The Sound of Ideas

AAA predicts that a record 72.2 million Americans will travel during the week of July 4, crowding the roads with extra traffic. Meanwhile, it's the so-called 100 deadliest days of summer -- the time from Memorial Day to Labor Day when the most traffic crashes occur.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed off on the state's new two-year operating budget at the deadline late Monday night into Tuesday. The $60 billion dollar spending plan includes money for a new Browns stadium in Brook Park. The state will chip in $600 million taken from unclaimed funds held by the Ohio Department of Commerce. The budget also flattens Ohio's income tax down to a single bracket meaning everyone, minus those who are exempted, will pay the same 2.75% tax rate. DeWine, however, did strike 67 elements from the budget using his line-item veto. It's by far the most he's used the line-item veto. For comparison, on the last operating budget, DeWine used the veto pen 44 times. Statehouse leaders have questioned why the governor removed elements of the budget viewed as property tax relief. Later, we bring you an excerpt from the 11th and final episode of the "Living for We: Keep Ya Head Up" podcast.

As the Fourth of July weekend approaches, water safety and drowning prevention guidance is crucial. In the last month, more than five people have died by drowning in Northeast Ohio and dozens more have been rescued on the Cuyahoga River.

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that lower federal judges had overstepped their authority by imposing nationwide injunctions that blocked President Trump's executive order curbing birthright citizenship.

Ohio's new two-year $60 billion operating budget is off to Gov. Mike DeWine. The budget passed through a reconciliation committee, and both chambers of the legislature this week. The budget is massive coming in at 5,000-plus pages laying out a mix of spending, tax cuts and policy measures. One of the most watched items: whether the state should pick up part of the tab for the Browns domed stadium in Brook Park. The final budget came down on the side of the Senate plan to tap the state's Unclaimed Funds to pay $600 million toward the project. The operating budget contains many other spending details including for schools and libraries. It also includes a change to the state's income tax –essentially flattening the tax so that everyone who's required to pay state taxes pays the same percentage regardless of what they make. Gov. Mike DeWine can still use a line-item veto to strike out elements of the budget if he chooses to do so.

We'll discuss the latest strikes in Iran, and the greater role the U.S. is playing in the Middle East.

Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, is often called the "sandwich generation" because many are simultaneously caring for their aging parents while still supporting their own children. On Tuesday's program, we'll talk to local Gen Xers about life, societal pressures and growing up before the start of the digital age.

A panel of foreign policy experts discusses the radical foreign policy changes happening in the second Trump administration, from tariffs to policy in the Middle East.

Ohioans have told lawmakers they need to do something about increasing property taxes. While a grassroots effort to put a constitutional amendment before voters to abolish property taxes works to collect petition signatures, a number of other bills and proposals are taking shape at the Statehouse. One of those bills would reduce property tax collections by $3.5 billion is getting pushback. House Bill 335 would eliminate the 1% property tax value that schools and local governments can levy without voter approval. It's known as inside millage. The bill is sponsored by Republican state Representative David Thomas of Jefferson, in Ashtabula County. Schools and local governments say the bill would be cataclysmic for school staffing and public services. Property taxes and what to do about them begins this week's discussion of news on the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently removed members of a vaccine advisory panel for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts say this could impact vaccine rate, availability and insurance coverage.

The center is celebrating this milestone and Pride Month amidst a slew of changing laws and orders on the state and federal levels, from banning gender-affirming care to prohibiting DEI programs at public universities.

Between a low supply of houses and sellers accepting cash offers, the housing market for first time buyers is tough right now.

Ohio Senate Republicans passed their version of the budget on Wednesday which included money for a new domed Browns stadium and would over the course of the budget reduce the state's income tax brackets to a flat tax. No Democrats in the Senate voted for the budget. Now negotiations move to a conference committee to work out differences between the Senate and House versions which will then be signed by Governor Mike DeWine who has line-item veto power.  We will begin the Friday “Sound of Ideas” Reporters Roundtable with the Senate version of the budget and the potential compromises that could come in the reconciliation process.

A new trail connecting Downtown Cleveland to the city's west side and creating new one-way streets are aimed at fostering more pedestrian activity and safety.

We will talk with academics in politics and law about a newly implemented travel ban as well as the call-up of the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles.

Public schools are waiting to see how Ohio will fund K-12 districts, as lawmakers debate different proposals in the next operating budget which needs to be finalized, passed and signed by the end of June.

On the "Sound of Ideas" we will talk to several people living with ADHD, and a doctor who works in diagnosis and treatment.

The Ohio Senate this week revealed its initial budget proposal, and it included $600 million for a Browns stadium in Brook Park, but from a new funding source. Instead of backing bonds -- borrowed money with interest -- as the House proposed, the Senate proposed taking $1.7 billion from the state's unclaimed property fund to create a Sports and Culture Facility Fund, $600 million of which would be directed toward the Browns project.  The city of East Cleveland currently has two people claiming the title of mayor. The president of the city council, Lateek Shabazz, was sworn in Sunday days after the conviction of Mayor Brandon King. Back in February, Cuyahoga County Probate Court Presiding Judge Anthony Russo had appointed Sandra Morgan to the post after King was suspended pending trial. City council members say the conviction ended that temporary appointment, and the charter says the council president moves into the job. The interim mayor, Sandra Morgan, says she's going nowhere until the judge says she done. We will begin Friday's “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” discussing the Senate budget including the funding to education as well as the East Cleveland mayoral situation.

The new law, which goes into effect in October, was introduced by Ward 17 Councilmember Charles Slife. It also bans employers from asking applicants for their salary history.

As the state's new operating budget takes shape in Columbus, we're getting a look at what priorities the Senate has for spending over the next two years.

We'll talk to the president of the Knight Foundation, which continues to support democracy and independent local news in 26 communities, including Akron.

ALICE is a new term being used by The United Way, it stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Those are individuals who are often working full time and still struggling to make ends meet.

A jury convicted suspended East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King yesterday. The jury found King guilty on 10 of 12 corruption-related charges including theft in office and having an unlawful interest in a public contract. King was accused of steering city contracts to businesses owned by him and his relatives. King was accused of steering city contracts to businesses owned by him and his relatives and a codefendant, former councilmember Ernest Smith, was convicted of five charges. The judge scheduled sentencing for June 9. After intense public backlash, the Cleveland Clinic reversed course this week on a plan to begin requiring copays up front before doctors' appointments or other nonemergency treatment. The new policy was set to begin next week. The doctor will still see you, even if you don't fork over the copay, and the hospital will arrange a no interest payment plan. That's a relief to critics who said the pay-first policy would disproportionately impact lower income patients and cause people to put off medical care.  We will talk about the jury's verdict and the Clinic's decision to begin this week's “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.”

Between 2018 and 2021, more people started using talk therapy as part of their mental health care, while using only medication became less common.

The Great Lakes provide fresh drinking water to more than 30 million people, power a multi-billion-dollar shipping industry, and create habitats for millions of fish, birds, and other wildlife. Experts say recent federal funding cuts to one prominent lab that monitors the Great Lakes, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, may be putting the health of the lakes in danger. We will begin Wednesday's "Sound of Ideas" with a discussion on the topic of Great Lakes water quality and the potential impact for those who rely on the lakes for their daily needs. Later, putting fluoride in public drinking water has been called one of the 10 great public health interventions of the 20th century according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention due to the large reduction in cavities since the practice began in 1945. But U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said last month that he plans to tell the CDC to stop this recommendation nationwide, and has called fluoride a "dangerous neurotoxin" that he claims is linked to several health problems. Dental experts and public health advocates have pushed back on these claims, and continue to advocate for the practice.

The next "Sound of Ideas Community Tour" is being held in conjunction with the Cleveland Orchestra's Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival and focuses on people reentering society post-incarceration.

Cleveland Heights Mayor Kahlil Seren posted a 15-minute video on social media Wednesday, denying that his wife made antisemitic remarks in text messages and conversation. Residents angrily confronted him at Monday night's City Council meeting, demanding his resignation. He has been under fire since March, when former Akron Mayor resigned as city administrator just three months into his tenure, saying the job was untenable because of a relative of the mayor. Questions about the actions of the mayor's wife, Natalie McDaniel, have persisted. The council will hold a special committee meeting later Friday in which they'll discuss the mayor's comments. We will discuss the mayor's response and what led to it to begin Friday's “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.” We will also talk about some of the other top stories of the week including, the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County cutting ties this week with the Greater Cleveland Partnership. The GCP, the region's chamber of commerce, sided with the Browns ownership by endorsing the plan to leave downtown for a new football complex in Brook Park.

A new Mother Jones investigation looked at the role Wall Street played in Steward Health Care's recent bankruptcy, which led to the closures of two hospitals in Trumbull County.

When it comes to managing serious illness or the final phase of life, surveys show that a majority of Americans say they have at least heard of hospice or palliative care but most admit they may not know a lot about either topic. We're going to talk about both to begin Wednesdays “Sound of Ideas." Later, it's an excerpt from the latest episode of "Living for We: Keep Ya Head Up."

The Ohio House's version of the state budget would reduce state funding for public libraries by more than $100 million over the next two years, compared to the Governor's proposal.

Several reporters from The Marshall Project - Cleveland are covering how Cuyahoga County's Office of Reentry is working with neighborhood groups to assist with those leaving prison.

A grassroots effort to eliminate property taxes in Ohio received the green light this week to begin gathering signatures for the proposed ballot measure. Citizens for Property Tax Reform must gather 443,000 valid signatures from 44 of Ohio's 88 by July 2 to qualify for the November ballot. Property taxes and relief have been a major concern for Ohioans as valuations have risen steeply for many over the last few years. We will begin the Friday “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” with the property tax amendment and what it could mean for Ohio if passed.

A University Hospitals cardiologist explains how exposure to environmental factors such as air and water pollution may put you at higher risk of developing heart disease and chronic health issues.

The formal inauguration mass for Pope Leo the Fourteenth will be celebrated this weekend in Rome where he will be enthroned as the leader of the Catholic Church. Coming up, we will talk with Northeast Ohio Catholics about the selection of Pope Leo and how the choice is impacting the church. Later, did you have a list of chores to do as a kid? Many children today aren't helping around the house as much as previous generations due to busy school and extra curricular schedules. But experts say those small household tasks can set children up for later life success.

The federal government restarted collections following a five-year pause, which could impact five million borrowers with millions more on the precipice of going into default, according to the Department of Education.

Climate data shows that we're experiencing longer growing seasons, which means more pollen and allergens.

Cleveland Hopkins Airport will be getting a major makeover in the next decade. The city unveiled a $1.1 billion renovation including a new terminal that will open in 2032, and other enhancements including more parking and a new Regional Transit Authority Red Line rapid transit station. Mayor Just Bibb said in announcing the makeover that in order to be a world class city, Cleveland needed a world class airport. He also acknowledged he's heard the complaints about the airport's bathrooms. We will talk about the renovation of the airport to begin this week's Friday Reporters Roundtable.

The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced a partnership that will focus on studying the root causes of autism spectrum disorder using Medicare and Medicaid enrollees' data.

We will talk with the League of Women Voters of Ohio about the recognition of women's achievements and author Allison Tyra talks about her new book, "Uncredited."

Cleveland's infant mortality rate is significantly higher than the national average. A new birthing center in the city's Hough neighborhood aims to improve outcomes for Black and brown mothers and children.

As part of Akron's yearlong bicentennial celebration, the city has planned various events through the summer, including the Heart of Akron Festival on July 3 and 4.

Akron's board of education accepted the resignation of the current superintendent and hired its next district leader without a search. It all happened in one very long meeting this week. Out is Michael Robinson who leaves after less than two years leading the district. An investigation found allegations that he bullied and intimidated staff were credible. In is Mary Outley. She's twice been the interim superintendent and was tapped for the job when the board put Robinson on leave earlier this month due to the investigation into complaints against him. We will begin the Friday “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” with the district's change in leadership.

On May 4, 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired into a crowd of Kent State University demonstrators, killing four and wounding nine students. Events are planned on campus from May 2–4 to commemorate the day.

For years, scholars have been drawing parallels to the evolution of the Roman Republic and the modern United States.