Program Directory

Feagler and Friends - John Parry, A.D., Cleveland State University

Feagler and Friends

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) has begun public meetings about a series of planned rate increases that will boost quarterly sewer bills as much as 75% by 2016. Sewer district leaders say the increases are brought on by the need for a $3-billion system upgrade aimed at eliminating combined sewer overflows that routinely foul Lake Erie with raw sewage during periods of heavy rainfall. The sewer district has already spent millions on giant underground bunkers that will store runoff until it can be treated, but officials say much more work is needed. Residents in Cuyahoga County find the rate increases especially painful because the Cleveland water department is also seeking a rate hike.

Local business interests and foundations are teaming up to establish an office that will seek to attract people from all over the world to put down roots in northeast Ohio and help them to bloom once they've arrived. Groups as diverse as Huntington National Bank, Forest City Enterprises and the Jewish Foundation put up one million dollars to bankroll the Cleveland International Welcome Center that will be located in the Huntington building, formerly the B-P building. The Center will help recruit workers to fill an estimated 25,000 jobs said to be open in northeast Ohio.

After serving as interim director for almost a year, John Parry was named this week to take the post full-time. He served 16 years in the same capacity at Butler University where he helped build a winning basketball tradition that landed Butler in the NCAA Final Four the last two seasons.

April 8, 2011