In my paid capacity and my capacity as a citizen in a community, I try to provide the information people need to live their daily lives and to help them to access the information that may help them to answer questions I will never understand. I am not infallible.

"Let's face it; all I did was talk to this kid." The words of Willoughby South High School assistant principal and 19-year educator Jeff Lyons.  In the rush to blame someone--we look to our administrators and the parents of this world will be quick to say they don't know how a young man got a hold of a gun.

I try not to get to worked by politicians - hype and hysteria just come naturally to them -- but last night, I heard politicians criticize Barack Obama for his work as a community organizer and that hurt. You see, I did that too. When Governor Sarah Palin and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani disparaged community organizing efforts, they belittled my efforts and those of countless others too.

Are YOU registered to vote?
You are able to register if…
1. You will be over the age of 18 by November 4th, 2008
2. You are a US citizen
3. You will be a resident of Ohio for at least 30 days by November 4th
4. You are not currently convicted for a felony and behind bars
You must re-register if you have…
1. Moved and not registered at your new address
2. Legally changed your name

Kudos to McCain on his choice of a running mate. It shows that he does have some ability to see what others see right through or refuse to see at all. That there are a lot of people who are tired of being invisible, tired of being bullied and harassed and tired of the status quo.

Start: 2008-09-03 19:00
End: 2008-09-03 21:00

To members of Cleveland’s Communities of Faith:

It occurs to me, watching Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden speak at the Democratic National Convention, he is a far superior speaker, intellect and candidate for President than is John McCain.  While McCain is years older than Biden, Biden makes McCain seem like a kid. I really want to see Biden step up in the campaign and put McCain in his place, in his face, personally. I'd like to see Biden vs. McCain in a gloves-off debate... let Biden put McCain away for good.

Plea to all

The Plain Dealer reports today that Cleveland's new poverty rate is 29.5 percent, ranking second worst among large cities. That rate is up from 27% the previous year. Among our peers:

Last Sunday, at St. Ann's Catholic Church, in Cleveland Heights, I saw the first McCain bumper sticker I can recall. Perhaps I've simply overlooked the tiny, militaristic, white-on-black branding on all those massive suburban Suburbans and Hummers. But this one star general caught my eye. Seeing this brought me understanding... so this is where the McCain community lives... although I didn't see any other McCain stickers in the lot, which mostly contained simple, spartan, sensible, socially conscious vehicles. I thought, "at least one bible-thumping Republican practices the preach". Then The General left the service long before it was over... before anyone else left the church... and I realized The General had been in church not for a shared community experience but drive-through religious self-service. Probably escaped right before the offerings basket was passed.

I've used the Cleveland Heights library on Lee Road since the 1970s, and can say with confidence the recent Studio Techne reinvention of this facility transformed the space, site, and surrounding neighborhood for the better. Featuring a dramatic, high-art bridge over Lee Road, and two reused buildings - one signficantly modernized - with crisp, fitting site improvements, this is one of the best library facilities and urban redevelopments in Northeast Ohio.

Is anyone as sick of weaseling Democrats as I am? That’s the category I put Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher for their cave-in on the sick day ballot issue. A pair of ingrate weasels.

Organized Labor – not exactly vigorous – has been pushing a measure that would legislate seven days for sick leave for employees in businesses as large as 25 employees or more.

Brooklyn Centre gets sloppy national coverage on public radio's Weekend America for participating in Cleveland's Corner Store project. 

Does Cleveland and northeast Ohio have a policy of deferred maintenance?  It would seem that the strategy is to let everything fall apart until we qualify for state and federal funding.

Walk+Roll Cleveland

Location

Yet another reason to push for 'more green' - it can lead to 'more clean' air. Something that both urban areas and their schools need to address. (Not that suburbia is immune to pollution. Dirty air is everywhere)

Thanks to Sudhir, I had the opportunity to check out the Flobots at Peabody's, Sunday night. If I'd browsed the Cleveland Scene Magazine concert preview, beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bothered going. The 100s of fans who enjoyed the show agreed that would have been a mistake.

 The city of Akron deserves a Green Light Award for moving us into the future. They (and note this is a city, not even a park system) are eliminating ODOT's roadside mowing by using low growing, low maintenance plantings. It's no surprise that Cleveland is being left in the dust and the rust when our neighbor, from the same struggling area, is actively finding and implementing new solutions.

Ironically, a competition similar to this one in 2003 brought an architect friend to town and he ended up stranded because of the electric grid failure.

Location

Two skate parks with similar problems: vandalism and graffiti:  one may have found a creative - literally - solution. While Solon is considering closing its skate park,  Akron is looking to the offenders themselves for an answer - they get to paint their park.