Grumpy

Inner Belt Bridge project to get $200 million in federal stimulus money Posted by Karen Farkas

^The date on milk is a sell by date, its always OK to consume for a week after.

Like what? If you have some good ideas on how to raise money for RTA, we'd all love to hear them. (This last statement was not intended to sound sarcastic. I'm genuinly interested in your opinion)

Who will take a hike? Laketran riders express dismay over proposed fare increase By Nick Carrabine and Cassandra Shofar

^ Plain Dealer, Sorry.

Cleveland Plain Dealer The time is ripe for rail in Ohio Posted by The editors March 23, 2009 05:00AM Categories: Editorial

Great Pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

I've always prefered brick streets, they force you to drive a little slower and it gives the whole street a different feeling of home. Maybe that's because I grew up on a street with bricks and old street car tracks though. Awesome pictures by the way.

I do believe I'm going to have to switch back to RTA. Laketran and RTA both go within a mile of my house, but it was nice taking Laketran and actually getting a seat most days. A 25% rate hike this summer and then 20% on top of that in 2010 is going to kill ridership on the commuter express busses. At $5 each way I'd be about even buying a really cheap car, driving in, and paying for parking everyday if RTA weren't an alternative for me. Riders were already organizing car pools on the bus this morning. My state elected officials have long since been notified of my feelings in regard to transit funding. They've been reminded this week as well how I feel about this. The other big problem is a big portion of their funding comes from sales tax, and no one is spending money right now because of the economy. I'm debating whether its worth my time to go to the public meeting in Wickliffe. It would probably be so frustrating to listen to the ignorance. The only reason I'm thinking of going is to see if my elected representative shows up so I can tell her what I think of her representation of my interests in Columbus.

Its ridiculous that there isn't already some kind of limit to define what is and isn't wealthy enough to not qualify. I just hope our legislators don't go too far with this. I say that because I know someone who's spouse passed away last year that has more than a few bucks in the bank because of life insurance, but still qualifies for food stamps based on income. While she certainly isn't broke if you look purely at her bank statements; foodstamps and the money she has saved up is all she and her daughter have to live on for the foreseeable future. To play devil's advocate, the person used as an example in the article above may have a handful of kids, a disability preventing them from working, and $350000 in mortgage debt. In that case, this person might not really be as wealthy as it would seem on first glance. Sure, they could sell the house and move somewhere cheaper, and sell the car for something more reasonable, but that might just make them stupid rather than wealthy. If all you and your family have to live on is $80000 plus social security for the rest of your life, you aren't wealthy.

Shut up! He fell out the back?? :o We were in a parking lot and he was playing with the handle. He just got some bruises. I got some too when he kept hitting me for laughing at him about it.

My view has always been that an SUV is the appropriate vehicle if you're driving down unimproved roads (gravel ,dirt, or more than a few inches of snow) with a large enough group of passengers that they won't fit in a pickup. In most any other situation some other vehicle would be more appropriate. I've seen very few dirt or gravel roads in Northeast Ohio and generally if there's more than 6 inches of snow on the road itself, you probably shouldn't be driving anyway. By the way, there is a dirt road around the corner from my in-laws that makes a nice shortcut to their house, and my Focus does just fine on it.

^But the fun we had rolling around in the back was worth the risk! (until my brother fell out the back door)

LEGAL NOTICE PUBLIC HEARINGS Due to the proposed continuing reduction in state operating assistance funding and slumping local sales tax LAKETRAN, the public transit authority for Lake County, will hold four public hearings to describe and receive input on a proposal for service reduction/eliminations effective July 1, 2009 and to increase fares on July 1, 2009 and on July 1, 2010. The service reductions/eliminations under consideration are: No service on all federally observed holidays; No Saturday service; No weekday evening service after 7:00 pm; and Elimination of the following Cleveland Express departures: 5:35 am, Route 14 Westbound 8:55 am, Route 12 Westbound 6:00 pm, Route 12 Eastbound The proposed fares : Current fare is followed by the proposed 7/1/09 fare, then the proposed 7/1/2010 fare Commuter Express Regular Fare: $3.00, $4.00, $5.00 11 Ride Ticket: $30.00, n/a, n/a 10 Ride Ticket: n/a, $40.00, $50.00 Monthly Pass: $110.00, $145.00, $180.00 11 Ride Student Ticket: $12.50, n/a, n/a 10 Ride Student Ticket: n/a, $15.00, $20.00 Local Fixed Route Regular Fare: $1.25, $2.00, $2.50 11 Ride Ticket: $12.50, n/a, n/a 10 Ride Ticket: n/a, $20.00, $25.00 Senior/Disabled/Child: $0.60, $1.00, $1.25 11 Ride Ticket S/D/C: $6.00, n/a, n/a 10 Ride Ticket S/D/C: n/a, $10.00, $12.50 Dial-a-Ride In-County* Regular Fare: $6.00, $13.00, $15.00 11 Ride Ticket: $60.00, n/a, n/a 10 Ride Ticket: n/a, $130.00, $150.00 Senior/Disabled/Child: $1.50, $4.00, $5.00 11 Ride Ticket S/D/C: $15.00,n/a, n/a 10 Ride Ticket S/D/C: n/a, $40.00, $50.00 *Out-of-County Dial-a-Ride fares are twice the in-county fare. Four Public Hearings will be held: Monday, March 30, 2009 – 7:00 pm Perry Public Library 3753 Main Street, Perry Tuesday, March 31, 2009 – 7:00 pm Mentor Public Library 8215 Mentor Avenue, Mentor Wednesday, April 1, 2009 – 7:00 pm Wickliffe Civic Center 900 Worden Road, Wickliffe Thursday, April 2, 2009 – 7:00 pm Morley Library 184 Phelps Avenue, Painesville Written comments will be accepted up to April 17, 2009. Comments can be sent to LAKETRAN, Attn: Public Comment 555 Lakeshore Blvd. Painesville Twp., OH 44077, or [email protected]. All comments must include writer’s name, address and phone number. RAYMOND JURKOWSKI General Manager

The idea of a quad is excellent and I do like it better than a ballfield. I like the idea of grass I can sit on and trees I can sit under. It would add significantly to the perception of CSU as more than just a handful of buildings on the edge of downtown that happen to have classes in them.

I'm not sure how much it does clash with the idea of league park being rebuilt. They are only a couple miles apart, but there's a big difference between asking people to go to a ballpark on the edge of downtown and asking them to go east of E 55th St. Interesting history or not, a good portion of people in Northeast Ohio would consider league park to be in a part of town they'd rather not visit. I personally think there's some potential left in that part of town, but not for a college ballpark. I think a ballpark in that part of town right now would be somewhat of a failure, because build it or not, they won't come. Plus I think it makes sense that if they're going to build a ballpark, it should be within walking distance of the new dorms they're building.

Medical mart developer rejects Tower City site: 'non-starter' Posted by Joe Guillen

I'd say its time for yet another letter to my state legislators about funding public transit. http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/03/18/news/nh632644.txt Changes in transit for Laketran Wednesday, March 18, 2009 1:06 AM EDT By Brandon C. Baker [email protected]

I was going to see the paper because I heard there was a full pg. FCE ad. It was in SUNDAY's paper. Anyone have it? Try this, http://riverfrontcc.net/collateral/final_ForestCity_ad.pdf

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/03/the_height_of_the_ceiling.html Convention center plan championed by Cuyahoga County would have some ceiling heights lower than industry standards Posted by Joe Guillen

Well I'm already working 40+ hours at my day job, plus going to school part time so I don't have time for a PT job, but I've figured out that as a poor partially disabled vet with a couple of munchkins running around the house; I qualify for a heck of a lot of grants and scholarships. I've also discovered that many grants and scholarships don't care how many other scholarships you've already recieved, which means I'm making a small profit off of going to school. By the time I get my BBA, I should have all my debts, other than the mortgage, paid off. Thrift stores are always helpful at keeping costs down, losing a few pounds so I can keep wearing clothes I already had was cheaper though. Also I really went on a shopping spree when the Salvation Army store at Shoregate was going out of business and had everything 90% off. (3 pairs of pants and 5 shirts for 75 cents.) We have been hanging up the clothes to dry instead of using the dryer more often. We used to only do that in the winter with things like blankets that would have taken forever in the dryer. We've also been following a handful of the tips already mentioned, but most of them we were doing before the economy turned sour, so they aren't really things we changed because of the recession. Oh, and I've been packing my lunch almost everyday for the last few months.

The map seems to have been moved to http://downtownakron.com/downtown_maps/elements/skywalk.pdf in case anyone is looking for it.

Well, to ignore the arguement above, I generally don't carry anything with me downtown. Mostly when I'm downtown, its either because of work, or I'm doing something after work, and the office has pretty tight security, so its more trouble than its worth. (I work in the Federal building.) On occasion I've carried a canister of mace if I'm in a part of town I don't know, but realistically I doubt I'd have the presence of mind to remember it was in my pocket if I'd needed it. I view a gun as the fastest way to piss off someone that's threatening me, and will not carry one.

^That was my first thought when I read the article. My second thought was that the $40 million dollar price tag is going to get lowered if/when MMPI still prefers the mall site, just to drag this out and make us all hate FCE even more.

It's not impossible. If your taxes are more complicated than normal, I'd personnally verify TurboTax's calculations. Didn't our new treasury secretary say he used TurboTax?