Workers and union leaders rallied in Cleveland yesterday to protest federal job cuts. President Donald Trump's administration has slashed jobs across a wide array of government agencies with a stated goal of cutting the federal workforce by as much as 10%. The number of federal workers in Cleveland is more than 17,000 employed by agencies such as Veterans Affairs, the Social Security Administration, NASA and the National Park Service among others.

The story begins our discussion of the week's news on the "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable."

Akron's police auditor is calling on the city's police department to undergo de-escalation training and amend its use-of-force policy. Anthony Finnell released a report this week that challenged a use-of-force incident previously ruled as "objectively reasonable" in an internal police investigation.

Gov. Mike DeWine's budget proposal includes $23.4 billion to fund education in the state over the next two years. But based on projections from the Legislative Service Commission, which reviews legislation for lawmakers, public schools will receive $103 million less funding while charter and voucher programs will see funding increase by half a billion dollars.

Cuyahoga County property owners faced a deadline this week. The first half property tax bills were due Feb. 20. As we've discussed here, many property owners are paying heftier bills after state-required valuations last year saw an average 32% increase in property values county-wide.

Vivek Ramaswamy will kick off his campaign for the 2026 Republican nomination for governor Monday as he embarks on a two-day statewide tour with stops in Strongsville, Toledo, New Albany and Cincinnati. Attorney General Dave Yost has already announced his plan to seek the Republican nomination.

Cleveland is reportedly in line to land a WNBA expansion franchise. A story published last weekend in the Sports Business Journal says the city will be awarded a franchise that will join the league in 2028. The franchise will be called the Rockers after the original Cleveland WNBA franchise previously owned by the Gund family. The Rockers were one of the league's founding franchises and folded in 2003.

Guests:
-Kabir Bhatia, Sr. Reporter, Arts & Culture, Ideastream Public Media
-Michelle Jarboe, Reporter, News 5 Cleveland
-Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV