Certified Hypnotist Jerome Masek works with Claudia Bartlett during a public demonstration for World Hypnosis Day. (File photo by Christina Tesar)
The event
The Color Your World Rainbowholistic fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb 12, at the LGBT Center, 6705 Detroit Ave. The site was chosen for its modern facility and central location. The event is open to the public.
The event, sponsored by Harmonic Journeys, includes holistic practitioners, energy healers, psychic readers, vendors, and speakers. Alternative healing products to recharge your body, mind and spirit, will be available.
On Feb. 12, he will be one of many vendors. Attendees can get a 1-on-1 consultation, and
Enter a drawing for a free or discounted session.
See a demonstration of hypnosis.
Receive a low-cost mini-session at his table.
Take a free focus test.
Stop by and leave stress-free.
Cindy Christman Cindy Christman is part of the Harmonic Journeys team that volunteers to keep the grass-roots organization going. On Feb. 12, she will be volunteering, so you may see her in the reception area, or answering guest questions.
A Reiki master, she recently authored a book, Connect With Heaven, about the death of her twin sister. At holistic events later this year, she will offer reikki and talk about the book.
The Cleveland Museum of Art announces Key Jo Lee’s promotion to associate curator of American art, effective July 1, 2022. Lee began her tenure at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2017 as assistant director of Academic Affairs and in 2021 became director of Academic Affairs and associate curator of special projects. She specializes in American art and visual cultures, as well as photographic history and theory. Her research interests include 19th-century photography and portraiture, interdisciplinary art histories, new materialism and Black abstraction.
“It has been an honor and a joy to witness Key Jo’s evolution as a museum professional. Her insights are keen, her writing eloquent, and her ambitions admirable. She has already made a marvelous addition to our curatorial team, and I am delighted that she will be devoting herself wholly to curatorial work at the CMA. I very much look forward to her future exhibitions, her interpretive work in the galleries, and her acquisitions,” said Director William Griswold.
Lee said, “I look forward to conveying new narratives through the museum’s collection of American art, to continuing to work with colleagues across the museum and other communities, to reimagine how the CMA presents the works in its care and to acquiring objects that diversify the museum’s holdings in ways that will deepen and expand the collection.”
Lee’s first exhibition at the CMA, Currents & Constellations: Black Art in Focus, will open on February 20, 2022, in the Julia and Larry Pollock Focus Gallery. An accompanying publication, Perceptual Drift: Black Art and an Ethics of Looking, includes an introduction and essay by Lee as well as essays by scholars Christina Sharpe and Erica Moiah James, and poetry by Robin Coste Lewis, and will be distributed by Yale University Press in June 2022.
Lee brings to the position a decade of experience as a museum educator. For the CMA, she conceptualized and oversaw the museum’s innovative “Art & Insight” program that teaches medical professionals how to look closely at works of art to increase empathy. During her tenure at the CMA, the museum transitioned entirely to paid internships, thereby diversifying the pipeline for students interested in pursuing museum careers. She has also been active as an independent curator; in 2021, she co-curated the exhibition Somethin’ to Say with artist Felandus Thames at Galerie Myrtis in Baltimore, Maryland. The exhibition featured ten Southern Black artists and opened a conversation on the American South as a creative incubator.
Lee graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Art History from Douglass College at Rutgers University in 2009 and earned an M.A. in History of Art and African American Studies at Yale University in 2013. She is currently a PhD candidate in the same departments at Yale; her dissertation is entitled “Precarious Matter(s): Blackness, Nineteenth-Century Photography, and Contemporary Art.” Before her employment at the CMA, she was the Rose Herrick Jackson Curatorial Fellow in American Art at Yale University Art Gallery.
In fewer than five years in Cleveland, Lee has demonstrated a deep investment in the local arts community. She served on the board of Twelve Literary Arts from 2018 to 2020 and is currently Board Vice President of SPACES, an international contemporary arts venue in Cleveland.
###
About the Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 63,000 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship and performing arts and is a leader in digital innovations. One of the top comprehensive art museums in the nation, recognized for its award-winning Open Access program and free of charge to all, the Cleveland Museum of Art is located in the University Circle neighborhood.
The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.
Ward 16 Councilman Brian Kazy will hold the annual summit meeting on March 2, at the VFW Hall 2133, at 4935 W. 131 and Gilmore.
The event is usually held in January, but was pushed back because of the COVID surge, Kazy said. He will look back on what was accomplished in 2021, and look ahead for what is planned in 2022.
Kazy said a highlight this year will be the redevelopment of the vacant National Hawthorne Elementary School into market-rate housing.
The school, at 3575 West 130th St., was one of 14 properties marketed last year in a joint City and school district effort. Developers bid on which sites they wanted. Winning proposals were announced June 30.
Kazy said work would probably begin in late spring or early summer. Other projects may be announced at the summit.
“I will continue to advocate for more business in Ward 16,” Kazy said.
Friday, January 14, 2022 – Cleveland, OH — Today, Mayor Justin M. Bibb announced a plan to expand the use of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Diversion Center for non-violent offenders and to refocus City resources to fight violent crime.
In collaboration with law enforcement, the Diversion Center is designed for individuals experiencing a mental or physical health crisis due to substance abuse and/or addiction or for individuals with a history of experiencing a mental or physical health crisis.
“The Diversion Center offers mental health services and is a proven model to reduce re-offending,” stated Mayor Bibb. “It is critical that we re-prioritize City resources to help first responders deliver the right response at the right time and target the root causes of violent crime.”
The expansion of services includes:
Eliminating the need for pre-approval by a City Prosecutor and trusting Cleveland Police Officers to make the correct decision at the time of an arrest or stop;
Dramatically expanding the range of non-violent offenses for which Diversion is permitted; and
Protecting victims and complying with Marsy’s law by requiring officers to articulate and record their reasonable efforts to contact victims and the grounds for diversion.
Under the new expansion, any non-violent misdemeanor offense can be eligible for screening and review for the Diversion Center except for the following:
Any escalating misdemeanor (i.e. domestic violence, menacing by stalking), including operating a vehicle impaired (OVI) and physical control;
Assault where physical harm results in medical assistance being needed; and
Any offense that qualifies as a sex offense.
Earlier today, Mayor Bibb toured the Diversion Center with Interim Chief Drummond and Public Safety Director Karrie D. Howard.
Mayor Bibb added, “Expanding these services will provide our officers with an alternative course of action and ensure that individuals experiencing a mental or physical health crisis receive the services and support they need.”
(Editor’s note: These remarks were made before the Dec. 31 shooting of officer Shane Bartek.)
Charles Slife, appointed Ward 17 Councilman several years ago, is looking forward to 2022 — his first full year as an elected City Councilman.
“We are going to hit the ground running,” he said. “I appreciate the incredible support of the voters. We want to build on our past momentum and bring Ward 17 to the next level. The reputation of Ward 17 is growing. We had new businesses opening in the middle of the pandemic.”
Slife, who also serves on the City Planning Commission, plans to take “a more robust role on Council.”
“I want to be a more vocal advocate for Ward 17. I believe we are now a model neighborhood. We are at a place of strength and we can build upon it.”
Slife recently joined the board for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress — an umbrella group for community development corporations in the City. He looks forward to working with others who share a common goal.
“I think Ward 17 is a model of a desirable, middle-income Cleveland neighborhood,” said Slife, who has several goals this year.
Improve Public Safety
Slife said that in talking to voters during the campaign, “the importance of public safety to our neighborhoods was astonishing clear. It affects all that we do.”
He said one question is “how Issue 24 will unfold” in the Bibb Administration. “Safe neighborhoods often start with a strong sense of community, and we have that in Ward 17. I love to see people walking through their neighborhood,” Slife said. Slife wants to add more security cameras on buildings and at intersections. Ward 17 now has eight cameras.
Using funds available to Cleveland from the American Rescue Plan, Slife has requested cameras for 22 more locations in Ward 17. He will soon meet with First District police officials to review that request.
Expand Recreational Opportunities
Planning for major upgrades at Impett Park — one of the largest in the City — will be finalized in 2022, and work on improving the tennis courts will be done this year. Impett is the home court for St. Joseph Academy tennis teams.
A “really special playground” will be built at Drafefield Park.
To better connect West Park residents to the Metroparks’ Rocky River Reservation, three new connectors are in various stages of planning and discussion.
The Hogback Ridge area.
Near the Oatey facility on Emerald Parkway.
Behind Fairview Hospital, on Old Lorain Road. A public meeting on that connector was held in early 2021.
Monitor building and construction projects
Slife said CMHA is nearing completion on a multi-year “much-needed facelift” of units in the large Riverside Park, 17800 Parkmount Ave. He said Riverside has a “great youth program,” a large population of Hispanic-speaking persons, and Puerto Ricans who came here after a hurricane ravaged their island.
Slife wants to see other building projects reach completion in 2022.
National retailers in the West Park Shopping Center want to be open in time for holiday shoppers at West 150th Street and Lorain Avenue..
Construction is underway for an addition to Laura’s Home, 18120 Puritas Ave.
Renovation is on track at the West Park Library, 3805 W. 157th St.
A new building is underway at the West Park Animal Hospital, 4117 Rocky River Dr.
Ground will be broken for a new MedVet facility, near Subway at Grayton Road and I-480. The owners are moving here from Brookpark to give animal owners another option for pet care. “Ward 17 will become the animal hospital capital of Cleveland,” Slife said
Arby’s is nearing completion at the former Steak-and-Shake site at Kamm’s Corners.
Some restaurants may make their popular outdoor space more permanent. Slife expects announcements later this year.
Get recycle rolling
“Past attempts to start a citywide recycling program have been a nightmare,” Slife said. “Some residents are very eager to recycle, but there was so much confusion. We need more consumer education.”
Work with a new Administaation
Slife already toured Ward 17 with then Mayor-elect Bibb.
“The merchants and residents were happy to see him. We discussed neighborhood and legislative goals. Mayor Bibb realizes we have a shared destination. He recognizes the potential and strength of Ward 17. All indications are that he is ready to partner with us and do some really cool things in Ward 17.”
“I love this neighborhood. It is really a special corner of the world.”
Jerry Masek has been a resident of Ward 17 for 38 years.
West Park resident Benjamin Krutko has been selected to compete in Cleveland Leadership Center’s Accelerate 2022 competition.
We asked him a few questions about himself and his mission. Find those below.
1.) What first sparked your interest in the Accelerate program/competition? I was part of the 2019 CLC YP OnBoard class and was encouraged to participate in 2019 Accelerate. I was selected to pitch in 2019 and worked as a volunteer with the CLC staff in 2020. Having previously competed but not been selected as finalist I want to apply the lessons I learned from my previous application and try again.
2.) What do you think is the biggest challenge facing Lake Erie right now?
I think there are three challenges of relatively equal danger/risk to the lake at this moment; 1) The run-off and environmental damage from single-use and microplastics which iturn enter our food, water, and bodies. Lake Erie has annual waste pollution of 5 million pounds of plastic waste. 2) The introduction and spread of invasion flora and fauna which threaten the natural balance and biodiversity of the great lakes ecosystem. 3) The excess risk of algal blooms from farm and industrial run-off which creates the risk of irreparable damage to the lake and of public health crisis by cutting off our access to fresh water.
3.) Without naming any specific names, what kinds of industries or businesses do you think could benefit most from your specific pitch? (ex: auto, paint, general manufacturing, steel, etc.) What about agriculture and other factors?
The goal of LEAD is to improve the health of the lakew and increase civic-engagement on the street level. Any industry that wants to join is welcome to but those industries with the longest and detailed history of dumping and local environmental damage can benefit the most – as they continue the process of environmental reparation and responsibility. As before agricultural byproducts and run create worsening conditions but don’t contribute as readily to the plastics pollution as much as single-use and the lack of local recycling – especially within the City of Cleveland. On a state-wide policy level, little can be done about individual agricultural run-off without significant regulatory change at the State House.
4.) If given the opportunity to have your pitch supported, how long do you expect it would take to see positive results?
Ideally, I’d like to launch pilot and neighborhood cleanups in spread/early summer early 2022. From a tangible perspective every piece of waste diverted from entering our waterways is a positive result, with my previous work history and experience I’d like to construct public facing dashboards, reports, and metrics to report total pounds of waste diversion from the lake and into recycling systems. The sooner the City of Cleveland launches its recycling program, the earlier I’d like to partner with them.
5.) Have you received interest/positive feedback from others in the community or other communities? Would you start all across Cleveland or do you have a targeted area picked out for the initial phases?
After my previous Accelerate experience I am keeping the proposed framework but I have pitched to a select few to get feedback. I am working full time M-F at another job while developing this idea. Scale and growth are at least partially dependent on acceptance and engagement. I believe in this idea and its capacity to make a real difference but I need the participation of employers to bring this to fruition. The more organizations and people interested the more projects and relationships LEAD can launch. As a West Park resident I’m at least partially familiar with some of the areas in our neighborhood that can use the help. but I know that local block clus, neighborhood groups, and Community Development Orgs have their own ideas for areas and neighborhoods that could use direct help.
6.) Do you currently work with others, like the Waterkeeper Alliance, or similar individuals or groups? If not now, do you plan or would you like to in the future?
I am open to partnering with anyone who believes in maintaining and increasing the health of our waterways. To me, the most important thing is action – what can we do today, now. We’ve had generations of planning and surveys and studies and each year there are still millions of pounds of waste added to the lake. Improving the health of the natural wonder on our doorsteps is the responsibility of everyone in it’s watershed. Lead isn’t intended as a one-off but as a continuous and ongoing series of community projects and partnerships. I will continue to research partner orgs and will work with others towards our common goal.
7.) How long have you been a West Park resident?
After 10 years of being a renter in Lakewood, I bought my very first home in West Park in May of 2020. I grew up in North Royalton and went to the University of Pennsylvania. I’m involved with my local community garden and would like to get more involved in the West Park community.
8.) Is there anything that I missed or that you’d like to mention?
I bought my house in May 2020, so my going out into West Park has been *limited* by COVID. I participated in our local community garden and the Garden Walk this year, but would love to get to know more local residents and businesses (other than Common Grounds and Five Points) and connect more with neighbors.
According to the Cleveland Leadership Center’s website, he is pitching a concept called Lake Erie Action Days or LEAD, which is described as “… a community-corporate matchmaking and environmental responsibility program that empowers business, communities, and employees to reduce litter and improve the water quality of the lake…”
“LEAD recruits and coordinates volunteers from businesses that want to grow and expand their social and environmental responsibility to assist communities and organizations with neighborhood cleanups.”
Read more about the idea here. https://www.cleveleads.org/clc-events/accelerate/accelerate-2022-presenters/
Recent acquisitions by the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) include an important watercolor by Paul Cézanne; a mixed-media artwork by Rashid Johnson and three sculptures from Melvin Edwards’s series, Lynch Fragments, that build upon the CMA’s commitment to diversifying its collections.
Footpath in the Woods
Watercolor by Paul Cézanne is a new highlight in the CMA’s internationally recognized collection of works on paper
The acquisition of Footpath in the Woods, a watercolor by Post-Impressionist Paul Cézanne, builds upon the CMA’s internationally recognized stature as a repository of important 19th-century French art.
With its innovative depiction of a trail traversing a forest at the Jas de Bouffan, an estate Cézanne inherited from his father, Footpath in the Woods exemplifies the artist’s groundbreaking practice. He used selective strokes of watercolor from a limited palette to suggest light and shade, and allowed work in graphite in combination with the paper’s whiteness to construct the image. The result is a seemingly unfinished work that was in fact carefully rendered through a process that did not allow for revision.
The subject of Footpath in the Woodsis Cézanne’s most characteristic; he depicted and reinterpreted the chestnut tree forests of the Jas de Bouffan in various media throughout much of his life. This experimental approach allowed Cézanne to interrogate vision itself, as if to suggest that seeing occurs just as much through absence as it does presence. The composition’s balance of abstraction and representation, as well as its experimental style, make Footpath in the Woods an ideal example of the artist’s watercolors.
Although the CMA has three paintings and several drawings and prints by the artist, Footpath in the Woods is the first watercolor by Cézanne to enter the museum’s collection and will be highlighted in the forthcoming exhibition and publication Nineteenth-Century French Drawings at the Cleveland Museum of Art, on view from January 20 through April 30, 2023.
Footpath in the Woods,1882–84. Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906). Watercolor and graphite on laid paper; image: 47 x 31 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr., Fund 2021.165
Standing Broken Men by Rashid Johnson
Long Term, À Lusaka and Miliki by Melvin Edwards
Works by Rashid Johnson and Melvin Edwards expand the CMA’s representation of works by African American artists
Standing Broken Men (2021) by Rashid Johnson is an important addition to the CMA’s contemporary collection and meaningfully advances the museum’s goal of diversifying its holdings.
At the center of a frenzied mosaic, an abstract, fractured figure stares wide-eyed at the viewer. Standing Broken Men and a related series of mosaic works grew out of Johnson’s Anxious Men and Anxious Audiences series (2015–18). As Standing Broken Men exemplifies, Johnson’s latest works continue to represent the experience of anxiety by composing figures through fragmented shards of ceramic and mirrored tiles. Through this technique, brokenness is inherent in the figures and the worlds they inhabit. However, their pieces are reassembled into a dynamic colorful whole, suggesting the possibility for healing and renewal. As with much of Johnson’s work, Standing Broken Men can be interpreted as a poignant reflection on the time when it was made, defined by a global pandemic and a heightened reckoning with racial inequality. Standing Broken Men comes to the museum as a generous gift from Agnes Gund in honor of Helena Huang.
Alongside recent acquisitions by artists such as Robert Colescott, Simone Leigh, Emma Amos and Wadsworth Jarrell, among others, Standing Broken Men expands the range of narratives surrounding African American experiences on view at the CMA. This monumental work also complements three prints by Johnson from his Anxious Men series that the museum acquired in 2020 (2020.77, 2020.78 and 2020.79). Together, they capture the innovative evolution of Johnson’s art across media.
Standing Broken Men will be on view in Toby’s Gallery for Contemporary Art (229A) beginning in late March 2022.
Standing Broken Men, 2021. Rashid Johnson (American, b. 1977). Ceramic tile, mirror tile, branded red oak, bronze, spray enamel, oil stick, black soap, wax; 240.7 x 186.7 x 7.6 cm. Gift of Agnes Gund in honor of Helena Huang
Long Term (1980), À Lusaka (1982) and Miliki (1987) by Melvin Edwards further enhance the CMA’s commitment to diversifying its collections and presenting a broad range of histories in its galleries.
Long Term, À Lusaka and Miliki belong to an ongoing series, Lynch Fragments, that Melvin Edwards began in 1963. The Lynch Fragments are relatively small-scale, abstract metal wall reliefs that feature recognizable objects—often objects that could serve as weapons, such as chains, knives and railroad spikes. Through Edwards’s composition and welding technique, familiar elements lose their functional associations and yield innovative sculptural shapes. These forms reveal Edwards’s influences, which range from Western modernist sculpture and jazz to traditions of African metalsmithing.
The series title, Lynch Fragments, the artist has explained, is reflective of his intention to encourage consideration of the violence and destruction wrought by racism in and beyond American society. The title is not, he has said, to be taken literally; from the outset he determined that the series would never depict narrative scenes or recognizable figurative imagery. Even without literal scenes of violence, the works invite a direct confrontation with the viewer; they are displayed at eye level and protrude off the wall into the viewer’s space.
Through the Lynch Fragments series, Edwards combines his commitment to abstraction with his investment in the social and racial histories unfolding outside his studio walls. In this sense, his work shares attributes with peers that include David Hammons, Jack Whitten and Martin Puryear, whose works are represented in the CMA’s collection and offer rich context for this acquisition.
Left to right Long Term, from the Lynch Fragments series, 1980. Melvin Edwards (American, b. 1937). Steel; 30.8 x 19.1 x 20.6 cm.
À Lusaka, from the Lynch Fragments series, 1982. Melvin Edwards (American, b. 1937). Steel; 34.3 x 19.4 x 14 cm.
Miliki,from the Lynch Fragments series,1987. Melvin Edwards (American, b. 1937). Steel; 33 x 22.9 x 20.3 cm.
About the Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes more than 63,000 artworks and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. The museum is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship and performing arts. One of the top comprehensive art museums in the nation and free of charge to all, the Cleveland Museum of Art is in the dynamic University Circle neighborhood.
The Cleveland Museum of Art receives funding from a broad range of individuals, foundations and businesses in Cleveland and northeast Ohio. The museum is supported in part by residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture and made possible in part by the Ohio Arts Council (OAC), which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts. The OAC is a state agency that funds and supports quality arts experiences to strengthen Ohio communities culturally, educationally and economically. For more information about the museum and its holdings, programs and events, call 888-CMA-0033 or visit cma.org.
Those Are Not My Underpants! By Melissa Martin” Published by Random House (largest publishing house in the world). Now found in public libraries across Ohio.
“Melissa Martin’s new picture book is making children giggle. Why? Because kids love to laugh about underpants stories. Most of us wear underwear, so let’s laugh along as we spend time with our children and books. Make reading fun.
“One morning, Bear Cub wakes up and finds underwear hanging on a tree limb. Who could they belong to? Ever inquisitive, he sets out on a quest through the forest to find the tighty whities’ rightful owner. Could the underpants belong to Squirrel? Moose? Snake, maybe? Salmon?! Each animal denies that the bloomers belong to them, but readers will surely be giggling every step on the way…especially when they find out who the underpants actually belong to.”
Parents, teachers, and readers can find the picture book, “Those Are Not My Underpants!” at public libraries in Ohio.
Martin, an advocate for early literacy, an Ohio University Alum, a native of Appalachia Ohio, and a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, both National and Ohio chapters. Contact melissamartincounselor@live.com.
By Tatyana Mcknight(From the Straight from City Hall Newsletter)
Mayor Frank G. Jackson today issued a proclamation designating a weekend of celebration and addressed regulations for the 2022 NBA All Star Game. The regulations include vendor zones, badging and rules for approved vendor operators and regulations prohibiting items in certain zones. View the mayor’s proclamation here.
Vendor Regulations
These rules and regulations were developed for the safety and protection of those attending the All-Star Game events and for the authorized vendors.
Due to an expected increase in pedestrian and vehicular traffic during the All-Star Events, the following Regulations are in effect under the authority of Section 697A.04, Codified Ordinances of Cleveland, Ohio, 1976 (“C.O.”) and apply to all vendors in the Central Business District during the effective period.
From top-left: Bikers pass walkers in Metroparks; cars on Lorain Ave. bridge; RTA train waits at Hopkins station; Airplanes ready for take off.
The beginning of a new year is a good time to count our blessings. We all enjoy living in West Park, but what part do you enjoy most? For me, it is the ease in getting around. Consider all the wonderful means of transportation contained within West Park’s borders. Here is a listing, in order of speed.
Walk on sidewalks through wonderfully-kept neighborhoods.
Hike on trails in the Metroparks.
Swim at the West Park YMCA, or the city-operated Gunning Recreation Center.
Ice skate at the city-operated Halloran Ice Skating Rink on West 117th Street — the eastern edge of West Park.
Ride a horse in the Metroparks. There is a popular stable at the bottom of the Puritas Road Hill.
Bike on city streets, or in the Metroparks.
Ride a golf cart at one of three golf courses in the Rocky River Reservation — Big Met, Little Met and Mastick Woods.
Drive on a highway. West Park includes parts of three interstates — I-71, I-90 and I-480.
Ride an RTA bus or train. West Park includes six Red Line Rapid Stations, and Triskett — the largest bus garage in Ohio.
Board an airplane at Hopkins International Airport, and fly anywhere in the world.
Visit NASA’s Glenn Research Center to find out more about “space — the final frontier.” You can’t get much higher than that.
Look at these 11 options. They far outnumber those offered by any other neighborhood in Cleveland. May 2022 be a great year — for all of us.
P.S – Did I miss any transportation options? If so, let us know.
On Monday, Dec. 27, Mayor-Elect Justin Bibb announced Bradford Davy as Chief Strategy Officer and Elise Hara Auvil as Chief Administrative Officer, both are newly designed positions replacing the role of Chief of Staff.
“Throughout the campaign, we created a vision for Cleveland that came directly from stakeholder input. We simply have to reimagine our organizational structure to build our reimagined City. With leaders focused on the long-range vision, and on the immediate needs, we can achieve more,” comments Mayor-Elect Bibb.
The Chief Strategy Officer is responsible for advancing the Mayor’s vision and strategic goals across all departments of the administration. As a senior advisor to the Mayor, Mr. Davy will provide counsel on a wide range of highly complex, sensitive issues and act as an accessible and visible ambassador from the mayor’s office. The CSO will lead the team charged with moving forward promises made during the campaign, including initiatives to address racial equity, lead, the West Side Market, arts and culture and more.
Bradford Davy is an experienced government affairs professional, most recently serving as the Director Regional Engagement at The Fund for Our Economic Future where headvised local and national leaders on complex economic issues to inform policy decisions and translate concepts into practical solutions. He also previously served at the International Project Manager for Camcode Global, and as a Research and Policy Analyst for the Center for Community Solutions.
Mr. Davy holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Toledo and a Master’s of Science in Urban Studies from Cleveland State University.
The Chief Administration Officer will manage the day-to-day operations of the mayor’s office, including developing and managing the mayor’s office budget. Responsibilities of the CAO are broad in scope and require a high degree of seasoned government experience and discretion. As CAO, Ms. Hara Auvil will supervise the mayor’s staff, manage cabinet meetings and provide critical briefings to the mayor.
Elise Hara Auvil has dedicated the majority of her career working for government and nonprofit entities. A graduate of Case Western Reserve University Law School, she worked for Cleveland Legal Aid during law school and began her legal career as an Assistant Public Defender in Philadelphia.
Mrs. Auvil is specialized in human resources and employment law and has served as Associate Counsel for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA), General Counsel for Eliza Jennings Senior Care Network, and Director of Human Resources and Employment Counsel for Cuyahoga County. She most recently served the City of Westlake as the Human Resources Manager.
Bradford Davy and Elise Hara Auvil will take the official oath of office on January 3, 2022.
The Hooley on Kamm’s Corners™, West Park’s signature block party, returns June 18, 2022, after a two-year pause. Despite the rain, the 2019 event drew good crowds.
Submitted by the Office of Communications at NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center.
NASA’s Glenn Research Center has been a hub of activity in West Park since breaking ground in 1941. The center employs more than 3,000 highly skilled employees – scientists, engineers, technicians and support persons. Many of them live in West Park.
Here are the center’s priorities in 2022.
Artemis heads to the Moon and back
2022 will be a landmark year for NASA. In February, the Artemis I mission will be the first launch of the Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System. In preparation, Glenn tested the Orion spacecraft at the Neil Armstrong Test Facility in 2019. Glenn will engage Ohio residents in the mission through public activities and events. See details on the NASA Glenn Web site.
Glenn, along with the European Space Agency and Airbus, also delivered the European Service Module for Artemis II to Kennedy Space Center. The service module will be integrated with the Orion spacecraft in 2022, as the agency prepares to launch Artemis II, the first crewed flight around the Moon and back, no later than May 2024.
“NASA is leading a sustainable return to the Moon with commercial and international partners to expand human presence in space and bring back new knowledge and opportunities,” said Dr. Marla E. Pérez-Davis, NASA Glenn director. “It’s an exciting time for the agency and our local research scientists and engineers play an important role helping to ensure mission safety and performance.”
Launch the Photovoltaic Investigation on the Lunar Surface experiment to the Moon on an upcoming Commercial Lunar Payload Services flight. The experiment will provide a lunar surface demonstration of multiple solar cell technologies that could be used for future missions, and it will also inform the design of future high-voltage solar arrays.
“Along the way, we’ll engage and inspire future generations of diverse scientists and engineers, who will lead the nation to a net-zero carbon emissions aviation future,” said Dr. Pérez-Davis.
The center also will support the initial flights of the X-57 Maxwell, NASA’s first all-electric X-plane, which will help develop certification standards for future electric general aircraft, and the X-59 QueSST, a low-boom technology demonstrator that will help usher in quiet commercial supersonic flight over land.
New Facilities Support Future Missions
Glenn continues to make progress on its Master Plan, which envisions how the center’s facilities will transform over the next 20 years to support the changing NASA mission.
This spring, Glenn plans to open its new Research Support Building, a 64,000-square-foot multi-use office building, providing office space for approximately 160 permanent occupants. The building will be home to a cafeteria, “hoteling spaces” for employees on part-time telework, exchange store, training rooms, and conference rooms. It will poise the center to support the future of work and begin building the workforce of tomorrow.
In the fall, Glenn plans to complete construction of its new Aerospace Communications Facility, which will be NASA’s premier facility for radio frequency communications technology research and development.
Partnerships boost economic growth
Glenn leaders recognize the growth of this region is bolstered when it partners with others to accelerate technology development. Recent engagements with the University of Cincinnati and The Ohio State University are helping to deepen relationships and identify research and development areas.
NASA’s partnership with JumpStart, Inc. continues. It is designed to identify technologies ready for commercialization by local entrepreneurs. Glenn plans to continue to identify and collaborate with strategic partners in academia, industry, and other institutions, like Case Western Reserve University and the Air Force Research Laboratory, to achieve its goals and support Ohio’s economy.
Nickie Antonio (center) takes the oath of office for her first term as District 23 State Senator. Justice Melody Stewart of the Ohio Supreme Court administers the oath, while Jean Kosmac holds the Bible. (2018 photo)
2022 will be the last year of a four-year first term for State Senator Nickie Antonio.
She plans to seek re-election in District 23.
The problem is: Nobody is exactly sure where District 23 is.
The State Map was redrawn after the 2020 Census. A final decision on the map may be announced in early January by the Ohio Supreme Court.
A proposed map shows District 23 covering the majority of the City of Cleveland, a prospect Antonio finds “exciting.”
In 2021, Antonio helped pass “Esther’s Law”, which allows cameras to be installed in patient rooms of nursing homes. She also worked on a bill to enhance stroke protocols, which gives first responders the tools they need to increase survival chances for stroke victims.
The General Assembly’s first session is Jan. 19. There is a lot Antonio hopes to accomplish in 2022.
Abolish the death penalty
She said Senate Bill 103 has bi-partisan support.
“The State of Ohio should not be in the business of executing persons,” she said. “We have a moral obligation to re-consider it. It just does not fit in today’s society. A sentence of life without parole is a better option.”
“To date, Ohio has exonerated 11 people, who were found to be not guilty. If even one innocent person is executed, it is one person too many.”
She said that since the punishment was reinstated in 1976, Ohio has executed 56 people. This means that for every five executions, one person has been exonerated.
Pass the Ohio Fairness Act
She said that Senate Bill 119 has bi-partisan support, and similar bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate.
“This is an economic vitality bill, supported by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and over a thousand Ohio businesses. It will keep businesses in the State, and keep some residents here by welcoming all families and as an issue of fairness, it’s the right thing to do.”
Antonio said that more than 1,000 businesses have joined Ohio Business Competes — a non-partisan coalition that supports non-discrimination policies that include LGBTQ Ohioans. More than 30 Ohio cities and counties have passed local ordinances with LGBTQ inclusive policies, she said.
Justice issues
“We want to end the statute of limitations for rape (Senate Bill 198) and extend the statute of limitations for child abuse and child neglect (Senate Bill 226). We want to bring justice to survivors of sexual abuse.”
She said that under the current Ohio Revised Code, prosecution against a perpetrator of rape or sexual battery must begin within 25 years after the commission of, or attempt to, commit the crime.
“We believe that now, more than ever, the public is on the side of removing the artificial line in the sand that prevents a survivor from coming forward to report such emotionally traumatic and violent experiences. She noted that:”Every survivor processes their trauma in their own time.”
Under current Ohio law, victims of childhood sexual abuse are unable to press civil charges after age 30 and criminal charges after age 43, with another 5 years granted if DNA is found within 25 years. Those limitations should be extended, she said.
Health care issues
“We need to expand access to health care, especially during the COVID pandemic. We want to make our communities healthier and safer.” She said legislators will continue to address the rise in drug overdoses and the opoid crisis.
Capital budget
In 2022, State legislators will also consider Ohio’s capital budget, which provides funding for major projects.
The capital budget funds a variety of eligible infrastructure projects for state agencies, colleges and universities, school districts, and community projects that vary from parks to museums and other types of infrastructure. In 2021, a total of $80 million went to Cuyahoga County, including $23 million for community projects from the capital budget that passed in late 2020.
If you have a question or funding request, write to antonio@ohiosenate.gov or call 614-466-5123.
Leadership roles
A member and former chair of the Ohio House Democratic Women’s Caucus, Antonio is State Director for the National Women Legislators’ Lobby and a Senate Assistant Minority Leader.
Committee assignments
Antonio serves as Highest Ranking Member on three committees* Health* Transportation* Joint Medicaid Oversight.
Antonio plans to continue work with the non-profit Giving Tree. Volunteers have made and donated more than 10,000 face masks in the fight against COVID.
Today is the first day of winter and the longest night of the year. Community activists, homeless service providers, and unhoused people will gather to remember those who died in the homeless community in 2021. The candlelight vigil will be held outside Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at 2031 W 30 St. in Ohio City.
“Winter is a dangerous and difficult time for people who are unhoused in our community,” says Chris Knestrick, Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. “When we add the Omicron variant to the equation, this winter has the potential to become a nightmare. We need to re-focus on getting people into de-congregate shelters to keep them alive and safe this winter.”
In 2009, Ohio legislators designated December 21 as Ohio Homeless Memorial Day. For 34 years, the Northeast Ohio Coalition For The Homeless has convened the Cleveland community to remember people experiencing homelessness who have passed away. We will remember our family and friends with candles, live music, prayers, and the reading of their names. NEOCH encourages attending guests to wear a mask and to please be vaccinated.
NEOCH exists to eliminate the root causes of homelessness while loving our diverse community through organizing, advocacy, education, and street outreach.
West Park is served by multiple branches of the Cleveland Public Library. Two branches will see major improvements in 2022, thanks to Issue 60, a 2-mill levy passed by voters in 2017.
The West Park Branch, built in 1928, is at 3805 W. 157 St. and Lorain Avenue. It has been closed for renovation since May for a $5.2 million interior and exterior renovation. Ground was broken on July 17, 2021. It is expected to re-open in summer 2022.
The present Rockport Branch, 4421 W. 140 St., houses the state-of-the-art Best Buy Teen Tech Center. It is one of the busiest branch libraries in Cleveland.
Plans call for a new building to be built next door, on what is now a vacant lot, at West 140 Street and Puritas Avenue. The new building will be much larger than the current one. After items have been moved to the new library, the present one will be demolished, and create space for a larger parking lot.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new building could be held as early as spring 2022. The total project is expected to cost $7.5 million-$8 million. For Cleveland Public Library news, go to www.cpl.org. For project updates, go to courbanize.com
