The city of Cleveland wants your ideas on what Burke Lakefront Airport could be if it's no longer an airport.

Buckle up your seat belt and your chin strap.

Pothole season is here, and it packs a wallop.

And let the debates rage.

Nominees for this year's Rock Hall class have been announced.

Ideas is next.

Hello, and welcome to ideas.

I'm Mike McIntyre.

Thank you for joining us.

We've been talking about Burke Lakefront Airport for decades in this town.

Is it a luxury that distinguishes Cleveland to have an airport right downtown, or is it a terrible waste of prime shoreline property?

Mayor Justin Bibb votes for the latter and wants the airport closed.

The public will have several ways to weigh in.

Senate Bill one, the anti d law governing college campuses.

We'll get a new enforcement mechanism if the SB one Compliance Act is passed.

Potholes are everywhere.

I slammed into one on I-90 and had to get a new tire.

So what can you do besides drive like you're a slalom skier?

And what can Public Works department do to fill the holes and let the debates rage?

As 17 nominees have been announced for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

I'm all for an access.

Joining me today to discuss these stories and more news from this busy week from industry and public media.

Akron Canton reporter Anna Huntsman and deputy editor of news Glenn Forbes in Columbus.

Statehouse News Bureau chief Karen Kasler let's get ready to round table.

The city of Cleveland and the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation are seeking input through an online survey on how to use Burke Lakefront Airport if it's decommissioned.

Mayor Justin Beer is pushing for closure, but it's not a done deal.

let's talk about the survey.

What kind of feedback is the city and the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation looking for?

Yeah, I'll talk plenty about the survey, but first, can I answer your question with a question?

Yes.

Is this finally happening?

Are we are we is this going to happen in the city of Cleveland?

With Burke?

With Burke?

Well, you're right, it has been talked about for decades.

And what we've had in the past is a mayor and Frank Jackson who said, well, we're not talking about that right now.

It's not an issue.

Mayor Bibb, on his campaign, said it is an issue.

He's now at the beginning of his second term and says, I want this done by the end of my term.

The question is, you're right.

Will it happen?

Well, there certainly is a lot more will now.

I was just going to say people are moving toward it.

We've got, when we put up the, invitation for the community to our next week immediately had 200 people register to show up.

And that's more than we can.

We can see we're going to we have a waitlist now.

So, yes, at least the talk is going to happen.

It seems more of a possibility.

Right.

So, the survey is pretty interesting.

And I think the most interesting part of it is actually the first question because they ask, do you consider Cleveland a waterfront city?

Right.

Like they're just trying to get that definition, you know, get as many people to answer that question as they can.

Right.

And I was thinking about it, and it's like, if you don't consider it a waterfront city, there's plenty of water there, right?

If you don't consider it a waterfront city, isn't that, somewhat of of an indictment on administrations past or developers past or whatever, or planners or you're talking about more than 19 miles of lakefront.

Right.

And the other thing that they say in the survey is that less than three miles of those are actually public access, right?

When you look at it, you've got a sewage treatment plant, I mean, a water treatment plant.

Sewage treatment plant.

You have the stadium, currently, that's on that place.

You have docks and, the port, usage.

You have the airport.

So you look at a lot of these and then private ownership.

So yeah, the question is, how do you get the public to the shore?

If you go to the, North Coast, Waterfront Development Corporation website and you take the survey, it's relatively short, takes you about five minutes.

It does have some of that information at it.

It also asks if there are any concerns about closing the airport.

So it's not just what do you want to see there.

It's do you have concerns about closing the airport itself?

I thought some of the options that they put forth in terms of, alternate uses were interesting, including a golf course.

I mean, Mike, you and I could be playing on the shores of Lake Erie.

You know, where the airshow used to be.

So they put a golf course on there, urban farm, outdoor movie theater, which I think we're going to get into this a little later.

But the idea of an outdoor movie theater, you could use it 5 or 6 months out of the year.

So that was interesting.

Gardens.

Of course, we've heard about, you know, public access trails, green space.

So the survey, for is as brief as it is.

And again, if you go to take that survey, it won't take you very long.

It has a lot of interesting, ideas in there and some information, like I said, almost 19 miles of lakefront, but only, less than three miles are public access at this point.

Glen, if I saw a movie outside in February, I'd actually stay awake throughout a movie.

That's a good point.

These three hour movies that keep coming out.

I would go see one there.

That's such a good point.

A Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill that would punish colleges and universities that don't comply with Senate Bill one.

It would withhold their state money.

Karen, let's talk about that.

What's the reasoning behind those who have proposed this bill?

There are others that tell you it's not necessary.

You've already passed a law and it's nascent.

And we're going to see how people comply.

But they seem to have a suspicion that it's being complied with in word and maybe not.

Indeed.

Well, there's only one person that appears to be behind this bill.

It's representative Tom young, who was a sponsor of a companion bill to Senate Bill one in the House.

So he believes very strongly in the provisions of Senate Bill one, which, like you said, anti-de it bans most mandatory Dei programs at state colleges and universities, bans faculty strikes, requires what's termed as intellectual diversity in classrooms, on specific subjects.

So it's really its sponsor said it was designed to push back on what they called liberal indoctrination on college campuses.

So this bill that Tom young has sponsored, this Senate bill, one Compliance Act, would just ensure the colleges and universities, the public ones, are doing that.

And if they aren't, then their funding from the state could be withheld for the entire fiscal year.

So even if they come into compliance later, their funding could still be held.

And so obviously colleges and universities are very concerned about how do you determine compliance.

What about the fact that Senate Bill one basically just went into effect in the last six months or so?

So, you know, some universities are still adapting to it.

So there's a lot of concern about it.

And who determines what compliance is.

If you if you say, hey, we've got somebody that used to run our diversity office and they're now running a student life office, and someone says, wait a minute, I think they're kind of doing the same job.

Who makes that decision?

Well, it looks like it's the chancellor of higher education, but that's a really good question.

What are the metrics of that and why is it okay or not okay to reassign employees?

I mean, you have the American Association of University Professors saying it's you can't just re categorize employees like the bill suggest you can, that there are different rules here.

And they claim that the bill is actually targeting certain employees, for instance, those who are working in Dei programs and offices.

But Representative Young says that's not what they're trying to do.

They're trying to make sure, as you said in the intro, that some universities aren't just checking the box and saying that they're going along with this, but in reality, they're not going along because there have been these, reports that he says he's heard he's met with some university professors and students who say that, you know, this whole idea of, complying with Senate Bill one is is just being done on the surface that there are some of these programs that are still operating.

So you said that this is one man that's behind it, Tom young.

But there is another man, the one who pushed for, for Senate Bill one.

Jerry Serino of Kirtland.

What does he think about the need for what young calls this, compliance, legislation?

Well, you might think that Senator Serena would be on board since, of course, like you said, he did sponsor Senate Bill one, but he says right now there's no need for this because it's really a new law.

And universities are doing a good job, which young also admitted that university professors are doing a good job in complying.

And Serena said right now this is not needed.

He trusts the process, so to speak.

But Speaker Matt Hoffman appears to be on board with this.

So that suggests that if it passes the House, it might have some trouble in the Senate.

But Yang says he thinks Serena needs to read the final version of his bill, and maybe he'll he'll come along.

Okay, It's pothole season that season between winter and spring where the freeze thaw cycle craters, roads.

Keep your eyes peeled and maybe wear a mouthguard.

I smash one on the ramp to the inner belt eastbound on I-90.

A month or so ago, it felt like I hit a truck and two, a new tire later and, 300 bucks.

I'm finally done with that.

There's a process.

I found out about how you complain about that.

In that case, it would be Odot, which then send you to the Ohio Court of Claims, which then to me, became so burdensome.

I don't think I've finished that yet.

But, Anna, let's talk a little bit about, potholes are not only annoying, but they're expensive and they're dangerous.

Yeah.

No kidding.

In Akron, there's one on North Street when I'm going home.

And there's a. Well, actually, no, it's not one.

There's a line of them right now and I have swerved to miss them every single time, which is also part of the danger that Odot is talking about.

So it's not just you're popping a tire or something like that, but sometimes people swerve and can cause accidents.

But yes, as you mentioned, it's also expensive.

Can I get away with saying triple AA or do I have to say the American Automobile Association?

Well, you just did.

And you said Odot.

Yeah, yeah.

What's Odot?

Because I was going to come back to that later and say the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, he's our boss.

That enables us for this stuff.

If anyone out there is listening to the roundtable for the very first time.

Mike hates acronyms.

Yes.

And I hate initials and everything else because I think we should all understand what each other is talking about.

Yeah.

So that's why I made that joke.

There we go.

So triple AA, the American Automobile Association estimates that it costs potholes, cost drivers 3 billion a year total in repairs.

The average is $406 in repairs.

So a little bit more than what you had to pay their mike.

So, yes.

They're they can be dangerous.

They're super annoying.

Swerving you can cause a crash or disable a vehicle.

But as you mentioned, drivers do have some recourse if you see a pothole on a road that Odot maintains.

So, you know, state route highways, things like that, you can call their office and report it.

You also, I found if you feel that the pothole was made aware of and there was negligence and it was not fixed, you can actually, submit a claim through Odot as well.

And they can figure out you can try to get reimbursement for that.

And it's and you, as I mentioned to the Ohio court of Claims, and then you've got to go through that process and, and I'm sure it's worthwhile if you've, if you've got the wherewithal and time to do it.

I'm probably one of those many people that, halfway through the process says, I'll get back to this later.

Susan.

And Willow says, I hit a pothole on East hundred and 52nd Street.

Had to get a new tire, as did I, she said Cleveland has a lengthy process to get any reimbursement, so there's each individual city has its own process as well.

And you can also call, you know, whatever municipality the road is in.

If you see one that's really egregious, you can you should call that municipality to, alert them and say, hey, get on out there to fix it.

So let's talk about how Akron is fixing it.

So a lot of these places, if you'll see there's crews that go out, they throw a cold patch in the hole which will fill it, but probably is going to pop out in a matter of months.

And so eventually a more permanent fix has to happen in Akron.

And it's also a lot of manpower in Akron.

They've got a $300,000 truck now where you can sit behind the wheel, press a couple of buttons, use a joystick, and fill these potholes with a much more durable filling.

Yes, it's called the Dura Patcher.

And the, what the city is really excited about is it's one person.

Instead of those multiple people in a crew that have to go out there.

So it saves, you know, that kind of resource there.

And as you mentioned, they kind of operate it.

This hose comes out and first it sprays in to clean out the pothole and then it fills it with the material.

And then it applies that dry patch of the dry stone on top.

And it takes under two minutes, apparently, which the old way was about five minutes.

So it's saving time.

It also is apparently safer because the person doesn't have to leave the truck.

The truck just does it for them instead of, you know, a a crew out there that could get hit by an oncoming vehicle.

Jerry, send us an email, he says.

While the idea of a ten minute patch and a truck doing that is pretty cool, maybe we can consider using higher quality materials to build roads in the first place.

Just a thought.

And that's true when you look at these asphalt roads, compared to, I know, old school roads in Europe that never get a pothole, maybe they might not.

Some of them may not have the same weather conditions.

We have to.

But the idea of, of road construction is an important one.

Two and certainly one you'll think about while you're limping your car back to the office after hitting a pothole and then calling the automobile American Automobile Association to pick up your car and bring it to the dealership.

Do you guys remember?

This is super random, but do you guys remember Brady Lake?

It's a it was a small village outside of Kent when I'm when I was a student at Kent, one of my this story really is what pushed me to get into local news.

Brady Lake dissolved the village because they didn't have enough money to fix the potholes.

Yeah, I mean, so that just goes to show you how important they are.

And I did almost pop a tire several times driving.

And it's interesting because municipalities, of course, are watching every dollar as they should.

But that sometimes tends to using this cheaper material, which then you have to replace.

And it's it, it's it's a mess.

Yeah.

Residents were going out there and filling the potholes themselves with random stuff that they could find.

Anybody who's ever served on a city council or run for mayor knows that it's garbage and potholes and speeding the Ohio House this week approved a bill that prevents local governments from using ranked choice voting.

Let's lay it out first.

And we talked about this a little before.

But if you're not familiar, Karen, how does ranked choice voting work?

How does that differ from what we do now?

Well, basically, if you have multiple candidates, three or more candidates, you rank them in order of preference.

So you don't vote for just one.

You basically say, here's my first choice, here's my second choice, here's my third choice, etc.

and there are communities in Ohio that are considering going to it.

Ohio used to do it.

I mean, communities in Ohio did back last century, but you got some communities now that are considering it.

A Lakewood is one of them.

And, Republican and some Democratic lawmakers wanted to get ahead of that by saying, nope, nobody, no community in the state should be able to use ranked choice voting.

We're going to vote for one candidate in every election.

Not rank multiple months.

What this would seem to do would be to move us away from the polar sides that you've had on one side a left candidate, a right candidate.

Everyone who believes in that votes for it, and that's the two candidates.

Then you have to choose from.

This might instead say why I align with this, can it a little bit better.

And people drop off as time goes on, you end up getting the main candidate.

What is the problem that people at the statehouse have with that process?

Well, there was a study that was done by the University of Minnesota that was cited on the House floor that said that ranked choice voting doesn't do those things.

It doesn't, reduce political polarization.

It doesn't reduce negative ad campaigning.

Now, the supporters of ranked choice voting will say that study is very flawed and it's often been used in this way.

But basically, the folks who are against ranked choice voting say it's complicated.

Voting machines would have to be updated.

Some wouldn't be able to be updated, it could delay results, and it can be confusing to voters.

But the supporters say basically what you just did, that it offers people a choice, especially if they have two candidates they don't like.

You know, you get a choice of which one that you would prefer rather than the other, right?

And it can result in candidates who have stronger support overall when they come to voters again.

And we have done this in Ohio before.

It's been done in Cincinnati.

But, but and the idea is it should be a local decision.

That's one of the push backs against this as well.

The state is trying to dictate to counties and local municipalities how they should conduct their elections.

you've got, people at the statehouse who say, hey, local control and home rule should be the option here.

That local community should get to decide what they want to do, not the state telling them what to do.

And so it's it's an interesting debate.

I know a lot of people, especially on the progressive side, have really wanted to see ranked choice voting, but it's not going to happen in Ohio.

If this goes back to the Senate for a small change and then goes to governor Mike DeWine, it passed with a veto proof majority in both the House and Senate.

So even if he did veto it, it's probably going to go forward.

The courts are still deciding whether Ohio can fund sports facilities, including the new Browns Stadium, by using the state's unclaimed funds account.

The biggest chunk is reserved for Browns Stadium, but the line is out the door now from other sports venues seeking big money.

Karen, we talked about the Cavs and the Guardians last week, but there are a ton more requests and some are friends for some pretty huge money.

Yeah, and I have to pat myself on the back a little bit on this because I broke the story about the, the Iron Maiden, the numbers.

I mean, I've been working with, I've been asking the Office of Budget and Management to give me not only the list of the sports operations that apply, but also the dollar figures.

How much they applied for.

It's a $400 million fund, which is part of that $1 billion fund that would be funded with unclaimed funds that transfer has not happened because of a court battle over that.

But the expectation, I guess, is that it's going to be funded.

And so 600 million of that goes to the Browns for their Dome Stadium project in Brook Park.

And then the other 400 million that's up for grabs for sports operations.

22 of them.

Well, 21 in Ohio and one in Massachusetts actually applied Massachusetts.

Yeah, I know, it's, Springfield, Massachusetts.

It's, a youth, development group.

Did they think.

We think it was Springfield, Ohio, I don't know, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with that.

Because I think that probably violates at least the spirit of what this fund was trying to do.

But the biggest ask, overwhelmingly, was Hamilton County for pay for stadium for the Cincinnati Bengals $234 million, which is more than half of the $400 million fund.

And by the way, that is 25% of their overall renovation cost because you could not ask for more than 25%.

But then the whole list, I mean, it's basically all of the pro sports teams in Ohio FC Cincinnati, the Blue Jackets in Columbus, the Guardians and Cavaliers, Toledo, three professional soccer league.

You got minor league baseball teams like the Clippers and the Akron Rubber Ducks and the Toledo mud hands and the Dayton Dragons.

So it's it's a it's a long list.

You did have two very small ones, though, a bit of a parkour business in Miami.

And a youth baseball team in Sandusky asked for only $10,000.

Whenever you see me step off a curb, that's parkour.

Yeah.

Glenn, is your CIO basketball team looking for money for a venue?

I think we probably should.

I mean, at this point.

But this was the logical conclusion, right?

I mean, once the Browns said, hey, we want this money, and, you know, you put up the unclaimed funds, you knew everybody, not just the, you know, major professional sports teams, but everybody was going to line up for this once they set that precedent.

Here they come.

All right.

And that's why the fund was created.

I mean, governor Mike DeWine had wanted to create it through a tax on sports gambling operators.

And then lawmakers wanted to create the fund, but they didn't want to tax sports gambling operators.

So that's why they went to the unclaimed funds.

But again, that's still in a court battle.

So it's unclear what's going to happen to that.

Last night, 65 people were chosen in a fun game show lottery process to focus on housing solutions in Akron through a civic assembly.

And it was, kind of a bizarre night last night, kind of like going to play bingo and a lottery at the same time.

Yeah.

Tell me, tell me what happened.

Look, Mike, if I'm going to have to work late the night before the round table, this is the assignment I want every time, because, boy, was it a delight.

So they basically turned House 330, which is an event venue in Akron.

They turned it into this lottery game show.

So there were balloons and lights.

They had a little jazz band that every time someone would come up to do a speech, they'd play a little walk on music for them.

It wasn't that it was adorable.

Oh my gosh, it was so fun.

So yes, that's what they did.

So, they got 584 Akron residents to sign up to be in this lottery.

And if you get picked, you're committing to this ten week session of a civic assembly.

So you're researching housing topics, and then by the end, you're proposing solutions.

And the point is to work together with your neighbors.

So it's it was a demographic sample of Akron.

So it's people who have a different income level than you political affiliation than you look different than you, learning to work together and have these conversations about what do we all actually want to get behind?

And then they're going to present these solutions to the mayor and city council, who have also committed to implementing these and, try to create change in the city.

So they broke it down into your different lottery group, which was picked by the way, of little kids with numbered rubber ducks.

They close their eyes and, showed it out of the bowl.

And then the.

There was one little girl, Anaya.

She rolled the dice to pick the final lottery group, which was the 65 people who were picked.

And so they're going to come up with ideas who interestingly, you said the mayor said we're going to implement in some way, in some way, and it's a little bit different than the People's Budget that we heard here, in Cleveland, where it's like we're going to get money and determine how that's going to go.

It's kind of the same idea of civic involvement, but without the cash and without the ability to create the legislation and the ordinances.

But buy in from the city.

There is not only buy in from the actual legislators, but there's several different committees of people who are already working in this housing space or in the government space.

And so they know how to take it from an idea to implementation.

And there are so many studies sitting on shelves about what could be done to fix the housing issues in Akron.

So they're going to be looking at those and saying, hey, this idea is actually something we can do today or tomorrow, you know, and then there's the other ones that are going to take a little bit more time and money.

So the point is about working together.

And that's this engaging in democracy and then having buy in from the elected officials.

Awesome.

Coffin cremation or compost?

A state legislator wants to legalize natural organic reduction as an option when you die.

Karen, it's being sold here is a green option for, burial.

Any response to this bill by the legislature?

Well, it was proposed by Senator Bill blessing, who's a fairly moderate Republican out of Cincinnati area.

And he says that, basically it, allows people to become a bag of dirt, essentially.

And so it's allowed in Oregon and Washington, it's gaining in popularity, he says.

So it's seen as a more green option for burial or for, disposal of remains rather than cremation or, burial.

You guys have, preferences here?

Glenn, you're closer to me.

Just kidding.

Just kidding.

Just kidding.

Glenn.

So you, Okay, we're going to leave it there.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame list of nominees was released on Wednesday.

It's a diverse group, with the 80s and 90s well-represented along with some legends.

this year's list of nominees.

Is.

I'll lay it out.

I'm going to get your guys's thoughts on it.

The black Crowes, Jeff Buckley, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Melissa Etheridge, Lauryn Hill, Billy Idol, In Excess, Iron Maiden, Joy Division, New Order, New Additions, Oasis, Pink Shady, Shakira, Luther Vandross and the Wu-Tang clan.

So you want them all in Glen, Wu-Tang forever.

Yeah.

Number one, you just gave us the symbol.

I gave the W. Phil Collins as a solo artist, absolutely deserving my favorites.

Probably Oasis, love, Oasis and the Black Crowes.

Okay, I'm all in for Luther.

You're all in for Luther King.

Yeah, he's totally smooth.

Oh, yeah, I love I love his music so much.

And, how about you, Karen?

Who are we going for?

I agree on Phil Collins.

I agree on an excess and Joy Division new order.

Absolutely.

So, yeah, this this is a good and interesting class.

It really is.

I think Melissa Etheridge and Lauryn Hill are not getting enough love in this conversation.

That's.

No, I, I got to bring them up too.

Yeah.

It's such a great list.

How can we pick.

And now when I hear Phil Collins, when I his obviously is his, big song, I can feel it in the air tonight.

I think of Mike Tyson waiting for that drum solo in, The Hangover.

I think that was the movie that, you know, what I think of and it makes me sad.

Baker Mayfield that was really that was Baker's kind of warm up pump up song and that Baker, we miss you.

I think of his dance moves.

Phil Collins, have you ever seen his dance moves?

I've never seen.

Oh, they're dorky and fun.

He looks like a high school math.

Yeah, exactly.

I was gonna do that.

Yeah, I don't forget school math teacher dance.

Don't forget he was in Genesis.

He's he's he's a, Peter Gabriel there as well.

Yeah.

Peter Gabriel's in twice.

Phil Collins.

Shit.

Yeah, yeah.

And if you all have opinions on that, shoot me an email.

So I had idea stream.org.

We'd love to hear what your thoughts are on the Rock Hall.

The actual class of UN inductees will be announced in April.

The induction ceremony is going to be in Cleveland this fall.

Monday on The Sound of Ideas on 89 seven.

KSU following the death of James Vanderbeek.

There has been a renewed attention on colorectal cancer.

The disease is now the leading cause of cancer deaths among people under age 50 in the United States, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

We'll talk about the rise in deaths and how you can prevent colorectal cancer.

I'm Mike McIntyre.

Thank you so much for watching and stay safe.