Regional Features: Archive by Date

January 2001

Indoor Air Quality of Cleveland Schools: Improving the Air Our Children Breathe
Posted Wednesday, January 31
Earlier this month, 90.3 WCPN aired a special one hour broadcast on indoor air quality at home. But what about air quality in schools? The US Environmental Protection Agency is concerned with recent statistics about school air quality. It's funding two programs in the Cleveland School District that aim to improve the air our children breathe each day in class, and reduce asthma attacks that are often triggered by air toxins. 90.3's Janet Babin reports.

Using Sports Tactics to Succeed in Business
Posted Monday, January 29
The old saying "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" seems all but forgotten in today's fast paced competitive culture. In the sports world, where it first originated, it sounds merely quaint; in the business world, downright naive. That's the view among a group of African American men enrolled in an unusual program that embraces both worlds. 90.3's Bill Rice reports.

Recycling Obsolete Computers: Old Computers Are Put to New Use
Posted Monday, January 29
Ohio's businesses, schools and government offices are facing a new age dilemma. Every 18 months or so technology changes make old computers obsolete. The National Safety Council's Environmental Health Center reported about 20 million personal computers became obsolete in the United States in 1998. Only about 2 million units were recycled. Here in Ohio organizations are looking at ways to combat the problem. And recycling groups throughout the state finding ways to put old computers to good use. 90.3's Tarice Sims reports.

Hospital Crisis Profile: Saving the Oberlin Medical Center
Posted Thursday, January 25
Last year, it looked as if three Cleveland hospitals would be closing their doors forever. Community activists and political leaders fought -- and won -- a battle to keep two of the hospitals open. But city hospitals aren't the only ones struggling to make ends meet in today's health care industry. In Lorain County, the small college town of Oberlin recently came close to losing its nearly 100-year-old facility -- a loss that would have affected thousands of low-income and rural residents as well. 90.3's Karen Schaefer has this report.

Finding a Solution to Public School Funding
Posted Tuesday, January 23
As Governor Bob Taft prepares for his annual State of the State Address tomorrow, school funding is near the top of the list of legislative concerns. The General Assembly is under orders from the Ohio Supreme Court to adopt substantial changes in the way the state pays for public education. It has until June to do it. Some legislators say they're confident they'll make it, but thus far there's very little consensus on a solution. 90.3's Bill Rice reports.

Lee-Harvard Shopping Center Renovation: Newly Opened Shopping Center Community-Oriented
Posted Monday, January 22
The Lee-Harvard Shopping Center is re-opening with a changed focus. When developers started the renovation project early last year they had the community in mind. And as 90.3's Tarice Sims reports, Lee-Harvard neighbors are welcoming this concept of a community-oriented shopping center.

John Ashcroft and Roe v. Wade
Posted Friday, January 19
This Saturday, the nation will witness the inauguration of George W. Bush as the 43rd President of the United States. Bush achieved the presidency through one of the most closely divided elections in the country's history. The weekend will also see events that mark another historic occasion. The 1973 U.S. Supreme ruling on Roe v. Wade gave women in the U.S. the right to choose a legal abortion as a means to terminate pregnancy. The Senate has been holding confirmation hearings this week on the appointment of Missouri Republican Senator John Ashcroft to the post of U.S. Attorney General. As 90.3's Karen Schaefer reports, many groups in Ohio hold strong views on what Ashcroft's confirmation might mean.

Character Education Programs: Improving the Learning Environment of Schools
Posted Friday, January 19
Cleveland and many other Ohio cities grapple with a multitude of problems when it comes to public education. Buildings are in poor condition, textbooks and lab equipment are outdated, not enough money is available to attract and retain high quality teachers. But one of the most frustrating aspects of teaching, many educators say, is the students themselves. In many schools too many students are unruly, undisciplined and disrespectful. And that, they say, makes teaching all but impossible. One teaching concept is gaining favor as a way to improve the learning environment: Character Education. 90.3's Bill Rice reports.

Economic Slow Down May Affect Cleveland
Posted Thursday, January 18
These economic times are confusing. Everyone agrees spending has slowed down, but not by how much or why. There are lots theories being floated what's happened to throw cold water on the red hot economy. Everyone agrees the growth couldn't last forever. 90.3 WCPN's Mike West explores what could be in store for our area if the slow down continues. And if the economic danger is real or imagined.

Local School Funding Problems: Urban Predicament Hinders Education
Posted Wednesday, January 17
Ohio's school funding debate will heat up in the coming weeks. Four years ago the state Supreme Court ruled that Ohio failed to provide a thorough and efficient system for educating its citizens. It targeted the state's reliance on local property taxes to pay for education as the culprit, and ordered the General Assembly to come up with a suitable alternative. Its first try in 1999 failed to satisfy the court, and so now lawmakers are back at the table, with a June 1st deadline to meet the court's mandate. As part of our ongoing examination of the school funding issue, 90.3's Bill Rice looks at what the impending changes might mean for some of the area's poorer school districts.

Cleveland’s Crumbling Schools Hard to Ignore
Posted Tuesday, January 16
Many grade schools in Cleveland come with a long history. Generations of residents fondly remember watching or playing basketball on courts where a game was played just a few weeks ago. More than 40% of Cleveland schools were built before World War II. After decades of wear and tear, the memories might remain intact, but the brick and mortar is failing. Last November, school infrastructure became impossible for Cleveland administrators to ignore. 90.3's Janet Babin reports.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.
Posted Monday, January 15
Today we celebrate the man and his dream. Martin Luther King Jr. Day acknowledges the leader of the civil rights movement, but the generations that came after the struggle are likely to feel disconnected from that period in history. 90.3 FM's Tarice Sims spoke to the eldest child of Dr. King about how to remedy this problem. Yolanda King says her dream is to use the arts, to help her father's dream come alive for a new generation.

Dieting Resolutions Pose Challenge for Ohioans
Posted Tuesday, January 9
A new year means people are making resolutions. Millions of Ohioans have probably already promised themselves they'll lose weight. According to the Ohio Department of Health, two-thirds of the state's adults population say they are overweight. And studies show women are most likely to try dieting. But the pressures of living up to weight goals, complicated health risks and enduring major lifestyle changes make dieting frustrating for many women. 90.3 FM's Tarice Sims reports.

Local Serbs Celebrate Holiday, New Government
Posted Monday, January 8
For most Ohioans, the holidays are now just a memory, as the reality of a new year is settling in. But for many local people of Serbian heritage, Christmas came yesterday, and the festivities continue over the next couple weeks, in accordance with the Eastern Orthodox Christian calendar. Local Serbs are also celebrating a newly elected government in their homeland -- a government that faces tremendous challenges as it enters the twenty-first century. 90.3's David C. Barnett reports.

Energy Choice: The New Deregulated Markets for Electricity and Natural Gas
Posted Friday, January 5
Ohio's new law deregulating the electric industry took effect on Monday. For the first time, residential customers are able to choose their electricity supplier. Proponents hope the new law will spark competition and reduce rates, particularly in Northern Ohio where residents pay the highest electricity prices in the state. But many residents are confused about the new law, even in communities like Cleveland that chose to aggregate - or pool their buying power. Some are worried that the soaring prices and threatened blackouts that followed deregulation in California could be repeated in Ohio. And some officials are concerned that the high cost of natural gas could wipe out short-term savings on electricity. 90.3's Karen Schaefer has this report.