Monday night on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Congressman Dennis Kucinich said that he would be willing to be the deciding vote to sink health-care reform. Video below.

This was news to those who heard him speak on the issue the night before at the annual Cuyahoga County Democrats’ dinner. There, in front of Congresswomen Marcia Fudge, he not only gave no indication that he’d made this hard-and-fast decision about his vote, but suggested that he was still open to discussion. He mentioned meeting with President Obama Thursday and hoping that some kind of agreement would be worked out.

This turnabout vividly demonstrates why Kucinich, for all his stated noble intentions, has proven to be so ineffective. You don’t build coalitions by telling your fellow Democrats — including someone like Fudge, who shares his goals but is far more practical-minded — you’re willing to talk when you’ve already decided you won’t budge from your single-payer-or-nothing position. — Anastasia Pantsios

“It is the governor’s preference that a lane be included if possible,” says Wurst. “He was hearing from local leaders that a bike-ped lane would provide the city with a multimodal transport option. He asked them to explore whether or not it would be feasible. Obviously, safety and cost factors have to be taken into consideration.”

Wurst wouldn’t say specifically, but since Congressman Dennis Kucinich and the Cleveland Planning Commission have publicly supported the idea for some time, the local leader she’s referring to is probably Senator Sherrod Brown, who sent a letter to the governor on March 4 expressing the strongest support yet for the multi-modal lane.

“With a strong and growing bicycling community in Cleveland, a sizable carless population, and new development in nearby neighborhoods, it would be penny-wise and pound foolish to build this bridge with only cars and trucks in mind,” wrote Brown.

Wurst says there’s no specific time frame for ODOT to get back to the governor on the safety and cost factors, but three design finalists will be announced March 23.

Meanwhile, activists say the cost and safety issues are manageable. As Cleveland Bikes director Kevin Cronin says, “We think any multi-modal lane designed for this bridge would more than measure up on those points. Those are distractions, not really arguments. This is a project that represents where we are going as a community.” — Michael Gill

The Cleveland Coalition held its debut event Friday evening at the City Club of Club. A packed house of people of all ages showed up to hear four panelists talk about the potential impact of the new casino on Cleveland, and how to make that impact positive rather than negative. Panelists included architect Christopher Diehl, an associate professor at Kent State University; Len Komoroski, president of the Cavaliers (representing Cavs/casino owner Dan Gilbert); architect David Schwartz; and Hiram College president Thomas Chema.

Diehl and Schwartz spoke about the potential for architecture to connect a casino to city life. Schwartz’s presentation covered how different types of casino designs — the “urban” and “suburban” models — can connect or shut off casino activity from its surrounding environment. His conclusion was that most existing urban casinos follow the “suburban” model, in which the goal is to keep the visitor captive inside. He pointed to the gargantuan casinos lining the Biloxi, Mississippi, waterfront — none of which has beach access.

Komoroski seemed stuck in campaign mode, touting the business acumen and success of his boss, and claiming that attentiveness to “giving voters what they wanted” was responsible for passage of last November’s casino issue after numerous prior failed attempts. (A well-financed campaign that made grand claims about job creation probably didn’t hurt.)

Chema opened by saying “I don’t know why I’m here,” and after his presentation, I wondered as well. His Gateway boosterism omitted the fact that, as executive director of the Gateway Economic Development Corporation in the ’90s, he spearheaded a project that had financial problems — mostly to the detriment of the taxpayers — and failed spectacularly to deliver on its rosy economic promises (we’re still waiting for those 28,000 high-paying, permanent jobs). He insisted that, although the Gateway sin tax barely passed, today you can’t find anyone who will admit to having voted against it (I will!) and that “no one wanted the developers and owners to make money.” He seemed oblivious to the fact that all the profits flowed to the developers and owners, while the taxpayers footed the bills.

The discussion certainly didn’t solve the biggest issue looming over the casino: how to make it a success without draining the life out of other parts of the city, especially downtown. But it did provide some provocative ideas about what success — and failure — might look like.

The Cleveland Coalition is an informal group formed late last year to encourage public engagement and solution-seeking on key civic issues. Founded by Fran DiDonato, Jason Bristol and Eric Wobser, it currently includes a group of nine organizers. DiDonato said they launched with the casino forum because, “It’s sexy. We thought we could get a crowd. After the election, no one was talking about it anymore, and we wanted start creating a dialogue.” — Anastasia Pantsios

• sawyerimages.com

What’s the worst pick-up line you’ve ever tried or heard? What was the best?

Editor's note: Two responses to this question came up so many times that they deserve special note. The first: At least two dozen people cited this as the worst pcik-up line ever: “Are your legs tired? Because you’ve been running around my mind all night.” And the second: At least that many women insisted that the best line is some variation of, “Hi, my name is ____, and I wanted to meet you.”

The worst is “Hey can I borrow a quarter? My mom told me to call her when I fall in love.”

“Do you know karate? Cause that body's kicking!”

Worst: “Your father must have been a thief: He stole the stars from the heavens and put them in your eyes.”

Worst: “If you were yogurt would you be fruit at the bottom or stirred.” Best: “I’m in a band.”

Worst: “Nice shoes, wanna f**k?" Best: "Hi, my name is (insert name), and I'll be going home with you tonight."

Best: Someone told me that they wrote the screenplay for the movie
Beer Pong. I don't even know if there is such a movie or if it really needed a
screenwriter, but I gave him points for originality.

“Didn't you used to babysit my best friend?”

My guy friend likes to use, "You're almost as pretty as my mom." I like that one.

The best was my ex, he told me my eyes were mezmerizing.

I'm a ginger, so anytime a dude says he has a “thing” for redheads, I get a little skeeved out. I try real hard to resist the urge to retort with, "Well, maybe you'll find one someday who has a ‘thing’ for creeps and live happily ever after."

Bad: “Do you wanna fuck or do I owe you an apology?” Good: “How was your day?”

"Do you work for UPS? Cause I saw you checking out my package."

Attendees scattered around the theater and its stage, socializing with new and old friends while gambling, waiting in line for one of the party’s booths, or dancing to the band’s music. As the night wound down a light dessert was served back in the State lobby, allowing attendees to grab one more bite to eat before heading home safely in the night’s wintery gusts. — Aaron Mendelsohn

PETA says it will perform the winter chore after the next big snowstorm if Jackson allows the group to stencil an advertisement on a City Hall sidewalk that says, "Chained Dog? A Chilling Tail" The slogan, the group says, draws attention to the plight of Cleveland canines that spend the winter chained in a backyard. PETA also wants Cleveland City Council to pass an ordinance that bans “the tethering of dogs outside, as legislators in many forward-thinking towns and cities across the U.S. have already done,” the group says in a release.

Outdoor pooches in the winter, PETA says, "go mad from lack of exercise, boredom, and loneliness." (Kind of like some of us, trapped inside.) — Damian Guevara

Watching the Cuyahoga County’s government transition team in action, it's hard sometimes not to feel that they're play-acting democracy.

Take Tuesday’s five-hour “public engagement” committee meeting, where a panel of transition advisors vetted three public relations firms. Their goal: hire a firm that will control the transition team’s message to the media and citizens.

The money to pay for these firms will come from the same business interests that funded Issue 6, the successful campaign that passed Cuyahoga County’s new charter. The firms vying for the contract included a team comprising Burges & Burges/Brenda Terrell & Associates; Landau Public Relations; and Gap Communications/Cleveland365.com. (Landau was later dropped from consideration.)

The transition's request for proposals did not specify the value of the contract, and the bidders' proposals have not been revealed. (It's worth noting here that the mission of the hired PR guns will be to reduce skepticism from citizens who feel they're on the outside looking in at a persistently secretive process.)

Public relations/political strategists Bill Burges and Brenda Terrell, who have linked up for this effort, were involved in the closed-door drafting of the new charter and in the Issue 6 campaign. On Tuesday, Terrell opined that the transition process should have started sooner (transition advisors only have 10 months to put together their recommendations for the county’s new government). Transition co-chairman Marty Zanotti has also recently noted the short time frame; perhaps they should have supported Issue 5, which called for a year-long public discussion on reshaping county government.

In their pitch to transition advisors, Burges and Terrell played up their association to the winning Issue 6 campaign. Nobody mentioned that the Issue 6 coalition — steered by Burges and Terrell — pumped up public support for their cause by paying $100,000 for a petition drive to get their reform measure on the ballot. Now, however, Terrell proclaims that "we want our citizens to be less vulnerable to spin," and Burges preaches "democratizing" the process so as not to give the impression that the transition is in the hands of "elites."

But when asked if they would refrain from working for candidates in this year’s county election, they said flatly, no. Nevermind that only candidates with the backing of the "elites" would be able to afford their services — they see no conflict of interest. — Damian Guevara

In a mock (?) editorial titled “My Constituents Care Way More About Political Gamesmanship Than Jobs, Health Care and the Economy,” “Boehner” says, among other things, “If I ever worked across the aisle to help thousands of uninsured Ohioans receive health care, I wouldn't be able to look them in the eye. How could I explain to them that I abandoned the idiotic yet politically fruitful claim that Barack Obama is a socialist bent on destroying the American way of life? How could I admit to them that deficit spending is the only way to get us out of an economic crisis perpetuated by my party's disastrous fiscal ideology? How could I tell them I stopped obsessing over scoring petty political points right before the midterm election? How could I stop being the greedy, myopic scumbag they elected me to be?”

Sounds pretty believable to us. — Anastasia Pantsios

Daniel Sparks, a junior at Parma Senior High, delivered the following testimony before the Parma school board last week:

Operation Keepsake was more like a lesson based on singular set of morals and values, rather than being based on an objective principle of providing young people with the information necessary to lead a sexually safe and healthy life. In the classroom, it was as if marriage was superior to our health, and it was hard for me to concentrate on marriage when I was only 14.

The ineffectiveness of the program haunts me to this day. For one, I later learned that the education my school had supposedly provided me with was useless. Of course I learned that premarital sex is damaging, but I failed to conceptualize that many STIs are, too. This was represented to me when our instructor had us pass around a piece of tape, stick it to our clothes, and pass it to our neighbors. As I look back, the sole purpose of this was to scare us into believing that we would contract infections, get pregnant, or simply carry with us, as they called it, “baggage.”

Operation Keepsake has made me question education as a whole, for while they scared us into understanding what could go wrong, they afforded us no information on how things could go right, on how to protect ourselves, on the effectiveness of contraception, and empowering us with knowledge to make the right decisions before making the wrong ones. There is a burden of responsibility placed wrongly on students and teenagers, for how can we be responsible when we are not taught how to be?

As a teenager, I've learned that marriage is not a good enough reason to remain abstinent. In my own
pursuit, I've found that my health, my body, my mind, and my emotions matter more to me than my future
partner receiving me pure, and free from baggage. Furthermore, as a gay student, how can I be expected to uphold a standard of abstinence-until-marriage when I live in a state where I cannot marry? Right now, my very own school district is allowing myself and countless others to be left out of a curriculum so necessary and so needed. Although we learn about such unequal treatment in our history classes, I had the unfortunate experience of wondering where I fit in a curriculum so set to mold students to their respective gender stereotype.

Luckily, through my work at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center and The AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, I have learned the information vital to my sexual health. The
knowledge that I have gained has instilled in me not only the power to make the decision to be abstinent,
but it has also made me confident in my decision. I have no thanks for Operation Keepsake, for, if
anything, they hindered my ability to make responsible decisions based on objective information. I am
fortunate to stand out from the masses at Parma Senior High School who often leave Operation Keepsake in a state far worse than that of when they entered, and who are vulnerable to the happenings of unsafe sex.

But I should not be standing out. The Parma City Schools has a responsibility to provide its students with
information imperative for their health and well-being.

This district claims to operate with a mission to “educate, nurture and graduate engaged students who are
critical thinkers and problem solvers prepared to communicate, collaborate and contribute to a global society.” After nineteen months of trying to communicate, collaborate, and contribute with this district, I have yet to meet or speak with the person who has the decision-making power over this issue. I have sent
approximately 24 letters and information packets, made roughly 15 phone calls, and have sent over ten
e-mails to administrators, board members, and health teachers, all to no avail. Based on this behavior, it
seems more likely that any student attempting to communicate, collaborate, or contribute to this district
will learn how to give up before they learn the true tenets of democracy.

Although I have exhausted nearly every means of communication with this district, I will not back down, for this is an issue that has effected me, that will effect my peers, and will continue to plague this community until something is done about. It is my hope that you will see young people as a part of a solution, rather than as part of a problem for I voiced my concerns to my teacher and nothing happened. I met with my principal and nothing happened. One board member directed me to the deputy superintendent who, in turn, forwarded my request for a meeting to the director of academic services. After meeting with Laura Watson, noting happened, and I was directed back to the board. Tonight, after much run-around, I ask, who has the authority to decide on this issue and how soon can I meet with that person? — Danny Sparks

Danny has a meeting with the superintendent on March 4.

The page is called “100,000 Clevelanders Urge Dennis, Vote for Pres. Obama's Health Care bill.”

You may recall that when the original health-care bill came up for a vote late last year, it passed the House by a hair — 219-215. And proud liberal Dennis Kucinich was one of the “no” votes, having said he will oppose anything less than a single-payer system, which just isn’t going to happen any time in the foreseeable future. It’s possible that some progressive provision had to be traded away to get some more conservative votes to counterbalance Dennis’. Now the blended Senate and House bill will be coming up for a final vote. It will probably be a nail-biter. What will Dennis do?

Here’s what the Facebook page is asking:

As Clevelanders, we urge Congressperson Dennis Kucinich to vote YES on President Obama's sweeping health care reform, the most important in the nation's history. Right now, Dennis is on record as a NO vote. We value Dennis because he stands up for ordinary people, regardless of what the powerful and rich might say or do. We know that Dennis is committed to listening to the voice of the people. We ask that he listen to our voice on this life or death issue … Both House votes are likely to be very close, since many of the couple dozen conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats are likely to vote no. Passage of health care reform may hang on Dennis's vote. If major reform fails now, it may be 20-30 years before the stars line up once more and we have this chance again. Our children and grandchildren will suffer greatly if we fail now.

Come on, Dennis. Now is not the time to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. — Anastasia Pantsios

The tram project proposal was sent to us by Benjamin Franklin of Cleveland’s west side. He neglected to note whether he is the same Benjamin Franklin who is one of three candidates running in the May 4 Republican primary to face Dennis Kucinich in the 10th district congressional election in November.

In his accompanying letter, Franklin tells us this project could be “a vital, important extension of downtown Cleveland. There should be a strip of retail shops, two hotels and several parking structures anchored by Massimo da Milano and reaching up to Kan Zaman restaurant and Lutheran Hospital.” He calls the tram “a huge tourist attraction, linking Tower City, the Flats, Progressive Field, Quicken Loans Arena, Public Square, the Euclid Corridor and the Casino.”

He appended a handwritten note saying, “I also have good concepts on the steel industry that would help jumpstart our economy and put people back to work.”

Chuckle if you like — it's more than we've heard out of the mayor or county commissioners in a long time (and no, the medical mart boondoggle doesn't count). — Anastasia Pantsios

• Senator Brown

The state to be glad you don’t live in is Oklahoma, whose Senator James Inhofe was rated the most conservative; his colleague, Tom Coburn, is the fourth most conservative. Kentucky also placed both its Senators — Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell — in the top 10 most conservative. As for George Voinovich, he ranked fairly “liberal” — for a Republican. At No. 62, only three other Republicans fell to his left. (We still say he's a partisan hack.)

On the House side, Marcia Fudge was rated Ohio’s most liberal congressperson, coming in 12th, while House Minority Leader John Boehner, from Ohio’s 8th district, was its most conservative, at 417 out of 435 House members. Among other Northeast Ohioans, Betty Sutton ranked 35, Dennis Kucinich ranked 160, John Boccieri ranked 224 and the area’s lone Republican Steve LaTourette (who recently admitted — indeed bragged about — working with President Obama) ranked 262. — Anastasia Pantsios

A new free smartphone application can help you find out when your bus is arriving. The RouteShout app find bus stops, routes, and arrival times in over 25 cities, including Cleveland. It’s available for iPhones, Androids and text-enabled phones.

The Cleveland program is based on data from the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Users can browse by location or search for stops by street name

Standard text rates apply for the text version, and answers aren’t always precise. Most early reviews are positive, but highlight some of Routeshout’s limitations. In its current version, the app is basically a map that highlights routes. As with any map program, it might not have up-to-date information about temporary re-routings. Distinguishing between incoming and outgoing stops can be difficult. It’s definitely not an alternative to your favorite map app, and it doesn’t allow you to plot a journey with a start and end point.

Visit RouteShout.com to download the apps. The Android version is still a beta. For text, send “demo” to 25252. — D.X. Ferris

We like Dennis Kucinich. We believe his heart is in the right place and his goals are sound. But sometimes he leaves us scratching our heads.

Kucinich announced that today, the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which he chairs, would hold a hearing on how the money was allocated. Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis, a national leader on foreclosure issues, is in Washington now, preparing to testify this afternoon, according to a press release sent out by his office. It says, “Treasurer Rokakis is expected to stress the need for continued funding of face-to-face mortgage counseling programs and ask for federal help for the county’s successful Don't Borrow Trouble campaign. Additionally, Rokakis will address the ineffectiveness of the federal HAMP program.”

This is all great stuff which deserves attention, but once again, Kucinich’s timing is peculiar. Today is, of course, President Obama’s big bipartisan summit on health-care reform, the issue that’s overshadowing everything else. If Kucinich wants to draw attention to the issue of foreclosure, he could hardly have picked a worse day.

Even more peculiar, a “Medicare for All” activist group sent out a e-mail via Ohio’s Single Payer Action Network, promoting a rally outside Kucinich’s Lakewood office this morning and a meet-up with Kucinich in his Washington office this afternoon to complain about the exclusion of Kucinich and other single-payer advocates from the health-care summit.

The e-mail says, “On February 8, 2010, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, wrote President Obama, asking him to invite to the February 25 summit ‘a representative of the community that is advocating for the only health care that has consistently proven to address each of the criteria you have outlined for a satisfactory health care plan: Medicare for All.’ Congressman Kucinich added: ‘I would be happy to attend the summit as a representative of the Medicare for All community. Alternatively, I could provide names of other potential representatives for your consideration.’ To date, Mr. Kucinich has received no response to his request to be included at the summit."

So holding his foreclosure hearing while the health-care summit is going on could be interpreted as sulking. At best, it’s another example of his ineffective strategies on behalf of worthy aims that cause even some who share his aims to marginalize Kucinich. — Anastasia Pantsios

With the Cuyahoga County government transition process picking up pace, the Plain Dealer's Henry Gomez reports today that three communications firms remain in the running to the promote transition work and handle media calls.

Gomez raises some intriguing points in his article. First, he notes how transition executive committee members — other than Cuyahoga County Administrator Jim McCafferty and former Parma Heights Mayor Marty Zanotti — continue to pass on interview requests. Those individuals include Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson; University Hospitals president/CEO Tom Zenty; Eaton Corp. chairman/CEO Alexander "Sandy" Cutler; Cuyahoga Community College President Jerry Sue Thornton; and Randy McShepard, a public affairs executive with Medina-based RPM International.

Zanotti and McCafferty have been responsive to the media so far, but said they need help. Some critics have voiced concerns that a PR firm would simply try to spin messages to an already distrustful public.

The three firms vying for the transition contract include Burges & Burges, Landau Public Relations and Lesic & Camper Communications. Those firms and two others were vetted in a public transition work session this week. The money to pay for the firm will come from business leaders and not from taxpayers; the vetting gesture appears to be more about establishing public confidence than anything else.

Gomez also notes that two of the remaining firms could be eliminated if they decide to remain in the political arena, where they do extensive work. Burges & Burges handled political strategy for the successful Issue 6 campaign that ultimately created the county's new government. Lesic & Camper works with the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the business coalition that was an instrumental force in the Issue 6 campaign (the coalition, made up of area CEO's, fronted $100,000 for the Issue 6 petition drive.) The firm, led by former Mike White press secretary Nancy Lesic, has already helped coordinate media interviews for the transition.

Lesic was also the mastermind of a public-relations stunt that enraged community activists in 2007. Those activist wanted to make the county's Medical Mart sales tax increase a ballot issue. As grassroots volunteers sought voter signatures for their efforts at an Indians game that summer, a small plane flew over the stadium with a banner that read "DON'T SIGN THE PETITION! WE NEED MEDMART!"

The sales tax increase ultimately did not get to the ballot. — Damian Guevara