This is a modern day Hooverville. This should not be happening on the fringes of one of the richest cities in America. It is an outrage. If the structures of our culture have failed so many people that there's a shanty town on the sidewalk then the city needs to acknowledge the problem and create a space for them to camp that includes services like trash removal and toilets rather than just allowing these sidewalk camps to spread. It's reached the point where pedestrian access is completely blocked and piles of garbage are blocking a whole lane of traffic. These people aren't just the few that fall through the cracks they are an entire community. They are people who have been evicted and lost work and have nowhere to go. This is not normal! I understand that this situation is complicated and hard for the city to deal with but it should not just be ignored. We have been so patient with this but it keeps getting worse and as months pass it's having a very negative effect on our community. We don't want the cops to come in and break it up, it just forms again a day later on the other side of the street. We want these people to be given a place to be, some dignity and basic services.

A Queen Palm was demolished earlier today when a car westbound on Lake Park skidded out of control. This is not an emergency since he tree has already been removed.

While I the hope the driver wasn't seriously injured, this incident raises two distinct issues:

#1: This was the third of the Queen Palms that were installed in 2003 as part of the Splash Pad project that were destroyed by out of control vehicles. On the first two occasions, as far as I know, no efforts were made by the city to sue for damages that would be used to plant replacement palms. An established Queen Palm this size is going to run about $600 -$700 and delivery and installation will double that price. Since the Public Works Department is extremely short-staffed and lacking in funds, this latest palm is not going to be replaced unless the driver's insurance company foots the bill. As we all know, the city is being sued constantly--often for far less clear-cut reasons. How about us trying to level the playing field?

#2: There have been numerous accidents on this short stretch of Lake Park -- typically cars speeding as they come off the freeway and/or speeding up to try and make the green light on Grand. The palm in the median across from KFC was destroyed several years ago and not replaced. The one today was across from Chao Thai. Another three palms in that median are heavily scarred from earlier accidents. I'd strongly suggest that Traffic Engineering look into installation of signs that warn of a curve ahead and/or 25mph speed limit signs or whatever else may do the trick.

The shooting on the morning of April 13th outside of shadow ultra lounge makes that the 10th shooting at that address in the last 3 years. That's probably some sort of record. Any chance that the operator of the nightclub could be evicted under the nuisance ordinance? Or do we have to get to 20 shootings before something can be done?

On Mandana boulevard, between Grand Avenue & Lakeshore Avenue, there is not a single cross walk....this is about a 6 (long) block stretch. It is unrealistic to think that people won't cross Mandana, and traffic continues to worsen. This is to request a quick study on what it would take to add painted pedestrian cross walks at Erie and at Walker.

The T-intersection at 41st and Gilbert is very dangerous. There is only one crosswalk across 41st on the east side of the intersection (with no stop sign), cars tend to drive very fast going up and down the hill. There is a preschool at the corner, and parents and kids often cross 41st on the side without the crosswalk because of the limited parking for drop off and pick up on Gilbert, so parents often park in the angled parking spots on 41st. There is minimal signage regarding the school zone on the west side of the intersection, so cars are unaware to slow down. Additionally, the visibility going east on 41st is limited because of the hill, so cars often cannot see pedestrians in the street until they are very close. It is an accident waiting to happen.

I would like to request improved traffic control measures to address these dangerous conditions, such as upgraded crosswalk striping, pedestrian crossing warning signage, pavement extensions, stop signs on the east and west sides of the intersection along 41st, and/or another crosswalk on the west side of the intersection.

As with other pedestrian crosswalks in our community, this one at the Cleveland Cascade has no lighting to alert drivers that someone is crossing. I recently was almost hit when a driver began to brake as I approached and then accelerated through the crosswalk, narrowly missing me just as I stepped out into his or her path. This crosswalk needs the same blinking light system used in other area crosswalks.

This person has tagged more than two dozen buildings, several kiosks, garbage cans, sidewalks, and as of last night someones work van parked on MLK.