Sound of Ideas

It’s been one year since Ohio began recreational marijuana sales for adult use. The launch of recreational products came less than a year after voters approved a citizen-initiated statute in 2023, paving the way for both recreational marijuana sales and home cultivation. The recreational market joined the state’s existing medical marijuana program, which has been in operation since 2019. According to Crain’s Cleveland Business, total legal cannabis sales in the state have reached $2.8 billion as of this month, including more than $600 million in recreational sales over the past year. The voter-approved statute allows lawmakers to make adjustments to the law. While a number of proposals have been discussed, efforts to pass legislation codifying some of those changes have been tabled until after the summer recess. So where do recreational marijuana sales stand in Ohio?

Lead poisoning, an irreversible diagnosis, poses a significant threat to children under the age of six. Cleveland's lead-poisoning rates are nearly four times the national average.

Several community groups in Akron are rallying to curb violence through events like the city's National Night Out program, which aims to make neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live.

Commuters on Cleveland's West Side had better have a mug of patience in the cupholder beside them: A $173 million dollar construction project starts Aug. 4 and will impact traffic on Interstate 90 through October of 2028. Earlier this week on that stretch of highway, commuters may have needed a pontoon. I-90 in Lakewood and Rocky River was under water after a deluge. The construction project aims to fix the flooding. We will begin Friday’s “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” discussing the I-90 project.

Four fair housing agencies, including the Fair Housing Center for Rights and Research in Cleveland, have filed a class action lawsuit against DOGE and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, hoping to restore funding that it says helps keep residents in their homes.

After losing $50 million last year and on track to go deeper in the red this year, the MetroHealth System announced yesterday that it's laying off 125 non-medical workers, freezing non-clinical hiring and scrapping an executive bonus program.

The U.S. Labor Department unveiled a plan to deregulate industries and reduce employer compliance costs. The proposal targets rules affecting wages, safety and working conditions across sectors such as home health care, agriculture, construction and mining.

Christopher Hardesty is the inaugural executive director of the Downtown Akron CDC, which aims to redevelop vacant spaces and help struggling businesses stay in place.

Historians note that a famous trial from 1925 regarding the teaching of evolution still matters today, as the classroom is still a battleground for controversial ideas.

Local millennials push back on generational stereotypes and open up about what it’s really like to navigate adulthood in a dramatically changing world— from managing student debt and chasing career stability to redefining success and identity in the age of social media.

Two development projects in Cleveland will include permanent supportive housing units for veterans experiencing homelessness as well as older adults and individuals with disabilities.

Free clinics, a key safety net provider for people who are uninsured and underinsured, are likely to see a demand for their services increase in the coming years. We’ll talk to free clinics in Northeast Ohio about the plan to meet that demand.

Kirsten Ellenbogen, CEO of the Great Lakes Science Center, is one scientist who signed onto a paper about better communication strategies for scientists and researchers.

Bibb said this week he is looking for ideas to develop the Downtown lakefront — without the Browns. Is the fight all but over?

The "Sound of Ideas Community Tour" stopped in Peninsula, at Happy Days Lodge, to discuss the 50th anniversary of Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

This month, the U.S. ended federal protections from deportation for thousands of migrants from Nicaragua and Honduras. This week, temporary protections were set to end for Afghani immigrants, but an appeals court temporarily blocked the effort.

Policy changes are coming to Medicaid, the federally and state-funded health insurance program, including additional work requirements, and new eligibility checks every six months, instead of once a year.

Dan Gilbert's Bedrock company is developing in Downtown Cleveland while the Haslam's are pushing for a new Brown's stadium in Brook Park; both hope it benefits the region.

Republican lawmakers will be back at work later this month, interrupting their summer recess, to consider overrides on three of Gov. Mike DeWine's budget line-item vetoes, all focused on property taxes. The governor used his red pen 67 times to strike out items in the massive $60 billion-dollar two-year operating budget. He signed off on the budget at the end of June. We will begin Friday’s “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” with a discussion on why lawmakers are taking the unusual step of returning during summer break to address these specific vetoes. Plus, the anticipated summer blockbuster "Superman" has swooped into theaters with some predictions looking at a $200 million global box office haul by the end of the weekend. Directed by James Gunn, the reboot brings Superman back to his hometown. Two Glenville teens, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, created the "man of steel." Superman debuted in Action Comics in 1938.

The Cleveland Clinic is in the third year of a first-of-its-kind brain study that was launched in 2022. The aim of the study is to identify biomarkers for neurological disorders earlier and either slow the progression or stop the progression all together. It's estimated that 1 in 6 people worldwide live with a neurological disorder—a broad term that can include Alzheimer's, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, and stroke among others. The study is expected to last for 20 years. Currently, more than 3,500 people from 46 states including Northeast Ohio are taking part in the study. But more participants are needed. Later, we talk to historian and author Brandy Schillace, Ph.D., about her new book, “The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story.” The book traces the story of the founding of the Institute for Sexual Science, the world’s first center for homosexual and transgender rights. We conclude the show with the latest episode of our podcast, “Shuffle.”