On its inaugural year, University Circle's Showcase in the Circle & Circle Home Tour attracted over 400 people. For its second act, organizers anticipate much larger crowds.
 
"The size of the event is expected to grow this year given the amount of residential and commercial development happening right now in the Circle," says Erika McLaughlin, Public Affairs Manager for University Circle Inc.
 
The purpose behind this free event is to “showcase” the fact that University Circle and its surrounding neighborhoods are not only great places to visit, but also to live, work and do business.
 
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and greet more than 50 exhibitors that range from small businesses and financial institutions to nonprofits and world-class museums, all of which call University Circle home.
 
Following the event at Judson Manor, guests will be "Lolly the Trolleyed" to various homes, housing and hotel options in University Circle.
 
The Showcase takes place today at Judson Manor (1890 E. 107th St.) from 3 to 7 p.m.
 
For more info, click here.

What if colleges weren't ranked by what they can do for you, as those published by U.S. News & World Report are designed to show? What if a national college survey looked rather at what colleges are doing for the country? That's precisely the tack taken by Washington Monthly, which just released its 2011 national universities rankings.

"We all benefit when colleges produce groundbreaking research that drives economic growth, when they offer students from low-income families the path to a better life, and when they shape the character of future leaders," write the mag's editors. "And we all pay for it, through hundreds of billions of dollars in public subsidies. Everyone has a stake in how that money is spent."

This survey ranks schools based on their contribution to the public good in three broad categories: Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students), Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs), and Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

Earning the #7 spot in the National Universities category -- and a special note in the introduction -- is Case Western Reserve.

"One of the dangers of charging ever-higher tuition, as colleges have been doing for years, is that it can snuff out the natural altruism students often feel at that point in their lives. It’s hard to think about serving your country or community when you’re worried about servicing your student loans. But some colleges do make a conscious effort to emphasize larger obligations. Case Western Reserve is a well-known Ohio research university that shows up at a respectable number forty-one on the U.S. News rankings. It vaults all the way to number seven on our list due to an unusual commitment to service: Case Western students go into the Peace Corps in high numbers, the university spends a significant amount of work-study money on service, and it reports high levels of service participation by students and faculty."
 
Also making the grade is John Carroll University, which claimed the #6 in the Masters Universities category.

Read the entire survey here.

"Greater Cleveland has the potential to become the national leader in the growing renewable energy economy," Mayor Frank Jackson writes in a Plain Dealer editorial.
 
Jackson says that Cleveland must do what it takes to bring about LEEDCo's goal of planting a 20-megawatt wind energy pilot project seven miles offshore from downtown. More than just an overblown science experiment, the project will be the country's first freshwater wind farm, creating approximately 600 initial jobs and the potential for 8,000 long-term wind-energy jobs.
 
Calling on all private and public sector parties to set aside short-term interests in favor of long-term benefits, Jackson says, "If we don't take advantage of this opportunity, someone else will. Some other city will build the first offshore wind farm. Some other region will create thousands of new green-collar jobs."
 
Read the Mayor's impassioned appeal here.

It's only fitting that as Cleveland's urban farms continue to attract national attention, so too should Cleveland's pioneering urban farmers.

On September 16, 2011, Maurice Small will receive such an honor when he receives a Rodale Institute Organic Pioneer Awards. Held annually in Kutztown, Penn., the awards recognize the farmers, scientists and activists who lead the organic movement in America.

Honored for work as youth organizer, Maurice Small was co-director and youth program advisor for Cuyahoga County's City Fresh Project.

“The organic movement has come a long way, and it is largely in thanks to pioneers like Dr. Harwood, Drew and Joan Norman, and Maurice Small, who believed in the power of organic from the beginning and weren't afraid to take a stand early on. They are an inspiration for all of us, especially for the next generation of organic leaders," notes Maria Rodale, chairman and CEO of Rodale Inc.

"Regarded as a visionary, a food broker, an educator, and a friend of worms, Maurice Small has more than twenty years of experience in creating excellent soil, growing delicious food and cultivating young leaders in Northeast Ohio. Deservedly distinguished as an “Urban Action Hero,” Maurice saves lives each day through his mission and work."

Rodale Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach. It celebrates its 30th anniversary this fall.

Reap the rest of the awards right here.

Two Ohio angel investment groups -- one from Cleveland, one from Columbus -- have landed on Entrepreneur magazine's list of Top 10 Angel Investor Groups.

"Sometimes a company's future growth is contingent on landing angel investment funding," the article's author writes. "The challenge is to find the right angel investor who is passionate about your business."

"You can get started with this resource list of the largest angel investing firms in the U.S., according to the Angel Capital Association, a trade association of investment groups," he offers.

With a roster of 180 angels, Cleveland's North Coast Angel Fund, which invests in Ohio-based technology startups, claims the sixth spot. Columbus-based TechAngel Funds, with 282 angels, is the number one group. This group supports early-stage Ohio-based information technology, advanced materials, and medical technology companies.

Read the rest here.

"Partying is hardly the main purpose," promises RTA Bar Crawl organizer Joe Baur.

To be held Saturday, August 27, the Crawl will utilize public transportation to ferry attendees from urban location to urban location, with stops Ohio City, University Circle, Little Italy, Larchmere/Shaker Square and E.4th Street. The day-long event steps off at 1 p.m. and winds down in Ohio City at 8 p.m.

"The purpose of the RTA Bar Crawl is to show Clevelanders and our suburbanite friends that our public transit system is a safe mode of transportation to get around the city," Baur explains. "It's also my hope that people will come away from the crawl envisioning life living in Cleveland proper. Walking, riding a bike or taking public transit to work, being part of the ongoing revitalization and knowing your fellow Clevelanders instead of going from boxed house to box car to office, back home to fall asleep and repeat."

Baur says the inspiration for the event came to him after listening to the "Mike Trivisonno Show," when the host said he would never step foot on the RTA, adding that downtown is filled with people who can't afford to live in the suburbs.

"Meanwhile, I'm laughing to myself," he adds, "because I fought like hell to get out of the suburbs!"

The event will also benefit the charity We Run This City.

For more info, click here.

This coming Sunday, August 14, food truck impresario Chris Hodgson will make his cable TV debut when Season 2 of the Food Network's "Great Food Truck Race" takes to the airwaves.

Hosted by Tyler Florence, the series features eight top food trucks competing for a $100,000 grand prize. Over the course of seven weeks, the trucks engage in a cross-country battle, with one team being eliminated at each stop. Thanks to omnipresent social media, Hodgson fans in Cleveland know that our favorite lunch-wagon guru makes it clear to the final week with his newly christened second truck, Hodge Podge. What happens next is a well-guarded secret.

Each week, Happy Dog will host hosting a viewing party. Hodgson will have both food trucks parked outside the Detroit Shoreway venue to feed fans. The show will be broadcast on all five of the bar's flat-screen TVs.

Check the schedule here.

"If you're all about 'The Avengers,' then Cleveland is the place to be," says this recent item on MTV's website.

The article reports that the four-week filming schedule is for a pivotal -- and explosive -- scene in the Marvel Comics superhero flick.

"Word is that a big battle will be shot [in Cleveland]. Odds are it will be the biggest battle of the film and appear toward the end."

"A movie like this is guaranteed to have a big battle," the article continues. "But now it seems we can pinpoint it to Cleveland, so it ought to be especially fun to watch filming there. Apparently there will be lots of explosions in the downtown."

Read the rest here.

Each day, thousands of hungry Ohioans eat nothing.

The Cleveland Foodbank in association with the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks and Charter One, have launched the Nothing Campaign to bring awareness about the growing issue of Hunger in Ohio. Cans of Nothing can be purchased for $3.00 and will provide at least 12 meals to help feed our hungry friends and neighbors.

To learn more and to make a donation, visit this site.

Cleveland, like many cities, is in possession of numerous vacant lots -- 20,000 or so, say some estimates. Land banks, which purchase, raze and repurpose some parcels, is one solution. Urban farms are another.

In this lengthy essay in The New York Times, written by Michael Tortorello, another use of vacant land is discussed: ecological research.

"As it happens," reads the piece, "a team of local scientists has designated this accidental landscape an Urban Long-Term Research Area -- that is, Ultra. And having won a $272,000 exploratory award from the National Science Foundation, the researchers call their project Ultra-Ex. There's enough turf here for everybody: Ultra-Ex scientists are studying bird and insect populations, watershed systems, soil nematodes and urban farms.

Their mission? To document the ecological benefits that vacant lots might provide and to redefine the land, from neighborhood blight to community asset.

Read the compelling piece here.

When the editors of Food Network Magazine set out to uncover this country's finest pizzas, they solicited the opinion of Fresh Water editor (and Scene food writer) Douglas Trattner. Having recently devoured his 20th Sunnyside pizza from Bar Cento -- with runny yolk still dripping down his chin -- his response was immediate and definite.

In the September issue, which hits newsstands August 9, the magazine unfurls a map of "50 States, 50 Pizzas," in which they crown the best pizza of every state of the nation. The editors, like Trattner, were won over by Bar Cento's Sunnyside, which features salty pancetta and soft-cooked eggs with provolone and lots of black pepper.

For the full slice of the story, click here.

Melt Bar & Grilled, Cleveland's favorite grilled cheese emporium, has nabbed a spot in ESPN Magazine's list of top ten best sports bars in the country.

"We've been to thousands of them," the magazine claims, "dark, dank bars with the same overfried food, flat beer, sticky floors and TVs that never seem to have the right game on. But every once in a while, we stumble upon a joint that makes us happy we gave up our remote for the night. These are those joints…"

Melt sits at No. 10 and was the only restaurant listed in the tri-state area of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

"Think watching the Cavs is hard to stomach?" quips the mag. "Try eating five pounds' worth of grilled cheese and fries in one sitting," referring to The Melt Challenge, a dare to down Melt's monster grilled cheese featuring 13 different cheeses, three slices of grilled bread and a pile of hand-cut fries and slaw -- more than five pounds of food!"

ESPN's nod is the latest in a long string of national attention, which includes "Diner's, Drive-ins and Dives," USA Today, Esquire, "Man vs. Food" and others.

"Tech jobs are one bright spot in the economy," Businessweek announces. "The hiring spree taking place in that sector isn't limited to Silicon Valley. Cities across the country are enjoying a boost in employment thanks to information technology jobs."

"The tech sector is fueling a job boom that stands in stark contrast to the malaise of the general job market. The nationwide unemployment rate ticked up to 9.2 percent in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the same time, the unemployment rate for tech professionals dropped to 3.3 percent, from 5.3 percent in January."

And nowhere, according to a recent ranking by the magazine, is that growth stronger than here in Cleveland.

Claiming the No. 1 spot thanks to 107-percent growth, Cleveland saw the biggest boost in tech sector jobs in July compared to a year ago. Technology career website Dice.com tracks the cities with the biggest year-over-year growth in job listings.

According to the article, the companies that are doing the most hiring in Cleveland are IBM and Deloitte & Touche. They are looking for employees with skills in systems integration, software engineering and project management.

Read the rest of the rankings here.

Progressive, the fourth largest auto insurance group in the country, is looking to fill 108 sales, service, and claims phone representative positions as well as 23 information technology and analyst positions by the end of September.

Smart, outgoing people looking for a rewarding career are urged to apply.

"Progressive is known for taking risks and introducing innovative products," John Hoppes, national recruiting director at Progressive, is quoted in the BusinessWire article. "We are looking for energetic, customer-focused people who are passionate about finding new ways to solve problems and create ways to meet and exceed our customers' needs. In return, Progressive offers a culture that understands and welcomes diversity, rewards people for being themselves, thinking differently and for the ideas they bring."

Candidates must have an associate's and/or bachelor's degree for most positions offered except those in customer service roles.
In addition to medical, dental, vision and life insurance benefits, Progressive employees also enjoy potential bonuses, on-site fitness center, child-care subsidy and tuition assistance.

To find out more about jobs at Progressive, visit here..

To read the article, click here.

In this Bloomberg article titled "BofA Donates Then Demolishes Houses to Cut Glut," reporter Lindsey Rupp details the mortgage service provider's plan to donate 100 foreclosed houses in Cleveland.

"Bank of America Corp., faced with a glut of foreclosed and abandoned houses it can't sell, has a new tool to get rid of the most decrepit ones: a bulldozer."

With so many foreclosed -- and in many cases blighted -- homes flooding the market, experts say prices are depressed and buyers are driven off, causing housing values to keep dropping.

"There is way too much supply," Gus Frangos, president of Cleveland-based Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., is quoted in the article. "The best thing we can do to stabilize the market is to get the garbage off."

According to Case Western Reserve University and Neighborhood Progress, there are as many as 13,000 foreclosed and abandoned properties in the city. Demolishing all of them could cost as much as $250 million.

BofA will kick in as much as $7,500 for demolition ($3,500 in areas eligible to receive federal funds).

Read the entire article here.

Movies presently being filmed in Cleveland are translating into millions of dollars and thousands of room nights for area hotels, according to the Ohio Department of Development. The films, most of which are taking advantage of the new Ohio Film Tax Credit, could generate close to $5.3 million in economic activity and more than 41,000 room nights, according to an article in HotelNewsNow.com.

Indeed, those figures might be modest, says Katie Sabatino, public information officer for the state development department. "There are plenty more film and TV projects that come to Ohio and use hotel nights that do not use the tax credit, and since there is no real film permit in Ohio, it is impossible to know exactly how many room nights are used," she is quoted in the article as saying.

"The Avengers," which is filming in Cleveland now, is the largest feature film ever made in Ohio, according to the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. That film alone is responsible for gobbling up 27,000 room nights, says the commission's Ivan Schwarz. Six other movies are currently being filmed in Cleveland.

Check out the rest of the screenplay here.

A recent article in Dredging Today titled "Port of Cleveland Unveils Plan for City's Lakefront Development" outlines the Cuyahoga County Port Authority's immediate plans and challenges.

"The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority's plan will try to bring jobs to the lakefront while creating recreational development like the kind that once thrived in the Flats," says the article. "Making that happen means shoring up the slowly-sliding Irishtown Bend and finding a suitable home for heavily metallic sediment dredged from the Cuyahoga River and port."

Development has already begun, it continues, mentioning Scott Wolstein and Fairmount Properties' $275-million East Bank project. The article also states that the Port Authority recently purchased a four-story building on West 9th Street for $3.1 million, which will serve as its new home.

Other development, most notably around Cleveland Browns Stadium and the shoring up of Irishtown Bend, are also mentioned.

Read the rest here.

Meanwhile, the Port of Cleveland is currently soliciting feedback on its Strategic Action Plan. Review the Strategic Action Plan and give your feedback through the online survey. The Port will review all public comments and the Board will later vote on proposed recommendations.

Last May, Councilman Joe Cimperman participated in the annual Community Food Security Coalition, a food policy conference in Portland, Oregon. Turns out, he killed.

"The surprise darling of the Community Food Security Coalition conference last May was a little-known city councilman from Cleveland," Hannah Wallace writes for Faster Times. "He spoke fervently about his city, a city of flourishing community gardens, backyard bee hives and chicken coops, a city where all farmers markets accept food stamps, where schools get discounts for sourcing local food, and where both trans-fats and smoking on playgrounds are banned. His name? Joe Cimperman."

In this lengthy Q and A, Cimperman discusses some of the efforts that are helping Cleveland become a "food justice utopia," and a model for other cities to emulate.

Cimperman explains how in 2007, Cleveland became the first city to pass an urban farm zoning law, leading to an explosion of community gardens. He says that by 2020, the goal is to have a community garden within five blocks of every Cleveland resident.

He also mentions progressive city programs like urban chickens and bees, farmers markets accepting food stamps, and shoring up food deserts with fresh produce.

"Community gardens just make us a nicer city," Cimperman says in the article. "They make us share more, pay more attention to each others' kids, understand each others' cultures more. There are just so many ancillary benefits to community gardens -- we can't imagine."

Digest the rest here.