Will I ever understand the male species?  I know that I share some of the same aggressive tendencies, so who knows where I fall in terms of classification.   I know that I will get no sympathy for my sympathy for Terrence Hough, the firefighter who took the lives of three people last summer over loud noise.  If I kept a loaded gun in my house, who knows what I might do on my bad days. 

Some people just must have too much money.

Fred Nance of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey hasn’t submitted a bill yet to Cuyahoga County for his work on the $900 million deal for a medical mart and convention center. He’s the county’s lawyer on these matters.

I walked into the City Council hearing room in mid-2001, to find one-time Mayor Michael White’s nemesis Pat O’Malley sitting with a number of suits in a nearly empty room. O’Malley was the County Recorder at the time.

Having known O’Malley as a once progressive/aggressive Council member and foe of Mayor Michael White, it made for an amusing sight for me. I asked him pointedly what he was doing sitting there with a team of suits. I suspected nothing good.

If Cleveland Metroparks continues to expand into the city of Cleveland, the safety of the good people in these neighborhods must be of paramount concern. This is evident from the horrendous attack this week at West Creek, along with residents' concerns previously voiced in Slavic Village. Vandalism at Washington Park Golf Course has been addressed, but personal safety far outweighs property concerns.

 

If these are average Clevelanders, living in older urban neighborhoods like around University Circle their entire lives, they have been lead poisoned, perhaps severely. Thursday morning, May 22nd, join 100s of NEOs leaders concerned with our community's health, intelligence, safety and economy meeting at the Cleveland Natural History Museum for a free breakfast, keynote discussion and breakout sessions about lead poisoning and urban redevelopment. I guarantee you will leave this brief event with a completely realigned understanding of the core barriers to the success of our urban neighborhoods, leading to better planning for a healthy, effective region in the future.

This certainly has been a perfect spring for flowering trees, still exploding with color all over the near East Side. Here are some views at Lakeview Cemetery, where the plantings are exceptional any time of year, and especially about now. Check it out!

Clearly University Circle wheels are squeaking and the PD has agreed to be an unquestioning amplifier. A couple weeks ago there was a spate of articles/editorials and then readers were  given a break, but now the pd is  back at it…”We got to have it- that Opportunity Corridor- we just gotta."  After all, “important people” want it.

Can we lead a citizen charge to clean our house by making Kathleen Barber County Executive?

Aerial dancing with a marvelous set.

Join the nonprofit organization ClevelandBikes on its annual "Bike to Work" rides, everyday May 12-16, now bigger than ever by partnering with other riding organizations in the first Cleveland Bicycle Week.   Ride and you can be elgible for great prizes!  This year, you can also find partners on your own through a "Bike Buddy" system brought to you by NOACA. And remember, join us for our ride on Wednesday May 14th and wear yellow for Lance Armstrong Foundation's LIVESTRONG Day! 

* ClevelandBikes hosts commuting rides downtown to our host, the Greater Cleveland YMCA (2200 Prospect Avenue), every day during Cleveland Bicycle Week, May 12-16.  Join us for coffee, while the YMCA provides free, secure bike parking, showers and free passes for the day.  Join us and share your goals about riding in Northeast Ohio, while riders are eligible for fun prizes.

* ClevelandBikes is also pleased to assist with the Northeast Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA), which is offering to match solo riders through th Ohio Ride Share "Bike Buddy" program, matching riders with common starting points,ride times and common destinations (www.ohiorideshare.com).

* ClevelandBikes also supports a major health initiative, with a "Bike to Work"ride for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (www.livestrong.org) and "LIVESTRONG" day on Wednesday May 14.

* ClevelandBikes will host "Bike to Work" rides on the final Friday of every month and special rides for festivals and other activities.

Pick a starting location from the list below and ride along with a ClevelandBikes ride leader, or just meet us between 8:00 and 9:00 AM at our downtown host, the Greater Cleveland YMCA,  which is offering free showers, secure bike parking and free day passes for YMCA activities.

East Side Starting Points

7:45 AM  Arabica at 11300 Juniper in University Circle
7:15 AM  Dewey's Coffee on Shaker Square
7:30 AM  Starbucks at Cedar and Fairmount
7:00 AM  Bus Shelter at E. 222nd and Lakeshore
7:45 AM  McDonald's on E. 159th and Lakeshore

South Side Starting Point
7:15 AM  Arabica at 5615 Turney Rd.

West Side Starting Points
7:45 AM  Civilization Coffee Shop in Tremont at W. 11th and Kenilworth
7:50 AM  Talkies Film and Coffee Bar in Ohio City at 2521 Market Ave.
7:25 AM  Phoenix in Lakewood at 15108 Detroit near Warren Rd.
7:50 AM  Arabica in Lakewood at 11604 Detroit near W. 116th

National "Bike to Work" Week is sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists  (www.bikeleague.org), which offers bicycle advocacy and support programs for more than 125 years.

ClevelandBikes , a 501C3 nonprofit organization, is committed to advancing all forms of bicycling as economical and healthful recreation, sport and transportation.

For More Information, Contact:  Kevin Cronin
216.374.7578; kevin@clevelandbikes.org
On the Web: www.clevelandbikes.org
When ClevelandBikes. Cleveland Benefits!

Reading along in the Sustainable Industries Website I found this link for the earthnow EXPO.

It’s time to come out from hiding, Sherrod.

Sen. Sherrod Brown doesn’t want to make a choice in the Democratic primary race.

But it’s time for him to show some courage. Bite the bullet and give us your choice for the Democratic nominee.

The locavore movement is growing.

In case you missed these articles in the NYTimes lately, here they are:

Backyards, Beware: An Orchard Wants Your Spot

Urban Farmers’ Crops Go From Vacant Lot to Market

A Chicken on Every Plot, a Coop in Every Backyard

read up!

Wanted to share this news with our NEO colleague network straight from the I-Open home base ...

Stock Market & Financial News - BusinessWeek: The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open) and Near-Time Announce New Approach to Building Innovative Workforce Development Partnerships

What is a "Green Roof" and what does it look like?

At the house on Roxbury, the green roof is where the raccoons still live.

My parents noticed a robin's nest in an aged Taxus tree on their back patio, low enough to nearly be in reach, and in good sight from a window up above. The other day, we saw robin's egg blue in the nest...  today, there are three altricial chicks, which we watched their early-bird parents feed worms.

Following is a piece I posted on BFD in response to Ed Morrison bringing the Boston Civic Engagement Summit to my attention last week.  (the links wouldn’t copy live to BFD when I pasted in my Word doc. there, so I duplicate the post here with live links)

I have always found Kelly Blazek's job stream to be one of the most worthwhile efforts in this town. 
Since she extended the invitation to join, I am posting it here:

Feel free to forward this to job hunters you may know - and have them

Little Italy has always been core to my REAL NEO experience. From earliest childhood memories,  my family has always had many meals at various Little Italy restaurants, each year, as well as picking-up an occasional pizza (where else in NEO but Mama Santas or Valentino's... well, do try the Gelatoria at Fairhill). I also love getting Lemon Ice and other goodies at Corbos. with their unusual greeting of "Leave the gun, take the cannoli"... as authentic as life gets, in NEO. Last night, I noticed Corbos moved next door to their old home, to a remodeled new space (much as Prestis did, a few years ago) Little Italy has always been a great hyper-local neighborhood, where people live, work, eat and socialize together within, and interact well with the world without. There's always lots of private rehab and strong entrepreneurial business activity here, off the Med-O-Mart grid. Which makes me ask you, what matters to the hyper-local economy in your neighborhood, and how is that doing.

When was the last time you went inside the Cuyahoga County Courthouse? Did you visit to find Justice? If so, here are some directions: once past tangle of guards, pocket content checkers and metal detectors walk into the voluminous lobby area, up the stairs and into marble column heaven. Look to your right as you face north and Justice will reveal herself to you. You'll gasp.

A few thoughts on our morning newspaper as it struggles for relevance.

You have to give credit to Plain Dealer Editor Susan Goldberg. She does have moxie that has often been missing in our morning newspaper.

One great thing about a gravel driveway is you can hear them coming.

This afternoon, Claes and I were chilling at home in East Cleveland, minding our own business, when we heard that crunch of rocks under heavy tires. Then the slam of a car door, and heavy feet on the front porch... another drive-by had arrived. It's been happening regularly since we started renovating the house on Roxbury, late last Summer.... especially on a beautiful day like today.

I thought I'd share some reflections after just spending Cinco de Mayo facilitating dialogues around regional economic development in Akron, Ohio.  I, like so many other colleagues who have participated in various phases of the Voices and Choices process had my fair share of reservations and issues with various aspects of the two-year, multi-million dollar investment and experience.  While I found great value in working hard to facilitate regional dialogues with a healthy mix of participants representing diverse demographics, I learned firsthand how difficult it is to drive meaningful outcomes from such activity.  I, like so many others, was very candid about the many difficulties endured and faced during the process - perhaps the most prolific of which was a failure to have the mechanisms in place to capture the heightened energy and activation of the masses in an effective and timely manner to drive meaningful and positive outcomes.  A candid conversation I had today with Advance Northeast Ohio's communications director, Chris Thompson, completely validated my feelings, as he was in complete agreement on this point.  I laud Chris for such candor and really appreciated his astute comments. 

Welcome to The Star Market and Cafe! What would make you walk, ride and drive out of your way and stop here? When? Why? Now is the time for Star Neighborhood Development to reinvent a blighted urban convenient store into a community asset. But how? That depends on you. What will you support here?

He’s our Jackie Robinson. Do we afford to not take the chance?

Barack Obama is tough in just the way Jackie Robinson had to be tough in 1947.

He has to operate in a non-threatening way and that may make him seem weak. He has had to ignore some attacks upon him without responding in kind. Robinson, a strong competitor, had to turn the “other cheek” to insults and attacks.

The plain, simple minded, Dirty Dealer is unable to cut through the glib assurances of Town Engineer Ciuni and others who continue to ambiguously suggest that  the Cuyahoga County owned University Square Plaza (mall) 5 deck parking garage is structurally safe .  The photo above shows a typical double T precast garage installation at another parking structure.  Notice that there is much more depth of the vertical leg of the T resting on the horizontal (beam is concrete in the above photo but steel in USq.) beam than in the USq. garage lower photo here in an earlier article on Realneo.

How would you change the boundaries of this map?

photo courtesy Intermuseum Conservation Association

Elmer Brown's murals for Valley View portrayed a heroic image of Cleveland's industrial history in classic Works Progress Administration (WPA) style.

Jeff Buster certainly demonstrates "Why Citizen Journalism" regularly, with his impactful and important reporting and photojournalism on many matters of hyper-local, regional and global importance, on REALNEO, followed by the world. Today, the Cleveland Plain Dealer followed Jeff's lead investigation of a disgraceful, failed development in University Heights, "UNIVERSITY SQUARE MALL PARKING STRUCTURE - CLOSE IT NOW?" The PD's Patrick O'Donnell writes "University Square battles empty storefronts, parking garage problems", offering a very different set of perspectives on all matters related to this failure, while completely validating all construction-related observations first revealed by Jeff, a lifelong construction professional.