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A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
A SERVICE OF OHIO'S PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATIONS
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Stu Nicholson, spokesman, Ohio Rail Development Commission: Efforts to start inter-city passenger rail service in Ohio apparently have a full head of steam. Ohio will get $400-million from the Federal Railroad Administration to run trains between Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton, perhaps as early as 2012. The federal grant was far less than Ohio had sought and critics of the rail plan doubt the state can run the line without large and continuing state subsidies.
Roundtable:
Bill Sheil, weekend anchor, Fox 8 News; Joan Mazzolini, reporter, The Plain Dealer; Greg Saber, freelance journalist.
Ohio Trains:
The roundtable continues the discussion on 3-C rail.
Public Auditorium:
Cuyahoga County's Medical Mart/Convention Center project took some major steps this week with a joint agreement that the county would pay for demolition of a 60s-era lobby that joins the old convention center to Public Auditorium. Demolition would sever the connection between the buildings. The city will spend millions of dollars upgrading the auditorium. The county also announced agreement on a purchase price for an office building and parking garage standing on the proposed footprint of the Medical Mart. All that remains now is for the county to make a deal to buy Sportsman's restaurant in the same location.
Stimulus Jobs:
Debate continues over the effectiveness of a federal economic stimulus program that's supposed to pump nearly $800-million into the nation's sagging economy. Figures from the feds indicate the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created or preserved more than 24,000 jobs in Ohio during the fourth quarter of 2009. Nationally, the figure was nearly 600-thousand.
No Smokers Need Apply:
Parma Community General Hospital will follow a slowly-developing national trend and refuse to hire workers who smoke. The new policy takes effect next month at Parma General, a smoke-free workplace since 2006. Hospital leaders say the policy won't cause the dismissal of smokers who already work there. Anyone seeking to challenge the legality of the policy won't have a wisp of a chance in court. Laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act don't protect smokers.
February 5, 2010