A couple of years ago when Forest City was selling its site for a new convention center to Cuyahoga County's Facilities Commission (since disbanded), Al Ratner casually mentioned that I would have lots of fun if I were tracking all the money Forest City got in subsidies around the nation.

The Nation magazine chose Cleveland as the city to illustrate the cost of the War in Iraq to one troubled city. The two-page spread in the March 31 issue shows what could have been bought to meet public needs with $479.2 million, Cleveland’s share of the war cost.

The County has pulled another Gateway. Only better - for the operators.

It looks as if the medical mart and convention center will cost County taxpayers – and this is if there are no snafus - $1 billion.

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners have given me a  great idea.

Let's privatize the Commission by hiring one person who actually  knows what he or she is doing and do away with electing our three Stooges for Private Businesses of Any Kind, aka, Tim Hagan, Jimmy Dimora & Peter Lawson Jones.

If you owned a $40,500.000.00 parking structure,  would these images concern you?  (by the way, if you live in Cuyahoga County, you DO OWN IT)

Just as a reminder to relate to the cost of the medical mart and  the new convention center construction, bonding and payments, don't forget that the County already spends heavily with tax fund for the convention business.

I attended the KennedyConCenter meeting this morning - held before the scheduled meeting of the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners.  

All the TV cameras and paper reporters were there.   Big news was afoot!

Sometimes the intersection of politics and policy is comfortable, sometimes uncomfortable, and sometimes you have to "connect the dots." One very uncomfortable "dot connecting" involves President Bill Clinton, philanthropic fundraising, the uranium industry and Clinton's private activity that ran contrary to US foreign policy and reinforced a country, Kazakhstan, with an antipathy to human rights and open media.

The day Ohioans and others around America failed the world and allowed Bush and his clan 4 more years was the saddest of my life, and I was depressed by life after that until I posted the following...

And break.

Then when it warms up like it did over the past two days, the pipes thaw out.

And water floods everything.  

And when the building is filled up, the water pours out under the doors and into the street - just like it is doing at Sweet Daddy's.

Cleveland365.com (what persons/names/$ are behind this anyway?) is sponsoring what they call a 10,000 little ideas convo. 

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Kenny Ward told me about  how he maintains Toronto skating rinks.

YOU ARE THE BEST REPORTER IN NEO -  YOU HAVE informative and educational NEWS!

The January 14, 2008 Cuyahoga County Commissioner's meeting started sounding much like a New England Town Meeting.  

Coming down the hall towards the fourth floor Commissioner’s public meeting room, the Town Crier's sharply ringing hand bell competed with his yells of  Hear Yea! Hear Yea!

On Friday January 11, 2008 Cleveland, Ohio Mayor Frank Jackson announced that the City was filing suit against 21 banks/financial firms.  The suit alleges that the defendants created a public nuisance in Cleveland.  The alleged  nuisance was created through issuances of thousands of “sub-prime” loans which are alleged by the City to have caused the abandonment, vacancy, and subsequent demolition of thousands of Cleveland residential buildings.

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BREWED FRESH DAILY HAS A THREAD which carries  a discussion which I believe it is important for everyone in NEO to read.  The thread is especially important now that the City of Cleveland is looking desperately for immediate cash-back from the taxpayers’ UDAG loans. 

There’s a little mystery on the plywood construction wall around the Marcel Breuer designed Ameritrust Tower in Cleveland, Ohio.