gottaplan

it's really interesting to me how these City Council positions somehow evolve into career positions. Does anyone even recall the last close council race in Cleveland? It seems the only way there is turnover is if someone moves up to State legislature like Nina Turner or dies like Fannie Lewis. Even then, their successor seems predetermined, to avoid any dust-ups. Zone took over the position after his father & mother held it for decades. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Dona Brady take over the ward previously held by her husband, and current county council member, Dan Brady? A quick scan of the bios, 8 of the 19 have been council members for 15 years or more. Another 4 of them have been there 10+ years. Jeff Johnson has more than 10 years I think, but not consecutively, so I didn't count him. Is this the same situation in other large cities?

since Fitzgerald is the most talked about democratic challenger, I'm curious how he'll be perceived across the state, outside of NE Ohio where others aren't as familiar with his work as County Exec. I suppose he has a good amount of accomplishments to tout, but I'd like to see him stick around awhile longer as Exec and build that list. Then he'd be an even stronger candidate for governor

seems like one of two things going on here.... Strickland's been advised that he can't beat Kasich and it's not worth his time or energy to campaign again. Or the powers that be in the state & local Democratic party have told Strickland to step aside for others/Fitzgerald to take a shot and make a name for themselves

That's a general statement worth debating, but in this instance, I think it's up to the voters of his district. Considering they've elected him since 1980, they seem pretty happy with the status quo.

What do you mean "forced to retire"? Who forced them? Rather, the time was right because the deal wasn't getting any better. I don't specifically object to the double dipping because it's not really that big of a deal to me. A bigger concern is that my dog probably has more education, training & ethics than some of these council people...

Cleveland City Council never ceases to disappoint. What even qualifies Ken Johnson to be a council member in the first place? Cimperman is probably the best of them, but as a group, they enact legislation on dogs being chained up and banning text messaging while the city declines around them.

There was a period of at least 8 or 9 months where nothing happened. ODOT had to redesign the retaining walls because the original design with soil nails wasn't holding the slope back. I agree on the graffiti tags on the new concrete, but the final design features a wire mesh which will be covered with ivy plants to give it a natural look and no hard surfaces to paint.

The previous contract was terminated & the remaining work was rebid based of new designs for the structural steel. The lag time was waiting for the fabricated steel caissons to arrive. Weather permitting, I think you'll see steady progress straight through the winter & into the spring.

How exactly could Boehner have played his cards differently? The Republican led House was backed into a corner. If they had held out for spending/entitlement cuts to go with the tax raises they agreed to and they would've let the fiscal cliff take full effect and been blamed entirely. I think in hindsight, they did all they could and ended up with the least harmful legislation

Sure WSJ has a conservative slant, but what specifically do you find inaccurate about the article? It still contains plenty of criticisms of Boehner and other House Republicans...

In depth interview with Boehner from WSJ.com. Recaps much of the inner debate regarding the fiscal cliff, his position on other policy issues http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323482504578225620234902106.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

you're confused with the 76th tunnel. And it's going so slow because it's expensive to pour concrete when its freezing outside

I've heard rumors about it, the owner definitely seems to be pursuing possible tenants if he goes forward with redevelopment. It's a tough site though. The location doesn't have much in the way of market rate residential and nearby Tyler Village has already gobbled up enough small office tenants that they have more critical mass.

I'll say this, in the NFL, more than any other pro-sport, it's not uncommon for teams to make huge changes in progress, going from 4-12 to the playoffs, in a years' time. It happens every season. Who picked Minnesota to make the playoffs this year? Finished 3-13 last year, now 10-6 with a second year QB.

No way. I think they could make the playoffs next year and with an upgrade at QB (or significant improvement by Weeden) they could make a real run. Bengals are a good team but far from dominant. Steelers and Ravens are both in decline and in need of major upgrades on defense. Browns have a great group of young talent which should carry them for another 2-3 years. It's a shame there is more turnover with head coach & GM, but Sean Payton won quickly as new coach at the Saints, so did Harbaugh in SanFran, so did Whisenhunt in Arizona.

I think the Opportunity Corridor could actually help increase ridership. Who gets on/off at E. 79th? Nobody, because there's nothing over there. The new station at Buckeye is hardly used either. With this new corridor, there should be some redevelopment parcels created for new housing, business, etc.

That's going to be a massively expensive project. The required demolition, sitework, paving, roadway, sidewalks, all those bridges to build, lighting, signalization, landscaping... I'm sure it'll go out in phases but I'll put the total cost at $100 million or more

So Browns will pay Schurmur another 2 years. Same as they did with Romeo, same as they did with Mangini.... what a waste

From ESPN.com: "Browns make wrong move by firing Heckert" http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/62363/browns-make-wrong-move-by-firing-heckert

I spoke to one of the business owners near this corner over the break about the latest developments. He said the Edgewater Homeowners & preservation group are circling their wagons ready to defend the church from any demolition plans. He mentioned the amount of money they claim to have in a legal fund was in the tens of thousands and they're prepared to exhaust it all to block any demolition efforts. All hearsay of course but interesting nonetheless. Makes me think nothing will happen in this regard at least till spring. Bare minimum, MUCH larger equipment will need to be brought in to demo that church. And like KJP already said, the historic designation will need to be removed.

How so? By definition, the historic tax credits are in place for "historically significant" structures or those in historic districts. I know the developers doing the building at 1200 W. 76th had to go out on a limb to get that designated a historic structure, pointing out the fact that some significant labor contract was signed there or something. Regardless, the building on 76th is in a great location, has beautiful brick work and will make an excellent conversion. Not sure what was done to justify the building at 5700 Detroit as historic, but it sure isn't architecturally significant, nor is it in any historic district. That area of Detroit is a hodge podge of low rise manufacturing, residential, etc. It's not even built up to the street. Not that it matters but I'd much rather see a traditional mixed use development built on that site, up to the street, with storefront on first floor, and apartments above.

^it's beside it, on Detroit. Not sure if it's going to be subsidized or what, but yes the goal is live/work type lofts. While I'm excited to see these projects moving forward, some of them, like this one at 5700 Detroit, are a real stretch of the intent of the historic tax credit.

agreed. Looks to have very nice design features & finishes. When you figure in the tax abatement and pretty much maintenance free living for 5-10 years, it's pretty affordable. i like it. Too bad that giant house hogged all the view. The City should've zoned that lot for multi-family/higher density

I'm not aware of any open-air stadiums in America which have had a roof "added" after the fact. So there really isn't a precedent to compare to, cost wise. Probably because it doesn't make sense financially... Even if the money was available, by all accounts, Cleveland would be extremely difficult due to the open sides, the location atop a landfill, locating the roof supports, reworking the HVAC & lighting.... it ain't gonna happen. Besides, Haslam already spent $1 Billion on the team, he's not going to drop another quarter billion to put a roof on the stadium. Regarding the value of stadium naming, I think a small market like Cleveland is going to get $2 or maybe $3million a year, at most. On a project that would easily cost $200 million and likely much much more, what's that come to? 5-10%? http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/09/19/In-Depth/Naming-rights-deals.aspx Doesn't really seem to indicate that NFL stadiums draw more for naming rights than others. In a small market like Cleveland, the closest comparison is Cincy and their "Great American Ballpark" but that's visible from the I-75/71 bridge across the Ohio river, gets much more traffic past it. Look at the annual schedule for domed facilities - CSU convocation center is empty quite often. We also have Quicken Loans which is actually a better venue for concerts & such. Ford Field in Detroit hosts an annual motocross and monster truck event and literally a handful of concerts. About the same as what would be added at Cleveland if they had a dome.

Naming rights wouldn't cover even 5% of the cost of adding a dome, switching the field to turf, updating the lighting, HVAC system, etc http://espn.go.com/sportsbusiness/s/stadiumnames.html