In a feature titled, "Best New Midwest Places to Play, Eat and Stay," Midwest Living encourages its readers to plan their next vacation around the mag's most recent picks of the Midwest's best new attractions, restaurants and hotels.

Under the section Best New Restaurants, AMP 150 earns kudos for its creative -- and surprising -- seasonal cuisine.

"Talk about a surprise. It's in a newly renovated Airport Marriott. It has a garden out back where the chef grows heirloom veggies labeled with cute little chalkboards. And its affordable small-plates menu packs amazing flavor (hello, five-spice marshmallows floating in pumpkin soup)."

Read the entire list of Bests here.

Since opening in 2004, Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park has been nothing short of a wild ride. The 100,000-plus square-foot park attracts thousands of thrill-seekers from all across the Midwest, making it a bona fide Cleveland success story. Last week, owner Ray Petro accomplished what he had been planning to do for years: open a second location out of state.

Last week, Petro opened a 110,000-square-foot Milwaukee location in a former Menards Home Improvement Center, a move he pulled off by partnering with Trek.

In a recent Cycling News article, the writer says the new facility "builds upon the success of the original location in Cleveland, Ohio." The indoor park gives riders a place to ride, train, and develop skills -- especially during the long winter months.

The article states that the grand opening of the Milwaukee location had been postponed until New Year's weekend from its original November date because of city permit issues.

Read the trail story here.

Delta travelers this month who pick up the airline's in-flight magazine Sky will be treated to a heaping portion of Cleveland's Greenhouse Tavern. In an article titled "3 Masters of Comfort Food," food celeb Andrew Zimmern singles out some of this nation's finest, including Cleveland's Jonathon Sawyer.

"He's only 30, but Jonathon Sawyer brings a stacked resume to the table," Zimmern writes, adding that the chef "played instrumental roles in the opening of Michael Symon's Lolita and Parea." Not to mention snagging Food & Wine's "Best New Chef" award.

Zimmern steers "food geeks" straight to Greenhouse's roasted pig's head, while directing tamer palates to the garlic-roasted chicken.

Devour the entire spread here.

What do Munich and Cleveland, Barcelona and Seattle, Turin and Philadelphia, and Seoul and Minneapolis-St. Paul have in common? According to syndicated columnist Neal Peirce, who pens this editorial for the Seattle Times, these cities all have faced moments of serious economic challenge but then devised ingenious recovery strategies.

The recent Global Metro Summit, held last month in Chicago and sponsored by the Brookings Institution, celebrated the comeback efforts of the above cities, including those of Cleveland.

In the editorial, Peirce writes that "Seattle, the Twin Cities and the Cleveland area are even in the midst of what Brookings is heralding as a new era of applying modern business-style planning to the economic-development potential of entire citistates."

Touting "highly participatory planning processes that create vision," Peirce points to numerous examples of cities experiencing remarkable economic turnarounds.

"Could a U.S. region such as Cleveland and its sister cities of Akron and Youngstown -- erstwhile continental champions in steel, rubber, chemicals and auto assembly, now on the economic ropes -- produce similar results?" he asks rhetorically before offering the following encouraging words.

"Spirited Northeast Ohio efforts to coalesce and stop internecine warfare among the region's local governments have led to a business-type planning initiative, the "Fund for Our Economic Future." Spearheaded by more than 50 regional foundations, with an unprecedented collection of the area's local governments, business, civic and academic leaders signed on, it has developed an extensive data set, market-based intelligence and a new initiative based on boosting productivity of the region's 1,600 small to midsized manufacturing firms."

"The idea is that many Ohio firms that have traditionally worked in polymers, chemicals and metals could translate well into such current high-demand areas as global health, flexible electronics, transportation and clean energy."

Read the rest here.

In a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial titled "Welcome to Cleveburgh!," regional economist Christopher Briem urges Pittsburghers (and Clevelanders) to rethink their place in the world.

"It may be time to talk about the once-unthinkable," he writes: A combined Cleveland-Pittsburgh metro region.

In terms of population and workforce heft, the combined region is mighty formidable, he asserts.

"The metropolitan statistical areas of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Steubenville, Weirton and Youngtown, along with adjacent counties, add up to a population of more than 6 million and a labor force of more than 4 million," reports Briem.

To compete as a united front, he adds, both regions must share resources, ideas, capital and talent. "Cleve-burgh could take advantage of a much broader set of strengths than either Pittsburgh or Cleveland can tap on its own."

Aside from the gridiron, the beginning of a partnership already exists. The Regional Learning Network was formed in 2009 and brings together local leaders of Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh to address shared problems, Briem points out. And the TechBelt Initiative brings together emerging technology industries of the greater Pittsburgh and Cleveland regions.

So, the next time you come across somebody wearing a Steelers jersey, say, "Howdy, neighbor!"

Read the well-reasoned piece here.

Snagging the 2012 Democratic National Convention will be a coup for whichever of the four finalist cities -- Charlotte, Cleveland, Minneapolis and St. Louis -- manages to secure the honor. According to this New York Times article, "cities vying to be the host expect to benefit from an injection of millions of dollars into their local economies and a blast of free publicity."

The article also states that Cleveland would not be in the running as a finalist if it didn't already meet basic logistical requirements in the areas of hotel rooms, airport and local transportation systems.

Cleveland has in its favor the title as bona fide battleground state. "Democrats cannot win without it. The fact that Democrats did so badly here in the midterm elections should be all the more reason for the party to plant the flag with its convention. And Ohio has more electoral votes, 20, than any other state vying for the convention."

Dings against us? A disappointing turnout at an Obama rally two days before the midterm elections, ongoing County corruption investigations, and the petite size of our main convention hall.

Read the full analysis here.

Community Partnership for Arts & Culture (CPAC), a nonprofit arts and culture organization, recently announced its latest class of Creative Workforce Fellowships. Made possible with support of Cuyahoga County citizens through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the annual Fellowships offer a $20,000 financial award to 20 outstanding artists.

Fellows also receive membership with the COSE Arts Network, a tuition waiver for CPAC's Artist as an Entrepreneur Institute, and inclusion in a publication of Fellows' work.

Five of the awards went to Cleveland Institute of Art faculty members and four went to CIA alums, including Dean of Faculty and Professor Matthew Hollern.

"These wonderful CPAC awards for our faculty and alumni speak volumes about the influence of CIA on the culture and economy of our region," said CIA President Grafton Nunes. "These artists contribute in very tangible ways to the vibrancy of Greater Cleveland and the national arts culture."

See the complete list of artists here.

Steve's Lunch (5004 Lorain Ave., 216-961-1460) hasn't closed its doors since 1955, operating for roughly 20,000 days straight. Take that, Brett Favre! Folks of all walks of life -- and at all times of the day and night -- pull up a stool at the lunch counter for cheap, delicious hot dogs topped with chili and cheese or coleslaw and fries.

The fact that this dog-eared joint earned praise from New York-based Serious Eats, where it recently earned the "Hot Dog of the Week" spot, doesn't surprise local hot dog fans one bit.

"Walking in on a rainy day to a couple of eccentric regulars shooting the breeze was like living inside a panel of American Splendor," writes the reporter.

He adds: "Steve's feels like the type of joint that used to be on every corner in New York -- where drunks, cops and vagrants rub elbows over endless cups of cheap coffee and hot dogs at four in the morning, except there's something about it that's uniquely Cleveland."

Stop in for a couple slaw dogs; It is a culinary experience you won't soon forget.

Consume the rest of the Serious Eats article here.

Holiday time in the newspaper biz is great news for Cleveland's A Christmas Story House and Museum. That's the time of year when fun and fluffy holiday-themed stories fill the gaps left by the lack of real news. Here are just a few of the recent mentions about Tremont's most beloved movie abode.

In a Dallas Morning News story titled "Home featured in A Christmas Story is a holiday special," the writer opts to lead with the good-old leg lamp, stating "It stands where it should: in the living-room window."

He then goes on to say, "The living room, the lamp, the tree, the BB gun and more are inside A Christmas Story House and Museum in the Pembroke section of Cleveland. It's the actual house used for exteriors in the movie, made in 1983." Not sure where the heck the "Pembroke section of Cleveland" is, but you get the point.

Read the report here.

Over in Nebraska -- yes, even Nebraska loves Ralphie -- the Lincoln Journal Star ran a story called "What's Christmas without a visit to Ralphie's house in Cleveland?" Well, sad, that's what!

In the article, the reporter states that the "real draws are the house and the museum, featuring original props and costumes and memorabilia from the film and hundreds of rare behind-the-scenes photos. You'll find the red snowsuit, worn by Ralphie's little brother, Randy, and also his silver zeppelin. There's also the ratty coat that McGavin wore while he changed the flat tire. The family car is parked in a garage next to the gift shop."

Check it out here.

Closer in miles but no less enthusiastic, the Columbus Dispatch deems A Christmas Story House worthy of inclusion in a piece titled "Statewide festivities bound to put you in the holiday spirit."

"The home in Cleveland, featured in the beloved 1983 movie, is open year-round for tours but is, of course, especially popular this time of year. Across the street is A Christmas Story House Museum, featuring original props, costumes, photographs and memorabilia from the movie."

Read more here.

So, calling all "connoisseurs of soap." For cripes sake, get thee to the Christmas Story House and Museum.

In this somewhat skeptical article about the new Medical Mart and Convention Center, Bloomberg writer David M. Levitt dissects the details of the deal. While he posits no predictions nor conclusions, he addresses many of the concerns held by local residents.

"Cleveland, which has poured almost $1 billion into such projects as three sports stadiums and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, is on the verge of spending $465 million in an effort to remake itself as the epicenter for the sale of medical equipment and supplies," the article states at the outset.

Billed as the brainchild of Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, The Medical Mart will be a 422,000 square-foot exhibition center for medical products.

Tim Hagan, outgoing Cuyahoga County commissioner, says he believes that the Med Mart will transcend those earlier civic construction projects by attracting the kind of high-tech jobs the area needs. "I don't think a baseball stadium or football stadium or even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame really redefines a community," he says. "High-tech medical, biotech, that's going to be the new face of the community. What we hope is, when you think of Cleveland, you think of a medical center."

In their most recent update, Mart operators say they have 40 letters of intent for the facility's permanent showroom, plus another 16 letters of intent for conferences, conventions and trade shows. (Though it hasn't released the names.)

Examine the rest of the story here.

According to Michael Goldberg, founder and managing partner of Cleveland-based Bridge Investment Fund, state incentives and a venture capital fund dedicated to investing in Israel continue to lure biotechnology companies from that nation in record numbers. In the past eight years, at least 14 Israeli technology start-ups raised funds from Ohio-based backers, and at least six of these opened offices in the state.

"While many Israelis still look to Boston or Silicon Valley for support, Ohio has done more than other states to attract Israeli start-ups," Goldberg is quoted in the Bloomberg article.

Credit goes to the Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center, which invested at least $3 million during the last eight years in five Israeli health-sciences companies, and BioEnterprise, which helps connect the Israeli companies to capital, medical expertise, and management teams in the state.

One such success: Simbionix, a maker of medical devices, transferred its headquarters from Israel to Cleveland in 2002.

Read the full report here.

Tremont Electric's nPower PEG, a kinetic energy harvesting battery charger, was tapped as one of Wired magazine's "100 Perfect Gifts Whether You've Been Naughty or Nice!" Actually, the nifty device nailed the #5 spot.

Comparing the device to a self-winding watch, the entry says "this 9-inch cylinder captures watts via movement. A short walk charges the battery with enough juice to power up a dead cell phone for an emergency call -- like, say, to the pizzeria. Enjoy that slice; you earned it!"

Scroll through the entire list -- both naughty and nice -- here.

In this podcast of The Story, broadcast on American Public Media, host Dick Gordon chats with Lee Jones of the Chef's Garden. Taped during a live discussion in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the conversation delves into the genesis of what may be the nation's finest gourmet garden.

Located in Huron, near the shores of Lake Erie, the Chef's Garden grows produce year-round outdoors, in cold frames, and under glass. That produce is picked fresh and shipped to chefs and restaurants worldwide, even as far as Japan.

The always passionate Farmer Jones discusses how his family transformed a failed conventional farm into what Gordon calls a "showpiece of agricultural ingenuity."

Download or listen to the podcast here.

Ohio's newly enacted film production tax credit is already paying dividends.

Shot entirely in the Cleveland area this past summer, the film Take Shelter will have its world premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival, held January 20-30 in Park City, Utah. According to the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, the film is just one of 16 to make it into the prestigious U.S. Dramatic Competition section, beating out nearly 2,000 other entries.

Producer Tyler Davidson is a Northeast Ohio native and resident. His previous films include Swedish Auto and The Year That Trembled, also shot in the Cleveland area. Take Shelter stars Michael Shannon, an Academy Award-nominee for Revolutionary Road and newcomer Jessica Chastain, who will star opposite Brad Pitt and Sean Penn in Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.

"The opportunity to launch any film at Sundance is a dream come true," Davidson said, "but a film made entirely in Northeast Ohio, where I was born and raised and where I still live, is truly something special for me. I couldn't be any more excited."

To learn more about the film, check out this release.

Torino has been called the Detroit of Italy. And like that -- and our -- city, it succeeded or failed on the backs of a few large manufacturers. In the 1980s, the shutdown of some of those big companies cost the Torino region more than 100,000 jobs. That city wouldn't turn things around economically for nearly 20 years.

But turn things around it did, says this Time article, which states that Torino has "become a model of how a city can transform itself after an industrial collapse." Civic and business leaders there fashioned an aggressive urban plan that included expansion into international markets, investments in innovation, and the buildup of new sectors like food and tourism. Today, Torino's per capita GDP is more than 10% higher than the national average.

Lessons learned there can -- and in some cases already are, says Time -- being implemented here in Cleveland.

"Once a powerhouse of heavy industry -- steel, rubber, automobiles -- Cleveland has struggled for decades to find its footing. Recently, however, the city and the surrounding area have established agencies like those in Torino to help young companies get off the ground, assist midsize businesses with finding new markets, and guide the city's old manufacturing base into faster-growing sectors such as medical supplies, flexible electronics, clean energy and next-generation polymers."

And efforts are already paying off: "Cleveland and its region are now home to 19 venture-capital firms -- up from two in 2000 -- and are focused on working to help existing firms find their places in the new economy."

Read the entire article here.

In a recent report released by the National Endowment for the Arts, Gordon Square Arts District captured the attention of the report's authors. Complied by the Mayors' Institute on City Design, and entitled "Creative Placemaking," the study highlights communities that are using the arts and other creative assets to help reshape their physical, social, and economic character. The publication is intended to serve as a guide for civic leaders, arts organizations, and philanthropic organizations.

"Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired," the report states.

In the case study titled "The Art of Economic Development," Gordon Square Arts District is touted as a collaboration of three non-profits (Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, Cleveland Public Theatre and Near West Theatre) that is midway through a $30 million revitalization that will generate $500 million in economic development.

Read the entire document here.

In an article titled "Some Very Creative Economic Fix-Its," New York Times writer David Segal states at the outset: "We are not going to shop our way out of this mess."

"So the question of our anxious age," he poses, is: "What will return our economy to full-throttled life?" His answer, of course, is the kind of sustained growth that will put back to work the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in recent years.

But how?

In the story, Gar Alperovitz, a professor at the University of Maryland, singles out Cleveland's Evergreen Cooperatives as one possible solution.

Professor Alperovitz admires local co-operatives that are sprouting up around the country, citing that they tend to be employee owned, and get off the ground with private and foundation funding. "Many of his favorite examples are found in Cleveland," writes Segal, "like the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry, an employee-owned firm that provides laundry services to hospitals, which started in 2009."

Read all the news that's fit to print here.

Sam McNulty's Market Garden Brewery is still months shy of its grand opening, but that hasn't stopped the Ohio City establishment from attracting national attention. In the latest issue of Draft Magazine, the national brewing glossy ran a feature titled "12 breweries to watch in 2011." Claiming one of the dozen spots is none other than Market Garden.

After dubbing McNulty the "beer god responsible for Cleveland spots like the Belgian-laden Bier Markt and pizza-slinging Bar Cento," the article goes on to sing the praises of brewmaster Andy Tveekrem, formerly of the matchless Dogfish Head.

Brew fans can look forward to German-style bock, a Belgian tripel, a honey barleywine, and an American pale ale, says the clip. "But the pair won't stop with beer: Tveekrem will try his hand at distilling with whiskeys, infused vodkas and gin, while McNulty hones a menu of picnic-style eats, perfect for casual meals in the brewery's 3,000-square-foot cobblestoned American beer garden."

Drink up the whole feature here.

Chef Ellis Cooley, AMP 150, and the Cleveland Airport Marriott all earned props in a recent feature in Green Lodging News, the lodging industry's leading environmental news source.

The article, titled "Local, Fresh Approach Goes Down Good at Cleveland Airport Marriott," states that exciting things are happening at the restaurant that should interest any hotel owner or manager looking to increase their business. Writer Glenn Hasek attributes much of AMP's success to Cooley, "who understands the power of social networking, community involvement, and using local, fresh, natural and simple menu ingredients."

The article discusses the chef's on-site vegetable garden, his dedication to local products and farmers markets, and his social media savvy.

Read the whole green article here.

Frank Sinatra crooned in his famous ode to NYC that, "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." But according to Crain's New York writer Miriam Kreinin Souccar, today's version of that song might very well go, "I'll make a brand new start of it -- in old Cleveland."

In an article titled "Artists Fleeing the City," the reporter cites the following problem: Artists can no longer afford to live and work in New York.

"Artists have long struggled in New York, moving into rough areas, gentrifying them and then getting forced out. But as the city has gotten increasingly expensive, there are few such neighborhoods left to move to, forcing a growing number of artists to abandon the city."

The result, she adds, is that "for the first time, artists fresh out of art schools around the country are choosing to live in nascent artist communities in regional cities like Detroit and Cleveland -- which are dangling incentives to attract this group -- and bypassing New York altogether."

So-called second tier cities like Cleveland are actively courting artists with incentive programs and housing deals. "In the Cleveland neighborhood of Collinwood, the Northeast Shores Development Corp. has bought 16 vacant properties and renovated them as artists' residences. All but four have sold, and the development company plans to renovate more properties.

"We thought we'd be attracting artists from Cleveland," says Brian Friedman, of Northeast Shores. "I had no idea we'd be getting contacted regularly by people from New York."

Start spreading the news here.