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Feagler and Friends - Shuttering Churches, Suburban Splendor
Feagler and Friends
 
 
 
What Price Education? The escalating cost of a college education was on the minds of state legislators, this week. Senate leaders unveiled their budget proposal which included a plan to freeze tuition at public colleges for two years. At the same time, there is some question as to how many Cleveland students will even get to college. School district officials announced that 43% of this year's seniors flunked their graduation exam.

Shuttering Churches: The other shoe dropped for many area Catholic parishioners, recently, as Bishop Richard Lennon laid out the details of a new design for the Cleveland diocese. Northeast Ohio's 231 parishes have been grouped into 69 regional "clusters". With the church facing lean economic times, each of these clusters has been directed to find ways to cut costs, which could include closing as many as 48 buildings. The churches of our region are bastions of tradition and they hold many memories for the 800,000 members of the diocese. But, church officials say a dwindling number of priests on the altars and people in the pews is forcing some hard choices.

Suburban Splendor: One of the reasons that so many church buildings are threatened is that a large number of city parishes have lost congregants to the suburbs. That population shift is reflected in this month's Cleveland Magazine, which features its annual rating of area suburban communities. At the top of the list are cities like Avon Lake and Solon, at the very edges of Greater Cleveland. But, inner ring communities such as Cleveland Heights and Lakewood don't even crack the top twenty.

The Cavs Rise Up: The three-point prowess of Daniel Gibson and the jump shots of Lebron James have area basketball fans and sports retailers jumping for joy. The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the National Basketball Association Finals for the first time since the team was founded in 1970. Cleveland is a town that's used to being kicked around. Our litany of sports losses is the stuff of local legend. But, hope springs eternal, and many Northeast Ohioans are hoping that the Cavs can "Rise Up" to the occasion as they battle the San Antonio Spurs for the NBA Championship.

June 11, 2007