(Or scraping the bottom of the pond)

The Greater Cleveland Lead Advisory Council (GCLAC) will be holding a Press Conference in recognition of Ohio Lead Awareness Week, which will take place the week of July 20th – 26th, 2008.  Scheduled speakers will address the significant progress made in reducing the number of children affected by lead paint hazards, as well as the importance of continued vigilance and prevention in light of new evidence linking childhood lead exposure to crime, low school-performance, as well as numerous lifelong health problems.  Scheduled speakers, representing a City, County, and State unified effort to eliminate the dangers of childhood lead poisoning are:

• Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners
• Mayor Frank Jackson, City of Cleveland
• Mayor Eric Brewer, City of East Cleveland
• State Representative Mike Foley, District 14
• Stuart Greenburg, Executive Director, Environmental Health Watch
• Nakiaa Robinson, Program Manager, Office of Early Childhood, Invest in Children

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REALNEO team meeting and fun and games at  HQ, in Shaker Heights, July 11, 2008...other than insane mosquito infestations this year, it's been a great Summer for backyard planning...

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.  

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

I thought perhaps I could stump City Fresh's Maurice Small with the question "what county in the world is the leader in urban farming?", but he didn't hesitate responding Cuba. And the July 8, 2008 I GRO EC roundtable concluded we need to plan a best practices mission to Havana. Next Tuesday, July 15, 6-7 PM, come to the Independent Green Republic Of Star Village, at the Star/Hough Bakeries Complex, to help plan our mission to Cuba and discuss other plans for transforming our region through urban farming.

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When our neighbor Dr. Pat Blochowiak told us to stop by her garden and pick some raspberries, blackberries and snow peas, I didn't realize the depths of her bounty... or how great blackberries may be. As my kids picked through nature, they chomped down probably $50 worth of the best food in town, when you may find food so good. As I looked at the bowls of berries collected in short time, I felt blessed by my community and nature. Over a fresh berries and whipped organic cream desert, our family celebrated Summer and life in the best way. All that is the certain promise of East Cleveland, with community farming. Help plan that reality with Maurice Small and others as we meet again, today, for what has become an every-other-Tuesday City Fresh I GRO EC brainstorming session, in East Cleveland. This week, we'll meet at the Hough/Star Bakeries complex, and also visit Brown's Market, which we plan to convert into a pilot City Fresh Market.

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Lake Erie from the Shoreby Club breakwall

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?

Now that my family has land that we may use for a while, we are growing our own food... and enough for many other families, it seems. One $1.07 packet of radish seeds planted in May is already many pounds of crisp, bright, beautiful, healthy fresh veggies... and eating my first fresh radish of my life taught me radishes are actually delicious. Same for Kale, and all the varieties of lettuce covering our farmland... really fresh pesto is to die for... can't wait for the carrots and shallots!

Under Mike White's administration, Abram's Creek in the Rocky River watershed was buried to make way for the expansion of Hopkin's Airport.  Fourteen million dollars in mitigation funding was allocated to restore the Doan Brook watershed.  What happened to the money?

Friday, July 11, 2008

10:00-11:30 a.m.

The Place: Confluence of West Creek and the Cuyahoga River
6411 Granger Rd./Rt. 17, Independence OH

From West Creek Preservation Committee:  Celebrate with us as we kick off the return of West Creek at its confluence with the Cuyahoga River.  Witness the start of the demolition as we reclaim the site from its current condition as a vacant warehouse and parking lot to make way for a beautiful 10-acre riverfront park.  When completed, West Creek will return to its original meandering flow into the Cuyahoga River with natural wetlands to reduce flooding, clean our drinking water, and restore wildlife habitat.  The new park will connect the West Creek Greenway to the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail, provide new access to the creek and river for all, and lead to economic revitalization of this part of Independence.

Project Partners:  Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, City of Independence, Cuyahoga County Commissioners, The Trust for Public Land, The George Gund Foundation, NRAC of Cuyahoga County, State of Ohio--Clean Ohio Fund, Ohio EPA, Ohio DOT, Kurtz Bros, Inc., and Independence Excavating.

Special thanks to US Senator George V. Voinovich, US Representative Dennis Kucinich, and State Senator Bob Spada.

Press calls: 216-401-4734

West Creek Preservation Committee

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Two weeks ago, City Fresh's Maurice Small met with friends in East Cleveland to discuss City Fresh, urban farming, and how we may convert a typical urban convenient store, Brown's Market, into a pilot City Fresh local foods market. During our discussions, Maurice mentioned that a dedicated urban farmer may earn more than $30,000 per year from sales of food grown on one typical urban lot (say 1/10th an acre). That being the case, and considering our ever-growing need and realigning demand for locally grown food, and the fact food may be grown locally as cost effectively as elsewhere in the world, it occurred to me that the highest and best use for most of the land now cleared, abandoned, blighted and wasted in our urban neighborhoods is for urban farming. So that is a use we are now planning to be core to redevelopment of the Star Neighborhood. Intrigued? Discuss and plan for this reality with Maurice and friends this Tuesday, from 6-7 PM, at that house on Roxbury, in East Cleveland. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

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by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 06.22.08

You can read about the task force here and here.  At this latter site you can get up to speed by seeing a video of part of a previous task force meeting and take part in a survey.  We need better public transportation now, so come and speak up.

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Not only does the PD take on golf, Page 1 - front and center But Scene pitches in (sorry) with a story on the changing face of highschool baseball.

Maurice Small is the most economically and ecologically sensible planner I know.

Joe Stanley, Sudhir Kade and I have been brainstorming with City Fresh's Maurice Small about "I GRO EC" - Independent Green Republic Of East Cleveland. City Fresh already operates a Fresh Stop at Huron Road Hospital - which Maurice reports is doing great - and is active in community farming in East Cleveland. Recently, we've been discussing City Fresh having an involvement converting Brown's Convenient store into a pilot City Fresh Market, which could offer a paradigm-shifting model for bringing local food, farming and their economies into very needy urban neighborhoods, in very innovative and important ways.

Come join us for an afternoon filled with the history of our neighborhood and our city.
Find out--

• who was known as “the King of Celery”
• which one was the model for the Moses Cleaveland statue that stands in public square
• what does that dove on Aunt Sophie’s grave really mean
• how one of them through tragedy made our lives safer today
• how an inventor born in Brooklyn Centre gave us our YMCA and Deaconess Hospital
• and where will the vintage car be located?

The Old Brooklyn Historical Society will share an array of vintage photos. They could use your help with identification of people, places, and things. Friends of Big Creek will show the progression of our neighborhood through the years with a map display. The Metroparks Zoo will be on hand selling ZooDoo for all of you gardeners. A local genealogist will answer questions on how to get started with your “pedigree tree”

Continuous walking tours will be conducted throughout the afternoon until 4:15 p.m. Refreshments and musical entertainment will be a part of the experience. The book “Reflections from Brooklyn Centre” will be on sale.

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This was just listed as a small note on the side of the front page of the PD business section the other day...

Click on the "Wind Energy Video" link in the green box on the right hand side of this page:

Big Steps In Building: Remove Stupid Rules That Are Making It Hard To Go Green

Jeff - This is my kind of exhibit (actually a road toad)
 

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. 

East Cleveland does not have a historical society like Westlake or a popular annual home tour like Ohio City, but it should. So for now, I am founding the online East Cleveland Historical Society on Realneo. Please feel free to join. There is no membership fee. Membership only requires that you share your knowledge and research.