Welcome! This free speech community journal was created so the Maple Heights African American community could share videos, photos, events, articles, posts, ideas, thoughts, and information.  We're now exclusively on Facebook, so don't forget to also check out our Facebook page.  Have a fantastic day!



Saturday, May 31, 2014

AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP SERIES - JUNE: MAYOR TOM BRADLEY


COUNTEE CULLEN: AFRICAN AMERICAN POET


Friday, May 30, 2014

OUR AFRICAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THEIR CONVERSATION ABOUT RACISM


MICHAEL ERIC DYSON ON RACISM, BIGOTRY, AND MARK CUBAN

HENRY AARON HILL, AFRICAN AMERICAN CHEMIST


BURNING TULSA: THE LEGACY OF BLACK DISPOSSESSION

If We Knew Our History - Zinn Education Project Monthly Column



Author: Linda Christensen Burning Tulsa: The Legacy of Black Dispossession 
By Linda Christensen, Director of the Oregon Writing Project at Lewis & Clark College and author of Teaching for Joy and Justice


Tulsa's African American community is attacked on May 30-June 1, 1921. Photo: Oklahoma Historical Society.
Tulsa's African American community is attacked on May 30-June 1, 1921. Photo: Oklahoma Historical Society.
"None of my mostly African American 11th graders in Portland had ever heard of the so-called Tulsa Race Riot, even though it stands as one of the most violent episodes of dispossession in U.S. history.
The term "race riot" does not adequately describe the events of May 31-June 1, 1921 in Greenwood, a black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In fact, the term itself implies that both blacks and whites might be equally to blame for the lawlessness and violence. The historical record documents a sustained and murderous assault on black lives and property. This assault was met by a brave but unsuccessful armed defense of their community by some black World War I veterans and others."     Continue reading



Related:

Black Wall Street 

A Black Holocaust in America, 1921

Black Wall Street, Little Africa, Tulsa, Oklahoma (full version)- video

AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERSHIP PAST AND PRESENT SERIES: JUNE FOCUS - CJ PRENTISS




"C. J. Prentiss

 
House : 1991-1998 (119th-122nd General Assemblies)
Senate : 1999-2006 (123rd-126th General Assemblies)
Home : Cuyahoga County
Occupation(s) : Full-time Legislator
Party : Democrat

State Senator C.J. Prentiss (D-Cleveland) represented the 21st Senate District of Ohio. She was first elected to the Senate in 1998. Prentiss is well known for her diligent work ethic, well-versed oration, and efforts to represent those voices that are seldom heard in government. In December 2004, she was elected the Senate Minority Leader, the Number 1 position in the Senate Democratic Caucus. Prentiss previously served eight years as the state representative from the 8th House District (1991-1998). She is a past elected member of the State Board of Education, where she served a six-year term from 1985-1990 .... "
 
 

CONTINUE READING




Related:

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (OHIO), JANUARY 13 1986 - RESOLUTION THAT FEBRUARY BE DECLARED "BLACK HISTORY, EDUCATION, AND CULTURE MONTH

Video

Closing the Gaps

Wiki


HARLEM FINE ARTS SHOW LAUNCHES IN ATLANTA

 
Harlem Fine Arts Show Launches in Atlanta
 
 
In its fifth year, the Harlem Fine Arts Show (HFAS), continues to sprinkle Harlem and surrounding communities with artists, galleries, and collectors from around the country during its nearly week long festivities each year.
 
 
This summer, HFAS will continue with its four-city tour in Atlanta, Georgia, and continue to multiply its expansive list of internationally known artists and exhibitors.
 
 
Dion Clarke, Founder of the Harlem Fine Arts Show says, “After ringing in opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange at the opening of the 2013 show, we are now ringing the bell for Americans of all persuasions to come and partake of what can only be described as a feast for the eyes and nourishment for the soul.”
 
 
The tour in Atlanta is scheduled for June 26-29 in partnership with the National Black Arts Festival, a well-recognized arts festival that celebrates the arts across multiple venues in the summer months. The talent of Atlanta-based artists such as Radcliffe Bailey, Kojo Griffin, and Yanique Norman - not to mention Clark Atlanta’s African American Art Collection and the Hammonds House Museum, present a rich and unique opportunity to bring HFAS’s presence into play.
 
 
Visit our website to get more information about the show, request an exhibitor application, or to buy tickets.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

SHIRLEY CHISHOLM: ON RACISM - A STATE OF EMERGENCY




A STATE OF EMERGENCY:

African Americans (and others) don't understand that RACISM is about power, wealth (money) and privilege ... and who has it and who doesn't. Black people are not racist because they don't have the prerequisites - (that being) "power, wealth and privilege". African Americans can be prejudiced, but again, not racist.  African Americans MUST strive for and ACHIEVE political and economic empowerment if they want to stop institutional racism. 


Any predominantly African American city where whites control the legislative (city council), judicial, and legal (law department/law enforcement) process is a hornet's nest of/for institutional racism. In addition, if your fire department is all white, the police department is all white except for maybe 2 black police officers, institutional racism is solidly entrenched in your city and you must take the necessary lawful steps to destroy it such as legal remedies (along with finding candidates who are committed to rooting out institutional racism, and then making sure they get in office). The leadership (especially the top leadership) must be voted out of office and removed from their position as soon as possible because they make it possible for institutional racism to continue to exist.

 
Furthermore, any gov't in a city like the above that uses code words such as looking for "qualified people" or "the best people" to fill jobs, and "we are an equal opportunity employer", and has no written affirmative action plan, is not committed to diversity in hiring. Even the state of Ohio has affirmative action plans in place. Why doesn't your local gov't?


[Do me a favor.  Maple Heights has received (?) or will receive grants (that's your tax dollars) for construction.  Make sure (even if some things may be outsourced) that African Americans have a significant presence in hires, and or trainees (if they don't, please get busy getting the leadership out of Maple Heights gov't).]

----------------------------

EXCERPT:
"The privilege that prejudice rationally defends is a product of racism. Racism, however, is more than just prejudice and discrimination combined. Racism is a socially constructed reality at the heart of society¹s structures. Racism is the deliberate structuring of privilege by means of an objective, differential and unequal treatment of people, for the purpose of social advantage over scarce reso...urces, resulting in an ideology of supremacy which justifies power of position by placing a negative meaning on perceived or actual biological/cultural differences. Racism and prejudice are not mental illnesses or psychological problems people have. Neither are they the product of "psychological abnormalities." Both are rational, cultural and structural phenomena to defend power. Racism goes beyond prejudice (an attitude) to structure this power advantage politically, economically, culturally and religiously within a social system, whether it be simple (as in personal bias) or complex (as in the role apartheid played in South Africa), which gives social advantage to some at the expense of others perceived to be inferior and undeserving.
 
In its essence, racism is culturally sanctioned strategies that defend the advantages of power, privilege and prestige which "Whites have because of the subordinated position of racial minorities." This deliberate political, economical, religious and sociocultural structuring of privilege, does not take place in some moral vacuum. It has behind it the moral force of an ideology of supremacy, an ill-will that claims racial superiority and pride of position. By ideology I mean a system of ideas and beliefs about the universe, to which a people adhere in order to justify their attitudes and actions. This ideology can have a religious or a scientific basis, depending on which one shapes our worldview. Nevertheless the outcome is the same, where one group benefits and the other does not."

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/papers/caleb/racism.html



 
 
Related:
 
 

STAND BEHIND THE OHIO VOTERS' BILL OF RIGHTS AND SIGN THE LETTER

From: "Rep. Diane Russell"


Of the 31 states that have recently restricted access to voting, Ohio is the very worst. Ohio Secretary of State Husted just handed down orders to slash early voting on all Sundays (Souls to the Polls), the Monday before Election Day and all evening hours -- a direct attack designed to disenfranchise low-income, African-American, elderly and student voters. I'm partnering with PowerPAC+ to help protect these important voting rights.


Husted's blatant voter suppression actions are not new. The right-wing knows it cannot win the presidency without winning Ohio. Dirty tricks at the polls date back to the 2004 presidential election when the unequal distribution of voting equipment in urban areas led to long waits in heavily African-American districts. In 2012, hoping for a GOP victory as in 2004, Republicans tried to drastically cut early voting. But in 2012 a national outcry forced the GOP-led legislature to reverse their efforts. History is on our side, and together we can stop Husted and protect Ohioans' access to the ballot. 

Right now, the NAACP, The A. Phillip Randolph Institute, and communities across Ohio are gathering signatures to put a state constitutional amendment on the November ballot. It is called the Ohio Voters' Bill of Rights, created to ensure that every voter has equal and uniform access to the polls, regardless of the political party in charge. 

Your support is crucial. In a little over a month, amendment sponsor Ohio State Representative Alicia Reece will present our signed letter of support, along with qualifying signatures to put the measure on the ballot. 
We must win this battle in Ohio. In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision that struck down a key provision in the Federal Voting Rights Act, the voting rights fight is now at the state level. 

Today's Tweet
@OhioSOSHusted is stripping important voting rights. Sign the proposed #OHBillofRights for Voting! http://bit.ly/OHBillofRights 
Our victory could inspire similar constitutional amendments to push back against the flurry of laws passed in states such as Texas and North Carolina that disenfranchise voters. 



Join us in the fight. Thanks for all you do! 
Onward,
~Diane Russell 
State Representative 
Portland, Maine

MELLODY HOBSON: COLOR BLIND OR COLOR BRAVE?





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THANKS FOR SHARING HENRIETTA

Sunday, May 25, 2014

THE MAGNIFICENT DENZEL WASHINGTON





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CAN ALSO BE VIEWED HERE

Friday, May 23, 2014

COUNCILMAN BROWNLEE'S REMOVAL FROM MAPLE HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL, AND THE REMOVAL OF HIS CAMERA IS A BLOW TO GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY

I wish the last 7 minutes of the May 21st Maple Heights council meeting video tape didn't upset me, but it has.  Councilman Brownlee's removal from the council meeting should never have happened.  The removal of his camera by the law director should never (in my opinion) have occurred; and the lack of response (by other council members) to the councilman's removal, and the removal of the camera is disturbing.  


I think a lot of politicians/public officials/political appointees from city municipalities are not used to being challenged publicly.   They are not used to the type of government transparency that citizens are demanding and the courts have allowed.  And while these politicians, etc may not like it (and I understand why), it is necessary.  I direct you to the White House web page on transparency.  A message/memo from President Obama.


"Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies

SUBJECT:      Transparency and Open Government

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government.  We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.

Government should be transparent.  Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing.  Information maintained by the Federal Government is a national asset. My Administration will take appropriate action, consistent with law and policy, to disclose information rapidly in forms that the public can readily find and use. Executive departments and agencies should harness new technologies to put information about their operations and decisions online and readily available to the public. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public feedback to identify information of greatest use to the public.

Government should be participatory. Public engagement enhances the Government's effectiveness and improves the quality of its decisions. Knowledge is widely dispersed in society, and public officials benefit from having access to that dispersed knowledge. Executive departments and agencies should offer Americans increased opportunities to participate in policymaking and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. Executive departments and agencies should also solicit public input on how we can increase and improve opportunities for public participation in Government.

Government should be collaborative.  Collaboration actively engages Americans in the work of their Government. Executive departments and agencies should use innovative tools, methods, and systems to cooperateamong themselves, across all levels of Government, and with nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals in the private sector.  Executive departments and agencies should solicit public feedback to assess and improve their level of collaboration and to identify new opportunities for cooperation.

I direct the Chief Technology Officer, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Administrator of General Services, to coordinate the development by appropriate executive departments and agencies, within 120 days, of recommendations for an Open Government Directive, to be issued by the Director of OMB, that instructs executive departments and agencies to take specific actions implementing the principles set forth in this memorandum. The independent agencies should comply with the Open Government Directive.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA"



What President Obama is committed to, your mayor,  council representative, department head, law director, and other public employees must also be committed to.  


Vigorous debate, discussions, sharing of ideas, criticism, community engagement is desirable and necessary if you want a financially healthy, vibrant community.  
 


RELATED:

Promoting Transparent, Effective and Accountable Government

Open Government

 

 

 


Thursday, May 22, 2014

HAS "OPEN GOVERNMENT" SHUT DOWN IN MAPLE HEIGHTS?

IS MAPLE HEIGHTS (OHIO) GOVERNMENT (WHICH IS IN/UNDER FISCAL WATCH) OUT OF CONTROL? ANONYMOUS SOURCES REPORT THAT COUNCIL PRESIDENT, JACKIE ALBERS HAD A COUNCILMAN REMOVED BY THE POLICE BECAUSE HE ASKED QUESTIONS (?)  Call and ask


WHAT IF HE HAD REFUSED TO LEAVE?  WHAT RULES WERE IN PLACE THAT GAVE Council President JACKIE ALBERS THE RIGHT TO DO WHAT SHE DID? SHOULD SHE BE REMOVED AS COUNCIL PRESIDENT?


WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? DO SOME OF THESE POLITICIANS HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ANSWERING CERTAIN QUESTIONS OR BEING CRITIQUED OR HAVING "SUNLIGHT" ON WHAT GOES ON IN MAPLE HEIGHTS GOVERNMENT?



COUNCILMAN BROWNLEE DID NOT CAUSE THIS GOVERNMENT TO BE IN FISCAL WATCH.  WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO SHUT HIM UP!!

[A BLOW TO GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY]: COUNCILMAN BROWNLEE'S VIDEO CAMERA (HE WAS TAPING THE COUNCIL MEETING AS HE HAS DONE FOR THE LAST 4 MONTHS) WAS PHYSICALLY REMOVED BY THE LAW DIRECTOR. 

 
HAS "OPEN GOVERNMENT" SHUT DOWN IN MAPLE HEIGHTS? 


THERE NEEDS TO BE A FULL INVESTIGATION, AND MAPLE HEIGHTS RESIDENTS NEED TO SPEAK UP AND DEMAND ANSWERS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND IS HAPPENING IN THEIR GOVERNMENT!!



SHOULD THIS BE A MATTER FOR THE OHIO SUPREME COURT TO ADDRESS?   IF A PATTERN OF INTIMIDATION (BY LEADERS IN THIS GOVERNMENT) CAN BE ESTABLISHED THEN IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!

PLEASE WATCH AT LEAST THE LAST 5-6 MINUTES OF THIS TAPE.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

COMMENT: MAPLE HEIGHTS AFRICAN AMERICAN GAZETTE, MAY 18, 2014


We are delighted that Councilman Bill Brownlee (District 5) has been successful in illuminating some of the functions/events in Maple Heights governance with his videos of council meetings, etc. 

 
This is a huge step in "open government" in Maple Heights.



Throughout 2012 and 2013 we watched what we consider obstruction to “open government in Maple Heights.

 
Unfortunately, this year we also witnessed the shocking and successful attempts by council leadership, to repeatedly silence Councilman Brownlee. This councilman does not yell, stomp his feet, wave his hands, or physically attack anyone.  Yet, the council leadership has sought this councilman’s physical removal from a council meeting (by a member of law enforcement [***]) on more than one occasion.


Can anyone recall when a councilman/woman was threatened with being physically removed by a member of the police force unless he/she stop talking?
   



Regarding "Music in the Park" series 2012/2013:
Meeting after meeting we've watched various members of Maple Heights city council and/or people who have backed the mayor, come out in support and praise of the Director of Human Services.   

 

There is no denial of the good works that come out of that department.  What we do object to, and that many (especially of European ancestry) fail to grasp, is the (in our opinion)  major highlighting of European culture (which is the director's background) over the culture and background of the majority of the residents who happen to be African American.  Research after research has exposed the systemic design to deny AfricanAmerican culture and history in the United States.

 

Our residents are in dire need of money; yet (in our opinion), the “Music in the Park” donations flow to those of predominantly European ancestry and to those who live outside the city.  This was pointed out to that department (again) last year, and the result was the use of the “N” word in the comment section of a 2012 (Music in the Park) post; followed by council (who were –and still are- predominantly of European background) contributing to a singer with the same ancestry; and the series staying pretty much the same.  This arrogance should have sent a chill (and “wake up call”) through the Maple Heights African American community. 

 

The cancelling (?) of the “Music in the Park” series (this year) which we’ve been told has always been funded through solicited donations, was seen by us as defiance for our persistence in asking that department  to highlight the culture/background of the majority in Maple Heights and giving the majority of those donations to those entertainment groups who represent the racial/cultural majority and who actually live in our city.  We feel it is and should have been the responsible and financially sound thing to do.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

PUBLIC NOTICE: MAPLE HEIGHTS SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL, MAY 14, 2014

Jackie Albers, President of Council has called a special meeting for this Wednesday evening, May 14, 2014 at 6:00pm at the Senior Center.  On the agenda is another reading for the legislation still pending from the last regular meeting and an "Update of the City Status" from the Mayor.


One way you can be kept up to date about meeting in the City is to
follow Maple Heights News on Facebook.   Council meetings can also be viewed on Youtube.
 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

NEWSLETTER: CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: THE OPPORTUNITY GAP

Newsletter - Children's Defense Fund
 
 
 
The Opportunity Gap
In the spring of 1954, like so many Black families, mine waited anxiously for the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. My father and I talked about it and what it would mean for my future and the future of millions of other Black children who were attending segregated but unequal Black schools. He died the week before Brown was decided. But I and many other children were able, in later years, to walk through the new and heavy doors that Brown slowly and painfully opened.
 
 
It was a transforming time that set into motion a spate of other challenges to Jim Crow laws and yet sixty years after that historic May decision the doors to true educational equality have never fully opened wide enough for millions of American children to walk through especially those living in poverty. The most recent findings from the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), called the “richest, fullest” collection so far measuring education access and equity in our nation’s public schools, show many children are still receiving an unequal education.
 
 
This is the unfinished work of the Civil Rights Movement.
 
 
The new Office for Civil Rights data cover the 2011-2012 school year and are the first universal data collection since 2000, with information about all 97,000 schools in the nation’s 16,500 school districts serving 49 million students. Some information was collected for the first time, including one of the most startling findings: new data on preschool suspensions that show Black preschoolers are 18 percent of children enrolled in preschool programs in public schools, but 48 percent of children suspended more than once. While the data show only six percent of the districts offering preschool in public schools reported that they had suspended preschoolers, there is something terribly wrong when we are suspending any children from preschool in the first place. We now know Black children are more likely to be pushed out of school before they’ve even made it to kindergarten, and other numbers in the recent OCR release confirm those disparities do not go away.
 
 
Overall, Black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than White students. Boys receive more than two out of three suspensions, but Black girls are suspended at higher rates than girls of any other race or ethnicity and higher rates than most boys. Students with disabilities (those served by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) also are more than twice as likely to receive an out-of-school suspension as students without disabilities. And inequities in school discipline continue right up through the most consequential responses: Black students represent 16 percent of student enrollment but make up 27 percent of students referred to law enforcement and 31 percent of school-related arrests.
 
 
These differences in discipline can’t be explained simply by differences in student behavior. The Equity Project at Indiana University has reviewed the research on the role of student behavior and characteristics in disparate suspension rates and found that in fact schools and districts that have taken seriously their responsibility to educate all of their students have seen significant improvements by adjusting the policies and practices of adults. Both Buffalo, New York Public Schools and Denver, Colorado Public Schools are heralded as examples of school systems’ ability to change to better serve students. The Children’s Defense Fund and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, have been funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies to work with ten school districts from Texas to Wisconsin to Pennsylvania whose leaders are committed to reforming their school discipline policies to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline and address racial disparities.
 
 
Children’s unequal chances in school go well beyond discipline. Black, Latino, American Indian, and Native Alaskan students have less access to experienced teachers than White students. While most teachers are certified, nearly half a million students nationwide attend schools where 60 percent or fewer teachers meet all state certification and licensure requirements, and racial disparities are particularly acute in schools where uncertified and unlicensed teachers are concentrated. Black students are more than four times as likely and Latino students are twice as likely as White students to attend schools where 80 percent or fewer teachers meet these requirements. There are also teacher salary disparities: Nearly one in four districts with two or more high schools reports a teacher salary gap of more than $5,000 between high schools with the highest and the lowest Black and Latino student enrollments.
 
 
All students don’t have equal opportunities to take the most challenging courses to prepare them for college and career. While 81 percent of Asian American and 71 percent of White high school students attend high schools where the full range of math and science courses are offered (Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, calculus, biology, chemistry, and physics), fewer than half of American Indian and Native Alaskan high school students have access to the full range in their schools, and Black students, Latino students, students with disabilities, and English language learner students also all have less access. Black and Latino students are also disproportionately less likely to be enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement (AP) course. The new data also show students with disabilities, English learners, and Black students are all more likely to be held back each year. Twelve percent of Black students were retained in ninth grade— about double the overall rate.
 
 
Six decades into the “post-Brown” era, will the doors of opportunity finally open wide or continue to stay half shut on our watch? Most students know the phrase “knowledge is power.” CDF is happy that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is taking new steps to expand the range of data about inequalities that still exist in our nation’s schools. But now that we have more knowledge—what are we going to do with it? If you are interested in learning more and taking action, you can find out how the schools in your community are treating their students at the Civil Rights Data Collection’s website, and you can find new guidance on school discipline and positive alternatives to suspensions and other exclusionary discipline practices at the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments’ website. It’s time to close the opportunity gap and fulfill the promise of education as a great equalizer and a strong pathway to opportunity for all of our nation’s children

Friday, May 9, 2014

OHIO SUPREME COURT CREATES NEW INTERACTIVE ONLINE GLOSSARY OF LEGAL TERMS

May 06, 2014

 

Ohio Supreme Court Creates New Interactive Online Glossary of Legal Terms

 
Like many professions, the practice of law requires knowing a lot of legal lingo. To help lay people understand what lawyers, judges and legal opinions are say, the Ohio Supreme Court has created an interactive online glossary of 160 legal terms like res judicata, summary judgment and sua sponte. The new glossary comes with a list of words and pop-up definitions that appear when readers of Court News Ohio (CNO) hover over words. For fun, CNO has also introduced “Legal Word of the Week," which you can follow on CNO's Facebook or Twitter pages.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

2014 CUYAHOGA COUNTY BOE PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS

Final Results:  Issue 15 - Maple Hts Municipal Income Tax
19 of 19 precincts reported.
Vote for 1
For the Income Tax 1103
Against the Income Tax 1731




STATE REP 12TH DISTRICT ( DEM )
100 of 100 precincts reported.
Vote for 1
John E. Barnes Jr6489
Jill Miller Zimon5575



SEE ALL RESULTS @
http://boe.cuyahogacounty.us/en-US/RaceSelection.aspx

Monday, May 5, 2014

IS MAPLE HEIGHTS PARTICIPATING? IF NOT, WHY NOT?

The following Spotcrime notice was emailed to  the Maple Heights City Council president and Maple Heights law department December 14, 2013.  No response from any of them yet regarding the email that was sent.

 
 
 
Question: Is Maple Heights participating?  If not, why not?   Residents of Maple Heights want to know about crime in their city, and there are free resources available.  The police have asked for what? ..$45,000 for new computers, and some members of city council and the mayor want us to pass a levy that will mean a tax hike.  We need to ask for crime data to be available thru internet companies like Spotcrime.
 
 
 
"FROM SPOTCRIME (12.14.2013):
"When SpotCrime launched in 2007, we were one of the only companies to offer free crime mapping to every agency in US. That same year, the price of crime mapping services averaged between $20,000 to $300,000 per agency.


Just recently, the reportedly largest police vendor crime mapping company, CrimeReports.com, announced they are finally giving away their crime mapping for free to all police agencies.


The only other large scale crime mapping vendor that still requires payment from police departments is CrimeMapping.com. If your agency is paying for public crime mapping, we recommend you ask about the free options.


We think SpotCrime's competitive and innovative approach has made an impact on the cost of public crime mapping for everyone. With over 70 million alerts sent this year alone, we feel we've made an impact in actually getting crime information to the public as well.


Unfortunately, vendor crime mapping companies in the market today still lock up public crime data. They get hired to make the data public and then add restrictions on how the public can use the data. This prevents the public from using and sharing the information, and limits how the press reports on the crime data.


Our hope is that all agencies across the US will continue to embrace the benefits behind opening up crime data. We need your help in stopping this game of 'Public Crime Data Keep Away'.


If your local police agency doesn't have a public feed accessible to everyone without restrictions, reach out and ask them to create one. Let them know there are free resources available to them. If they aren't sure where to start, have them contact us, we'll be happy to help!

Let's all help make public crime data fully public. 
Sincerely,

Colin Drane
Founder
Feedback@SpotCrime.com
619.663.7768

Please check out our mobile friendly website: http://bit.ly/spotcrimem
 

Thursday, May 1, 2014

CLEVELAND LAW LIBRARY HONORS LAW DAY MAY 6, 2014

 

The Cleveland Law Library is honoring Law Day this year with free WestlawNext CLE programs for members next week. We are offering two 1-hour sessions of Intermediate Research on WestlawNext from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6th at the Law Library on the 4th floor of the Cuyahoga County Courthouse. Members can sign up for one of the sessions by calling the Law Library at 216-861-5070 or sending an email to lawlib@clelaw.lib.oh.us. Each attendee will receive 1 hour of free Ohio general CLE credit.