In a Huffington Post story titled “ It’s a Small (Business) World: The Benefits of Exporting,” Karen Mills, an administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, shares a story about Cleveland’s TLC Products and its success in exporting through the assistance of the program.
 
“I recently visited TLC Products -- a Cleveland business which manufactures live bacterial products used for environmentally-friendly water treatment in ponds, septic systems and aquariums,” Mills writes.
 
“The company credits SBA Express loans and other products with transforming their business. Today, they have export opportunities to eight countries and expect to increase sales significantly next year with additional sales to China, India and Mexico.”
 
Check out the detailed piece here.

In a Fox News list titled “Top 10 Irish pubs in the US,” the fine folks at Gayot share that regardless of the time of year and one's heritage, a pint of Guinness and a plate of corned beef and cabbage is available anytime of year.
 
Cleveland’s own The Harp located on Detroit Ave. earns the honor of joining the list.
 
“The Harp sets itself apart with live music nights, an Irish/American menu, and a huge patio offering views of the Lake Erie shore and Cleveland skyline.”

Enjoy the full piece here.

In an Architect’s Newspaper blog post titled “Cleveland Leads U.S. Cities in Bus Rapid Transit,” Chris Bentley shares that Cleveland was the only American city to earn a “Silver Standard” ranking from the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP). None made the “Gold Standard.”
 
Cleveland was praised for its HealthLine, which in turn has helped spawn billions of dollars in investment to the city’s economic centers.
 
“Cleveland’s HealthLine, formerly The Euclid Corridor, is a 9.2-mile transit corridor connecting Downtown, University Circle, and East Cleveland with 40 stops along the way. [The] hybrid articulated buses ferry passengers 24-7.”
 
Four American cities made the ITDP “Bronze Standard.”
 
Read the full post here. 

In a SmartPlanet post titled “Perfectly detailed, perfectly gorgeous (and perfectly dull),” C.C. Sullivan explains the behind-the-scenes processes that take place when it comes to museum design and/or renovations.
 
“Museums usually turn out to be just as conventional as the corporations and socialites who run them," Sullivan writes. "These one-percenters are also corporate directors, university trustees, hospital board members and generally busy-busy folk.”
 
While these talented people can organize a well-run competition, their results tend to disappoint as they focus more or “marketability” rather than design.
 
The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland earned praise for “doing it right.”
 
“It is a truly progressive cultural achievement. The design was radical enough to scare the pants off the museum’s own leadership. We applaud the choices and challenges behind this new, magnetic public place.”
 
Check out the full story here.

In a The Economist article titled “Beethoven with Your Beer,” writer A.T. shares the irony of heading out to a dive bar to hear extraordinarily talented classical musicians play while scarfing down hot dogs and chugging beer.
 
“The idea for the sextet -- piano, flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello -- to perform at the bar came from a meeting of minds," the article states. "Joshua Smith, principal flautist at the orchestra and lead member of Ensemble HD, had long been interested in reaching out to people who don't go to classical-music concerts; and Sean Watterson, owner of Happy Dog, is similarly interested in mixing high- and low-brow culture.”
 
The first performance of the ensemble occurred in June 2011.  There was concern and low expectations but as it turned out, patrons were lined up down the block.
 
“They stayed for the entire three-hour performance; a hush falling over the usually noisy space. Then at one point a group of bearded hipsters wearing flannel shirts raised their lighters and chanted "Beethoven! Beethoven!" in appreciation.”
 
Enjoy the complete article here.

In a Craft Beer story titled “Craft Brewers Revitalizing the Rust Belt,” Joe Baur writes that the Rust Belt cities of Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis have become thriving areas for local breweries to open operations and bring life into their respective neighborhoods.
 
In Cleveland, the Ohio City neighborhood is home to Cleveland staple Great Lakes Brewing Company, Market Garden Brewery and the newer Nano Brew.
 
Sam McNulty, owner of Nano and Market Garden Brewery, sees brewery-based neighborhood revitalization as a perfect fit with Rust Belt history.
 
“Brewpubs and breweries are essentially light manufacturers,” he explains. “There’s a certain romance to it. The same way people like milling with their chef or farmer, people really appreciate milling with their brewer, knowing the bar they’re sitting at is a short distance away from where the beer was brewed.”
 
Read the rest of the Rust Belt news here.

In a Fast Company story titled “5 Lessons IN UI Design From A Breakthrough Museum,” Cliff Kuang proclaims the Cleveland Museum of Art as a case study for blending physical and virtual worlds thanks to Gallery One.
 
The museum's goal was to utilize technology in a way where it was interactive and fun, but still let the artwork shine and remain the focal point.
 
"We didn’t want to create a tech ghetto," says David Franklin, the museum’s director. Adds Local Projects founder Jake Barton, "We wanted to make the tech predicated on the art itself."
 
From getting people to wiggle and smile, to shaping the content to the medium, to looking through the tech, not at it, Gallery One and the CMA had a challenge on their hands, and met it head on.
 
Enjoy the full feature here.

In a Food & Wine post titled “The People’s Best New Chef: Great Lakes,” Cleveland’s own Chris Hodgson is a nominee for the magazine’s well-known award.
 
He is among 100 outstanding chefs, divided into 10 regions, who will compete for votes from the general public. The chef with the most votes in each region will be named a finalist and the finalist with the most votes overall will be named The People’s Best New Chef. The winner will be featured in the July issue.
 
Hodgson’s bio gives him kudos for being appreciated “because he pioneered Cleveland’s acclaimed food-truck scene with his quirky takes on American comfort food, now featured at this brick-and-mortar spot,” referring to his restaurant Hodge’s.
 
The post goes on to talk about his culinary background training at Le Cordon Bleu in Scottsdale and his work at Christopher’s Crush (Phoenix) and The Spotted Pig (New York City) before returning to Cleveland to found Dim and Dem Sum Truck.
 
Fans are asked to vote for the Cleveland chef. Voting runs now through 3/18/13. Visit here to cast yours  http://www.foodandwine.com/peoples-best-new-chef/great-lakes
 

In a Columbus Dispatch piece titled “Host with the Most,” writer Steve Stephens highlights the Brownstone Inn, innkeeper Robin Yates, and the amazing transformation the area has made in the past few decades.
 
While Yates has been through his share of rough times, he sincerely believes Cleveland is making a comeback.
 
Stephens writes, “During my tour, we drove by or stopped at many attractions I knew only vaguely at best: the historic Dunham Tavern, the oldest building in Cleveland and now a museum; the fanciful and exclusive Hermit Club, the haunt of performers at PlayhouseSquare; and the Cleveland Arcade, one of the earliest indoor shopping malls, restored to its Victorian-era splendor.”
 
Stephens goes on to discuss the transformation of the area on Prospect where the Brownstone is located. Yates adds, “In 16 years, I called the police over 10,000 times. Now my guests can walk to PlayhouseSquare; it’s completely safe.”
 
Check out the full story here.

In a New York Times story titled “Cleveland TV Station Celebrates Andy Griffith After Oscars Snub,” James C. McKinley Jr. applauds Cleveland’s NBC affiliate WKYC for canceling its prime-time lineup on Thursday, Feb. 28, instead airing a two-hour episode of “Matlock” after the Oscars failed to honor Andy Griffith in the yearly obituary reel.
 
“The Academy did snub Andy Griffith,” said Brooke Spectorsky, the president and general manager of the station, WKYC. “We thought it would be a nice tribute.”
 
While the entire obituary piece is slated to take three minutes, there is traditionally tough competition. Griffith is known mainly for his television work but did appear in feature films.
 
“Mr. Griffith lost out to Ernest Borgnine, Charles Durning, Nora Ephron, Tony Scott and Marvin Hamlisch, among others,” McKinley concludes.
 
Check out the full piece here.

In a Minnesota Public Radio feature titled “How does Mayo stack up against its competitors?” Elizabeth Baier explores how Cleveland’s own Cleveland Clinic and Global Center for Health Innovation (formerly known as the Medical Mart) is hindering Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic’s aspirations to be the leader in the healthcare industry.
 
Baier states that while the Mayo Clinic is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top medical facilities, its competitors are growing by leaps and bounds as well.
 
“The center, officially the Global Center for Health Innovation and Cleveland Convention Center, is publically financed through a quarter-cent local sales tax passed in 2007. The one-million-square-foot campus will house big-name health manufacturers and service providers like GE Healthcare and the Cleveland Clinic.”
 
The project alone is expected to draw an additional tens of thousands of visitors to Northeast Ohio each year.
 
Explore the full story here.

In a Huffington Post blog post titled “Cleveland Start-Up Seeing Green,” Emily Sullivan explains how the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI) is assisting Evergreen Cooperative’s latest venture, Green City Growers Cooperative, in operating a 3.25-acre hydroponic greenhouse and packing facility on Cleveland’s east side.
 
“The Greenhouse, and its employee-owners, will produce over 6,000,000 heads of lettuce and other leafy vegetables a year, all intended for local consumption,” Sullivan explains.
 
The choice for ECDI to support the cooperative was simple due to the fact its business model stood out.
 
“The opportunity to work with Green City Growers' cooperative provided the perfect starting point for ECDI to get involved in healthy food initiatives across the Northeast Ohio region.”
 
Read the full story here.

In a Yahoo! News feature titled “Hottest Cleveland Neighborhoods for 2013,” writer Paul Rados describes the improving real estate environment in Cleveland, while highlighting the Tremont and Ohio City neighborhoods as an area ripe with potential.

Both are popular, trendy neighborhoods that are a major draw due to their walkability and proximity to downtown, dining and entertainment.

“There is a friendly attitude everywhere you go," Sarah Urbancic of Howard Hanna explains. "People like being in the thick of things and also appreciate the fact that if your city is strong, the neighborhoods will be stronger. Everyone supports the effort to make each building [and] each block stronger and more welcoming."

In a Wall Street Journal articled titled “Study Raises Doubts over Robotic Surgery,” writer Melinda Beck explores the use of robotic surgery for hysterectomies and its growth in popularity in recent years and it’s cost/benefit ratio.
 
"Robotic surgery does help me when I have to go really deep in the pelvis or use a lot of sutures," Cleveland Clinic gynecological surgeon Marie Paraiso, who uses both procedures, is quoted in the article. "But we haven't really defined which patients it helps most and it's never been shown to be cost-effective."
 
Paraiso goes on to explain that she has found no significant differences in blood loss or pain between the robotic method and the laparoscopic method, but the robotic method does take longer on average, which can bring added cost.
 
View the detailed story here.

In a Huffington Post piece titled “About a Museum,” Agnes Gund, President Emerita and Chairman, International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, writes of her childhood growing up learning to appreciate the arts at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

“That museum -- inspired by a band of prominent citizens, designed by local architects on donated land -- opened in 1916 as an achievement and adornment of its city. It was Cleveland through and through, not least in the motto it proclaimed for itself: "For the benefit of all people, forever."

The post continues into warm tribute to a place that has become a part of Gund herself.  It is a very intimate account of the importance the museum has played throughout her life.

In a Zillow Blog article titled “Single No More! Where to Move for Love in 2013,” Alison Paoli lists Cleveland as #4 on the list of Top 10 cities for men seeking women age 35 and under.

Cleveland also ranks #8 for the top 10 cities for men seeking men age 35 and under and #3 for the top 10 cities for women seeking women age 35 and under.

“Zillow ranked the 150 largest U.S. cities based on the Zillow Rent Index versus the median income, walkability and the ratio and abundance of single males to single females aged 35 and under. The resulting cities are geographically diverse, with median rents ranging from $800 to $2,500 per month.”

Check out the full list here.

In an Eater.com article titled “JFB Announces 2013 Restaurant and Chef Semifinalists” Raphael Brion shares the most recent “long list” of semifinalists for the coveted James Beard Foundation Awards.
 
Cleveland finds itself well represented with four local chefs up for various honors.
 
Michael Symon for Outstanding Chef
Jonathon Sawyer for Best Chef: Great Lakes
Zack Bruell for Best Chef: Great Lakes
Matt Danko for Outstanding Pastry Chef
 
The finalists will be announced on Monday, March 18, 2013 with the winners announced on Monday, May 6, 2013.
 
Check out the full list here.

In a Huffington Post report titled “Cities have hundreds of empty schools,” Philip Elliott writes of the nation’s largest cities struggling to sell valuable property while still incurring costs to keep them secure while empty.
 
Elliot notes that Cleveland already has found uses for 25 former buildings, bulldozed seven other buildings to turn into parks, but still has 27 additional properties up for grabs.
 
“The number of idle buildings does not include properties that the districts are holding on to but are not using. Cleveland, for instance, kept several buildings at the ready to fill in for others they plan to renovate in the future, officials there said.”
 
Read the full report here.

In a New York Times feature titled “Software Assistants for Doctors Are Making Progress,” Steve Lohr highlights how doctors are struggling to keep up with the information overload when it comes to decision making in medicine and how technology is working to keep medical professionals up to date.
 
“The information overload for doctors is only growing worse," Lohr writes. "Medical information is estimated to be doubling every five years, and surveys show most doctors can find only a few hours a month to read medical journals.”
 
Lohr notes that a prime example of technology gearing up to assist medical professionals is I.B.M.’s supercomputer Watson, which currently is being trained as a medical student at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.
 
View the complete feature here.

In a New York Times feature titled “Locally Grown Gets Tricky in the Cold,” writer Dan Saltzstein discusses the difficulty chefs face when trying to keep their menus locally focused at a time of year when not a whole lot is being grown.

"Locally grown. Market-sourced. Farm to table: These phrases have become the mantras of the American menu, promising ingredients that are supremely fresh, in season and produced within a tight radius of the restaurant," writes Saltzstein. "But what can they possibly mean in the dead of winter, in northerly climes where farms are battened down and the earth is as hard as a raw cabbage?"

Cleveland’s Jonathon Sawyer takes the winter months in stride.

“We sort of look at winter the way an old-school chef looks at frugality,” said Jonathon Sawyer of the Greenhouse Tavern, in Cleveland. “We take more time with dishes because we have less to put on the plate.”

Saltzstein also mentions Sawyer’s “Sustainability Initiatives,” including the bottling of his own vinegar and pantry full of preserved items.