Greater Cleveland RTA mulls service changes | Reporters Roundtable

Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority riders will see service cuts in the coming year. Work is already being done to decide which buses, trains and trolley routes will be impacted.

The changes are in an effort to save more than $11 million in the new budget. The transit authority has already announced that Wi-Fi will not be available on trains, buses and trolleys beginning later this month.

We will begin this week’s “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable” with a discussion on the proposed changes as well as the rest of the week’s top stories.

Ohio needs to do more to make roads safer for drivers and passengers according to a national safety group. The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety released its state reports and gave Ohio a "yellow" or caution rating.

U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno says the time has come to end dual citizenship. Being an American, he declared, is "all or nothing." He's backing legislation that would prevent U.S. citizens from holding citizenship in another country. So if you are an American Citizen and have Irish citizenship, for example, because your grandmother was born there, you have to pick one.

An LGBTQ+ entertainment development in Lakewood will close at the end of the month. Opened in 2022, Studio West 117 included bars, restaurants and a gymnasium.

This week Cleveland City Council signed off on the exit deal for the Browns. The Haslam Sports Group, which owns the team, will vacate the existing Downtown stadium for a new enclosed stadium to be built in Brook Park. The current timeline would have the Browns open the season in the new stadium in the fall of 2029.

Ohio lawmakers want to further restrict where convicted sex offenders can live. The state already has laws that prevents such offenders, and those who commit any crimes against children, from living near schools, preschools and child care facilities. This bill would also prohibit residency near the victims themselves.

Gov. DeWine vetoed a bill that would have expanded the hours 14- and 15-year-olds could work throughout the school year from a 7 pm clock out to 9 pm. The legislature approved the expansion, which Democrats opposed on the grounds it was a way for businesses to secure cheap labor. The governor thinks young kids shouldn't be working late, except maybe on their homework.

Guests:
-Glenn Forbes, Supervising Producer of Newscasts, Ideastream Public Media
-Gabriel Kramer, Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV

Originally aired on the "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable" on Dec. 5, 2025.