Northeast Ohio Congressman Max Miller, a Republican from Bay Village said in an opinion piece in the "Washington Times" that his constituents are afraid to come into the city because of crime. He wants the National Guard to deploy to Cleveland as it has done in Washington, D.C. and is being considered for other cities such as Chicago. But Gov. Mike DeWine says state-agencies will be tasked with crime-related duties in Ohio cities not troops.
We will begin the Friday “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” with the call by U.S. Rep. Miller and others for the Guard to come to Cleveland and where Mayor Justin Bibb stands.
It's been over a week since the conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated while addressing an audience on the campus of Utah Valley University and since then, we've seen the limits of free speech put to the test.
People across the country were punished for their reactions to Kirk's death, from the high profile canceling of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live show after pressure from the F.C.C. to local officials being suspended or resigning due to comments critical of Kirk that they made on social media.
It's that time of year when schools are the ones getting graded. The state report cards measuring last year's academic performance for Ohio's more than 600 public school districts came out this week. Reading scores are down half a percentage point statewide, while math scores went up almost two points. In Northeast Ohio, Akron Public Schools jumped up an entire star in the state's 5-star rating system, from 2.5 to 3.5, meanwhile Cleveland went down from 3 to 2-and-a-half stars.
Cleveland City Council publicly reprimanded one of its own this week. Members voted to formally censure Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones for misconduct and unprofessional workplace behavior. It's the first censure in 50 years for council.
Three unions representing educators in Ohio are suing over an element in the state budget that changes the makeup of the board overseeing teachers' pensions. The unions say the budget measure is unconstitutional and takes away the voice of teachers on the State Teachers Retirement System Board which oversees teachers' retirement money.
Summit County arts leaders are looking at neighboring counties as they discuss how to create a stable funding mechanism. The arts helped bring in $1.4 billion to the local economy pre-pandemic, according to those assembled on an Akron Press Club panel which included ArtsNow, the Akron Civic Theater and the Akron Community Foundation.
Guests:
-Abbey Marshall, Local Government Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Conor Morris, Education Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV
