Brewed Fresh Daily

Three stories making news across the Midwest today:

1. Milwaukee’s employee-benefit conundrum. Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett and the city’s Common Council are unsure whether the city is exempt from a new state law that requires public employees contribute more toward benefit costs. The city’s attorney says Milwaukee should not comply. The governor’s chief counsel says yes. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the disagreement centers around the state constitution’s home-rule provisions and terms of a decade-old legal settlement. Following the new law could save the city $8.2 million annually, but risks a lawsuit.

2. Chicago schools’ financial trouble. An 82-page analysis of Chicago Public Schools’ 2012 budget says that a “fiscal calamity” lies in the district’s near future if cuts are not implemented, according to the Civic Federation, which released the report Monday. The organization endorsed decisions like denying teachers a 4 percent cost-of-living increase and raising property taxes, according to our partner station WBEZ. The Federation said those decisions will look small if other remedies are not implemented to the $5.9 billion annual budget by 2014.

3. Urban garden potential. Two Ohio State researchers say as much as $115 million in produce could be grown on vacant land in Cleveland, enough to meet 22 to 100 percent of the city’s fresh food demands. “We were definitely shocked it was really possible to be self-reliant,” Parwinder S. Grewal, co-author of the study, told the Columbus Dispatch. Cleveland holds 5.3 square miles of vacant lots, and the city has recently loosened regulations to make urban gardening more palatable.

Posted in ArtsBenefitBizTechEventsHotKidsMusic: PopularPerformanceSarah ValekScience

[ June 11, 2011; 7:00 pm; ] Sat 6/11 @ 8PM Simply put, Cleveland's own Telsa Orchestra turns music into lightning. They bring together original music from around the world, dance, theatrics, and giant indoor lightning bolts for a truly electrifying concert experience. See two of the world's largest twin musical Tesla Coils perform right here in the 216 on Sat 6/11. Check [...]

Posted in ArtsBizTechCarol DrummondCivic AffairsEntrepreneurialismNewsPreviewShopLOCALTheatreThomas MulreadyVideo

VIDEO: Sneak Peek of CPH’s New Home Backstage at Allen Theatre at PHS Watch as Cleveland Play House‘s artistic director Michael Bloom gives us a front-to-back tour of their new home, right smack in PlayhouseSquare. • See the brand new marquee right out front on Euclid Avenue. • View the renderings to see what the finished interiors will look [...]

Posted in ArtsBizTechEntrepreneurialismEventsFestivalHotJohn BensonMusic: PopularPartyPerformanceWorkshop

[ June 10, 2011 3:00 am to June 12, 2011 3:00 am. ] Two Epic Days of Music & Design Weapons of Mass Creation Fest 2011 In case you didn't notice, we live in a festival world. There's nothing humans love more than celebrating themselves and their accomplishments. From ribs to beer (we'll let that one slide) to ethnicity and film-music, seemingly every niche of life [...]

Posted in ArtsBizTechEntrepreneurialismEventsFashionSarah ValekShopLOCAL

[ June 11, 2011 3:00 pm to July 3, 2011 3:00 pm. ] Open Sat 6/11 - Sun 7/3 Check out Collective Upcycle, a cool new shop popping up in Detroit-Shoreway for a limited amount of time. Details: "Collective Upcycle is a pop-up boutique of reused art & handmade goods by Cleveland artists. We'll take over the big & beautiful storefront in the NearWest Loftworks building at 6710 Detroit Avenue [...]

Posted in BizTechCivic AffairsEventsGreenHotNewsSarah ValekScience

[ June 7, 2011 3:00 pm to September 1, 2011 3:00 pm. ] Now you can tour a home that could represent the future of energy-efficient housing -- SmartHome Cleveland, a passive house/exhibit now open to the public @ the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The house functions without a furnace, making it 90 percent more energy efficient than a regular home. The house is built with high [...]

Posted in BizTechCivic AffairsCommentaryEntrepreneurialismNewsShopLOCALThomas Mulready

  While name checking everyone from Tri-C’s workforce development to BioEnterprises’ spurring of biomedical investment in the region from $30M in 2005 to $150M per year now, USAToday credits Northeast Ohio’s cluster strategy, funded in part by the state’s Third Frontier program, for generating entrepreneurship and jobs in a region that has lost it’s manufacturing powerhouse. Ohio, [...]

Posted in Alan BlockAlex SukhoyArtsAudioBenefitBikesBizTechCarol DrummondCivic AffairsClaudia TallerComedyCommentaryDanceDavid BudinDouglas O'BryonDrinksEatsElsa Johnson & Victor LucasEmmie HutchisonEntrepreneurialismFashionFestivalFilmFreeGreenGreg CielecHealthyHelpHelp WantedHistoryHotHunter MorrisonJohn BensonJordan DavisJulie CagijasKelly FerjutzKidsLarry DurstinLaura KennellyLaurie WanningerLiteraryMansfield FrazierMusic: ClassicalMusic: PopularNewNewsOperaOutdoorsPartyPerformancePetsPoliticsPreviewReviewRoldo BartimoleRoy BerkoSarah ValekScienceShopLOCALSportSusan PetroneSusan SchaulTheatreThomas MulreadyTravelVideoWorkshop

What to do? Where to go? Navigate our region w/ the Cool Cleveland iPhone app What’s hot? What’s new? What’s happening? Download the new Cool Cleveland app for your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch & find the answer to these questions. We point you to the coolest events in town, which you can [...]

Posted in ArtsBizTechCivic AffairsEntrepreneurialismEventsFreeGreenHistorySarah ValekWorkshop

[ June 21, 2011; 3:00 pm; June 28, 2011; 3:00 pm; July 5, 2011; 3:00 pm; ] Tuesdays through Tue 7/5 @ 7PM Building Below the Radar showcases the work of three local architecture firms -- StudioTechne, Kordalski Architects, Inc., and Anthony Paskevich & Associates. Not only that... this is the first exhibit of living, local architects by a Cleveland arts organization in a generation. The exhibit is meant to spur dialog about [...]

Posted in Alex SukhoyBizTechCommentaryEntrepreneurialismNews

You’ve Graduated. Now What? Recent grads, local professors and a family share job hunt concerns & strategies “Skill is fine, and genius is splendid, but the right contacts are more valuable than either.” – Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr. According to Mark Whitehouse’s May 7, 2011 WSJ article, “The Class of 2011 will graduate this spring from America’s [...]