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Both candiates in the Barberton mayoral race, Megan Eberhart (0:00) and incumbent mayor Bill Judge (8:09), discussed their cases for the role with Ray.

Kent State University is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of its Washington Program in National Issues this week, with a reception for current program participants and alumni at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on Thursday, April 27. As one of those alumni who had a life changing, and really positive experience with the program back when I was a student at Kent State; I was happy recently to talk about it with Political Science Professor, Dr. Mark Cassell, who is the Director of that program now.

Most people know what it is like to be in debt for things like a credit card purchases, car payments, and a mortgage. But there's another kind of debt that a number of people in our community are facing right now, that most people don't even know exists; court debt. Jeanne Destro recently talked to John Petit, who is Managing Attorney at Community Legal Aid in Akron, who tells us the "court debt spiral" is a growing problem. Find out why, and what we might be able to do about it.

From new business to a brand new state of the art playground near City Hall; good things are happening in Stow, according to Mayor, John Pribonic. Jeanne Destro talked to him recently, about what worked in 2022, and what's on the horizon this year.

There is a nationwide shortage of home health care workers, at the very same time as the number of elderly people who need them, is increasing. It is due, in part, to the increased need for care brought on by the pandemic, but mostly, according to Abby Morgan, CEO of Direction Home, Akron-Canton Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities, by the extremely low wages that are paid to those vitally needed workers. As a result, she's advocating for an increase in the amount of money the federal government allocates to Medicaid, which is the agency which most often pays for the workers who act as caregivers for low income elderly and disabled people. But what about all the other elderly residentsi n our area and around the country who are on Medicare, not Medicaid, and who may also have a private insurance supplemental or advantage plan? It turns out, Morgan tells us; they're mostly out of luck, as home health care is generally not covered by those plans, other than for a short while after a hospitalization. Find out why, and what can be done about it, as she talks about it with Jeanne Destro.

Akron's historic Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens is open again for another season, with big events like their annual Father's Day Car Show, and AA Founder's Day Weekend, along with house and garden tours, Shakespeare plays, and more coming up now through the end of December. Jeanne Destro talked about the grand old mansion's history, as well as what's new for this year, with Stan Hywet Communications Director, Donna Spiegler. Listen now.

Kent State University is celebrating the 40th Anniversary of their School of Fashion, and inducting internationally renowned fashion designer, Omar Salam, into their hall of fame. In a release on the University's website, Salam, who is the founder and creative director of fashion house, Sukeina, is described as "global, sophisticated, and highly respected." Salam spent most of his childhood traveling and living throughout Europe, and graduated from Parsons School of Design with a degree in fashion. In 2001, he started working for Sonia Rykiel in Paris and became visual director for the New York City office, spending seven years there until joining Christian Lacroix for two years in 2010. In 2012, Salam established his own fashion house called Sukeina after his late mother, meaning “bright light.” The designer plans to exhibit a selection of the Spring/Summer 2023 collection, titled "Cardinal," this spring at the Kent State University Museum, home of extraordinary collections of historic dress, fashion, textiles and decorative arts. A full exhibition of work will follow in January 2024. Jeanne Destro talked about the designer's influence on fashion, and Fashion Week activities that will be taking place on campus April 26-29, with Interim School of Fashion Director, Dr. Mourad Krifa. Listen now.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is pushing hard for schools throughout Ohio to return to teaching reading through the phonics method, as opposed to the "whole language" method, because data shows this is the path to better reading comprehension and results for young children. Jeanne Destro talked about it with Akron Public Schools Executive Director of Teaching and Learning, Nicole Vitale, to find out how they do it at Akron Public Schools, and where they are in terms of making that the preferred method of teaching.

Do you have to get "set in your ways" as you age? Can you break bad habits and make positive changes? Yes you can! That's the word from Akron area Psychologist and Author, Dr. Toni Cooper. Listen now as Jeanne Destro talks with her about how to create positive changes that will make you feel better, and better about yourself.

How far would you go to save your job? Would you lie under oath in a court deposition? Former Fox News Producer, Abby Grossberg did, but then she thought better of it, recanted her story, and sued her employer for both allegedly coercing her to lie, and for sexual harassment. Then they fired her, and claimed she was both lying, and bad at her job. On its own, that set of facts is pretty sensational, but when considered in context with the underlying case involved; the $1.6 billion dollar defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News for promoting the "big lie" on the air after the 2020 election that Donald Trump lost because the company's machines somehow actually changed votes for Trump into votes for Joe Biden. Quite the story, and now the basis for the lawsuit claiming that Fox destroyed Dominion's reputation to the point that they not only lost contracts they already had, but also pending deals that would allow them to continue to operate their business successfully. But Fox is claiming that they were just reporting the news as it came to them from the former president and surrogates speaking on his behalf. And besides–and here's the rub for Grossberg–they contend that her lack of fact checking led network luminaries Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, and Sean Hannity to repeat those lies on the air. Grossberg contends they're trying to scapegoat her, and though she admits she actually did lie about it originally; she only did so because she was being pressured by Fox lawyers. The problem is; internal communications including text messages, tell a whole different story about what was really going on inside Fox News, and the judge hearing the case recently ruled it not only has to go to trial, but that it is “CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true". The judge made this ruling based on pretrial court documents that reportedly show the network stars and even Fox network owner, Rupert Murdoch, actually knew that the alleged Dominion voting machine story was false, but repeated it anyway, because they were afraid they'd lose viewers, ratings, and money if they told the truth. Now, all of them are going to have to go to court to testify in the Dominion case. Of course all that is going on far away from Ohio, but it does actually have a local connection. In 2021, the Stark County Board of Commissioners decided not to buy 14 hundred new voting machines from Dominion, which had been recommended by the Stark County Board of Elections, and they did so, based on the false allegations about the machines. Stark County, of course, is far from the only local jurisdiction that has done the same thing; hence the big lawsuit against Fox. But even leaving the whole Fox-Dominion dispute aside; there are lawsuits every day, where employees are called on to either back up, or refute allegations of misdeeds on the part of their employers, and those employees, like Abby Grossberg, have a choice to make; tell the truth and maybe lose your job, or tell a lie and possibly get blamed for something you didn't do, or even face charges of perjury. Rock, meet hard place. So, that's why Jeanne Destro, who was filling in for Ray Horner last week, decided to talk about it with Akron Attorney, and University of Akron Law Professor Emeritus, J. Dean Carro. Listen now.

Thousands of people in our area are still without power as a result of Saturday's wind storm, which knocked out electricity for more than 200 thousand people in First Energy's Ohio service area alone. Our morning show host, Ray Horner, talked to First Energy Senior Communications Representative, Lauren Siburkis about it this morning, who tells us they're also dealing with power outages in other states as well. But, she says, their goal is to get everone reconnected by Wednesday at 4:00PM. Find out more, listen now:

US Senator, Sherrod Brown, says he thinks new, tougher train regulations will get passed both in the US House and the Senate. Find out why as he talks to Ray about yesterday's US Senate hearing on the recent train derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine.