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Is Atlanta much of a tourist destination? If you love Home Depot, suburbs and domed stadiums, is there much else to see?? Oh, they do have that new huge aquarium. Anything else? By the way, what's the square feet of asphalt to human ratio in Atlanta? Its got to be one of the highest in the country.

Treating cats like . . . dogs? Cleveland mayor touts $1 million project to collar roving felines Thursday, October 12, 2006 Susan Vinella Plain Dealer Reporter Cat owners in Cleveland, beware: Let your cats roam the neighborhood and they could wind up in the city kennel - or dead. The city wants to treat stray cats the same as stray dogs: as nuisances. So, under a plan being pitched by Mayor Frank Jackson to City Council, stray cats would be trapped and taken to the city kennel. If unidentified and unclaimed for three days, they would be killed, just as stray dogs are. Cleveland would be the first city in Cuyahoga County to actively pick up stray cats. Akron began a stray cat program in 2002. ... To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: [email protected], 216-999-5010

I lived in Metro Detroit and didn't see much else.. 1. Royal Oak 2a. Ann Arbor 2b. Ferndale 3. Birmingham 4. Grosse Pointe 5. Grosse Ile

#2 my guess is that it is the sunken plaza thing between the jewish student center and the old catholic student center.

Anyone in Cleveland interested in doing grantwriting and development work for a non-profit urban planning-esque firm should PM me.

From downtown to E105, the bus will travel in a bus-only lane. In UC, there will not be any bus-only lanes. I believe that its due to the increased amount of traffic on Euclid in UC proper.

With Skye's and MTS's rumors, I need another KJP super-fix. Maybe Stark will have something to say at his presentation next week at Levin??

^another gush for me: I visited St. Martin de Porres HS today. What a great place and an emerging success story for the city!

^are you complaining that they didn't bust you for smoking?

Unit of L.A. parking goliath keeps Cleveland drive going L&R makes fourth downtown purchase by gobbling up 113 St. Clair building By STAN BULLARD 6:00 am, October 9, 2006 An affiliate of L&R Auto Parks, dubbed the largest parking lot owner in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Times, is continuing its drive to buy downtown Cleveland properties. Article Removed

The "stations" are in the median from Public Square to E105 (or it might be E107). After that, the silverline switches to the curbside lanes.

Strap, You are correct about the location. If my memory serves me correctly, the townhomes will be further down E118 (across from the Case baseball stadium). Its a great infill project.

LA transplant to Winslow names Cleveland "the best-kept secret'

From the beginning (last year), two of the townhomes were to be bought by the developer and a Case professor. It sure makes it easier to get projects going when 40% is presold. Another townhouse development is being studied in the heart of UC (nothing too huge, but it'll eliminate a surface lot). Upscale townhomes set to rise near Case Related Links Doan Brook Co. Case Western Reserve University University Circle Inc. By SHANNON MORTLAND 6:00 am, October 9, 2006 Five upscale townhomes are about to be built just off the Case Western Reserve University campus — a type of building project University Circle hasn’t seen in decades. The townhomes are being built by The Doan Brook Co., a Shaker Heights real estate developer and investment firm, in partnership with Case and University Circle Inc., the nonprofit group that promotes the arts, education and health care district east of downtown. Doan Brook owner Donald Gest said his company is buying from University Circle Inc. about a half-acre on East 118th Street across from Case’s Village at 115, which is a new apartment-style dormitory campus for students. Doan Brook plans to begin construction early next month and expects to complete the project by next June, Mr. Gest said. Two of the homes already are sold, including one to Mr. Gest and his wife, Kristen, both of whom are Case graduates. The Gest family will move from their home in Shaker Heights, he said. “My son and future children are going to be able to run and play” in University Circle, he said. “My wife and I (already) go to the Botanical Garden about twice a week.” The townhomes will range from 1,700 to 2,000 square feet and will be priced from $280,000 to $315,000, Mr. Gest said. In a departure from the traditional method of home building, Mr. Gest said, the buyers will be able to customize their townhomes at no additional cost. “The price is the price,” he said. “We’ll provide all custom cabinets for people, granite for the kitchen, marble for the bathrooms and oak hardwood floors that will be stained for the owner.” The townhomes will come standard with a 2½-car garage, a backyard with a patio, and a powder room and two full baths, with the option for more, Mr. Gest said. Owners of the townhomes can pay $15 to obtain the Case Community Card, which will allow them free access to Case’s athletic fields and free wireless Internet access. Townhome owners can pay $375 each year to use Case’s fitness center, and an additional one-time fee of $150 for check-out privileges at Case’s Kelvin Smith Library. “This is the first townhome development in University Circle in decades,” said Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle Inc. “We’ve had (development) in Little Italy and in Glenville, but not in University Circle proper.” Mr. Gest said his company already is exploring additional opportunities to build homes in University Circle.

Discovery is a phase before a trial where each party can ask questions of each other. The idea is to allow each party to be as well-prepared for trial as possible. You have to hand over all the evidence that you plan to give at trial. You also forward a list of questions that the other party is supposed to answer to the best of their knowledge. The only thing that is sacred is the attorney-work product (attorneys thoughts on conclusions concerning the evidence). Court is not like the movies with all the surprise witnesses and shocking evidence (ie My Cousin Vinny).

Would there be a union issue with that? (an aside: is it correct to say "a union" or "an union"?)

I have a hard time referring to it as brain drain. Its one thing if your high school kids go off to college and never return. Its another thing if students come in from another region, graduate and leave Columbus. The former is a better indicator of brain drain than the latter.

Also, the judge is fast-tracking the discovery phase.

here's some very nice news.. PR Newswire adding 100 jobs in Cleveland 5:49 p.m. As it closes offices in other cities, PR Newswire, a communications firm, plans to consolidate a large chunk of its operations in Cleveland. The move is expected to add more than 100 jobs here. David Armon, the New York company's chief operating officer, said an unknown number of employees from other bureaus are expected to relocate, with many locals likely to be hired. More at cleveland.com http://www.cleveland.com

the Monastery: Creative culinary concoctions Oh, does Tim have some sort of foot fetish??

^well, then maybe the Lions should be looking across the river.

Wind-Sor bas-ket-ball

How about in Windsor!?

Commissioners pick architects for admin building By JAY MILLER 1:47 pm, October 5, 2006 Cuyahoga County commissioners named local architectural firm Robert P. Madison International and Kohn Pedersen Fox of New York City as its top choice among the six teams of architects bidding to create a new county administration building. The commissioners also authorized a $10 million contract with a joint venture comprising Gilbane Building Co. and R.P. Carbone Co. for construction management services for the $100 million-plus project. The commissioners’ plan is for a 390,000-square-foot administrative center to bring under one roof at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue about 2,000 county employees who now are scattered in offices around downtown. The action on architectural and engineering services means county administrators will begin to negotiate a contract with the Madison/Kohn team for its services. If a contract can’t be reached with the top team, the county would negotiate with the next in line. As a backup, the commissioners ranked the team of Westlake Reed Leskosky of Cleveland and Pelli Clark Pelli of New Haven, Conn., second. The team of Richard Fleischsman + Partners Architects Inc. and FXFowle of New York was third. Still undecided is whether the county will retain or knock down the Ameritrust Tower, the largest of five buildings on the site. The 90-year-old Cleveland Trust rotunda will remain, and three other buildings will be demolished. Commissioner Tim Hagan favors knocking down the landmark, Marcel Breuer-designed tower, while one of his colleagues, Peter Lawson Jones, favors a rehab effort to save it. Jimmy Dimora, the swing vote, has in the past said he tends to favor demolition, but he avoided expressing an opinion at this morning’s commissioners’ meeting. The commissioners still are investigating whether the short-term savings to be gained by retaining the Ameritrust building would be offset by long-term savings from new construction. The architectural team is not expected to have a completed design ready until late 2008, with construction commencing in 2009. The buildings on the site, including the Ameritrust building, need extensive asbestos cleanup before either demolition or rehabilitation can begin.

Gypsy coffee moving business near Shoreway Thursday, October 05, 2006 By David Plata West Side Sun News After two decades as a wholesale coffee operation in a Fulton Road warehouse, Gypsy Beans & Baking Co. is moving to the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. And while the wholesale coffee sales, serving restaurants in the Greater Cleveland area and beyond, will continue, the new venue also will include a neighborhood coffee house. I've always been an urban pioneer of sorts, said Niki Gillota, who is spending some $200,000 to move the business and open at the new location. I love being in a community, added Gillota, who has lived in Lakewood about a year but is looking to move back to Cleveland. I think Cleveland is so great for having these little pockets of community that grow and expand and develop around some key players. The new business covers 2,200 square feet at the southeast corner of West 65th Street and Detroit Avenue, in a former Dollar Store, vacant about two years. It's awesome, said Councilman Matt Zone, D-17, noting the key players Gillota referred to include the 1point618 art gallery and a new Mediterranean-style restaurant, yet to be named, to be opened by chef Marlin Kaplan _ all of them next to Cleveland Public Theatre. The project is aided by some $30,000 in city loan and grant funds, including $20,000 routed through Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, which owns the building. Matt Wiederhold, the group's commercial development director, said the property was kept vacant until the right project came along. Nothing really fit with the arts district we wanted to do there _ until Niki's proposal, he said. The fix-up was designed by architect Eli Mahler. It was pretty much bare-bones space, Gillota said. We had to remove the ceiling and put up a fire barrier; we're redoing the hardwood floors, putting new hardwood floors in toward the front; all of the electrical and plumbing _ things like that. Gillota said the business, expected to open the second week of November, will have five employees at first. Hopefully by next summer we'll be up to nine or 10, she said. She described the new venture, seating about 15 on antique oak or Mission Arts and Crafts tables and chairs, as a European-style coffee house. That means cappuccino, espresso, drip coffee, she said. I'm using a variety of beans from around the world. Like your Costa Ricans, your South Americans; different roasts of those blends. Our house blend is going to be a darker roasted mocha java. Mocha javas tend to be smooth and creamier. We want something that's very snappy and palate-cleansing to complement the food and pastries. Gillota said all pastry _ muffins, scones, quickbreads, such as banana, zucchini carrot, cranberry orange and more _ will be baked on-site.