Regional Features: Archive by Date

February 2001

Character Education, Part Two: The Debate Over CE Programs Continues
Posted Tuesday, February 27
A movement to bring good character back to America's children has been underway in public education for the better part of a decade, and it's gaining strength. Proponents say principles like honesty, respect and integrity are sorely lacking among many school kids. More than 50 school districts in Ohio have implemented character education programs with the help of state and federal grants. Last week we introduced you to a Character Ed program at Cleveland's John Marshall High School. Today we look at some of the history and current debate surrounding such programs. 90.3's Bill Rice reports.

Cleveland Budget Midway Report
Posted Monday, February 26
Cleveland City Council continues its budget hearings this week. The process is behind schedule, and some key city department budgets still have to be reviewed. 90.3's Janet Babin has an update.

American Auto Sales Slump: Foreign Product Reigns in Auto Industry
Posted Friday, February 23
Sales of Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler products started slowing down at the end of last year and the slump continued into January. Car dealers blame fears of a slowing economy and the falling stock market for putting a vise on the wallets of many consumers. But while American car companies reported double digit declines in January, it was very different story for their foreign competitors. Mike West reports.

Revisiting the Underground Railroad
Posted Thursday, February 22
In the years before the Civil War, runaway slaves seeking freedom were often assisted on their journey be a secret network known as the Underground Railroad. While people in many states participated in this network, nowhere is the history of that effort better documented than right here in Ohio. Today we'll revisit one of Ohio's links to the Underground Railroad in a story about abolitionist John Brown and his ties to the community of Hudson. We'll also hear from our neighbors across the lake at the end of the Underground Railroad, where the Canadian experience has been very different from our own. 90.3's Karen Schaefer reports.

John Copeland: A Hero of Harper’s Ferry
Posted Wednesday, February 21
In 1859, at a small river crossing in Virginia, an event took place that would change the course of a nation. John Anthony Copeland - a young black man from Oberlin - was one of those who followed the infamous John Brown to his death at Harper's Ferry. In a nation poised for Civil War, the raid served to heighten the growing divisions between North and South. Brown was called a martyr by some, by others a dangerous fanatic. But what of the young men who followed his leadership? Was John Copeland a hero - or a hotheaded fool? 90.3's Karen Schaefer brings us his story.

Miracle Kidney Saves Two Youngstown Lives
Posted Wednesday, February 21
Two women - one with a life threatening kidney illness, the other with a desire to help - are brought together by a miracle. It sounds like a Sunday afternoon movie special, but it is the real story of acquaintances in Youngstown. As 90.3 FM's Tarice Sims reports, one woman, inspired by a television show tried to help save her friend's life and ending up saving her own as well.

Being Black, Female, & Successful: A Discussion With Three Cleveland Women
Posted Monday, February 19
Black History Month is flying by, and soon Women's History Month will be upon us. In honor of both of these months, 90.3's Janet Babin held a discussion with three Cleveland women about being black, female and successful.

Reworking the Wards: Boundry Reassignment May Shake Up Political Order
Posted Friday, February 16
You may see a lot more of your Cleveland City Council representative in the coming months. This is an election year - all 21 members will defend their seats. But before the contenders jump headlong into the campaign season, some may have to re-negotiate their home turf. This spring, council's ward boundaries will be redrawn - in ways that may shake up existing political order, as 90.3's April Baer reports.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Part Two
Posted Thursday, February 15
Each year in this country, a growing number of people are diagnosed with a condition known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities or MCS. Some U.S. veterans suffering from this mysterious ailment are thought to have been exposed to toxic chemicals during the Gulf War ten years ago. But another, larger group of people here at home also show violent reactions to chemicals most of us are exposed to every day. However it's acquired, MCS can cause severe disabilities that last a lifetime. That's why the federal government is taking new steps to protect the health of people with MCS. And one Cleveland hospital is starting to educate its staff about the condition. 90.3's Karen Schaefer has this report.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, Part One
Posted Thursday, February 15
Many people can get a headache from strong chemicals like bleach or from breathing heavy perfumes. But there's a growing number of Americans who experience severe toxic reactions to low-levels of common chemicals. Doctors have labeled the condition Multiple Chemical Sensitivities or MCS. While no one knows what causes it, people with MCS are unquestionably sick. The condition can be so disabling that many people lose their jobs, their social lives, even their families. And MCS can be life-threatening. Are some people being poisoned by the 21st century? 90.3's Karen Schaefer reports.

Faith-Based Groups to Compete For Funding
Posted Tuesday, February 13
Faith groups will be watching closely as a new Bush administration initiative makes its way through public debate. Two weeks ago President Bush issued an executive order allowing faith-based social service organizations to compete with secular groups for federal dollars. In Greater Cleveland much of the faith community welcomes the change, but there are some skeptics. 90.3's Bill Rice reports.

Cleveland’s 2001 Budget Highlights: Give and Take Between Leaders
Posted Monday, February 12
Tonight Cleveland's 2001 budget will be read into City Council's record. That starts a 7+ week process of give-and-take between the administration and council as officials decide where tax dollars will be spent. 90.3's Janet Babin has more.

Soaring Gas Bills Trouble Ohioans: Will Deregulation Bring the Cost Down?
Posted Thursday, February 8
Many Ohioans are up in arms over the skyrocketing cost of natural gas this winter. Tales of heating bills that are double, even triple, what some customers paid last year abound. This comes at a time when a deregulated natural gas industry was supposed to usher in lower prices. That combined with the electric power crisis in California has some people wondering if deregulation is such a good idea. But the architects of Ohio's energy policies stand by them. In the first of two reports on utility deregulation, 90.3's Bill Rice reports.

Urban Gear Explosion: “Hip-Hop Style” Trend Popular With Youths
Posted Wednesday, February 7
A recent study out of the University of Georgia says that by 2001, African American consumers would be largest consumer group among minority races in the country. They're projected to spend over $570 billion this year. And researchers say while larger corporations have been pursuing that market, smaller companies are just catching on. Locally, retailers have reached out to the younger African Americans capitalizing on a clothing trend known as hip hop style. It is so popular that it's influenced one local retailer to change its merchandise from casual preppy to what is called "urban gear". As Tarice Sims reports, the urban gears marketing target group is more influenced by urban labels and marketing images than they are price.

Growing World of Internet Radio: The Way You Listen Will Never Be The Same
Posted Tuesday, February 6
The word "stream" has traditionally brought to mind the image of a brook babbling through the countryside. But, these days, there are also electronic streams of audio information which course through the Internet. In recent weeks, a provocative advertising campaign has called attention to the way these streams are changing the world of broadcasting. 90.3's David C. Barnett reports the way you listen to radio may never be the same again.

Airport Competes with Current Landscape:  Room for Expansion Comes at a Price
Posted Monday, February 5
Rumors of merger talks between Continental and Delta airlines are heating up again, adding to the uncertainty surrounding the city's $1.4 billion expansion plans for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. The city also needs environmental permits to move forward. Some residents continue to resent the expansion, and hope it's not too late for a change of plans. 90.3's Janet Babin reports.

Emergency Custody Decisions: Part One
Posted Friday, February 2
Cuyahoga County has custody of some 6,000 children, who -- for a variety of reasons -- would not be safe at home, and every day social workers with the Department of Children and Family Services are asked to investigate dozens more troubled families, and make critical custody decisions. Sometimes the decision-making process breaks down. Last spring, a child whose family was under investigation by DCFS, died, the victim of child abuse. While the court system has already tried and convicted the girl's mother for the crime, the decisions made in the course of the case continue to haunt the agency. 90.3's April Baer has the first of two reports on how the county handles emergency custody.

Emergency Custody Decisions: Part Two
Posted Friday, February 2
Last year Cuyahoga County's Department of Children and Family Services had to deal with 18,000 phone calls suggesting that a child is abused or neglected. Of those 18,000, one has provoked consequences that are felt in the agency to this day. It's the case of 4-year-old Sidney Sawyer, who was beaten to death last spring. At the time, the case provoked a massive outcry: the county had been investigating Sidney's family for possible child abuse at the time of her death -- why hadn't the child been taken from the home? Earlier this morning we told you about the tools the county uses to decide whether to take emergency custody. 90.3's April Baer now looks at how the system missed Sidney.