The Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center will soon be a step closer to being a reality.

The ceremonial groundbreaking for the Cleveland MMCC will take place at 11 a.m. Jan. 14, 2011 on the historic Cleveland Malls, Cuyahoga County and MMPI announced. The groundbreaking event will feature remarks from civic, business, and government leaders and the symbolic shovel ceremony. The event is free and open to the public.

Construction is scheduled to begin on Cleveland MMCC on Jan. 3, 2011 and the facility is expected to open in September 2013.

Cleveland MMCC will include a 100,000-square-foot medical mart at the northeast corner of St. Clair Avenue and Ontario Street in downtown Cleveland and an adjoining convention center with 230,000 square feet of exhibit hall space. The facility also includes more than 92,000 square feet dedicated to meeting rooms and a Grand Ballroom overlooking Lake Erie.

The City Mission's Pathways Family Outreach Services welcomes special guest speakers Cleveland Browns' tight end, Benjamin Watson and his wife, Kirsten, to "Family Night" at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at 5310 Carnegie Ave. Downtown.

The Watsons will speak on the theme "Keeping Your Family Forever Family." The event is open to the public.

 This month's "Family Night" will include Pathways' Christmas Party and a toy distribution for students enrolled in the Pathways program. The toys were donated by the community as part of the New Toys and Games Collection which ended on Dec. 10. The remaining donated toys will be distributed at various Mission events.

Pathways' monthly "Family Night" offer parents, guardians and their children a chance to hear a special guest speaker, have dinner, and participate together in playing basketball, volleyball, foosball, air hockey, or a variety of other games. The adults can privately meet with a case worker to discuss family needs and learn what assistance may be available at The City Mission or in the community.

For more information, visit www.thecitymission.org/pathways.

Crews have been working non-stop to clear the 10,060 main thoroughfares and residential city streets of snow. There are 50 crews, on 12-hour shifts, working on plowing and salting the main and secondary roads and 28 additional crews plowing residential streets.

Salting of residential streets will begin once the snow subsides and the main streets are sufficiently cleared. The Division of Streets has 10,152 tons of salt on-hand with 3,000 additional tons being delivered today. Highway on and off ramps will be temporarily closed between noon and 2 p.m., so that Ohio Department of Transportation plows can prepare them for commuters going home.

The city requested that employers execute an early dismissal of their employees today to help alleviate late day gridlock. City of Cleveland non-essential personnel will be dismissed by their supervisors Monday at 3 p.m.

• Federal and State employers are asked to dismiss at 2 p.m.
• The County is asked to dismiss at 2:30 p.m.
• Businesses are asked to dismiss employees beginning at 3 p.m.
• University Circle will be dismissing employees beginning at 4 p.m.

Employees from any agency or business should take instruction from their supervisors. The dismissal schedule was developed to transition employers with the highest number of employees out of the central business district first.

Because gridlock often occurs in the central business district as motorists wait to enter the highway system, motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes and highway entrance ramps outside of the central business district area.