The good spin

by M. Stewart

Wow, that was some downpour yesterday evening, eh? When I tried to get into my car after work, I couldn’t even get close. All of the cars parked on the east side of Carnegie Library were close to being swept away by the flash flood, but it didn’t last long.

Once the waters receded there, I drove through the corner of Walnut and Bradshaw, which was completely submerged. As it turned out, the flooded intersection was easier to navigate than the dry one. A city official told me recently that the stalled Bradshaw paving project would be completed soon. : )

The state Route 11/39 project is in its final stages. That means we’ll have a nice smooth highway to drive on for a year or so before the potholes appear and the weeds take over. But for now, it’s good, and there is nothing like the present. : )

Closer to home, a derelict house on my street finally collapsed last week, which means we're one step closer to the Earth swallowing the place. The house down the hill that burned a couple years ago still sits there. Perhaps last night's rain and wind knocked it over. The abandoned house at the end of the block has become a hangout for local teens. Now they have someplace to meet. : )

A gang of local drug addicts spent yesterday morning carrying stuff out of one of the abandoned houses across the street. There was a time when I would have said something. Now I just turn away and mind my own business. At least things are happening. : )

The screaming hillbillies who summered in the duplex across St. Clair seem to have disappeared. My hope is that the slumlord who owns the house will find it financially beneficial to burn the place down. Half the properties on lower St. Clair have been condemned. In Liverpool, we see this as progress. : )

Finally, the Kent State construction projects on Walnut Street and the corner of Broadway and East Fourth are moving along. Razing the Smith building was only the beginning. The university is putting in an attractive green space/parking lot on that corner that should be completed by mid-October. Good things are happening in East Liverpool. : )