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, January 9, 2009

Topics: Education, Economy, Politics, Other
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Roundtable: Mark Naymik, The Plain Dealer; Janet Okoben, The Plain Dealer; Henry Gomez, The Plain Dealer.

Big Bucks Slashed From Higher Education: Ohio’s public colleges and universities can expect to tighten their belts by $25 million over the next two years. And Eric Fingerhut, who heads the state Board of Regents, warns that those belts may have to come in yet another notch or two. A number of programs and scholarships are being trimmed, but Higher Ed. heads are being told to hold the line on tuitions, leaving them with the increasingly tough task of trying to cut costs while keeping college affordable.

Does the Medical Mart Still Have a Pulse? The mayor’s miffed about the Med Mart and says he wants to kick-start the stalled project. Frank Jackson told reporters last week that he’s frustrated by a string of delays that have plagued the much ballyhooed medical showplace and convention facility. Jackson said it was particularly galling to learn of the latest delay by reading about it in the Plain Dealer. So, he’s heading to Chicago to get an update from the company picked to run this billion-dollar operation.

Can’t We All Just Get Along? Some critics charge that the squabbling between city and county leaders over the Medical Mart underlines the need for regional cooperation. New Ohio House Speaker Armond Budish has some ideas about that. Budish rolled out a plan, this week, that would provide tax breaks and other goodies for urban areas that pool resources to save money. It’s an idea that’s never really gone anywhere, but backers say that Budish has the clout to make it happen.

Preaching Against the Domestic Partner Registry: The Cleveland plan to set-up a domestic partner registry has come under fire in some local pulpits. C.J. Matthews of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church heads a group of area pastors who are working to repeal the measure passed by City Council, last month. Supporters of the registry claim it will give Cleveland a more gay-friendly image, but the critics say it’s an end run around the 2004 constitutional amendment banning gay-marriage in Ohio.

Newsmaker: Bill Livingston, The Plain Dealer. A former Browns ball boy has been tapped as the team’s new Top Dawg. As head coach, 37-year-old Eric Mangini is charged with sweeping up the debris of a 4 and 12 season under fired coach Romeo Crennel and taking the team in a new direction. Mangini is no stranger to job loss, having been dismissed by the New York Jets, last week, but he told reporters this past week that he was all fired up to put a winning team on the field.

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