The Tremonster issue #66
Category: Tremonster News
Tremont Brainery: Social Security Disability 101 Workshop with Andrew November on 11-10-21
by Michael Jankus
Disability attorney Andrew November will be hosting one of his Social Security Disability 101 workshops over Zoom on Wednesday, November 10 through the Tremont Brainery.
Andrew November is a litigator at Liner Legal LLC. in Old Brooklyn and a Tremont resident, along with his wife, Keri November, who happens to also be one of the people responsible for the Tremont Brainery.
The seminar is free and open to anyone of any age seeking information about or considering Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance.
“I can talk about this stuff with my eyes closed, I give out my phone number all the time, I’m always happy to answer questions,” Andrew said. “I’ve been living in Tremont for six years and I’m like, ‘why have I never targeted something towards our community?’ So when I got this opportunity from my wife. . . I’m here in this community, I live and breathe this, so I want to provide this information.”
For the past 11 years as an attorney Andrew has been speaking at high schools, colleges, senior centers and medical practices with the crucial message not to wait until it’s too late.
“They’ve had a traumatic accident, or a progression of a condition they might have lived with and worked with for 20 years, or a sudden onset of an illness,” he said. “So they don’t get educated about an extremely complex system until they are forced to apply, or got a denial and can’t believe they’re denied because they think they’re disabled.”
Continue readingCleveland Council Ward 12 Candidates Answer Community Media Questions
The Tremonster wishes to thank our fellow member outlets of the Neighborhood & Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland (NCMA-CLE), The Neighborhood News and the Plain Press, for their collaboration in making this Ward 12 Cleveland City Council Candidate Q&A forum possible. The Neighborhood News and Plain Press also have community media readership in Ward 12 and have published the questions and answers specific to their communities. Thanks as well to the candidates, Anthony Brancatelli and Rebecca Maurer, for their thoughtful answers.
The Tremonster: Cleveland Council’s 2013 Ward redistricting placed four streets from the Tremont neighborhood in Ward 12 with Slavic Village and Old Brooklyn–how will you make sure resident needs on these four Tremont streets are addressed as attentively as Tremont residents on streets making up much larger portions of Ward 3 and Ward 14 from their representatives?
Rebecca Maurer: Well, first and foremost, I would continue to canvass and talk with residents across the Holmden, Buhrer, and Rowley area, as I have done during my campaign. I would also maintain a strong connection to the HBR-MCC block club and Tremont West. But between 2021 and 2025 we also have a chance to re-draw the lines when City Council shrinks from 17 members to 15 because of the 2020 census results. I do not believe that the way the lines are drawn are currently fair — for exactly the reasons you describe. I would work hard to make sure slices of neighborhoods like HBR are not separated into other wards.
Anthony Brancatelli: The 11 streets in Tremont that are part of Ward 12 form a great neighborhood. There is a dynamic energy in the residents and businesses in that area. My success in serving this portion of Ward 12 is well documented in action and results. Bringing resources of over a million dollars in paving streets such as Clark, W. 14, Holmden, W. 11 or supporting existing businesses such as Clark Bar and Rowley Inn or helping new businesses like Urban Orchid as well as new affordable housing with the Land Trust are examples of what has been accomplished. I serve this portion of Ward 12 with the same energy as all parts of our community.
The Tremonster: We have reported on the receding of block club influence compared to developers in other areas of Tremont–can you help rebalance this relationship in a way that empowers residents to have more influence over how Ward 12’s Tremont blocks develop?
Continue readingCleveland Consent Decree Public Meeting on Community Involvement
By Rich Weiss, for Neighborhood & Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland
The Neighborhood and Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland (NCMA-CLE) is providing monthly reports on a series of community conversations about the 2015 Consent Decree negotiated between the US Department of Justice and the City of Cleveland regarding the policies and practices of the Cleveland Police Department.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, what percentage of the Consent Decree [is] considered to be completed? 10 percent, 30 percent, 70 percent?”
“Do you think the Community Police Commission (CPC) should play a more significant role with enforcement power? And are there any down sides to shifting disciplinary enforcement power from the Chief of Police?”
“Why should Clevelanders believe that the CPD can police itself and its behavior without significant oversight from citizens, since we’ve had two federal probes and we still are underneath a Consent Decree beyond its five-year deadline?”
These were among the questions being asked and answered during the monthly conversations held online about the workings of Cleveland’s Consent Decree. The September meeting focused on the “Cleveland Police Commission and Citizen Involvement.”
Continue readingJoin This Month’s Public Editorial Meeting for The Tremonster: 10/12 @ 6:30 pm (by Zoom or phone)
Please register for our 10/12/21 6:30 pm public editorial meeting to help guide our coverage for November’s issue of The Tremonster.
Gaelic Glen Alpacas Return to Walkabout Tremont
by Michael Jankus
At this month’s Walkabout Tremont on October 8 the Gaelic Glen Alpacas will bring their joy to Professor Avenue from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Rob and Kathy Turk fell in love with these “huggable lawnmowers” at first sight and started Gaelic Glen Alpacas LLC in 2010 to share their newfound lifestyle with everyone.
“People experience a lot of joy with the alpacas,” Rob said. “They’re happy to see them, and they get a chance to pet them, and feed them, and hug on them.”
Gaelic Glen Alpacas is a family farm in Perrysville run by retired Rob and Kathy Turk where they breed and raise Huacaya and Suri alpacas for their wonderful fiber as well as sell them. The couple are also keen to bring them to places like elementary schools and Walkabout Tremont where people can meet an alpaca for the first time and maybe even form an immediate connection, as they did.
“We love to let people experience these magnificent animals,” Rob said.
Continue readingAlpacas in Tremont? …Free Eviction Help …Meet the Women Behind The Gentleman’s Barber Shop …The Tremonster Issue 65 is out!
Advocates for free eviction help urge increased commitment by the City of Cleveland to fully funding the program
by Chuck Hoven, Plain Press
This article is republished with permission from the Plain Press. The press conference on “eviction help” was organized by the Neighborhood and Community Media Association of Greater Cleveland (NCMA-CLE), an association of 14 community media outlets serving Greater Cleveland, including the Plain Press and The Tremonster.
United Way of Greater Cleveland, the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and CHN Housing Partners have teamed up in a public private partnership with the City of Cleveland to offer free help to qualified Clevelanders facing eviction.
Two programs paired together, the Right to Counsel Program of Legal Aid and Rental Assistance Program at CHN Housing Partners are successful in helping those eligible to stay in their homes and avoid the destabilization and life altering impact of eviction. Program advocates from United Way, Legal Aid and CHN Housing Partners would all like to see the City of Cleveland increase its commitment to these programs and expand eligibility to more households facing eviction.
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FirstEnergy’s admissions feed critics’ call for big-picture regulatory oversight and review
The company’s revelations about Ohio’s largest corruption case raise questions about the integrity of the regulatory process and its piecemeal approach to reviewing utility spending.
By Kathiann M. Kowalski
This story is from the Energy News Network in collaboration with Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join Eye on Ohio’s free mailing list or the mailing list for the Energy News Network as this helps The Tremonster provide more public service reporting.
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio should conduct a big-picture, in-depth review of FirstEnergy’s spending and governance in light of the company’s admissions last month about former PUCO Chair Sam Randazzo, critics say.
“It’s not a debate anymore whether the company engaged in corruption,” said Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center. “The company did so. With this pervasive corruption, the PUCO needs to mind the store in order to protect the public interest and to protect consumers.”
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