Hey xxxrayted...........

Do you have any idea what happened at the dollar store on the West side? I didn't want to deal with the school zone on Dunham so I decided to cut through s.lee and there were cops everywhere and the store was closed. Seemed like every cop in Maple Heights was around. They even had unmarked trucks driving around.

Probably another usual robbery, mapleman. It's just a normal day. I used to go to that dollar store but I didn't like the 'shady' people that were going there so I go to stores that aren't in Maple Hts.

Probably so, but I can't find anything on it. Wasn't in the PD or online. Are robberies getting that common they wont even report them anymore?

I was at the bar last night, so I didn't have access to the police scanner. Figures: anytime I'm away from the damn thing, crap happens. The last thing that happened there was a few weeks ago when I reported here about the shoplifters who had a rental car, and then ran out of the vehicle leaving their purses and personal belongings behind.

Goodwill called me a few weeks ago asking for donations. I told her I was not interested. When she asked why, I told her that they take my money and open up stores in suburbs which brings in more lowlifes. Why would I donate to that??? She said "thank you and have a nice day." LOL.

These Dollar stores should be outlawed in this city. They aren't bringing in that Legacy Village crowd we were hoping for. And since we have 50 of them in Maple Heights, it sure doesn't help our reputation any.

I have been talking about zoning laws here for check cashing, dollar stores, nail salons and day cares for some time now. City council needs to get off their ass and make it happen.

Amen to that (about our zoning laws). Sad thing is if I need new clothing it now is a long drive to find a decent store. Although Randall Mall was practically dead, I would go to Kaufman's/Macys right up to the end because it was nearby. Hope the thugs are happy with how its all going.

Anyone drive by Randall Mall in the evening lately? With most of the lights out, it is really scary looking. Hollywood should use it as a horror movie set. Place should have never been built.

Randall Mall was a money maker in it's time but after people got tired of going there and having to walk 900 miles to get to the store they wanted to go to and then having to pass through all the thug-gangs that would walk the mall hallways and block them, people stopped going there. Plus, the robberies and car thefts didn't help. I still say they could make a real nice prison out of the place. Just build an 80 foot wall around it and cinder block any windows and doorways and toss the criminal's a$$e$ in through a hatch in the roof. Let them drop down about 75 feet to the linoleum floors. Then, for food, throw a butchered cow down the hatch and let them chomp on that for a meal.

I was a teen when Randall opened up. It was exciting to have the largest mall (at the time) right here in the greater Cleveland area. But after enough car thefts, and after people became scared to go to the mall, it quickly took a turn for the worst.

I also predicted the plight of Randall Mall when they allowed teens to hang out at the entrances. There would be 50 or more just hanging around. The management did nothing about it, and it was then I knew it would be what it is today, except I predicted it much earlier.

My sister went shopping there with her girlfriend and her brother years back. He went to the bathroom and was attacked by three guys. At his school, he was a top notch wrestler and managed to bust a few heads which painted the sinks red, but he didn't walk away uninjured. His wounds were superficial, but it kept my sister and her friend from ever going back.

Then I remember when they found a few bodies in the mounds of snow that the snow plows created. The trouble never seemed to end at that place. Racial profiling was alive and kicking at the time, and nobody wanted the reputation of being racist.

Today, Ohio Diesel Tech has a portion of that building and they are educating youngsters. But it's a sad ending to a great story here.

I am younger than you guys and remember the early 80's and the mall was a great experience. We never once felt unsafe. Then in the mid to late 80's it all went down hill. That was around the time they started the influx of low income people into Warrensville. The bus access from the inner city allowed the thugs to follow their kin out there.

I believe Randall opened up somewhere in the mid 70's, so it was a great place when you remembered it. It did take a dive in the late 80's, and the place struggled to stay alive. It was a beautiful and crowded mall during it's first years. Like Southgate, it's nothing but a ghost town now with nothing left but memories.

At a mall in the Akron area (I forget the name of it now) the management created a rule that nobody under the age of 18 was allowed in the mall without a parent. This drew heavy criticism from the younger people claiming that it was a racist law. But management understood how malls like Randall came about, and took the risk of putting a stop to the cancer that would lead them to the same fate as Randall. But that's what happens when you try to preserve good things in our country.

Randall mall had beautiful fountains and was just such a great experience. I remember I would also go to Beachwood mall and the only thing they had better than Randall was the glass elevator. They built Randall in a black area and it was doing fine for years. I swear I hate the ghetto trash. They turned a mall that was just as nice as the one in Beachwood into a decaying carcass. Beachwood is fine to this day.

Southgate? I remember it being nice as recently as 1991-93. They had a nice ice cream shop, peaches, hough bakery, movie theater, Eric Martin's and you didn't have to worry about being robbed. Now you couldn't tell what it was.

I watch the history channel and they always wonder what happened to some of these lost civilizations. I never thought I could witness one created in only 20 years. 20 Damn years man. Unreal.

Mapletown also. I remember the pet shop, the Italian store that sold the fresh dough, the movie theater and the doughnut shop across the street.

I'm glad that pet store closed down. I remember going there for supplies. At the time, my fancy was birds. His birds were sickly with filthy cages. I felt so bad because I witnessed the lack of care of my favorite bird--the African Gray Parrot. I had one at home, and his birds looked nothing like mine. Mine was healthy and well kept. If I had the money, I would have purchased his African Grays just to get them the hell out of that store. But even if I had the money, I would have had to rush them right to a vet to get them healthy again.

African Grays cost around $1,000 plus the cage and various supplies. I just couldn't afford it.

That bread shop was called Alleci's. My mom would make us spaghetti and make the sauce from scratch and she'd send my dad down to Allici's for some Italian bread. I'd go with him because the aroma inside the store was great.

One day there will be tumble-weeds rolling across the parking lots at Southgate and Mapletown. The thugs will be chasing after them and trying to mug them because that's all that will be there. lol