In this edition of WYSO Weekend:
Minor League Baseball has been cancelled for 2020, putting teams like the Toledo Mudhens, Columbus Clippers, and Akron Rubber Ducks in a tough position. And here in southwest Ohio, the people who rely on the Dayton Dragons are bracing themselves for a big economic blow. WYSO's Jason Reynolds reports.
Public Health Dayton and Montgomery County hosted its first free COVID-19 pop-up testing for the public today. The health department is hoping to identify active cases and control the spread of the virus. Anyone was welcome to get tested, and no doctor’s recommendation was required. One of the people who got tested today at the Rose Music Center in Huber Heights was WYSO's Leila Goldstein. She sent us this audio diary about her experience. See more...
15-year-old Alex Arehart of Troop 85 in Beavercreek is an Eagle Scout, and the winner of this year’s national Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award. For his Eagle project, Alex designed and built an ambitious outdoor seating area for the students at his high school, the Dayton Regional STEM School, where he’s a sophomore. We meet up with Alex outside at the Hugh Taylor Birch Summer Camp in Yellow Springs, where Alex is working for the summer.
The Cleveland City Council recently passed a moratorium on building permits for new dollar stores, saying they don’t provide healthy food options and take business away from locally owned convenience stores. Many of these locally owned convenience stores are trying to be a healthy resource for the community by offering fresh produce and the like. For Ohio Public Radio, WCPN’s Anna Huntsman checked in on what’s being done to support small corner stores and food access efforts in Cleveland’s impoverished neighborhoods.
In other state news, last week, the faculty union at the University of Akron held a rally to ask for support for what they feel should be the school’s core mission: education. They’re concerned about efforts to plug a 65-million-dollar budget shortfall that could deeply impact teaching positions. And they argue that the university spends too much on athletics. For Ohio Public Radio, WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia has more.
Side Effects Public Media’s Natalie Krebs reports that although many people who have been seriously ill from COVID-19 are older or have underlying health conditions, it’s still unclear what causes certain people to get really sick.
COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Greene County. The Ohio Department of Health has been airing a new hyper-local advertising aimed at getting people to wear their masks. Dr. Kevin Sharrett is the Greene County Coroner and a physician with the Kettering Health Network — and he’s a local farmer, too. WYSO Reporter Chris Welter talked with Dr. Sharrett over the phone about what he’s seeing in the Miami Valley.
