Five Stark County people are facing federal charges they laundered more than a half million dollars from illegal sports betting. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze has more on the indictments handed down this afternoon.  M.L. Schultze reports

The University of Akron trustees have approved a budget for the coming year that calls for a 2 percent increase in tuition for most students.   It also calls for some layoffs to eliminate a nearly $30 million dollar budget deficit.  Mark Urycki reports

Some Ohio doctors and medical-clinic managers says anti-abortion bills Ohio lawmakers are considering could cause a shortage of doctors and medical facilities to serve women. And the doctors warn more Ohio women will die due to complications from pregnancies. Mike Gonidakis from Ohio Right to Life doesn’t believe that.  Jo Ingles reports

The Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive for more than a decade may be facing additional charges.

At Ariel Castro’s first pre-trial hearing today, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said more evidence is going to the grand jury, and more charges may be filed next week. Castro is already facing 329 charges of rape, kidnapping, felonious assault and aggravated murder.

The judge has set a tentative trial date of Aug. 4, though the defense can ask for an extension. Castro’s attorney, Craig Weintraub, still hopes to avoid a trial by having Castro plead guilty to some charges. And Weintraub says part of the deal is trying to persuade McGinty not to seek the death penalty against Castro for allegedly terminating one of the women’s pregnancies.  Kevin Niedermier reports

The former director of the nation’s fifth largest VA Clinic has been indicted on bribery and other federal charges. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze has more on the accusations leveled today against man who headed the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland.  M.L. Schultze reports

The former director of the VA Medical Center in Cleveland was indicted today, accused of accepting more than $150,000 in bribes. The money allegedly came from businesses in return for helping them get contracts from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mike Tobin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office says William Montague set himself up as a consultant while working for the VA. He also is accused of giving insider secrets to Michael Forlani, the lead developer of the new VA Clinic.  (more)

Ariel Castro already faces more than 300 charges, and formally learned this morning that more are likely on their way.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty laid that out at the first pre-trial hearing for the 52-year-old Castro, who's accused of holding three women captive for a decade in his West Side Cleveland home.  M.L. Schultze reports

There’s a lot that Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown likes about the immigration bill being debated this week.  Brown says the Senate version clears a pathway to citizenship for millions of people, it increases border security, and it cracks down on employers hiring undocumented workers. 

But Brown says one part needs to be fixed.  Brown, with Republican Charles Grassley of Iowa, has introduced an amendment that he says will require hi-tech employers to hire qualified Americans before seeking overseas workers.  Jeff St. Clair reports

Canton officials are attempting to restructure their government to mirror the majority of the largest cities in Ohio – a charter government.

The proposed switch from a statutory government to a charter would allow Canton to make policy changes at the local level instead of turning to state officials to write its laws and regulations.

City Council Member Edmond Mack says he expects resistance as Canton considers a charter government for the eighth time. But he believes now is the time to make the switch.  (more)

   Amanda Rabinowitz reports

The San Antonio Spurs are the underdogs in the NBA finals against LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

But the team of aging veterans has pushed the defending champion, star-studded Heat to a decisive game seven on Thursday.

WKSU commentator Terry Pluto says he's pulling for the Spurs. But unlike many Clevelanders, it's not simply because he wants to see former Cavalier LeBron James lose.  Amanda Rabinowitz reports

Ohio lawmakers continue to grapple with the question of whether to expand Medicaid. Gov. Kasich, business groups and Democrats want the state to expand the health-care program for poor people as part of the budget. But conservatives in the Legislature see that as buying into Obamacare and throwing good money into a flawed program. As Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports, lawmakers are considering various bills to deal with the medical program for the poor in the future.  Jo Ingles reports

Ohio’s colleges of education graduate about 6,000 new teachers each year. Now a new report says many of those colleges aren’t doing a good job of preparing teachers for the classroom. StateImpact Ohio’s Molly Bloom reports.  Molly Bloom reports

Again, no money is coming in the immediate future for victims of the Fair Finance fraud. In a status report to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Akron, the Fair Finance bankruptcy trustee said winning judgments against figures in the case has been relatively successful, but collecting on those,not so much.  WKSU’s Tim Rudell reports.  Tim Rudell reports

The committee working out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the state budget now has updated estimates on tax revenues and the cost of Medicaid. Those numbers were higher than previous estimates, but they came with a caution.  Karen Kasler reports

Three Ashland residents have been arrested, accused of holding a mentally disabled women and her child against their will for nearly two years. Federal prosecutors say the suspects have been charged with forced labor for making the woman cook and clean for them.

Prosecutors say the woman was threatened and beaten, and her and her child were forced to live in unsanitary conditions. Ashland Police Lt. Joel Eisenhower says the victim suffered a brain injury as a teenager, and now has the mental capacity of a 13-year old. He says the case broke last October when the woman shoplifted a candy bar so she could escape by being arrested. She then told the police about how she was being treated.  Kevin Niedermier reports

U.S. News and World Report and the National Council on Teacher Quality today released a report on how well our colleges and universities are training future teachers.

Most Ohio education programs did poorly. The University of Akron, University of Toledo and Kent State University received very low grades for most of their teacher training programs.

WKSU's Vivian Goodman spoke with Kent State Education Program Dean Dan Mahony about the low rankings. Mahony says the report focuses too much on course work and syllabi.  Vivian Goodman reports

A state lawmaker says Ohio is not doing enough to be in compliance with the federal Motor Voter law. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state of Arizona needs to follow the federal law that makes voter registration easier. But Democratic State Rep. Kathleen Clyde says Ohio is also not in compliance.  Mark Urycki reports

This week, The Plain Dealer and public radio’s StateImpact Ohio collaboration have been reporting on a new measure of teacher performance called “value-added.” It rates individual teachers based on the amount of progress their students make, using test scores and a complex statistical formula. 

About 16,000 teachers are tracked now in the initial roll out.  The results will play a major role in determining a teacher’s pay, starting next year in some schools.  That would be huge change for Ohio.  StateImpact’s Ida Lieszkovsky has our latest installment in our series: “Grading the Teachers.”  Ida Lieszkovszky reports

Coal fired power plants in Ohio could be required to limit the amount of pollutants discharged into waterways if a new set of US EPA rules is enacted.  Jeff St. Clair reports

Education funding and tax cuts are two of the main issues a six-member committee will tackle tomorrow  as they begin work on the final blueprint for Ohio’s budget.

Republican Scott Oelslager is a member of the conference committee negotiating differences between the House and Senate versions.

The Stark County Senator expects the committee of four Republicans and two Democrats to compromise on a budget that spurs job growth.  (more)

A leak in a pipe in the reactor cooling system is causing a short-term shutdown of the Perry nuclear power plant.  WKSU’s Tim Rudell reports that the problem started over the weekend, and the response to it is continuing  Tim Rudell reports

  Jeff St. Clair reports

Americans spend around $4.3 billion each year on herbal medicine.  Nearly one out of five take botanicals of some kind each day, very few of them under doctor’s orders. 

But in this week’s Exploradio, WKSU’s Jeff St.Clair finds that researchers at the Northeast Ohio Medical University are proving plants can provide powerful medicine.

   Jeff St. Clair reports

What makes a good teacher?  That question is at the heart of efforts to radically alter the way teachers are evaluated and rewarded. 

Ohio is one of 32  states trying out a new yardstick called “value added.”  It’s rigorous, data driven and controversial.  

StateImpact Ohio and The Plain Dealer have analyzed initial results from the process in a series we’re calling “Grading the Teachers.”  Ida Lieszkovszky reports

The Cleveland Police Department held its annual gun buyback over the weekend, swapping gift cards for certain types of firearms. Opponents say such programs waste taxpayer dollars and destroy desirable weapons. And as WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia reports, in many cases it comes down to a matter of economics.  Kabir Bhatia reports

Parts of the city of Akron’s website are open for business after a hacking attack last month.
The site is able to process payroll tax payments, which are due tomorrow (Saturday). But several parts of the site remain off-line during repair efforts.
A Turkish group claimed responsibility for the hacking attack and leaked thousands of taxpayer records online. The FBI is investigating, as other cities -- including Lansing, Mich., and Mobile, Ala., -- were also hit.
Akron has been in contact with several credit-reporting agencies to provide free or expedited assistance to anyone affected.  Kabir Bhatia reports

As advocates for Medicaid expansion continue to hope lawmakers will consider it, legislators from both parties have introduced a bill that they say will reform the government insurance program for low-income people.  Karen Kasler reports

Two controversial bills backed by abortion opponents are making their way through the state budget process.

Now, there's a free-standing bill in the Ohio Legislature that would limit and enact new rules for abortions performed in the state. Backers say it would reduce the number of abortions in Ohio. Opponents say it will deny women their constitutional rights and dictate questionable health practices and information.  Jo Ingles reports

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is accusing Ohio’s attorney general of tainting the criminal investigation into last November’s massive police chase and shooting that left two people dead. The criticism focuses on how the attorney general handled a report he released four months ago that found big failures in Cleveland's department.  Kevin Niedermier reports

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson today provided an update into the investigation of a deadly police shooting last November.

Jackson says some officers did not follow orders during the nearly half-hour pursuit that ended with the shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in East Cleveland.

And he disagrees with Attorney General Mike DeWine that a “systemic failure” led to the shooting.
  Kabir Bhatia reports

About seven years ago, serious discussions started about replacing Cleveland’s inadequate downtown convention center so the city could attract bigger conventions and visitors' money.

This afternoon, the ribbon will be cut on the new $465 million complex. The new convention center helped spark a $2 billion building boom in downtown Cleveland. And as WKSU’s Kevin Niedermier reports, making all these projects work together has been a priority from the beginning.  Kevin Niedermier reports

Small farms are making a big difference.

Ohio’s landscape is dotted with family farms supplying as many as 260 farmers markets, a 150 percent increase in the last decade.

Informed consumers increasingly hanker for pesticide and hormone-free, locally-grown produce, and beef and poultry that’s humanely raised. And many new small-scale farmers find satisfying that hunger can be satisfying work. 

For today’s Quick Bite, WKSU’s Vivian Goodman takes us to Garrettsville for a tour of The Lucky Penny Farm.  Vivian Goodman reports