Stabilizing Cleveland Families

• Lubrizol Corp. announced that it will eliminate 95 jobs – most of them at its Wickliffe headquarters – as a result of a merger earlier this year. Lubrizol expects to trim more jobs over the next three years as it integrates Brecksville’s Noveon International Inc., which makes automotive lubricants and other chemical compounds. (PD 7/1).

• The number of new people signing up for jobless benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in more than three years, a potentially encouraging sign for a labor market experiencing a bumpy recovery. (PD 7/9)

• The Ohio unemployment rate crept higher in June as the state shed jobs and employment at factories sank to a new low. (PD 7/17)

• Washington Mutual said Thursday it will cut 2,500 jobs and close operations across the country as it tries to improve its struggling mortgage business. WaMu said it expects to close most of the offices by the end of September, and the job cuts should be completed by the end of the years. (PD 7/23).

• Ford Motor Co. Plans to build a third factory in China, part of an expansion of its partnership with Changan Automobile Group that will also involve Japan’s Mazda Motor corp. (PD 7/23).

• The Cleveland law requiring contractors to hire city residents on large construction projects violates federal guidelines, city leaders learned this week. The U.S. Department of Transportation sent a letter warning that the law violates "regulations that prohibit the use of local hiring preferences". (PD 7/17)

• Ohio’s first Senior Guest House – a temporary refuge for seniors – has opened for business. It’s designed for Cuyahoga County residents 60 and older who need somewhere to live after a utility shutoff, eviction, a caregiver’s illness or other crisis. For information contact the Department of Senior and Adult Services, 216-420-6700. (PD July)

• Drug makers raised prescription prices by nearly triple the rate of inflation in the first three months of this year – just before Medicare began its pharmacy discount card program – negating much of the savings the government promised to seniors, according to an AARP survey. (PD 7/1).

• All six employees in an office called Transformation, which helped struggling schools with academic plans and other needs, have been cut. Five employees who worked with school guidance offices are gone because the office of Student Opportunities has been combined with the office of Post-Secondary education. Twenty-four employees were told Friday that their positions have been cut. A total of 38 from the administrative ranks will be laid off in a effort to curb a $100 million deficit. (PD 7/21)

• The effort to start carving Cleveland high schools into small schools this fall has hit a snag at East Tech and Rhodes. East and Glenville high schools will go ahead with the conversion at the start of school next month. But it may be another year before East Tech and Rhodes are broken into full fledged small schools. (PD 7/27).