GOP convention crews scramble on tight timetable, as set design unveiled

GOP convention crews scramble on tight timetable, as set design unveiled

Published June 29, 2016 FoxNews.com

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Republican National Convention crews are working essentially around the clock to get the Cleveland venue ready for the July 18 start, event organizers said Tuesday, giving a glimpse into the scramble to deliver on what Donald Trump promises will be a star-powered convention like no other.

The race to finish was on full display Tuesday, as organizers gave reporters a sneak peek at the stage design for the Quicken Loans Arena. To the backdrop of the announcement, roughly 250 workers with truckloads of equipment were setting up at a breakneck pace -- the result of the NBA finals concluding there last week.

“We’ve never done this in less than five weeks,” Jeff Larson, the convention group’s chief executive on arrangements, told Politico and other outlets. “We’re doing this in just over … four weeks.”

Construction started June 18, exactly one month before the convention and six days after the Cleveland Cavaliers clinched the NBA championship on their home court, popularly known as “The Q.”

Crews are working to complete a grand backdrop for the nomination.

The circular stage from which Trump is expected to give his acceptance speech will be surrounded by a long, white staircase and flanked by towering, silver-colored “blades” -- designed to hide wires and lighting from the audience.

Trump, since becoming the party’s presumptive presidential nominee last month, has promised an exciting event. He has ripped the 2012 convention as “extraordinarily boring” and hinted at replacing speeches from politicians with appearances from sports stars like NFL quarterbacks Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger.

The former reality TV star even suggested to The New York Times that he’d use a global talent management company like IMG to help make the event “smart and different.”

The backdrop for the grand stage will be two large screens stacked one on top of each other.

There has been no official announcement from the Trump campaign about live entertainment – but it’s probably safe to say acts like Adele and the Rolling Stones are out, considering they reportedly have asked Trump to stop playing their music at his rallies.

Trump has some high-profile supporters potentially poised for a speaking role, ranging from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and others.

But he might have trouble filling the stage for four evenings considering other high-profile Republicans such as 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, former President George W. Bush, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and others have said they won’t attend.

Still, Trump plans to wait until the convention to announce his running mate, in hopes of adding some intrigue and excitement to the event.

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All These Companies Are Skipping Out On Trump’s GOP Convention In Cleveland

http://a2.img.talkingpointsmemo.com/...ejwsz7e3bs.jpgAP Photo / Mark Duncan

ByALLEGRA KIRKLAND
Published JUNE 17, 2016, 12:11 PM EDT
20426 Views


The list of major U.S. companies that plan to scale back funding for the Republican National Convention or avoid it altogether keeps growing as the July event in Cleveland draws closer.

Many of the corporations, including Wells Fargo & Co. and Ford Motor Co., sponsored the 2012 GOP convention in Tampa, Florida but do not plan to lend their names to this year's event, which will be helmed by a divisive, unpredictable presumptive nominee.

Emily Lauer, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland host committee, told Bloomberg that a lull in corporate commitments came at the same time that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) dropped out, leaving Trump alone in the GOP field.

Yet “the sky is not falling,” she insisted to Bloomberg.

Though UPS, Motorola, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Hewlett Packard Inc. and Walgreens—all of which sponsored the 2012 convention—have signaled they’ll withhold support this year, a number of prominent corporations have announced commitments. The American Petroleum Institute will participate, while AT&T, Cisco Systems Inc., Twitter and Facebook have pledged cost-free tech support, Bloomberg reported.

While most of the companies listed were reluctant to give the news site a reason for staying away from Cleveland, the political context is hard to dodge for some.

A company spokesman for Ford told Bloomberg that they decided not to sponsor either party's convention more than a year ago and to instead focus on “state delegations,” making no mention of Trump. Yet the presumptive nominee frequently attacks Ford for outsourcing jobs and announcing a plan to build a new plant in Mexico.

While the host committee says it is on track for funding, other big-name donors plan to skip out on the Cleveland event, too. David Koch, one of the biggest backers in Tampa, announced that he and his brother Charles will not fund this year’s convention, and a number of major GOP figureheads, including both former presidents Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), have said they won’t be attending.

Below is a running list of companies that have announced either they will scale back or withhold funding for the 2016 convention:

MetLife Inc.Walgreens
Hewlett Packard Inc.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
UPS
Motorola
Wells Fargo & Co.
Ford Motor Co.
Coca-Cola

Microsoft

Apple

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/companies-wont-fund-gop-convention

Cleveland Relaxes Rules on Protests Near Republican Convention

By YAMICHE ALCINDOR JUNE 29, 2016

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Protesters at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in 2012. CreditMax Whittaker for The New York Times

CLEVELAND — The city of Cleveland agreed Wednesday to allow protests closer to the site of the Republican National Convention, approving rule changes that increases the amount of space demonstrators can occupy and allows for longer events.

The changes will make protests and other activity along the city’s parade route much more visible and extend the deadline to apply for event permits, said Stephen David, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which sued the city over the rules. A federal judge ruled last week that Cleveland’s regulations on protests and marches during the convention infringed on the right of free expression and ordered city officials and the A.C.L.U. to negotiate new rules.

On Wednesday, the Cleveland Board of Control finalized some of those new rules, which extended the parade route where activists are permitted to march, allowed protests to go through parts of downtown Cleveland and gave some larger groups more time to demonstrate.

“People will have more opportunities to be seen by delegates especially with the new parade route,” Mr. David said. “These regulations are a significant improvement from what we had seen before.”

Still, the protests will not go directly by the Quicken Loans Arena where the nominating convention will take place. But protesters will now be able to march through areas around the arena that were previously off limits, including some public parks. The changes also added buffer times between protests, after some feared that groups supporting Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, might clash with those opposing his nomination.

“The R.N.C. offers a unique stage to groups from all sides of the political spectrum to lift their voices to a national audience,” Christine Link, executive director for the A.C.L.U. of Ohio, said in a statement. “The new rules ensure that people have meaningful opportunities to express themselves on some of our most important national issues.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/30/us...-protests.html