• New Neighborhood Housing Court Kiosk opens at the South Branch Library

    New Neighborhood Housing Court Kiosk opens at the South Branch Library by Bruce Checefsky Plain Press, August 2022        Cleveland Housing Court and Cleveland Public Library have teamed up to bring the court to the community. Starting this month, the new Neighborhood Housing Court Kiosk at the South Branch of the Cleveland Public Library, located at…


  • Cleveland City Council weighs proposals to change Cleveland’s tax abatement policy

    PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN Monday, May 16, 2022; Cleveland City Council Meeting, Cleveland City Hall, 601 Lakeside Avenue: During the Public Comment period at the Cleveland City Council Meeting, Ward 4 resident David Beach addresses Cleveland City Council on the issue of the reauthorization of the City’s residential tax abatement program.  Speaking of the Justin Bibb…


  • PB CLE stages community event at ThirdSpace Action Lab

    PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY Sunday, May 15, 2022; Participatory Budgeting in Action event, ThirdSpace Action Lab, 1464 E. 105th Street: Laylah Allen, Chief Executive Officer of The Missing Link, COPE Inc., and David Van Horn, a community artist and organizer for Art Block, participate in this effort to have citizens help determine how a portion of…


  • 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…


  • Participatory Budgeting Cleveland presents its 2022 Action Plan

    Participatory Budgeting Cleveland presents its 2022 Action Plan by Bruce Checefsky Plain Press, May 2022             Molly Martin took the microphone to address Cleveland City Council on the need for Participatory Budgeting using The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding. In her three-minute talk, Martin, a member of the PB CLE (Participatory Budgeting Cleveland), a coalition of individuals…


  • Participatory Budgeting Cleveland wants public involved in decisions about spending of American Rescue Act funds

    PHOTO BY TAURUS KINGS PHOTOGRAPHY Members of the Participatory Budgeting Cleveland Team:  Gwen Garth, Trevor Pollack, Laylah Allen, Molly Martin, Austin Davis, Robin Brown, Loh, Daniel Ortiz, Angelique Salizan, Kayla Knight, Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez, and Jonathan Welle. Participatory Budgeting Cleveland wants public involved in decisions about spending of American Rescue Act funds by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press,…


  • 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…


  • Council of Cleveland Neighborhoods presents concerns to mayoral candidates 

    Council of Cleveland Neighborhoods presents concerns to mayoral candidates  by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press, November 2021)        With the majority of registered Cleveland voters staying home and choosing not to vote in the mayoral primary, it remains uncertain whether they’ll decide to cast a vote in the general election on November 2 for either Justin Bibb or…


  • Justin Bibb vows to modernize City Hall

    Justin Bibb vows to modernize City Hall by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press, October 2021)   For Cleveland mayoral candidate Justin Bibb, leadership is all about relationships. The 34-year-old son of a social worker and first responder advanced from the primary to the general election November 2 along with City Council president Kevin Kelley in the first mayoral…


  • Utilities for All holds vigil at City Hall to remember those who died due to utility shutoffs

    Utilities for All holds vigil at City Hall to remember those who died due to utility shutoffs by Bruce Checefsky (Plain Press, October 2021)           Seven deaths from hypothermia were reported during a single month earlier this year after utility companies shut heat off in the middle of the winter to customers unable to pay their bills.…