Here's a note I just received from Bob Sopko, Strategic Technology Alliance, Case:

Almost everyone, me included, did  a double take as they walked by and noticed that the hood of the car was a lawn, the moon roof was hatching a healthy tree, and the trunk was full of rooted shrubs.  

The window glass makes it easy to see if the soil is moist or dry - every pot should be so well designed. 

"PARKS - NOT PARKING" one message proclaimed.

I am thinking of what model car I will use in Cleveland - anyone have a place to park the nursery vehicle?  

Here's the Mission Statement from the Streets are for People web site :

Anybody can dream dreams. They don’t deserve big headlines on the front page of our only daily newspaper.

So will the Plain Dealer please stop acting as the public relations outlet of downtown developer  dreams! I know that we all want to hear “good news” about our economic progress. However, “good news” that never seems to materialize is “bad news.”

As the American pass time of entertaining ourselves in "cute" and "muscle" gas-burning automobiles comes up against global warming, new corporate tricks are in store.  

 

And, I am not talking cigarettes, here.  I am talking this year's
Cleveland Arts Prize: recognizing men in aprons--Michael Symon and Michael Ruhlman.

The parking lot at the Metroparks Zoo was filling up to capacity as I rode my bike over the Brighton-Brooklyn Bridge today.  I was intrigued to note that some of the pedestrian crossing signal changers were gone--notably the street level boxes that allowed pedestrians to cross at Denison, ALDI's and Archwood.*  I looked up and saw the sign advertising the new program at the zoo.  The sponsor is TCP. 

Having recently attended the Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council (GCLAC) Annual Meeting, which focused on Challenges and Affordable Solutions in Lead Poisoning and Urban Redevelopment, I feel re-invigorated by the energy and culture of collaboration driven to rectify a debilitating lead toxicity problem that is particularly profound in underprivileged communities like East Cleveland.  Held in the welcoming confines of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, a full breakfast was served while the various parties collaborating on this critical social justice, health justice, and environmental justice issue were recognized for their considerable efforts.  Following this introductory, Keynote Speaker David E. Jacobs (pictured) of the National Center for Healthy Housing delivered a stirring oratory which sharply illuminated a drastically underfunded and undersupported health concern and epidemic. 

SMART publishing! Really SMART--Capitalize on our biggest asset.

Now that we have $4 a gallon gasoline upon us maybe we should look at what could have been if only…

If only our Regional Transit System had concentrated on being a system that had as its main aim the transit dependent, not to mention our environmental needs.

Kids like to tell stories.  You hear them every day and, sometimes, we call them lies.  Why not tap into that energy and make an artist?  Here is a shout out to Bobby Norfolk. I would call him a genius.

Here's a press release on Ed Morrison's recent presentation in Illinois:

..." Sunday, May 18, 2008 10:59 PM CDT
Regional networking key to future economy, ECIDC speaker says

By BILL LAIR, Managing Editor
blair [at] jg-tc [dot] com

The challenge for civic leaders today is figuring out how to forecast the future workplace needs of the country.

Ed Morrison, an economic policy adviser for the Purdue center for Regional Development, said people spend too much energy placing blame on economic problems instead of planning for improvements.

Morrison was the featured speaker at the nine-county East Central Illinois Development Corporation’s Annual Dinner and BESI Awards on Thursday in Effingham.

The BESI awards went to Jim Ryan of Marshall, John Inyart of Charleston and to the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier for their achievements in business ethics and social involvement.

= 1209618000) && (nAdsysTime <= 1212296399)) { aAd = new Array('news+bigads', '46571-1194541040', 'swf'); aAd[3] = '336'; aAd[4] = '280'; aAd[5] = new Array(); aAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.firstmid.com'; aAd[6] = 'news%2Bbigads'; aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 545; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1209618000) && (nAdsysTime <= 1212296399)) { aAd = new Array('news+bigads', '74513-1209649693', 'swf'); aAd[3] = '336'; aAd[4] = '280'; aAd[5] = new Array(); aAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.richeys.com'; aAd[6] = 'news%2Bbigads'; aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 545; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1199426400) && (nAdsysTime <= 1515131999)) { aAd = new Array('news+bigads', '109908-1205339109', 'js'); aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 545; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1209618000) && (nAdsysTime <= 1212296399)) { aAd = new Array('news+bigads', '121553-1206998996', 'swf'); aAd[3] = '300'; aAd[4] = '250'; aAd[5] = new Array(); aAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illinoisexpresseyecare.com'; aAd[6] = 'news%2Bbigads'; aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 545; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1209704400) && (nAdsysTime <= 1214888399)) { aAd = new Array('news+bigads', '121781-1210369432', 'swf'); aAd[3] = '300'; aAd[4] = '250'; aAd[5] = new Array(); aAd[5][0] = ''; aAd[6] = 'news%2Bbigads'; aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 545; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1209531600) && (nAdsysTime <= 1212296399)) { aAd = new Array('news+bigads', '122887-1207687672', 'swf'); aAd[3] = '300'; aAd[4] = '250'; aAd[5] = new Array(); aAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kcsummersnissan.com'; aAd[6] = 'news%2Bbigads'; aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 545; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } if ((nAdsysTime >= 1207890000) && (nAdsysTime <= 1212296399)) { aAd = new Array('news+bigads', '123586-1209489510', 'swf'); aAd[3] = '300'; aAd[4] = '250'; aAd[5] = new Array(); aAd[5][0] = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.barbeck.com%2F'; aAd[6] = 'news%2Bbigads'; aAd[7] = 10; aAd[8] = 0; aAd[9] = 545; aAd[10] = 0; aAd[11] = 0; aAds[aAds.length] = aAd; } adsys_displayAd('http://adsys.townnews.com', 'jg-tc.com', aAds, aCampaigns); // -->

First, a bit of explanation:
Over the last several months I have posted here about Smaller Indiana, an online and f2f community based in Indy and lead by Pay Coyle, and others. The intent of Smaller Indiana is to make "creative people and innovative ideas easier to find. This is the place for you to share your ideas and engage with Indiana's most creative and inspired souls...working together to build community,culture and commerce."

On Saturday, May 24th, 2008, the Fine Arts Department will present a recital of classical music written for bassoon and piano. The bassoon is most familiar by its role as the grandfather in Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" and the opening solo in Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."

The performers include Fine Arts librarian, Michael Dalby and friend, PJ Woolston, who performed together in various orchestras in college. Anne Dalby will accompany them on the piano. The recital will feature works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Lars-Erik Larsson, and Johann Baptist Vanhal. Please join us on the 3rd floor of Main Library on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 4pm for "An Afternoon of Bassoon"!

Pat Coyle, leader in our colleague community Smaller Indiana, just sent along this notice about how they are accelerating creativity in the online and face-to-face community. It serves as a good and replicable model - a "how to"  embed creative positive activity. To learn more, build your connections, and contribute, join by visiting smallerindiana.com

If you or you know of someone who might be suitable for the job contact Lev Gonick at LevDOTgonickATcaseDOTedu

Can you recommend someone for this job?

<lev [dot] gonick [at] case [dot] edu><betseymerkel [at] gmail [dot] com>I have served on the Lawrence School Board in NEOhio for 6 years (http://www.lawrenceschool.org).

Why didn't I just use an alias like everyone else?  I don't like the look that I got tonight from Eugene Sanders at the Cleveland Metropolitan School District meeting tonight. 

Awhile back, Roldo mentioned that the newspaper still has relevance. Today, this article proves it.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008

I was saddened to learn today that the excellent Northeast Ohio painter - a Cleveland Institute of Art graduate and productive artist - Scott Miller passed away, this weekend. I'm sure detals will follow here and in other arts media. My mother taught Scott at CIA and remembers him as a great talent, who lived life his own way. Scott just had a powerful show of recent work at Gray's Auctioneers Gallery, in December 2007, at which I shot these photos of Scott and his work - I'll post more later.

My father always said that the Catholic Church put on the best show in town, but after Vatican II, he migrated to the second best show in town the Anglican/Episcopal church.  Father Tim delivers his epistle to the diocese.

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania published today research directly linking the success of  broadband to socio- and economic revitalization, and the need for innovative public policy. The  design of flexible, resilient public policy will happen with high levels of civic engagement guiding local municipal government. A combo of collaborative leadership and community strengths.

This was sent to me by a very dear friend....  Sorry it is so long, but it is well worth the time...

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What In The World Is Going On?

Intel and Grameen announced a new partnership today, using new tools to lift poverty and build enterprise.

Two of our Midtown Wednesdays Civic Forums at Myers University in the summer of 2006 were lead by two leaders from Africa, Masalakulangwa Mabula and Kudzai Shava. We learned about shared challenges and solutions..the same in Tanzania as in Cleveland urban commuities, we are just separated by an ocean.

What is our opportunity to replicate this model here in Northeast Ohio and elevate a 20 year history of deep poverty? Here's the announcement:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Addressing the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) 2008, Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett announced that Intel Capital and Grameen Trust will form a business venture dedicated to social and economic development. Also during his opening-day keynote, Barrett announced collaboration with NetHope and demonstrated a new Aid Station device designed to support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in their health care, disaster relief and economic growth efforts.