NEO Sierra Club Again Partners with Film Festival

We are rapidly approaching the start of the 45th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF). This year’s festival will run from April 7 until April 20 and again will be entirely virtual. The program listing all of this year’s films is available at www.clevelandfilm.org.

NEO Sierra Club is partnering with CIFF to present Youth v Gov, a documentary about a group of 21 children who have been suing the federal government since 2015. These children (now adults) claim that the government has violated their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by creating the climate crisis they will inherit. Directed by Christi Cooper with help from world famous climatologist James Hansen, the film reveals the power of our youth to protest and influence critical environmental policy.

To buy tickets for Youth v Gov and other CIFF films, go to the website listed above. Ticket sales for CIFF members begin on March 22 and for the general public on March 26. Buy your tickets early as there will be a limited number of viewings per film. Also, use the code word SIERRA when you buy your tickets to receive a $1 per ticket discount on any film. Stay tuned to the NEO Sierra Club website for more details concerning an online discussion of Youth v Gov.

A protest by Youth v Gov with banners: We demand a climate recovery plan - Let the youth be heard - Atmosphere is a public trust

November/December 2020 Newsletter – Northeast Ohio Sierra Club Group

Updates From the Chair

Dear Friend,

Deep breath! The election is over. I hope the issues you supported passed and the candidates you supported got into office.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and I know we all look forward to happier,COVID-free times ahead, when we can be together again.

Thanks for all you do,
Fran Mentch
Chair, Executive Committee
Sierra Club Northeast Group

Northeast Ohio Sierra Club webpage
Like us on Facebook

P.S.Please email your comments, questions and submissions (especially photos!) for the next newsletter to franmentch@yahoo.com.

Thank you to Lynn MacArthur for her photos.

Election for Executive Committee Members

It’s time to elect half of the members of the Executive Committee.

If you have an email address on file with Sierra Club, then you received an email ballot on November 4. Postcards were sent to members who do not have an email address on file.

Voting closes on December 4.

You can also vote by clicking on one of the following links. Link to the candidates biographies and vote button.

Sustainable Cleveland 2020 Virtual Summit

The Sustainable Cleveland 2020 Virtual Summit was recorded, so if you could not attend, you can still “attend” by watching the videos of the sessions and download the document with all the resources mentioned in the sessions. Please check out the videos and resources using the links below.

If you are interested specifically in the Plastic Pollution in the Great Lakes session with Dr. Chelsea Rochman and Jill Bartolotta, check it out here!

Watch video recordings from the Summit here, and see the resources shared in the Chat Box for each breakout session here.

Sponsorships and Collaboration

Our NEO Sierra Club group donated $250 to the Cleveland Natural History Museum Virtual Conservation Symposium in October.

We co-sponsored the FACT Ohio film screening: Hard Road of Hope – Thursday, November 12, 2020, 7 pm, online. Filmmaker Eleanor Goldfield joined show her new film, “Hard Road of Hope”. This 54 minute film shows the exploitative history of natural resource extraction in West Virginia. More information here.

We helped publicize the Ohio City Incorporated and the Community of St. Peter presentation on the Green New Deal by the Sunrise Movement. Watch the presentation on YouTube here.

NEO Sierra Club Participates in International Seminar

On Sunday, November 1, the following members of NEO  Sierra Club participated in a virtual seminar with international journalists: Steve McPhee, Michael Melampy, Fran Mentch, Charlie Mitch, Linda Sekura, and Dave Simons. The seminar, formally known as the 2020 Presidential Election Reporting Seminar, was organized and funded by the East-West Center and various U.S. Embassies.The East-West Center was established by the U.S. Congress in 1960 as a means of promoting understanding and collaboration among the nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the U.S.  Through contacts made by Steve McPhee, members of NEO Sierra Club were invited to participate in the Election Reporting Seminar and provide their perspectives on the presidential election.

During the seminar, the NEO group had opportunity to interact with reporters from Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. The journalists were interested in our perspectives about economic policies,international relations, climate change, and our biggest concerns in the event that Biden were not elected.  All of the NEO members had opportunities to express their opinions and came away from the seminar feeling  that it had been a valuable opportunity to communicate internationally about the state of the environment and the concerns of  NEO Sierra Club membership.

More East-West seminars will be held in the future.  If you are interested in participating as a NEO Sierra Club representative, contact any of the members named above.  Contact information for most of them is available on our contact page.

Contributed by Michael Melampy

Pepper Pike Residents Preserve Greenspace!

Here is a message from Manny and Judi Naft, the leaders of the effort to stop a mixed-use development in Pepper Pike:

A heart felt THANK YOU to all the supporters of the Say No To Rezone movement and to the members of the Northeast Chapter of the Sierra Club who gave us continuous support, environmental information and lots of encouragement!!  It was truly a grassroots team effort by the whole community that enabled us to get the facts out to the public on what was at stake and to achieve the 83% NO vote on Issue 34.

We would like to share the November 3, 2020 voting results which came in with a landslide victory for the Say No To Rezone PAC’s efforts to prevent the rezoning of the 68-acre Beech Brook property to mixed-use (retail/commercial/office/dense housing).The vote count for Issue 34 was:

Against rezoning Beech Brook = 3,583   (83.42%)
For rezoning Beech Brook = 712   (16.58%)

We are now actively engaged in the next phase of this process which is working with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy to purchase the 68-acre Beech Brook property. We are hopeful that Beech Brook will be a good neighbor and set a reasonable price for the property so the Western Reserve Land Conservancy can acquire the property so it can become a land preserve and a park for the benefit of the entire community and environment. This will allow our generation and all future generations to enjoy this natural setting. It would truly be a shame to lose this beautiful and bucolic resource.

In our next phase, we are now approaching the Pepper Pike City Council with the idea of starting a Park Commission as a formal sub-committee reporting to City Council.  Our goals for this committee would be land acquisition, conservation, environmental stewardship, and education.  It would be a great help if members of the Sierra Club could show their support for this idea to our council members and the mayor by sending emails to the elected officials.  (Email addresses are attached.)

Please take three minutes to “fly over” this property.

Sincerely, Manny and Judi Naft (treasurers)     Manny, cell – 440-567-4390

Say No To Rezone PAC
2632 SOM Center Rd., Pepper Pike OH  44124
Website:  www.SayNoToRezone.com
Facebook:  Keep Pepper Pike Beautiful Say No To Rezone

Ashtabula County Water Watch Fighting EPA Permit for Petmin Pig Iron Plant

The Ashtabula County Water Watch contacted our group about their efforts to block the EPA permit for a pig iron plant. More information can be found here.

The Ashtabula County Water Watch history and mission statement:

  • Our mission is to protect the water quality and health of Ashtabula County residents and ecosystems.
  • Protect our beautiful Great Lake, our 3 wild and scenic rivers, and all our sources of clean water
  • Achieve a moratorium on new and existing injection wells
  • Protect our roads from radioactive toxic brine
  • Realize transparency of waste management, its regulation, and processes.  What exactly is in the wastewater injected in our communities?
  • Advocate for an effective enforcement agency for the oil and gas industry.  Government agencies need to properly enforce and respect clean water laws, oil and gas regulations, and local zoning.
  • Keep fracking out of Ashtabula County
  • Provide community education and inspire empowerment to take action on these issues

More information about this project is available at the ACWW website.

Provided by Julie Boetger

Pollinator Plants Project

In September the Sierra Club Ohio Water Sentinel team received funding to safely distribute plants for native pollinator habitat creation across Ohio. Community gardens across the state applied and the Water Sentinel team was able to provide over 600 plants to 15 gardens for Fall planting in early October. These plants helped to bolster existing pollinator habitat spaces and establish new ones.

The project focused on underserved communities, and the plants were distributed all over Northeast Ohio. Community gardens in urban Cleveland to rural Conneaut were able to start pollinator gardens, or add vital native species plants to their existing gardens. Plant recipients will continue to come together and share experiences in 2021; making community, giving tours, and starting a seed sharing network to sustain this work for the future!

Contributed by Emily Obringer
Water Conservation Coordinator
Sierra Club-Ohio Chapter

“Lights Out Ohio” Project Addresses Bird Kill

What are the two biggest causes of songbird mortality in the United States?  If you said house cats and building windows, you would be correct.  House cats are by far the biggest cause as they kill upwards of 2 billion birds per year in the U.S. (for details about this estimate, see Cat Wars by Peter Marra and Chris Santella).  Birds striking windows account for about a billion deaths per year.  At a recent Rainforest Committee meeting (Oct. 15, 2020), Tim Jasinski, a wildlife rehabilitation specialist at the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, spoke about the windows problem in Cleveland.

Jasinski coordinates a team of volunteers that surveys the streets of downtown Cleveland during spring and fall bird migrations to determine the number of birds that are striking the windows in downtown buildings.  The issue was of concern to the Rainforest Committee as many migratory songbirds overwinter in the tropical habitats of the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Although the numbers vary annually, Jasinski informed the committee that the number of birds striking Cleveland buildings averages about 2500 during fall migration and 1000 during the spring.  Since the birds migrate at night, many are attracted to the lighted windows of buildings, even when the windows are at ground level.  In fact most of the bird strikes seem to occur on first or second floor windows.  The dead birds that Jasinski’s team collects go to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History where autopsies are performed, tissues samples are preserved, and study skins are prepared.  Birds that do not die but are injured are taken to the Lake Erie Nature and  Science Center where over 90% of them can be rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

To reduce the number of bird deaths, Jasinski and collaborators at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland Metroparks, Lake Metroparks and the Akron Zoo have joined a national  effort to turn off lights in buildings during bird migration.  In Ohio, this  program is called Lights Out Ohio, and the goal is to get building owners to agree to turn off the lights in their buildings between midnight and dawn during migration seasons.  Many but not all owners have agreed to this plan, so the effort to expand compliance is ongoing.  Visit this page for more information about Lights Out Cleveland.

Also,  if you would like to  help the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center with  its rehabilitation program, more information can be found here.  Please inform yourself about the issue, contribute what you can to Lights Out Ohio, and encourage building owners to turn the lights off at night.  Many songbird populations are in decline but that trend does not need to continue.  Simple things like turning off lights can help tremendously to protect our bird populations.

Contributed by Michael Melampy

“Move Ohio Past Plastic” Planning Session for 2021

Let’s plan for 2021 victories! On Saturday, December 5th we will be hosting a campaign planning session to move Ohio Past Plastics! We are working hard to make this discussion as interactive as possible.

We want to hear from groups and individuals across the state: What do you care about? What changes do you want to see? How can we support each other? What additional tools do you need? Who do we need to put pressure on?

Please complete this form to RSVP for the Saturday, December 5th planning session

Please feel free to reach out directly to Elissa Yoder: elissa.yoder@sierraclub.org, 970-420-8784

The Greater Cleveland Rapid Transit System Redesign

From the RTA website:
The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) is launching a new easy to navigate and highly interactive website to solicit public input for the proposed system redesign for its bus network.

RTA is looking for public comment to create greater frequency, and greater connectivity for bus service in Greater Cleveland. To find out more about it the redesign and to contribute your own comments, visit the RTA website.

Please Help Dunham Tavern Museum

Please write to Sharyn C. LaCombe, the Federal Historic Preservation Officer for the Federal Transportation Administration. (Her contact information is below) and ask her for a  Section 106 Review for Cleveland’s oldest building, DUNHAM TAVERN MUSEUM, 6709 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, 44103. A major development is planned just 120 feet west of the historic stagecoach stop, built in 1823.

This development greatly reduces the greenspace that is now part of Dunham Tavern Museum. Asking Ms. LaCombe for a Section 106 Review will help preserve this greenspace in an underserved, economically disadvantaged inner city neighborhood.

This project needs to be sensitive to DUNHAM. Please help by asking for a review!

SECTION 106 REVIEW requires Federal Agencies to consider the effects, ON HISTORIC PROPERTIES, of projects they carry out, approve or fund. (An example of a Section 106 Review was the review carried out for the plan for MacDonald’s to build a restaurant next to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Modifications were made to the plan to reduce the impact on the historic nature of Gettysburg.)

As part of a TLCI (Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative,) which is funded by the Federal Transit Administration through NOACA , the Innovation District (at Dunham Tavern Museum) should be considered an undertaking of the Federal Government.

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 allows any concerned citizen to request such a review.

Please contact:
Sharyn C. LaCombe, AICP
Federal Historic Preservation Officer
Environmental Protection Specialist
Office of Environmental Programs
Federal Transportation Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC   20590

OR sharyn.lacombe@dot.gov

THANK YOU!

Submitted by Christeen Tuttle and Fran Mentch

The National COVID-19 Spread & Threats it Poses

An unseen enemy in our midst, has manifested itself in over 12 million of us and continues to rage across the entire U.S.

As we are in a crisis that must be addressed with the utmost urgency, this adherence to public health guidelines will literally allow us to save ourselves from ourselves.

We remain fully capable of reducing the projected numbers of CoVid cases and therefore levels of community spread by our strict adherence to public health guidelines, advisories and/or orders as initiated by our public officials.

For the State of Ohio the dominant persons are Governor Mike DeWine and Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Chief Medical Officer, Ohio Department of Health. For the City of Cleveland Mayor Jackson and for Cuyahoga County Armond Budish. Newly appointed Dr.Vanderhoff has begun to detail medical aspects of CoVid-19 during the Governor’s weekly updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays, other days if conditions warrant, and these can be found in full on YouTube a day or so later.

We must be at war with the virus and not with each other if we are ever going to find our way out of this viral morass.  Saving as many lives as we can and sparing others the suffering and heartache associated with CoVid-19 will require vigilance from all of us to guard against more massive numbers of infection.

– Jane Halbedel

Dates and Matters We Must Consider to Contain NEO COVID Spread

11.14.2020
The Saturday edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that:”The Ohio Department of Health on Friday reported a record-high 8,071 newly reported coronavirus cases,  nearly 1,000 more than the previous record set on Thursday.”

CoVid -19 COMMUNITY SPREAD THREATENS HEALTHCARE STAFFS
An ad appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on 11.15 signed by six heads of local hospitals due to the pervasiveness of CoVid-19. See it here.

On November 16th this article appeared in Crain’s that speaks to potential hospital overwhelm if cases and hospitalizations continue to escalate. This requests our help to stave off a crisis, especially given the numbers of healthcare staff already impacted and out of service, in some way, by CoVid-19.

NE Ohio hospital leaders plead for vigilance in ‘sobering’ chapter of pandemic By Lydia Coutré

11.17.20

Governor DeWine’s CoVid-19 Update

  • Every single county is now high incidence
  • Every county in the state is at least two times the high incident level set by the CDC

Governor DeWine’s Issuance of a 21 day curfew from 10pm – 5am to begin 11.19,  for a three week period

Resources for Ohioans
Ohio Dashboard
CORONAVIRUS.OHIO.GOV

OHIO COVID CALL CENTER
24 HOUR OHIO CARE LINE
1.833.427.5633
1-833-4-ask ODH

For stressed persons and those with mental health and/or addiction issues. The caller can speak to a mental health professional around the clock. TEXTING PREFERRED, TEXT:  4HOPE to 741741

For those in recovery, online meetings are available, hosted by organizations that are confidential and secure in nature.

11.18.20
Governor DeWine visited Cleveland then remarked: “It’s just a phenomenal raging fire going through the state.”

Dr. Carla O’Day MD, Medical Director, St. Vincent Charity Hospital’s Emergency Room Department shared that she believes Halloween parties led to this most recent spike,expressing concern Thanksgiving might become another super spreader event [SSE].

11.18.20
Effective immediately through December 17th, 2020, resolution 2020143 was introduced by officials, Mayor Jackson and Armond Budish as a STAY-AT-HOME ADVISORY for Cuyahoga County. You can google this and read the particulars but be aware changes could be made, EG shifting from an advisory to an order, EG pending whether CoVid’s rates of infection escalate, ICU bed capacities dwindle and/or overall hospitalizations dramatically increase.

11.20.20
Fox 8 News announcement:
Ohio breaks record with 8,808 cases of coronavirus reported in 24-hour span
This time-lapse map shows the alarming spread of COVID-19 …

CONDITIONS IN NE OHIO AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE

11.23.20
NE OHIO & ENTIRE STATE REQUIRE OHIOANS TO ACT NOW

Gov. DeWine & OH Hospital Association leaders hold special CoVid briefing Governor Mike Dewine gave this press conference quantifying the problems in the struggle to stay up-to-date with statistical CoVid record keeping. Today’s briefing can be watched in its entirety here.

It is best to hear this for yourself to help wrap your mind around the level of endangerment that threatens us all, if we don’t aggressively work to drastically reduce the ever escalating CoVid-19 numbers. The statistic that stands out for me is the 11,885 plus cases that were reported today, the highest ever reported in 1 day.

11.20.2020
Excerpt from DemocracyNow! headlines
Disease modelers at the University of Washington School of Medicine now predict over 470,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths by March 1st —unless face masks are widely adopted, something they say would save 65,000 lives.

11.19.20
U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 250,000.

11.17. 2020
MSNBC, The 11TH Hour With Brian Williams

“NBC News has obtained a report from the nominal White House coronavirus task force to the states, dated November 15. It warns of “aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread…. without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration…mitigation efforts are inadequate and must be increased to flatten the curve to sustain the health system for both COVID and non-COVID emergencies.”   The upcoming holidays can amplify transmission considerably.”

According to Johns Hopkins University, the gold standard for CoVid-19 statistics;on October 16th, there were 69,000 new CoVid cases in a single day. Then about one month later, November 13th, lists 184,000 new CoVid cases in a single day.

11.15. 2020
CNN – Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter
CoVid-19 & KIDS

I would be remiss not to include this article published by NBC on 11.02.20 that works to dispel distorted beliefs and perceptions that CoVid-19 doesn’t infect children:

“In all, 853,635 children have been diagnosed with the virus this year, representing 11.1 percent of all U.S cases.”

More than 61,000 children got Covid-19 last week — more than in any other week during the pandemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital …

To counteract misinformation and disinformation that regularly percolates in a portion of public consciousness, let’s examine basic mathematical principles that help make the vast rapidity of the CoVid-19 spread across the entire US more understandable. But first, consider this:

“The facts of COVID-19 include this disturbing reality: We have little idea who among us is spreading the disease.”

National Geographic
The reason for this is that due to an absence of symptoms or those of a barely perceptible basis, we don’t know who among us might be infected. These are the asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic and paucisymptomatic infected persons.

Asymptomatic spreaders do not experience CoVid flu-like symptoms but are contagious, none-the-less, and who unknowingly can shed the virus onto others with whom they come into close contact. Those who are not effectively protected and who do not practice social distancing. Those who will never suspect they can contract CoVid from these persons, who for all intents and purposes appear perfectly healthy and free of the virus.

Pre-symptomatic spreaders are in a period where they shred the virus prior to actually coming down with the more typical and more overt symptoms. Again, a threat to others who are unsuspecting illness at the time these persons are shedding the virus.

Paucisymptomatic spreaders experience so few symptoms that they might easily dismiss them, never equating them to oneself being CoVid-19 infected. Being so small in number, nether might you think this person Infected, if you even detect them at all in another.

Medical knowledge of these conditions is still expanding. Future research and studies will help quantify impacts from these three types of infected individuals.

This article helps clarify information pertaining to these conditions; explains some research done to the point this was published, but medical knowledge in general,will continue to expand the longer the virus is studied. But know one thing; no one owns a crystal ball and the importance of mask wearing becomes obvious. You can be within a sea of infection never knowing the massive risk about you; the risk to yourself;everyone you love; everyone you know, and perfect strangers you will encounter if you become infected as a result of being unmasked and not socially distanced. This article goes into greater detail.

As if by magic. this appeared in my email as I made preparation to send this.  Here you will find any particulars that were not included here. Also should you want regular updates as to CoVId-19, you can sign up for those at this website. Please see article entitled: Here’s why it’s crucial to quarantine for 14 days after COVID-19 exposure

When all is said and done, I wish for you health and safety that you deserve and do know, as a voice teacher once encouragingly said to me. “This too shall come to pass.” Travel about your world safely, Sierrans.

– Jane Halbedel

P.S. This is a small portion of an article here on our site. Importantly, it provides directions for mask wearing and mask care. Please explore these helpful hints to safeguard you and your family.

Should We Call it Climate Change…or Climate Suffocation?

A character in a short story I read the other day proposed that the term “climate suffocation” be used instead of “climate change”, as that is the ultimate outcome. Food for thought.

Thanks for reading the newsletter. Please send me submissions, comment and suggestions. Photos are particularly welcome!

Thanks for all you do,

Fran Mentch
Chair, Executive Committee NEO group
franmentch@yahoo.com

The National COVID-19 Spread & Threats it Poses

An unseen enemy in our midst, has manifested itself in over 12 million of us and continues to rage across the entire U.S.

As we are in a crisis that must be addressed with the utmost urgency, this adherence to public health guidelines will literally allow us to save ourselves from ourselves.

We remain fully capable of reducing the projected numbers of CoVid cases and therefore levels of community spread by our strict adherence to public health guidelines, advisories and/or orders as initiated by our public officials.

For the State of Ohio the dominant persons are Governor Mike DeWine and Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Chief Medical Officer, Ohio Department of Health. For the City of Cleveland Mayor Jackson and for Cuyahoga County Armond Budish. Newly appointed Dr. Vanderhoff has begun to detail medical aspects of CoVid-19 during the Governor’s weekly updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays, other days if conditions warrant, and these can be found in full on YouTube a day or so later.

We must be at war with the virus and not with each other if we are ever going to find our way out of this viral morass.  Saving as many lives as we can and sparing others the suffering and heartache associated with CoVid-19 will require vigilance from all of us to guard against more massive numbers of infection.

Submitted by Jane Halbedel

Dates and Matters We Must Consider to Contain NEO COVID Spread

CoVid-19 COMMUNITY SPREAD THREATENS HEALTHCARE STAFFS

An ad appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on 11.15 signed by six heads of local hospitals due to the pervasiveness of CoVid-19.

 A full page ad in the Sunday edition of the Plain Dealer 

On November 16th this article appeared in Crain’s that speaks to potential hospital overwhelm if cases and hospitalizations continue to escalate. This requests our help to stave off a crisis, especially given the numbers of healthcare staff already impacted and out of service, in some way, by CoVid-19.

NE Ohio hospital leaders plead for vigilance in ‘sobering’ chapter of pandemic

By Lydia Coutré

https://www.crainscleveland.com/health-care/ne-ohio-hospital-leaders-plead-vigilance-sobering-chapter-pandemic

11.17.20

Governor DeWine’s CoVid-19 Update

– Every single county is now high incidence

– Every county in the state is at least two times  the high incident level set by the CDC

Governor DeWine’s Issuance of a 21 day curfew from  10pm – 5am to begin 11.19,  for a three week period

Resources for Ohioans

Ohio Dashboard
CORONAVIRUS.OHIO.GOV

OHIO COVID CALL CENTER
24 HOUR OHIO CARE LINE 

1.833.427.5633
1-833-4-ask ODH

For stressed persons and those with mental  health and/or addiction issues. The caller can speak to a mental health professional around the clock. TEXTING PREFERRED, TEXT:  4HOPE to 741741 

For those in recovery, online meetings are available, hosted by organizations that are confidential and secure in nature. 

11.18.20

Governor DeWine visited Cleveland then remarked: 

 “It’s just a phenomenal raging fire going through the state.”

Dr. Carla O’Day MD, Medical Director, St. Vincent Charity Hospital’s Emergency Room Department shared that she believes Halloween parties led to this most recent spike, expressing concern Thanksgiving might become another super spreader event [SSE].

11.18.20 

Effective immediately through December 17th, 2020.

Resolution 2020143 was introduced by officials, Mayor Jackson and Armond Budish as a STAY-AT-HOME ADVISORY for Cuyahoga County. You can google this for more information.

11.20.20

Fox 8 News announcement:

Ohio breaks record with 8,808 cases of coronavirus reported in 24-hour span

https://fox8.com/news/coronavirus/ohio-breaks-record-with-8808-cases-of-coronavirus-reported-in-24-hour-span/

This time-lapse map shows the alarming spread of COVID-19 …

CONDITIONS IN NE OHIO AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE

11.23.20  NE OHIO & ENTIRE STATE REQUIRE OHIOANS TO ACT NOW

Gov. DeWine & OH Hospital Association leaders hold special CoVid briefing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI4RqlGSO6E

The statistic that stands out for me is the 11,885 plus cases that were reported today, the highest ever reported in 1 day.

11.20.2020

Excerpt from DemocracyNow! headlines 

Disease modelers at the University of Washington School of Medicine now predict over 470,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths by March 1st — unless face masks are widely adopted, something they say would save 65,000 lives.

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/11/20/headlines/cdc_warns_against_thanksgiving_travel_as_us_coronavirus_cases_hit_another_record_high

11.19.20

U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll Passes 250,000.

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/11/19/headlines/us_covid_19_death_toll_passes_250_000_nearly_1_of_us_population_currently_infectious?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=3383d677cd-Daily_Digest_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-3383d677cd-192093725

11.17. 2020 

MSNBC, The 11TH Hour With Brian Williams

 “NBC News has obtained a report from the nominal White House coronavirus task force to the states, dated November 15. It warns of “aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread….without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration.

..mitigation efforts are inadequate and must be increased to flatten the curve to sustain the health system for both COVID and non-COVID emergencies.”   The upcoming holidays can amplify transmission considerably.”

According to Johns Hopkins University, the gold standard for CoVid-19 statistics; on October 16th, there were 69,000 new CoVid cases in a single day. Then about one month later, November 13th, lists 184,000 new CoVid cases in a single day. CNN 11.15. 2020 Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter

CoVid-19 & KIDS

I would be remiss not to include this article published by NBC on 11.02.20 that works to dispel distorted beliefs and perceptions that CoVid-19 doesn’t infect children:

“In all, 853,635 children have been diagnosed with the virus this year, representing 11.1 percent of all U.S. cases.”

More than 61,000 children in the U.S. were diagnosed with Covid-19 last week — more than in any other week during the pandemic, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital …

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/more-61-000-children-got-covid-19-last-week-record-n1245851

“The facts of COVID-19 include this disturbing reality: We have little idea who among us is spreading the disease.” 

National Geographic

The reason for this is that due to an absence of symptoms or those of a barely perceptible basis, we don’t know who among us might be infected. These are the asymptomatic, pre-symptomatic and paucisymptomatic infected persons.

Asymptomatic spreaders do not experience CoVid flu-like symptoms but are contagious, none-the-less, and who unknowingly can shed the virus onto others with whom they come into close contact. Those who are not effectively protected and who do not practice social distancing. Those who will never suspect they can contract CoVid from these persons, who for all intents and purposes appear perfectly healthy and free of the virus.

Pre-symptomatic spreaders are in a period where they shred the virus prior to actually coming down with the more typical and more overt symptoms. Again, a threat to others who are unsuspecting illness at the time these persons are shedding the virus.

Paucisymptomatic spreaders experience so few symptoms that they might easily dismiss them, never equating them to oneself being CoVid-19 infected. Being so small in number, nether might you think this person Infected, if you even detect them at all in another.

Medical knowledge of these conditions is still expanding. Future research and studies will help quantify impacts from these three types of infected individuals. This article helps clarify information pertaining to these conditions; explains some research done to the point this was published, but medical knowledge in general, will continue to expand the longer the virus is studied. But know one thing; no one owns a crystal ball and the importance of mask wearing becomes obvious. You can be within a sea of infection never knowing the massive risk about you; the risk to yourself; everyone you love; everyone you know, and perfect strangers you will encounter if you become infected as a result of being unmasked and not socially distanced. This article goes into greater detail: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/why-do-asymptomatic-coronavirus-cases-even-happen-cvd/

‘Why do asymptomatic COVID-19 cases even happen?

To that point, at this time, no one knows the amount of virus it takes to become infected, but, the more inhaled, the more going into the eyes, the greater the chance of developing the virus.THIS is why the professionals with knowledge of pandemics, advise:

Do not touch your face or your nose or eyes, to inhibit  transmission. The more VIRUS that travels into you, the greater your risk for developing the virus and the odds of infecting others.reread the above for those who are unaware they are infected. Their number is amplified  when the total number of infections increase. Therefore the greater the number of people walking around with CoVid,  though appearing perfectly normal; except they aren’t.  THEY ARE HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS.

Political rallies that did not practice public health hygiene; mask wearing and social distancing, while seated or standing and the protest marches that did not adhere to the known safe practices by the vast majority, had to have contributed to infection spread.

There remain events beyond those I have listed here that have contributed to spread. But bear in mind, each state can have a number of notable events that drew people from both within and without the state, where the event was being held. if the vast majority went unprotected, then infections occurring would be factored into the increases in case numbers post event[s]; to include upticks in positivity rates; hospitalizations and mortality rates adding to the levels of dangerous community spread presently seen.

With this mix of three types of infected persons, previously described, and people had no clue as to who had the virus they innocently had fun with. Ate with. Laughed with. Drank with. Sunbathed alongside. Only to return to their college settings or to their home states, not knowing CoVid had hitched rides in their respiratory tracts.    Close quarters on airplanes likely contributed to spreading more numbers of infections. At that time, airplanes were not executing the level of disinfection being done at present.   And of course, the close encounters with airport crowds gave way to more spread of the virus once more people returned home, or to college, and then continued to spread the virus to others, and those in turn who became infected, spread it to others and so on and so forth.

Think of the game pocket billiards that when triangulated balls are broken apart by the initial player, vibrations cause the balls to explosively circulate outward on the pool table. If you can visualize this, community spread becomes more of a visual reality. That singular initial player, consider his ball is infected; It has the power potential of infecting who knows how many of us, and for how long a time frame he/she will continue to infect others. The analogy being when the balls are tightly compacted together each will feel the vibration, versus were they spread more widely apart at the start of the game. Think social distancing. If you aren’t with me on this analogy, google pocket billiards in Wiki.

Those protein branches that have spike like balls at their ends, allow the virus to attach itself within our respiratory systems that include our lungs.  What comes to mind is like having inhaled microscopic monkey balls. It is that part of CoVid’s constitution that make this so insidious to inhale and give great cause to

MASKUP so they do not embed themselves within you, then replicate to the point of even requiring a ventilator.

Mask wearing at those times, as I have described, was not known to offer levels of protection against infection that are known today. In other words, I am protecting those with whom I come into contact, if I am infected, but I also protect myself from you, if you are infected.   MASKS protect against the comings and goings of respiratory droplets at a molecular level that carry CoVid-19 but no one knows the viral load that will prompt infection. 

Apart from that, infections can range from none to death with the possibility for loads of medical complications in between.There is no knowing how each infected individual will fare, once he or she has contracted CoVid, but medical symptoms can range from none and mild to those causing organ damage, severe fatigue and debilitation, to strokes, neurological and cardiovascular problems. Patients in ICUs can make good progress then suddenly, on the turn of a dime, plummet and die only days beyond appearing out of the woods; something which medical professionals appear to find very difficult to reconcile.

Persistent problems in thousands upon thousands of people can last for months, perhaps even years.

The more fortunate can experience recovery into  the 90th some percentiles post CoVid.  But much needed research is required to assess for impermanence or permanence of prolonged symptoms some now literally existing months after the disease has ceased to exist in those individuals, per testing.

Masks are barriers to this virus. For this dual function it is of paramount importance that we all mask up to reduce the number of infections, therefore the amount of community spread, that presently exists. WE, that’s you and me, must work to safeguard our frontline healthcare workers, the doctors, nurses, certified nursing assistants and support staff,  We save them, and we spare ourselves the possibility of horrendous pain and suffering. We save them and hospitals will be available to treat us for other ills or accidents that may befall anyone of us.

Mask Cautions

WEARING MASKS ARE A MAJOR WAY TO CONTAIN SPREAD. Masks that do not fully conform to the facial curvatures can leak viral droplets when we exhale, speak or even yell with them on. Gaps can balloon at either side of the mask and aerosols can leak around the portion beneath the eyes.

Be sure your mask has a nose wire and adjust this to conform to the bridge of your nose.  This will help the mask to conform to your face. Goggles and glasses coming down on the top of worn masks can work to solve the issue of possible aerosol leakage at the masks contact points with the cheekbones. In other words, those sun or eyeglasses that cover your eyes, can be used to cover the top edge of masks, an extra added protection.

Maskers who do not fully cover their nose can breathe out minuscule droplets, so even when masks are worn, mouth and nose must be covered to offer fuller protection of self and others.

Homemade cotton masks or bandanas also require some precautions. The CDC recommends two layers of cotton, and while the bandana is not protective enough it can be worn over a store bought mask.  Remember that if it has a powder blue colored side that is the side that faces outward. Just remember to the toss out the disposable mask with garbage, not on the street. If you are infected, the mask can be a vehicle that could infect city workers or for that matter, anyone who picks up a discarded mask to cut down on litter.

Bandanas and cloth masks should be washed as close to being worn as possible.  Putting them within a plastic or paper bag for transport, is wise to prevent contaminating the inside of a purse or pocket.

When people drop masks around their necks to talk, if they are infected, viral particles will be left on the neck area when the mask is repositioned. Touch the neck, touch a table, touch a doorknob and the virus is left there. Approved disinfectants do well to help curtail viral transference and if the mask must be dropped to the neck area, say for an interview in order to be clearly heard, the neck area and hands can be disinfected after the mask is put back in place.* Please google search to ascertain which disinfectants are approved, as that list is altered with time.Just because a bottle of some level of alcohol has a professional appearance, does not mean that it complies with safety standards.

Completely washing your hands tops and bottoms with some rigor, with soapy warmer water, and saying the children’s rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” is what I learned to do for OSHA while working in a healthcare setting. The poem is the 10 seconds necessary to fully disinfect the hands.

Similarly, washing your clothes in hot sudsy water and use of higher dryer temperature settings, will work toward killing the virus. And cloth masks and bandanas can be washed this way. If shrinkage is possible, hand wash,  but still use warmer H20.

While surfaces are not known to readily transmit COVID-19, doesn’t mean they can’t. Coughs and sneezes unexpectedly occur, and respiratory droplets can even travel beyond six feet of normal social distancing. This means unmasked persons can spew droplets that can land on clothing and surfaces which really explains the reasons for all to wear masks when in the public and even in homes, that are not our own. It is best practice if you are with others, to wash your clothes, once you return to your place of residence.

Be aware. Be careful. But you can best protect yourself in a variety of circumstances if you do pay close attention to your environment and act, accordingly. Avoidance of gatherings carry risks. Gatherings with even people you know, and love, carry risks.

Inside Edition took samples from three volunteers who wear cloth masks and either hang them up or keep them in a purse/pocket. The inside and outside of masks were swabbed then sent to a lab for testing.  According to what IE said, a bacterial count of 10,000 is considered normal.

Lab results from some of the masks tested, ranged from a low of 66 MLN to a high of 680 MLN, the latter of which could lead to a “nasty” skin infection, even pneumonia. Those participants appeared shocked when they learned of the laboratory findings.

How Clean Is Your Mask? offered this advice for cotton maskers: 

‘The CDC says throw out disposable masks after wearing them once.  Cloth masks should be washed DAILY with your regular laundry and dried on a warm or hot setting. Masks should be stored in a plastic or paper bag especially if they are wet from exercising or makeup.’

This episode was shown on 11.10 and is the only one of its kind I have seen since the pandemic began.  I believe Inside Edition aired this segment to help us to stay well as any respiratory/skin/sinus infection, can complicate matters. But especially those of a respiratory nature, due to the similarity of symptoms to CoVid.

The US is entering a period when elective surgeries may need to be postponed to treat CoVid. As such,  we must look to staying as well as we are able, until the pandemic begins to subside and hospital CEOs are comfortable in instituting their full range of surgeries. This will vary in different parts of the country, obviously, pending whether the virus is raging out of control and compromising the wellbeing of frontline healthcare workers and support staff.

Purple face masks received from Aetna Medicare Solutions offer these directions for 3-ply cotton/polyester, nano-technology masks:

How to clean these

To Hand Wash
Wash and soak by hand with soap or detergent and warm water for 5 minutes and then air dry

To Machine Wash
Machine wash with detergent at your regular setting / Wash with like colors

To Dry
Machine dry or air dry

Eyes are also vulnerable to virus transmission. Goggles do protect them; curved sunglasses, similar to those used for skiing can help, as do face shields. But when all three are worn together, those in the general public are best protected from what I will call, protective facial gear.   They can then be wiped down with disinfectant, unless directions say other-wise, once one is back in her/his car or within the confines of home. Tricky, yes. Doable, yes.Worth it to save your life? Yes. Worth it to save the life of another? Yes. Worth it to reduce the spread of CoVid throughout Ohio and protect hospital staff: ABSOLUTELY.

Not dissimilar to air pollution CoVid does not recognize state borders, which is the reason governors at various times, have asked that incoming individuals from states with high CoVid numbers self-quarantine for 14 days, or will advise residents of their states to reduce travel to states with higher rates of infection. It was a reasonable thing to initiate to help protect those residents within their home states from contracting the virus.

Ed Yong, science writer for The Atlantic, gave an incredibly powerful interview on DemocracyNow! on November 19th.  Would that I could, I would wave my magic wand and command that all read or listen to this. It speaks volumes as to the nature and extent of the crisis:

https://www.democracynow.org/2020/11/19/ed_yong_coronavirus?utm_source=Democracy+Now%21&utm_campaign=3383d677cd-Daily_Digest_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fa2346a853-3383d677cd-192093725

CoVid’s initial appearance was more comparable to an arithmetic progression by simply adding 2 to each previous digit, something like this: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 etc. which at least initially appeared manageable until the numbers became so great that they became exponential in nature, to the extent that the virus is now virtually coast to coast.

When on a chart that monitors CoVid cases, a spike occurs, there is a curvature to the line that climbs upward.  As that line starts to become straighter and increasingly taller, to more of a 90 degree/perpendicular angle, that means it is moving to an exponential level. This is the reason we are being warned about Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and now New Year’s celebrations.

To prevent that line from rising straight upward when more infections occur across the U.S., we will enter a crisis beyond the ones that now exists that will be even harder to resist because community spread will become nearly unimaginable.

This is when too many doctors, nurses, Certified Nursing Assistants, CNAs either develop CoVid or have to quarantine due to exposures to the virus. This forms the basis for why hospital officials are expressing overt concern for the possibility that at some point their hospital personnel could be potentially compromised, unable to treat the great influx of CoVid infected people. It takes about fourteen days for the cases to become visible. So fourteen days from Thanksgiving will tell a tale.  As will Christmas. As will New Year’s. When at some point, the numbers explode in number, as they are doing in most states, that condition is represented by these: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192. And ironically, the last figure is similar to the Ohio figure I had quoted earlier. Think of exponential as uncontrollable without serious extensive intervention. 

The United States has quite horribly and regrettably moved into the state of exponential spread, which is why epidemiologists and some governors advise the general public to consider everyone whom we encounter as CoVid infected.  Put simply, the virus is virtually everywhere.

The more concentrated the number of infections, the greater the community spread, the greater the risk of contracting the virus and the greater the risk of frontline healthcare workers and support staff contracting CoVid.   As per the Crain’s letter cited at the beginning of this article, and for the ad,  that is where we have arrived and this was the great caution Governor DeWine made clear during his CoVid-19 update on 11.19.2020 in addition to the statistics he presented that tell the tale of deaths, incalculable pain and immense suffering.

On News 5 at 11pm on 11.15.2020, an open letter to Northeast Ohio from 80 physicians noted CoVid-19 is “out of control”. The specific guidelines they offer the general public in our region are:

  • To wear masks whenever you are outside of your home
  • To socially distant to the best extent possible
  • To avoid social gatherings with anyone outside of your immediate household
  • To quarantine per public health recommendations [i.e. not leave your home] if you have been exposed to the virus, have symptoms of the virus, and/or have coronavirus testing pending

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/continuing-coverage/coronavirus/local-coronavirus-news/northeast-ohio-healthcare-workers-getting-covid-from-community-spread-cleveland-clinic-doctor-says

Here is the prediction for Ohio per modeling by The Ohio State University if we do not draw down our rates of infection. This should serve to narrow our choices, considerably, for without all of us, the dangers will prevail and we will suffer immeasurably within nearly every aspect of our individual lives if we fail to curtail viral spread. However, the modeling demonstrates WHAT WE CAN DO, if we treat this as the pandemic it is, and ACT ACCORDINGLY. Note the significantly smaller peak adjacent to the tallest.

WE CAN SAVE OURSELVES, OTHER OHIOANS AND OUR HEALTHCARE  PROVIDERS AND ESSENTIAL WORKERS,  FROM THIS GRAVE ILLNESS.

https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards/other-resources/forecast-model

I would turn to the words of Dr. Peter Hotez, Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital, Center for Vaccine Development and share a portion of his words of wisdom on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, on 11.12.2020.

“And the big worry is that as hospital staffs start to get overwhelmed, it’s not just the beds, it’s the staffing.  It’s hard to find a sufficient number of trained ICU nurses.That’s when the mortality rates start to go up. They’re climbing already.

And then when the hospitals get overwhelmed, the ICU’s, that’s when it goes vertically, and that’s what happened in Spain and Italy back in March, if you remember.That’s what we saw in New York City when you heard sirens day and night and now we’re basically replicating what happened in New York City in multiple areas across the mid-section of the U.S.” [Vertically/exponentially]

“And with no federal leadership; no plan for federal leadership, no interest from the White House.  So they’re just letting it rip at this point and the numbers show that we will probably double the number of Americans who will perish from this epidemic, sometime in February.

So by the week after the Inauguration, we’re likely to hit 400,000 Americans who perish from COVID-19 which interestingly enough is the same number of Americans who lost their lives in WWII. We’re reaching those kinds of numbers.”

Exchanges followed on the need for federal leadership, the multiple and promising vaccines forthcoming; the prospect of having a war room at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta to identify, “specific areas that need to be temporarily shut down.”   Dr. Hotez made a point of saying, “Remember we’re not talking about doing this into perpetuity.”

He went on to say; “It’s simply a matter of navigating a path to get us through the next few months and not sticking to ideology and being defiant about wearing masks and refusing to social distance. We just need to save lives right now.”

“We can prevent 150,000 lives with smart planning and good guidance and leadership. With what we’re hitting now, we’re going to be hitting 2,000 deaths per day and without having any kind of federal government in place, leading the response, that’s tragically where we’re going to head.”

Dr. Hotez spoke about emerging vaccines and the ongoing need for mask wearing and social distancing. In terms of vaccinations he said: “Ideally you’d like a vaccine to reduce the severity of the illness and keep you out of the ICU and the hospital but also to stop any kind of virus shedding from your nose and mouth in order to stop transmission. And even then, we’ve done some calculations with a group at City University of New York, you’re still going to need about 70% of the U.S. population to be vaccinated so it’s going to be awhile before we get there.”

“So we have to think about these vaccines at least initially, for the first few months, as companion technology, alongside social distancing and masks, not replacement technologies.

But life will start to get measurably better as these vaccinations roll out. And a year from now we’re going to be in a pretty good position, I think.”

And so that’s the message.  Now is not the time to dig in with ideology and be defiant. Now’s the time to save the life of your mother, your father, your brother and your sister. And if you do that, we can get our population vaccinated by starting in the first part of the next year and then really ramp up in the spring.

And think how terrible people would feel, knowing that they lost the life of a loved one that could have been saved had they just paid attention for these next couple of months.”

All things considered, only WE can prevent CoVid-19 from being even more tragic in its toll by doing that which is known to curtail the spread. Needless deaths and suffering, short and long term medical complications can be averted merely by doing what is necessary to stop viral spread.

As Dr. Michael Olsterholm, Infection Disease expert at the University of Minnesota and member of President-elect, Joe Biden’s CoVid-19 Advisory Board, stated on Meet the Press,  November 15th, 2020:

                                    “OUR FUTURE’S IN OUR HANDS”

5th Annual State of Nonviolence & Holiday Bazaar

Sudanese artist Malaz Elgemiabby drum marching as a solo performance/protest to announce peace talks happening in South Sudan.

Art as Change: How art moved the people of Sudan toward nonviolent resistance to depose a repressive regime

Shop for alternative, fair-trade gifts at this Holiday Bazaar with a wide variety of vendors who support justice and social change. Other social justice groups will offer literature and conversation about their efforts in and around Cleveland.

Featuring artist speaker Malaz Elgemiabby from Sudan. She will describe the role art played in the successful 9-month campaign to remove the dictator—Omar al-Bashir—from office, and to negotiate with their military on the transition to democratic rule.

December 7, 2019
4515 Superior Ave.
North Presbyterian Church

12:00–5:00 PM
12:00–4:00 PM Vegetarian or Vegan Lunch (nominal fee)
12:00–4:00 PM Holiday Bazaar
3:00 PM Artist Talk

View the flyer…

Presented by: Cleveland Nonviolence Network, Cleveland Peace Action, Interreligious Task Forceon Central America (IRTF), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), North PresbyterianChurch, African American Museum, Social Action Commission of St. Malachi Parish, St.Paul’s Community Church, Cleveland Jobs With Justice, Ohio Immigrant Alliance and NortheastOhio Sierra Club

April 17: Join us at EarthFest 2016!

Join Northeast Ohio Sierra Club Group at EarthFest 2016, which will be held at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds on April 17th, 10 am to 5 pm.  This year celebrates the Year of Clean Transportation in conjunction with Mayor Frank Jackson’s Sustainable Cleveland 2019 initiative. The event will feature over 270 exhibits, biodiesel powered amusement park rides, food trucks, local microbrews, all day music on five stages, petting zoos, urban farm animals, chef demos, water workshops, sheep dog herding demos, and much more!

Visit http://www.earthdaycoalition.org/ for complete event information