• City of Cleveland Department of Public Health COVID-19 Public Dashboard

    City of Cleveland Department of Public Health COVID-19 Public Dashboard (Plain Press, January 2022)           On December 23, the City of Cleveland Department of Public Health reported there were 979 newly reported daily cases of COVID-19. That brings the total number of COVID-19 case reported in the City of Cleveland since the beginning of the pandemic to…


  • Canines at upscale doggie bar and park complain about homeless humans

    Canines at upscale doggie bar and park complain about homeless humans To the Editor, (Plain Press, January 2022)           I have been a resident of the Near West Side of Cleveland for 25 years. Lately I have noticed there has been an increase in new canine residents in the neighborhood. It’s nice to know new dogs are…


  • In Memory

    Michael O’Brien 1945-2021 (Plain Press, November 2021)                  Michael O’Brien, a librarian turned bookseller, came to the Near West Side as part of the Catholic activist movement to the neighborhood in the early 1970s and joined the Thomas Merton Community living in their house on W. 38th and Clinton.      O’Brien was the proprietor of the Six Steps Down…




  • LatinUs Theater Company performs debut play in its new home   

    LatinUs Theater Company performs debut play in its new home         The LatinUs Theater Company is performing its debut play in its new home in the Pivot Center for Art, Dance and Expression at 2937 W, 25th Street. The play, “The House of Bernarda Alba” is by Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936), a Spanish poet, playwright and director…


  • West Side Market area anticipates population changes

    West Side Market area anticipates population changes by Sheila Kiss   Home to the historic West Side Market, United Bank Building, and Market Square Park, the intersection of West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue is the central hub for Ohio City and its retail district, and it’s seeing a lot of activity today.   Don Whitaker, president…


  • George Hrbek 90th Birthday Sing


  • City of Cleveland is quietly blocking citizen planning efforts for safer, bike-friendly streets

    City of Cleveland is quietly blocking citizen planning efforts for safer, bike-friendly streets by Lee Chilcote (Plain Press, August 2021)     For more than a decade, community developers on Cleveland’s near west side have been working to create a new, improved streetscape on Lorain Avenue between West 25th and West 65th Street. It was always about more than potholes and…


  • $6M Red Line Greenway opens after more than a decade of planning

    $6M Red Line Greenway opens after more than a decade of planning by Lee Chilcote Plain Press, June 2021        Beginning at the eastern edge of Zone Recreation Center and threading through Ohio City before connecting to the Centennial Lake Link Trail, the $6 million Red line Greenway connects the near west side to downtown Cleveland while offering views…