Thanks to Crain’s for bringing this into the light. 

Interesting perspectives on economic and community development from Coral's Peter Rubin, from the Villager Newspaper Online. I think Rubin makes some good points, and the reality is that we are overbuilding the Cleveland housing market, and other amenities, and that will make Cleveland a more powerful residential draw. As more of Cleveland becomes more "livable", more people will chose to live here. Add good schools and free city wide wifi and watch out. Clevelaqnd first will draw people from other parts of the region - empty nesters from the xburbs, students and young professionals from the inner heights - it will be cool and good to live in Cleveland again. That will attract people from other regions and parts of the world, and they will grow the economy - you need a critical mass of urban housing and culture to be a player and we aren't even near that yet - time to keep building and innovating in Cleveland housing! Now for the chair half there, with Rubin:

The war against the crisis of lead poisoning is being fought in Northeast Ohio by activists and professionals in a wide range of fields and disciplines. That reality was beautifully demonstrated today when noted neurologist and gerontologist Peter Whitehouse, M.D., Ph.D., and his associate Danny George, M.Sc., presented a lecture on "environmental toxins and late-life dementia: a life span perspective", exploring connections between lead poisoning and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and suggesting the need for an integrative ecological model, concluding "better take care of your neurons at age 2". The two presenters have co-authored a book titled "The Myth of Alzheimer's" that will be released later this year.

YES - this is a huge story... the State of Ohio is suing Sherwin Williams and other paint manufacturers over the public nuisance caused by lead paint they sold here over decades... the state is joining five Ohio cities in this battle for our citizens - this case could very well take over the battle for the cities - very exciting times for our down-trodden state.  It is exciting to see the new Ohio leadership in action, after so many years of poor performance by past administrations.

This was tucked away in the Cleveland Plain Dealer Business section today, straight out of Associated Press, without any local perspective - yawn, how boring is this subject. Well, over the next few months expect to see it is not so boring!

Cleveland Vision's Bill Callahan hosts a remarkably insightful blog called Cleveland Diary where he digs deeper into fascinating regional economic issues than anyone else on Earth, in a very precise and reputable way. Today, he posted a fasinating revelation that "NOPEC natural gas will be 33% higher than Dominion East Ohio next month", because "Dominion’s current residential rate of $12.49 per mcf will fall to around $9.90 starting in mid-January" while "the rate charged by the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) — at $12.68, already higher than East Ohio’s — is going up next month to around $13.13." He goes on to point out, "So tens of thousands of residents of Cleveland and other NE Ohio cities who were automatically “opted in” to the NOPEC supply deal last Spring by our cities, and didn’t go to the trouble to opt out — either because they believed in the promised savings, or weren’t sure what to think, or just didn’t understand the system at all — will now be paying 33% more for NOPEC gas than they’d be paying as Dominion East Ohio customers." Well, by some stroke of luck, I'm still a Dominion customer... I sure didn't understand the system at all.

For Clevelanders and your friends in Washington, D.C., January 23, 2007, the Cleveland Club of Washington, D.C. has scheduled a very special lunch for a celebration of presenting Bruce Sanford with their Harold Hitz Burton Award.

From the Cleveland Club of Washington, D.C.: if you are in D.C., please join fellow Clevelanders at the Town & Country Lounge of the Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C., on Thursday, December 14th beginning at 5:30 and stretching to whenever for some holiday cheer. The Mayflower is conveniently located near the Farragut North Metro Station at 1127 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., and is decorated for the season. The Town & Country Lounge is in the ground floor. No reservations are necessary. Cash bar. Complimentary pasta and hors d'oeuvres will be available. If you aren't in D.C., pass this on to friends there!

Calling for a volunteer or two to go to the Mayflower early, say about 5:00 to stake out our territory. Email me Brooke C. Stoddard if you are interested... brookecstoddard@cs.com

Two weeks ago saw the second birthday of REALNEO. I started REALNEO in October, 2004, to provide “Regional Economic Action Links for North East Ohio” and implement for the region some exciting open source social networking technology. While the outcomes have not been entirely what I expected, and these years have in ways been rough, I've been thrilled to help drive and support some great developments in the community.

Ohio State Representative Mike Foley (D) will be holding a press conference tomorrow, Tuesday October 17 at 11:30 am at the gazebo at Lincoln Park (W. 14th and Starkweather), located in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland’s west side..  

Northeast Ohio's Blogging community is America's most active civic journalism network. Meet The Bloggers is an exciting, cutting edge community lead by George Nemeth, Gloria & Tim Ferris, and Jason Haas, building a national reputation for supporting freedom of speech, citizen dialogue and strengthening transparent political process - keystones of Democracy. 

The Plain Dealer finally has their headline article in the battle to protect citizens against lead poisoning - Sherwin Williams is suing East Cleveland, Toledo and Columbus for them filing suit against Sherwin Williams over lead poisoning... this, rather than the impacts and history of lead poisoning, is what has made the headlines in the paper, featured on top of the business section (rather than the front page, where the news belongs). So, Sherwin Wlliams and their local attorneys Jones Day feel they can intimidate or perhaps bankrupt Ohio cities by attacking them over what has already been determined against Sherwin Wiliams and Jones Day in Rhode Island and is in court in 26 other states, all because  Sherwin Wiliams and Jones Day believe Ohio and our courts are so in the pockets of this rich and powerful local company and law firm they will endorse Blackmail.

I just got the following event details from our Tech Czar Michael DeAloia about an important international conference coming to Cleveland - The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers - with keynote by Case VP of IT Lev Gonick (congratulations, Lev). I've worked with lots of high level global IT managers and they are an excellent draw to Cleveland... they like to explore and they spend money, so this conference is a gem. And they are offering a special deal for Cleveland IT companies worth checking out. Most interesting to me and you is how they are selling Cleveland to their international membership... check out our forum on 22 reasons to attend this conference in Cleveland, Ohio, and add your ideas to share with these important guests of our community, and all others! See conference details below...

While hard to compare to shootings and murder, I can't think of a worse development for NEO, local arts and culture and my neighborhood than the news I recieved just now - Gallery 1300 is closing. I don't know enough details to know if it is "our" fault - not enough money flowing from the community to the gallery and artists - or just that the smart, great people who have made 1300 a core part of the NEO scene have other opportunities to pursue, but I know we all owe it to their team to really put out for them in their closing months. More to come on this as I learn details... for now: the Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           

Title of the Exhibit: Leave ‘Em Wanting More – The last shows of 1300

Opening Reception: 

5 - October 20, 7-10 – Grant Smrekar, Paul Sydorenko, Bill Rupnik

The 7GEN development team of Phillip Williams and myself are thrilled to work with the important Cleveland Club of Washington, DC, to provide technology to their leadership and members. From their new Drupal website, found at http://clevelandclub.org: "The Cleveland Club of Washington, D. C., founded in 1957, is an association of Washington men and women who share a keen interest in Cleveland. Most of the more than three hundred members are former Clevelanders or graduates of its universities. Participants include United States Representatives, judges, prominent federal officials, journalists and others of diverse background and occupation."

InfoTelis is hosting an elite panel discussion focusing on economic growth in Northeast Ohio through technology. Techonomic Talk – Voices of the Future brings top-notch experts together with business leaders, advocates and policymakers to explore emerging economic and technology issues in the region through a robust debate. Participants will have the opportunity to dig into the complex problems that crop up as emerging technologies meet traditional economic structure in Northeast Ohio and gain a better understanding of future opportunities and growth.