the urban news for the week ending Sunday, August 10, 2008
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 Arts & Culture
With the grass-roots support of volunteers and others, the musicians, acting as their own managers, have played on.
City Scene
Staring at a likely budget shortfall, Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman has called for department directors to eliminate 102 jobs from the city payroll through job cuts and a hiring freeze.
Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman Friday announced 42 lay-offs and 60 open positions that will not be filled as the city tries to avoid a budget deficit.
The signs say they'll buy your house, rent you a car or give cash for your junk.
The state Controlling Board has approved a $500,000 roadwork grant for NetJets Inc.ââ¬â¢s expansion, another installment in the multimillion-dollar public incentive package that helped keep the aviation company in Columbus.
Dumping is down this year by nearly 20 tons, largely because people are being more frugal, buying less and recycling more, according to Ron Mills, executive director of SWACO.
Clintonville
Clintonville residents weighed in last week on how to spend more than $500,000 given to the community by the city six years ago for improvements along High Street.
Downtown, German Village
Oktoberfest will take place Sept.5-7 at Genoa Park and Amphitheater, between the banks of Scioto River and COSI. It will run from 5 p.m. to midnight on Sept. 5, noon to midnight Sept. 6 and noon to 8 p.m. Sept. 7.
Grandview Heights
Word from the Mayor is the boarded up hotel at the corner of 33 and Grandview Ave. will be torn down soon.
Demolition began Monday, Aug. 4, on the dry goods warehouse and the refrigeration warehouse in the Big Bear warehouse complex, 770 W. Goodale Blvd.
Nationwide Realty Investors (NRI) has begun demolishing buildings on the former Big Bear warehouse site, 770 W. Goodale Blvd.
The city of Grandview Heights has approved a demolition permit for the former Knights Inn Motel, 1070 Dublin Road.
Real Estate Affairs
Since real-estate tanked, many new planned communities across the country are half-empty, with for-sale signs outnumbering residents by a large margin.
Schools & Education
Columbus voters won't be able to choose between two tax measures that the school district will put on the ballot in November. Instead, residents will have to accept or reject both, the school board decided yesterday.
State Scene
Canton, Cleveland, Dayton and Youngstown get the dubious distinction, based on their anemic population growth and their sluggish gains in overall economic activity.
Transportation & Roadways
Super-long, environmentally friendly buses powered by a combination of electricity and diesel are in the Central Ohio Transit Authority's future.
A Connecticut railroad operator has signed a deal to buy the 445-mile Ohio Central Railroad System for $219 million.
The streetcar line proposed by Mayor Michael Coleman would stretch along only 2.8 miles of High Street, but it could fit into a larger, regional rail system, said supporters of a $300,000 contract extension with HDR Engineering Inc. at Columbus City Council's July 28 meeting.
They aim to allow pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and bus riders of all ages and physical abilities to use streets and sidewalks safely and efficiently.
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