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, February 16, 2007

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Roundtable: Elizabeth Sullivan, foreign affairs writer, The Plain Dealer; Kevin O’Brien, editorial writer, The Plain Dealer; Patrick Shepherd, National Stonewall Democrats.

Weather Whammy: Okay, so it wasn’t a blizzard. The Valentine’s Day snowstorm was still bad enough to dump more than a foot of show on greater Cleveland, shut down schools and keep thousands of us home from work. We’ll lead off the roundtable with the biggest blast - we hope - of the winter.

Akron’s Hang-up Call: Akron’s Board of Education adopted a policy this week aimed at curbing the distractions that can be caused by the use of cell phones in school. Kids are permitted to have cell phones, but they have to be switched off and kept out of sight. Other electronic devices such as MP-3 players and portable video games are forbidden. Teachers have the power to confiscate the devices.

Amaechi Comes Out: Former NBA player John Amaechi startled the sports world when he announced he’s gay. Amaechi, who spent a season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, is just the sixth former professional athlete to declare his same-sexual orientation. The disclosure coincided with publication of his book, Man in the Middle. Among those critical of Amaechi was Cavs star LeBron James who said a teammate who would keep his homosexuality hidden is untrustworthy.

Iraq Resolution: The House of Representatives is expected to pass a non-binding resolution critical of President Bush's plan to send another 21,000 US troops to Iraq. Critics of the Bush plan say the human cost of increasing U.S. involvement would be too high. The President’s backers say the cost would not be as high as the cost of failure. Ohio Governor Ted Strickland warned the Bush administration not to think of Ohio as a site to settle Iraqi refugees. He said he won’t ask Ohioans to accept a burden greater than the one they’ve already assumed.

Statuary Query: Questions are being raised about a bronze statue of Apollo recently acquired with great fanfare by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Europeans sources have expressed suspicions that the statue may have, at some point in history, been stolen from Greek soil. The museum’s director says he’s willing to talk with the Greek government, but is confident in the statue’s provenance.

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