It's good to be back in Cleveland. I rode in on the redline from the airport and got off the greenline at Southington to be welcomed by friends an easy walk away. Stories were told and beer, cheese, etc. shared. A couple days home and I have spoken to a few of you, corresponded with others and spent time with a handful of my Cleveland homeys. I have been trying to catch up on the news, but it is deep here. Lead awareness week, convention centers overshooting their budgets, bank stock prices plummeting, PBS in the hood with Bill Moyers' Journal... wow! All old news though…

I have been busy in the sleepy hamlet of Apalachicola with family mourning the loss of two immediate family members. My Cleveland family - please stay put. I have had enough...

It wasn’t what you might call “my summer vacation”, but it was a trip. Here’s what I saw.

Maybe they can leave the roof off and forget about the foundation.

Then maybe Fred Nance, Tim Hagan and Sam Miller can bring that sucker in under a half billion tax dollars.

That, of course, doesn’t include interest in about the same amount, plus generous overruns for contractor friends. Oh, and don’t forget the little items they aren’t talking about subsidizing – parking garages and a new luxury hotel, built, of course, on Sam’s land.

The most important message communicated at today's press conference kicking-off Lead Awareness Week was that our government leadership at the state, county and municipal level stand united to eradicate lead poisoning in Northeast Ohio by 2010. Publicly expressing their concern about lead poisoning here, and their commitment to its rapid elimination, East Cleveland Mayor Eric Brewer, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones added important voices to the chorus of public health and social service champions of the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council... a unique, world-class collaboration of around 85 organizations.

Since American automakers are having a tough time would you accept a new auto with a couple of doors missing so the company could save some money?

Would an automaker dare ask a customer for such a concession?

Newspapers – having a financially tough time – are asking just about that – less newspaper, fewer stories, and light content and soon at a higher cost.

Last night's Bill Moyers Journal discussed the mortgage meltdown and the role of Wall Street and the Federal Reserve Bank with author William Greider--order the book from a local library on line* and educate yourself on how we got ourselves into this mess.  In a word--GREED.

Who was W.C. Reed? Tremont is fortunate to have a large green space--Lincoln Park--which serves to provide a community center to one Cleveland neighborhood.

When Children Are Exposed To High Levels Of Lead And Mercury From Coal Emissions, They Get Hurt

The lastest GCLAC Lead Safe Living meeting this past Monday, July 14, at the Lutheran Ministries building on the west side was an informative and particularly timely session, given the imminent arrival of Ohio Lead Awareness Week, July 21-25.  Events have been planned in conjunction with this statewide effort by various collaborators comprising the GCLAC to offer important educational and testing services.  All children 6 and under will receive free lead screenings throughout the week and a special press conference, featuring Mayor Eric Brewer of East Cleveland, (among others) will kick things off.

July 15, 2008: Updates in Open Source Economic Development

Phillip Morris is pretty cavalier about the shooting of a civilian. A thug by his record but an unarmed one when killed.

(Or scraping the bottom of the pond)

You have to laugh so you don’t cry.

I haven’t studied the report at all but the announcement in the morning paper quoting Dave Abbott, Joe Roman and Sam “Give Me More” Miller on big spending in Cuyahoga County is really amusing. Laughable. Absurd.

Today's PD includes an editorial opposed to Library Director Ken Warren's decision to monitor computer use at Lakewood Public Library. 

Public library patrons should be left alone

EPA Drops the Value of an American Life Almost a Million Dollars

by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 07.12.08

Back in January of 2007 I first proposed the application of innovative, sustainably powered aquaponics in tandem with organic farming to uplift underprivileged communities and resolve urban blight.  East Cleveland, where we have worked for years now, to facilitate positive change, remains a tremendous opportunity for Urban aquaponics integration, especially given the extraordinary connections falling into place recently toward the Star Neighborhood Vision.  A two-year quest to secure financially viable and socially redeeming use for the old Hough Bakeries building has finally manifested, through trial and tribulation, with the likely emergence of multiple schools at the Star Village, as it is now called, on Lakeview in East Cleveland.  REALNEO and Star Neighborhood Development founder Norm Roulet deserves kudos for perservering through political turbulence and facilitating the key connections to make this work.  

How ridiculous can our County officials get?

The PD Tipoff column reports that 19 employees of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court submitted travel vouchers individually for a trip with a total bill of $2,536.50.

Cleveland, by no means, is the only city that bestows gift after gift upon corporate welfare chiselers.

Crain’s Cleveland Business this week linked to a Columbus Dispatch article that reveals the depravity of these business frauds and their grip on that city’s government.

Graphics speak louder than words, but, of course, the kids know that!!!

by Peter Myers

Private investors have completed the US $10.75 million equity financing for Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning, the innovative renewable energy project for downtown Honolulu. The company anticipates a construction start date of January 5, 2009.

I was watching an Indians game recently when the sports announcers went a bit agog about the stadium restaurant as the TV cameras panned the Terrace Club where people were happily enjoying food treats with a view of the baseball game.

Happy people enjoying The Good Life.

Too bad you had to pay for it.

For this week's I GRO EC With City Fresh meeting, evolving plans led us to my favorite Mexican restaurant in NEO, Mi Pueblo, in University Circle... a few blocks down Euclid Avenue from the Star Complex. City Fresh's Maurice Small brought a diverse team of young adults from across the region who are learning from Maurice about urban farming and providing fresh local food to the community. As such, much of our discussion focused in on the business and social opportunities urban farming offers young people like those sitting at the table.

I received an email that should be open to discussion, as requested. All I know about the Sun Press is that there isn't a newspaper for East Cleveland, so I don't read their product. My parents do, so I'll get their opinion on whether the Sun Press matters to them, or not. What about to you? Here's what one realneo reader thinks....

I lived for a while in Bay Village, along Lake Erie, and the views, microclimate, and bugs were amazing. When I first moved there, I used to take my dog down to the water, at a little "swimming" area by Columbia Road, until we went swimming there after a storm and then both got sick as dogs, and the dog's fur started falling out. I've stayed ashore, since... and keep my kids away from the lake. Perhaps the water is not entirely unsafe, between rains, but all that shit and worse that flows into the lake, when the storm drains and sewers overflow into the lake, stays in the lake. And what industry and shipping dumps into the lake, stays in the lake... or turns into fish many eat. So is this a good use for the lake? Who cares, much less may make a difference? And what does the future really hold for Lake Erie, in times of global warming?

Sometimes you have to wonder whether Plain Dealer editors read their newspaper. Now at times I can’t blame them for that, however, it might come in handy at times, too.

Sunday, the PD again helped Tim Hagan and his two buddy Cuyahoga County commissioners sound the “we’re out of money again” cry and offer as a solution another buyout. Just as the one Hagan took (retired & ran and re-elected) and now is back on the job pulling down a full salary.