Plain Press

  • Cleveland Primary Election set for September 12 – early voting begins August 15th

    (Plain Press, September 2017)     The City of Cleveland will have a primary election on September 12th.  Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Early voting began on August 15th. Those wishing to vote early can go to the Board of Elections at 2925 Euclid Avenue. You can visit them online at boe.cuyahogacounty.us…

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  • Greater Cleveland Congregations challenge “the politics of privilege”

    by Chuck Hoven (Plain Press, September 2017)     Greater Cleveland Congregations (GCC) has a simple idea, if we can raise huge sums of public money to benefit a downtown development project like the expansion of the Quicken Loans Arena (the Q), we should be able to raise a similar amount to address real needs of Cleveland…

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  • IT IS JUST THE SAME OLD STORY—SELLOUT!

    IT IS JUST THE SAME OLD STORY—SELLOUT! by Roldo Bartimole (Plain Press, September 2017)     Fifty years ago, this headline appeared in the Plain Dealer: “NEGRO PASTORS TO SHUN ORGANIZER ALINSKY” Things don’t change much in Cleveland, do they? Not in 50 years anyway. Unless you truly understand—they do change. They get worse. I wrote that story…

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  • QUICKEN ARENA DEAL OFF/BACK ON: AS PREDICTED

    QUICKEN ARENA DEAL OFF/BACK ON: AS PREDICTED by Roldo Bartimole (Plain Press, September 2017)     (As this was being written the biggest sell-out in Cleveland history and likely the most damaging one for a community activist group in America took place. The Greater Cleveland Congregations, just as Mayor Jackson, Kevin Kelley, Armond Budish, Dan Brady, and…

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  • Election 2016 results — turnout varies widely in precincts in Plain Press service area

    Election 2016 results – turnout varies widely in precincts in Plain Press service area (Plain Press, December 2016) Voters approved all three issues on the ballot in Cleveland this November. Of the three issues, the half percent hike in the payroll tax won by the smallest margin winning 51.36% to 48.64%, with 64,439 yes votes…

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  • Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone elected president of National League of Cities: CARRIES ON ZONE FAMILY LEGACY OF PUBLIC SERVICE

      : by Jack Craciun III (Plain Press, December 2016) On November 19th, 2016, Cleveland Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone was elected president of the National League of Cities (NLC) at the organization’s 2016 City Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Zone, who served as NLC’s first vice president in 2016, will lead the nation’s largest membership…

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  • Mayor Frank Jackson forgets where he came from

    by Roldo Bartimole (Plain Press, December 2016)            Mayor Frank Jackson is soft putty in the hands of the corporate downtown plutocracy. The mayor, from the most deprived area of the city, has allowed and perpetuated for a decade Cleveland’s downtown to become a city within the city—pampered and showered with freebies. What downtown wants,…

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  • December 2016 Plain Press – PDF

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  • What fool taxes himself or herself?

    by Roldo Bartimole (Plain Press, November 2016)    If the Cleveland Establishment forces—you know them—can’t back a $15 an hour wage, then they shouldn’t tax the first $15 an hour of pay. Or even, not tax the minimum Ohio wage of $8.10. That would make the first $16,848 ineligible for the city tax. That would…

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  • Community groups demand a higher standard from Cleveland City Council – urge rejection of Police Review Board Ballot Issue 33

    (Plain Press, November 2016)    Members from the Cleveland-based chapters of Black Lives Matter and Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) are criticizing what they call weak revisions to the Police Review Board: a set of minor changes to appear before voters on this Election Day. The groups say Issue 33 is “a watered-down version…

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