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Cuyahoga River Cleanup Reaches New Benchmark With Walleye Discovery [Plain Dealer]
… roughly 45 years after the fire that sparked the modern environmental movement, the success of efforts to clean up the crooked river can be measured by the fish found there. “Fish are our benchmark, our canary in the coal mine,” said Jane Goodman, executive director of Cuyahoga River Restoration: “If the fish are abundant, healthy and diverse, then that is a good sign.”

Wegman’s Grants $75,000 for Massachusetts Avenue Project’s New Farmhouse [Buffalo Rising]
The significant financial boost will go a long way towards helping Massachusetts Avenue Project (MAP) to establish its Farmhouse Community Food Training & Resource Center. By allocating the money, Wegman’s is helping MAP to grow affordable, local, organic produce, for an underserved community.

How Hamilton, Ohio, Produced ‘Slim Jesus’ [CityLab]
These are the conditions that created Slim Jesus. While gun violence is often associated with black teens, its not surprising to find such a huge arsenal of guns in the hands of the white, teenaged rapper. He’s a reflection of his city — which is 84 percent white and 22.9 percent poor — and a reflection of the values of the predominantly white National Rifle Association.

Futsal Tournament Kicks Off National Welcoming Week [The Detroit News]
The idea behind the event is to promote bonds between immigrants moving into a community and those who already live there. “Immigrants have a reputation for taking jobs, but just as often they create jobs. Immigrants are three times more likely to start a business than native-born citizens. These are hard-working, talented people.”

Muncie Has Plans To Tackle Neighborhood Blight [The Star Press]
Muncie is looking to follow the lead of cities such as Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit that have long dealt with blighted and abandoned properties in developing its own innovative policies to combat vacancy.

Film Review: Braddock America Finds Hope Among Urban Ruins [Architectural Record]
In the small town of Braddock, once a thriving community of laborers and immigrants manning some of the most important mills in the country, there’s no end in sight to the city’s post-industrial downward spiral. When big steel retreated overseas, it left shattered lives, splintered communities, and a fractured civic identity in its wake. Decades later, the Great Recession further crippled the town. By 2010, a city that boasted a population of more than 20,000 in 1920, had only 2,159 residents.

How ‘Once Great’ Detroit Affected U.S. History [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
It’s about how Detroit was once great, and how that greatness still influences American life. There’s Motown, of course, but also, Maraniss writes, the city deserves credit for its critical financial support for the civil rights movement and, through the United Auto Workers union, the creation of middle class.

Banner photo credit: Greg Hume

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