musky

So you're the SOB leaving St. Ides bottles on the seats! If it were not for their "club," then I would not be able to sit outside of the club and get free wi-fi.

*Insert joke about about Dick.... Goddard here*

Glad you asked. I think it went well. We are going to need lots of input in order to figure out where everyone thinks this train needs to go. And now for the rambling (I encourage the others to add things I missed - I'm sure there are lots): ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #Advocacy, information/educational, retail, all of the above? #17% of gross revenue can be used for lobbying (IRS) #Sales of any kind can be used for organization operation – as long as the operation is defined within the bylaws #Can take up to you years for irs to recognize 501c3 #Can get a statutory agent to represent UO until finished: -Ecocity Cleveland -All Aboard Ohio -RealNEO -OPC (APA) -AIA -Cleveland Film Commission #Does are mission match theirs? #Need to determine what we really want to do. #Advocacy: Will developers come to us for feedback, direction… focus group? #Act as a “focus group” to clients first as we get our collective feet wet. #This will help us focus our direction toward policy and advocacy #Tours: Visibility #Would it be better to hook-up with an established org (emerging Cleveland, city prowl) instead of re-inventing the touring wheel? #Should we focus our collective efforts acting as constituency as opposed to an advocacy group? Or is both possible? #Developing talking points #On website: place for action #Membership fees: What do you get out of it? Newsletter (area specific) #If there is an out of town company that is looking for a unbiased, non-financially based opinion on where there business could and should locate for a much lower cost then traditional property brokers would charge. Neighborhood Brokerage. #Development Website: #Conceptual ideas for potential development #“This would be a good location for a …” #Graphical representations #Possible conceptual site plans

...and newbie, redbrick.

KJP and j73 are here. Where are the rest of you?

March 15 F E D E R A L House Passes Water Infrastructure Bills AMENDMENT PRIORITIZES FUNDING FOR EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE On March 9, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 (H.R. 720) by a vote of 303 to 108, despite the threat of a presidential veto. This bipartisan legislation renews the country's commitment to clean water by authorizing appropriations of $14 billion over the next four years for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (Clean Water SRF). The administration's budget proposed major cuts in the loan fund. H.R. 720 expands the eligible uses of the Clean Water SRF, providing additional financial flexibility to help communities afford improvements to wastewater infrastructure. It requires that workers be paid the prevailing wage of the local workforce in places where a Clean Water SRF project is being undertaken. States and local governments have been pushing this reauthorization because it combines federal and state funds to provide low-interest loans for construction of wastewater treatment facilities and other pollution abatement projects. Four amendments were adopted in the final bill, including an amendment by John Hall (D-N.Y.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) that requires states to give priority to repairing existing wastewater infrastructure over building new facilities. The amendment was supported by smart growth groups, including APA. Although this bill had overall bipartisan support, many Republicans opposed language in the bill that applies Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage protections for construction projects funded under the Clean Water SRF. The White House has threatened to veto the bill if it includes these provisions, but an amendment to delete prevailing wage requirements was defeated. Earlier in the week the House passed two other clean water bills. The Healthy Communities Water Supply Act of 2007 (H.R. 700) authorizes $125 million under the Clean Water Act for Environmental Protection Agency grants to fund projects that increase usable water supply by encouraging innovation in water reclamation, reuse, and conservation. The Water Quality Investment Act of 2007 (H.R. 569) amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize appropriations to assist municipalities and states in controlling combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs). F E D E R A L Congress Holds Hearings on FY08 EPA Budget Request, Smart Growth Cuts ADMINISTRATOR JOHNSON FACES A TOUGH AUDIENCE Last week saw two contentious hearings on the proposed FY 2008 budget for the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) and the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Johnson faced pointed questions from many committee members regarding the requested $7.2 billion for EPA. EPW Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) began the Senate hearing by stressing her disappointment in a request that proposes reduced levels of funding: "By chopping hundreds of millions of dollars out of EPA's funding, this budget sends an unmistakable message to people who are concerned about our health and a clean environment: You are not a high priority." Boxer outlined a number of concerns, including declining Superfund cleanups and a proposal to combine EPA's office for protecting children's health with its environmental education office. During the two days of hearings, members on both sides of the aisle voiced concerns. Among the proposed cuts questioned by the committees are staff and funding reductions for the EPA Smart Growth program. They come on the heels of public remarks from Administrator Johnson praising the program and its value. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sen. Boxer, and Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) have asked for further clarification on the apparent reduction in support for the EPA Smart Growth program, including specific information on proposed staffing or funding levels and justification for any proposed reductions. The administrator committed to providing a written response within the next 30 days. F E D E R A L Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007 Is Introduced AFFORDABLE HOUSING GOALS ENHANCED House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), along with Reps. Richard Baker (R-La.), Mel Watt (D-N.C.), and Gary Miller (R-Calif.) introduced legislation to overhaul the regulatory oversight of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSE) of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. The legislation, H.R. 1427, the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act of 2007, is the product of bipartisan legislation in the 109th Congress and long-running discussions with the administration. The legislation will create a new, independent regulator with broad powers. In the last Congress and again this year, the legislation has become a major focus for affordable housing advocates. Among the bill's key provisions is an affordable housing trust fund financed by a percentage of the GSE investment portfolio. The provision potentially sets aside hundreds of millions of dollars for the construction, maintenance, and preservation of affordable housing. The first year of the trust fund will be dedicated to hurricane-stricken areas of the Gulf Coast. Rep. Frank's committee will hold two hearings in the coming weeks and plans swift passage. The House passed a GSE reform bill in the 109th Congress, but the plan stalled in the Senate. F E D E R A L Speaker Names Global Warming Panel SELECT COMMITTEE TO BE LED BY REP. MARKEY OF MASSACHUSETTS House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has named the 15 members of the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, to be led by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass). The Select Committee will not have specific legislative jurisdiction but is charged with raising the visibility of energy and global warming issues. Speaker Pelosi established the new group as a means of focusing attention on the issues and developing initiatives for action by regular committees. Rep. Blumenauer, who champions planning and livability, is the select committee's second-ranking Democrat. Earlier, the Speaker appointed Blumenauer to the influential Ways and Means Committee. Republican appointments to the select committee, made by the Republican Caucus and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), include many of the House's leading global warming skeptics, including several members who voted against the panel's creation. F E D E R A L House Passes Community Development Legislation BILL EASES REQUIREMENTS ON HUD BROWNFIELDS FUNDING The U.S. House passed the Brownfields Redevelopment Enhancement Act (H.R. 644) on February 27 by voice vote under suspension of the rules. The bill eliminates requirements that the Housing and Urban Development Department's Brownfield Economic Development Initiative grants be backed by Section 108–guaranteed loans. The action is expected to ease communities' use of the funds. Passage of this bill may also signal congressional willingness to resist calls from the administration to eliminate the BEDI program. On the other side of the Capitol, Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Susan Collins (R-Me.) have circulated a "Dear Colleague" letter urging full funding of the brownfields program. The House also passed the Community Development Investments Enhancement Act (H.R. 1066). The bill permits federal savings associations to make investments designed primarily to promote the public welfare, including the welfare of low- and moderate-income communities or families through the provision of housing, services, and jobs. S T A T E Georgia Considers Regional Sales Tax Referenda for Transportation STATES LOOK TO LOCAL VOTERS TO FUND TRANSPORTATION Georgia legislators are considering two proposals aimed at asking voters to raise the sales tax to fund transportation investment. One measure would amend the state constitution to allow a vote on a 10-year, one-cent, statewide sales tax estimated to raise about $2.2 billion per year. Projects would be selected and managed by a newly created entity. A competing plan, promoted by a coalition of business groups and livability advocates, would pay for a mix of transportation projects in metro Atlanta with a one-cent regional sales tax approved by a referendum. H.B. 434 would allow contiguous counties in metro Atlanta or elsewhere in the state to form self-taxing districts exclusively for transportation purposes. If voters approve the tax and the plan on how to spend it, sales taxes within the district could be increased by up to a penny or gas taxes could be raised by as much as 10 percent. Georgia joins a number of other states considering allowing regional or local special-option sales taxes to cover transportation costs. Similar legislation is pending in North Carolina and Virginia, and proposed legislation that would allow voters to consider a Boise-area tax district was narrowly defeated in an Idaho legislative committee. Proposals to raise various taxes and fees are also under consideration in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. The trend may reflect the popularity of transportation finance referenda with voters in other states. Since 2000, such measures have passed approximately 70 percent of the time, according to the Center for Transportation Excellence. States also are facing a growing gap in financing new transportation investments and ongoing operating and maintenance costs. Local governments have been paying a growing proportion of transportation costs in recent years.

Ohcomon: Let me preface this by saying I have three cats myself. But if a stray cat went to attack me, and assuming my first attempt of dodging it missed, after the first bite from the cat it would instantly become a football and be kicked into whatever I decide to call a goal post at the time.

^exactly. To me it was a circus tent. Or at least a very large children's museum.

Everyone still on for 6:30 tonight at A.J. Rocco's, right?

I admit. I've only seen the outside and not in pictures. It's just personal taste. But based on their other work and fine use of natural items, I bet it is cool looking in person.

There is a follow up video posted on YouTube: They keep showing the moment over and over.

I just looked through the Fentress Bradburn portfolio. Although I am disappointed in Westlake not winning the bid, CNHM did not make a bad decision. The firms work is very inspiring. I like how many of their building use the natural surrounding areas for their structures. I have to admit though, I've always hated Denver Airport.

I was watching them this morning to find out about the tornado (I was in tgifriday''s for my sons birthday during the storm and knew there was a funnel cloud above us). One of the morning anchors was commenting on all the crazy stuff happening this week: earthquake, warm weather, snow, tornado. The other anchor - I think it was Bill Martin - chimed in: "attacking animals." The whole newsroom busted up laughing.

Animal news... of course it is. This is the Zoo thread. and

OMG, that was so funny. Yes... go cat go. Poor Kathleen, she looked like she was about to cry.

March 12, 2007 In this MegaVote for Ohio's 10th Congressional District: Recent Congressional Votes - * Senate: Airport Screener Amendment * House: Water Quality Investment Act * House: Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 Upcoming Congressional Bills - * Senate: Improving America's Security Act of 2007 * House: Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007 * House: Accountability in Contracting Act Recent Senate Votes Airport Screener Amendment - Vote Agreed to (51-48, 1 Not Voting) During consideration of the 9/11 Commission bill, the Senate approved this amendment that would give Transportation Security Administration airport screeners the right to unionize. Sen. George Voinovich voted NO Sen. Sherrod Brown voted YES Recent House Votes Water Quality Investment Act - Vote Passed (367-58, 8 Not Voting) The House passed this $1.7 billion bill intended to help communities modernize their wastewater systems. Rep. Dennis Kucinich voted YES Water Quality Financing Act of 2007 - Vote Passed (303-108, 22 Not Voting) This House bill would provide $14 billion for wastewater treatment plant improvements. Rep. Dennis Kucinich voted YES Upcoming Votes Improving America's Security Act of 2007 - S.4 The Senate is expected to complete work on this bill to implement the remaining 9/11 Commission recommendations. Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007 - H.R.985 This House bill is intended to clarify what type of information is protected by whistleblower laws. Accountability in Contracting Act - H.R.1362 This bill would place limits on "no-bid" federal contracts.

Sounds a letter writing campaign is in order.

Thanks for the info mtnbiker and welcome to the forum. I live a couple of blocks from Rays and although I'm not the mountain biker type, I have turn on a few of my friends to the place. I had to lookup Velodrome. Now that I know what were talking about, I'm all in. I will count this as another step toward my secret goal of getting the summer Olympics to Cleveland in time for the 100th anniversary of the 1936 Great Lakes Exposition. Crap, no longer a secret.

no offense taken besides, i'm married and have two teenagers... and use to be cab driver i can handle a pope or two

For those of us who have kids and errands and stuff that do not always fit in with mass transit schedules... or if our bike was stolen.

Reuters: