LifeLongClevelander

No, they don't or they don't care. The home page is an embarrassment. How many daily entries for "Dear Annie" are present? If somebody wants to see prior entries, each story has a list of prior columns, yet the home page is cluttered with them. Stories are posted and stay on the home page for days, even though the event has passed and the results are known. On weekends, the page is barely touched. Agree with you about the suburban police blotters. The "News" section is cluttered with them, almost like nothing happens but police activity (then again, why have "reporters" work on finding stories, the police departments do the work for the "publication"). These news items are supposedly written by journalism majors, yet they are so poorly written and contain many mistakes. In days past when true journalists worked in written media, would never never survive and editors would catch mistakes. How many true, good and experienced reporters are even left with cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer? Not many and it shows. As for Chris Quinn, aside from the cost associated with maintaining the comments sections with most articles, one reason for getting rid of them is the frequent blasting of the content of such articles. On certain reporter wouldn't even allow comments to her articles, even before the publication stopped them. Yes, there was bullying and abuse, but dare to call out the reporter and one was risking getting the comment deleted.

Yes, it was a bad census, no arguing that. I also want to know the number of households who just decided to not do their duty and not respond to the census. Good census or not, it makes no difference if people just don't complete it.

Overall, Cuyahoga County's suburban population increased by 8,886 from 2010 to 2020 while Cleveland's population dropped by 24,191 during the same period. For the entire county, the population dropped by 15,300. Cleveland's drop is for the whole city. Downtown and the best-loved neighborhoods have probably lessened the impact of losses in lesser-desirable neighborhoods. I would have expected a drop in population for Euclid, but it increased by 720. Mayfield Heights increased by 1200. Maple Heights increased by 520. Garfield Heights increased by 930. Shaker Heights increased by 1000. Cleveland Heights dropped by 800. Lakewood dropped by 1190. Westlake increased by 1500. North Olmsted dropped by 280. These statistics are all from the U.S. Census Bureau. Just speculation on my part on Euclid, Mayfield Heights and Maple Heights, but those three cities have seen significant increases in rental property houses in the most recent decade (Channel 5 story from October). Larger numbers of homes that had elderly residents have in many cases seen changes to population residents who are renters. The previous residents who may have been empty-nesters or living alone have now been replaced residents that are couples or families.

When the number of patrol officers drops by nearly 50% and it has going in this direction for three years, I don't know how effective the officers can be. It is amazing the job that you and your fellow offices do under ever-declining patrol numbers, but you can only be in one place at one time. If you are in that place for an extended period of time, the shortages only get magnified.

Thanks for coming up with the map. It drives home the point of what devastation that it would have caused the entire county. The key piece of information that the map also shows is the "mastermind" behind this plan and the person that was behind what was ultimately responsible for destroying mass transit in this area: County Engineer Albert Porter.

Philadelphia has buses with off-wire capability, but they "abuse" it. The power units are not designed for regular lengthy off-wire operation. This has caused problems with SEPTA's operation. The off-wire operation is designed for short detours or when short sections of wire are down. Yes, it can be done, but it shouldn't be part of the regular daily operation. If this is Dayton's plan for operation, they need to be careful or they will start to suffer the same problems that plague SEPTA.

Thanks for clarifying the locations. I did confuse the cities involved, but I was indeed thinking of the Walmart on Rockside in Bedford being closed for "shrinkage" issues. The landfill situation was totally different and all I know is that I never want to live or work anyplace near one. I don't care how well compacted a former landfill is, nor how well vented and "sealed" they may be. Far too many horror stories from places like Love Canal where there were all sorts of cancers and illnesses. Where the Mayfield Heights Walmart isn't a supercenter, if that store was constantly busy, one would come to the natural conclusion that other factors came into play.

Why should I? For one, it is obvious that you won't take my word on activities that I have seen: Multiple incidents of police dealing with shoplifters and measures taken to try to stem theft. I shouldn't have to track down employees of stores that have gone out of business or find someone who I haven't seen in years. Even in the corporate offices, they may not be willing or bother with some random inquiry. Since you have the doubts, why don't YOU go out and find it. Besides, along the lines of a certain NFL quarterback, you seem perfectly fine in accepting statements from people that prosecutors found didn't provide enough "verifiable evidence" to file any charges. Why is it okay to accept that but not something else?

Broach the subject to some and either they are in denial or don't have a problem with it (perhaps they feel that is making the "big evil corporations pay"). Have to jump through hoops to prove a point, regardless if sources are reliable or one has directly seen it happening (either when police intervene or seeing change that are done to try to slow it). Probably even if ample evidence is procured, someone would call it made up. Yet, on other subjects that align to their thinking, less supporting information is treated as gospel.

Sort of hard to go back to managers and employees of stores when they have now been closed for several years; in the case of Sam's Club it closed about 13 years ago. Heard enough from multiple different sources stating the theft problem from Sam's Club was well-known common knowledge. Retail-wise, it was probably common knowledge of the problems it faced as no retailer had any interest in moving in. Aside from short-term events like walking with dinosaurs, it sat empty for a decade before a wholesale produce operation moved in. They don't deal with the general public and have limited hours. Far easier to keep things like theft under control. As for the the neighboring Giant Eagle that closed, one would have to be totally oblivious to not know what was happening. They were one of the first Giant Eagle stores to offer safety escorts to cars, too. But I get it, if one doesn't see the cold hard facts on printed reports, it cannot be true. Maybe go to these local police departments to see exactly how many reports get filed for these places. The ones from Cleveland.com are by far a small number of incidents that get published.

Curious if the reasoning behind the Steelyard Commons Walmart and even the Oakwood Commons Walmart may have some significant legal "strings" attached to their operations staying open. Once those legalities expire, perhaps they could be ones that close. South Euclid's residents complain that their Walmart places quite a bit of a demand on their police department. Supposedly, Cleveland Heights doesn't miss that their store closed when Oakwood opened.

One would think that a manager from Sam's Club (whom I knew) would have the "data" of what caused another nearby Sam's Club to close. As for the Willoughby Hills shopping center where the closed Sam's Club was located, it was very obvious that theft was a massive problem that other retailers faced. Between seeing numerous "incidents" involving shoplifters being confronted over their acts, increased uniformed security and other changes to discourage theft put into place, it was a big problem. The nearby former Twin Value (once located in Euclid) was hit very hard by theft and it was the big reason why they pulled out of the area. When K-Mart moved into that location, it was more of the same. As for the Mayfield Heights Walmart that is closing, that store's parking lot always has a lot of cars in it. It would be one thing if it was empty nearly all the time, but that isn't the case. Just from that simple observation that gives a strong indication that the something else is negatively impacting the finances of the operation. The Mayfield Heights police reports have numerous reports of theft. Though not the same Walmart, the South Euclid Walmart (Oakwood Commons on Warrensville Center Road) has a large number of police reports for shoplifting activity.

The reasons given for the closure of the Mayfield Heights Walmart could have been taken from the same statement given when Sam's Club pulled out of Willoughby Hills. Per a Sam's Club manager, the inability to control theft and associated losses played a huge role in closing that Sam's Club. The Mayfield Heights Walmart always seems to be busy. Out of control theft will cause financial under performance. The same thing happened to the Garfield Heights Walmart that closed a few years ago.

Unfortunately for RTA's ridership totals, there are far many like you and me (I was a daily rider) who have little to no need for its services as compared to someone like your friend who returned from Chicago. Long before NextGen, the lack of consideration for riders caused them to leave the system in droves. For some of us, we were extremely fortunate to have an alternative excellent bus service to get downtown. For others, they didn't have a reasonable transit option and decided to drive instead. This was long before NextGen making the overall situation worse.

If RTA gets new trains, there will be the "novelty" factor to ride them, but the only system's hope that there will be enough rider who could use them daily in being lured back to using transit. It is just that RTA has dug such a deep hole in the minds of the public, the damage that has been done is insurmountable to overcome. In my list of things that mentioned factors in driving riders away, I omitted the one where RTA made the foolish decision to eliminate Green Line service departures after 9:00 pm for a year except on rare occasions. The few times that they decided to offer later service, it was poorly advertised and there was no consistency when they decided to do so. Nobody in their right mind would shell out big bucks for sporting event or concert tickets to leave long before the event ended. People got used to not having the Green Line available for service and adjusted. Even though it was restored, factoring in every other negative factor regarding rail service, and I don't think they ever recovered from the rider losses to the point before the cutback, even before the pandemic hit,

Some media insiders state that many teams are not happy with the Browns and the massive guaranteed contract given to Watson. It ends up setting the bar even higher for the next round of contracts, costing everybody more. The speculation is that there is some "payback" being dished out. The other teams know that they can get Mayfield, but can do so where the Browns don't get as much in return in draft picks and the Browns end up eating some of the salary. At this time, the Browns best hope is for a starting quarterback (or more than one) to suffer an injury to drive up the price in their favor.

There are multiple reasons why the Red Line, not to mention the entire rail system, is doing so badly in ridership. The equipment situation is poor. Between the drawn out problems where they ran out of usable wheels for the Red Line fleet and overall operational reliability, riders lost interest. If somebody risks missing a flight due to breakdowns and lack of equipment, that won't be an attractive option to use the Red Line. Aside from the Little Italy and University Circle stations, the remainder of the east side Red Line stops are in areas with questionable safety and security issues. There have been long and drawn-out major reconstruction projects on the Red Line (west side S-curve reconstruction) and Blue/Green Line trunk reconstruction. Substitute bus service does nothing towards desirability. People have become accustomed to making due without rail service.

Most definitely. Get that initial amount of Great Lakes water and the southwestern states will come back for more. Once the "faucet" is turned on for Great Lakes water, it will be opened more and more.

Taking huge amounts of water out of a regional ecosystem can have devastating effects. In the terms of what is being proposed, the impact may be minimal. Take enough water out when years are drier than normal for the Great Lakes, it could negatively impact shipping. Shipping channels may need more frequent dredging and freighters would need to carry lighter loads. Using the Great Lakes to support the dry areas out west will only spur more growth and development out west to the detriment of the Great Lakes Region.

Is this post a sad anniversary reminder of how extremely slowly this project has been going on? The LTK study came out in April 2019. It cites procurement for the replacement Red Line equipment by 2020 with delivery by 2023. At the pace we are seeing, we will be lucky to see the procurement of the Red Line equipment by 2023, the time that it was recommended for the replacements to be on property. At the rate things are going, the whole rail system may be shut down due to lack of operational equipment.

Mandel's main "pillar" of his campaign is his being a former marine with two tours of duty. Nothing wrong in the least with him being a marine or the tours of duty. Quite commendable, but what does that have to do with the bigger picture? Otherwise, his campaign is hollow, aside from a brief run stating of what he did as state treasurer. He keeps on going back to his military service and attacking those who are questioning his other "qualifications". And yes, he does come off as being an arrogant, rich, obnoxious frat boy. I can't stand him either.

I once lost an arborvitae. It was infested with spider mites. It is amazing that something the size of tip of pin, granted in large numbers, can kill one. The amazing thing is the one right next to it was perfectly fine. Unfortunately, many of the old neighborhoods have trees that are just as old as the surrounding houses. Urban environments are stressful on them, but there comes a time when they can only survive so long. It seems like every major wind storm takes out numerous towering old trees in cities like Lakewood and Cleveland Heights. When they split open, many it is amazing they have held up as long as they have. No matter if it is storm related or as a preventative measure, the trees that come down need to be replaced. They just need to be replaced with native species and not the fast growing, weak stuff. A canopy can appear to be restored, but the fast-growing trees have extremely weak wood that doesn't stand up well to winds or are susceptible to disease or insects. Then there are people who just don't want everything that comes with them, which is bothersome. They don't want to clean up seeds or leaves. In the older neighborhoods, the sewer lines frequently are joined clay tile. They are root magnets. Either the lines need regular cleaning or potential expensive replacement.

Such foolish thinking. Personally, I don't like seeing homes with no "mature" growth and little more than recent plantings from a garden-type store. The property looks bare. There are other reasons for the loss of the tree canopy. I love seeing the streets with tall trees lining each side. Unfortunately, the young saplings that were planted when the neighborhoods were new are now are choked within the narrow strip of tree lawn between the curbs and sidewalks. Utility companies hack some of these trees in hideous manners to provide clearance for wires. Being so close to the roadways exposes them to chemicals and exhaust from roads and vehicles. Now there is the threat of fungus, diseases and various non-native insects. Several years ago, I had to cut down several ash trees in my yard. The insects hit them fast. I had no reasonable choice as they were dead or dying. In addition, many of these trees that are well-established communities are either nearing the end of their lifespans or have been substantially weakened by decay.

Increasing frequency and adding routes shows that Laketran is providing a desirable service where people want to use the system. Well-maintained and clean equipment is the standard they have adhered to. One wouldn't have ever known the buses that were retired prior to the new fleet of electric battery and diesel buses were placed into service were as old as they were. Well-maintained buses, even if older, translates to better reliability. If riders know the service is reliable, they will have more of a desire to use it. A certain other transit system can learn a lot from Laketran's operational model.

Whatever Dave's does is already "on the radar" of Giant Eagle. Dave's and Giant Eagle are very closely linked as Giant Eagle is their wholesale supplier. I understand that the main distribution warehouse has Giant Eagle offices on one side and Dave's on the other. In addition, there is a very distinct pattern where Giant Eagle stores are located and where Dave's are located. They do not compete with each other. Also, Giant Eagle has basically pulled out of places like the City of Cleveland, Euclid and Richmond Heights, yet those are locations for Dave's. One of the reasons why Giant Eagle pulled out of the Buckeye neighborhood was due to shoplifting. A manager at the former Willoughby Hills Giant Eagle at the Shoppes of Willoughby Hills (now closed) once told me that they were getting clobbered by shoplifting. If shoplifters were confronted, the employees were threatened. That was a big reason why they pulled out. Theft was the reason behind Sam's Club leaving the Shoppes of Willoughby Hills as well.