This just in, via Cleveland City Council, via Facebook... "Another step taken toward Breaking the Cycle of Abandonment". This is about how City Council has decided to spend our community's $25 million in Federal taxpayer funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) - the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - intended to help our impoverished inner city. You must ask yourself, who decided how your $25,000,000 should be spent here, how did they really decide this, and is this a step forward or backwards?

OnSpeX Consumer Products Evaluation Facility. Ohio registered professional engineers can earn 1 Continuing Professional Development hour.

Location

Despite corruption and cronyism galore, Ohio does have it's bright and shiny moments of good and brilliant. Here's a way to make history come alive for your kids (from ODOT!) http://www.dot.state.oh.us/districts/D06/Maps/Pages/OhioUndergroundRailroadMapsPage.aspx

We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

Shout out to Slavic Village Sandy, who is the voice of NEO. Thanks for the heads up!

This is your invitation to join Miami alumni and friends from around the globe for a Charter Day Celebration 200 years in the making. Space is limited at each event and the deadline to RSVP is February 7, 2009.

More information and online registration are available at www.MiamiAlum.org/Chapters or you can Joanne Harper at 1-866-MU-ALUMS.

Location

Good afternoon. Today, I delivered the City of Cleveland ’s 2009 operating budget to Cleveland City Council. For the fourth year, I am proposing a balanced budget without layoffs or reductions in service delivery. However, in these hard economic times, I pledge to you that I will remain vigilant and that my Administration will continue to seek efficiencies, reduce cost, increase economic development and raise revenue. Please click here to find out more about this year’s proposed budget.

Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio offers ARTWORKS, a program where students work with professional artists and other students to create work in music, dance, theater and visual art.

Students entering 10th, 11th and 12th grade are eligible. to apply, go to http://www.yaneo.org/what/artworks.php

Student applications are due March 20. Professional artists who want to work with the students are encouraged to apply by February 12th. The program takes place June 17-July 30th.  Call 216.561.5005 for more information.

 Pecha Kucha Night Cleveland #2

Friday, February 6th, 2009 Start 8:20pm (doors open at 7)
House of Blues 308 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio

Location

The following (see below) is a PD report of the announcement made at the end of the day today.

Although many of us have our doubts as to the actual benefit or success a Med Mart/Convention Center investment will have, the fact that the damn location decision has been made is a relief...particularly given the fact the Mall site prevailed.

From Defend Cleveland, by Ed Morrison http://defendcleveland.net/news/2009/1/20/new-pathways-for-a-cleveland-c...

The impoverished City of Cleveland – with all its problems – is giving Howard Hanna (Smyth Cramer) $250,000 to renovate the offices downtown that the realtor bought last October, the Plain Dealer recently reported.

“I want to thank the mayor because this was not a done deal. This was a deal where we had to go on the offense,” said downtown Councilman Joe Cimperman to the Plain Dealer.

Well, it sure is offensive to me.

For those of you with an investment portfolio (what a year, huh?), I'd like to suggest Liberty Property Trust as a potential investment (NYSE: LRY). I work in the Infrastructure and Commercial Real Estate investment space and for those interested in aligning your investment portfolio with your environmental passions, this is a company that is on the leading edge of sustainability in commercial real estate.

For teens 14-19.

Free spoken word, performance and leadership events for teens. Whether you are writing, slamming, DJing, MCing, or dancing, you will connect with old friends, make new friends, and have a chance to compete for a spot on Cleveland's Youth Poetry Slam team.

WHEN: Friday nights and weekday afternoons January - April 2009

WHERE: Idea Center at Playhouse Square 1375 Euclid Ave. Cleveland 

Northeast Ohio has the opportunity to rebuild our neighborhoods and by offering healthier and more active transportation choices, we can create thriving neighborhoods where people want to live. However, the current transportation network leaves us way behind the curve. New investment to support walking and biking will create pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, an important step to get the nation back on track. Fortunately, it's a cost-effective step we can take in these tight financial times.

Check out Suki Yume in Tremont.  This is my tenant and she just put the finishing touches on her business... beautiful, new sign... window stickers... address numbers (finally) installed.

Paula is drawn to Asian Ball Joint Dolls (or ABJD) because of their beauty and unique customization.  You can take a blank doll and paint your own face, change the hair, change the eyes... make it your own.

Tremonts artistic base makes this shop a perfect fit. 

Here we go… If you were wondering about how federal stimulus dollars might be spent in Ohio, this should give you some idea. Gov.

Don’t you just love the dance the establishment, its puppet politicians and its subservient media are doing with the medical mart.

“This community needs to move ahead on the medical mart, and that means pushing for a decision on where to build it,” headlined a Plain Dealer editorial, “Decision time.”

Well, editorial writers, no one is building a medical mart.

The envisioned business area for our envisioned 200 acre port facility at East 55th Street in the inner harbor (in the Innercity Yacht Club and marina to be exact).

Note from Mansfield Frazier regarding a winery in Hough:

Ward 7's recently-elected representative, Cleveland City Councilman TJ Dow, has asked me to assist him with jumpstarting a project. He would like to explore the idea of situating a first-class winery in the Upper Chester area of the ward, which is immediately adjacent to University Circle, and in the shadow of Cleveland Clinic. Such a facility would tap into the nascent green movement by potentially utilizing grapes grown on the vast expanses of vacant land in Cleveland, while creating employment opportunities for local residents in the areas of wine production, marketing, distribution, equipment maintenance, bookkeeping and a host of other jobs. Additionally, such a facility would become a gathering focal point for community events and other entertainments.

Location

I just viewed a clip this evening and hit Google to find out more...

Congress recently passed a law to protect children under the age of 12 against lead poisoning.  The law was meant to protect against toys poisoned with lead, or lead based paint.  The law is actually very broadly written and also covers clothing... all clothing...

There is also very little guidance about the new law... basically... resale shops have to test every article to prevent against lead content... how will that work if testing costs more than the sale price of the garment?

Snow is blowing by my window this morning and I have just watched my neighbor and his 6 year old son dig out their driveway and drive away. I cruised over to cleveland.com to see what is news in NEO... not much.

So I returned to REALNEO and opened a book: REALNEO TOPSOIL - Technology Optimization Platform for Social Organization, Innovation and Learning

In the 1990s, Cleveland had a rather highly educated City Council. I can’t remember the number but the percentage of lawyers among the 21 members was high. Cleveland also had an intelligent, crafty and feisty Mayor in Michael White. Today, City Council appears – with a few exceptions – to be inept and even farcical. Mayor Frank Jackson may be steady but one wouldn’t call him artful or exciting. Does it make any difference? Here is an example where it definitely didn’t.

when i moved back to cleveland in 1994, i had high hopes from the sell

of a great new baseball/basketball complex, the new rock hall, tower city, etc