Signal Cleveland’s Power Rankings is a weekly roundup of the people, places and things wielding their power, for better or worse, in Greater Cleveland. Last week, the county’s tax office and Lake Erie were giving everybody headaches.
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1. Cleveland City Council
Construction junction: Council approved funding for plans to build more affordable homes. Members immediately started receiving texts asking if they want to sell.
2. Literary Cleveland
Word: The group for writers and readers is leaning into the discomfort of These Times, choosing “Create Dangerously” as the theme for its annual Inkubator event. “Screw It, Let’s All Write Dystopian Romance” also would have made sense.
3. Cerenity Palmer
Sweet!: The 12-year-old Central entrepreneur’s lemonade business is booming. Which of the city’s heavily subsidized sports teams will be the first to offer her space for a stand during home games?
4. Guardians’ All-Stars
Representing: Five Cleveland players — the most from any American League team — contributed to the AL’s win. Steven Kwan drew a walk that helped fuel a rally, David Fry ripped an RBI single and closer Emmanuel Chase fanned two batters on eight pitches to end the game. If you renounced your fandom over the name or logo, you really should consider getting over yourself and supporting this overachieving young team.
5. Ticks
This sucks: The vile little creatures are surging in Ohio. Well, at least now we know who’s persuaded by that obtuse state tourism slogan “the heart of it all” — literal bloodsuckers.
6. Jerry Siegel and Joel Schuster
Kal-El’s bells: As the Superman production crew left Cleveland, director James Gunn thanked the city for its hospitality and enthusiasm. He also mentioned the Glenville boys who gave the world one of its most enduring and inspiring characters (and then were denied the profits and credit they deserved for decades, as recounted in the biography ”Super Boys” by Brad Ricca). Wherever they are now in the Multiverse, we hope they can feel the gratitude from the original Metropolis.