MuRrAy HiLL

Wasn't aware of the upcoming tax...interesting... Medical device excise tax thwarts innovation, job growth Published: Saturday, November 19, 2011, 10:56 AM Plain Dealer guest columnist By Plain Dealer guest columnist Ohio is a vital home to one of the most dynamic industries in the world: medical device development and manufacturing. It is the perfect combination of a highly skilled work force, innovative technologies and products that improve lives. Ohio medical device and equipment manufacturers employ more than 22,000 workers. In Northeast Ohio, they include Philips Healthcare, US Endoscopy, OrthoHelix and CleveMed. Another 5,000 to 7,000 Ohioans are employed by companies that provide critical services -- like product design, testing and clinical trial consulting -- to these manufacturers. So why would elected officials want to hamper its growth? As a part of the health care reform legislation, elected officials passed a 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices that will go into effect in 2013. While the goal was to help pay for the legislation, its real impact is inhibiting job creation and innovation. Perhaps worst of all, the tax is applied to the sales, not profits, of a medical device manufacturer. While still growing and creating jobs, more than a few Ohio medical device companies are not yet profitable. Under this tax, they would actually owe a hefty tax bill, despite not having a penny in profits. http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/11/medical_devise_excise_tax_thwa.html

GREAT read! MOCA's Jill Snyder likes Cleveland's new art and old buildings: My Cleveland http://www.cleveland.com/mycleveland/index.ssf/2011/11/jill_snyder_likes_clevelands_n.html

I REALLY dislike the new UC website... The more I look at it the madder I get. My initial annoyances: 1) Terrible user-friendliness 2) Errors everywhere ...and I mean EVERYWHERE 3) Search function sucks -- gives equal listing to L'Albatros/Little Italy restaurants and museum gift shops as places to eat 4) Doesn't showcase many aspects that it should! I've sent them an email volunteering to do the corrections and updates for free...let's see if i get a response...

Please be encouraged to fight the good fight in the comments sections... Bait and switch: Ohio transportation officials need to stop putting up roadblocks as Cleveland tries to transform the Shoreway and its lakefront: editorial Published: Saturday, November 19, 2011, 9:40 AM The Plain Dealer Editorial Board By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board ODOT officials have moved the goal posts so often that Clevelanders from Mayor Frank Jackson on down have every right to feel disrespected and to wonder what it will take to complete a project that promises to revamp the city's relationship with its lakefront. Most recently, after Cleveland city planners attempted to trim costs by shaving the once-ambitious plans yet again, ODOT informed them that the price tag had unexpectedly gone up again -- almost doubling since their last estimate. So at the suggestion of top ODOT officials, the Jackson administration applied for another $28 million through the department's review process for identifying priority projects -- and promised to come up with an extra $7 million from the city's limited capital funds. But when ODOT scored the city's request, it was near the bottom of 72 proposals. ODOT also gave the project low marks for economic impact, even though more than $400 million has been invested in Battery Park and the Gordon Square Arts District in the past few years -- much of it based on the promise of a boulevard. That is unfair to investors who have acted in good faith based on the state's promises, and blind to how older cities regenerate. The ODOT committee that makes funding decisions meets Dec. 15. Its members need to take a long, hard look at both the commitments they have already made and at the staff's latest, skewed analysis of the Shoreway project. http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/11/bait_and_switch_ohio_transport.html

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History has a sharp new website: http://ech.case.edu/

Baron Davis to guest star on an episode of 'Hot in Cleveland' Published: Wednesday, November 16, 2011, 4:00 PM Mark Dawidziak, The Plain Dealer By Mark Dawidziak, The Plain Dealer Baron Davis has found a way to occupy some of the spare time caused by the labor dispute threatening the basketball season that was supposed to start Nov. 1. The Cleveland Cavaliers point guard will be on the set of "Hot in Cleveland" Thursday to tape a guest spot on the TV Land sitcom. The episode, which will air in February, features Elka Ostrovsky (Betty White), a big Cavaliers fan, giving Davis some ideas on how to improve his game. She wants him to bring back Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook shot. http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?action=post;topic=3329.1170;last_msg=588025

UC has launched a new website: http://www.universitycircle.org/ EDIT: it's really off...it lists places that's don't exist...including about 5 places to eat...I don't understand...some of these places have been gone for over 2-3 years. Let's see...They list CWRU as 41st in the nation...they are now ranked 38th...I haven't even scratched the surface with proofreading... "The museum is currently undergoing a $258 million expansion and renovation. Construction is expected to be completed in 2011."

Yep that was me -- the sign is still definitely there.

I see the new Westin as a "Convention Size" hotel, and a decent brand: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/10/crowne_plaza_in_downtown_cleve.html 472 rooms gets the ball rolling.

dwellworks to relocate headquarters and staff of 30-40 to playhousesquare Thursday, November 17, 2011 Dwellworks, a company that provides a suite of services for the relocation, real estate and mortgage lending industries, has announced plans to relocate its own corporate headquarters to the historic F. W. Woolworth building in PlayhouseSquare. "We fell in love with PlayhouseSquare and wanted to be a part of the revitalization of downtown," says Gene Novak, CFO and Executive VP of Dwellworks. "It's hard to say enough about the reception and welcome we received from PlayhouseSquare, the City of Cleveland and Downtown Cleveland Alliance." Dwellworks plans to move its staff of 30 to 40 employees downtown initially. Its appraisal services department will stay in Warrensville Heights for the remaining two years on its lease. Yet Novak says that the firm is already studying plans for a Phase II that would centralize its operations in the heart of downtown Cleveland. http://freshwatercleveland.com/devnews/dwellworks111711.aspx

Tis true! Best part of the article: University Circle Inc. is considering proposals from three local developers - Coral Co., Snavely Group and NRP Group - to build on Lot 45, a property on Mayfield Road, west of the railroad tracks that border Little Italy. The land, now a parking lot, could be the site of a $30 million to $100 million development involving apartments, retail, a parking garage and, possibly, offices. UCI President Chris Ronayne and his staff are eyeing prospects for six other sites in the neighborhood. University Circle Inc. owns more than 10 acres of the property, including a high-profile slice at the Circle's western gateway, at Euclid and Stokes Boulevard.

Last reminder -- I try and give a report of any interesting updates

Two more sides are cladded now. It's halfway done -- here's the finishing the exterior before the heavy winter months!

whoa, cool. I had no idea. But why is it so ugly looking??

I always thought it should have been called NOLO (North Of LOrain) :)

What type of stat does percent change over 120 years show? :) Just to show the long term trend. The short-term trends are somewhat similar but less dramatic. wait, what? long term tread?? Do you understand what I'm saying? This reminds me of political stat-keeping to manipulate numbers... Think of it scientifically: Example: 1880: 10 1890: 11 1900: 40000000 1910: 5 1920:18 1930: 170000000 1940: 0 1950: 5 1960: 11 1970: 15 1980: 50000000000 1990: 15 2000: 18 2010: 12 Percent change from 1880-2010: 20% It's essentially selecting two random points without regard to any data values in the middle and finding the percent difference. My point is: it is completely arbitrary and pointless. Not to mention, it covers 3 generations of people (including a majority who have most likely died...)...impossible to connect...meaning, this is no model for growth, if that's what you're trying to illustrate.

KJP for Mayor! I want the rail loop as well.

This is the old Xtian Science Reading Room: http://binged.it/uTI0im For whatever reason, I am not opposed at all to the demolition. It frees up more land for development (which may be inevitable at this point as CSU and PHS continue to grow) and showcases the Hanna building...temporarily. Not to mention, any aesthetics it once had seem to be gone. Long story short, I hope the site becomes ever more attractive for developers, butting up against the beautiful Hanna Building.

interesting on many levels. Auction of Chase Tower loan creates intrigue Location near casino could draw plentiful interest By STAN BULLARD 4:30 am, November 14, 2011 An Internet auction slated to start tomorrow, Nov. 15, for the $13 million mortgage on the office portion of the former Chase Financial Tower at Tower City Center in Cleveland almost has as much drama as a gunfight in the Old West. Exactly who will show up for the auction adds mystery to this showdown. The building at 250 W. Huron Road is within rifle range of Cleveland's coming casino — a location that could serve as a draw for bidders. The auction brings to light a loan dispute between the mortgage lender, J.P. Morgan Chase, and real estate giant Forest City Enterprises Inc., which developed the office space that serves as the four-story base for the eight-story Ritz-Carlton Hotel that thrusts skyward above it. The structure is one of seven Forest City developed at Tower City, an office-hotel-retail complex that also serves as the developer's corporate headquarters. http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20111114/SUB1/311149987

^ to refresh everyone's memory on the bridge: http://blog.cleveland.com/architecture/2011/06/a_trio_of_pedestrian_bridges_p.html

What type of stat does percent change over 120 years show? :)

WSM getting some more press: Finally marketing W. Side Market: editorial Published: Monday, November 14, 2011, 6:43 PM The Plain Dealer Editorial Board By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board The West Side Market is a fabulous, funky, festive, digestive (the Epicurean penny-pinching perfection of a Johnny dog), cacophonous, caffeinated, creepy (bloody, fleshless goat skulls) kaleidoscope of blue-collar world cuisine that has celebrated diversity and deliciousness for 99 years. It is a feast for the food snob and the food slob, the poor and the prosperous, a taste-bud trendsetter that has been showcased on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and "Man v. Food Nation," to name just two celebrity chow-downs. Ohio City Inc., a local nonprofit with a robust resume, will spearhead a marketing campaign for the city-owned property if Cleveland City Council approves the move -- a decision that deserves three Michelin stars. The strategy is smart and straightforward: Raise awareness of the upcoming centennial celebration -- not in a brief, confetti-filled, blow-out-the-candles whoop-de-do, but as a kickoff for a corporate donor campaign to raise serious capital. http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/11/finally_marketing_w_side_marke_1.html

NBA players no to deal: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/story/2011-11-14/NBA-players-wont-accept-deal-season-could-be-over/51198288/1 I'm thinking it's time Cleveland completely fills the Wolstein Center every game this year.

CMHA breaks ground on new senior housing complex Lee Road Senior building to house 40 units CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA) will break ground Monday morning on the construction of a new senior housing complex in Cleveland. The new Lee Road Senior building will consist of three floors of apartments made up of 40 units. Nearly $3 million dollars has been donated by the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to fund project costs. http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/cmha-breaks-ground-on-new-senior-housing-complex

Two more Eastside commercial buildings getting the axe: http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/drcagenda/2011/pdf/NEAgenda_11-15.pdf