TRIBUTE TO YOUNG HOLLYWOOD - SONG FOR A GHOUL NATION
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural
Editor's Note: Thank God I'm nobody. These chicks won't try to get me. Which one is the ghoul? Can you tell? Hint: Look for darkness. Look for death...walking right beside one of them. Look carefully and you'll see it. Do like you're watching one of those "Hills Have Ghouls" movies. So like what the hell is chick ghoul off into...in real life? Besides running an empire and being a vampire, like what's an ordinary day like for a ghoul? I'm being silly, but not really. Something is wrong.
SONG FOR A GHOULISH NATION:
Sing to the tune of the Beatles I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends
What would you think if a ghoul came along?
Would you walk out if it threatened your enternity?
Lend me your fears and I'll turn them on you
And I'll accidentally let them kill you indeed!
I get by with a little death from my fiends
I'm gonna die cause of no help from my friends
I'm gonna cry cause I got no help from friends.
If you need any demon,
I need a demon to love,
If you need any demons,
I need a little demon ghoul to love.
Do not sing with meds. Those of you on crack--stay away. Not recommended for those of you on Paxil, uh uh. Not for you. Those of you who get a crazy check, don't read...at all. And you know who you are. And you know when your check comes and where you'll cash it. And how you'll spend it on trees and on that new video game. Remember, you couldn't handle "Cloverfield".
**If you're too young or too dumb to know who the Beatles are, you probably are strung out on Hip Hop in which case you don't see the humor in anything that doesn't involve booties and straight up murder. Or rims. Or blunts. Or athletic gear even though you know nothing about teamwork. Unless it involves gang banging or car stealing. Anyway....look the song up and try the lyrics
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Pop Tarts: Sundance Strangeness: Mary-Kate Olsen Tries to Smile
Current mood: angsty
Mary-Kate Olsen at Sundance.
More tangent: This was before the tragedy. Little Mary Kate at Sundance before Ledger's death. Now it seems that her stint on "Weeds" was not without controversy, seems her fellow castmate Mary Louise Parker didn't think much of her ghoul-like acting. And why was she dating Ledger anyway? I mean can she actually show any emotion? Most ghouls can't you know. And like most young ghouls in Hollywood, worshipping the dead is thought to be chic. Notice how Mary Kate starting looking awfully dark lately. Goth and plain ole' necromancy carries a certain cachet these days. Evil is good and good is evil, eh? So after portraying the comic gothic figure in the "Dark Knight", Ledger couldn't shake the demons. If she's not careful, the same fate awaits this little girl ghoul--no matter what the toxicology report says.
LOS ANGELES — It's no secret that Britney Spears is somewhat bizarre when it comes to her behavior, but she's not the only high-profile performer who swings from smiles to silence.
Pop Tarts popped itty-bitty beauty Mary-Kate Olsen at the Park City premiere of her new flick "The Wackness" on Friday.
The typically media-silent screen star didn't talk while walking the red carpet, but for a girl who always hides from the photogs, she did hang out on the press line for an extra long time to have conversations with her co-stars, creating an ideal photo op.
Hmm — could it be that MK doesn't mind being sold off to the weeklies as much as we may have thought?
The starlet was even happy to accommodate the request of a snapper who came late by posing on the platform with a (slight) smile. But just minutes before that, it was all frowns for the flashes.
"It was hard to get Mary-Kate to smile," a snapper told Pop Tarts. "She is very unpredictable. One minute she was smiling and laughing along with her co-stars, the next thing she was totally somber. It was like a lottery whether we could catch her looking even a little happy."
But like our Brit, this tiny twin is a multimillion-dollar mogul who also doesn't seem too concerned with dressing just for impressing. The 21-year-old strutted without blush or a hairbrush — but when you're one half of your own uber-famous franchise near the top of Forbes' Under 25 Rich List, there probably aren't too many peeps you need to win over anymore.
That said, MK did do a good job of winning over "The Wackness" audience, proving that she can show a little lovin', even if it is just in reel life. "The Weeds" sensation plays a stoner called Union who makes out with Ben Kingsley, 43 years her senior, in a steamy 20-second lip lock. How, ah, sweet.
Later that night, Pop Tarts popped Olsen partying at 5W and Butter nightclub's private Park City party.
MK pulled a Britney and changed her outfit and looked particularly cute this time with fresh makeup and a combed head of hair.
The Tinseltown tiny sipped some adult beverages and lounged around alongside other stars like the Hilton heiresses, Cisco Adler and Kim Kardashian. (Kimmy left as soon as her former friend Paris Hilton showed up, apparently to avoid any potential problems.)
So even though Olsen isn't mad for media attention, it seems the "real" Mary-Kate is a "free-spirited" star.
"She is an amazing professional and just has such a free spirit that draws you close to her," Kingsley told Pop Tarts.
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NYC POLICE DECIDE NOT TO CALL THE OLSEN TWIN IN FOR QUESTIONING IN LEDGER DEATH
Tangent Alert: Little goth ghoul Mary Kate Olsen was called instead of the police to the apartment where Ledger lay motionless. Odd because this little Olsen ghoul is motionless too--and gothic. And weird. And she has a twin sister. And they look alike. But this one is weird. And goth. And scarey. And she's into fashion and partying--even though she looks like death. She was on "Weeds" last season where she played a Christian goth pot-smoking ghoul. Just my opinion. After all, she's the richest little ghoul in the whole United States. Maybe in the whole wide ghoulish world. Hope she doesn't call her private (hush hush) security squad on me.
The New York Police Department has denied a Friday newspaper report that they intended to question Mary-Kate Olsen in connection with phone calls the actress received from the masseuse who discovered Heath Ledger's body on Tuesday, PEOPLE has confirmed.
"Absolutely at no time are we going to be interviewing her," New York police Det. Joseph Cavitolo tells PEOPLE. "We never had any plans to interview her. At this point we are just waiting for the Medical Examiner's report."
Ledger's initial "autopsy was inconclusive," New York City Medical Examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove told PEOPLE on Wednesday. "We have to do further testing including toxicology and tissue testing. Neither cause of death or manner of death has been concluded. We expect additional results in 10 days to two weeks."
Police believe Ledger was already dead by the time his masseuse had phoned Olsen, and they have ruled out foul play.
Masseuse Calls Olsen
Starting at 3:17 p.m. Tuesday, the day Ledger's body was discovered, masseuse Diana Wolozin spent nine minutes making three phone calls to Olsen – and waiting more than a minute between each call – before dialing 911, then called Olsen a fourth time after paramedics arrived at Ledger's New York apartment, the Associated Press has reported.
Wolozin, 40, first called Olsen after she and Ledger's housekeeper discovered him lying face down on his bed. Among Olsen's responses was that she would send her security guards to the apartment.
"There's no crime for calling Mary-Kate first," Cavitolo told PEOPLE on Friday. "There's no crime for not calling 911 initially."
Ledger, 28, and Olsen, 21, first met in the summer of 2006 and "were casually dating for three months before Heath's death," a source told PEOPLE. "They were hooking up, but neither were particularly interested in making it exclusive."
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January 22, 2008 - Tuesday
**BREAKING NEWS -BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN STAR, HEATH LEDGER FOUND DEAD IN NYC APARTMENT**
Heath Ledger as the Joker in the upcoming "Dark Knight".
(CBS/AP) Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence, and police said drugs may have been a factor. He was 28.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let him know the masseuse had arrived found him dead at 3:26 p.m.
According to the New York Times, the residence is owned by actress Mary-Kate Olsen.
A large crowd of paparazzi and gawkers began gathering Tuesday evening outside the building on an upscale block in SoHo, where several police officers guarded the door.
The Australian-born actor was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," where he met Michelle Williams in 2005. The two had lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, until they split up last year.
He most recently appeared in "I'm Not There," in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan - as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.
Ledger was to appear as the Joker this year in "The Dark Night," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins." He's had starring roles in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot," and played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball."
Ledger grew up in Perth, and began doing amateur theater at age 10. At 16, he moved to Sydney to pursue an acting career, quickly landing TV movie roles and guest spots on Australian television.
After several independent films and a starring role in the short-lived Fox TV series "Roar," Ledger moved to Los Angeles and costarred in "10 Things I Hate About You," a teen comedy reworking of "The Taming of the Shrew."
Offers for other teen flicks came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like.
"It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. "It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, `You're crazy,' my parents were like, `Come on, you have to eat."'
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Estimate of AIDS Cases In U.S. Rises
New Test Places the Rate Of Infection 50 Percent Higher
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 1, 2007; A01
New government estimates of the number of Americans who become infected with the AIDS virus each year are 50 percent higher than previous calculations suggested, sources said yesterday.
For more than a decade, epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pegged the number of new HIV infections each year at 40,000. They now believe it is between 55,000 and 60,000.
The higher estimate is the product of a new method of testing blood samples that can identify those who were infected within the previous five months. With a way to distinguish recent infections from long-standing ones, epidemiologists can then estimate how many new infections are appearing nationwide each month or year.
The higher estimate is based on data from 19 states and large cities that have been extrapolated to the nation as a whole.
The CDC has not announced the new estimate, but two people in direct contact with the scientists preparing it confirmed it yesterday.
What is uncertain is whether the American HIV epidemic is growing or is simply larger than anyone thought. It will take two more years of using the more accurate method of estimation to spot a trend and answer that question.
"The likelihood is that this bigger number represents a clearer picture of what has been there for the past few years. But we won't know for sure for a while," said Walt Senterfitt, an epidemiologist who is the chairman of the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), a New York-based activist organization.
There is evidence, however, that at least some of the higher number may reflect an uptick in infections in recent years. Information from 33 states with the most precise form of reporting showed a 13 percent increase in HIV infections in homosexual men from 2001 to 2005.
Ironically, the news comes less than two weeks after UNAIDS, the United Nations agency responsible for charting the course of the global epidemic, drastically reduced its estimate of the number of people living with the disease worldwide from 40 million to 33 million. The reason was the same: Crude methods of counting were replaced by better ones.
"People in the United States are under the impression that this is more of an international than a domestic issue," said Rowena Johnston, vice president for research at amfAR, an AIDS research foundation. "Yet these new CDC numbers are telling us that not only does this continue to be a serious problem, it is actually a larger one than we suspected."
A study describing the new U.S. estimate is under review at a scientific journal, Thomas W. Skinner, a CDC spokesman, said last night.
"We have to wait until this paper comes out, until it has gone through peer review, before we know what the new estimates look like," he said.
Rumors have circulated for weeks in newsletters and blogs that CDC, the federal government's principal epidemiology agency, was preparing a dramatic upward revision of HIV incidence. The Washington Blade, a gay-oriented newspaper, reported rumors of the new estimates two weeks ago.
The CDC has reported the figure of 40,000 new infections each year for more than a decade, citing it as evidence that the epidemic in this country is stable. But while widely quoted, that number has never been adequately explained or justified, in the eyes of many epidemiologists.
"There was skepticism about the validity of how that estimate was reached," said Rochelle Walensky, an infectious diseases physician and mathematical modeler at Harvard Medical School.
Some activists also were skeptical about it.
"It just doesn't seem plausible to me that it would be the same year after year," said Mark Harrington, executive director of Treatment Action Group, an AIDS activist think tank in New York.
Few doubt, however, that accurately counting new HIV infections is unusually difficult. About one-quarter of people infected with the virus do not know they are. The infection is largely "silent" for a decade in most people, and a substantial number go for testing only as they develop the symptoms of AIDS, the late stage of the illness.
Only recently has CDC put intense pressure on state and city health departments to report by name everyone who tests positive for HIV. Previously, health departments had to report only the people who had progressed to AIDS.
Counting only AIDS cases was an acceptable substitute for counting new infections in the era when AIDS treatment did not significantly prolong life. But with the arrival of combinations of potent antiretroviral drugs in 1995, AIDS patients began living years longer, making the estimates increasingly less accurate.
The new system in which health departments record individuals who have just tested positive for the first time will eventually provide a much clearer picture of the epidemic. However, some people oppose it, arguing that it will keep the potentially infected from coming in to be tested.
"There are so many barriers to testing and reporting," Harrington said. "We are grasping in the dark, as far as I am concerned, about the real size and shape of the epidemic."
The 19 states and cities that contributed the data for the new estimate include New York City, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, and several Southern and Midwestern states.
The new method of estimating HIV incidence makes use of the observation that a person who is recently infected with HIV and whose immune system has just begun to make antibodies against the virus shows a weaker reaction in the standard AIDS blood test than those whose immune systems have been making antibodies for years.
By altering the test-tube conditions, scientists can identify those who react weakly -- and with them, the percentage of a batch of HIV tests that come from people newly infected.
The method is called the STAHRS method, for serological testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion.
By David Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 1, 2007; A01
New government estimates of the number of Americans who become infected with the AIDS virus each year are 50 percent higher than previous calculations suggested, sources said yesterday.
For more than a decade, epidemiologists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have pegged the number of new HIV infections each year at 40,000. They now believe it is between 55,000 and 60,000.
The higher estimate is the product of a new method of testing blood samples that can identify those who were infected within the previous five months. With a way to distinguish recent infections from long-standing ones, epidemiologists can then estimate how many new infections are appearing nationwide each month or year.
The higher estimate is based on data from 19 states and large cities that have been extrapolated to the nation as a whole.
The CDC has not announced the new estimate, but two people in direct contact with the scientists preparing it confirmed it yesterday.
What is uncertain is whether the American HIV epidemic is growing or is simply larger than anyone thought. It will take two more years of using the more accurate method of estimation to spot a trend and answer that question.
"The likelihood is that this bigger number represents a clearer picture of what has been there for the past few years. But we won't know for sure for a while," said Walt Senterfitt, an epidemiologist who is the chairman of the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP), a New York-based activist organization.
There is evidence, however, that at least some of the higher number may reflect an uptick in infections in recent years. Information from 33 states with the most precise form of reporting showed a 13 percent increase in HIV infections in homosexual men from 2001 to 2005.
Ironically, the news comes less than two weeks after UNAIDS, the United Nations agency responsible for charting the course of the global epidemic, drastically reduced its estimate of the number of people living with the disease worldwide from 40 million to 33 million. The reason was the same: Crude methods of counting were replaced by better ones.
"People in the United States are under the impression that this is more of an international than a domestic issue," said Rowena Johnston, vice president for research at amfAR, an AIDS research foundation. "Yet these new CDC numbers are telling us that not only does this continue to be a serious problem, it is actually a larger one than we suspected."
A study describing the new U.S. estimate is under review at a scientific journal, Thomas W. Skinner, a CDC spokesman, said last night.
"We have to wait until this paper comes out, until it has gone through peer review, before we know what the new estimates look like," he said.
Rumors have circulated for weeks in newsletters and blogs that CDC, the federal government's principal epidemiology agency, was preparing a dramatic upward revision of HIV incidence. The Washington Blade, a gay-oriented newspaper, reported rumors of the new estimates two weeks ago.
The CDC has reported the figure of 40,000 new infections each year for more than a decade, citing it as evidence that the epidemic in this country is stable. But while widely quoted, that number has never been adequately explained or justified, in the eyes of many epidemiologists.
"There was skepticism about the validity of how that estimate was reached," said Rochelle Walensky, an infectious diseases physician and mathematical modeler at Harvard Medical School.
Some activists also were skeptical about it.
"It just doesn't seem plausible to me that it would be the same year after year," said Mark Harrington, executive director of Treatment Action Group, an AIDS activist think tank in New York.
Few doubt, however, that accurately counting new HIV infections is unusually difficult. About one-quarter of people infected with the virus do not know they are. The infection is largely "silent" for a decade in most people, and a substantial number go for testing only as they develop the symptoms of AIDS, the late stage of the illness.
Only recently has CDC put intense pressure on state and city health departments to report by name everyone who tests positive for HIV. Previously, health departments had to report only the people who had progressed to AIDS.
Counting only AIDS cases was an acceptable substitute for counting new infections in the era when AIDS treatment did not significantly prolong life. But with the arrival of combinations of potent antiretroviral drugs in 1995, AIDS patients began living years longer, making the estimates increasingly less accurate.
The new system in which health departments record individuals who have just tested positive for the first time will eventually provide a much clearer picture of the epidemic. However, some people oppose it, arguing that it will keep the potentially infected from coming in to be tested.
"There are so many barriers to testing and reporting," Harrington said. "We are grasping in the dark, as far as I am concerned, about the real size and shape of the epidemic."
The 19 states and cities that contributed the data for the new estimate include New York City, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, and several Southern and Midwestern states.
The new method of estimating HIV incidence makes use of the observation that a person who is recently infected with HIV and whose immune system has just begun to make antibodies against the virus shows a weaker reaction in the standard AIDS blood test than those whose immune systems have been making antibodies for years.
By altering the test-tube conditions, scientists can identify those who react weakly -- and with them, the percentage of a batch of HIV tests that come from people newly infected.
The method is called the STAHRS method, for serological testing algorithm for recent HIV seroconversion.
Restoring the Root Out of A Dry Place: Glenville
charlotte1.jpg
By Charlotte Morgan
Ohio State quarterback and Cleveland Glenville native Troy Smith led the Buckeyes into the game hoping to top off his collegiate football career with the trifecta--Big Ten title, the Heisman Trophy, and the BCS National Championship. Local folks wouldn’t bet against a hero who could do it all and it looked like Smith was the panacea for a place that ached to be healed through victory and restored to its former glory. But this fantasy fell short—fantasies are from the devil—the Buckeyes were badly beaten. So in the days that followed the defeat we Tarblooders reconciled our pain with the fact that Cleveland’s Glenville was in the national spotlight for an entire season and just because Mr. Smith and the Buckeyes didn’t win the 2006 National Championship, all was not lost. The neighborhood still has a remnant of pride—a root out of a dry place—that has begun to bloom the flower of restoration.
Driving around Glenville—up East Boulevard, on Grantwood Avenue and down East 105th, looking at the varied architecture, you witness the remnants of a place where residents’ pride still radiates. The remnant shards of foundations jut through dried mustard colored earth begging to be seen and recognized. “I used to be the home of or I used to be the office of—do you remember? But passers by don’t recognize the remains of a proud ethnic heritage of Jews, Italians and blacks that used to live in Glenville. Those residents were merchants, craft persons, doctors and lawyers who made the Village of Glenville their home. Too often, today’s residents are on the downside of the economic ladder—their housing subsidized and their homes filled with plump disobedient fatherless children who are the recipients of an education from a school system that too is on the downside economically. These children seemed doomed to remain in the neighborhood because their poor education lowers their earning power and thus their chances at a good life. Their uneducated past will follow them forever unless they find a means of escape. And I know from looking at the saddened faces of black folks in the neighborhood that it is hard to shake the stigma and mindset of poverty. Most people dwell on the past because their future was never bright. But there are times when we look back to the past to get back in touch with the vision of a place.
Since one of the features of the neighborhood that testifies to its state of being—its wellness—is its architecture, then Glenville is not quite dead yet. The different kinds of homes available on this side of town range from $18,000 homes on streets where gangs rule, to $200,000 homes on streets where decent law abiding residents who still take some pride in their property have gathered. In fact, one of the most visible signs of change is the clash of the aesthetic of the neighborhoods older homes with that of new homes along like those on Lakeview or Parkwood Avenue.
Those older residents remember when this was considered the Land of Goshen, a place set aside from the plagues of other urban centers—a neighborhood where there was plush greenery and nearby access to the Lake. Later after most Jews had migrated elsewhere, the pride of the neighborhood was its annual parade and festival that served as the climax of summer. This reached its zenith during the 90s. Then the prince of the city was Mayor Michael White who grew up in Glenville. He was the former student body president of The Ohio State University whose political aspirations took him all the way to City Hall.
So imagine 33 years after White was the big man on campus, Troy Smith, another Glenville Tarblooder runs the campus. Last December as Smith hoisted the Heisman trophy up, he held up an entire neighborhood. The tears of a town were shed that evening as ESPN played the film short that told the story of a young man who overcame the typical lifestyle of today’s black youth—run down neighborhood, poverty, Hip Hop socialization, peer pressure and absent father syndrome. His mother knew little about training a child up right. Troy rebelled and was put into foster care. But somewhere along the way, he continued to participate in athletics as a means of expression and release from the stress of ghetto life. Not only was Glenville the ghetto, the city of Cleveland has slumped to the position of the nation’s poorest City. However, something prevented Smith from going the way of most of his peers. He found help in a community program called BRICK.
In the ESPN film, Smith with his head held up high bragged about the BRICK program that saved his life. He learned pride from a young black man who believed in the future of our young people. There was a photograph of a scrawnier Troy wearing coincidentally, red and black—the colors of his soon to be high school—posing with other rescued youth. His mother who gave him up talked about her son and how he was always a leader and he always had a vision for his life and his neighborhood—Glenville.
The story of Smith’s life was accentuated with the actual Heisman trophy that served as an icon of victory over life. It was strategically placed in the locker room at Bump Taylor Field while Coach Ted Ginn Sr. stood in the midst of his players—their eyes all on the prize. Smith himself walked across what looked like the Lorain Carnegie Bridge and patted the statue not rubbing it for luck, but in a manner that claimed the trophy in a victory—he had as a young black man overcome the streets of his neighborhood, found a family and father in Coach Ginn, and used sports to get an education. And even before he had received his Bachelor’s Degree last summer, Smith had blossomed into a visionary and leader thereby rebuking the Hip Hop schema for life—glorify the misery of having no money, no education, and no father by joining a gang, and becoming a martyr to the hood. That’s why Smith’s story is an important part of the neighborhood of Glenville’s story.
You know it will take leadership and unprecedented hope and vision for the neighborhood to be restored to its former glory—that’s why the tears are shed. When Smith returned to the neighborhood, a proud community celebrated along with him. Smith came home to a hero's welcome as the city celebrated one of its sons winning the Heisman with an emotional celebration at Glenville High School, “Home of the Mighty Tarblooders,” the school Smith has credited with saving his life.
“You stayed focused in the classroom, the football field and in life,” said Dr. Eugene Sanders, CEO of Cleveland schools. “Out of Cleveland, Ohio, came greatness,” he said. And it was declared “Troy Smith Day.” Mayor Frank Jackson gave the quarterback who hopes to play for his hometown Cleveland Browns, the key to the city. “This definitely ranks at the top,” Smith said. “I'm a Tarblooder through and through. That's me.”
Smith’s success story proves that this neighborhood remains a breeding ground for success regardless of the economic blight that you see driving down its streets.
The neighborhood's lakeshore location and scenic qualities attracted many of the regions wealthiest individuals by the time of its incorporation in 1870 as the Village of Glenville. Nationally, Glenville was known as a center of horse racing and later auto racing. The track was built in 1870 at the Northern Ohio Fairgrounds and operated until 1908 when it was moved to North Randall.
Located along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and East Boulevard is Rockefeller Park. Walkways, picnic areas, beautiful landscape, and recreation opportunities create a wonderful day in the park. This section of Glenville was a gift from John D. Rockefeller himself and named in his honor. Not to be missed are the Rockefeller Green House and Gardens just before the entrance to the Shoreway (I-90).
Located within the Park are the Cultural Gardens. The gardens are visible along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, though the best way to experience them is on foot. These gardens pay homage to Cleveland's diversity and cultural heritage. The gardens began in 1916, dedicated in 1939, have recently been restored with bulbs and flowers that make a spring drive through the park a necessity.
In addition to access to the lake and fishing at Gordon State Park and Marina, Glenville has other recreation opportunities including a city recreation center, the YMCA-Midtown East, and Forest Hills Park and Pool.
Also at the time of its incorporation, Glenville was a semi-rural area known as the “garden spot of Cuyahoga County” because of its numerous vegetable farms. The community's scenic qualities and lakeshore sites also attracted many of the region's wealthiest residents. Nationally, Glenville was known as a center of horse racing and, later, auto racing. The track was built in 1870 at the Northern Ohio Fairgrounds and operated until 1908, when it was moved North Randall. By 1905, Glenville was annexed to Cleveland in 1905.
Residential and commercial development in Glenville was most intense during the period between 1900 and 1930. East 105th Street emerged as the center of business activity, and its many fine stores earned it the title of Cleveland's “gold coast”. The street also became a prime address for religious institutions. Among the largest and most architecturally distinguished buildings on East 105th Street today are those of the Cory United Methodist Church (home of the Park Synagogue congregation between 1922 and 1947) and the Abyssinia Baptist Church (also built as a synagogue in 1920).
By the 1970's, Glenville's fortunes had taken a turn for the worse. Population loss and declining household incomes, together with the nationally reported racial rioting in 1968, resulted in widespread deterioration and business vacancies along East 105th Street and along adjoining segments of St. Clair and Superior Avenues.
For the history of the neighborhood, read John T. Moriarty's book, “One Square Mile of Mayhem” which is about a teenage Irish boy facing the dilemma of growing up in the racially torn neighborhoods of Glenville and Collinwood. Moriarty’s family owned a delicatessen where black and Irish gangs hung out and battled. Gangs still plague the neighborhood today. Breaking free of them and that mindset is hard for black youth. Some black youth survive by playing sports like Smith. Pierre Woods made it out of the neighborhood by playing sports. He lettered in two sports at Glenville High School. He was a Defensive Lineman at Michigan and signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2006.
“It's a long process,” Woods said. “Some kids can get distracted. Most want to be off doing other things. There are little street gangs on different blocks. Some families are not stable. You've got to stay focused.” -- Glenville native Pierre Woods, New England Patriots.
If a city is like a woman, then her beauty is found in her features—for the face of a city is formed or seen in its communities. Glenville then has been an unattractive feature of this ugly woman Cleveland. This neighborhood which borders the north and east of Cleveland is run down with its boarded up houses and empty lots of land where strewn garbage makes its home. The street corners are manned by gang member sentries who wear dark clothing and hooded jackets; their uniform’s most noted feature are the jeans that cup the curvature of their buttocks holding on for dear life. Dingy boxers and briefs make their ill-mannered presence known to all—these are in actuality the prisoners who once held us all captive in Glenville. These are the young people of Tarblooderville. So if you believe children are our future, then things looked bleak in Glenville until that night in December when Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith who lived on East 112th Street off Saint Clair, raised up the Heisman Trophy Award which recognized his remarkable achievement not just as a college athlete, but also as a survivor of a city and neighborhood’s hopelessness for out of that despair was forged a hero from Glenville High School. One from a nationally recognized program of hope—ranked sixth in the nation--created and nurtured by Tarblooder Coach, Ted Ginn Sr., the 2006 High School Coach of the Year. When Troy Smith transferred to Glenville, was accepted at Ohio State and was suspended by the University for taking money, all was near lost. And as with his neighborhood there remained in Smith a root out of a dry place called hope and it was nurtured by Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel and his “father” Glenville Coach Ted Ginn Sr. The hardworking Smith never lost hope, turned his life around and saw the fruits of his labor—the Heisman Trophy.
“Ted Ginn Sr. saw an amazing 21 of his Tarblooder players sign college scholarships in 2006, 15 of them with Division 1-A schools, and every single one of them was academically eligible to play this season. As great as that is, Ginn has much bigger plans to reach out and help youngsters on and off the football field.” Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster Blog
The Tarblooder is the mascot of Glenville High School, my alma mater. The name is synonymous with laborers at the old Glenville Tar factory as well as a battle cry for high school fans at football game who threatened to beat the ‘tar and blood’ out of their opponents. The actual mascot is a robot. Most of the people who attended the school believe they are Tarblooders for life. As the fortune of the school has blossomed athletically, so has the desire for Glenville gear. One of the biggest fans of the school and the neighborhood is Ginn, who has been seen in the stands at OSU games wearing ‘black and red The Ville” gear and cheering for his son, the galloping Teddy Ginn, Jr., the speedster wide out who is opting out of his final year of college to join the NFL draft this year. Coach Ginn provided a definitive answer to the question of what is a Tarblooder.
“A Tarblooder was a railroad worker whose job was to smear hot tar on railroad ties after they were laid to seal them and hold them in place. It was difficult work to say the least. The mixture of tar, dirt (and most certainly the occasional real blood) and sweat pouring off of these men gave the impression of blood. These were men who truly ‘sweat blood’. Now, you think two-a-days are tough?” Glenville Coach Ted Ginn Sr. Class of 1974.
Ginn’s program started about five years ago, with eight athletes, a van and a few bucks for gas. His foundation’s, “Road to Opportunity” Division-I Combine Tour, “Enables players otherwise overlooked, to showcase their talent, visit the university, take the entrance exam and make off the field friendships. Many of these kids have never traveled outside of Cleveland,” said Ginn. His vision—he reportedly took out a second mortgage on his home--for making a change in the community birthed the foundation and resulting tour. “It's never just about football, but making a way for our kids to be successful.”
Ginn has announced plans to expand the tour schedule from one highly respected mid-west regional tour into a nationwide tour beginning with adding a southern region. “The foundation hopes this will be big news to Texas high school coaches, student-athletes and major universities as Ginn’s amazing track record has garnered national attention for selling the talents of otherwise overlooked, inner city kids into full-ride scholarships at major universities,” writes a reporter from NewswireToday.com.
A high school is often the centerpiece of pride in a community. Men like Ted Ginn who restored his alma mater’s name, realize one way to revitalize the neighborhood is through education and athletics—his vision for his players includes bringing wealth to their families and their neighborhood. And residents support their children as they participate in sports. While many heroes of hope escape through sports, Glenville gave birth to non-athletic notables. The school was home to Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster, best known as the creators of the DC comic book icon, Superman. Sports writer Hal Lebowitz, Maury Feren, the produce king went there, and Harlan Diamond of Executive Caterers. Actor Ron O’Neal, best known for portraying the iconic drug dealer, “Superfly” was also a Tarblooder as was actor and comedian, Steve Harvey best known for the self-named half hour sitcom which still airs weekdays on the TBS cable network. While athletes like Smith are well known heroes, operating in the political arena are lesser-known heroes who labor to restore the neighborhood.
Ward 8 councilwoman Sabra Scott Pierce (D) Council Majority Leader is an unsung neighborhood champion. In her second term, Scott can cite progress in the restoration of her ward—new housing projects, new retail outlets, increased services and decreased crime--but socio-economic challenges remain the greatest challenge. With new mayor Frank Jackson, Pierce has found that her ward is finally getting some of the city’s services it needs.
“The streets are being cleaned with regularity and the police presence has been increased. Our residents have jobs, attend school and take care of their property for the most part. Our job is to respond to the needs of the community. And having a mayor like Frank Jackson who was a councilman in office means that he knows how to respond to residents. In fact, there was a building at the corner of Greenlawn Avenue and East 105th that I have been trying to get torn down for years, but with the new administration, I was finally able to get it down because Jackson was city council president, he’s been able to get things done faster,” she says. “The most effective means of making change in the neighborhood is for concerned citizens to attend our meetings so that they can learn the process of making change. We all want to see the neighborhood restored. The history of our neighborhood is important; but we want a bright future as well. That means we all work together. You can’t just complain but not pick up the trash on your property. If everyone picked up the trash on their property whether they rent or own, what an impact this would make.”
As far as crime is concerned, Scott wants parents to get involved in policing their children. “I want to start a campaign in this ward, ‘get your kids off the corner’. When we look at the police reports, the suspects have been arrested on the corner of their street. These people are committing crimes right on their street because their parents don’t know where their kids are—get your kids off the corner.”
According to Scott a longtime Glenville resident, the summer months are challenging in the fight against crime because many young people are hungry. “When they’re not in school, they’re not getting fed. We need programs to feed these people in the summertime. Much of the petty crime—like when they broke in your car and stole your CD player—was perpetrated by a young person trying to get money to eat.” These kids need something to do. They need jobs. So the plan is to reduce crime, create jobs and build affordable housing.
The vision for the neighborhood is to infuse new housing with old—this ensures that historic sites like the Amasa Stone House facility on East Boulevard and 105th Street is renovated. The 13 Heritage Lane homes also on East 105th Street between Ashbury and Wade Park Avenues are historic grand houses that are a showstopper on Glenville’s southern edge. According to the Famico Foundation website, “Glenville’s Heritage Lane neighborhood is a microcosm of Cleveland’s neighborhood history; flourishing followed by decline followed by urban revitalization with resident determination. A snapshot of change, re-birth and a story of hope: a neighborhood can house thrive again with a strong core of residents, institutions, businesses and community organizations.”
These side-by-side, two-and-a-half story wooden duplex structures built in 1910 reflect the prevalent American Foursquare style of architecture. The area was a popular destination for middle class and immigrant families looking for industrial work in the early 20th century, In the 60s, Glenville gained recognition during the Civil Rights Movement when Dr. Martin Luther King addressed a crowd of 10,000 at the neighborhood’s Cory Methodist Church. Later, Malcolm X delivered his famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech at the same podium.
Further north on Superior and 102nd, is the $4.7 million Parkside Townhomes—a new homeownership opportunity that was developed in part by Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James.
“The Parkside Townhomes will be a welcome addition to the Glenville neighborhood offering homebuyers of all ages a quality housing product, in a park-type setting that is near work, bus transportation, the interstate, and Cleveland's numerous and popular amenities, including University Circle,” said Councilwoman Scott. University Circle is becoming integrated into what is now considered the neighborhood of Glenville.
The amenities of a first class symphony orchestra and museums are juxtaposed with the run down houses and vacant storefronts of the neighborhood. But today we have a first class high school, new retail outlets, new homes, less crime and hope. Scott believes that by rekindling pride in neighborhood, reducing crime and partnering with developers, church leaders and residents, that Glenville can be restored to its former glory in what is one of the city’s greatest locations.
charlotte2.jpg
Photo Credits for C. Morgan's article are as follows:
Stacie L. Brisker/Sepia Sirens 2007
By Charlotte Morgan
Ohio State quarterback and Cleveland Glenville native Troy Smith led the Buckeyes into the game hoping to top off his collegiate football career with the trifecta--Big Ten title, the Heisman Trophy, and the BCS National Championship. Local folks wouldn’t bet against a hero who could do it all and it looked like Smith was the panacea for a place that ached to be healed through victory and restored to its former glory. But this fantasy fell short—fantasies are from the devil—the Buckeyes were badly beaten. So in the days that followed the defeat we Tarblooders reconciled our pain with the fact that Cleveland’s Glenville was in the national spotlight for an entire season and just because Mr. Smith and the Buckeyes didn’t win the 2006 National Championship, all was not lost. The neighborhood still has a remnant of pride—a root out of a dry place—that has begun to bloom the flower of restoration.
Driving around Glenville—up East Boulevard, on Grantwood Avenue and down East 105th, looking at the varied architecture, you witness the remnants of a place where residents’ pride still radiates. The remnant shards of foundations jut through dried mustard colored earth begging to be seen and recognized. “I used to be the home of or I used to be the office of—do you remember? But passers by don’t recognize the remains of a proud ethnic heritage of Jews, Italians and blacks that used to live in Glenville. Those residents were merchants, craft persons, doctors and lawyers who made the Village of Glenville their home. Too often, today’s residents are on the downside of the economic ladder—their housing subsidized and their homes filled with plump disobedient fatherless children who are the recipients of an education from a school system that too is on the downside economically. These children seemed doomed to remain in the neighborhood because their poor education lowers their earning power and thus their chances at a good life. Their uneducated past will follow them forever unless they find a means of escape. And I know from looking at the saddened faces of black folks in the neighborhood that it is hard to shake the stigma and mindset of poverty. Most people dwell on the past because their future was never bright. But there are times when we look back to the past to get back in touch with the vision of a place.
Since one of the features of the neighborhood that testifies to its state of being—its wellness—is its architecture, then Glenville is not quite dead yet. The different kinds of homes available on this side of town range from $18,000 homes on streets where gangs rule, to $200,000 homes on streets where decent law abiding residents who still take some pride in their property have gathered. In fact, one of the most visible signs of change is the clash of the aesthetic of the neighborhoods older homes with that of new homes along like those on Lakeview or Parkwood Avenue.
Those older residents remember when this was considered the Land of Goshen, a place set aside from the plagues of other urban centers—a neighborhood where there was plush greenery and nearby access to the Lake. Later after most Jews had migrated elsewhere, the pride of the neighborhood was its annual parade and festival that served as the climax of summer. This reached its zenith during the 90s. Then the prince of the city was Mayor Michael White who grew up in Glenville. He was the former student body president of The Ohio State University whose political aspirations took him all the way to City Hall.
So imagine 33 years after White was the big man on campus, Troy Smith, another Glenville Tarblooder runs the campus. Last December as Smith hoisted the Heisman trophy up, he held up an entire neighborhood. The tears of a town were shed that evening as ESPN played the film short that told the story of a young man who overcame the typical lifestyle of today’s black youth—run down neighborhood, poverty, Hip Hop socialization, peer pressure and absent father syndrome. His mother knew little about training a child up right. Troy rebelled and was put into foster care. But somewhere along the way, he continued to participate in athletics as a means of expression and release from the stress of ghetto life. Not only was Glenville the ghetto, the city of Cleveland has slumped to the position of the nation’s poorest City. However, something prevented Smith from going the way of most of his peers. He found help in a community program called BRICK.
In the ESPN film, Smith with his head held up high bragged about the BRICK program that saved his life. He learned pride from a young black man who believed in the future of our young people. There was a photograph of a scrawnier Troy wearing coincidentally, red and black—the colors of his soon to be high school—posing with other rescued youth. His mother who gave him up talked about her son and how he was always a leader and he always had a vision for his life and his neighborhood—Glenville.
The story of Smith’s life was accentuated with the actual Heisman trophy that served as an icon of victory over life. It was strategically placed in the locker room at Bump Taylor Field while Coach Ted Ginn Sr. stood in the midst of his players—their eyes all on the prize. Smith himself walked across what looked like the Lorain Carnegie Bridge and patted the statue not rubbing it for luck, but in a manner that claimed the trophy in a victory—he had as a young black man overcome the streets of his neighborhood, found a family and father in Coach Ginn, and used sports to get an education. And even before he had received his Bachelor’s Degree last summer, Smith had blossomed into a visionary and leader thereby rebuking the Hip Hop schema for life—glorify the misery of having no money, no education, and no father by joining a gang, and becoming a martyr to the hood. That’s why Smith’s story is an important part of the neighborhood of Glenville’s story.
You know it will take leadership and unprecedented hope and vision for the neighborhood to be restored to its former glory—that’s why the tears are shed. When Smith returned to the neighborhood, a proud community celebrated along with him. Smith came home to a hero's welcome as the city celebrated one of its sons winning the Heisman with an emotional celebration at Glenville High School, “Home of the Mighty Tarblooders,” the school Smith has credited with saving his life.
“You stayed focused in the classroom, the football field and in life,” said Dr. Eugene Sanders, CEO of Cleveland schools. “Out of Cleveland, Ohio, came greatness,” he said. And it was declared “Troy Smith Day.” Mayor Frank Jackson gave the quarterback who hopes to play for his hometown Cleveland Browns, the key to the city. “This definitely ranks at the top,” Smith said. “I'm a Tarblooder through and through. That's me.”
Smith’s success story proves that this neighborhood remains a breeding ground for success regardless of the economic blight that you see driving down its streets.
The neighborhood's lakeshore location and scenic qualities attracted many of the regions wealthiest individuals by the time of its incorporation in 1870 as the Village of Glenville. Nationally, Glenville was known as a center of horse racing and later auto racing. The track was built in 1870 at the Northern Ohio Fairgrounds and operated until 1908 when it was moved to North Randall.
Located along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and East Boulevard is Rockefeller Park. Walkways, picnic areas, beautiful landscape, and recreation opportunities create a wonderful day in the park. This section of Glenville was a gift from John D. Rockefeller himself and named in his honor. Not to be missed are the Rockefeller Green House and Gardens just before the entrance to the Shoreway (I-90).
Located within the Park are the Cultural Gardens. The gardens are visible along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, though the best way to experience them is on foot. These gardens pay homage to Cleveland's diversity and cultural heritage. The gardens began in 1916, dedicated in 1939, have recently been restored with bulbs and flowers that make a spring drive through the park a necessity.
In addition to access to the lake and fishing at Gordon State Park and Marina, Glenville has other recreation opportunities including a city recreation center, the YMCA-Midtown East, and Forest Hills Park and Pool.
Also at the time of its incorporation, Glenville was a semi-rural area known as the “garden spot of Cuyahoga County” because of its numerous vegetable farms. The community's scenic qualities and lakeshore sites also attracted many of the region's wealthiest residents. Nationally, Glenville was known as a center of horse racing and, later, auto racing. The track was built in 1870 at the Northern Ohio Fairgrounds and operated until 1908, when it was moved North Randall. By 1905, Glenville was annexed to Cleveland in 1905.
Residential and commercial development in Glenville was most intense during the period between 1900 and 1930. East 105th Street emerged as the center of business activity, and its many fine stores earned it the title of Cleveland's “gold coast”. The street also became a prime address for religious institutions. Among the largest and most architecturally distinguished buildings on East 105th Street today are those of the Cory United Methodist Church (home of the Park Synagogue congregation between 1922 and 1947) and the Abyssinia Baptist Church (also built as a synagogue in 1920).
By the 1970's, Glenville's fortunes had taken a turn for the worse. Population loss and declining household incomes, together with the nationally reported racial rioting in 1968, resulted in widespread deterioration and business vacancies along East 105th Street and along adjoining segments of St. Clair and Superior Avenues.
For the history of the neighborhood, read John T. Moriarty's book, “One Square Mile of Mayhem” which is about a teenage Irish boy facing the dilemma of growing up in the racially torn neighborhoods of Glenville and Collinwood. Moriarty’s family owned a delicatessen where black and Irish gangs hung out and battled. Gangs still plague the neighborhood today. Breaking free of them and that mindset is hard for black youth. Some black youth survive by playing sports like Smith. Pierre Woods made it out of the neighborhood by playing sports. He lettered in two sports at Glenville High School. He was a Defensive Lineman at Michigan and signed with the New England Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2006.
“It's a long process,” Woods said. “Some kids can get distracted. Most want to be off doing other things. There are little street gangs on different blocks. Some families are not stable. You've got to stay focused.” -- Glenville native Pierre Woods, New England Patriots.
If a city is like a woman, then her beauty is found in her features—for the face of a city is formed or seen in its communities. Glenville then has been an unattractive feature of this ugly woman Cleveland. This neighborhood which borders the north and east of Cleveland is run down with its boarded up houses and empty lots of land where strewn garbage makes its home. The street corners are manned by gang member sentries who wear dark clothing and hooded jackets; their uniform’s most noted feature are the jeans that cup the curvature of their buttocks holding on for dear life. Dingy boxers and briefs make their ill-mannered presence known to all—these are in actuality the prisoners who once held us all captive in Glenville. These are the young people of Tarblooderville. So if you believe children are our future, then things looked bleak in Glenville until that night in December when Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith who lived on East 112th Street off Saint Clair, raised up the Heisman Trophy Award which recognized his remarkable achievement not just as a college athlete, but also as a survivor of a city and neighborhood’s hopelessness for out of that despair was forged a hero from Glenville High School. One from a nationally recognized program of hope—ranked sixth in the nation--created and nurtured by Tarblooder Coach, Ted Ginn Sr., the 2006 High School Coach of the Year. When Troy Smith transferred to Glenville, was accepted at Ohio State and was suspended by the University for taking money, all was near lost. And as with his neighborhood there remained in Smith a root out of a dry place called hope and it was nurtured by Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel and his “father” Glenville Coach Ted Ginn Sr. The hardworking Smith never lost hope, turned his life around and saw the fruits of his labor—the Heisman Trophy.
“Ted Ginn Sr. saw an amazing 21 of his Tarblooder players sign college scholarships in 2006, 15 of them with Division 1-A schools, and every single one of them was academically eligible to play this season. As great as that is, Ginn has much bigger plans to reach out and help youngsters on and off the football field.” Jim Johnson, The CourtMaster Blog
The Tarblooder is the mascot of Glenville High School, my alma mater. The name is synonymous with laborers at the old Glenville Tar factory as well as a battle cry for high school fans at football game who threatened to beat the ‘tar and blood’ out of their opponents. The actual mascot is a robot. Most of the people who attended the school believe they are Tarblooders for life. As the fortune of the school has blossomed athletically, so has the desire for Glenville gear. One of the biggest fans of the school and the neighborhood is Ginn, who has been seen in the stands at OSU games wearing ‘black and red The Ville” gear and cheering for his son, the galloping Teddy Ginn, Jr., the speedster wide out who is opting out of his final year of college to join the NFL draft this year. Coach Ginn provided a definitive answer to the question of what is a Tarblooder.
“A Tarblooder was a railroad worker whose job was to smear hot tar on railroad ties after they were laid to seal them and hold them in place. It was difficult work to say the least. The mixture of tar, dirt (and most certainly the occasional real blood) and sweat pouring off of these men gave the impression of blood. These were men who truly ‘sweat blood’. Now, you think two-a-days are tough?” Glenville Coach Ted Ginn Sr. Class of 1974.
Ginn’s program started about five years ago, with eight athletes, a van and a few bucks for gas. His foundation’s, “Road to Opportunity” Division-I Combine Tour, “Enables players otherwise overlooked, to showcase their talent, visit the university, take the entrance exam and make off the field friendships. Many of these kids have never traveled outside of Cleveland,” said Ginn. His vision—he reportedly took out a second mortgage on his home--for making a change in the community birthed the foundation and resulting tour. “It's never just about football, but making a way for our kids to be successful.”
Ginn has announced plans to expand the tour schedule from one highly respected mid-west regional tour into a nationwide tour beginning with adding a southern region. “The foundation hopes this will be big news to Texas high school coaches, student-athletes and major universities as Ginn’s amazing track record has garnered national attention for selling the talents of otherwise overlooked, inner city kids into full-ride scholarships at major universities,” writes a reporter from NewswireToday.com.
A high school is often the centerpiece of pride in a community. Men like Ted Ginn who restored his alma mater’s name, realize one way to revitalize the neighborhood is through education and athletics—his vision for his players includes bringing wealth to their families and their neighborhood. And residents support their children as they participate in sports. While many heroes of hope escape through sports, Glenville gave birth to non-athletic notables. The school was home to Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster, best known as the creators of the DC comic book icon, Superman. Sports writer Hal Lebowitz, Maury Feren, the produce king went there, and Harlan Diamond of Executive Caterers. Actor Ron O’Neal, best known for portraying the iconic drug dealer, “Superfly” was also a Tarblooder as was actor and comedian, Steve Harvey best known for the self-named half hour sitcom which still airs weekdays on the TBS cable network. While athletes like Smith are well known heroes, operating in the political arena are lesser-known heroes who labor to restore the neighborhood.
Ward 8 councilwoman Sabra Scott Pierce (D) Council Majority Leader is an unsung neighborhood champion. In her second term, Scott can cite progress in the restoration of her ward—new housing projects, new retail outlets, increased services and decreased crime--but socio-economic challenges remain the greatest challenge. With new mayor Frank Jackson, Pierce has found that her ward is finally getting some of the city’s services it needs.
“The streets are being cleaned with regularity and the police presence has been increased. Our residents have jobs, attend school and take care of their property for the most part. Our job is to respond to the needs of the community. And having a mayor like Frank Jackson who was a councilman in office means that he knows how to respond to residents. In fact, there was a building at the corner of Greenlawn Avenue and East 105th that I have been trying to get torn down for years, but with the new administration, I was finally able to get it down because Jackson was city council president, he’s been able to get things done faster,” she says. “The most effective means of making change in the neighborhood is for concerned citizens to attend our meetings so that they can learn the process of making change. We all want to see the neighborhood restored. The history of our neighborhood is important; but we want a bright future as well. That means we all work together. You can’t just complain but not pick up the trash on your property. If everyone picked up the trash on their property whether they rent or own, what an impact this would make.”
As far as crime is concerned, Scott wants parents to get involved in policing their children. “I want to start a campaign in this ward, ‘get your kids off the corner’. When we look at the police reports, the suspects have been arrested on the corner of their street. These people are committing crimes right on their street because their parents don’t know where their kids are—get your kids off the corner.”
According to Scott a longtime Glenville resident, the summer months are challenging in the fight against crime because many young people are hungry. “When they’re not in school, they’re not getting fed. We need programs to feed these people in the summertime. Much of the petty crime—like when they broke in your car and stole your CD player—was perpetrated by a young person trying to get money to eat.” These kids need something to do. They need jobs. So the plan is to reduce crime, create jobs and build affordable housing.
The vision for the neighborhood is to infuse new housing with old—this ensures that historic sites like the Amasa Stone House facility on East Boulevard and 105th Street is renovated. The 13 Heritage Lane homes also on East 105th Street between Ashbury and Wade Park Avenues are historic grand houses that are a showstopper on Glenville’s southern edge. According to the Famico Foundation website, “Glenville’s Heritage Lane neighborhood is a microcosm of Cleveland’s neighborhood history; flourishing followed by decline followed by urban revitalization with resident determination. A snapshot of change, re-birth and a story of hope: a neighborhood can house thrive again with a strong core of residents, institutions, businesses and community organizations.”
These side-by-side, two-and-a-half story wooden duplex structures built in 1910 reflect the prevalent American Foursquare style of architecture. The area was a popular destination for middle class and immigrant families looking for industrial work in the early 20th century, In the 60s, Glenville gained recognition during the Civil Rights Movement when Dr. Martin Luther King addressed a crowd of 10,000 at the neighborhood’s Cory Methodist Church. Later, Malcolm X delivered his famous “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech at the same podium.
Further north on Superior and 102nd, is the $4.7 million Parkside Townhomes—a new homeownership opportunity that was developed in part by Cleveland Cavaliers star Lebron James.
“The Parkside Townhomes will be a welcome addition to the Glenville neighborhood offering homebuyers of all ages a quality housing product, in a park-type setting that is near work, bus transportation, the interstate, and Cleveland's numerous and popular amenities, including University Circle,” said Councilwoman Scott. University Circle is becoming integrated into what is now considered the neighborhood of Glenville.
The amenities of a first class symphony orchestra and museums are juxtaposed with the run down houses and vacant storefronts of the neighborhood. But today we have a first class high school, new retail outlets, new homes, less crime and hope. Scott believes that by rekindling pride in neighborhood, reducing crime and partnering with developers, church leaders and residents, that Glenville can be restored to its former glory in what is one of the city’s greatest locations.
charlotte2.jpg
Photo Credits for C. Morgan's article are as follows:
Stacie L. Brisker/Sepia Sirens 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
BABY GRACE IDENTIFIED
Photo of child who looks like the murdered Baby Grace. Mom meets man online and it leads to murder. Imagine that. When will you guys learn?
Police Make Tentative Identification, Arrest Texas Couple
By GINA SUNSERI AND TED OBERG
Nov. 26, 2007 —
She was the little girl with the big blue eyes and the long, blond hair known as Baby Grace. Now, police have tentatively identified her as 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers.
The child's pregnant mother, 19-year-old Kimberly Ann Trenor, and her husband, Royce Clyde Zeigler, Riley's stepfather, who live in Spring, Texas, just north of Houston, are both charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence.
Hundreds of tips from around the world poured into the Galveston County Sheriff's Office after a fisherman discovered the little girl's body stuffed in a plastic trunk in late October and abandoned along a Texas waterway.
One of those tips involved Riley Ann Sawyers, a little girl who had been last seen in July when Trenor reportedly gave her to someone who presented her with custody documents that appeared legitimate, ABC News' Houston affiliate KTRK first reported last week. The child was never, however, reported missing to police.
Late last week, detectives requested DNA samples from eight families with missing children resembling Baby Grace. One of the samples was submitted by Riley's father, Robert Sawyers of Mentor, Ohio.
The tip that Baby Grace could be Riley came from Riley's paternal grandmother Sheryl Sawyers, who phoned investigators after she saw a sketch of Baby Grace on the Internet.
"There isn't a day that does by that I don't think about her," Sheryl Sawyers told KTRK.
When the little girl's body was found Oct. 29, investigators didn't have much to go on to identify her. They called in renowned forensic artist Lois Gibson who came up with a sketch of the girl whom detectives called Baby Grace. Gibson felt an overwhelming need to help determine the little girl's identity. "I needed to know the name of this girl and I needed this to be over with," Gibson said.
When Baby Grace was found, she was wearing a Target-brand pink, flowing skirt, a pink shirt and white light-up tennis shoes with purple flowers on them. For a brief time investigators looked into the possibility that the child's body was that of Madeleine McCann, a 4-year-old British girl whose disappearance from a resort hotel in Portugal in May has made international headlines, but quickly ruled out a connection to that case.
Riley Ann Sawyers' biological parents met when her mother was in high school in Mentor, Ohio. Relatives say Trenor met Zeigler over the Internet and moved to Houston to be with him.
Sawyers, Riley's biological father, is devastated. Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo, spokesman for the Galveston County Sheriff's Office, says more information will be released this morning.
For now, Riley's mother and stepfather are being held on $350,000 bond. It will take several weeks for the results to be returned from the DNA testing that will prove conclusively that Baby Grace is Riley Swayers.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures
Friday, August 10, 2007
BUSH ADVISOR TALKS ABOUT REINSTATING THE DRAFT
WASHINGTON (AP) - Frequent tours for U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan have stressed the all-volunteer force and made it worth considering a return to a military draft, President Bush's new war adviser said Friday.
"I think it makes sense to certainly consider it," Army Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered."
"And I can tell you, this has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another," Lute added in his first interview since he was confirmed by the Senate in June.
President Nixon abolished the draft in 1973. Restoring it, Lute said, would be a "major policy shift" and Bush has made it clear that he doesn't think it's necessary.
The repeated deployments affect not only the troops but their families, who can influence whether a service member decides to stay in the military, Lute said.
"There's both a personal dimension of this, where this kind of stress plays out across dinner tables and in living room conversations within these families," he said. "And ultimately, the health of the all- volunteer force is going to rest on those sorts of personal family decisions."
The military conducted a draft during the Civil War and both world wars and between 1948 and 1973. The Selective Service System, re- established in 1980, maintains a registry of 18-year-old men.
Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has called for reinstating the draft as a way to end the Iraq war.
Bush picked Lute in mid-May as a deputy national security adviser with responsibility for ensuring efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are coordinated with policymakers in Washington. Lute, an active-duty general, was chosen after several retired generals turned down the job.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Editor's Note: Let's see how many of you are still thugs once the draft starts.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Third "Bourne" Installment Wins Box Office Battle
SUNDAY AM: Universal told me that 1 The Bourne Ultimatum rocked the North American box office by opening to $24.5 million Friday and $25.4 million Saturday for a $70.1 mil weekend from 3,660 theaters. (Rival studios pegged the total at $69 mil.) That's 42% market share in theaters crowded with summer blockbusters for the near perfectly reviewed pic and a bigger domestic debut than any Bond pic. Though Matt Damon has transformed himself from Pretty Boy to Danger Guy, 57% of moviegoers said he was the main reason for seeing The Bourne Ultimatum, skewing female, while 68% said it was the action, especially among younger males. Other Saturday night exit polling showed the movie attracted an audience 52% male and 48% female, made significant inroads with minorities (13% African Americans, 12% Hispanics, 7% Asians), and skewed age 30 and older (57% vs 43% under 30). The vast majority of the audience (94+%) had seen prior Bourne movies and 60% said that was the main reason for seeing the threequel. It did more than twice the June 2002 original The Bourne Identity (which opened to $27 mil) and way more than the July 2004 sequel The Bourne Supremacy (which debuted to $53 mil). Ratings of the movie broke down to 80% "Excellent/Very Good", 40% "Excellent", and 55% "Definitely Recommend". Another strong sign was this PG-13 pic's per screen average Saturday, a healthy $6,950. The only bad news is that I hear script tweaks and reshoots made the price of this Bourne creep upwards to $110 mil. But its domestic and international ticket receipts should hand Universal a hefty profit, nonetheless.
Bourne doesn't start to roll out until next weekend internationally where The Simpsons Movie continues to dominate the rest of the world. It is still No. 1 in most territories with some of the Industry's best 2nd weekend ever s (except France and Spain where Disney / Pixar's Ratatouille opened this weekend) and boasts 40% market share. Homer, Marge and the rest of the family made $47.3 mil from 75 overseas markets this weekend for a $187 international total. In North America, 20th Century Fox told me Simpsons raked in another $25.6 mil weekend (-65% from last) from 3,926 theaters for a new gross of $128.5 million in just one week's time. Though a four-quadrant hit, the toon is drawing heavily on kids since it went up 19% from Friday ($8.1 mil) to Saturday ($9.6 mil) when matinees rule.
No. 3 was the live action Underdog, which Disney told me opened to $4.1 mil Friday and $4.3 mil Saturday in 3,013 dates for a $12 mil weekend. Universal's other movie in the Top 10, 4 I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, the Adam Sandler-Kevin James laugher, had a weekend take of $10.5 mil from 3,290 runs to pull off a 17-day cume of $91.6 mil. No. 5 went to Warner's Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix whose hot new cume is now $260.9 mil after squeezing out another $9.4 mil weekend starting its 4th week in release. In 6th place is New Line's Hairspray, starring John Travolta in drag, which slowed to a $9.1 mil weekend from 3,115 theaters for a new cume of $78.9 mil. Warner's holdover chick flick with Catherine Zeta-Jones, No Reservations, clung to 7 after cooking up only $6.4 mil weekend (-45% from last) from 2,425 plays for a weak new cume of $19.7 mil.
No. 8 went to the Paramount and DreamWorks pic Transformers, which has finally run out of steam after five incredible weeks at the box office. The battling bots added another $5.9 mil weekend from 2,419 dates for a huge new cume of $296.3 mil, the studio said. It should break the near-impossible $300 mil domestic barrier by next weekend. In 9th place, Paramount's poorly reviewed comedy Hot Rod, starring Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg as an accident-prone stuntman, barely opened. the studio said it made just $5 mil this weekend from 2,607 theaters. Saturday's per screen average was a pathetic $665, lowest of the Top 10, showing Samberg ain't no young Adam Sandler. And, bringing up the rear of the Top 10, Bratz was the Lionsgate flop everyone thought it would be. The tweener pic barely opened with $1.7 mil Friday and Saturday from 1,509 runs for what was a poor $4.5 mil weekend.
Finally, El Cantante, starring Jennifer Lopez and husband Marc Anthony in the Picturehouse biopic of Puerto Rican salsa sensation Hector Lavoe, debuted at No. 12. Platforming in just 542 theaters, it scored $1 mil Friday and Saturday for a $2.9 mil weekend. The film did so-so with a Saturday per screen average of 1,990, the 4th highest of the weekend. Only Bourne, Simpsons and Miramax's No. 16 film Becoming Jane (playing in 100 venues) did better per screen.
Posted by Nikki Finke on Saturday, August 4th, 2007 at 07:01AM | Permalink |
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Jericho's Siena Goines Needs a Primetime Show This Fall CBS!
Courtesy: Buddy TV
July 29, 2007
As Sarah Mason, Siena Goines was originally known as the “mystery woman” on the television series Jericho. Later, it was revealed that she was a former coworker and ex-girlfriend of Robert Hawkins, and was part of a secret CIA taskforce. Tasked to find a package containing a nuclear device hidden in Robert's house, she holds his eight-year-old son, Samuel, hostage to force Robert to turn over the package. She failed, despite her efforts, and ended up dead when Robert's daughter Allison shot her in the back. In the coming months, fans will be able to catch her on the big screen.
The former Jericho actress has just completed filming the movie Hunter's Moon, a science fiction horror story about four young couples drawn to a remote dune. Their outing turns out to be a night of terror when a brutal hunter attacks them as human specimens for an alien experiment. Also included are Dan White, Devon Sawa and Matthew Lawrence.
Currently in post-production stages is the film The Mannsfield 12, where Siena Goines plays Nadine. The drama centers on a group of inmates and their underestimated act that made them legendary.
Additionally, the former Jericho actress stars in the comedy Throwing Stars. She plays Lyn Hutto in a story about four longtime friends who put their bond to the test over the course of one wild night. The film features Scott Grimes (ER), Jason London (Wildfire), Scott Michael Campbell (ER), and David DeLuise (3rd Rock from the Sun).
Before acquiring a string of movies projects, Siena Goines was cast as Christy in the movie Jekyll. The remake featured Matt Keeslar as Doctor Henry Jekyll and the computer-generated alter-go Edward Hyde in a spree of uncontrollable impulses and murder extravaganza.
-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Editor's Note: CBS what are you waiting for? This young actress has graced your successful series. "The Young and Restless", "Jericho" and "Judging Amy". What are you waiting for? There are few primetime series that feature African Americans in starring roles and this young woman is in need of a show of her own. I'd watch. In fact, I only watch "Jericho" for Siena Goines.
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