Cleveland sold its soul for football:
Let's turn back the clock and imagine what could have been (cue the harp music . . .) ["The Case for Debauchery," February 5]. How about a new, modern convention center, located downtown on a spot that would have tied together North Coast Harbor, The Flats, and the Warehouse District? A high-quality hotel and a lakefront promenade as part of the deal. Imagine out-of-towners coming here once or twice a month, spending several days and pouring money and life into Cleveland's hotels, restaurants, Tower City, and the Galleria, etc.
Naah, let's spend $300 million to put Browns Stadium there instead. Never mind that it sits empty 355 days a year and does virtually nothing to boost downtown businesses on the rare occasions when it is used. What visionary planning.
Ron Rajecki
Fairview Park
Inspirational tales of the homeless:
What a beautifully written and fascinating story about an incredible person ["Lifestyles of the Rich and Homeless," January 15]. Tears were in my eyes when I read about the deer he feeds at his porch. I believe Bob Molchan's story would inspire many who are embittered, depressed, or have just given up. Just reading the story made me feel good.
Vonni Rubin
Cleveland
900 reasons not to advertise:
Just thought you might be interested in a comment I heard a local retailer make the other day. She was saying how business is slow; I encouraged her to keep advertising in general. She said, "The Free Times was a great place to advertise, but I wouldn't lower myself to advertise in Scene, with all its smutty ads. I'm afraid they'd sandwich my ad in between all of those 900 numbers."
Now that Scene is Cleveland's only alternative paper, couldn't you clean out some of that crap? Advertise to the public that you are doing so, and you could really rejuvenate Scene and shake off the "sleazy content" image that is off-putting to many people.
Ginny Parobek
Mayfield Heights
Bob Gondor is an innocent man:
I just had the chance to read Martin Kuz's article about Bob Gondor and Randy Resh ["No Way Out," January 15]. The story and situation continues to amaze me to this day, because I first heard about it eight years ago.
I was incarcerated with Bob Gondor at Lima Correctional and Grafton. I was guilty of the crimes I committed and certainly deserved the prison time. But in Bob Gondor's case, here was a man who was locked up for something he did not do, and his nightmare continues.
There is no doubt in my mind that the reason Vigluicci continues this charade is the impending lawsuit that the county will incur. It's ironic that a prosecutor whose purpose is to find justice is turning his back on the truth. Or maybe the truth is that he has developed tunnel vision and believes he's right, and that all the glaring evidence to the contrary is wrong. It's time for this nightmare to be over -- 12 years past time. Let these guys go back home to their families.
John Nagle
Cleveland
A model reporter:
Thank you for such an informative article. I have been following this story from the beginning, and there has not been a single article which so clearly showed the facts of this case. I even called the reporter who has been covering this at the Record-Courier and told her she needed to cover this as well as you did. She stated she, too, had read the article, and would try to bring some of the details out.
If the local reporters were doing such a great job as you, someone might be doing something to help these guys out. I plan to e-mail this article to multiple people. Thanks again for the truth.
Suzanne Gerhardt
Mantua
Better living through blackjack:
I believe that your article ["Stripped Poker," January 29] was a joke. You make the whole Vegas Nights scene look bad. But do you stop to think of who it helps? Those people spend their weekends raising money for charities -- a lot of money for charities. Your article was poorly researched, and the quotes were turned around to make the organizer look to be a cheat and a crook.
Let me say this: Those Vegas Nights keep a lot of people entertained. Maybe next time you will tell the facts and help people to see what is really going on around these places.
Darcie Moneypenny
Rittman
FOP clears the err:
I read "The Suing Machine" [February 12] with interest. As president of the Cleveland Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, I am painfully aware of the ordeal suffered by Sergeant Sazima at the hands of Mr. Pollock, and appreciate that someone has finally exposed the truth.
I must correct one item mentioned in the story, however. Sergeant Sazima, along with each of the supervisors involved in the alleged voiding of tickets in 1995, was cleared of any wrongdoing by an independent arbitrator in 1997. The arbitrator ordered that suspensions be removed from officers' personnel files, and that they be made whole for suspension days served.
Roy Rich, President
Fraternal Order of Police
Cleveland
