NORTHEAST OHIO NEWS

Real-Time Updates for Cleveland and Northeast Ohio

Cleveland Orchestra No. 7 in new world ranking

by Zachary Lewis/Plain Dealer Music Critic

Thursday November 20, 2008, 3:24 PM

The Cleveland Orchestra is still one of the best orchestras in the world, but it's not the best. In fact, according to Gramophone magazine, it isn't one of the top five.

A new ranking of the world's top 20 orchestras in the December issue of the British music magazine has Cleveland at No. 7. The list, to be published Friday, is based on the opinions of Gramophone editors and those of select music critics in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Editor James Inverne said the rankings favor orchestras with an "immediately identifiable sound." In first place is Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw, followed by the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics and the London, Chicago and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestras.

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Police swarm embattled Brunswick Hills chief's neighborhood

by Patrick O'Donnell/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday November 20, 2008, 3:23 PM

BRUNSWICK HILLS -- The street where embattled Police Chief Robert Osiecki lives is closed and police, including officers in camouflage and carrying heavy weapons, are stationed around his house.

The chief was suspended without pay two weeks ago following an altercation involving a firearm at his home, Sun Newspapers reported.

Police offered few details Thursday afternoon but it appeared they were engaged in some sort of standoff at the chief's home. A mobile command unit and heavy-duty police vehicles were set up on Loan Tree Court, near Substation Road.

University Circle design panel on Cleveland Institute of Art expansion plan: Try again

by Steven Litt

Thursday November 20, 2008, 3:22 PM

Citing a need for more refinement in design, the University Circle Design Review Committee unanimously tabled on Thursday the latest version of plans for a $55 million expansion of the Cleveland Institute of Art's McCullough Center in University Circle.

The design, created by the Pittsburgh office of the regional architecture firm Burt, Hill, calls for a 60,000-square-foot building with a cafe, galleries, auditorium and studios for the art college's design and digital media programs.

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Search of Joe the Plumber's records was improper, Ohio inspector general rules

by Aaron Marshall/Plain Dealer Columbus Bureau Reporter

Thursday November 20, 2008, 1:47 PM

COLUMBUS -- Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Helen Jones-Kelley improperly allowed employees to look at Joe the Plumber's confidential state records with "no legitimate agency function," a state investigation concluded.

That's the bottom line from a 48-page report released by Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles today. The report calls Jones-Kelley's authorization "improper" and says that she has committed "a wrongful act" by allowing underlings to search databases for information on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, a Toledo plumber who was thrust into the spotlight of the 2008 presidential election after he asked a tax policy question of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

The report calls her rationale that the agency often searches databases for those thrust into the public spotlight "unpersuasive." It says that two former agency directors contradicted Jones-Kelley's claim that such searches are done on newfound celebrities. It concludes that there was "no legitimate agency function or purpose" but does not find that it was politically motivated.

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PNC, National City's buyer, says it needs more money

by Teresa Dixon Murray and Stephen Koff/Plain Dealer Reporters

Thursday November 20, 2008, 1:25 PM

Although PNC Financial Services Group is getting $7.7 billion from the U.S. Treasury as part of its deal to buy National City Corp., PNC said today it needs more money.

In a roughly 200-page regulatory filing, PNC said it plans to issue 93 million shares of common stock and 1,500 shares of preferred stock to raise more money.

PNC is buying National City of Cleveland for $5.6 billion in a deal that's expected to close by Dec. 31. (For more coverage of the National City situation, go to cleveland.com/nationalcity.)

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Voinovich's auto-bailout plan gains steam; Sherrod Brown signs on

by Stephen Koff/Plain Dealer Bureau Chief

Thursday November 20, 2008, 12:54 PM

WASHINGTON -- A compromise auto-industry bailout bill put together by Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio and Kit Bond of Missouri has gained more support, and sponsors and supporters plan to unveil it at a 2:30 p.m. news conference at the Capitol. (Related story: See The Plain Dealer's original report from Wednesday.)

Besides Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, who joined talks yesterday, other Democrats who have signed on today are Ohio's Sherrod Brown and Michigan's Debbie Stabenow, according to Voinovich's office. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania also is on board.

"It's a sensible compromise, and we feel that if there is a vote, it's going to pass," Voinovich spokesman Chris Paulitz said.

The deal would provide up to $25 billion in loans to Detroit. The money was already approved by Congress for a different program, one to retool the industry for advanced-technology cars and trucks. Instead, the bailout legislation would let auto makers borrow the money to meet their immediate payroll and cash-flow needs. As the companies repaid and the pool was replenished, the companies could re-borrow for the retooling originally envisioned.

The bill still could face hurdles from House or Senate leaders who wanted the money to come from the $700 billion financial industry bailout fund. They also worried that the effort to produce cleaner, more efficient cars would suffer if the money for the necessary retooling is deferred or diverted.

But if the Democrats who signed on can convince their leaders to compromise, political squabbling might take a back seat and Detroit will get its $25 billion rescue to avoid auto maker bankruptcies.

"Thank God, saner heads prevailed," said Jim Graham, president of the United Auto Workers Local 1112 in Lordstown.

Inner Belt truck ban snagged 43 violators Wednesday; extra enforcement continues

by Donna J. Miller/Plain Dealer Reporter

Thursday November 20, 2008, 10:34 AM

CLEVELAND -- Police continue to monitor trucks approaching the Inner Belt Bridge.

Yesterday, officers warned 43 truck drivers who attempted to use the bridge and directed them to use the detours.

"We will be out again after morning rush hour and this evening," Lt. Thomas Stacho said.

The Ohio Department of Transportation's weight restriction announced last week had been ignored by about 1,900 big rigs, after ODOT put up nearly 100 signs about the restriction.

The heavy-truck traffic forced ODOT to delay the opening of one additional lane in each direction.

Once the truck traffic is stopped, ODOT will open the third lane, the East Ninth Street entrance ramp and the Ontario Street ramp to Interstate 77.

U.S. raid kills Iraqi blamed in 2004 death of Ohio reservist

by Ryan Lucas/Associated Press

Thursday November 20, 2008, 10:30 AM

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi al-Qaida leader in Iraq blamed in the 2004 abduction and murder of an Ohio Army reservist and several other attacks over several years has been killed in Baghdad, the U.S. military said today.

Hajji Hammadi, also known as Hammadi Awdah Abd Farhan and Abd-al-Salam Ahmad Abdallah al-Janabi, was killed with another armed insurgent on Nov. 11 in a raid by U.S. forces acting on a tip in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood, according to a statement.

Five other suspected insurgents were detained, it added. The military said it was announcing the death after Hammadi was positively identified.

It was the latest in a series of high-profile killings as the U.S. military targets the al-Qaida in Iraq leadership to shore up recent security gains.

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A mixed bag of events and conclusions: Editors' Picks for Thursday from The PD

by Peter Zicari

Thursday November 20, 2008, 10:12 AM

If you've been following along, today's top stories won't surprise you. The two exceptions: University Circle Inc. is going to build an ice rink with a slippery plastic surface instead of ice on the lawn of Wade Oval, familiar to fans of Parade the Circle; and the Cavs lose, breaking their win streak at 8.

Meanwhile, the mills of the gods keep grinding:

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'Emily's law' for pharmacy technicians expected to pass

by Aaron Marshall/Plain Dealer Columbus Bureau

Thursday November 20, 2008, 9:37 AM

COLUMBUS -- Emily Jerry died because a pharmacy technician wasn't trained well enough to know she was making a lethal mistake by mixing a heavy dose of salt into the tiny girl's chemotherapy treatment.

That tragedy should never be repeated, the girl's mother, Kelly Jerry, told state lawmakers Wednesday as they held a hearing on a bill to regulate and train pharmacy technicians in Ohio for the first time.

Known as "Emily's law," the measure would require that Ohio pharmacy technicians pass a competency test as well as a criminal background check. The measure passed the Ohio Senate in May, and is now undergoing hearings in the House Health Committee.

Propping up a picture of her curly-haired toddler in front of her, Jerry described holding the 2-year-old in her arms as the Mentor girl first went limp and then began screaming as the saline coursed through her veins.

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PNC decision on National City jobs expected soon

by Teresa Dixon Murray/The Plain Dealer

Thursday November 20, 2008, 6:30 AM

PNC Financial Services Group is gearing up for an announcement regarding the fate of thousands of jobs, primarily in Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh bank, which said last month it is buying Cleveland's National City Corp., told employees this week that management "should have an idea soon" about the number of jobs likely to eliminated because of overlap. National City has 29,800 employees; PNC has 28,000.

Four weeks ago, when the deal was announced, PNC Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Rohr said the company expected to make a decision on job cuts in about a month, even though the deal won't close until late December. He said the combined bank planned to cut expenses 10 percent, or more than $1.2 billion a year, by eliminating redundancies.

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Consumer friendly: Gasoline prices continue to fall with no end in sight

by John Funk/The Plain Dealer

Thursday November 20, 2008, 12:05 AM

You might want to think twice about filling up the tank in the family car. At least right away.

As relentlessly as they went up, gasoline prices are falling. Daily.

And the bet is that tomorrow's prices will be lower than today's.

Beaten by fears of a global recession, commodity traders are pushing oil prices toward $50 per barrel -- some analysts say even lower. Crude closed at $53.62 Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 77 cents. That's 61 percent lower than July's record $147.27.

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Outdoor ice skating returns to University Circle

by Patrick O'Donnell/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday November 19, 2008, 11:18 PM

Outdoor ice skating is returning to University Circle.

Sort of. More like high-density polyethylene skating.

A temporary skating rink will open Dec. 7 in the Wade Park Oval that will use a synthetic ice, instead of the good-old natural frozen stuff.

Workers will start assembling the jigsaw sheets of the milk jug-like surface in the grassy area between the Cleveland Botanical Gardens and Natural History Museum next week, along with lights for night skating and temporary buildings for concessions and skate rental.

It will be open to the public for free, mostly on weekends, until Feb. 16.

"It's a revival of tradition with a modern-day twist," University Circle Inc. President Chris Ronayne said. "We're bringing back a bit of nostalgia with a new technology."

The project will cost more than $125,000, which is covered by donations, he said.

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City and county leaders discuss racial inequities in sentencing

by Leila Atassi/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday November 19, 2008, 10:49 PM

CLEVELAND -- All at the table agreed it is a systemic problem with severe consequences for a community. And all agreed that finding a solution to racial disparities in Cuyahoga County's criminal justice system is a bigger undertaking than any one of their offices could handle alone.

Cleveland City Council members, county Prosecutor Bill Mason and other players in the criminal justice system met for 3½ hours with local leaders in the black community Wednesday to discuss racial inequalities observed in the system.

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Marcia Fudge, with style of her own, takes congressional seat

by Olivera Perkins/Plain Dealer Reporter

Wednesday November 19, 2008, 9:46 PM

Finding the politician at this political fund-raiser wasn't easy.

Marcia Fudge wasn't holding court. She wasn't back slapping. She wasn't playing the "Hey, girlfriend" role, though many of those attending belonged to Delta Sigma Theta, the sorority she once served as national president.

On this Sunday afternoon, many of the women were still in frilly church frocks and heels. Fudge wore a conservative black suit and low-heeled shoes that sent an unmistakable message: "I am a woman about business."

The focused, no-nonsense style that marked her nine years as Warrensville Heights mayor now gets a bigger platform as Fudge begins serving the unexpired term of the late U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, which she won Tuesday.

Fudge was sworn in Wednesday on Capitol Hill for the 11th Congressional District seat. In January, she begins serving the two-year term she won Nov. 4 for the district that includes Cleveland's East Side and several eastern suburbs.

Fudge, who resigned as mayor Tuesday, and Tubbs Jones were the closest of friends and political allies. Shortly after the congresswoman died of a ruptured aneurysm in August, her family began lobbying the local Democratic Party to make Fudge its nominee. She would have been Stephanie's choice, they said.

Their names were always being linked, as at the fund-raiser held nearly two months after Tubbs Jones died.

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Martin Sweeney's reign over Cleveland council at risk after upset in special election

by Gabriel Baird and Henry J. Gomez/ Plain Dealer Reporters

Wednesday November 19, 2008, 9:31 PM

Cleveland City Council President Martin J. Sweeney put his political clout to the test during Tuesday's special council elections and lost so badly that some colleagues are talking about a change of leadership.

During interviews Wednesday, they said the defeat of one Sweeney-backed candidate and a disappointing finish by another leaves the council president vulnerable to a coup.

"Clearly, council leadership is the issue," said Councilman Mike Polensek, a former council president and frequent Sweeney critic.

Sweeney chalked up the attacks to politics. "The political jockeying always elevates during election years," he said. "I can't pay much attention to it. I just have to keep doing my job."

The losses come at a tenuous time for Sweeney. This week, The Plain Dealer reported that he is identified in two subpoenas served on contractors as part of the FBI's public corruption probe. Sweeney also is unpopular with several colleagues for championing a council reduction measure that voters passed earlier this month.

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Phillip Morris: Cleveland worker vulnerable and trapped inside his home

by Phillip Morris/Plain Dealer Columnist

Wednesday November 19, 2008, 9:00 PM

A 5-year old boy named Isaiah lives in Collinwood with his parents and older sister. He recently developed a sleeping disorder and has nightmares. He refuses to go to bed alone.

Isaiah begs to lie next to his 11-year-old sister, and when she objects, he slips into bed with his parents. He has begun to lobby for a guard dog.

His fears are well-grounded. His nightmare is Cleveland's.

Burglars have struck the home of Floyd and Dorothy Owens, Isaiah's parents, three times this month. Thieves have busted out windows, kicked down a door, and, each time, ignored a burglar alarm siren to enter the home in daylight.

They've trampled the house, taking most everything worth taking.

Gone are computers, clothes, jewelry, toys, iPods, movies and Dorothy's blood pressure medicine. Earlier this week, the vermin returned for another haul.

When Floyd arrived home Tuesday, from his job with the City of Cleveland Water Department, he walked in on the final insult. Gone was a 42-inch flat-screen television, which had been bolted to a large metal bracket, overhanging the family room fireplace. The dirtbags used Floyd's tools, retrieved from the garage, to perform their work.

The skeletal bracket now serves as a mocking reminder that Owen's security was never real and that his creature comforts were never really his. It is cold testament that he played by the rules and still lost, badly.

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