Editors's note: This the fourth in a week-long series WKSU is doing on the integration of Bhutanese-Nepali refugees, who began their migration to Akron a decade ago. This story also is part of a collaboration with the Huffington Post . Ohio has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, and the effort to get more babies to their first birthday is focusing increasingly on a kind of support-group model for pregnancy. Most of the groups are formed around common due dates of the

Editors's note: This is the third report in a week-long series WKSU is doing on the integration of Bhutanese-Nepali refugees, who began their migration to Akron a decade ago. This story also is part of a collaboration with the Huffington Post . One skill many Bhutanese refugees brought from the camps in Nepal is weaving. In Akron, the skill has taken a new twist. In a week-long collaboration with the Huffington Post on the impact of refugees on Akron, WKSU’s M.L. Schultze visits with the women

EDITOR'S NOTE: This second part of a collaboration between WKSU and the Huffington Post focuses on the impact of Bhutanese refugees on the music of Akron. The look of Akron’s North Hill has changed significantly since Bhutanese refugees began arriving here a decade ago. But the sound has changed even more. In a week-long collaboration with the Huffington Post, WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports that it’s in the music that the blending of two cultures could be most noticeable. The Himalayan Music

Editors's note: This is the first report in a week-long series WKSU is doing on the integration of Bhutanese-Nepali refugees, who began their migration to Akron a decade ago. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the fusion of music that is emerging. This story also is part of a collaboration with the Huffington Post , which is bringing its "Listen to America Tour" to Akron today. This month, Akron and Summit County are expected to introduce a plan outlining the practical things it takes to be a welcoming

This fall, the Ohio House will consider a measure that could quash public complaints about probate judges . The amendment was first included and removed from the budget. But weeks later, it appeared as a standalone bill. In this final part of our look at the “ Power of Probate Judges In Ohio ,” WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia looks at efforts to increase or decrease their power.

Metro Parks are among northeast Ohio’s most popular places. But in recent years, conflicts have emerged over who runs them--and how much power they have in running them. WKSU's Tim Rudell takes a closer look at the role probate judges are playing in this. In Ohio there is such a thing as a 1545 park district. That refers to the 1917 statute that established it. These are local parks, governed by boards appointed by the probate judge of the county they’re in. The public's place in operating the

Who wields political power in Ohio? You may think of your mayor, county officials or even Gov. John Kasich. But county-by-county, probate judges are among the most powerful elected leaders in the state. So what does a probate judge do? WKSU's Kabir Bhatia recently asked Kent State University political science professor and attorney Chris Banks, who specializes in American politics and the judicial process. He says in Ohio, probate judges are considered a limited jurisdictional court. They're a

More than a quarter of the 51,000 people in Ohio’s prisons are drug offenders, and the state is trying to figure out how to move some of them to treatment at the local level. In this installment of “Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis” WKSU’s M.L. Schultze looks closer at the evolution of the legal system from “lock them up” to “get them help.”

Ohio has a big problem with opioids and with prison overcrowding. A system meant to handle fewer than 39,000 people is holding more than 51,000, and many are relatively low-level drug offenders. But, as WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports in this installment of our series, Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis , the justice system is looking to alternatives to tackle the problem.

A generation ago, the battle to teach kids about drug abuse used scare tactics and the “Just Say No” campaign. In this installment of our series, Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis , WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia reports that experts are now recommending a concentration on social and emotional learning, as well as peer-to-peer programs – some of which are already in-place in Northeast Ohio schools. Teaching kids about opioid abuse can be difficult. And in Ohio, that’s compounded by the fact that a