Winter 2015 has been an especially hard one.  I considered travel to FL, TX or even Puerto Rico for some sun, but was put off by having to travel by plane.  When the weather in familiar Cumberland, MD promised to break temperatures higher than 30 degrees, I chose train travel to the Queen City.

 Now that it is apparent that Jackson is going down - the powerbrokers in this town (Forest City) have to line up another puppet regime.

 Two egos are ripe for the picking- Joe Cimperman and Brian Cummins.  While, the two have never liked each other   - the struggle for real estate interests in the W.25th Corridor now aligns them. 

Just in time for the Republican National Convention - the Democratic Party machine here in Northeast Ohio will have achieved a total two-tier economy - with the underclass stuck in RTA hell.

Here's the gateway to the ZOO ! You know, the number one tourist destination in Northeast Ohio!!! We made sure to keep everything "green" - the way our councilman prefers it! And, tell your friends: we bend over ass backward to accommodate for developers like Peter Rubin-Coral Group, the Ratners at Forest City, and Mitch Schneider. ENJOY the scenery :)

 The latest BS from Thriving Communities aka front for investors like Forest City - on the need for Cuyahoga County to issue bonds for more demolitions - would be that UNLESS the "Land Bank" folks don't demo EVERY frickin' vacant property in CLE - your property in ROCKY RIVER (where Rokakis lives) is/will continue to shoulder DISPROPORTIONATE burden of tax levys imposed in Cuyahoga County.  

done anything about the bubble that is building up (again.)

Of course, he piously affirms that, as regards his role in bailing out the too-big-to- fail banks, no one knows how bad it could have been.

These giants are now distributing enormous bonuses again and were  not punished at all, or only had their hands slapped with an  easily paid, though high, fine for rigging LIBOR, allowing a foreign exchange trader to lose a ton of money, and...oh, wait....no one is investigating the rigging of gold prices, nor prices of silver, either.

As to  my own costs, I just went to a nursery and bought 11 plants for around $22. They included a small lime tree, rosemary, lavender, calla lily, pansy, dill.

antiguaguatemala.unwireme.com/antigua-guatemala-cost-of-living-update-fruits-and-veggies/

 Hello Residents of the City of Cleveland - you do have a choice.  

Please rid us of the corrupt "it is what it is..." mentality.  Get RID of Frank Jackson and Martin Sweeney - vote for transparency and accountability (at least there is a promise of something-anything better than the STATUS QUO).

http://www.kenlanci.com/the_lanci_tribune

http://www.kenlanci.com/2nd_edition_lanci_tribune

 In the Brooklyn Centre battle against the city of Cleveland over WC Reed field, I have been researching property transfers on West 15th street. This lead me to a discovery that parcel 00827061 at 3708 West 15th street, which no longer has a house on it, as it was torn down quickly without the owner of the foreclosed property US Bank being aware of this demolition, was sold on September 16, 2013 for $56,500...for a VACANT LOT...to Hogar Community Reinvestment LLC at 1001 N 3rd Ave Suite 1 in Phoenix Arizona, a District of Columbia limited liability company, not licensed in Ohio.

Are you happy to see the Clark Ave treatment for West 25th??? I am not happy - it sucks.  This is what passes for "development" in NEO:

http://realneo.us/content/please-help-prevent-disinvestment-brooklyn-centre

 I had lunch yesterday with a smart, independent woman who has managed to carve out a good life for herself in Cleveland.  We are both complainers, but we both see the positives, too.  She has lived in Chicago, Toronto, and Cleveland, and of the three places, she prefers Cleveland.  Cleveland's cost of living allows her to travel to Paris - twice a year to be recharged by the energy and joie de vivre - that is uniquely French.

 Juvenile Justice Center (cost overruns-toxic), CMHA new headquarters (cost overruns-disasterous "green" design),  Forlani VA complex (indicted on federal corruption charges-see how TIF and Port monies manipulated)

 Forest City has been in Columbus pimping the Opportunity Corridor and quietly staging the money train -through Robert Brown at the City of Cleveland:

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/trac/Pages/2013-TRAC-Public-Hearings-and-Applications.aspx

 I read here that the massive disaster at Fukushima was because the operator was too cheap to keep up needed repairs, and now has no incentive to clean up the disaster. www.washingtonsblog.com/cat/sciencetechnology

 Hello All;