Regional rock salt shortage impacting Northeast Ohio cities | Reporters Roundtable

Here’s some good news/bad news as we begin this Friday. First the good: We made it to Friday. Now the bad or not-so-great news: you may be spending this weekend indoors. A big wave of Arctic air will send temperatures sliding downward beginning today. Then Sunday the second act moves in, a snowstorm bringing the potential for heavy snow, including here in Northeast Ohio, while in some places in the mid and deep South possible catastrophic ice accumulations are predicted. Complicating the situation: a regional salt shortage that may impact road clearing efforts. The story begins our discussion of the week’s news on the “Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable.” Power outages could result from the winter storm this weekend but even on calm weather days, Ohio is having a hard time keeping up with rising energy demand. One main driver of that increased demand: data centers. Columbus has become a key location for these centers, with one report concluding it's the second-largest hub in the Great Lakes region. But those centers are popping up everywhere including in Stark County for instance. If you're heading to Downtown anytime soon, you should know that the city has updated its rates for on-street parking and enforcement. The new digital, coinless metered system will give drivers the opportunity to park at a meter for up to four hours, but at increasing hourly rates and enforcement will be extended seven days a week—except in Ohio City where Sundays will not be enforced. Cleveland City Council members are not yet sold on the Bibb administrations "pedal to the metal" approach to shut down Burke Lakefront Airport to open the acreage to lakefront redevelopment. Mayor Justin Bibb has said he would like to see Burker shuttered by 2029. The future of Burke Lakefront will be the topic of our next “Sound of Ideas Community Tour” on March 4. Property owners in Ohio's largest counties are among those that will see their next property reappraisals delayed by a year. Sixteen counties including Franklin, Cuyahoga and Hamilton are pushing back the process. Cuyahoga will next appraise properties in 2031. Fewer Ohioans are enrolled in Affordable Care Act or Obamacare plans after additional subsidies to offset costs put into effect during the pandemic expired last month. Guests: -Gabriel Kramer, Reporter, Ideastream Public Media -Kelly Byer, Economic Development Reporter, The Canton Repository, USA Today Co. network -Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief, Ohio Public Radio/TV