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The holidays are full of food, fellowship, and for many, watching holiday favorites on TV. But what makes something a Christmas movie? On this week’s State of the Arts, we talk with an expert on the subject.

Archie the Snowman – Akron’s animatronic beacon of Christmas cheer – is heading into his final weekend for the season at Chapel Hill Mall.

Annmarie Jones from Cuyahoga Falls remembers coming to the mall in the 1980s and 90s. Now, she runs The Gourmet Popper snack bar near Archie.

The Cleveland Browns will end the decade without a winning season. Last week's 38-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals dropped their record to 6-8 with two games left. WKSU sports commentator Terry Pluto says the loss in the desert was a new low for a team that entered the season with big hype.

The Cleveland Indians will enter the upcoming season without their star pitcher. The team traded ace Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers. WKSU sports commentator Terry Pluto says Kluber had been at the center of trade rumors for the past year.

The University of Akron’s new president is giving a vote of confidence to the school’s  struggling football team and its place among the top football schools in the country. 

There is an ecosystem living inside of us that scientists are only beginning to comprehend.

Our microbiome aids in digestion and metabolism, but when out of whack, can cause discomfort, disease… even depression.

In this week’s Exploradio, we meet researchers in Cleveland who are working toward a better understanding of how to have a happy gut.

Akron City Council is reviewing a proposal for a digital billboard that would stand just over 200 feet tall off of Route 8 on North Street. The billboard would be well over the city’s zoning code of a 50 foot limit. Some residents said the billboard would block views of the Cuyahoga River, calling it a "big stick of litter." City councilwoman Tara Mosley-Samples said that isn’t the issue.

"So, it’s really just about zoning and nothing else. I know they brought up aesthetics a couple times, but that has nothing to do with the zoning portion that the city is in control over."

Lake View Cemetery is the final resting place for many of Cleveland's most famous residents. But it's also the subject of a yearlong passion project by Cleveland Heights photographer Michael Weil.

On this week's State of the Arts we explore "Moonlight in the Gates: 150 years of Lake View Cemetery in a New Reflective Light."

Nearly 75,000 Ohioans have registered with the state to receive medical marijuana. Of those, just over 51,000 have actually purchased the product. Those involved with the program propose some changes they say will improve it for everyone.

Erin Reed, the Board of Pharmacy’s director of medical marijuana, says changes to the program are necessary.

Students, faculty and staff at the University of Akron (UA) are warming up to their new president. Gary Miller was sworn in as the school's 18th president on Oct. 1. Miller brought with him a background in biological sciences. He previously served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay since 2014.

Local communities would not be able to ban single use plastic bags under a bill the Ohio House has passed – mostly along party lines – and sent on to the Senate.

The leaders of the House have differing views about the proposal.

House Speaker Larry Householder (R-Glenford) supports the ban on bans, saying retailers need uniform rules. "There should be consistency as far as your business is concerned."

This story was originally published on August 21, 2019.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are ramping up to celebrate their 50th season in the NBA. On Tuesday, the team announced a new Wall of Honor to serve as a tribute to those who have made “significant contributions” to the organization and its history. It will stand in the new North Atrium area of Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

The Akron Police Department will boost its numbers by about 10 percent in the next six months. Forty-five cadets have begun intensive training in the first Akron Police Academy since the city ended its training program in 2008.  

A film about a German New Wave artist -- and his visit to Akron -- took the top prize at the Highland Square Film Festival.

"Turning Heads in Tiretown" is a recreation of Klaus Nomi's stop here in 1980, when the David Bowie collaborator was in town to play a solo show.

Co-writers Roza and Ryan Maille accepted the award, saying they were inspired to make the film after reading about Nomi’s visit in a back issue of the Beacon Journal.

The Ohio Attorney General's office wants a constitutional amendment to protect opioid settlement money. Attorney General Dave Yost says it would create a foundation that would ensure the money would be used specifically in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

Just over a year ago, the $100 million project to repair the crumbling earthen dam at Buckeye Lake was finished two years early.  But the state is looking at dozens of the 1,420 dams in Ohio that could be failing.

The state says 124 dams are in poor or unsatisfactory condition. ODNR Director Mary Mertz says her agency is working its way through the list, but there aren’t any emergencies like Buckeye Lake’s dam on it.

“No, not that I’m concerned about that we’re going to wake up tomorrow and see a big dam breach.”

Akron City Councilman Russ Neal is the new President-Elect of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials.

Neal, who represents Ward 4 on the west side of Akron, sees this as an opportunity for cities to come together and share their ‘best practices’ with each other.

He hopes his new position will help share the concerns of Akron with a wider audience and work collaboratively to find solutions to those issues.

Kent State announced plans on Wednesday to improve parking and energy efficiency on its main campus as well as regional locations.

The voice of the Cleveland Indians may soon be honored in Cooperstown. Tom Hamilton is a finalist for the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award, presented to a broadcaster for major contributions to baseball. WKSU sports commentator Terry Pluto says Cleveland fans have been hearing Hamilton on the radio for 30 years.

In Akron's College & Career Academies model, the school district is focused on offering hands-on experiences, rather than test-taking, while partnerships with the business community play a vital role.

Just as vital are the choices given to students. They decide which career area they want to investigate.

Akron City Council will swear in five new members at its final meeting of 2019, which some officials say could spark some big changes.

Over the past few years, Monday night council meetings at times became a bit of a a battleground.

Sniping between members in at least one instance became an angry altercation, all while the public meetings are streamed live online.

Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens is celebrating this holiday season with the classics -- comic book classics.

Visitors at this year’s "Deck the Hall" holiday event can see Batman in the library and Superman in the living room.

The Ohio Supreme Court has dismissed a case arguing that voters can’t vote on the state's nuclear power plant bailout law. The nuclear power company argued that the rate increases were really a tax increase.

FirstEnergy Solutions, which recently changed its name to Energy Harbor, is set to get about $150 million a year in subsidies through increased rates on electric bills. That bailout was created through House Bill 6.