Put Up The For Sale Sign In Ohio: Aren't There Any Crown Jewels To Pawn When We Need The Money?

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Middle Eastern investors flush with oil money have purchased the Chrysler Building in New York City. And earlier this year, they bought the General Motors Building, also a Manhattan landmark. But none of the wealth transferred overseas as oil money seems to be landing in Ohio, a state that once made many of the cars for the automakers those skyscrapers are named after. No crown jewels to pawn? Cleveland leads all U.S. big cities in population loss, the U.S. Census reported today. It is down to 438,042 residents. Akron, Dayton and Toledo also lost population over the past year. Columbus gained from 742,976 to 747,755. Cincinnati also grew, from 331,632 to 332,458.

Average CEO Pay In Ohio's Big Metro Charities: $144,632 In Cleveland; $135,000 In Cincinnati

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Charity Navigator released a massive study today examining how charities operate and spend their money in the nation's 30 largest metro areas. Both Cleveland and Cincinnati showed up on a list with some of the highest salaried CEOs heading non-profits. You can see the national rankings here. The study shows shows charity CEO pay is 5th highest in Cleveland, and 9th highest in Cincinnati. Ironically, both cities are also among the the nation's poorest. But the poverty rate did not play into Charity Navigator's study, which noted:

"Our analysis, completed in May of 2008, demonstrated that the financial behavior of America's charities is influenced by the metropolitan market within which the charity operates. For example, Charity Navigator proved that charities in Colorado Springs have the least amount of rainy day funds. That is due to the concentration of religious groups, which tend to maintain relatively small amounts of working capital. We also learned that charities in New York City, where the cost of living is higher than just about anywhere else in the country, report the highest level of CEO pay."

But the cost of living shouldn't be a factor in Ohio CEO pay -- Cleveland and Cincinnati are far less expensive places to live than New York City, or Chicago, or San Francisco. Yet the average salaries of charity honchos in Chicago and San Francisco are less. Pittsburgh, Portland and Indianapolis have the lowest CEO pay -- and Pittsburgh and Indianapolis are clearly counterparts of the two Ohio metro areas. One possible explanation: In Cincinnati 22% of charitable contributions are directed to arts organizations, 5th highest in the nation, and the arts get the biggest cut of all charitable giving. In Cleveland, 20% of donations go to the arts. Perhaps the people who run major arts organizations are compensated better than people who run social service and anti-poverty groups.

There is a breakdown about charities in the two Ohio communities here and here. As an aside, the study reported that "Cincinnati has no large religious charities."

Cleveland Rated 2nd Most Stressful U.S. Metro Area: Ohio's Heart Attack Capital

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Death by butter in Cleveland and guns in Cincinnati. That's how it looks on this chart, which shows deaths from circulatory system diseases in metro Cleveland are higher than 49 other U.S. communities -- only Pittsburgh has more. The heart attack rate helps makes Cleveland No. 2 in stress behind top-ranked Detroit. Meanwhile, Cincinnati is the nation's 13th most stressful place. Its heart attack rate is lower. But the murder rate in Cincy is worse than Cleveland -- way worse. Cleveland has 16.6 murders per 100,000 residents in the city; Cincinnati has 28.8.

Virginia Beach/Norfolk is rated the nation's least stressful metro area.

Ohio Justice Slammed In Racial Disparity Report: Blacks Far Likelier To Get Prison For Drugs

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A state agency, the Ohio Sentencing Commission, received a quiet briefing last month from a Washington think tank that delivered startling data about drug-crime sentences across the state. The research shows African Americans are 10 to 21 times more likelier to get prison sentences than whites in Ohio's largest counties. That finding now has some officials concerned about the possibility of ingrained racial prejudice in the legal system. Or, is the data somehow flawed? As yet, nobody has stepped forward to say the think tank's data is wildly divergent from reality.

The presentation by the Justice Policy Institute contended there is "racial disparity in the use of prison for drug offenses" and that African-Americans are imprisoned at significantly higher rates. Nationally, the researchers said blacks go to prison at a rate 10 times greater than whites for drug crimes.

The Justice Policy Institute, a non-profit that favors reducing incarceration rates, said drug use among black and white is about the same. Yet more blacks continue to wind up behind bars, a statistic that points to clear racial injustice or some kind of bias in the legal system. prison. It reported these numbers for the state most populous counties:

1. Butler (Middletown, Hamilton) -- blacks are 21 times more likely to go to prison than whites.
2. Stark (Canton) -- blacks 20 times more likely.
3. Lorain (Lorain ) -- blacks 18 times more likely.
4. Franklin (Columbus) -- blacks blacks 14 times more likely.
5. Summit (Akron) -- blacks 13 times more likely.
6. Cuyahoga (Cleveland) -- blacks 12 times more likely.
7. Hamilton (Cincinnati) -- blacks 12 times more likely.
8. Mahoning (Youngstown) -- blacks 11 times more likely.
9. Montgomery (Dayton) -- blacks 11 times more likely.
10. Lucas (Toledo) -- blacks 10 times more likely.

The Daily Bellwether has been told that judges and court officials across Ohio are going to get some kind of summary of the briefing that was hosted to the sentencing commission. Members of that panel are appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court. The panel has no authority to writes laws or change policies, but it can influence the law-making process.

The report was prepared in early December and the data for states and 198 large population counties in the U.S. is available here in full text. According to the presentation made to the Ohio Sentencing Commission, Ohio ranks 10th overall for imprisoning people for drug offenses. The report said blacks and whites use and sell drugs at similar rates.

" . . . counties with higher poverty rates, larger African-American populations and larger police or judicial budgets imprison people for drug offenses at higher rates than counties without these characteristics. These relationships were found to be independent of whether the county actually had a higher rate of crime."

"Researchers attributed disparate practices, disparate treatment before the courts, mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws, and differences in the availability of drug treatment for African Americans compared with whites as reasons for the significant racial disparity seen in drug imprisonment rates."

Cleveland State U's Marketing Slogan: Some Think It Sells Urban Decay

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Nobody appears to be suggesting something akin to "New York's the Big Apple, Cleveland's a Plum," but a roomful of urban studies cognoscenti at Cleveland State University wondered aloud recently if the school's marketing slogan is too gritty. The campus is in downtown Cleveland. The slogan is "City life is our campus." It was pointed out that phrase lacks any kind of puffery, and might conjure up images of crime, poverty, urban blight and a local public school system that has a reputation as Ohio's basket case.

Melanie Murphy got the story for the Cleveland Stater. She noted the criticism the motto has no punch, or panache, or promotional appeal. There seemed to be sentiment that it worked against the school's image.

"Is this really a positive message? Cleveland is ranked as one of the top cities with high crime rates, and public education is below average. Cleveland has a poor reputation, and so the outward migration continues. Tower City and the Galleria were the places to shop. Things have changed over the past few years. They are losing business."

If any new slogans have been proposed or are floating around, Murphy didn't record their existence. Perhaps the school is satisfied with "City life is our campus." For those who don't know, Cleveland's A Plum was a marketing campaign dreamed up by The Plain Dealer in the 1980s (at least that is what The Daily Bellwether remembers). It appeared around the time Ohio fell into a severe recession and steel plants and other industries were disappearing. There was another slogan, a real meat-and-potatoes phrase from that same era which frequently turned up on sweatshirts -- Cleveland, You Gotta Be Tough.

Ohio Judge Ends Residency Rule For City Workers: Frees 7,200 In Cincinnati To Move

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A state court judge has upheld an Ohio law that nullifies residency rules for city workers. The decision opens the door for nearly 7,200 Cincinnati employees to join the exodus leaving Hamilton County for the fast-growing suburbs that have sprung up in Butler, Warren and Clermont counties. The ruling is sure to be challenged, but it declares the city's requirement employees must live within the boundaries of Hamilton County is now illegal and cannot be enforced.

Retired Hamilton County appeals Judge Bob Gorman has filed an 11-page "memorandum of decision" in Case No. A-0604513. The ruling is not online. Gorman, who handled the case as a visiting judge, said he is waiting for the lawyers from Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann's office and the city solicitor's office to prepare a final entry that will formalize the decision. Cincinnati filed its legal challenge against the state ban on residency requirements for city workers last year. The dispute addressed whether the state can trump local laws in Home Rule cities.

The issue came to a head in the Ohio legislature two years ago. Republicans pushed through a bill unilaterally overturning local ordinances across the state that required city workers to live within the communities that paid their salaries. Some of the residency rules went back to the early 20th Century and were considered a traditional exercise of Home Rule powers.

But SB 82 repealed all those laws. Cleveland, Dayton, Lima and Cincinnati have all lost court challenges. Cleveland, for example, said its workers must live within the city limits. Cincinnati had such a rule, but loosened it in the 1990s to say employees must be Hamilton County residents. It was seen as helping hold population in the county -- Ohio's third largest -- which has been losing people to the suburbs.

While the home rule battle was under way in the legislature, the Ohio Municipal League counted 125 cities and 13 villages with residency laws. It said many had been adopted by voters at the polls in local referendums and accused lawmakers of meddling to undo those popular votes.

Former Gov Bob Taft signed the repeal into law in January 2006, and opponents said it violated the Home Rule provision of the Ohio Constitution. Judge Gorman, in his ruling against the City of Cincinnati, said the residency requirement repeal was a valid exercise of legislative power.

"The rule is well established that legislative actions have a strong presumption of constitutionality."

Marshal Pitchford is an Akron lawyer who wrote a legal analysis on the topic of municipal residency rules last year. It is worth a read for some history on the issue.

Federal Appeals Court: U.S.-Funded Projects Exempt From Cleveland Preference Law

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A federal appeals court says the U.S. Highway Administration had authority to revoke a $696,000 construction grant for Cleveland's Kinsman Road streetscape project. Cleveland's Fannie Lewis Law -- which requires that city residents comprise 20% of the workforce on public works projects -- was at the heart of the dispute. The federal agency said the local hiring-preference law violated U.S. rules requiring competitive bidding and non-discrimination in employment.

The Kinsman Road streetscape was supposed to run from East 130th Street to the city limits, and involved construction of a brick sidewalk, tree planting and installing pedestrian lighting. Its goal was beautification and safety in a depressed neighborhood struggling to shake off urban blight.

The complete text of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals 18-page decision is available here. City officials contend the purpose of the Lewis Law -- an ordinance named for a veteran councilwoman and adopted in June 2003 -- is not anti-competitive. They say the goal of the measure is to alleviate unemployment and ensure that Cleveland residents can find jobs on City of Cleveland construction projects. On Kinsman Road, the feds were supposed to put most of the money into the $870,000 total price of the project; the city's share was about $175,000.

The ruling did not strike down the Lewis Law. It said the federal agency had discretion to reject the contract because the 20% Cleveland resident employment was not specifically advertised to prospective bidders. The court said federal law puts state and local governments are "on notice that substantive contract requirements must be specifically advertised to prospective bidders before they can be incorporated into a federally-funded contract."

Moreover, the 6th Circuit said federal agencies have discretion in whether to fund projects and their "decisions may be based upon any lawful factor that the agency deems relevant under its broad power to administer federal programs."

Shuttering Ohio's Red-Light Cameras: There's Now A Way To Beat Them

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Cities from Cleveland to Columbus and Toledo have been sticking cameras on stop-lights to catch motorists who run red lights. The snap shots that catch license tags, but not drivers, are controversial and seen by many Ohioans as nothing but a way to fatten municipal budgets over enforcing traffic laws. Now a company that makes highway radar and laser detectors said it has put a GPS locator in the package to display the location of red light cameras.

Cobra said the move is to boost safety on the roads. Others might see it as a way to beat the system. Cobra says its research shows 88% of Americans have run a red light. And half reported in a recent poll sponsored by the radar-detector manufacturer that a traffic light changed too quickly to stop at the stoplight. Cobra's poll found that some drivers admit they run five red lights a year. It said 76% of drivers age 18-34 admitted they went through a red light in the past year.

Cobra says its $449.95 XRS R9G displays the locations of the cameras. The Chicago company says the gizmo isn't intended to help drivers skip the intersections, but instead is to remind them to slow down and stop on red.

"A national survey commissioned by Cobra reports the vast majority of Americans admit to having run red lights, and consistently driving through yellow ones. To curb the red-light running epidemic, cities across the United States are encouraging safe driving by installing speed and red light cameras at dangerous intersections.

"While a few well-place cameras may slow some lead-footed drivers, four in five Americans agree that knowing the location of photo-enforcement cameras in advance would make them put the brakes on. According to Cobra's national survey of 1,000 Americans, more than three-quarters (77 percent) of respondents admit they would fell safer if they had an extra security -- a device in the car -- to supplement their cities' efforts to increases safety of these dangerous intersections."

Cleveland Co.'s Sexually Explicit Pix: First Amendment Covers Swinger Mags

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- A federal appeals court today struck down as unconstitutional a U.S. law that required producers of "actually sexually explicit conduct" to keep records showing the images depict adults over age 18. The decision was a legal victory for Connection Distributing Co., a Cleveland firm that publishes a dozen or so magazines and an online portal aimed at swingers. Warning: There are some pretty racy photos accessible by clicking around the company's Web site. Connection challenged the law as a government attempt to censor its business.

The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said the record-keeping requirements of the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988 were intended to combat child pornography. But most of the swingers in the magazines are middle-aged and not likely to be mistaken for minors. The three-judge panel declared Justice Department efforts to apply the rules to the publisher of magazines aimed at adults who were seeking partners for sex exceeded the government's authority. The court noted that Connection described swinging as a philosophy entailing "an alternative social and sexual lifestyle comprised mostly of mature adults who believe in sexual freedom and do not believe in sexual monogamy."

The magazines contain ads and messages, and the messages often are accompanied by photos of Connection subscribers. Sometimes they are undressed, and sometimes they are in street clothes. But there are times when they are engaged in sex, or showing off all the goods to attract partners.

Senior Circuit Judge Cornelia Kennedy wrote the court's decision and noted that the government's argument that it was trying to curb child abuse was unpersuasive. The case is Connection Distributing Co., et al. v. Kesler and the full-text of the 27-page decision is available here. Kennedy wrote:

"Images, including photographs, are protected by the First Amendment as speech as much as 'words in books' and 'oral utterances.' Even if the government tried to characterize the regulation as aimed at the conduct of pressing the button on a camera or other recording device to create images, that conduct would be so closely tied to the speech produced, and the government's interest here is in the speech produced, that it would be better considered to be a speech regulation. Child abuse, the actual conduct in which the government is interested, is already illegal."

She added:

"Applying the record keeping regulations to all depictions of actual sexually explicit conduct between two adults, however, is not clearly within the statute's plainly legitimate sweep. One of the reasons the government wants to know a depicted individual's age is because the government has a difficult time knowing when to prosecute as well as prosecuting successfully because it is hard to identify the image as that of a child. The government claims that such identification is made difficult because images of individuals 18 and older exist. If these images did not exist, then the only images left would be children, and therefore the proof would be easy. The solution, it is argued, is to require photographs of both adults and children to be kept track of, so that the government will know that a photo it is currently viewing is not of a child, but in fact of an 18-year-old."

OH-02 Dem Vic Wulsin: 1st Endorser Is Unabashed Cleveland Liberal

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- State Rep. Mike Foley -- who represents a district that includes Brook Park, Parma Heights and three Cleveland wards -- has endorsed Vic Wulsin, a Cincinnati-area physician seeking the Democratic nomination in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District. It is a long-distance attraction. Foley comes from the shores Lake Erie, which is a long way from the Ohio River and Appalachia, the region where OH-02 is located at the state's southern tip.

Foley's Web site shows he's a liberal Dem and he makes no bones about the fact U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich supported him when he ran for the Statehouse in 2006. He also said the state government had done a "rotten job" under 16 years of Republican governors.

Wulsin faces Republican-turned-Democrat Steve Black in a primary for the OH-02 nomination next March. The Cincinnati area is far more conservative than Cleveland, and the district is mostly suburban and rural. Foley's appearance in the campaign at this stage may not help her win votes in a general election, but it may help Wulsin -- who has Cleveland roots herself -- gain early support and, more importantly, financial backing from both labor and her party's activist wing.

Foley was effusive about Wulsin.

"As a public health physician, she has succeeded by bringing people together and finding common ground. Her life work has been dedicated to public service -- and her track record is marked by her leadership in finding innovative solutions to difficult problems. As the Congresswoman from Ohio's second district, she will continue to work tirelessly to serve her community."

Cleveland Hosts Walleye Tournament: A $150,000 Check At Stake This Weekend

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Who knew that somebody had a chance to win a $150,000 first price in a walleye fishing contest this weekend in Cleveland? The event is sponsored by Wal-Mart and today is the final round for 10 pro fishermen.

Cincinnati Booster Group: Inflates Population To Make City Nation's 11th Largest

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Even Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory -- who's been battling to raise the Census Bureau's headcount -- should be surprised to learn he leads the nation's 11th largest city. Foreigners are being told that Cincinnati has more residents than Detroit and is one-notch behind San Jose, Calif. as the nation's 10th largest city. That's the word spread across the globe by the International Visitors Council, an organization partly funded by the U.S State Department that is supposed to boost trade, tourism and educate foreign guests about American institutions.

As for "Greater Cincinnati" -- it's the "23rd largest city in the USA." Clearly intended as a reference to the metro area, it is pretty much on the money though quite awkwardly worded.

But the city data smells like pure boosterism run amok. The Visitor's Council for years has been falsely telling people the City of Cincinnati has about 900,000 residents living within its municipal boundaries. That makes it bigger than Detroit, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Washington, D.C. That makes it bigger than Columbus, Ohio's largest city according to the Census Bureau, and Cleveland, which is the state's second biggest city.

This population puffery has been uncovered at a time when Mayor Mallory has been complaining the Census Bureau's population estimates are too low. But he's not in the Visitor's Council's league. Mallory contends there are 378,259 people who live in his city. The Census says 332,252.

At 900,000, the Visitor's Center seems to believe they are both way off base. Of course, it's the other way around, and the boosters are the ones cooking the guestbooks. Some Japanese or European business leader might be tempted to believe the propaganda.

"Greater Cincinnati is a diverse, thriving and growing region with important historical roots and high-tech aspirations. Situated squarely at the intersection of three states, the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area extends from the southwest corner of Ohio into northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana. It includes 13 counties covering 3,810 square miles (6,135 sq. km).

"At its heart is the City of Cincinnati. Amidst the gently rolling hills along the Ohio River, Cincinnati is located in Hamilton County in the State of Ohio. The city covers 80 square miles (130 sq km). Approximately 900,000 people live within the limits of the city of Cincinnati. 1,982,530 live in the 13 county, 3 state Greater Cincinnati area."

A link to the wildly inflated population claim is here. It probably illustrates how overzealous boosterism leads to overstated economic claims. The mayor has been much more cautious in his descriptions of growth during the headcount wrangling with the Census Bureau. He says, "We have turned around 50 years of decline, and we are growing once again."

There are many who doubt the mayor. And who can accept the visitor's bureau's claim of 900,000?

The official Census Bureau population estimates for the nation's 25 largest cities doesn't have Cincinnati anywhere on the list. Indeed, Milwaukee is 25th with an estimated population of 573,336. That's nearly 200,000 more people than Mayor Mallory contends live in Cincinnati.

Happy Birthday Cleveland: 211 Candles Are On Your Cake Today

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- From down on the banks of the Ohio River, The Bellwether sends a happy birthday card to Cleveland, which was settled on July 22 1796 -- a date that nobody seems to have noticed or celebrated today. For shame.

[UPDATE: 6:40 am EDT 7/23/07 -- Another notable anniversary occurred in northeast Ohio place yesterday, and The Bellwether is proud to mention the milestone, even if belatedly. Jill Zimon is starting her third year today. Jill is one of the top bloggers in this section of the universe. Is it pure coincidence that WLST and Cleveland took form on the same day? Sounds to me like intelligent design was at work, and that the intelligent designer . . . ]

Here's the account from Wikipedia about the gestation and Cleveland's birth:

"The expedition then coasted along the shore of Lake Erie, and landed on July 4, 1796 at the mouth of Conneaut Creek, which they named Port Independence. The Indians were propitiated with gifts of beads and whiskey, and allowed the surveys to proceed. General Cleaveland, with a surveying party, coast along the shore and on July 22, 1796 landed at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. He ascended to the bank, and, beholding a beautiful plain covered with a luxuriant forest-growth, divined that the spot where he stood, with the river on the west and Lake Erie on the north, was a favorable site for a city."

Cincinnati was founded eight years earlier, and had already become a thriving settlement in the Northwest Territory. Originally, the Lake Erie community was called Cleaveland. But in 1830, the story goes, a newspaper editor could not fit that word across the top of his broadsheet. So he dropped the "a" and called it Cleveland. The name stuck.

Cleveland, Ohio And Ingenuity: Anyone Knows An Ant Can't

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- The annual summer shindig for sentient beings that is known as the Ingenuity Festival ends today, just as another event devoted to the creative juices begins a two-month run on the shores of Lake Erie. This one is about science and social animals -- how they solve problems, and how, by working together, they manage complex systems.

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is sponsoring demonstrations about swarm intelligence on Saturdays, peeking into a rapidly emerging area of research that asks and tries to answer this question: Individual creatures often aren't ingenuous, but their colonies act intelligently, how can they behave so wise and smart? Coincidentally, the topic of swarm behavior gets in-depth exploration in the July issue of National Geographic:

"A colony can solve problems unthinkable for individual ants, such as finding the shortest path to the best food source, allocating workers to different tasks, or defending territory from neighbors. As individuals, ants might be tiny dummies, but as colonies they respond quickly and effectively to their environment. They do it with something called swarm intelligence.

Where this intelligence comes from raises a fundamental question in nature: How to the simple actions of individuals add up to the complex behavior of a group? How do hundreds of honeybees make a critical decision about their hive if many of them disagree?"

It is all about ingenuity. At the museum, you'll be able to work like a swarm. Researchers at John Carroll University and Case Western Reserve University have been working on the science and designing robots the size of large cockroaches. They try to get swarms of human beings to perform various tasks collectively. It is one of the cool things happening in Ohio. The museum link above connects to a scientific paper published by the JCU and Case scientists.

For those not into scientific writing, which can be stodgy, read the National Geographic piece. It explains how researchers are trying to find out how the insects function as a group with no bosses in charge.

In 1959, Frank Sinatra sang "High Hopes" about the ant that moved a rubber tree plant and the song won an Oscar. (If you scan through the lyrics in the link you'll see he did a version promoting John F. Kennedy as the 1960 Democratic nominee. Swarm behavior? Or just the Rat Pack?)

Cleveland State U's Rooftop Windmills: U.S. House Panel OKs Seed Money

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- Cleveland State University scientist Majid Rashidi is closer to obtaining federal financial aid to help develop energy-producing "windspires," four of which may soon be spinning on the rooftops of Northeastern Ohio. The House Appropriations Committee has agreed to authorize putting about $1.1 million of taxpayers' cash into the project, which also has backing from the state.

U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Cleveland, announced the influential House panel's decision to support the windspires, which are souped up breeze-powered machines without the huge spinning blades typical of windmills. Rashidi wants to set build test devices to see how effectively they function.

Tubbs Jones said the project is an investment in retooling the state's economy and portrayed it as critical to efforts to get Ohio growing again.

Wal-Mart In Cleveland: We'll Help Small Business

CLEVELAND (TDB) -- The attached Wal-Mart press release is being distributed around the nation right now about the discount chain's arrival in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, and apparently is part of the giant retailer's charm offensive to convince Americans its not a corporate predator but a good neighbor. There are eight other job and opportunity zone communities. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is quoted below calling this a good thing for the city. Read on:

"Wal-Mart Announces Jobs and Opportunity Zone in Cleveland
Initiative Aims to Bolster Economic Opportunities on Near West Side
Surrounding the Upcoming Supercenter

CLEVELAND, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With the impending opening
of a Supercenter in the Tremont neighborhood, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:
WMT) Regional General Manager Jerry Spencer today announced the selection
of Cleveland as a "Wal-Mart Jobs and Opportunity Zone." The program will
provide support to local businesses by offering advertising inside
Wal-Mart's store and in local newspapers, as well as presenting additional
funding for local chambers of commerce.

The company also announced eight other Jobs and Opportunity Zones:
- Landover Hills, Maryland - Portsmouth, Virginia
- Richmond, California - El Mirage, Arizona
- East Hills, Pennsylvania - Sanger, California
- Indianapolis, Indiana - Decatur, Georgia

"It's about creating opportunity beyond the four walls of our stores,"
said Spencer. "And it's about making unique contributions to the
communities we serve, the millions of customers who rely on us and the
thousands of associates we employ in communities just like this one."

The Jobs and Opportunities Zone initiative was launched by Wal-Mart CEO
Lee Scott last year at the first store within the Chicago city limits. In
addition to creating hundreds of jobs and generating substantial tax
revenue, the company worked with local businesses and organizations to spur
job creation and economic development around the store.

"The Wal-Mart Jobs and Opportunity Zone project is another important
factor in the ongoing revitalization of the Steelyard Commons neighborhood.
We look forward to working with Wal-Mart to continue to spur economic
development in our great city of Cleveland," said Mayor Frank G. Jackson.
The Wal-Mart Supercenter at Steelyard Commons is part of a $120 million
commercial redevelopment project that is transforming 125 acres of
abandoned industrial land into the largest open-air retail center ever to
be built in Cuyahoga County.

The Zone will be anchored by the Wal-Mart Supercenter and engage local
businesses and organizations to increase economic opportunities in
surrounding neighborhoods. This initiative will create more opportunities
for small businesses to capitalize on the benefits of having a Wal-Mart in
their community.

Wal-Mart will partner with local chambers of commerce, business groups,
minority chambers of commerce and minority and women-owned businesses
within these zones to direct hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to
these communities.

"The Greater Cleveland Partnership, which seeks to create jobs and
wealth in the region, sees the investment by Wal-Mart in a Cleveland
neighborhood as an opportunity for small and large businesses to work
together to succeed," said Joe Roman, president of the Greater Cleveland
Partnership. "At the same time, Wal-Mart's commitment to assisting minority
and women-owned businesses will help ensure that all Clevelanders take part
in the region's economic recovery."

Other aspects of the program include Wal-Mart choosing five small
businesses in each zone for "Small Business Spotlights" and funding local
newspaper advertising and offering free advertising on our in-store radio
network. The company will also produce an annual "Wal-Mart Trends Report"
that it will share exclusively with the small business community."

Ohio Anti-War Resolutions: Cleveland's Came First

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Cleveland's council voted to oppose military action against Iraq four years ago, warning that the cost in lives and money would be tragic -- a statement that now looks prescient. In Cincinnati, the Democratic-controlled council is moving to adopt an anti-war resolution this week.

But some might wonder: Why now? Where were they when most Americans supported the war and polls showed President Bush was a popular national figure? It is a question that is dogging New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as she campaigns for the '08 Democratic nomination. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, at the moment her chief rival, was against the war from the start.

The organization Cities For Peace has a Web site that shows four Ohio communities were concerned enough about Bush's pre-invasion rhetoric that they adopted City Council resolutions questioning his plans. The Cleveland City Council passed an emergency resolution on Jan. 27, 2003 that said "this council opposes unilateral military action against Iraq and urges President Bush to continue seeking a peaceful resolution of issues with Iraq in a diplomatic manner." The were no votes against the measure.

Shaker Heights adopted a similar measure on Feb. 10, 2003. "This Council has grave concerns about pre-emptive military action against Iraq and the global repercussions of such action and, therefore, urges President George W. Bush to observe international law, to continue full cooperation with the United Nations and its inspection process, and to seek a peaceful resolution of issues of Iraq through diplomatic means."

Oberlin and Dayton also passed pre-war resolutions. Dayton's, dated Feb. 12, 2003, was the most cautiously worded. But it did ask Bush to use "all diplomatic means reasonably available" to avoid bloodshed.

At the time, hardly anybody paid attention to those voices in opposition. And clearly the war has impacted all our lives -- so the argument that cities have no business taking stands is silly.

Four years ago, Shaker Heights noted "any military action against Iraq will cost billions of dollars at a time when the American economy is struggling and federal, state, county and city governments face budgetary crises."

The resolutions are here: Cleveland , Shaker Heights , Dayton and Oberlin.

There is a link to the Cities for Peace Web site HERE.

Cleveland's New Hockey Team: The Lake Erie Monsters?

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Browns, Indians, Cavs and now the Lake Erie Monsters? Yeeech. Maybe "The Eeries" would have worked. Anyhow, the new hockey team's video is monstrous in its own right. This gives Nessie a bad name.

Update: 8:00 a.m., Jan. 26, 2007. Thought about the name over night. Have a few other possibilities (all pretty lame.)

The Rusty Belters.

The Squished Midges.

The Rock Haulers.

The Pain Dealers.

The Fightin' Pirogis.

The Grateful Shad.

The Slavic Czechers (Or checkers)

The Heights Shakers. (UHHG)

The Snow Belters.

The Wooly Worms.

The Superior Avs (plays off Colorada Avs)

The Flats Rats.

The Battlin' Potholes.

The Cleveland Stealers.

The Elliott Nessies.