PD to close? Not so fast

Maybe you saw the prediction that the Plain Dealer will close or go digital-only. It swept across Cleveland blogs and inboxes this week, and the PD responded with this article, calling the prediction "baseless."

The prediction seems pretty weak. It's speculation based on two facts: 1) Cleveland is struggling economically. 2) The chain that owns the PD threatened to close its paper in Newark, but backed off.

I'll concede the first point. But the Newark Star-Ledger was on track to lose $40 million last year. The PD is still in the black, editor Susan Goldberg said at her City Club talk last month.

However, the PD's response is also weak. Most of it was spent pointing out that the doomsday prediction comes from the financial blog 24/7 Wall St., not Time, though the article appears on Time.com because of an online partnership.

The comments from Publisher Terry Egger (pictured) on the paper's health did not reassure me much (emphasis mine):

Egger said that newspapers are having financial difficulties, but The Plain Dealer made money in 2008. Though it laid off a significant number of employees late last year, Egger said, the paper budgeted to make money in 2009.

Egger said The Plain Dealer and its parent corporation, Advance Publications, remain committed to producing news both in print and online. "Every plan we have for the immediate future is to make that work," he said.

I doubt the PD will fold or go all-digital. It'll just lay off more employees if goes into the red. But the doomsday prediction reminded me of a less drastic but still alarming option.

The Detroit News -- another paper on 24/7's doomsday list -- and Detroit Free Press are cutting back on home delivery, going down to only three days a week starting this spring.

Some days of a newspaper attract way more ads than others. Sunday papers are huge, while Monday and Tuesday papers are tiny. The Detroit papers are going to deliver only the lucrative editions, and send readers online or to newsstands for 32-page mini-papers the other four days a week.

I couldn't help but notice that Egger's denial was published in a Tuesday print edition that included a 6-page A section and 6-page B section. If ad sales keep falling, there is not much left to cut on Tuesdays.

I don't want to predict that the Plain Dealer will eventually adopt Detroit's strategy. It seems like a great way to alienate your core audience (the read-my-paper-with-breakfast crowd), and there is plenty of news to report on your average Tuesday. But if the paper's ad base keeps shrinking, I have to imagine they're at least going to look at the Detroit model.

Update: This New York Times article considers the possibility that some cities might soon be left without a newspaper, but it doesn't name names.

Detroit on My Mind

I still have flashbacks to the corned beef hash I ate at Russell Street Deli in Detroit more than a month ago that make my mouth water. It was perfect- a sublime mishmash of browned potatoes, sautéed onions, tender bits of corned beef, and farm fresh Michigan eggs. I stumbled on the place, which wasn’t on my itinerary, while exploring the city on assignment for Cleveland Magazine. It was a friendly little spot with a hippie ambience. Everyone’s seated at communal tables and my breakfast choice earned a “right on” from the server. This was one stop I didn’t have space to write about in Cruisin’ for Cuisine that appears in this month’s issue of the magazine.

There were lots more wonderful things about the trip that I would have liked to spotlight: the vendors at Eastern Market selling everything from grass fed beef and organic vegetables to hand dipped chocolates and homemade pies; a terrific Belgian tripple bock beer called Final Absolution from a Dragon Mead, a local brewery and the city’s first new one since Prohibition, that I sampled; and the appeal of Bellinis and Bloody Mary’s for brunch at Detroit’s Breakfast House and Grill, a restaurant notable for attracting a Sunday morning crowd that’s white, black, old, young, and downright toddling. I would have liked to give accolades to Executive Chef Jeff Rose who is a big part of why Symon’s restaurant Roast is able to put such great food on the table whether Michael’s there or not. The two met when Rose was cooking for Tribute, a highly acclaimed Detroit dining icon.

And I could have gone on for pages and pages about my tasting time at Goldfish Tea where I sat and sipped seven different leafy brews for two hours. I learned that the first steeping of green tea removes almost all the caffeine and any impurities so it is generally discarded. The leaves ca-and should- be used over and over again to brew multiple pots, each steeping producing its own distinctive flavor. Store owners Jim and Janice Girling have an encyclopedic knowledge of the subject, acquired when they lived in China, that they’re happy to share with anyone who asks. I lusted after the the yi shing clay pots they stock, made the same way for thousands of years, a tea travel mug that comes with a brewing basket, and bags of rare aged loose leaf pu’er teas that are as flavorful and nuanced as good wine.

All this just a couple of hours west of Cleveland on I-90. Go see it for yourself. Find places to stay and more things to do at http://www.visitdetroit.com/

Looking for a fish fry tonight?

We have put together, quite possibly, Northeast Ohio's most comprehensive fish fry database here. Use it to find the perfect fish fry for you.

You, our readers, have the ability to comment on any individual fish fry to let readers know if it's worth checking out. We also plotted all those fries on a map, so you can find one in your neighborhood. And if we missed a good Cleveland area fry, let us know by clicking here and we'll add it to our list.

In our March issue, we gave our picks for the best baker's dozen of fish fries in the region with write ups that will make you salivate. So go eat and come back to tell us how it was. You can also read about one of Cleveland's first (and best) fries.

Where's the Love?

We're afraid Seven Hills Mayor David Bentkowski doesn't like us very much. And he is especially dipleased with our June Rating the Suburbs issue.

"Our gripe wasn't a bunch of whiny mayors worrying about their suburban rankings," he told Jimmy Malone and John Lanigan on WMJI yesterday morning. "We don't need some gimmick publication to tell us that Seven Hills is a great place to live."

(Hey, we haven't pulled out any gimmicks since ... oh, wait, we do have something planned for April. But you'll have to wait for that. In the meantime ...)

"Our biggest gripe ... was the fact that this is a waste of taxpayer money," Bentkowski continued. "My biggest gripe was every time they do their little survey every year they send a public records request that we have to answer to city hall. I have better things to do than have my chief of police do an exhaustive research survey for the benefit of Cleveland Magazine."

Sure, I could argue that Rating the Suburbs is an incredible reader service that's a valuable starting point for anyone looking to buy a home in Northeast Ohio or that our survey is actually not that time consuming or that it's not even a public records request at all. This is, which was sent over yesterday.)

But why argue. Even if he's not fond of us, we loved — seriously, loved — the mayor's interview. (Kudos to Jimmy & John for the Know Your Mayor segments. They're awesome.) In it, we learned that the mayor will never give another dime to the University of Toledo, his alma mater, because it's offering free tuition to public school students in Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo. ("Government shouldn't be giving free college to people," he argued.)

We also learned that he replaced Drew Carey as a server at the Denny's on Rockside; he has a 9-foot pool in his home but doesn't know how to swim ("It's a Polish thing," he explained); he went to 52 different charity events in 52 weeks; he's probably gossiped about more online than any other official in Northeast Ohio; and there are a ton of women in Seven Hills who love him, and their names are Agnes, Betty, Ethel and Myrtle (they enjoy playing bingo, watching Matlock and making pierogi).

Now, we love all those things, too. So go ahead, add us to your list of admirers.

(Listen to the entire interview here.)

Digging Up Some Dinner

Despite what the temperatures suggest, spring is not far away. And for those of us who like to muck around in the dirt, that means it's time to think about gardening. According to what I’ve been reading more and more Americans are getting interested in devoting time and ground to grow food- 7 million more households in 2009 than in 2008 says a poll by the National Gardening Association. Confirming the trend an article in USA Today last week reported a double digit increase in sales for the country’s largest seed retailers.

Economic pressures and the need many are feeling to cut costs are a big part of what’s spurring the desire to plant things that will go from soil to plate. Coupled with the health and environmental benefits of eating fresh, locally grown food rather than stuff transported from thousands of miles away- and what could be more local than your own backyard- it’s an idea with no downside. There’s serious talk at my house about roto-tilling most of our lawn to turn it into a little piece of urban farmland.

But not everyone has the place, time, or physical ability to grow tomatoes and zucchini. Some visionary folks in our community want to help. Peter McDermott of Entrepreneurs for Sustainability and the founder of a social networking site for people interested in building a viable, enduring regional food system, has created a matchmaking service that connects people with a plot of unused land and those who are willing and able to make it productive. At www.localfoodcleveland.org/landshare you can post “space to share” or “looking for space listings” and click on map to find out where gardening opportunities are located. The terms of the arrangement - whether money changes hands or bounty is shared by land owner and grower, and other practical details- are totally up to the participants. There’s not much activity there- yet because the venture is brand new and word is just starting to spread. But it’s a very exciting idea with huge potential. Check it out and tell everyone you know to do the same.

Cleveland Orchestra increasing time in Miami?

The Cleveland Orchestra plans to increase its efforts in Miami, and that could eventually result in more time spent in South Florida.

The Musical Arts Association of Miami, the organization that handles the Orchestra's Miami residency, indicated they hope to "materially increase" the amount of time spent in Miami.

Musical Arts Association spokeswoman Ana Papakhian says the short-term goal is to increase the activities of the orchestra members during the three weeks a year already spent in Miami. That can already be evidenced by the Miami City Ballet collaboration and increased outreach programs to schools. (Read our January story about the collaboration with the Miami City Ballet).

The orchestra will consider adding more time in Miami as well, but that would happen, at earliest, two years from now, Papakhian says.

---

In the March 2009 issue of Cleveland Magazine, you can also read about a a recent interview that Musical Arts Association of Miami chairman Daniel Lewis did with the national radio show Marketplace. (In it, Lewis recalls asking "if they moved orchestras like they move baseball franchises.") Read our original story about the Cleveland Orchestra's Miami residency here.

Sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you

Check out this old-school episode of Big Chuck and Little John of a pizza eating contest between Lakota, the pizza-eating bear, and Coondog O'Karma.



Some might say this is cruel. I would agree: Not even a bear stands a chance against Coondog.