Regional Features: Archive by Date

March 2002

Drug Policy & Treatment in Ohio, Part 2
Posted Friday, March 29
This spring you may be approached and asked to sign a petition for the Ohio Drug Treatment Initiative. Supporters hope to put this constitutional referendum on Ohio's ballot this November. 90.3 WCPN's April Baer reports.

Live Broadcast from Oriana House
Posted Friday, March 29
This spring, activists are trying to convince Ohioans that it's time to change drug policies, and offer more options for drug treatment. On Friday, March 29th, 90.3 WCPN's morning team hit the road for an hour-long broadcast from Oriana House, a treatment center in the heart of Midtown Cleveland. Through a series of stories and interviews, we explored the nature of addiction, heard who qualifies for treatment, discussed the Ohio Drug Treatment Initiative, and talked about how Greater Cleveland treats people grappling with substance abuse. Many people imagine recovering addicts as physically and mentally broken, but the reality of their situations may surprise you.

Drug Policy & Treatment in Ohio, Part 1
Posted Thursday, March 28
Today, over 70,000 people are receiving help from the state for substance abuse problems. Some are in treatment because they asked for it, but the majority come through the criminal justice system. This fall, Ohioans will be asked to decriminalize the treatment system for certain kinds of drug addicts. 90.3 WCPN's April Baer reports on the tens of thousands of people at the center of the debate: non-violent drug abusers.

AIDS Still a Threat to Community
Posted Tuesday, March 26
The number of people living with HIV and AIDS in Ohio is increasing. Since the mid 1990's, the number of cases climbed by nearly 4,000 people. Still, these statistics represent those living with the disease. Deaths are on the decline thanks to new drug regimens and a better understanding of the virus. But those who work with infected people say the attitude toward the disease has gotten too relaxed and the public needs to realize AIDS is still a threat to the community. 90.3 WCPN's Tarice Sims reports.

Doan Brook: Restoring a Polluted Urban Stream
Posted Wednesday, March 20
Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River are much cleaner than they used to be. But experts warn that many smaller tributaries - especially in urban areas - are actually becoming more polluted. Sources include bacteria from sewer overflows, sediment from construction sites, and chemical run-off from lawns, streets and rooftops. In their natural state, ecologists say small streams help purify water and reduce flooding after storms. But most urban streams are anything but natural. The challenge of restoring polluted urban streams is one few communities have attempted, but one such effort is now underway. 90.3 WCPN's Karen Schaefer has this report on restoring the Doan Brook.

Robotics Competition Visits Cleveland
Posted Tuesday, March 19
More than a decade ago a New Hampshire inventor wondered what would be a good way to get kids interested in science and engineering? What he came up with started small - just a few teams in the gymnasium of Nashua High School - and has since exploded across the country. Last weekend Cleveland was host to the FIRST Buckeye Regional Robotics Competition - part of a national event credited with introducing kids everywhere to the wonders of science and what it can accomplish. Boring, you say? Not on your life. 90.3 WCPN's Bill Rice checked out the action and filed this report.

Intelligent Design Call-in Show
Posted Monday, March 18
Web Exclusive - Is the theory of evolution wrong in its assertion that species adapt and evolve through a series of random mutations? Can the question of whether a conscious, intelligent agent is responsible for the creation of life be answered scientifically? On Monday, March 18th, we took a critical look at Intelligent Design - a theory that some would like to see added to the state's academic science curriculum. We talked with two experts - one for and one against the idea. As part of the call-in show, we asked listeners to email us their comments. Here is a listing of the comments that didn't make it on the air.

Towpath Trail to Come Downtown
Posted Thursday, March 14
Today (3/14/02) the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission will vote to adopt a plan for the final segment of the Towpath Trail. 90.3 WCPN's Karen Schaefer has more.

Shaker Heights Confronts West Nile Virus
Posted Thursday, March 14
To spray or not to spray - that's the question a group of residents and city leaders in Shaker Heights have been asking since last summer when the community was hit hard by the West Nile Virus. As 90.3 WCPN's Renita Jablonski reports, now the community is getting ready to launch a city-wide prevention plan to protect residents from mosquitoes carrying the deadly disease.

Outdated Computers Litter City Hall
Posted Wednesday, March 13
There's a technology gap that's growing wider at Cleveland's city hall. While the private sector continues to upgrade its computer capabilities, most workers at 601 Lakeside find themselves without e-mail or even internet access. This lack of technology has city leaders turning their keyboards to the public for help. 90.3 WCPN's Mike West has this report.

Cracking Down on Predatory Lending
Posted Monday, March 11
In 90 days, Ohio's freshly-signed predatory lending law will take effect. Lawmakers who backed the bill say it represents the first step toward bringing predatory lenders to justice. The bill establishes a new committee that will study the problems Ohioans have been having with unscrupulous sub-prime lenders, believed to be responsible for hundreds of thousands of needless foreclosures statewide. But some victims and advocates feel the state's response to predatory lending is belated at best. Those who've been burned say many things will have to change if Ohio is to get a handle on its predatory lending problem. 90.3 WCPN's April Baer reports.

Arguing Intelligent Design
Posted Friday, March 8
Next week the Ohio School Board takes up the origins of life, and whether the view that there is an intelligent force responsible for creating life is worthy of study in Ohio's science classes. Opponents of including so-called Intelligent Design in the state science standards are pushing hard to keep it out. And people are listening, if the turnout at a forum on the subject last weekend is any indication. 2,500 people packed the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square and listened as two science scholars denounced the idea. Those same two scholars will appear before the school board on Monday, and argue their views opposite two proponents of Intelligent Design. The political undercurrents of the debate are strong, as 90.3 WCPN's Bill Rice explains.

Questioning Evolution: Intelligent Design Theory, Part 2
Posted Thursday, March 7
The Ohio Board of Education is looking at the question of the origins of life as it revises the state academic science standards. At issue: Is the theory of evolution, by itself, sufficient to address the age-old question of where we come from, or should alternative theories also be taught? When that debate surfaced in Kansas some years ago the mostly conservative Christian school board pushed biblical creation as a plausible scientific theory. That majority was quickly replaced in the next election. Here in Ohio those challenging the supremacy of evolutionary theory have taken another tack - one they say puts them on much firmer ground. 90.3 WCPN's Bill Rice reports.

Balancing the Budget of Cleveland
Posted Wednesday, March 6
Cleveland City Council members are knee deep in numbers, trying to wade through the city's finances and come up with a balanced budget. City budget hearings have been ongoing since last week when Mayor Jane Campbell formally presented her proposed 2002 budget. Campbell's plan includes laying off about 140 city workers to help make up for a $56 million deficit. With the assumption that there's no surplus from last year, combined with state cutbacks and decreasing permit and tax revenues, this year's budget process is particularly grim. Still, as 90.3 WCPN's Renita Jablonski reports, even after a week of hearings, council members are doggedly optimistic.

Breast Cancer Funding from the State
Posted Tuesday, March 5
Recently members of the Northern Ohio Breast Cancer Coalition, or NOBCC, went to Washington D.C. to learn how to become better lobbyists. Last year the cause lost nearly $200 million to the Defense Budget. At the time the members couldn't argue - now they say it's crucial to get the money back. Already this year the American Cancer Society is predicting more than 200,000 women will be diagnosed - and with unemployment on the rise many of those women will be uninsured. Here in Ohio a new program is striving to meet the needs of women who are need of medical services - but some say the program needs to be expanded. And the voices of the cause have grown and become more diverse. More men are joining the efforts to get legislation to help those afflicted, not because they know survivors but because in some cases they are the survivors. 90.3 WCPN's Tarice Sims reports.

Busta Moves Out
Posted Monday, March 4
Much has been made of the economic climate that sends Ohio college graduates elsewhere in search of a livelihood. In Cleveland, that "brain drain" has been accompanied by the flight of artists looking to find fame in New York or L.A. For the past decade, gallery owner William Busta has worked to stem this "art drain" by promoting local talent. But now, Busta says he's calling it quits. 90.3 WCPN's David C. Barnett reports.

Can Radiation Pills Help?
Posted Friday, March 1
State health officials are considering a plan to distribute a drug that could help prevent thyroid cancer in the event of an accident at one of Ohio's nuclear power plants. While most local officials favor the distribution, they warn the treatment is not a magic pill. 90.3 WCPN's Karen Schaefer has more.