Program Directory

 
Feagler and Friends - Goodyear Stays in Akron; Iran Intelligence
 
 
 
Roundtable: Sam Fulwood III, reporter, The Plain Dealer; Mark Naymik, reporter, The Plain Dealer; Brian Tucker, publisher and editorial director, Crain's Cleveland Business.

Company for Kucinich: While Congressman Dennis Kucinich is running for President, some people back home are hoping to capture his Congressional seat. Cleveland city councilman Joe Cimperman and North Olmsted mayor Thomas O'Grady announced this week they're contesting for the seat. They're joined in the race by two women who haven't held public office, Rosemary Palmer and Barbara Ferris.

Goodyear Stays in Akron: The tire and rubber giant announced plans this week to stay in Akron, and it was an unusual public-private partnership that made it possible. A real estate investment group will take over the Goodyear property, erect a new headquarters building, along with other commercial space, and lease the facility back to Goodyear. State and local governments will help out with tax breaks and infrastructure enhancements. The agreement saves an estimated three thousand Akron jobs and carries the promise of more job creation in the future.

Iran Intelligence: A new national intelligence estimate concludes Iran shelved its attempts to build a nuclear bomb four years ago. The report contradicts prior American assessments of Iran's nuclear ambitions but President Bush cautions Iran will continue to dangerous as long as it has the potential to develop a nuclear bomb. Secretary of State Rice says the international community should now pressure Iran to stop producing enriched uranium.

City Shifts Homeless from Public Square: The city of Cleveland has moved a food distribution program for homeless people out of Public Square. City officials say the feeding station created more congestion in a crowded area and it attracted rats. Homeless advocates objected to what they saw as a cynical effort to clear the homeless out of a high-profile city center.

Focus on Mt. Pleasant: Cleveland's Mt. Pleasant neighborhood has been in the spotlight since the shooting of a would-be teen burglar in April. Once a thriving middle-class melting pot, Mt. Pleasant has become an area of high crime and low expectations symbolic of a whole city's decline. An upcoming series in The Plain Dealer will chronicle the decline through the eyes of people who live in the neighborhood now. We'll discuss the series with reporters April McClellan-Copeland and Sam Fulwood III.

December 10, 2007