicted in Cuyahoga County alone with the opening of Ohio's new casinos.  The casino industry relies on its own programs to combat problem gambling, but mental health experts in the region remain concerned. WKSU's Vivian Goodman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website FirstEnergy going solar Akron-based FirstEnergy has agreed to purchase the output from a 70 million dollar green energy facility being built in Maryland.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and GRANT ENGLE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Thousands could lose unemployment benefits Thousands of jobless Ohioans are in danger of running out of their unemployment benefits early next year, if Congress doesn't renew a federal extension of benefits. Ben Johnson is with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Advocates push for stricter animal cruelty laws Backers of a bill to increase penalties for kennel operators and volunteers who are convicted of animal cruelty continue to push for its passage. Julie Robert with the animal advocacy group, Peace for Paws, says Ohio's current laws on animal cruelty are too weak. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website No decision for combined primary reached yet Candidates who want to run for one of Ohio's 16 Congressional seats have to file petitions today, even though their primary won't be until June. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports that's because there's still talk about merging that primary with the ones set for March into some other springtime date. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Redfern runs for representative The chairman of Ohio's Democratic Party wants to return to the state Legislature while keeping his current job. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sutton to run against Renacci Congresswoman Betty Sutton is going to challenge freshman Representative Jim Renacci, thanks to the new Ohio congressional map Republicans have created.   Sutton announced Wednesday that she will run for the 16th Congressional District, whose new boundaries extend from Stark County up to Westlake. Some of that is now part of the 13th District, where Sutton is currently the incumbent.   The Democratic Sutton said that she was targeted by Republicans during the redrawing of the district lin ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rock Hall announces 2012 inductees The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its nominees today.  The acts cover punk, rap, R&B, heavy metal and the British Invasion -- sometimes within the same group.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and music expert John Gorman talk about this year's slate of performers. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stark County shatters record for oils and gas leases The Stark County recorder's office collected as much money yesterday (Tuesday) as it usually makes in a year. That's because Chesapeake Energy dropped off a box with the paperwork for 1,046 oil and gas drilling leases. County Recorder Rick Campell says the Oklahoma-based energy company caught his office off-guard. It took his entire staff about five and a half hours to scan and file the nearly three thousand pages. But he said it's work and money they county is happy to have. WKSU's Anna St ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Gov. John Kasich not confident about Sears Ohio has made a multi-million dollar sales pitch to lure a major retailer to Ohio. But Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports the normally confident governor continues to be very cautious about Ohio's ability to deliver a deal here. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Showdown in Senate over Cordray Democrats are pushing for a vote tomorrow (Thursday) on President Obama's nomination of Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And one of those pushing hardest is Democratic Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. But in a conference call with reporters today (Wednesday), Brown acknowledged he has not been able to sway even fellow Ohio Sen. Rob Portman to confirm Cordray. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website While Cordray fight continues, consumer bureau starts doing business The national Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may not have a director, but it does have a new way of explaining credit card terms to consumers. And WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more on what's in it. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "Year 2" for the Cavs begins day after Christmas The Cleveland Cavaliers return from the NBA lockout the day after Christmas against Toronto. WKSU commentator Terry Pluto calls this shortened season "Year 2" for Cavs fans. He's referring to the second year after LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami. Terry Pluto talks with WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz about what fans can expect from a young team that's still trying to find its identity - and talent - after the LeBron era. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The other Detroit businessman steering Ohio's billion-dollar bet The man overseeing one of the biggest investments in Northeast Ohio's history has been busy for decades making billion-dollar development deals in downtown Detroit. And he's NOT Dan Gilbert. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz talks with - and about - Matt Cullen, Gilbert's point man when it comes to the new casinos being built in Cleveland and Cincinnati. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rock Hall likelies The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces its inductees this week.  The fifteen nominees cover punk, rap, disco, Latin, R&B, heavy metal and the British Invasion -- sometimes within the same group.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and music expert John Gorman preview this year's slate of performers. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich calls for congressional map compromise Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he's holding onto hope that lawmakers will come up with a new congressional map that Republicans and at least some Democrats can agree on. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website ACLU threatens lawsuit of abortion bill Ohio lawmakers are considering two pieces of legislation this week that would make it harder for women to get abortions. Opponents of the legislation are promising to sue if the bills are passed. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Renacci joins fundraising committee with 11 GOP freshman Republican Congressman Jim Renacci of Stark County has formed a joint fundraising committee with eleven other freshman GOP lawmakers. The committee will allow the candidates to raise funds together rather than individually. John Green is director of the Bliss Institute of Applied Politics. He says these committees are more than just an efficient way to raise funds. There are also political advantages. Alison Ritchie reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich says his tax incentives mean more than 3,000 new jobs The state of Ohio has approved a record number of tax breaks to companies to keep from moving or to retain or create jobs. Altogether, 30 Ohio companies have received tax breaks totaling around $60 million. Eight of them are in Northeast Ohio, and will share nearly $50 million dollars in state incentives. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports Governor Kasich was at the Avon Lake Ford plant today  celebrating a package that promises to keep Ford running there for 15 years. But Democrats are criti ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Democrats make another plea for a single primary A group of Democratic elections workers is pleading for state lawmakers to merge the March primaries for the legislature and the US Senate and the June primaries for Congress and the presidency back into a single event. The situation is still fluid, with a key filing deadline just hours away. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Can minors waive their Miranda rights? The Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether children can up waive their Miranda rights, and be interrogated by police without a lawyer or a parent present.   The state high court justices hear arguments this morning in the case of a 15-year-old Cuyahoga County boy accused of being an accessory in an armed robbery. He waived his rights while he was being interrogated by police. His lawyers argue that detention, processing and interrogation of a minor should take place only with a lawyer or a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Recall law killed in House Ohioans don’t have the right to recall state office holders or state legislators. And Tuesday, it became clear that voters are not going to get that power any time soon. a bill granting voters that recall power was killed in the Ohio House of Representatives. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 12/6/11 Tuesday's headlines include: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Unwise Purchases For people who like to shop,  this time of year is The Olympics.   WKSU contributor George Bilgere (bil-gayr) says when he's feeling a little down, he likes to buy something. It makes him feel better,  temporarily, until he looks at the stuff he bought and never used. Here's his poem "Unwise Purchases." George Bilgere reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Something old and something new: casino dollars may be both The new Cleveland casino will pull in big money.  How much of it will come from beyond northeast Ohio is unclear.  And, as WKSU's Tim Rudell reports, it's even less clear how the shuffling of entertainment spending within the region will affect things like restaurants, theaters, and charity fund raising. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Elections board wants big budget increase to handle the 2012 vote Summit County's board of elections wants nearly twice the money it's been allotted in the 2012 budget. That's in part because of the likelihood that Ohio will have two primaries next year. But, as WKSU's Tim Rudell reports, that's actually just a small - and recent - development in a long budget dispute. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ten Ohio processing centers face closure The U.S. Postal Service is moving closer to closing more than 250 mail processing centers around the country, including 10 in Ohio. The postal service announced $3 billion in tentative cuts Monday. Processing centers in Canton, Akron and Youngstown are among expected to be gone. Postal unions say that would leave only centers in Cleveland and Columbus. Ohio postal service spokesman David Van Allen says the situation is being painted as more definite and dire than may be the case. He says th ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stark State changes policy in response to fraudulent GEDs Two Stark State College students are accused of forging GED transcripts and collecting nearly $20,000 in financial aid. Until May 18th of this year, Stark State's policy allowed students to fax copies of their GED transcripts, rather than insisting on formal transcripts from the state. Irene Lewis-Motts is spokeswoman for Stark State. WKSU's Laura Fong reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Despite success, Ohio GOP rifts are emerging Two of the state's top Republicans are trying to oust a third. Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder has joined Gov. John Kasich in sharp criticism of GOP state Chairman Kevin DeWine. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles talks with Ohio State University political science Professor Paul Beck about the infighting at a time when Republicans control virtually all of state government. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Davis-Besse to reopen with cracked concrete shield First Energy is restarting its Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, but won't say when it will be fully operating again.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission kept the plant closed during the past month after workers discovered a 30-foot hairline crack in the concrete shield around the reactor.  The shield is set up to protect the plant from outside forces, ranging from tornadoes to terrorists. Viktoria Mitlyng, a spokeswoman for the commission, said a team of inspectors determined that the crac ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Senator Patton targets Linndale mayor's court State Senator Tom Patton is making another attempt to shut down the village of Linndale's mayor's court - and what many contend is a speed trap. The tiny Cuyahoga county community along Interstate 71 gets 80-percent of its budget from traffic tickets and court fines. Patton wants to ban mayor's courts in any community with a population of less than 200. But Linndale's Law Director George Simon argues that, even without mayor's court, Linndale will continue to collect the same money from tra ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Downtown Cleveland's Arcade has been sold A downtown Cleveland landmark has a new owner. A Canadian developer was the only bidder at a sheriff's sale this morning for the "The Arcade."                                                                                 WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports on the sale of the 120 year old shopping, dining, and business center.        WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Attorney General wants DNA collected in all rape cases A special commission on sexual assault is calling on Ohio police to collect DNA evidence and submit it to state experts in virtually all cases. Currently, only about half of the rape kits are turned in. The new rule is being pushed by Attorney General Mike DeWine. DeWine says that even if the kits don't result in indictments in a case, they could be useful in later prosecutions. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - The dinosaur revolution Even though they've been extinct for 65 million years, scientists on average name a new dinosaur every week.   In this week's Exploradio  -   we meet one man who's added his share of discoveries to the modern dinosaur revolution. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Independent spending on Ohio elections doubles Independent groups have doubled what they've spent on Ohio elections in the last five years. And WKSU's M.L. Schultze says a group that is tracking that spending says much more is to come.  WKSU's M.L. Schultze and Anna Staver report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bills stew in Ohio Statehouse committees The first year of the Ohio Legislature's two-year session is ending. Not many high-profile bills are expected to be voted on during the last few House and Senate sessions this month. Still, statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports that legislators continue to look at many proposals for new laws in House and Senate committees. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Movement to bank land builds throughout northeast Ohio Summit County's council is considering tonight (Monday) creating a land bank to help reduce the number of abandoned properties. It's part of a growing trend across the state that started two years ago with Cuyahoga County. WSKU's M.L. Schultze reports that Stark, Erie and Trumbull counties also are all beginning work on their own banks. WKSU's M.L. Schultze and ANNA STAVER report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland works on fitting a casino into its cityscape Everyone knew the new casino being built in Northeast Ohio would be in Cleveland.  After all,  that's what the constitutional amendment that voters passed in 2009 stipulates.  Using the old Higbee building for Phase One of the project was a pleasant surprise for Clevelanders.   Still, WKSU's Mark Urycki reports that some concerns remain about how good a fit the casino will be in the city's downtown. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Santa's blimp The Marine Corps' Toys for Tots program is over 60 years old but the effort in Northeast Ohio has to be one of the most unusual in the country.   WKSU's Mark Urycki has details on the plans for this coming weekend. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio judge sets congressional map trial for late January A Southwest Ohio judge has rejected a request by a Northeast Ohio congressman to implement the congressional map that the state's Republican lawmakers passed this summer.  Instead, the Clermont county judge has set a trial for January 30th to decide the constitutionality of the map. That's nearly two months after candidates for the congressional seats must file to run.  Congressman Steve LaTourette had asked the judge to impose the map. His district covers the furthest Northeast corner of ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Court rules in favor of JobsOhio board The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas has dismissed a case brought by Democrats over the state's new JobsOhio program. The court ruled ProgressOhio and other plaintiffs didn't have standing. In an interview with Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles, ProgressOhio's Brian Rothenberg says he finds that ruling curious given the way JobsOhio was put into place by the Ohio General Assembly. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Heartbeat bill splits anti-abortion movement A split within Ohio's anti-abortion movement is continuing to deepen. The proposed new law that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected sparked the divide. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sens. Portman, Brown agree on payroll tax The Senate is expected to vote Friday on legislation that would reduce payroll taxes, which fund social security.  And both of Ohio's Senators are poised to support the tax cut.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website FitzGerald pushes access to education Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald says the county government should play a bigger role in ensuring all kids in the county have access to a good education. That's why he's pushing local schools and community groups to work together in new ways to support county youth far beyond the classroom. That was the subject of conversation amongst educators and community leaders who gathered at the Idea Center Thursday. Ideastream's Michelle Kanu has the story. MICHELLE KANU reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Traffic stop ends in meth bust A routine traffic stop is credited with leading authorities to the bust of a meth lab in a Lancaster motel. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles has details. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cuyahoga launches program to help low income kids succeed in school Cuyahoga County has a new strategy to help educate its most vulnerable children.  Based on a newly completed study, the program unveiled today calls for better coordination of existing social services with struggling school district.                                                                                 WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio pitches for Sears HQs Just after the departure of a well known global company based in Ohio, the state is ratcheting up its sales pitch to a familiar retailer. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Attorney General's office helps Ohioans find legit charities The holiday season brings out the "giving spirit" in a lot of people. That's one reason why many charities use this time to solicit donations over the phone. Most of the charities are legitimate. But some are not. And that's why the Ohio attorney general's website has a new feature. Pete Thomas is in charge of overseeing and regulating charities for the A.G. He says the website will help consumers distinguish between legitimate charities. And con artists. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website NE Ohio manufacturing trends upward Manufacturing in Northeast Ohio is trending upward according to a new report from the Department of Commerce.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more... WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and GRANT ENGLE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Herman Cain at OSU In light of sexual harassment charges against him, Republican Herman Cain is re-assessing his campaign for president. But, when Cain spoke Wednesday at Ohio State University's main campus in Columbus, he gave no sign of quitting the race. Ohio Public Radio's Bill Cohen was there and files this report. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Pluto: Meyer's huge salary is worth it to Ohio State Ohio State University's new football coach will be among the five highest paid in the country. Ashtabula native Urban Meyer will make more than$4 million a year, plus millions in incentives, in his six year contract - which might then be extended to seven. He brings two national titles from the University of Florida, along with a history of health issues and a hot head.  WKSU commentator Terry Pluto talks about the deal and whether Meyer has staying power in Columbus.  WKSU's Amanda Rabin ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cuyahoga County trying to curb residents' unhealthy ways Cuyahoga County is launching an initiative to curb its' residents' increasingly poor health.  County Executive Ed FitzGerald is building an alliance to help communities fight the growing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio's health care battle continues There's a hard deadline coming in the federal health insurance law - states need to take some steps by the end of next year, or the federal government will do it for them. Supporters of the law fear that deadline will be missed. But as Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports, opponents say the state shouldn't even be trying to comply. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Diverse minds gather to discuss Ohio's future We're in one of the most politically charged climates in recent memory, and one of the worst lingering financial crises in years. Leaders of some Ohio think tanks hope to bring together people with diverse views to talk about tough issues like taxes, spending and social policy. They hope their conference will be marked not by controversy, but by civility. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 11/29/11 Tuesday's news headlines: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website 500 Silver Bells in Cleveland At Severance Hall, violins, tympanis and oboes are important.  And so are the five hundred silver bells sold each holiday season by the Cleveland Orchestra's Women's Committee.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on an instrument that's vital without being played. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Meyer says kids make mistakes, but Ohio State program isn't broken Ashtabula native Urban Meyer was introduced at a press conference this afternoon as Ohio State's new head football coach. Meyer will be paid $4 million a year over the six years of his contract.  He's joining Ohio State just a year after he resigned as head coach of the University of Florida, which he led to two national championships.  He says he'll always be attached to Florida despite the arrests of 30 of his players during his six years as head coach. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website State schools chief say Ohio schools foster the 'illusion of progress' In 10 years, nearly all of the highest-demand jobs in Ohio will require some kind of education beyond high school. Ohio school superintendent Stan Heffner says the state's current school system is not up to preparing students for those jobs. StateImpact Ohio's Molly Bloom reports on Heffner's remarks to the Akron Chamber of Commerce today. WKSU's Molly Bloom reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio to offer matching licenses and license plates In about a year, Ohioans will be able to buy new license plates and drivers’ licenses with a matching color scheme. They will be mostly white with blue letters and numbers and a red triangle at the top. A new feature will include slogans in small letters in the background. Gov. John Kasich said Ohioans will be able to choose their favorites by voting online, and the 50 or so most popular will be used. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Home weatherization agency accused of misusing stimulus funds Ohio's anti-corruption watchdog has found what it calls "wrongdoing" at the Ohio Development Department's office that oversees home weatherization programs. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich eases limits on ex convicts Every year in Ohio, about 24,000 felons finish their prison sentences and are freed. Many have problems finding work because Ohio limits the kind of jobs they can hold. Dozens of activists have begun meeting to explore changing those limits and statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports that Governor John Kasich is urging them on. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Battelle announces solutions for Grand Lake St. Marys Battelle, a research nonprofit headquartered in Columbus, has identified 10 solutions to diminish the harmful algae blooms and toxic bacteria in Grand Lake St. Marys.   The organization announced today it culled the 10 solutions from about 75 proposals from independent vendors. They range from cutting down on the runoff of fertilizer to circulating more oxygen in the water.   Harry Stone,senior research scientist at Battelle, said the next step is to gain a greater understanding of the so ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rain causes more delays for corn farmers Once again, heavy rains are slowing down Ohio farmers. In the spring, the trouble was planting. Now the problem is in harvesting the last of the state's corn crop. Tadd Nicholson of the Ohio Corn Growers Association says the wet weather last spring delayed corn planting until early June. Usually, farmers like to get corn in the ground by April or May at the latest. They largely caught up over the summer. But Nicholson says heavy fall rain is keeping the farmers from harvesting the last quar ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Job and Family services will forget overpayments from over a decade ago Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services is no longer trying to recover overpayments in welfare and food stamp benefits from long ago. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Noon headlines, Nov. 28, 2011 Holidays deaths decline on Ohio roadways Urban Meyer is Ohio State's new coach Amish sect members get days in court State's shift of prisoners to local communities will cost those communities Former Gov. Strickland targets Romney as a flip-flopper  WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Key to conference is civility, not controversy We're in one of the most politically charged climates in recent memory, and one of the worst lingering financial crises in years.   Leaders of three Ohio think tanks hope to bring together people with diverse views to talk about tough issues like taxes, spending and social policy. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler says the leaders of those groups hope a conference next week in Columbus will be marked not by controversy, but by civility. The conference is called "Across the Spectrum: The Fut ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News headlines 11/28/11 WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - The sea cucumber and the brain Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are developing a better way to communicate with the human brain by studying how a simple sea creature defends itself. In this week's Exploradio, how chemistry borrowed from the lowly sea cucumber allows bioengineers to build a better brain probe. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Akron hiring 25 new police officers Akron is adding 25 new police officers. The hiring process is starting right away so the new officers can be ready by summer. And, to move as quickly as possible, the city is selecting candidates from an existing Civil Service eligibility list. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. WKSU's Tim Rudell and MARANDA SHREWSBERRY report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio physicians lead the way for adopting electronic health records A new federal program is encouraging doctors to adopt electronic health records and Ohio physicians are leading the way. Dan Paoletti heads the Ohio Health Information Partnership and he tells Ohio Public Radio's Bill Cohen that more Ohio doctors have converted their records than those in any other state. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website ACLU says attack on gay teen shows Ohio needs to change its bullying policy The case of an openly gay Ohio student whose vicious bullying attack was caught on video is increasing calls for anti-bullying policies aimed specifically at protecting gays. The video went viral on the web, prompting the school district to take action. StateImpact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports it may have an effect on pending legislation at the statehouse. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland mortgage case could change national consumer protection laws A Cleveland case going before the U-S Supreme Court today could set a national precedent for consumer protection. As WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports, the justices must determine if Denise Edwards can collect damages for being steered into buying title insurance. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Holiday shopppers like chicken Shoppers hoping to save money are out in force today.   But as WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports, last night's door-buster deals attracted more than just bargain hunters... WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Seven arrested for Amish hate crimes The F.B.I. arrested seven Amish men in Holmes County Wednesday, and charged them with religiously motivated hate crimes.  WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports that the charges stem from recent attacks on other Amish whose  beards and hair were cut off. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines for Friday, 11/25/11 WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website NRC has questions for FirstEnergy before Davis Besse restarts Akron-based First Energy plans to restart the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant by next week. But WKSU's M.L. Schultze says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is not yet committed to signing off on that plan. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Researchers study ways to help grandmothers who are mothers again The Census estimates that near 2 million children in the U.S. are being raised by a grandparent.  That's up nearly two thirds from just two decades ago. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports that an Ohio-based study is trying to figure out the best ways to help grandmothers who are essentially becoming mothers again.   WKSU's M.L. Schultze and ALISON RITCHIE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Hunting season begins Monday Monday (Nov. 28) marks the start of Ohio's deer hunting season with guns. Ohio Public Radio's Bill Cohen got details about it from Karen Norris of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Indians sign Grady Sizemore to one-year deal The Cleveland Indians and Grady Sizemore agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract Wednesday. Sizemore can earn an additional $4 million in incentives, with bonuses for plate appearances and an awards package of $500,000 if he wins the comeback player of the year award. The three-time All-Star played at least 157 games per season from 2005-2008. But injuries have limited Sizemore to 210 games during the last three seasons combined. In a conference call with reporters, Indians General Manage ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Democrats question if Lt. Governor will sabotage federal health insurance law in Ohio The U.S. Supreme Court won't decide on the constitutionality of the federal health insurance law until at least June. In the meantime, states are supposed to be setting up health insurance exchanges, the virtual marketplaces where consumers will go to buy insurance if the law is upheld. But Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports there are concerns about whether Ohio is doing the prep work, since the state official in charge of the insurance department is a strong opponent of the law. WKSU ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Local and university libraries unite The Akron library has virtually added 50 million items to its collection.  That's because SearchOhio, a network of 19 public libraries throughout Ohio, has joined with  yet another network. Akron-Summit County Public Library Director David Jennings says the partnership makes sense for everyone.   WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website AG suggests ways to avoid Holiday scams With the holiday shopping season upon us, Ohio's attorney general is offering a lot of tips to consumers about avoiding pitfalls and outright rip-offs. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Davis Besse to re-open next week The owner of the Davis Besse nuclear power plant says it plans to restart the reactor as early as next week. Akron-based FirstEnergy is dismissing concerns raised by Cleveland Congressman Dennis Kucinich about the concrete shell that surrounds the plant. Crews discovered a 30-foot hairline crack in the shield and indications of others. Kucinich called for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold a public hearing on whether carbon dioxide is causing the cracks and on whether the shield is s ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 11/23/11 News headlines for Wednesday, November 23rd: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Pluto: Caring fans deserve thanks No journalists are more likely than sportswriters to hear back from their audiences. Just about everyone has an opinion on the game, the draft, the coach, the stars, the schlubs. And many want to express those opinions. WKSU sports commentator Terry Pluto says fans that read and care are just one thing to be grateful for during the holiday season. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio could cash in on Vioxx settlement Ohio could be sent millions of dollars, under a settlement that Ohio and other states have reached with a major prescription drug manufacturer. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Report shows certain toys are dangerous for children As the holiday shopping season officially kicks off Friday, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group is warning shoppers about potentially dangerous toys on store shelves. In its annual toy report, the group identified toys containing toxic chemicals, like lead.  Toys that could damage hearing or cause choking were also on the list. Marites Velasquez is a field organizer for the Ohio Public Interest Research Group. She says not all choking hazards are explicitly labeled, so parents must be ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Holiday retail says expected to jump again Retail sales in the state are expected to go up again this holiday season. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Additional signatures mean a referendum vote is likely It's looking more and more as if Ohioans will vote next November on the state's controversial election reform law. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen has the latest on the drive to kill the law that shortens the time period for early voting--in person and by mail. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 11/22/11 Headlines for Tuesday, November 22, 2011: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Trains, Cavs, scrapbooks and best friends Former Cleveland Cavaliers radio broadcaster Joe Tait swore he would never write a book about himself. The 74-year-old Hall of Famer retired last year, after missing most of the season with pneumonia and heart surgery. But after signing off for the last time, Tait took his piles of scrapbooks and called his best friend, Cleveland sports writer Terry Pluto. Joe Tait and Terry Pluto's new book, "It's Been a Real Ball," starts with Tait's days in grade school in Illinois and travels through hi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio right-to-work amendment held up by Attorney General Backers of a so-called right-to-work ballot issue will to have wait before they can hit the streets to try to collect the 386-thousand petition signatures they need to place the plan onto the Ohio ballot. Ohio's attorney general says the activists need to change the way they have summarized their plan on the petitions. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio panel proposes banning private exotic animal ownership The private ownership of monkeys, bears, lions, and tigers would be pretty much against Ohio law starting in 2014 if state legislators go along with a special panel's recommendation. The law makes exception for zoos, circuses, and a few other facilities. The panel felt renewed pressure to act after dozens of exotic animals escaped last month from a Zanesville farm after the owner committed suicide. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohioans' understanding of their healthcare varies widely About one in four Ohioans know very little about what's covered under their health care plans. And that number rises to one in two for those living below the poverty line. That's according to the most recent Ohio Health Issues Poll. Jennifer Chubinski is the director of community research at the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. Her foundation's been conducting health issues polls since 2005, but this was the first year it asked people how much they knew about their insurance coverag ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website EPA and Countywide landfill agreement still working Meanwhile, the state and federal EPAs continue to closely monitor the landfill and a class-action lawsuit is scheduled to go to mediation early next year. Ohio EPA spokesman Mike Settles says an agreement reached in 2008 to contain the fire and protect the community is still working. WKSU's Laura Fong reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Blue alerts for crimes against cops Ohioans are used to seeing emergency notices to alert the public about abducted children. Soon, we may see similar alerts for at-large criminals who have just wounded or killed police. Some state lawmakers are pushing a plan to expand the alerts, and the bill is getting an endorsement from Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. DeWine talks about the idea with statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 11/21/11 The latest WKSU Morning Edition headlines from Amanda Rabinowitz: WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Occupy Cleveland and the homeless Tales of protestors clashing with homeless people are few. But so far, that's the only report of real conflict during the nearly two months that the Occupy Cleveland movement has been downtown.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on whether the groups can co-exist. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland's growing homeless population One of the country's leading advocates for homeless people has been on tour this month ahead of National Hunger and Homelessness Week.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia spoke with Neil Donovan about Cleveland's unique -- and growing -- homeless population. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - The Kinect connection Some educators believe analog education -  think chalk boards and lectures -  is failing to reach a generation of kids raised on high-tech video games and virtual worlds. In this week's Exploradio, we meet a team of researchers at the University of Akron who believe a 3-D gaming consul can help bridge education's digital divide. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Akron Council to vote on contract funding after-school programs Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic is asking City Council to approve a $185,000 contract with the Akron school board to support after-school activities Desiree Bolden is manager of extended learning for Akron Public Schools. She says the contract will likely pass thanks to the program's success. WKSU's Maranda Shrewsberry reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Congress may cut the program on which the Cuyahoga national park is built Congress is considering cutting nearly two-thirds of the money it gives out each year to buy land for parks, conservation and recreation. And it might eliminate the fund altogether. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports on what that might mean for Ohio. WKSU's M.L. Schultze and ANNA STAVER report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Critics says dissolve Department of Development for job creation The state's job creating agency has made some changes - most notably, launching of the JobsOhio program. But Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports that a conservative critic says the state should dismantle the Department of Development entirely if it really wants to promote job creation. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Economic recovery coming in two years, or maybe five A new study says Ohio is on the road to economic recovery--which should happen in the next two years. And another new study says it will take more than five years -- if we're lucky. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports on when -- and why -- an economic recovery might arrive. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and VALERIE BROWN report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Schools take technology out of the classroom Digital Learning Now, a national group advocating for technology in the classroom, ranks Ohio among the top third of state's leading the nation "in transforming education for the digital age." But not everyone thinks laptops belong in the classroom. StateImpact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports some Ohio schools are deliberately shunning technology. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Republican says taxes should be on debt committee table Congress' super committee is staying in Washington to try to figure out how to cut more than 1.2 trillion dollars from the federal deficit. Republican Rep. Steve LaTourette says everything should be on the table, including tax increases. LaTourette says he knows that position makes him unpopular with his party. WKSU's Anna Staver reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cuyahoga County Council Republicans differ on 2 year budget plan   Cuyahoga County Council's minority Republicans say their Democratic colleagues are asking for too much extra in the up-coming budget. After months of layoffs and spending cuts, County Executive Ed FitzGerald has recommended a budget for next year of $576-million. But some council Democrats want about ten-million dollars in additional spending.  As WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports,  it's money council Republicans say might not exist. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Experts debate the new "right to work" ballot proposal The Tea Party groups that put Issue 3 before voters have announced a new project - a constitutional amendment to make Ohio a "right to work" state. But opponents of this proposed referendum call it a "right to work for less" law. Two experts from both sides of the debate go over what this proposal might mean for Ohio. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New jobs for lawmakers For the second time in as many days, Gov. Kasich has appointed a lawmaker to another job. State Sen. Jason Wilson was appointed Friday to head the Governor's Office of Appalachia.  The Democrat from Columbiana County was appointed in 2006 to fill out his father's term in the Ohio Senate and was elected in 2008.  The news comes one day after State Rep. Todd McKenney was appointed to a vacant spot on the Summit County Probate Court.  McKenney is a lawyer and a pastor, but says he'll take a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dewine to crack down on child porn users Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine is beefing up efforts to track down and prosecute people who have child pornography and who molest kids. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio unemployment rate drops slightly Ohio's new official unemployment rate is out, but it doesn't represent much of a change. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen has the numbers and puts them into perspective. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Multimillion dollar grants aim to help young business builders The likes of Goodrich, Hoover, Seiberling and thousands of other businesses once made Ohio the economic dynamo of the nation.  As the region tries to recover from half a century of decline, two charities are putting $3.2 million into an effort to boost a new wave of entrepreneurship here.  WKSU's Tim Rudell has more on a new application of an old idea WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rep. McKenney appointed judge Gov. John Kasich has now appointed eight members of the state Legislature to other jobs. And in all, 10 Republicans who started the year as lawmakers are no longer there. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Portman says deadline extension for supercommittee is unlikely Ohio Senator Rob Portman and the other 11 members of the bipartisan supercommittee met again Thursday in an attempt to reach an agreement on a debt-reduction plan before its Nov. 23 deadline. In a conference call with reporters, Portman said that he remains hopeful that the supercommittee can "pull something together at the last minute," and he cited the latest increase in the debt level as an example of why the committee needs to act quickly. Grant Engle reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio reaches deal with its largest employee union Just a week after voters sided with unions and voted down a law overhauling collective bargaining in Ohio, the state and its largest employee union have reached a tentative deal. But as Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports, the governor isn't saying much about how and why that happened. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Heartbeat bill supporters ramp up campaigning Backers of a plan to make Ohio the most anti-abortion state in the nation are ramping up their campaign to convince the state Senate to okay the bill. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen has details. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Workers say Lordstown shutdown may be a needed breather Workers at the Lordstown GM plant will be laid off the week after Thanksgiving as GM shuts down production to cut down  the inventory of Chevy Cruzes. David Green is the president of UAW local 1714 in Lordstown and says the layoff could have been anticipated and may have an upside.   WKSU's Maranda Shrewsberry reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 11/17/11 The latest WKSU Morning Edition headlines from Amanda Rabinowitz WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Commemorating the vitality of Akron's north end It seems that every year or two, some part of our region's history gets torn down and paved over.  In the 1960's, new expressways and urban renewal projects cleared out the African American cores of Northeast Ohio cities. Two men in Akron lament the loss of a black business district there.   They can't bring it back, but WKSU's Mark Urycki reports they are constructing a monument so its history is not forgotten. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website First Energy Pennsylvania plant finds faulty conduit Inspectors have discovered a problem with the electrical system at a nuclear power plant in western Pennsylvania. The plant is owned by Akron-based First Energy. Conduit at the Beaver Valley plant that surrounds electrical wires is not flame retardant and could melt if exposed to heat for a long time. First Energy plans to replace the tubing in about 200 areas within the plant. FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young says her company's two nuclear reactors in Ohio are safe from those problem ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Homelessness could get worse Advocates for Ohio's homeless have some bleak predictions about the problem here. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen files this report. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Gas vs. healthcare Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown says the cost of living for older Americans is a lot different than the cost of living for working Americans.  And he says Social Security should reflect that.  The Democrat has introduced the Consumer Price Index for Elderly Consumers Act. It would change the way cost-of-living increases are calculated for Social Security.  Right now, he says adjustments are disproportionately based on expenses such as gasoline over issues like healthcare. WKSU's M.L. Schultze re ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio agrees to three-year contract with civil service employees Just days after Ohioans repealed a new law that cut the negotiating clout of public employee labor unions, one of those unions has reached a tentative agreement with the state on a new three year contract. Details now from statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Pipeline explosion destroys three houses in Morgan County A rupture of the Tennessee Gas pipeline near the Athens-Morgan County line destroyed three houses and a barn around 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. Cathy Sayers, whose property line runs parallel with a section of the pipeline, recounts the moments after the explosion. Grant Engle reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Republic Steel invests $85 million in Lorain plant Republic Steel announced today (Wednesday) that it's spending more than 85 million dollars to build an electric arc furnace at its Lorain plant. The Canton-based company says it will add more than 400 jobs. The plant now employs nearly 500. Glen Nekvasil  is the president of the Lake Carrier's Association in Cleveland. He says his ships won't be carrying material for the new furnace because it will use scrap metal. His Great Lakes Carriers only bring in raw materials. But Nekvasil says the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio pipeline explodes for the second time this year For the second time in nine months, a major natural gas pipeline has exploded in Ohio. This morning's rupture and fire in southeastern Ohio injured at least one person and damaged at least two buildings. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports that the company that runs the pipeline had agreed after a similar explosion last winter to make upgrades to its line.   WKSU's M.L. Schultze and LAURA FONG report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohioans ordered to return welfare over-payments Eight thousand Ohio food stamp recipients and 14,000 public assistance recipients were sent "too much" in benefits more than a decade ago, and now welfare officials are demanding the money back. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Terry Pluto: NBA's 'nuclear winter' an ugly display by players It's increasingly likely that the Cavs won't get to see their team play this season after a much-hyped off-season  that landed Cleveland the top draft pick. The NBA players union rejected a contract offer this week, and plans to dissolve and sue the league for antitrust violations. WKSU commentator Terry Pluto talks to Amanda Rabinowitz about his reaction to the possibility of what NBA commissioner David Stern describes as an impending "nuclear winter." WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Federal forest managers say more study on fracking is needed Even as Ohio prepares to open state parks to deep-well oil and gas drilling and the aggressive recovery technique called "fracking," the state's lone national forest is pulling back.  WSU's Tim Rudell reports. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Healthcare in Ohio left in limbo The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up the federal health care law, and Ohio's constitution has a new amendment related to that law. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports some are wondering what happens next with the state and health care. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Vice president celebrates Issue 2 defeat as a middle-class victory Vice President Joe Biden came to Northeast Ohio today  to thank voters for defeating Issue 2 a week ago. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports that the vice president called it a victory for the public unions whose bargaining power was threatened, and for all of middle class America. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website East Cleveland man executed for 1982 killings An East Cleveland man convicted of fatally shooting his three sons nearly 30 years ago while they slept was executed Tuesday. Reginald Brooks, 66, died just after 2 p.m., while raising the middle finger of his left hand. This morning outside the Lucasville prison, death penalty opponents held a vigil. Among them was Sister Helen Prejean, the activist who wrote the book "Dead Man Walking." Prejean came to the Statehouse later to support Democratic lawmakers who are pushing for a moratorium o ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio ACLU will represent bullied gay teen The Ohio Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is now representing an openly gay, 15-year-old high school student who was beaten by another student at his Chillicothe-area school last month. The ACLU's James Hardiman says he wants Unioto High School to make changes to prevent this type of thing from happening again. But he says the school does not need to develop an anti-bullying policy. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Supreme Court to hear arguments on federal health care law As most experts predicted, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments on the federal health care law this year. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler runs down the reaction in Ohio. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Park is paying more than $9 million for much of Blossom The National Park Service is paying nearly $9.25 million for about 600 acres of the Blossom Music Center. The undeveloped lands will become part of the surrounding Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The money is coming from energy royalties paid into the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.  And the deal between the park service and the Cleveland Orchestra was set up by the private Trust for Public Land.  Bill Carroll is Ohio director of the trust. He says the impetus for the purchase ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Opponents of Ohio voting limits need more signatures Democrats need to collect nearly 10,000 more valid signatures if they want to challenge limits on early voting imposed by Republicans this year. Secretary of State Jon Husted announced today (Monday) that opponents of House Bill 194 collected about 221, 500 valid signatures to force a referendum next November. But they need more than 231,000 signatures. And they now have ten more days to get them. Matt McClelland is spokesman for the Secretary of State's office.  WKSU's M.L. Schultze and J ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Revived talk of Cleveland's revived waterfront The new vision for Cleveland's downtown lakefront will start with more pedestrian and boat access. And over the the next quarter century, backers expect it to blossom into a major Northeast Ohio attraction.  After years of debate and several different proposals, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson says the city now has a comprehensive plan.  WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports that today he unveiled details of the three-pronged approach.   WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Goodyear blimp gondola heading to the Smithsonian Goodyear is donating one of its longest-serving blimp gondolas to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. The car that extends below the blimp was first put into service in 1934. It flew for eight years as part of the company's commercial fleet then was sold to the Navy in 1942. Tom Crouch is senior curator of aeronautics for the Smithsonian. He says the airships were uniquely qualified to protect Navy convoys from submarines. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Occupy Cleveland spreading west Occupy Cleveland wants to do community outreach... all the way to West 94th Street.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports that protestors are branching out from Public Square, just as their permit for a shelter downtown expires. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rare submarine engines back in Cleveland   Two rare engines needed to complete the restoration of a Cleveland landmark are back in town where they were produced nearly 70 years ago.  The team restoring the engines of the WW II submarine the U.S.S. Cod needs these scarce parts.  They were recently hauled to Cleveland's Arcelor-Mittal steel plant there they'll be easily available to the Cod's restoration team. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website EPA setting air standards at fracking sites The Ohio EPA is trying to clear the air with a newly drafted special permit for fracking sites.  And WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports that the public has one last chance to weigh in. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Boccieri considers taking the 6th Former Congressman John Boccieri says Democrats in Washington have asked whether he'll run again -- in another district.  The Democrat lost his bid for re-election in the 18th district to Jim Renacci last year.Now, he's mulling a run for the 6th district, which runs from south of Youngstown, all the way down the eastern edge of the state, to Lawrence County. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Right-to-work issue meeting indifference The Ohio Tea Party's latest project--a right-to-work ballot issue - is being met with either indifference or outright opposition by key mainstream politicos. But statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports tea party leaders insist they are moving ahead with a petition drive that could put the proposal before voters as early as next year. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bill to change insurance for cancer meds A bill before Ohio lawmakers would require private insurance companies to cover all types of chemotherapy treatments the same way.John Hoctor of the American Cancer Society says, right now, traditional intravenous treatments and newer, oral medications are covered differently by health insurance. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New bill requires equal treatment for chemotherapy meds A bill before Ohio lawmakers would require private insurance companies to cover all types of chemotherapy treatments the same way. John Hoctor of the American Cancer Society says, right now, traditional intravenous treatments and newer, oral medications are covered differently by health insurance. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tea Party focused on "Right to Work" petition drive The Ohio Tea Party's latest project--a right-to-work ballot issue - is being met with either indifference or outright opposition by key mainstream politicos. But statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports tea party leaders insist they are moving ahead with a petition drive that could put the proposal before voters as early as next year. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich: No pardon for Brooks Governor John Kasich has denied clemency for a death row inmate scheduled for execution next week. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Valor Home closer to opening its doors to vets Summit County's first home for homeless veterans is getting closer to opening.  The 30-bed shelter in Akron will operate much like Freedom House - a shelter that provides transitional housing for vets in Kent. Freedom House raises money from the community as well as federal and county agencies. Matt Slater is the director of veterans' services at Family and Community Services.   Slater oversees Freedom House, Valor Home in Akron, and a similar project in Lorain.  Construction on Akron's ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Justice Stratton: Ohio vets courts recognize what society has demanded Twelve veterans whose service spanned from Vietnam to Iraq received their graduation certificates from Mansfield Municipal Judge Jerry Ault  last month. They were graduating from one of Ohio's first veterans courts.  WKSU's M. L. Schultze has more on the efforts to recognize that - as with many aspects of life - vets have needs that don't always fit with the traditional justice system.   WKSU's M.L. Schultze and LAURA FONG report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How to deal with cemetery complaints Veteran's Day draws families to cemeteries each year. And some see problems, including maintenance of gravesites. The Ohio Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission handles some of the most serious of those complaints. The commission is part of the Ohio Department of Commerce. And Director David Goodman says it includes cemetery operators and members of the public. He says it averages about 40 complaints a year.  WKSU's Maranda Shrewsberry reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The first complete biography of one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century Along with strains of Beethoven and Schoenberg, tales of a tempestuous maestro will echo through Severance Hall this weekend as George Szell's former "sorceror's apprentice," Michael Charry,  returns to Cleveland to talk about his new book: "George Szell: A Life of Music. " WKSU's Vivian Goodman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Sen. Brown lauds vets employment bill; calls for troops to come home The U.S. Senate approved a veterans employment bill Thursday that includes tax credits of nearly 10 thousand dollars for a company to hire a disabled veteran. The Senate approved 95 to 0 in a rare bipartisan vote. The bill was actually carved out of President Obama's bigger jobs package, and would also provide new money to retrain older unemployed veterans. Ohio Senate Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown was one of the sponsors of the bill, and spoke with WKSU's M.L. Schultze about it and the continued ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio conservatives propose another anti-union ballot issue Ohio labor unions may have won a big victory Tuesday, when voters repealed a law that would have cut the negotiating clout of public employee unions. But that's not stopping Ohio tea party activists from proposing a new ballot idea that unions hate. The conservative activists are energized because of what happened on another state ballot issue on Tuesday. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio second in mercury pollution Ohio ranks second in the country for air-borne mercury pollution and coal power plants are the biggest contributor. A study released by the Columbus-based Environment Ohio says the state's power plants released more than four thousand pounds of mercury into the atmosphere last year. That number is based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data. The EPA is finalizing new federal standards for toxic pollutants, including mercury. FirstEnergy spokesman Mark Durbin says when the new regulat ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Portman confirms GOP supercommittee members are talking tax hikes One member of the congressional supercommittee, Rob Portman, says he's been deliberately tight-lipped about its work. But the Ohio senator confirmed in a conference call with reporters today (Thursday) that he and his fellow Republicans have put forward a proposal that includes a first -- some tax increases.  WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Democrats propose bill to prevent second SB5 attempt Now that voters have rejected the state's collective bargaining limits, attention turns to what comes next. Republican leaders of the Ohio Legislature have hinted they might come back soon and try to pass parts of Senate Bill 5. But Democrats in the Ohio Senate are sponsoring a bill that would prevent that from happening. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Noon headlines, Nov. 10, 2011 Veterans bill has bipartisan support Trying to make Ohio a "right-to-work" state Quinnipiac poll sees a tight Obama-Romney race in Ohio Harvey Pekar's window is raising money for a moonument  WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Historic Zoar Village may have to move After nearly 200 years in Northeast Ohio's Tuscarawas County, historic Zoar Village may have to pick up and leave. A 75-year-old levee surrounding the village is seeping. And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says moving the dozens of the two-century old buildings of Zoar to higher ground may be a much less expensive option than repairing the levee. That's prompting remaining Zoarites to fight to preserve their  heritage - and geography. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Eklund sworn in Ohio's newest state senator, John Eklund, was sworn in Wednesday. Senate Republicans picked the Chardon attorney to succeed Tim Grendell, who Gov. Kasich appointed to a juvenile court judgeship.Grendell was one of the few Republicans who opposed Senate Bill 5 - the limits on public employee unions that voters trounced in Tuesday's election. Eklund says local governments will need help to meet financial obligations without overtaxing residents.  But he isn't sure if resurrecting parts of S ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio lawmakers rated Lawmakers in Ohio are among those in five key presidential swing states getting evaluated by a conservative group best known for rating members of Congress. The American Conservative Union is ranking state representatives and senators in Ohio, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia based on what it says are the conservative principles of limited government, free markets, individual liberty and traditional values. Gregg Keller with the ACU says they're also pointing out those who score ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dissecting the passage of Issue 2 and 3 Ohioans sided with Democrats at the ballot box last night when it came to repealing a contentious collective bargaining law. But Ohioans also sided with Republicans and tea party activists on a constitutional amendment over health care. What does this all mean? Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles takes a closer look. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Will legs pass "half-a-loaf" CB law? Now that Ohio voters have wiped out the new state law slashing the bargaining clout of public employees unions, a big question looms - will Republicans who dominate the legislature try to re-enact some of the law's more popular parts? Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Terry Pluto: Penn State scandal "unconscionable" The sex-abuse scandal engulfing Penn State University likely will reach far. Days after former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was indicted - accused of abusing eight young boys over 15 years, 84-year old head coach Joe Paterno says he will retire at the end of this season. WKSU commentator also does jail ministry. He talks to Amanda Rabinowitz about his initial reaction, what's next and the impact of a scandal of this magitude. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Doing the math: What Issue 2 portends for 2012 Teachers, fire fighters, police officers, and other public employees spent much of last night celebrating. As StateImpact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky  reports, their victory could extend well beyond last night.  WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Nordonia levy passes Nordonia Hills passed a levy last night -- it's fifth attempt in two years.  Had it failed, it faced a state takeover.But the 6-mill levy passed 56-44 percent.  Ken Martin was among the 56 percent. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Canton mayor wins second term Voters are giving Canton Mayor William Healy a second four-year term. The Democrat got more votes than the combined totals of his three opponents, a Republican and two independents. Healy says he has some ideas on how he will spend those next four years in office. WKSU's Anna Staver reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Canton bumps up its sales tax Stark County will no longer have the lowest sales tax in the state. Instead, it will have one of the five lowest sales taxes in the state. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on the impact of Tuesday's election on the county coffers. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Hubris, chutzpah may have done in Issue 2 Republicans, Democrats and pundits are parsing the defeat of state Issue 2 for hints of what's to come in 2012. WKSU's M.L. Schultze sat down with the Bliss Institute's David Cohen to talk about lessons learned and expected to be applied in the next presidential election year. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Voters repeal collective bargaining law Ohio's new law that slashed the bargaining power of public employee labor unions has just been wiped out. That's because voters said no to it in a referendum. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sutton on Issue 2 Political pundits are already looking at Issue 2's defeat as a hint of what may be at play in next November's election.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia spoke with Congresswoman Betty Sutton about what she thinks voters are saying in their defeat of the severe limits Issue 2 would have put on public employee unions. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio voters approve Issue 3 While Ohioans overwhelmingly rejected Issue 2, the limits on collective bargaining, they overwhelmingly endorsed Issue 3. Voters approved the health care constitutional amendment by a margin of nearly 2 to 1. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Voters approve Canton City School levy Voters have approved a new levy for Canton City Schools that heads off a nearly $16 million deficit.   The district already cut more than $18 million last year and 100 staff. Much of the new deficit is tied to big cuts in the state's two-year budget, which passed in June. Nieshia West voted yes for the additional 7.9 mill levy because her children attend Canton City Schools. She hopes it will improve their experience there. WKSU's Maranda Shrewsberry reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio voters reject Issue 1 Ohio voters rejected the first issue on the statewide ballot yesterday. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler has details. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Maximum judge age will remain the same About the only issue to lose bigger than State Issue 2 on Tuesday was State Issue 1. Voters decided by a margin of 62 to 38 percent that people older than 70 should not be running for judge. Issue 1 would have raised the age limit from 70 to 75.  Proponents argued that older judges offer more experience and that the age limit should reflect increasing life expectances. But they weren't swaying voters like Peter Pergins of Stark County. Alison Ritchie reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Teachers celebrate Issue 2's demise Tonight was the celebration. Tomorrow, it's more work. That was the message of at the We Are Ohio watch party in Cleveland, where the pro-union group celebrated a major victory over State Issue 2 - the limits on collective bargaining in Ohio. StateImpact Ohio reporter Ida Lieszkovszky spoke with editor M.L. Schultze about the mood and the next step. WKSU's M.L. Schultze and Ida Lieszkovszky report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Issue 2 opponents argue public workers were portrayed falsely Proponents of Issue 2 said it would ensure Ohio's public employees would pay their fair share and put them on par with workers in the private sector. But many of the voters WKSU talked to Tuesday said they thought the campaign painted public workers falsely. Among them was Peter Pergins of Stark County. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Issue 3 passes Issue 3 was a lot less well-known thaN Issue 2.  And it fared a lot better with Ohio voters Tuesday. The third of the statewide issues on Tuesday's ballot amends Ohio's constitution to declare major parts of the federal healthcare overhaul unenforceable in Ohio. That includes a mandate that everyone has healthcare insurance.   It's that mandate that caused Mike and Betty Theodorakis of Stark County to vote for Issue 3. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Issue 2 is defeated Ohio voters did what pollsters predicted they'd do Tuesday, roundly defeating the state's severe limits on collective bargaining for its 360,000 police, firefighters, teachers and other public employees. WKSU went to polling places around Northeast Ohio to talk to those voters about Issue 2. Many described it as a huge overreach by Republican lawmakers and Gov. John Kasich. Among them was Rob Speaker, a Stark County voter. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Plusquellic wins Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic has been elected to a seventh term.With 71% of the vote in, the city's longest-serving mayor leads Republican Jennifer Hensal, by a margin of 2-to-1.The win comes two years after Plusquellic survived a recall vote by a 3-1 margin.  Plusquellic was elected mayor in 1987.  Hensal is a Medina attorney who was a first-time candidate for any office.Lyn Williams voted for Plusquellic. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stark County sees steady voter turnout Like much of Ohio, Stark County saw strong, steady but not spectacular voter turnout Tuesday. Jeff Matthews is deputy director of the Stark County Board of Elections. He says the turnout was close to predictions. Alison Ritchie and Anna Staver report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Many Northeast Ohioans remain divided over unions Unions were the force behind the voter referendum to repeal Ohio's new law limiting collective bargaining for public employees. They put up some $20 million to fight Issue 2, and mounted a massive get-out-the-vote campaign. And they were the target of pro-Issue 2 people, including Gov. John Kasich. He accused them of protecting public workers from the sacrifice that private-sector workers have had to make. Still, nearly 14 percent of Ohio's workers belong to unions. And a good share of vote ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Many voters expect collective bargaining fight to continue Northeast Ohio voters appear convinced the question of limits on collective bargaining for public employees is not done.  And several urged a more cautious approach than GOP legislators took this spring, when they pushed Senate Bill 5 through the House and Senate with no Democratic votes. David Kline is the Democratic mayor of Tallmadge. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Some voters view Issue 2 as Kasich's law Gov. John Kasich remained campaigner-in-chief for Issue 2 even while polls showed the new limits on collective bargaining for public employees was likely to lose big in Tuesday's election.So it's not surprising that some of the voters WKSU talked to at polling places throughout Northeast Ohio saw Issue 2 as Kasich's law - and the results as a referendum on the job he's doing. Here are some of those voters. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Husted: Voter turnout won't break records The 2011 campaign is wrapping up in just a few hours, and there have been few reports of voters who are experiencing problems today. While elections officials in several counties did report heavy turnout for early voting, Secretary of State Jon Husted says he isn't expecting to break records. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Some reports problems on election day As usual, election day has not gone off completely without a hitch. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports on some of glitches and problems some have seen today. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland poll worker allegedly bites voter Voting has gone smoothly at most of Cuyahoga County's polling places Tuesday. Board of Elections Director Jane Platten said by this afternoon, turnout was around 13 percent. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland moving forward with fire ems integration By the end of next year, Cleveland's fire and emergency medical service departments will be combined into one unit.  Today the city announced the new leaders who will guide the integration, which, as WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports, is supposed to make the city safer and more efficient. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 11/08/11 Tuesday's headlines include: The nationally watched fight over Issue 2 tops Ohio ballot; The U.S. Justice Department will watch voting in Lorain County; Akron Children's Hospital warns parents and pediatricians about using Tylenol if children have or are at risk of getting asthma.  WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cuyahoga County's new initiative to include young adults in policy-making Cuyahoga County is creating a Next Generation Council to try to figure out what young adults want from local government. County Executive Ed FitzGerald announced the formation of the council Monday. Justin Bibb is a special assistant to FitzGerald who is spearheading the council. He says young professional organizations that have wanted a place in local government, such as Engage Cleveland and the 20/30 Club, partnered with the executive's office on the project. But Bibb says the county wan ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A quick read on today's election It's an odd-numbered year, so Ohioans today (Tuesday) are not voting for president, governor, congress, or legislative seats. But, as statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports, there are plenty of other things to vote on. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Last day of Issue 2 campaign Public opinion polls show that opponents of state Issue 2, Ohio's new limits on public employee unions, are poised to win big when the results become clear tomorrow (Tuesday) night. Still, both sides continue to campaign up until the last minute. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports.  WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website This election, It's not easy being 5 Most teachers, police officers and firefighters have been working all year to defeat Senate Bill 5. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports this fall's ballot has brought them a challenge - getting people to vote FOR Issue 5 in their local communities. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website No connection, says state geologist Ohio Department of Natural Resources investigators don't think a fracwater disposal well in Youngstown caused the spate of small earthquakes recorded near it this spring and summer. WKSU's Tim Rudell has more on the preliminary findings. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio group may try to take map drawing away from politicians A group called the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting is trying to figure out how to take politicians out of the process of drawing of the state's new congressional districts. Jim Slagle says his group will try to get Ohio voters to amend the state Constitution to turn over the map-making to a nonpartisan group of 12. Their mission would be to come up with districts that are compact and contiguous and - where possible-- to keep cities and counties together.   WKSU's Jo Ingles repo ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Noon headlines, Nov. 7, 2011 Link to asthma causes Akron Children's to suspend use of acetaminophen Issue 2 expected to draw big in Tuesday's election Cleveland council may crack down on out-of-town property brokers TravelCenters of America earnings more than quadruple  WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 11/07/11 Monday's headlines include: Northeast Ohio elections officials expect light turnout Tuesday; Final-get-out-the-vote effort for Issue 2 has a far more personal touch; Issue 3 spurs some last-minute controversy. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Poisoned Places Part I: NPR special report Ohio is one of six states in which half of the biggest air polluters in the country are found. And an Avon Lake power plant is near the top of the national list. This continues 21 years after Congress strengthened the Clean Air Act.  Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Issue 2 foes going door-to-door; proponents hit the airwaves Ohioans have been inundated with a mass of messages about Issue 2.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on the final push to get out the votes Tuesday that will either overturn or cement Ohio's new collective bargaining law. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How to get rid of the dirt dredged from Cuyahoga River Ohio Democrats and Republicans agree that a federal program crucial to the dredging of Cleveland's port does not have enough money. But they disagree on why and what should be done about it. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more.  WKSU's M.L. Schultze and ANNA STAVER report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Is Kasich a good front man for "vote yes" on Issue 2 campaign? With Election Day just days away, Governor John Kasich continues to be high-profile in the drive to convince Ohioans to endorse the new law that cuts the clout of public employee labor unions. Since the governor has low popularity ratings, the question arises - does his campaigning help or hurt the vote yes drive? Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fact checking ads for SB5 Somewhere around 30 million dollars is going into the battle over state Issue 2 - much of it for TV ads and fliers. Opponents hope on Tuesday to overturn SB 5, the law Republicans passed this spring to limit public employee collective bargaining. As StateImpact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports, voters looking to the ads to help with their decision are finding plenty of emotion, but little concrete information... in part because it's hard to predict what the law would do. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovs ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland restoring cemeteries Cleveland plans to spend more than $2 million to restore three of the city's oldest cemeteries this coming spring. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on the work and how it will be paid for. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and MARANDA SHREWSBERRY report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Final push for Issue 2 More than 2 million dollars has been poured into ads for and against Issue 2 in the last days leading up to tomorrow's election. But, as WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports, the final get-out-the-vote effort has a far more personal touch. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - The papyrus window The discovery of a huge stash of papyrus scrolls in the Egyptian desert 100 years ago is gradually adding to our understanding of life in ancient times.  But it's taken scholars decades to translate the thousands of fragile papyrus texts. For the first time, a small number of undergraduate students have been enlisted to study the rare finds. In this week's Exploradio we decipher the papyrus of Oxyrynchus. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Scammed families asking court for help The Ohio Supreme Court is considering a case that could determine how far the state can go to help people bilked in fraudulent investing schemes - and how much protection people who are innocent can expect. But Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports, a critic says the high court isn't the right place for this issue. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website In-person early voting ends tonight Voters have until 6 p.m. tonight if they want to vote early and in person. It's a departure from the last five years when people looking to avoid long lines on Election Day could vote on the weekend and Monday before the election.  Jeanette Mullane is the director for Stark County's Board of Elections. She says her county has been reaching out for weeks to let voters know about the change. And she says there will be people in the office all weekend. WKSU's Anna Staver reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio redistricting map remains in limbo Republicans and Democrats in the Ohio house cannot agree on a new congressional map...and the problem became apparent Thursday afternoon in a quickly called session that leaves many observers wondering: What's next? Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Chesapeake Energy leasing Utica Shale Chesapeake Energy and its partners plan to lease some of their rights to Ohio's Utica Shale for $3.4 billion. In a conference call today, the company wouldn't say who is leasing the access to natural gas and oil trapped in the shale, other than to identify the group as "a major international energy company." Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon says his company is pleased with the amount of gas that reports indicate is under the land in eastern Ohio, but he isn't giving details. WKSU's Kabir Bh ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Schools asking taxpayers for levies Voters will be deciding on more than a thousand tax issues throughout Ohio on Election Day, including nearly 200 school issues. As StateImpact: Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports, for some districts this election is the last chance before a much dreaded state-takeover. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News for 11/04/11 WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Opera per Tutti presents "La Boheme" at Cleveland's Saint Ignatius High School. A task force recommends that for Northeast Ohio in today's economy, opera should be less...grand, and more collaborative.  A co-production this weekend of La Boheme on a high school campus takes those cues. WKSU's Vivian Goodman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich says its an uphill battle   Governor John Kasich calls ISSUE2 a job creation measure.  He says its limits on public employee unions will make government less costly and that will attract businesses to Ohio.  But, at a rally of supporters in Independence Thursday, the governor heard protesters call it something else.  WKSU’s Tim Rudell reports. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio lawmakers waiting to vote on new congressional map A newly proposed redistricting map has been introduced by leaders in the Ohio House but lawmakers haven't taken a vote on it, despite the fact a special session was called to deal with it. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Census: More young adults living with parents The number of young adults living at home with their parents is rising. That's according to a Census report released Thursday. The study shows that over the last six years, the number of men ages 25-34 who live at home increased from 14 percent to 19 percent. For women, the increase was slightly lower - 8 percent to 10 percent. Kelly Cichy is a professor of Human Development and Family Studies for Kent State University. She said the economic recession contributed to the increase, but it's n ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Former Ohio A. G. Dann asks state ethics panel not to take his law license Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann will probably not lose his law license.  Dann told the Ohio Supreme Court's disciplinary panel in Cleveland today  that he's responsible for his criminal and other mistakes because he didn't exercise enough oversight during his brief time in office. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier has more from the hearing. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Citizens United funds new Issue 2 ad With election day just a few days away, more outside money is flowing into Ohio to try to influence the vote on state issue 2, the new law that cuts the power of public employee labor unions. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Sen. Portman says supercommittee problems would speak volumes The supercommittee of 12 members of Congress is supposed to come up with a way to cut the U.S. budget deficit in about two weeks. But publicly, at least, the committee is having trouble. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman is one of six Republicans on the committee. In a conference call with reporters this morning, he said missing the Thanksgiving deadline would be a bad sign. WKSU's M.L. Schultze and KABIR BHATIA report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio lawmakers may pass a new congressional map today The Ohio House has scheduled a session for later today. Lawmakers will try to pass a new congressional map even though they haven't yet reached agreement on one.  WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Early voting limited Early, in-person voting ends at 6 p.m. Friday, except for people in the military.  That's a big change from how it's been since 2006.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on the intertwined pair of bills that's causing confusion. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The littler referendum South Euclid's Issue 96 is no Ohio Issue 2. The Issue 2 fight over public employee collective bargaining is fueled by tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of signatures. But little issue 96 also is a referendum, in which citizens are challenging a decision made by their elected governments. And is has some passion of its own. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more the fight over rezoning a Northeast Ohio country club. WKSU's M.L. Schultze and VALERIE BROWN and KABIR BHATIA report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Air Force consolidates in response to budget cuts The U.S. Air Force announced Wednesday that it is consolidating management function from 12 different centers. There will be five in total and two of those will be at Wright Patterson Force Base in Dayton. This comes as the Air Force faces budget cuts and is trying to improve efficiency. Emily McCord reports from Ohio Public Radio Station WYSO. Emily McCord reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website AG says more than 9 tons of prescription drugs collected during Drug Take Back Day A lot of Ohioans were willing to get rid of a lot of prescription drugs this past weekend. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Both sides of Issue 3 get endorsements Issue 3 on the statewide ballot seeks to exempt Ohioans from that new federal mandate that everyone must have health insurance. The ballot language describes the goal of the proposed constitutional amendment "to preserve the freedom of Ohioans to choose their health care and health care coverage." Debate over the measure has been overshadowed by a much louder and more expensive debate over Ohio's new collective bargaining law. Still, with just a few days left until Election Day, each of the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Four arrested in Akron food stamp fraud case Four Northeast Ohio store owners and managers are accused of bilking the state of $2.2 million in food stamps. Julie Hinds is a spokeswoman with the Ohio Department of Public Safety. She says the two men and two women worked at an Akron Dairy Mart. Over the last three years, they are accused of defrauding the food stamp program and one for women with young children. She says Ohio's restricts what beneficiaries of food stamps can buy with the special debit cards.  WKSU's Anna Staver reports ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website North vs. South in battle over energy assistance The fight over federal home energy assistance money is shaping up as North vs. South more than Republican vs. Democrat. But Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown maintained in a conference call today (Wednesday) that the House is being swayed by Republican roots in the deep South.  (for Ohio Public Radio,) WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more ...   WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Is cash and a gift card enough to void an adoption? The Ohio Supreme Court is considering a Summit County case that could have a big impact on the role child support plays in adoption. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports on arguments from a father who has not  paid child support in more than a year, but opposes his daughter's adoption by her stepfather. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Big heart vs. big paycheck Cleveland fans will know this week whether one of the most popular players of the last decade will stay or go. After declining outfielder Grady Sizemore's $9 million option for 2012, the Indians have until midnight Thursday to negotiate with the former All-Star for a cheaper price. Plagued with injuries, Sizemore has sat out more games than he's played the last two seasons. WKSU commentator Terry Pluto talks with Amanda Rabinowitz about the likelihood that fans will see Sizemore in a Tribe ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tracing the money behind Issue 2 In just a week, voters will decide if Ohio's new limits on collective bargaining for public employees will stand or be shelved. The fight over Issue 2 is already at the center of  one of the highest spending political campaigns in Ohio history.  Not all of that money is easy to trace, though StateImpact Ohio's Molly Bloom has been trying. She  spoke with StateImpact editor M.L. Schultze about what she found. WKSU's Molly Bloom and M.L. SCHULTZE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Solutions to the obesity pandemic It's easy to be frightened by an epidemic of flesh-eating bacteria or a killer virus as seen in the movies "Contagion" and "Outbreak."   But the head of Yale University's Prevention Research Center says another pandemic has already taken hold.WKSU's Mark Urycki talked with  David Katz about what he calls the most out-of-control health threat in the U.S.  -- a killer that's a product of modern living. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Democrats move closer toward congressional map referendum The fight over Ohio's new congressional map is escalating. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports that Democrats are once again trying to go straight to the voters. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Pension seizure law could impact many Cuyahoga County corruption figures Dozens of defendants in the Cuyahoga County corruption probe could lose more than they bargained for if they're convicted.  Prosecutors have used a little known Ohio law to seize the public pension of former county Judge Steven Terry who was convicted of fixing a court case.  WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports on the possible impact of this new legal tool. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland school official resigns amid inappropriate conduct allegations A Cleveland school official accused of "inappropriate conduct" last week resigned this afternoon.  District Strategy and Implementation Chief Renee Cavor stepped down following amid the accusations sent to the district in an anonymous letter. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stark County's Democratic party picks a Republican Thanks to Democrats, a Republican will be Stark County treasurer for at least the next two years.   WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports on an unusual move in Ohio politics.   WKSU's M.L. Schultze and VALERIE BROWN report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio's African-American lawmakers push new jobs plan African-American state lawmakers have unveiled a $300 to $400 million plan they say could attack Ohio's unemployment problem and revitalize communities. The plan includes micro-Bloans for small businesses, plus tax breaks for companies that hire people who have been out of work for a long time and jobless veterans. The Urban League is endorsing the plan. Democratic State Senator Nina Turner from Cleveland says Ohio needs such action. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A closer look at Issue 2 - Part II Senate Bill 5--the law that slashes the negotiating power of public unions--has sparked one of the most bitter debates in Ohio history. Voters can now endorse or kill it when they vote on State Issue 2. The final part in the series wraps up the pro and con arguments on some of the law's many provisions. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website School leaders call voter approval critical There are nearly ninety school issues on the November ballot in northeast Ohio.  Including levies in two of the region's largest urban districts.  The city schools in Akron and Canton have a lot in common, including awards for their administrative cost efficiency, and looming budget deficits.  WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 11/01/11 Tuesday's headlines include: Former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora will stand trial in Akron Federal Court in January, Governor Kasich orders a temporary crackdown on dangerous wild animals, A Republican negotiator says a deal is getting close on an alternative map of new congressional districts for the state. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tribe negotiating with Sizemore until Thursday Cleveland Indian Grady Sizemore is free to negotiate with other teams --   after this Thursday.  Until then, the Tribe can exclusively negotiate with the three-time All-Star.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on the negotiations to determine if Sizemore will continue with the team at a cheaper price. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lawsuit seeks Army benefits Four men and four women in same-sex marriages are suing to get spousal benefits through their employer -- the U.S. Army.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia spoke with one of those spouses, who lives in Columbus while his husband is in Iraq. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio mortgage title company nailed for racketeering A Cuyahoga County jury convicted a Northeast Ohio title company and its owner todady (Monday) of racketeering, money laundering and 21 other charges. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more on the charges involving nearly two dozen homes and more than a million dollars. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Parole board opposes clemency for East Cleveland man who murdered his children The Ohio Parole Board is opposing clemency for an East Cleveland man convicted of shooting his three sons to death in 1982. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports on the questions of mental illness in the case of Reginald Brooks.  WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Redfern investigates why GOP head was hired as consultant in redistricting The head of Ohio's Democratic Party is asking the state's auditor for more information about the role that the former head of Ohio's Republican Party played in devising the state's new congressional map.  Democrat Chris Redfern wants to know why Auditor Dave Yost hired Bob Bennett as a consultant. WKSU's Jo Ingles and M.L. Schultze report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website High level Cleveland school official on paid leave during investigation One of the 6th highest level administrators in the Cleveland Municipal School District is among two officials on paid administrative leave pending the results of an investigation.  WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports that district officials are not releasing details on why Strategy and Implementation Chief, Renee Cavor has been put on leave, other than to say it does not involve students or parents.....   WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A closer look at Issue 2 Some call it a common-sense law to control government costs and help over-burdened taxpayers. Others call it an attack on public employees, unions and the whole middle class. Next Tuesday, Ohio voters will either endorse or overturn the collective bargaining law that Republicans pushed through the state Legislature last spring. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen begins a two-part series today on the bitter debate over state Issue 2. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lawsuit seeks same-sex spousal benefits A Columbus native and captain in the United States Army Reserve is suing the federal government for spousal benefits.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on the lawsuit. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/31/11 Monday's headlines include: Police departments in Cuyahoga County will adopt a common policy for responding to sex crimes; Supporters of a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant in southern Ohio are concerned that time is running out; A dispute over the sale of four Girl Scout camps in Northeast Ohio may be resolved.  WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Northeast Ohio on track for soggiest year A soggy spring and summer have put Northeast Ohio on track for one of the wettest years in its history.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Girls Scouts vote on camp sales A dispute over the sale of four Girl Scout camps in Northeast Ohio may have been resolved over the weekend. But WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports that it's unclear if the decision will be enforced. Alison Ritchie reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Halloween shoppers look at the details The perfect Halloween costume could come down to the details.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports on last-minute shoppers looking for seasonal accessories... WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - The art of the skull menders This spring, congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords underwent surgery in which doctors patched her bullet-damaged skull with a custom-made piece of plastic.  In this week's Exploradio we visit a Cleveland start-up that creates skull implants like the one doctors used for Giffords.  It's equal parts high-tech science and hands-on artistry. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website LaRose: Issue 2 is good for veterans An Ohio lawmaker is criticizing opponents of Issue 2 for saying the state's new collective bargaining law is bad for veterans. Under current law, veterans who apply to work as public school teachers can apply up to five years of military service towards tenure. If the Issue 2 is approved by voters, tenure will be eliminated and a teacher's salary will be based on performance. Republican State Senator Frank LaRose says veterans will do well under the new law. WKSU's Valerie Brown reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Rothenberg: "It's not over until the final bell on election day" Recent surveys show Ohioans are poised to repeal the collective bargaining law on November 8th. Some survey show Issue two could fail by 20 percent or more. But even some progressives think those polls could be off. A leaked memo from Brian Rothenberg of liberal policy group "Progress Ohio" was the subject of a Washington Post article. That article is now making its rounds on conservative blogs. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles talked with the executive director about why he thinks the vote mi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lawmakers continue redistricting talks behind closed doors Ohio's legislative leaders are working behind closed doors, to create a new congressional redistricting map. In order to pass a replacement map that would go into effect immediately, two thirds of lawmakers, or at least seven Democrats in the House, will have to vote for it. Mike Dittoe is spokesman for Republican Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder. He says they hope to avoid a referendum or a long court battle. If they're successful, Dittoe says there would still be time to move the presid ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website More seniors turning up at food banks The number of senior citizens reaching out to food pantries for help has grown by nearly 62 percent over the last year. Anti-hunger activists say they're now struggling to help those people, in addition to the populations they have been serving during the Great Recession. Lisa Hamler-Fugitt with the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Food Banks blames the economic crisis on Wall Street for the loss of financial security for many seniors who are retired and on fixed incomes. But she also say ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website News Headlines 10/28/11 The latest WKSU Morning Edition headlines from Amanda Rabinowitz WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Film professor's 1973 horror movie comes back to life Kent State University emeritus professor Robert West will reunite with cast members of his 1973 horror movie, "The Wednesday Children" this weekend at the Cleveland Cinematheque.  The thriller about children falling under a demon's spell was filmed in Wadsworth on a very low budget and faded into obscurity after only a few local showings. But West believes its message about the need to listen to our children is just as relevant today.   WKSU's Vivian Goodman reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website SB5 repeal campaign raises twice as much as bill's supporters Campaign finance reports have been filed by both sides in the battle over Ohio's new collective bargaining law. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports both sides have spent massive amounts of money.  WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Both sides of Issue 2 campaign are spending big Campaign finance reports have been filed by both sides in the battle over Ohio's new collective bargaining law. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports both sides have spent massive amounts of money. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Supreme Court denies Democrats more time to petition congressional redistricting Ohio Democrats will not get extra time to circulate petitions for a referendum on state's ongressional redistricting. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Zanesville widow wants surviving animals back The widow of the Zanesville man who released dozens of exotic animals last week wants the rescued ones back. They are currently being held at the Columbus Zoo. But Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports the state is moving to block her request - at least for now.  WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Veterans' special reason to vote 'no' on 2 Some Ohio military veterans say they've got a special reason to vote no on State Issue 2, the new law that cuts the bargaining power of unions that represent government workers. The vets say one provision stops the current practice of allowing vets who become teachers from using their military service to get preference points on their teachers' pay. Allen Banks is a Marine veteran and a guidance counselor at Upper Arlington High School. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Party chairs face off over Issue 2 Polls are showing that there aren't many people who remain undecided this election year, but that's not stopping the heads of Ohio's two main political parties from making their cases on Issue 2. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Party chairs face off over Issue 2 Polls are showing that there aren't many people who remain undecided this election year, but that's not stopping the heads of Ohio's two main political parties from making their cases on Issue 2. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Price fixing charges hit parent company of Northeast Ohio manufacturer A major auto parts maker with a manufacturing facility in Northeast Ohio is one of several companies facing class action lawsuits for alleged price fixing. The company, Michigan-based Delphi Automotive, produces automotive wiring harnesses at its plant in Warren. WSKU's Kevin Niedermier reports on what the suit could mean for the Warren plant's nearly 1000 employees. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/27/11 Thursday's headlines include: Occupy Cleveland will get to stay at Public Square around the clock; Ohio joins states asking U.S. Supreme Court to speed up Asian carp study; Kent State's liquid crystal technology being used for food testing. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A Cultural Evolution Chinese artist Fu Baoshi lived during a time of war and revolution. His work uses traditional sensibilities to make sense of turbulent times. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on his work, which is now on display at the Cleveland Museum of Art. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website StoryCorps Akron's Dorothy Jackson Today on StoryCorps, we hear from a longtime advocate for poor and disabled people in Akron. Dorothy Jackson is retired now but still speaks to children in the area about the importance of education.  Her own road was not an easy one.      For StoryCorps,  she spoke to her longtime pastor and friend, the Reverend Ronald Fowler...      WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Towpath complete in Akron The 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries have symbolically come together in Akron.  The city has opened the last remaining link of the Ohio Canal  towpath as it wends its way through Akron.  Supporters of the recreational trail call it a major step toward stitching back together the 101 mile path in northeast Ohio. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Policy Matters Ohio doesn't fall for potential sting A conservative organization that's tried to discredit several progressive groups - and public broadcasters - apparently has a new target. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler reports this potential sting appears to be a reaction to Ohio's controversial Issue 2. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Democrats still oppose turnpike privatization Some Democrats in northern Ohio aren't impressed with Gov. John Kasich's announcement that at least half of revenue from any deal with the Ohio Turnpike will be spend in their communities. Democratic Rep. Matt Lundy from Elyria says Kasich's promise that half the money from a lease or a privatization deal would be spent on communities and projects north of Route 30 is one he shouldn't make. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Red states cool, blue states hot Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is joining with senators from several Northern states to oppose reductions to their share of federal dollars that help pay heating bills for the poor and elderly. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program gives out money to states each year using a formula that looks at energy costs and weather. The money helps people pay for air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter. Brown, a Democrat, is pushing the Senate's bill, which keeps that formula the same. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Animal advocates protest lax exotic animal laws Animal rights advocates say Governor Kasich and lawmakers are not doing enough to deal with problems involving exotic animals in Ohio. Statehouse correspondent Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website DeWine wants Supreme Court to overturn Asian Carp ruling Ohio officials are continuing to prod the federal government to take more action to keep the Asian Carp out of Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website E. Coli testing via iPad A new method of testing for E. Coli and listeria is controlled by an iPad... and it was created in Northeast Ohio.   The Multipath system was announced today by Crystal Diagnostics, which has been working with NEOMED and Kent State on liquid crystal technology for the past decade.   Crystal Diagnostics President Dan Minardi says the new test will make it easier to test meat and produce for foodborne pathogens. WKSU's Laura Fong reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/26/11 Wednesday's headlines include: Preschool, some spring sports and busing for high school students to be eliminated in Cleveland; Debaters on both sides of SB 5 try to appeal to voters; Governor Kasich revives a federal grant application to study leasing the Ohio Turnpike. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Browns find a way to win; fans find fault The Cleveland Browns have a 3-3 record for just the fourth time since its 1999 expansion rebirth. Despite the team's 6-3 win over the Seahawks on Sunday, most fans aren't celebrating. WKSU commentator Terry Pluto talks to Amanda Rabinowitz about why fans remain disgruntled.  WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Romney backs away from Issue 2 and 3 The Republican presidential candidate who many believe is the frontrunner for the nomination visited Cincinnati Tuesday. But some are questioning his return to the Buckeye State. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Girl Scout camp closures cause controversy Next year, the Girl Scouts will celebrate their 100th anniversary. But a dispute over the sale of four camps in Northeast Ohio has raised questions about scouting's future. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz and Alison Ritchie report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Busy with new business at Knight Center A thousand people were looking to do business at Akron's Knight Center Tuesday.  WKSU's Tim Rudell reports on the Entrepreneur Expo sponsored by JumpStart. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Mitt Romney visits Cincinnati The Republican presidential candidate who many believe is the frontrunner for the party's nomination visited Cincinnati Tuesday. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports why some are questioning his return to the Buckeye State. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich announces communities could receive revenue from Turnpike change The way the Ohio Turnpike is operated is most likely going to change, but Gov. John Kasich says he's not ready to say it will be completely privatized or partially leased. Kasich told a crowd of transportation engineers at a conference in Columbus that his administration is still working on the best plan for the Turnpike, which he calls an "underutilized asset" that he feels could bring in more money for the state. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lordstown GM plant will produce diesel version of Chevy Cruze GM is investing 5.5 Million dollars in the Lordstown Assembly Plant to add a Diesel version of their top-selling Chevy Cruze starting in 2013. The Cruze Diesel is currently for sale in Europe and Australia. GM spokesman Tom Mock says there are still a lot of questions about the car, including price and fuel economy, or whether the American consumer wants to drive a diesel.   "...it's really something American-based companies have really not embraced so much yet compared to our European co ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Poll: Issue 2 backers gain lead over the opposition A new public opinion poll shows foes of Ohio's new collective bargaining law have once again grabbed the momentum and a big lead as Ohioans vote on whether to keep or kill the law. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From Paris with love Cleveland Heights author Paula McLain has given book talks in the past with just 3 people in the audience.  On Wednesday, she's speaking to a capacity crowd at the Hudson Library, thanks to the interest sparked in her latest book, The Paris Wife.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia spoke with McLain about the book's look at Ernest Hemingway through the eyes of his first wife, Hadley. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/25/11 Tuesday's headlines include: Protesters in Cleveland will get to demonstrate near Public Square until the end of the month; Anti-abortion group proposing constitutional amendment gets setback; Northeast Ohio man charged with defrauding fellow Amish out of nearly $17 million wants to plead no contest on religious grounds.   WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Personhood Amendment rejected Backers of a plan to give a fertilized egg protection under the Ohio Constitution have been dealt a setback. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Some Republicans tell voters to vote 'no' on Issue 2 The battle over Ohio's new collective bargaining law has pitted liberals versus conservatives. The left says it takes away virtually all the power of public employee unions at the bargaining table. Activists on the right say that's necessary to help schools, cities and state government hold down labor costs and taxes. Despite this predictable ideological divide, there are some exceptions. Like Bill Cunningham, a conservative talk show host at WLW in Cincinnati.  WKSU's Bill Cohen and Maran ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Alliance soldier killed in Afghanistan Friends and family of Ashley White-Stumpf are mourning her loss today after learning the National Guard Soldier was killed Saturday in Afghanistan.   WKSU's Mark Urycki reports that the Alliance woman was only 14 years-old when the war started. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Amish investor wants to plead A Tuscarawas County man charged with defrauding thousands of Amish investors wants to plead no contest on religious grounds.  But WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports, his lawyer doesn't want him to. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland Natural History Museum "Smart House" ready for permanent occupant   Northeast Ohio's most energy efficient house was converted today from a museum exhibit to a piece of Cleveland real estate. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/24/11 Monday's headlines include: Anti-abortion activists want voters o decide if a fertilized egg should be treated as a person; Democrats still gathering signatures to put Republican-drawn Congressional map on next year's ballot; 24-year-old Army lieutenant from Stark County among three soldiers killed in Afghanistan. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio will have two primaries Ohio will have two primaries next year, thanks to a law signed over the weekend. Ohio Public Radio’s Karen Kasler reports nobody’s happy about it, and perhaps that could mean that will change in the next few weeks. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Abnormal psych at Cedar Point The number of roller coaster-phobic Ohioans decreased by at least one over the weekend.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on an abnormal psychology class's field trip to Cedar Point. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A closer look at charter school mythology The expansion of charter schools is high on the agendas of Ohio Republicans and the Obama White House. So StateImpact Ohio has been taking a closer look at the claims made for the schools by both proponents and detractors. StateImpact reporter Molly Bloom and editor M.L. Schultze talk about how some of the claims hold up against the facts. WKSU's Molly Bloom and M.L. SCHULTZE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio AG says he's ready for casino security duty Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office has already posted notices to hire the men and women who will oversee  security for the casinos being built in Cleveland and Toledo.  Last week, the state's new Casino Control Commission awarded a branch of DeWine's office -- the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation - the security detail. The State Highway Patrol also was vying for the contract.  DeWine will hire more than 20 people for the job. He says his office can provide the ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio senators push Chinese currency bill Both of Ohio's senators say they'll continue to push this week for a bill to crack down on Chinese currency manipulation. But WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports that they haven't yet swung the most powerful Ohioan in D.C.  - John Boehner. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - Graftech out of the ashes A company born 125 years ago in Cleveland's industrial heyday continues to thrive despite declines in heavy industry.  In this week's Exploradio we look at how the maker of the must humble of materials survived graft and the global downturn by stressing innovation. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Medical marijuana moves closer to next year's ballot The backers of an amendment to allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in Ohio are closer to next year's ballot. The Ohio Ballot Board has okayed the language they submitted and made it a single amendment for voters to decide on the November 2012 ballot. That's if they gather more than 385,000 valid signatures. Tonya Davis is one of the backers of the amendment. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Group files lawsuit to block slots at race tracks A group that opposes gambling has filed a lawsuit to try to block Governor John Kasich's plan, authorizing thousands of electronic slot machines at Ohio race tracks. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Governor signs executive order to strengthen exotic pet laws Ohio Governor John Kasich has signed an executive order that tells state agencies and humane societies to use existing and underused authorities to crack down on problems involving exotic animals. And that's not all. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Lawsuit filed to block slots at the tracks A group that's against gambling has filed a lawsuit to try to block Governor John Kasich from moving ahead with his plan to authorize thousands of electronic slot machines at Ohio's race tracks. The American Policy Roundtable insists the governor doesn't have the authority to do it on his own. Spokesman Rob Walgate says the state constitution doesn't allow slots at tracks, unless Ohioans vote to change that. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website September jobless rate remains steady Ohio's unemployment rate for September has just been announced. It's 9.1 percent--the same the month before. Angela Terez keeps track of the numbers at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. She puts the latest figures into a long-range pattern. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dems under deadline to deliver referendum petition Voters may yet decide whether to keep or toss out Ohio's new map of Congressional districts - Democrats are still gathering signatures to put the map onto the ballot. But the deadline to file to run for Congress is coming up fast. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports state lawmakers have taken the first step to create a second primary to try to deal with it. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website SB5 would have huge impact on higher education Senate Bill 5 - that's issue 2 on the voting November ballots - would severely limit the collective bargaining rights of public employees in Ohio. But StateImpact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports its biggest impact is the least talked about: eliminating college faculty unions. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fight over congressional district map continues The Ohio Democratic Party is threatening to wage a referendum over the new congressional map. But one Democratic member of the Ohio House says he's got an even better idea. In an interview with Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles, Representative Ted Celeste explains he wants Ohioans to be able to do more than just say no. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fight over congressional district map continues The Ohio Democratic Party is threatening to wage a referendum over the new congressional map. But one Democratic member of the Ohio House says he's got an even better idea. In an interview with Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles, Representative Ted Celeste explains he wants Ohioans to be able to do more than just say no. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Veterinarians say Ohio needs exotic pet regulations The task force charged with figuring out how to regulate exotic pets is feeling the pressure to reach a decision now. Forty-nine animals, including rare tigers, lions and monkeys, were killed in Zanesville. Their owner released them from their pens before committing suicide. Sheriff's deputies say they were forced to shoot most of the animals because they posed an immediate threat to public safety. Jack Advent, the head of the Ohio Veterinary Medical Association, says the state needs to pre ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website For the second time Gary Zeigler is the "former" Treasurer Stark County's long Treasurer's office scandal is over.  WKSU'S Tim Rudell reports on a settlement reached yesterday (Wednesday) between the county commissioners and the treasurer they tried, but were unable to fire. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kasich blamed for animal escapes Animal advocates say Ohio Gov. John Kasich is at least partly responsible for the escape and slaughter this week of dozens of exotic animals from a farm near Zanesville. That's because Kasich let lapse an emergency order that former Governor Ted Strickland imposed in January.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports on why the Humane Society and others say that order could have prevented the tragedy. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and ANNA STAVER and TIM RUDELL report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Supreme Court hears challenge to ban on smoking in bars The state's four year old ban on smoking in most indoor places came before the Ohio Supreme Court today. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler says it's being framed as a case pitting the rights of private property owners against a popular public health crusade. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Supreme Court hears challenge to ban on smoking in bars The state's four year old ban on smoking in most indoor places came before the Ohio Supreme Court today. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler says it's being framed as a case pitting the rights of private property owners against a popular public health crusade. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dozens of exotic animals escape from Muskingum County farm There could still be a dozen exotic animals on the loose in and around Muskingum County. Bears, big cats and other potentially dangerous animals escaped from an animals farm there where the body of the owner was found. Lutz suggests residents stay inside and report any exotic animal sightings. On NBC's "Today" show, Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz said authorities are waiting for autopsy results that will determine how farm owner Terry Thompson died. When asked if Thompson killed hims ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cavs should benefit from casino money and distraction It will be at least until this time next month before the Cleveland Cavaliers play their first game this season. But, plenty of other stuff - hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of other stuff  - is keeping Cavs owner Dan Gilbert distracted during the lock-out. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz talks with commentator Terry Pluto. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Republican lawmakers may move state primary It looks like Ohio's primary date could be changing. The Republican House and Senate have scheduled sessions to discuss the possibility later this week. Spokesman John McClelland from Ohio Senate Caucus says one possibility is to move primary dates to meet filing deadlines. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Study shows public employees have made concessions Ohioans are now voting on whether to limit the bargaining power of public employee unions. That's the thrust of state issue 2, the referendum on a new law that majority republicans in the legislature approved. Workers, unions, and their allies are fighting back. They say government workers have already made plenty of concessions without this new law in place. The unions have just released a study that quantifies those concessions. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website By next year Stark County may have half the operating funds it had two years ago Stark County's financial problems are as intense as anywhere in Ohio. It is now operating without a local sales tax--the only county in the state without one--and is dealling with cuts in state and federal funding as well. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports on efforts to pass a sales tax with a campaign that focuses largely on public safety. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland City Club hosts issue 2 debate Debate over State Issue 2, Ohio's new collective bargaining law, continues in dueling TV ads and in formal debates too. The latest one was Monday at the Cleveland City Club. It pitted former Cincinnati city councilman Jeff Berding, a backer of the law, against former Congressman Dennis Eckart, an opponent. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Democrats request more time to collect signatures The Ohio Supreme Court's ruling that Ohio Democrats can start a referendum effort on the new congressional redistricting map is prompting the party to make another request. Party leaders are asking the high court to re-start the clock and give the party more time to collect signatures. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Supreme Court rules on district maps Elections officials and lawmakers will be scrambling to deal with an Ohio Supreme Court decision on Friday. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports the high court ruled unanimously that Democrats can take the new Congressional district map to the ballot. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Another Big Year for Ohio birder Last month the movie "Moneyball," about professional baseball,  opened nationwide.   Friday an even more ambitious Hollywood film opened about the competitive sport of...birdwatching.  Like Moneyball, the new film is based on a true story.  "The Big Year " involves a marathon competition for a man from Sugarcreek in Tuscarawas County.   It stars Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black. WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cav's farm team attracts old-school talent The NBA season is on hold. But the Cavs' new farm team is taking shape with Northeast Ohio tryouts.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports on an unlikely prospect for The Canton Charge. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Mike Huckabee campaigns for Issue 2 The campaign trying to convince voters to approve Issue 2 brought in a Tea Party favorite to argue for it. Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee spoke to a crowd at a pancake breakfast in Mason near Cincinnati. Huckabee said the state's collective bargaining reform law, which would go into effect if Issue 2 is approved, isn't a slap at public employees. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New anti-abortion effort tries to give fetuses more protection Much attention has been given to the state bill that would ban abortions at the point a fetus’s heartbeat can be detected. But there’s a new anti-abortion effort that goes even further. Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Columbus Metropolitan Club has heated debate over Issue 2 Debates over state issue 2, Ohio's new collective bargaining law, are popping up all over the state. Ohio Public Radio's Bill Cohen reports on the latest one - at the Columbus Metropolitan Club. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Military voting bill also affects citizen voters The bill that sets the rules for absentee voting for members of the military also has a provision that impacts civilian voters. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports on the provision that could cut into voting hours. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia and VALERIE BROWN report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Metro Club debate heats up over Issue 2 Debates over state issue 2, Ohio's new collective bargaining law, are popping up all over the state. The latest one is at the Columbus Metropolitan Club. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website On the Party Lines - Ohio's 2011 Ballot Battles Here are the arguments for and against each issue on November 2011 election ballot and what they could mean to you.Issue 1: Part II - 27:43 to the endIssue 2: All of Part I and Part II - 0:00 through 14:39Issue 3: Part II - 14:40 through  27:42 WKSU's Karen Kasler and Bill Cohen report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Maze of tiny cracks found in cement walls at Davis-Besse Crews working on one problem at Davis-Besse nuclear power plant have found another.  Hairline cracks are showing up in the concrete dome that protects the plant's reactor building. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio officials want apology for Issue 2 ads The furor continues over the use of a 78-year-old great-grandmother in a TV ad produced by activists promoting a "yes" vote on state issue 2. The woman is actually an opponent of the new collective bargaining law. And she had starred earlier in a "vote no" television ad. Ohio police and firefighters say her words and image have been twisted like a pretzel and they're furious. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Democrats continue to challenge new state congressional districts Democrats continue to try to challenge the GOP's new congressional districts by forcing a voter referendum. But Matt McClelland, a spokesman for Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, says the law precludes that effort. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The organization behind the disorganization of Occupy Cleveland The protest songs, head scarves, and peace symbols may make the Occupy  movement look like something out of the 1960s. But the technology is pure Generation Next. And WKSU'S M.L. Schultze reports that it goes way beyond Facebook and Twitter. WKSU's M.L. Schultze and LAURA FONG report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Trade agreements move forward without Democrats Congress is likely to pass President Obama's three trade agreements tonight (Wednesday). The free trade agreements between the U.S. and South Korea, Colombia and Panama come without the support of several Democrats, including Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. Ohio Republican Representative John Boehner says it's an area of common ground where he and the President can work together. But Sen. Brown has a different opinion. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio TV stations pull ad on Issue 2 Many TV stations have yanked a controversial political ad off the air. The ad tells Ohioans to vote yes on state issue 2, the state's new collective bargaining law. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Author says financial mismanagement in Cleveland and other Catholic dioceses is hurting church Author Jason Berry has written several books on the Catholic Church documenting sexual abuse and other corruption within the world's largest organization. His latest, "Render Unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church," takes direct aim at the Cleveland Catholic Diocese. He says decades of mismanagement led to the widespread closing of churches over the last few years. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier spoke with Berry, who is flying in to Cleveland to talk about his book tomorrow. ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Sen. Brown celebrates currency bill passage Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is celebrating Senate passage of his Chinese currency bill, while condemning three proposed trade agreements he says will kill American jobs.  WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more some differences Ohio's Democratic senator is drawing with the Obama White House. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website DeWine: Cordray should lead consumer protection agency Ohio's Attorney General Mike DeWine says his predecessor Richard Cordray is the right person to lead a new federal consumer protection agency. President Obama nominated the former Ohio attorney general last July to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Senate Banking Committee approved the nomination last week. But Senate Republicans are blocking the nomination. DeWine, a former senator, says the Republican opposition has nothing to do with Cordray's qualifications. Alison ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Charter schools: Should the marketplace rule? Charter schools have been around in Ohio for 13 years. So has the tension between charter and traditional public schools. State Impact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports that the strain is most noticeable when it comes to schools run by for-profit corporations. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Hard hits on 'little bobbleheads' Much of the attention about football and concussions is focusing on high school kids, college players and even the pros. But a team of Cleveland Clinic researchers says the thousands of small hits kids 10 and under sustain is of even more concern. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports on a study underway that could change the look, feel and approach of youth football. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website NBA lockout costs downtown restaurants and the city of Cleveland  If the NBA lockout ends up cancelling the season, Cleveland will be losing nearly 5 million in admissions taxes as well as parking and payroll taxes. And that doesn't include what it would do  to nearby downtown businesses. Or the loss of goodwill for the Cavaliers and the league.  Adam  Wilson is manager of the Winking Lizard near Quicken Loans Arena. He says the restaurant usually hires extra staff for the NBA season, but has not this year. "I am an NBA fan, but I don't know, I don't ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cuyahoga County sees decline in absentee voters so far Cuyahoga County's absentee voting has fallen off dramatically from what it was at this time two years ago. In that off-year election, the county automatically mailed out applications for absentee ballots.  And by now, it had back 145,000 of them. But a new state law forbids the mass mailings.  And even though the law is on hold pending a ballot referendum, Cuyahoga County had reached an agreement earlier with the secretary of state to suspend the mailings for this election. Cuyahoga Count ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Wall Street protest spreads to Columbus Protests against budget cuts, Wall Street bailouts, and corporate welfare continue. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio sees drop in homeownership rates Housing analysts say they're not optimistic that the Northeast Ohio market will turn around any time soon and the most recent Census data reaffirms their concerns. After decades of increases, Ohio's homeownership rate dropped more than two percent over the last ten years. Robert Simons is a real estate development professor for Cleveland State University. He says housing prices need to recover because banks will not forgive principals on mortgage loans. One way to do that could be intention ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Northeast Ohio has a surplus of retail space Another Northeast Ohio shopping strip is up for auction.  The Tallmadge Plaza defaulted on a $2-million loan and owes $44,000 in back taxes. Analysts say that overbuilding of retail space is forcing the sale of shopping strips across the country.   A study in 2000 by the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission showed more than 7 percent of Northeast Ohio retail space was vacant. James Kastelic headed that project. His graduate students at Cleveland State University followed up in 2007 and fou ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Charter schools "do it yourself" Many urban districts are among Ohio's lowest rated schools. So many parents who can afford it head for the suburbs. But, as State Impact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports, one group of parents in Cleveland decided instead to open their own school. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Youngstown diocese removes priest, apologizes A Roman Catholic priest who has spent 40 years in Northeast Ohio parishes has been suspended after  his diocese found credible evidence of sex abuse of a child some 30 years ago. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio justices are likely to be sifting through Ohio State e-mails Ohio State is facing one of its biggest opponents, and this contest is playing out before the Ohio Supreme Court rather than on a football field. WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more. WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/10/11 Monday's headlines include: Anti-SB 5 group outspending supporters in TV ads; Occupy Cleveland enters its fourth day with dozens of people still committed to the protest; Cleveland stuck with 600 custom bicycle grips and $23,000 bill. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Occupy Cleveland settles in for promised months of protes The Northeast Ohio spin-off of Occupy Wall Street continues to camp out in downtown Cleveland. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more on Occupy Cleveland's call for what it says is democracy over corporate-ocracy. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Occupy Cleveland enters day 4 Occupy Cleveland enters its fourth day with dozens of people still committed to the protest but no major incidents.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has the continues campout in downtown Cleveland... WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New Summit County court aims to reduce domestic violence Summit County has started Ohio's first court devoted solely to felony domestic cases. The court started taking its first cases October first. Judge Paul Gallagher will be in charge of the court. He says having a set group of prosecutors, investigators and advocates specializing in those cases should lower the rate of repeat offenders. A key component of the court is the Batterer's Intervention Program. WKSU's Anna Staver reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio spends half a billion dollars on charter schools each year CHARTER SCHOOLS, PART 1In 1998, Ohio opened its first 15 charter schools. There are now more than 300. They're enrolling more than 100-thousand primary and secondary students. And Ohio is paying upwards of 500 million dollars to support those schools. State Impact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky reports that, as charter schools have grown, so have divisions between them and traditional public schools. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Stark County has tens of millions of dollars on the books in unpaid taxes Some opponents of a Stark County sales tax renewal  say the county should focus instead on collecting $40-million in delinquent taxes.  But WKSU's Tim Rudell reports that what's on the books is not necessarily what could be in the county's bank. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Summit County starts Ohio's first felony DV cour Summit County has started Ohio's first court aimed at felony domestic violence. The court has one judge assigned to hear all the cases, and a team of prosecutors, investigators and victim advocates.  WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports on how the court plans to prevent people from repeatedly abusing their partners.   WKSU's M.L. Schultze and ANNA STAVER report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website State high courts readies for smoking ban arguments Next week, the Ohio Supreme Court will soon hear a challenge by bar owners to the state's smoking ban. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Exploradio - Monkshood patrol A sheltered cliff along the Cuyahoga River is home to one of the last patches of a critically threatened wild-flower.  In this week's Exploradio we meet the man whose job is to keep critters and people away from the endangered northern monkshood. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio loses turnpike study funds Governor Kasich's plan to privatize the Ohio turnpike has taken a step back. The Federal Highway Administration revealed Friday that it's withdrawing its funding to research the proposal. WKSU's M.L Schultze reports. WKSU's M.L. Schultze and ALISON RITCHIE report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New apartments for low-income citizens Ohio's senior senator was in Columbus today on the site of a building that will house homeless and low-income people when it's finished next summer.  But as Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports, the event was about much more than that. WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Digital vs. Film Vinyl versus CDs... Kindle versus paperbacks... film versus video.  It's a debate that's at the heart of the Akron Film and Pixel Fest, running tonight through Sunday at the Akron Art Museum.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia spoke with one of the organizers, Steve Felix, about the juxtaposition of technologies. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fruit flies being used in Alzheimer's disease research A new study says the retina of a tiny fruit fly may be the key to understanding what causes the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The study is being conducted by the University of Dayton and the University of Florida. Dayton biology professor Amit Singh says fruit flies are ideal for the research. Mark Heyne reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/07/11 Friday's headlines include:  "Occupy Cleveland" protesters spend the night at Public Square; Job opening filled in Cuyahoga County without required public posting; Ohio will no longer be a winner-take-all state for Republican presidential candidates in March.     WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website 'Occupy' protests hit Cleveland Several hundred people gathered near the Free Stamp in downtown Cleveland today to launch Northeast Ohio's version of "Occupy Wall Street."  WKSU's M.L. Schultze has more on the protests and what's likely to come next.     WKSU's M.L. Schultze and Laura Fong report. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The basics of Ohio charter schools Ohio now spends half a billion dollars a year on charter schools. The alternatives to traditional public schools have been promoted as a new model to cure what ails primary and secondary education. A three-part series by StateImpact Ohio's Ida Lieszkovszky next week will take a closer look at the promise and performance of  those schools, and she talks with StateImpact editor M.L. Schultze about what she's found. WKSU's Ida Lieszkovszky reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Occupy Cleveland aims to stay til Dec. 31 Hundreds of protestors gathered near the FREE stamp in downtown Cleveland Thursday to kick-off the Occupy Cleveland rally.  They targeted banks, home foreclosures and war, which they blame for the economic downtown.  Zach Duvall is an IT specialist for a law firm in the BP building and went over to watch during his lunch break.    WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio State Highway Patrol makes big drug bust The State Highway Patrol seized more than 325 pounds of cocaine from an RV on the Ohio Turnpike in Lucas County today Thursday. The patrol estimates the street value of the drugs is nearly $15 million. Anne Ralston is a lieutenant with the patrol. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Attorney General warns of "grandparent scam" For months, Ohio's attorney general has been warning people not to fall for what's called the "grandparents' scam." That's where a con artist calls up an elderly person, pretends to be a grandchild, says there's an emergency, and asks the grandparent to wire money. Now, one of the alleged con-men targeting Ohio has been charged with a crime. Statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen reports. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio GOP changes primary delegate allocation In the March primary, Ohio will no longer be a winner-take-all state for Republican presidential candidates. The GOP delegates will be divided by their share of the popular vote. The changes are due to new rules set by the national Republican party. Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine says the change means Ohioans will likely see more of the presidential candidates. WKSU's Jo Ingles reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Cleveland trying to boost college graduation rate of residents Dozens of educational institutions and civic organizations are banding together to help boost Cleveland's college graduation rate. As WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports, the effort to share resources was rolled out today at Cleveland State University.   WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Noon News 10/06/11 The Ohio State Highway Patrol has announced yet another big drug bust. The patrol says it pulled over a motor home with California license plates on the Ohio Turnpike near Maumee in Lucas County....and found 148 kilos of cocaine in a steel compartment in the floor. The estimated street value of the drugs is 14.8 million dollars. In a way, that sets a record for Ohio...but in another way, it does NOT. Here's Lt. Anne Ralston, talking with statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen.  WKSU's Kabir B ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/06/11 Thursday's headlines include:  The "Occupy Wall Street" protest comes to Cleveland; New initiative in Cleveland wants to help more students graduate from college; Jimmy Dimora formally asks for his racketeering trial to be moved outside of Northeast Ohio. WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Dems start petition drive The Ohio Democratic Party has launched its third petition drive in about as many months to try get voters to reverse GOP passed laws. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia has more. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A first-of-its-kind charter school in Ohio The state's newest charter school is getting ready to open on a medical school campus in a rural community in Northeast Ohio. But as WKSU's M.L Schultze reports, the year-round Bio-Med Science Academy also hopes to help city kids get into medicine - and then maybe back to help out their home communities.   WKSU's M.L. Schultze reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Independent bookstore glides along Making money the old fashioned way can sound either suggestive or very, very smart.  The Learned Owl falls into the second category.  WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports on one of northeast Ohio's independent book stores that has outlasted the big-business model that was supposed to put it out of business.... WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website "Occupy Cleveland" brewing for Thursday Hundreds of people are expected to show up Thursday on Cleveland's Public Square for a protest called Occupy Cleveland. It's an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, which started in mid-September when a group setup camp in downtown Manhattan. They're calling for bankers to pay more in taxes. Northeast Ohio congresswoman Betty Sutton joined the protests in New York Wednesday during a labor rally. The Copley Democrat says she heard a lot of talk about jobs, but what stuck out to her the most was a ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Akron is in a "fiscal caution" The state auditor says Akron is the first city  in the state to be declared in  "fiscal caution." But, WKSU's Tim Rudell says that doesn't necessarily mean the city is in trouble...financially or legally.    WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New program aims to avoid federal fines The state is hoping a $7 million program will help spare it from hundreds of millions of dollars in fines - because it allows the state to count more people as meeting federal welfare to work requirements. But as Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports, the state says its goal is to do more than just "pad the numbers." WKSU's Karen Kasler reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Ohio Sen. Brown's bill challenges a Chinese trade deficit Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown continues to push to make Chinese currency rates a key part of the trade debate. The U.S. Senate this week voted 79-19 to allow debate on Brown's bill. The Ohio Democrat  maintains that currency manipulation allows the Chinese to export products at artificially low prices, and to keep the price of American imports high. He says some 3 million Americans have lost jobs because of the imbalance. In a conference call with reporters today (Wednesday), Brown continued to ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website No outside partisan political positions for many Cuyahoga County employees This week nearly 50 Cuyahoga County employees are being given the choice between their county jobs and their partisan political posts.  Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald says they need to choose by October 14th or be fired.  The ultimatum stems from a review of all county employees job classifications. WKSU's Kevin Niedermier reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Headline News 10/05/11 Wednesday's headlines include:A former judge caught in the Cuyahoga county corruption investigation has been sentenced to more than five years in prison;Richard Cordray's nomination to head the nation's newest consumer protection agency will finally get its first vote in the U.S. Senate Thursday;There's been another round of layoffs at an Akron hospital.   WKSU's Amanda Rabinowitz reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Terry Pluto talks theatrics in pro sports Reporters covering pro sports are increasingly focused on the drama that unfolds off the field - from box-office movies like "Moneyball" to what goes on in the locker room after a Browns game. WKSU commentator Terry Pluto talks to Amanda Rabinowitz about the drama following the Browns' loss on Sunday. Rumors are floating about why star running back Peyton Hillis didn't get the ball much --- from coach Pat Shurmur punishing him for holding out on a contract to whether he was sick with strep ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website A four-way debate amps up the Canton Mayoral election Political campaigns this fall are focusing on one thing: jobs. But safety also is a rising concern in Northeast Ohio cities. And both issues took center stage at the storied old Palace Theater during a mayoral debate in downtown Canton. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports on the four-man contest. WKSU's Tim Rudell reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Healthcare policy under the knife at Cleveland summit A high-powered panel kicked off the Cleveland Clinic's Innovations Summit this week.  The 3-day summit highlights breakthroughs in healthcare, but the opening panel focused on the breakdown in U.S. competitiveness. WKSU's Jeff St. Clair reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Senate will finally vote on Cordray nomination Richard Cordray's nomination to head the nation's newest consumer protection agency will finally get its first vote in the U.S. Senate Thursday. That's when the Senate Banking Committee will decide whether to recommend that the former Ohio attorney general should head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. President Obama nominated Cordray in July.  Republican senators immediately blocked the nomination because they say the agency has too much power. But at a hearing of the banking comm ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Governor Kasich touts business climate and State Issue 2. Governor John Kasich told the Akron Roundtable yesterday  (Tues) that Ohio was dying when he took office. But after nine months in office, the Republican is promoting what he sees as his successes and suggesting more changes he has in store for the state.   WKSU's Mark Urycki has details.   WKSU's Mark Urycki reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Walton Hills plant slated to close Ford's Walton Hills stamping plant would close under the tentative contract announced today with United Auto Workers. That would cost the Cleveland suburb about 400 jobs and 20 percent of its income tax revenue.   Nikki Nystrom is general manager at Wing Warehouse in Northfield, just down the street from the plant.  Although some of her customers work at the plant, she didn't know about the proposed closing. WKSU's Kabir Bhatia reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Nine Ohio charter school sponsors penalized For 15 years, Ohio has allowed the creation of charter schools. They get taxpayer money, but operate under relaxed rules. Now, some sponsors of those special schools are being told they cannot open more until they get their average student-test scores up. Nine of 47 sponsors have just gotten that bad news. Patrick Galloway of the Ohio Department of Education talked with statehouse correspondent Bill Cohen about the reason for the limit. WKSU's Bill Cohen reports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website New Ford contract closes Walton Hills The tentative deal reached by the UAW and Ford adds jobs at two Ford plants in Northeast Ohio, but closes a third. The contract would close the Walton Hills plant and shift most of its 400 jobs outside Ohio.    Meanwhile, Ford is bringing new jobs to its Avon Lake and Brook Park plants. Ford is putting nearly $300 million into retooling Brook Park to start making fuel-efficient small engines.  Mike Gammella is president of UAW Local 1250, which represents more than 300 workers there. WKS ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website <