Clinic Signs Clinic - Healthcare-less Yawn.

*Note: Staff diversity not representative of market base

Some (potentially good) news on the health front today from Crain's. The Cleveland Clinic, the health care behemoth slowly ingesting Midtown, has signed a deal with MinuteClinic, the mini-medical clinics located within many CVS stores. The in-store clinics will provide certified medical personnel overseen by Medical Directors at the Cleveland Clinic. "Great!" I thought, "with the cutbacks at MetroHealth and other facilities, this will provide citizens of Cleveland with a local, convenient, and inexpensive option for basic medical care!"

Not so fast... Reading on, I discovered that there are currently eight MinuteClinics within CVS stores in the state of Ohio. Surely there is a recognition of the utter deficiency of medical care outlets within major metropolitan areas, right? Where literally thousands of underserved and low-wage earning people would benefit, right?

Nope.

The list, as noted in the article: Chagrin Falls, Aurora, Hinkley, Strongsville, Twinsburg, Westlake, Woodmere, and Shaker Heights. Granted, the last two are 'on the fringe' of Cleveland-proper. Mapped out connect the dot-style, the locations look like an actual wall separating the richer suburbs from 'the dangerous city'. What a crock. I would bet that the population densities in the Cleveland area CVS neighborhoods are greater than in the suburban locations where there are already considerable options for medical care.

I know I certainly wouldn't be opposed to one in the Lorain Station neighborhood. Or perhaps they don't think that area residents would be interested in their services; like ear wax removal for $59. However, other services, like low-cost vaccinations and treatment for minor injuries by MinuteClinic's "team of board-certified practitioners... trained to diagnose, treat and write prescriptions" could be a nice addition to the neighborhood.

BYOG

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the Chico, California based pioneer in the micro-brewery movement, has added another entrepreneurial and environmentally forward thinking feather to their already well-plumed cap. A byproduct of brewing, yeast, just happens to be the exact material needed for this kick-ass contraption, the EFuel100's MicroFueler, to turn it into clean running E85 ethanol!
The price tag of $9,995 is a bit steep for the average homebrewer (and I'm guessing unless you're really banging out some batches way too much yeast capacity), but for a relentlessly greening brewing company who just happens to already collect rainwater, grow their own local veggies, recycle a huge percentage of their restaurant waste and have a van that runs on vegetable oil, it could be just the thing! Now if only there were a company like that around here (I'm looking at you Great Lakes)...

If anything, it would invite some very positive press, increase recycling, cut down on carbon emissions (every little bit helps, right?), further position the company in eyes of consumers as being environmentally friendly, and fuel your tanks as well! Also, it would provide a unique addition to the landscape on Market Avenue...

Visions of Bonnaroobians Dance in My Head...

Let the Tent Vortex fun begin...

It's official. Phish will be headlining two glorious nights on a farm in rural Tennessee. Let's hope the ticketing system for the 'Roo is more responsive than for the ungodly slow and error-message prone system used for the rest of the tour. My guess is that come Saturday morning, you'd better be bright eyed and bushy-tailed if you want to cash in on this behemoth event (oh, and packing some heat with your plastic at nearly $300 a pop)... But, for anyone who's been knows - it's always worth it.

Believe? Or just Leave?

Should we? Can we afford to?

I was greeted with an unfamiliar and, quite frankly, unappreciated surprise on Monday afternoon. Retrieving the mail on the front porch, I saw a young man, obviously pained, walking (or straggling) down the sidewalk. As he approached, I was leery. He was covered in snow and not wearing a jacket; an anomaly on a 17 degree day.

With a notable limp, he came to the gate and asked if he could come inside, and that he was just 'jumped' around the corner. He seemed sincere, if not altogether trustworthy, so I acceded to his request and ushered into the warmth. He immediately went to remove his shoes on the rug so as not to traipse snow around the house, which I took to be a good sign.

I asked him to tell me more about what happened, and he stated that he had been walking to CVS when two individuals sneaked up on him from behind, put him in a headlock, punched and kicked him repeatedly, purloined his (new Columbia) coat, and took off, leaving him winded, injured, and lying in a bank of snow.

My point in posting this is not the (unfortunate) novelty of having been near-witness to a mugging, but as a frustrated homeowner wondering what the future of this city is. Katie and I have been Cleveland proponents since we rediscovered it's charms after our college adventures, and have tried to support it financially, culturally, and personally at every turn. But where does one draw the line? After our property has been vandalized? Is it after we've been robbed? Or is it only a forced trade-off for living in a(n at times) vibrant community of artists, entrepreneurs, and progressive people? Maybe it's the weather, but my pessimism grows...

In Michael Ruhlman's inspiring look at his Cleveland Heights neighborhood, House, he nostalgically opines about the City's grander days, when streetcars ferried people in suits and hats around town on streetcars, and when the Millionaires Row of mansions on Euclid Avenue was not just some ironic joke.
I suppose the real question is; 'do we now embark on an effort to rebuild a city that may be already beyond the brink, or do we, like those of Cleveland's glory days, move to a place like it once was - on the move, growing, with a plan, a purpose, and a willful population'? I think I'd like to be on the deciding end of that question, for better or worse, than waiting to have it decided for me. Because if Monday is any indication, the good guys aren't looking so good.