Regional News Stories: March 2006

Restore Cleveland Hope: The Cozad-Bates House
Posted Thursday, March 30, 2006
The woman who walked across Ohio on the Underground Railroad is trying to save one of the last physical links to Cleveland's role in helping fugitive slaves escape to Canada before the Civil War. Joan Southgate organized an event last weekend to draw attention to the Cozad-Bates House in University Circle and its strong ties to the Underground Railroad. Next week members of the city's planning commission will vote to decide whether to give the house protected status. As ideastream's Karen Schaefer reports, it could be the first step toward celebrating a previously untold chapter of Cleveland's history.

Making Change: Keeping Up With Global Competition
Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006
An example of the new world of workforce training needs can be found in an industrial park in Medina County. Destiny Manufacturing is an automotive metal stamping plant that had it's origins in the Rockstedt tool and die company of Cleveland. Rockstedt has built a reputation on making precise metal forms - or "dies" - that Destiny uses to stamp out thousands of hinges and brackets a day. In 1998, the companies moved their operations to Brunswick, where there was room to expand, along with some favorable tax breaks. Destiny's Michael Schuessler recently spoke with ideastream's David C. Barnett about that move and about the changes that his industry has weathered in recent years. Schuessler says, the making of dies used to be a big business here.

Making Change: Growing Jobs In Medina County
Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006
While a dark economic cloud seems to have stalled over a good portion of Northeast Ohio, Medina County is basking in the new light of prosperity. It's one of the fastest growing regions in the state, and that growth is transforming the local economy. As part of Making Change: Building the Region's Future, ideastream's David C. Barnett reports on how Medina officials are trying to grow jobs that reflect a new world of work.

Making Change: The Kalamazoo Promise
Posted Wednesday, March 22, 2006
In last year's mayoral election in Cleveland, a number of candidates spoke of the need to bolster public education. Not just because Cleveland schools aren't performing well - they also pointed to public education as a potential economic engine. Kalamazoo, Michigan, shares many of the same issues we face in northeast Ohio: empty factories, an often stagnant real estate market. A group of philanthropists put their heads together with the schools' superintendent and decided to do something revolutionary - offer free college tuition for public school students... all of them. Sounded pretty interesting, so we contacted Bob Jorth - he's the executive director of what the school district is calling the Kalamazoo Promise. He says the program is generating a lot of interest.

President Bush at City Club: Stay the Course in Iraq
Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2006
President Bush told a City Club audience in Cleveland Monday that he can understand why, in the face of continuing violence in Iraq, some Americans have lost faith in the war. But he says progress is being made and that Americans will stay the course. ideastream's Karen Schaefer reports.

Reaction to President Bush’s City Club Speech
Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2006
The President's speech to the City Club of Cleveland appeared to demonstrate a new tact - using emotional stories to make the case for the war. He spent more than twenty minutes detailing the challenges of life in the town of Tal Afar, a city he says is about the size of Akron and lies near the Syrian border. He spoke of #####-trapped bodies of children, for instance, and other children forced to hold down the legs people being decapitated by insurgents. Just after the speech, ideastream's Dan Moulthrop spoke with Amos Guiora of Case Western Reserve's Institute for Global Security, and Dr. David Cohen of the University of Akron's Bliss Institute of Applied Politics about Bush's message.

The Pact: Interview with Director Andrea Kalin
Posted Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Three young black men from one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country grow up on a track to follow just about everybody around them: straight to jail. But something happens - they find faith in one another, and together, they beat the odds. They become doctors, and they choose to work in the community where they grew up - mostly, they say, to be role models for young people in the community. By now, the story of Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt is well known to teenagers and adults who have read their best-selling book The Pact. Last night, the documentary about their lives and their mission premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival. The film was directed by Andrea Kalin, who joined ideastream's Dan Moulthrop in Studio 4 at the Idea Center.

Point of Sale Inspections
Posted Monday, March 20, 2006
Selling a house can be a huge undertaking. Now a growing number of suburbs around Cleveland are requiring homes to pass final inspections before titles are transferred. Some say the practice, known as Point of Sale Inspections, boosts the quality of the housing stock. But a growing number of community leaders and citizens object to the added costs. In South Euclid, City Council wants the inspections to start this year, but some citizens want to put it to a vote. ideastream's Lisa Ann Pinkerton reports.

Economy of War Biggest Concern
Posted Monday, March 20, 2006
President Bush is in Cleveland today, where he'll mark the third anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq with a speech at the City Club to rally support for the war. The most recent Gallup poll shows only 40% of Americans believe the war has been worth it. But for many Ohio Republican politicians fighting to retain their seats in the upcoming election, it's not the war itself, but the cost of the war on the economy that's the biggest concern. ideastream's Karen Schaefer reports.

Making Change: Three Billion New Capitalists: Interview with Clyde Prestowitz
Posted Monday, March 13, 2006
We're all fairly well accustomed to the notion of outsourcing. It happens all the time - customer service or manufacturing jobs move from the Midwest to the far east. But what if more than jobs were moving east? What if what was actually moving was wealth and power? That's exactly what former Reagan Administration trade official Clyde Prestowitz says is happening. Prestowitz is the President of the Economic Strategy Institute, and he recently spoke about this power shift at Cleveland Council on World Affairs. His has a new book, and it's called Three Billion New Capitalists. It's all part of Making Change: Building the Region's Future, which is produced in partnership with Case Western Reserve University.

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