Fight or Flight?

[Bill Call]

Is Cleveland Heights just giving in? If you can't enjoy a street festival without the fear of violence is the answer to cancel the street festival? What did this story leave out?

http://www.cleveland.com/cleveland-heig ... er_default#incart_m-rpt-2

[Peter Grossetti]

According to the article: "the decision (to cancel the event) was made following police monitoring of social media and incidents at last weekend's St. Gregory the Great Festival in South Euclid."

Does that mean that social media sites have been inundated with specific threats against the Family Arts Day?? Or is this just being "over-protective"?

Hell, then perhaps all marathons should be cancelled (reference: Boston in April 2013); all skyscrapers taller than 90 floors should be taken down (reference: NYC Twin Towers 9/11); etc.?!?!???

Is this really all about a bunch of stupid social media posts?? If so, perhaps the good, law-abiding folks in Cleveland Heights should "outdo" the bad, ne'er-do-well folks in Cleveland Heights and flood social media with great positive things? Then see how "The Authorities" react?

[Jim O'Bryan]

Steve Presser, owner of Big Fun, and President of the Coventry Special Interest District. (SID)

I had a chance to call Steve yesterday, I have had the pleasure of calling him a friend since
the first days of Big Fun. And asked, what is the deal. "Jim, the problem is a few people set
on ruining it for everyone." He went on to explain about the " St. Gregory the Great Festival
in South Euclid" incident. That a few people on Twitter we covering the reports of the festival
while tweeting those plans and their plans out to other to come and cause a "flash mob."
Now "flash mobs" can be cool and groovey, not really. And some can be pretty bad. Steve
had a moment a couple years ago where gangs from Detroit were coming into Cleveland, and
run through a star like locusts.

The St. Gregory the Great Festival in South Euclid tweets were more about grabbing, and
fighting, and eventually fights broke out, and arrests made, though many more got away.

This has been a growing problem on the east side for years now, and with social media,
it has become a larger problem, to the present level where a few threats can shut down
an event.

Deana Bremer Fischer, Director of Future Heights, and publisher of The Heights Observer
told me yesterday, "It is crazy, they went out of their way to rebuild the Coventry Street
Festival as a family friendly event after issues in the past. It just didn't matter."

Steve had mentioned that for those that do not remember, the event was a victim of
similar action 4 years ago with a Flash Mob running through the Festival and stores,
grabbing everything and anything that was not nailed down. So they skipped a year,
and came back as the Coventry Family Art Festival.

"Jim, this is crazy, we have re-crafted this to appeal to families, we have re-branded the
event, which is sad, as the Coventry Street Festival dates back to the early days of the
Hessler Street Fair, and when Coventry was the center of the Hippie World in Northeast Ohio.
To think all of that can be whipped out existence by a few."

He had gone on to say, that they had scaled back, no longer shut down the street, and
had arraigned for more police. However it was decided that the police could not guarantee
the safety of the event, and that Twitter traffic was high about "getting ready" so the police
asked firmly for Coventry SID to reconsider, and they shelved it.

Now a case can be made for the bad guys winning. But as Steve recounted the "Flash Mobs"
he had encountered in the past, he could not see how another occurrence would be good
for anyone, especially the businesses and district he represents.

So there it is.


Thomas Mulready (Cool Cleveland), Denis DeVito (Cats on Holiday, City of Lakewood), and
Steve Presser enjoy an O'Bryan Burger at the WestEnd Tavern.


.

[Bill Call]

Right know I am in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa on my my way to a bike ride across the state. When I return I will engage in yet another futile fight against our distopian future. But for know just remember this: things don't get better because you shut your eyes tighter.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Right know I am in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa on my my way to a bike ride across the state. When I return I will engage in yet another futile fight against our distopian future. But for know just remember this: things don't get better because you shut your eyes tighter.

Bill

I am not sure, the Coventry SID is closing their eyes, and I have to believe that the Cleveland
Heights Police that have full time staff member, and other detectives when they can monitoring
social networking. One might say without Social Networking the party would go on, but what should
the police do when they get credible threats from credible sources?

When Steve recounted both the flash mob of his store, and of the festival 4 years ago, you could
still hear the stress and the outrage in his voice. Families taking part in a tradition when 40 or so
locusts age 15-30 descended on one end of the festival and grabbed what they could and off into
the fastest way out of there.

What they need to do is create a faux festival or bring in enough "police" to knock down anyone
trying anything. Plain clothes, catch everyone of them in a trap, and charge them out of the kister
with something over the top.

.

[ryan costa]

it has been suggested these teenagers are the offshoot of the type of Americans known as "Rednecks".
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3040 ... e_Liberals

The rednecks of the past did not have nationally marketed shoes or iPods or television or the like. nationally marketed and massproduced commercial media was not a component of this "Culture". When you see a contemporary member of this community chanting out lyrics to this culture...it usually means they are under the influence of a drug called "PCP".

Peter Moskos explores issues of Communication.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1123 ... f-flogging

the riots are not as bad as they used to be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E4znu82XhE

[russell dunn]

CAT - Hayward Robillard (Large).jpg (98.18 KiB) Viewed 3299 times

Nik - Nik - Nik - Nik - Swamp !

[ryan costa]

it is difficult for the police to deal with teenagers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5ORsrWi8Yc