• RNC Wrap Up – local activists deserve credit for organization, self-discipline and smart politics evident in rallies and marches

      by Randy Cunningham    (Plain Press, August 2016) The approach of the Republican National Convention has been like the approach of a hurricane for Cleveland.  No one knew what to expect but they did know that it was going to be big, noisy, expensive and second only to the Cavs winning the NBA championship…


  • Justice & Peace Coalition presents Justice and Peace Platform to Republican and Democratic national parties

    (Plain Press, August 2016) On July 21,2016, the last day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland, a coalition of more than two-dozen organizations that sponsored the “People’s Justice & Peace Convention” on July 16 and 17 presented a “Platform” to representatives of the RNC. The Platform contains several hundred specific proposed laws, regulations…


  • Cleveland as an Occupied City as Republican National Convention comes to town

    by Randy Cunningham (Plain Press, July 2016) Cleveland is a city holding its breath.  From July 18th through the 21st, Cleveland will be an occupied city.  It will be occupied by the convention of a Republican Party that has built its power over the past four decades by stepping on cities such as Cleveland. It…


  • Panel addresses ways to identify and stop human trafficking

    by Chuck Hoven (Plain Press, June 2016) Thirty people attending a meeting at the Lorain Branch of the Cleveland Public Library at 8216 Lorain Avenue, on May 24th, learned about human trafficking in Cleveland and how to identify signs that human trafficking is taking place.  A three-person panel — Renee Jones of the Renee Jones…


  • Hearing addresses problems with customer service at Cleveland Public Power

    Plain Press, December 2015 United Clevelanders Against Poverty held a public hearing on November 17th at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Church Avenue to address problems Clevelanders are having with Cleveland Public Power (CPP). Legal Aid Attorney Phil Althouse explained the City of Cleveland Ordinance, which governs Cleveland Public Power’s actions in case of a…


  • Governor fails to request work exemption for Cuyahoga County SNAP recipients

    Plain Press, November 2015   As an October deadline looms, Ohio Governor John Kasich has failed to ask the federal government for a waiver that would allow people living in urban areas with high unemployment to receive food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  If the waiver is not requested, people in Cuyahoga County…


  • In Memory of Sister Donna Hawk, Congregation of St. Joseph

    March 12, 1943- January 28, 2015 (Plain Press, March 2015) Sister Donna Hawk will be remembered as an advocate for the homeless. Hawk, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, after spending her early career in elementary education, served as one of the founders of the West Side Catholic Center and as co-director of…


  • July 2014 Issue of the Plain Press

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  • Homeless women treated to salon services

    (Plain Press, July 2014) Forty-five homeless women received shampooing, cutting, and styling services during a daylong community service effort by the staff of the Beauty in You Salon at W. 98th and Denison. Women from the West Side Catholic Center, the Salvation Army Shelter and other local shelters came for the styling services offered for…


  • Young activists needed to help create a more just society in the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County

    by Chuck Hoven (Plain Press, July 2014)Several recent articles in the Plain Dealer touted Cleveland’s recent brain gain. In a June 10, 2014 article by Robert L. Smith titled Cleveland’s unexpected brain gain garners national attention, a reference is made to an a study by Richey Piiparinen and Jim Russell of the Center for Population…