• The greening of Cleveland: coalition says “let there be trees”

    by Gregory Cznadel      (Plain Press June 2025) April Showers bring May flowers. This year it was trees: lots of trees, tree plantings, and tree give aways. God decided this was the year to help renew his green earth by increasing our tree canopy to scrub the carbon out of the air, bring shade back…


  • Rooted in faith, growing in action: West Side churches embrace creation care

    PHOTO BY RONALDO RODRIGUEZ JR. June 2024; Seeds of Love Community Garden on W. 14th Street: Members of the West Side Creation Care Team gather for a Litter Pilgrimage in the Tremont neighborhood. by Ronaldo Rodriguez Jr.      (Plain Press June 2025) As the world mourns the passing of Pope Francis, his legacy endures here…


  • Protesters urge Board of Education to save trees at Cudell Commons Park

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Tuesday, August 22, 2023; Cleveland Metropolitan School Board Meeting; East Professional Center, 1349 E. 79th; Faouzi Baddou, Nikki Hudson and James Pieknik, Friends of Cudell Commons Park, protesting the planned demolition of a historic cypress tree in the Cudell neighborhood. by Chuck Hoven    The Friends of Cudell Commons Park came…


  • Trailblazing from Cleveland’s past to a green future

    by Erik Ault      Every city is a work in progress. Cleveland has known many economic bumps and headwinds which can demoralize citizens and divert political focus. Many projects languish after years of frustration and hopelessness. But Tim Donovan and Tom Yablonsky saw the decline of industry along the Cuyahoga River valley as the opening…


  • Tamir Rice Butterfly Garden


  • Resident urges Planning Commission to keep the Farnsworth House and Byelorussian Church as part of the MetroHealth Park

    Resident urges Planning Commission to keep the Farnsworth House and Byelorussian Church as part of the MetroHealth Park To the editor: Open letter to the Planning Commission: Plain Press, May 2022        I am writing to you in response to news I heard about MetroHealth’s plans to demolish three buildings between W. 25th St. and Scranton Rd.…


  • Near West Design Review Committee tables MetroHealth park proposal

    COMMUNITY INPUT SOUGHT TO DETERMINE FATE OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Sunday, March 19, 2022; St. Nicholas Belarusian Orthodox Church building, 3518 Scranton Road, SW: A proposal by neighborhood resident Bob Gardin seeks to save this building from demolition. MetroHealth medical center proposed to demolish the building as part of a plan to…