This week's frigid temperatures and Friday’s snow are making up for what has been so far a mild winter. But, the sub-freezing temperatures we had this week and Friday's snowstorm puts the focus on helping homeless people, whose numbers have been rising in Ohio since 2017. It's estimated that nearly 10 out of every 10,000 Ohioans experienced homelessness in January of last year, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as reported on by Axios.
Shelters are one part of the equation for helping homeless people. Permanent supportive housing developments for chronically homeless people is another. A development long-discussed in Lorain, Broadway Commons, received approval from council this week, but it was a close vote.
We will begin Friday's "Sound of Ideas" Reporters Roundtable discussing the current snowstorm and the state's rising number of unhoused people.
Summa Health, the largest employer in Summit County, announced Wednesday that it will be acquired by the venture capital firm Health Assurance Transformation Corporation. The transaction, which could be completed by the end of the year, would change Summa Health from a nonprofit to a for-profit hospital system. And it has many worried about the impact not just on the hospital system, but its many patients.
Congressman Bill Johnson will resign from his seat representing Ohio's 6th District on Sunday and will take the reins of Youngstown State University as president on Monday. The trustees' decision to hire Johnson, and the secretive process that led to his hiring, remains unpopular among YSU's students, faculty, alumni and donors. A student walkout is planned for Monday to protest Johnson.
Ohio lawmakers are considering paying students to show up for school and stay in school to get their diploma. A bipartisan bill being considered would establish pilot programs to reduce truancy and encourage students to graduate.
If you spend a lot of time on the highways, chances are you've read a few of those electronic highway signs offering safety advice in a funny, sometimes sarcastic way.
One of my favorites: Camp in Ohio's campgrounds, not the left lane.
New rules from the Federal Highway Administration is putting the brakes on some of those messages because not all drivers get the jokes or pop cultural references.
Guests:
-Josh Boose, Associate Producer for Newscasts, Ideastream Public Media
-Sam Allard, Reporter, Axios Cleveland
-Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV
