Cleveland Ethnics

Growing up in Cleveland, my friend Alex and I have grown to associate ethnic groups with certain areas of Cleveland. At Ohio State, we have been exposed to lots of other people from Cleveland and generally, our experiences confirm the stereotypes of our youth. We've also found that other Cleveland kids tend to share our predispositions.

Until recently, we had no empirical evidence to support this Cleveland lore. That is no longer the case. By breaking down census data by zip code via MLA.org's Language Map, we can isolate how many people speak a language in each area of Cleveland. We can now provide scientific evidence identifying where different ethnic groups live in Greater Cleveland.

The East Side is full of Italians...

And Russians too.

A search for Hebrew speakers confirms the obvious about Beachwood and Shaker.

Se hable espanol en Lorain, Old Brooklyn, y Painesville.

Slavic Village and Parma are full of Poles.

Cleveland is also full of Slavs. Unfortunately the census tracks "Serbo-Croatian" and does not distinguish between the two dialects. Regardless, everyone knows Parma is home to the Serbs while Eastlake is home to the Croatians. It's probably a good thing that the valley separates the two.

What language break down is this?

Stumped?

This map confirms two things:

(1) Geauga County is full of Amish folks

(2) Despite shunning indoor plumbing, electricity, and cars, Amish folks are apparently down with taking the Census.

(And for the city slickers of cyberspace who couldn't figure this one out, Amish folks speak a dialect of German)

Questions for My Cleveland Grandma

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I had the opportunity to sit down with my grandmother and listen to some of her stories about Cleveland and our family. My grandmother grew up on the lower east side during the 30' and 40's before moving out to the west-side suburbs in the 50's. She had stories about Euclid Beach, Halle's, and countless other Cleveland institutions. At times I felt like I was reading a nostalgic Dick Feagler column.

Over the Christmas holiday I plan on sitting down with her again. Armed with my computer, I plan on recording her stories.

Surely some of you have lost a parent or a grandparent and didn't get a chance to ask them questions. What questions do you wish you could have asked? What questions should I ask my grandmother?

Ohio's Newest State Senator

The election of Mark Mallory as Mayor of Cincinnati left a vacancy in the Ohio Senate. There has been much speculation over who would be appointed to fill the seat. Today the mystery is over. Eric Kearney has been selected to fill Mallory's Seat by the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Who is Eric Kearney?

Kearny, a lawyer and businessman, is a major player in Cincinnati's black community. He is CEO of Sesh Communications which publishes the Cincinnati Herald. He attended high school at St. Xavier (Cincinnati's St. Ignatius) and college at Dartmouth. He received his law degree from UC.

Kearny seems like a pretty solid pick. He's young, he's savvy, and he's got the money to run an election campaign.

Welcome to the Senate Eric.

RON Issues Fail

In bellwether Lake County, Issues 2-5 failed by wide margins with all 217 precincts reporting. It is impossible for the issues to fail this dramatically in moderate, independant-heavy Lake County and pass state wide. Here are the results from the Lake County Elections Board:


State Issue 2 - No fault absentee

YES 34.80%
NO 65.20%

State Issue 3 - Campaign Finance Limits

YES 32.72%
NO 67.28%

State Issue 4 - Redistricting Board

YES 28.37%
NO 71.63%

State Issue 5 - State Board of Elections

YES 27.70%
NO 72.30%


This is a sad day for fair play in Ohio. The radical partisans from both parties killed these good government reforms.

Campus in Autumn...

Fall is a great time to be a college student, especially at Ohio State. Walking around campus these days, you feel like you're walking through one of those glossy college advertisements bulk mailed to high school seniors.

Here's a view of the South Dorms across South Oval. This time last year, 40,000 people gathered here for an appearance by Bruce Springsteen and John Kerry.

Here's a view of The Oval, the epicenter of campus. The Oval was fenced off last year, much to the chagrin of the student body, while the lawn was replaced. The Oval was officially rededicated at the beginning of this quarter.

Here's a view of the Senate Office Building where I work in downtown Columbus. The Senate Office Building is at the eastern end of the Statehouse. Once two different buildings, they are now connected via an enclosed atrium.

Worse Than Art

In Cleveland there are few people hated more than Art Modell. In 1995, Art Modell abruptly moved our beloved Browns to Baltimore. Modell turned his back on the Clevelanders that had supported his team for decades. While Modell's actions still cause indignation in the hearts of many a Clevelander, they come no where near the level of treachery displayed recently by Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, killing 1300 people and submerging large portions of the city, Benson went to work planning to permanently move the Saints to San Antonio, Texas.

"For them to be openly talking to other cities about moving is disrespectful to the citizens of New Orleans, disrespectful to the Saints fans who have hung in with this franchise through 30-something years under very trying times," New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said.

The Saints joined the NFL in 1967. In 1986, Benson was part of an ownership group that bought the team to ensure it would stay in Louisiana. Benson eventually bought out other members of the group.

The attempted move has been compared to Art Modell's move to Baltimore.

"I'm ready to go to the NFL and to (commissioner Paul) Tagliabue and say, 'Give us the Cleveland plan,'" Nagin added, referring to the league awarding Cleveland an expansion team almost immediately after the Browns moved to Baltimore after the 1995 season.

"Whatever the Saints want to do, you let them leave, but they can't take our logo, they can't take our name, and you give us a promise to give us a franchise when this city's back."

This happened last month, but now Tom Benson is back in the news, saying he will no longer attend Saints home games at LSU because he fears for his life. Apparently people in Louisiana are mad at him. Who would have thunk?

From Cleveland to New Orleans: Go to Hell Benson!

Cleveland Loses a Legend

Today is a sad day for Cleveland sports. Today is sadder for me than the loss of the '97 series. Today is probably sadder for my father than The Drive or The Fumble or any other countless Cleveland Sports tragedies. Today we lost Hal.

I grew up with Hal Lebovitz. His columns were some of the first I read after I learned phonics. Every Sunday morning my dad and I would rush to see who could get the News-Herald sports section so we could read Hal's column first. In later years, I became more interested in the politics section of the paper, but I always got around to reading Hal. Hal was a part of life.

My father and Hal conspired to instill a passion within me for Cleveland, sports, and fair play. With Hal's death, I feel as though a part of my childhood died. Sunday mornings will never be the same.

Hal was a staple of the Cleveland Sports scene since the 1940's. In 2000, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Hal, we miss you dearly.

Stay well and see you somewhere soon, I hope.