If you watched the Super Bowl this past weekend from the Northeast Ohio region, you may recall seeing an intriguing commercial by the University of Akron which featured contact lens for diabetics that will change color with blood sugar levels. Researchers at U of A have been working on the diabetic lens since 2003, but they won't be ready for human use for at least three years.

The lens are currently in the prototype phase and are not approved for human use. The model in the advertisement did not actually wear the lens, and the images shown were simulated.

At best, it will be at least three years before such a lens could be made available commercially. As it is dependent upon clearing various funding and regulatory hurdles, the wait could end up being longer.

Jun Hu, an associate professor of chemistry at Akron, has been working on the sugar-sensing chemical that is key to the lens since 2003. He and his lab discovered a molecule known as a probe that binds well to sugars. In order to make it visible, they combined the probe with a dye. So, when sugar concentrations increase, the sugar binds to the probe, knocking loose the dye which will then be seen as a color change. When the sugar normalizes, the probe molecule picks the dye back up.

According to the Boston Herald, Ohio billionaire Peter Lewis, the chairman of insurance company Progressive Corp., is bankrolling a ballot question supporting the medicinal use of marijauna almost entirely himself.

Lewis, a well-known advocate of marijuana, has backed similar efforts in Ohio and Washington.

State campaign finance reports show that Lewis contributed $525,000 to the Committee for Compassionate Medicine, which supports the medicinal use of marijuana. The group raised a total of $526,000, which means that all but $1,000 was funded by Lewis. Most of the money went to pay for professional signature gatherers, who gathered signatures in order to guarantee that the question would get a spot on the upcoming November ballot.

The proposal in Massachusetts would permit patients to with debilitating medical conditions like cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis to get permission from their doctors to use marijuana, and calls for the state to register up to 35 nonprofit treatment centers.

On Monday, Cleveland City Council passed an ordinance that would grant the Cleveland Browns $5.8 million for repairs to Cleveland Browns Stadium. The measure passed 16-2, with one councilperson absent.

The ordinance includes accepting the donation of plans and the advancement of funds from the Browns to make the repairs, determining the method of making the public improvement of constructing cpital repairs to the stadium, and authorizes the Director of Public Works to enter into one or more public improvement contracts for the making of the improvement.

The Browns will lend Cleveland $5.8 million at 0 percent interest, and the city would repay the team with money generated from the sin tax.

In the September 2010 issue of GQ magazine, which hit the newsstands about a month after his infamous “Decision,” LeBron James was asked if he would ever come back to Cleveland and play for the Cavs. “That would be a great story,” the Chosen One responded before going on to pepper the rest of the interview with third person references, most of which either extolled LeBron’s own humility or emphasized how LeBron had spoiled everyone with LeBron’s superlative performances both on and off the court.

And now, after a tumultuous season in which James failed miserably in the NBA Finals and became the most hated player in the league, rumors are bubbling to the surface that LeBron – upset with Miami GM Pat Riley’s heavy-handed tactics in, among other things, exiling James’ knuckle-headed entourage from the Heat locker room – will sign with the Cavaliers after opting out of his contract in the summer of 2014. And what a story that will be! The Prodigal Son returning and being welcomed by tens of thousands of forgetting, forgiving and fixing-to-be-forever spoiled fans. A dry eye will be impossible to find in the ESPN studios.

On the heels of her Super Bowl halftime performance on Sunday, Madonna announced the details of an extensive, upcoming world tour featuring more than 90 dates. One of those stops will be in Cleveland, on November 10 at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The last time Madonna performed in Cleveland was more than 20 years ago in 1987 on August 4 and 5 at the Richfield Coliseum for her "Who's That Girl" tour. This alone should help tickets sell rather quickly.

Madonna's tour will kick off on May 29 in Tel Aviv, Israel, but the North American leg won't start until August 28 in Philadelphia. The tour will support her new album, "MDNA", which will be released on March 26 by Live Nation Entertainment/Interscope Records.

Tickets for the Cleveland show will go on sale on March 5 and will be available from both Live Nation and Ticketmaster. A presale for fan club members and VIP packages will begin on February 28 at 10am.

CSU head coach talked about injured star guard D'Aundray Brown's status for the Thursday night against Valparaiso. Brown suffered a strained groin against Loyola on Friday. Waters said his status is day to day and explained the extent of the injury in this clip.

It's odd that as you get older the past keeps popping up to surprise you.

Recently, the Plain Dealer ran on its web site a copy of a page one from back in 1967 that I had written when the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Cleveland. It brought back memories.

Now in the 2012 Republican primary the name Saul Alinsky has risen to prominence again. And memories return for me.

I suspect not too many people remember that Alinsky almost came to Cleveland to ply his talents. Actually, he did appear here but he didn't stay.

In this year's Republican primary Newt Gingrich has tried to associate President Barack Obama with Alinsky. Some believe that Gingrich is trying to tar Obama as a socialist radical by linking his name with Alinsky, dead for some 40 years. Alinsky was a community organizer as was Obama. Both in Chicago.

The first notice of Alinsky's possible arrival in Cleveland was an article I wrote on December 23 1966 for the Plain Dealer. The headline read: "Come to Cleveland, 'Agitator' is Urged."

The first paragraph said:

"Saul D. Alinsky, a radical community organizer, has been approached to serve as a consultant for a mass citizens organization effort in Negro neighborhoods by the Council of Churches in Greater Cleveland."

Cleveland State University mens basketball coach Gary Waters said throughout November and December that you shouldn't judge how his team was playing in the early months and the true barometer on the Vikings was how they played in late January and February.  This was even after CSU jumped off to an incredible start to the season that saw the team win the first 10 out of 11 contests which included an upset of then-7th ranked Vanderbilt on the road to begin the year. Now observers know what the veteran head coach was saying all along as the team has turned up their level of play up a couple notches and look to clamp down their fist by clinching the regular season Horizon League championship.

While L'Oreal announced last week that they'd be shutting down their remaining hair products factory in Solon, Ohio, this week brings better news for the city. Nestle USA announced on Monday that it had decided to move their Hot Pockets and Lean Pockets business teams from Colorado to Solon, which will create new job openings for the Northeast Ohio region.

It is not yet known just how many jobs the relocation will bring to the area, as it is dependent on how many of the 70 or so Nestle employees from Englewood, Colo., will make the decision to move to Ohio.

Some of the positions will be consolidated, and "way more than half" of the team, which includes positions in marketing, finance, and product development, has been invited to transfer to Solon.

Nestle Prepared Foods Co. of Solon also oversees Stouffer's and Lean Cuisine frozen meals, Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough and baking ingredients, Libby's 100-percent Pure Pumpkin, Nestle Carnation milks, and Buitoni refrigerated pastas and sauces.

The Ohio Department of Transportation has asked the state Controlling Board for approval to pay $2.85 million for a controversial study of how Ohio could make money off of the Ohio Turnpike.

According to a state request for funding, ODOT has asked for the money to be paid to KPMG Corporate FInance LLC to help it evaluable its options in leveraging assets of the turnpike, as well as rest areas along the 251-mile toll road.

The Controlling Board is scheduled to meet on February 13 and will consider the request at that time.

Governor John Kasich has lobbied for the leasing of the turnpike as a way to generate money. Statehouse Democrats, however, strongly opposed the idea.