Plain Press

  • Education Forward’s report indicates severe impact of COVID-19 on education in Cleveland

    Education Forward’s report indicates severe impact of COVID-19 on education in Cleveland by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, August 2022        At the June 28th business meeting of the Cleveland Municipal School District Board, Cleveland Metropolitan School District Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon shared some of the findings of a recently completed report by Education Forward titled…

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  • Renovation updates for Cleveland Public Library’s branches and StoryWalk introduced at Carnegie West Branch

    Renovation updates for Cleveland Public Library’s branches and StoryWalk introduced at Carnegie West Branch by Bruce Checefsky Plain Press, July 20220                             Cleveland Public Library (CPL) ranked fourth among America’s Star Libraries, earning a prestigious Five-Star rating from the Library Journal, the oldest and most respected publication covering library service. The Library Journal index, published annually, compares…

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  • Cleveland nonprofit hospitals get millions in property tax breaks. Many are asking, ‘Is it worth it?’

    Cleveland nonprofit hospitals get millions in property tax breaks. Many are asking, ‘Is it worth it?’ by Stephanie Czekalinski & Michael Indriolo Plain Press, July 20220                             Nora and David Brown live in a two-story single-family home in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood. The modest home on East 100th Street, with a gabled roof and an enclosed porch, is just a block away…

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  • Local and state politicians show more empathy to developers than to Cleveland’s children

    Local and state politicians show more empathy to developers than to Cleveland’s children by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, July 20220                             Cleveland’s new tax abatement policy set to start on January 1, 2024, while better than the current policy, does little to address the glaring need to substantially increase the flow of property taxes to the Cleveland…

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  • Max Hayes High School’s Construction Shop

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, May 19, 2022; Max Hayes High School’s Construction Shop, 2211 W. 65th Street: (L-R) Tenth grade students Lekicha Hicks and Mareona Clemons hold up the artwork they are creating. The students built the frames of the canvases they painted, stretched the canvas, stapled the canvas onto the frames, and built stands…

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  • Cleveland’s approach to community development should put people before developers’ profits

    Cleveland’s approach to community development should put people before developers’ profits by Chuck Hoven Plain Press, May 2022             The City of Cleveland’s tax abatement program is coming up for renewal at the end of May. For many years, the City has used tax abatement as a means of attracting new residents and improving its housing stock…

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  • Four area schools slated for renovation or new construction

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Thursday, March 17, 2022; Marion Champlin Seltzer Elementary School Building, 1468 W. 98th Street: The Cleveland Metropolitan School District plans to build a new school next to the current building on land that sits behind Cudell Recreation Center. Once the new school is completed, plans call for the current building to be…

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  • Merrick House celebrates reopening of newly refurbished gym and tech loft

    Merrick House celebrates reopening of newly refurbished gym and tech loft (Plain Press, March 2022)    Merrick House celebrated the reopening of its newly refurbished gym and tech loft on February 18th with a ribbon cutting ceremony, speeches, a live DJ, a slam dunk contest, and ball handling drills for the children. Merrick House in a press…

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  • Mayor Bibb announces two key appointments: Chief Education Officer and Chief of Youth and Family Success

    (Plain Press, March 2022)      On February 15th, Mayor Justin M. Bibb announced two key roles he plans to add to his new administration. Holly Trifiro will serve as the Chief Education Officer and Sonya Pryor-Jones will serve as Chief of Youth & Family Success. Both positions will report to the Mayor.      “Education is the foundation for…

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  • Cleveland Board of Education meeting features a plethora of public comments

    Cleveland Board of Education meeting features a plethora of public comments by Chuck Hoven (Plain Press, January 2022)           The Cleveland Board of Education meeting at Garrett Morgan High School on December 14th featured several highlight events: including a proclamation and farewell video in honor of Mayor Frank Jackson’s 16 years of service to the school district; a…

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