Cleveland's Opportunity Corridor looks doable, as money falls into place

By Tom Breckenridge / Plain Dealer Reporter
June 2, 2013

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- For years, grand plans for a boulevard linking an interstate highway with fast-growing University Circle looked like an opportunity missed.

Local leaders toiled, with halting success, to find money for Opportunity Corridor, a landscaped, 31/2-mile route from Interstate 490 to East 105th Street.

Now, funds are starting to fall into place for the $324 million project, including potential cash for naming rights.

Advocates, including most elected, business and civic leaders in town, hail the potential to move drivers more quickly to University Circle and spur development in Cleveland's poorest neighborhoods.

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Cleveland-area motorists, wary cyclists seek a truce on the road

By Tom Breckenridge / Plain Dealer Reporter

June 16, 2013

CLEVELAND, Ohio --  Every cyclist who's spent time on the road has heard it -- scolds, curses and shouts from drivers who want them to move over or get on the sidewalk.

And everyone who's driven a car has seen it -- someone on a bike blowing through a red light or a stop sign.

Bad behavior builds tension between cyclists and motorists in Northeast Ohio, a region that's seeing more people on bikes and a rise in the number of bike-car accidents.

Experts agree on the solution -- more bike-friendly features on our roads, and greater awareness of traffic laws, by both cyclists and drivers.

There's action on both fronts.

Cleveland and surrounding cities are rolling out more trails, bike lanes and share-the-road signs, though biking advocates say that progress is too slow.

Next month, Bike Cleveland, working with the Greater Cleveland YMCA and others, plans to ramp up awareness.

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Tech transfer chief at Case Western turns research into revenue

By Tom Breckenridge / The Cleveland Plain Dealer
November 09, 2009

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On Mark Coticchia's first day at Case Western Reserve University, an e-mail arrived from a noted faculty member.

He informed Coticchia that his mission to spin university research into new business "was all a bunch of bull- - - -."

The missive was no surprise to Coticchia. Finding acceptance, much less success, on a stage of high technology, big egos and naked capitalism would not be easy.

It was eight years ago that the Pittsburgh native arrived at CWRU. Since then, Coticchia has parlayed his venture capital savvy, a well-paid staff and a smile that beams like a lighthouse at midnight into a steady flow of high-tech deals and new business.

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