Emmy Award-winning Feagler & Friends is a lively, weekly half-hour television discussion of local and national issues impacting lives in Northeast Ohio. Hosted by award-winning journalist and former Plain Dealer columnist, Dick Feagler, Feagler & Friends explores the various issues behind today's news. With a changing ensemble of "friends" ranging from journalists to community and political leaders, Feagler & Friends takes on issues from many different perspectives. Always entertaining and never boring, Feagler & Friends is the program for people "in the know" in Northeast Ohio.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Topics: Politics, Health, Economy, Other
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Newsmaker: Edward W. (Ned) Hill, interim dean, Levin College of Urban Affairs and Vice President for Economic Development, Cleveland State University. This week has brought an unrelenting flow of economic woe: consumer confidence has shrunk to the lowest point in five years, housing continued to lose value and economic growth slowed to a trickle. Dr. Hill, an economist, will talk with Mr. Feagler about where the economy appears to be headed in the next year both nationally and in northeast Ohio.

Roundtable: Joan Mazzolini, reporter, The Plain Dealer; Bill Livingston, sports columnist, The Plain Dealer; Bob Dyer, columnist, Akron Beacon Journal.

Crossover Voters: Secretary of State Brunner said in Cleveland this week it’s unlikely that Ohioans who switched parties to influence the outcome of the Presidential primary will face criminal action. In Cuyahoga County, more than 20,000 voters crossed over, most to vote in the Democratic primary. Technically, it’s illegal to switch parties for frivolous reasons, but Brunner, with the backing of a local prosecutor, says a court would have a hard time determining what’s frivolous and what’s not.

Skipping Treatment: An AFL-CIO survey says a third of American families have passed up needed medical treatment because they couldn’t afford it. Almost 80 per cent of the poll’s respondents said health care costs are their number one concern. More than half say the U.S. health system should be completely rebuilt. Unlike random polls, the survey subjects had responded to a union-sponsored on-line survey. The organization Families USA estimates 750 Ohioans die each year because they can’t afford adequate health care.

Play Ball! The Indians break camp at Winter Haven to come north for the start of the 2008 baseball season. Newly-named Progressive Field will be the site of the Indians opener Monday afternoon against the Chicago White Sox, the earliest season opener in Cleveland history. To a large extent, it’s the same Indians team that just missed advancing to the World Series last fall. They made no major acquisitions in the off-season. Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia will start against Chicago’s Mark Buehrle.

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