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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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After two decades as a civic leader, Bruce Akers is stepping down as mayor of Pepper Pike. During his tenure, Akers has been a prominent advocate of regional cooperation between local governments, arguing that cities should share services, such as trash pick-up and police dispatching. Most recently, he's been backing the idea of possibly merging his city with three other suburbs.
Roundtable: Ed Esposito, Akron News Now; M.L. Schultze, WKSU; Patrick Shepherd, Stonewall Democrats.
Merging Interests
A sluggish Northeast Ohio economy has prompted a number of suburbs to find ways to save money by sharing city services, but the actual merging of municipalities has always been an elusive goal. Even the four cities currently talking about the idea have made no commitments to drop their boundaries. With over 60 local governments in Cuyahoga County alone, what's it going to take to move beyond the "talk" stage?
When Social Media Gets Too Social
Cheerleaders for Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media have made great claims for the community organizing potential of social media. Cleveland Heights is currently wrestling with what happens when that organizing gets out of control. After a so-called "flash mob" of teenagers descended on a city street festival, a couple weeks ago, local officials clamped a severe curfew on young people. This week, they eased curfew rules a bit, but the fracas has raised some serious questions about dealing with the power of the internet.
Hollywood, Ohio?
The red carpet is rolling out in front of the Akron Civic Theater, this weekend, as the stars of the new film 25 Hill parade before the paparazzi. This soap box derby movie was mostly shot in Akron, and it's one of a number of productions that have come or are coming to Northeast Ohio, including the big budget Avengers film, next month. All this movie magic is being hailed as a big time economic development boon for the state. But, are we talking real money here? How much will we gain after Robert Downey Jr. and crew have left town with their Latte budgets?
July 8, 2011