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, December 14, 2007

Topics: Environment, Politics, Health, Other
Short URL  Share Leave a Comment

Roundtable: Bill Livingston, sports columnist, The Plain Dealer; Stan Bullard, senior reporter, Crain’s Cleveland Business; Mike Walker, Partnership for a Safer Cleveland.

Mitchell Report: An investigation headed by former Senator George Mitchell details the extent of performance-enhancing drug use by major league baseball players. Mitchell’s 20-month investigation exposes a "serious drug culture within baseball, from top to bottom." And it listed the names of MVPs and All-Stars and called for beefed-up testing by an outside agency to clean up the game.

City Borrowing Woes: A ripple effect from the nation’s credit crunch is causing a problem for the city of Cleveland. Declining real estate value has shrunk the foundation of the city’s taxing and borrowing authority, leaving city government temporarily under a low credit ceiling. The problem potentially hamstrings the city’s ability to attract new private development.

Mt. Pleasant Problems: This week, The Plain Dealer and ideastream have focused on the decline of Cleveland’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. The area suffers from all the woes that afflict American cities today: declining population and property values, poverty and a high percentage of single-parent households. Is there hope for a turnaround?

E-Check to Continue: Any hope that the unpopular E-Check program might be phased out were dashed this week when the legislature extended it. The Strickland administration backed the last-minute extension for fear that a failure to perform tailpipe emissions tests might result in a loss of air quality which might result in stricter anti-pollution measures and a loss of federal highway funds. Without the extension, E-Check would have ended on December 31st. E-Check applies only in seven NE Ohio counties: Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Summit.

A Holiday Treat: Three special guests will help Mr. Feagler usher in the holiday season. Tune in to find out who’s visiting the show this week.

Leave a Comment

Please note that all comments must adhere to ideastream's discussion rules and terms of use. Name:

Email:

Comment:

Please enter the word you see in the image below:

Send questions and comments to feagler@wviz.org.