I thought perhaps I could stump City Fresh's Maurice Small with the question "what county in the world is the leader in urban farming?", but he didn't hesitate responding Cuba. And the July 8, 2008 I GRO EC roundtable concluded we need to plan a best practices mission to Havana. Next Tuesday, July 15, 6-7 PM, come to the Independent Green Republic Of Star Village, at the Star/Hough Bakeries Complex, to help plan our mission to Cuba and discuss other plans for transforming our region through urban farming.

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When our neighbor Dr. Pat Blochowiak told us to stop by her garden and pick some raspberries, blackberries and snow peas, I didn't realize the depths of her bounty... or how great blackberries may be. As my kids picked through nature, they chomped down probably $50 worth of the best food in town, when you may find food so good. As I looked at the bowls of berries collected in short time, I felt blessed by my community and nature. Over a fresh berries and whipped organic cream desert, our family celebrated Summer and life in the best way. All that is the certain promise of East Cleveland, with community farming. Help plan that reality with Maurice Small and others as we meet again, today, for what has become an every-other-Tuesday City Fresh I GRO EC brainstorming session, in East Cleveland. This week, we'll meet at the Hough/Star Bakeries complex, and also visit Brown's Market, which we plan to convert into a pilot City Fresh Market.

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I was thrilled to receive news today that one of my favorite NEO artists, Pamela Dodds, a REALNEO artist of the Day, has been awarded a $25,000 Individual Support Grant from the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation. The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation was established by American artist Adolph Gottlieb (1903-1974) and his wife Esther.  The foundation provides large grants to ‘serious, fully-committed artists,' ‘regardless of their level of commercial success.'  This year the foundation received 482 applications from which twelve artists were selected to receive awards. I'm proud to say Evelyn and I have one of Pamela's inspiring and impressive linoleum cut prints in our collection... "Drift", above... perhaps it is time for more area collectors to seek out her work... website here!

Now that my family has land that we may use for a while, we are growing our own food... and enough for many other families, it seems. One $1.07 packet of radish seeds planted in May is already many pounds of crisp, bright, beautiful, healthy fresh veggies... and eating my first fresh radish of my life taught me radishes are actually delicious. Same for Kale, and all the varieties of lettuce covering our farmland... really fresh pesto is to die for... can't wait for the carrots and shallots!

Two weeks ago, City Fresh's Maurice Small met with friends in East Cleveland to discuss City Fresh, urban farming, and how we may convert a typical urban convenient store, Brown's Market, into a pilot City Fresh local foods market. During our discussions, Maurice mentioned that a dedicated urban farmer may earn more than $30,000 per year from sales of food grown on one typical urban lot (say 1/10th an acre). That being the case, and considering our ever-growing need and realigning demand for locally grown food, and the fact food may be grown locally as cost effectively as elsewhere in the world, it occurred to me that the highest and best use for most of the land now cleared, abandoned, blighted and wasted in our urban neighborhoods is for urban farming. So that is a use we are now planning to be core to redevelopment of the Star Neighborhood. Intrigued? Discuss and plan for this reality with Maurice and friends this Tuesday, from 6-7 PM, at that house on Roxbury, in East Cleveland. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

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Maurice Small is the most economically and ecologically sensible planner I know.

Joe Stanley, Sudhir Kade and I have been brainstorming with City Fresh's Maurice Small about "I GRO EC" - Independent Green Republic Of East Cleveland. City Fresh already operates a Fresh Stop at Huron Road Hospital - which Maurice reports is doing great - and is active in community farming in East Cleveland. Recently, we've been discussing City Fresh having an involvement converting Brown's Convenient store into a pilot City Fresh Market, which could offer a paradigm-shifting model for bringing local food, farming and their economies into very needy urban neighborhoods, in very innovative and important ways.

James Levin (seated) with the Brew Crew at Carnegie Hall - photo by Sandy Kish

Dress of Chiefs of the Village of Atonkwa near Elmina, Ghana - Nana Kodwo Eduakwa V and Nana Kra Kwamina II - at a reception at the Ashe Cultural Center in Cleveland

Chiefs meeting in Cleveland

If these are average Clevelanders, living in older urban neighborhoods like around University Circle their entire lives, they have been lead poisoned, perhaps severely. Thursday morning, May 22nd, join 100s of NEOs leaders concerned with our community's health, intelligence, safety and economy meeting at the Cleveland Natural History Museum for a free breakfast, keynote discussion and breakout sessions about lead poisoning and urban redevelopment. I guarantee you will leave this brief event with a completely realigned understanding of the core barriers to the success of our urban neighborhoods, leading to better planning for a healthy, effective region in the future.

There is a need for the thoughtful people of Northeast Ohio to speak up loud and clear - sound an alarm - about environmental issues here, and our impact here on environmental issues worldwide.  We should do this in our everyday life, and we should participate in community efforts to speak in harmony about saving planet Earth. One way to shout-out that "This is a state of global emergency" is to become an "Alarmist". As posted on REALNEO here, for this April 11, at 11 AM local time, for one minute, and each 11th of the month thereafter, at 11 AM,  Alarmists declare, "We need to set off the world's alarms. Join in. It could be the alarm on your phone, in your home, in your car. You could gather some friends to make some noise. Organise a flash mob. Schedule a company fire drill. Borrow a vintage air raid siren... Be creative. Raise the alarm." So, people of REALNEO, how should we sound the first Alarmism minute?

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When Evelyn and I learned we were expecting Claes, three years ago, we started exploring local natural childbirth and child support resources, and have most enjoyed the getting to know the people with the Cleveland BirthNetwork, which is part of a national organization has a mailing list and holds regular local meet-ups and casual events... I strongly recommend expecting families to attend one of their activities, like the following...  An afternoon of discussion and meeting advocates for change, with Judy Norsigian, executive director and co-founder of Our Bodies Ourselves, and Ourselves, co-contributing editor of Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth.

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The Intergenerational School is holding a Wine & Cheese Open House (with Student‐Led Tours!), this Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 5:30 pm until 7:00 pm - and I strongly encourage those interested in innovation in education and aging to attend. Read through the whole invitation to learn more about the school - it is astounding, as are the founders... Cathy and Peter Whitehouse. This is the school that I hope to expand in the former Hough Bakeries complex, as the anchor for redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhood, so if you are interested in that project then you are interested in TIS.... I hope to see you there Thursday... be sure to RSVP!

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Polls are open for voting from 6:30 am to 7:30 pm Tuesday, March 4, 2008.... more related information at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections website.

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On December 14, 2007 Judge Gaul presented University of Northern Virginia LLC’s president, Mr. Ho, to Myers’ students and the media at Myers University in Midtown, Cleveland, Ohio. 

Mr. Ho’s English is a bit difficult to follow, but what I made out was that Mr. Ho had in the past been a professor, and he still considers his relationship to the various for profit schools he operates as that of a professor – Mr. Ho is not currently teaching as a professor, but is negotiating the take over of the Myers Board of Trustees.  As of December 20 Mr. Ho had appointed eight of his candidates to the “Board” with Judge Gaul’s approval.    

Mr. Ho (center with glasses), and his associate Mr. Lee (on right with glasses and striped tie) went on to say that it was their intention to expand the student population at Myers by attracting foreign students – with a goal of about 2,500 students.  

Here is the sequence of events during the last week concerning Cleveland, Ohio's Myers University:

The President of the University, Mr. Scaldini, announces Monday that the University will close its doors at the end of this semester because the school is out of Money. 

BREWED FRESH DAILY HAS A THREAD which carries  a discussion which I believe it is important for everyone in NEO to read.  The thread is especially important now that the City of Cleveland is looking desperately for immediate cash-back from the taxpayers’ UDAG loans. 

As part of the Star Neighborhood Development planning for the Star Complex and surrounding one mile radius, I have been planning the redevelopment of the current Cleveland Institute of Art Gund Building and land, on East Boulevard in Cleveland, shown below (full size image here).

Driving back and forth between Ohio City and East Cleveland, I often take Euclid... partly to watch the progress of the "Silver Line" and Clinic Complex development. I increasingly find the "Silver Line" and Mid-Town aspects of all this disappointing, but I am fascinated by what I see coming together with the Cleveland Clinic.

The Friends of Art, CWRU staff and the John and Mildred Putnam Sculpture Collection team of Harvey Buchanan and Evelyn Kiefer picked the perfect time and day to hold a reception celebrating the addition of work #45 to the world-class Putnam Sculpture Collection, at University Circle, as David Deming's "Inner Circle" is a work of art that changes dramatically with light in the environment, and sunset is an especially beautiful time to view this work.

University Circle is a community of overlapping circles of interdependent institutions, boards, patrons and public interests that in some way touch every life in the NEO universe, worldwide (well illustrated by the current Cleveland Orchestra tour of Europe). So thoughts of "Inner Circles" within this star-power constellation bring illusions of grand people and designs. So true, as the latest "Inner Circle" added to University Circle is a very sharp and strong sculpture by Cleveland Institute of Art President David Deming, commissioned by the Putnam Sculpture Collection, of Case Western Reserve University... a great collision of worlds.

Thanks to Crain’s for bringing this into the light.