A Brush High School junior traded the track for a patrol car this week, joining South Euclid police for a ride-along after a medal-winning weekend in track and field. Paige Walker also met with a Lyndhurst K-9 handler and her partner, Sonic, for a closer look at the path she hopes to pursue.

A touring flock of 12-foot-tall “Giant Quackers” rubber ducks begins rolling through Northeast Ohio on March 19, building buzz for the Ohio Rubber Duck Dash Festival in downtown Cuyahoga Falls, April 23-25. The multiday event features a six-story “World’s Largest Rubber Duck,” an All-City Art Walk, food vendors, and a Saturday dash with prizes.

More than 1,500 students are heading to downtown Cleveland as the 27th annual FIRST Buckeye Regional brings 42 robotics teams to the Wolstein Center. With alliances, rankings and a shot at the FIRST Championship in Houston on the line, the three-day competition highlights the region’s next generation of STEM talent.

Case Western Reserve University is now the fastest-growing research institution in the Association of American Universities, with R&D spending up 37.5% from 2022 to 2024, according to the National Science Foundation. The university reported $643 million in research spending in FY 2024 and plans to open a $300 million science and engineering building later this year.