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.

90-year-old actress Betty White filmed a video in which she congratulated the New York Giants on the Super Bowl win last night over the New England Patriots. But she says that next year, her Browns will make it to the Super Bowl.

White stars in the TV Land hit show "Hot in Cleveland", for which she recently won a best actress Screen Actors Guild award.

What do you think of her bold Browns prediction?

Attending a Cleveland Browns home game in 2012 will cost you a little less than it did last year. The team announced on Wednesday that they are introducing a $32 per game season ticket plan for more than 1,500 seats in the Dawg Pound.

These tickets cost $45 last year. Those interested in the season ticket plan will have to purchase the 10-game home package, which includes 8 regular season games and 2 preseason match-ups.

Season tickets go on sale on Monday, February 6. Current season ticket holders will begin receiving renewal notices by the end of this week, via both e-mail and home delivery.

All ticket prices for non-premium seas will either remain the same, or be reduced in price from the 2011 season.

During the 2012 regular season, the Browns will play the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Washington Redskins.

Photo: Tony Grossi of the Plain Dealer

Tony Grossi, a longtime Browns beat writer for the Plain Dealer, posted an insulting message about Browns owner Randy Lerner on Twitter. That single message has gotten him removed from the beat, although it's not clear if it was at the suggestion of the Browns, Lerner, or simply the PD being proactive.

Grossi wrote on Twitter:

"He is a pathetic figure, the most irrelevant billionaire in the world."

The offensive tweet was later deleted.

As it turns out, despite what Grossi thinks, Lerner is at least relevant enough to influence his work assignments.

The Plain Dealer addressed the tweet on its website, cleveland.com, last week, stating:

"Last night, Plain Dealer Browns beat reporter Tony Grossi made an inadvertent, inappropriate post to Twitter concerning Browns owner Randy Lerner. Grossi has reached out to Lerner to apologize. The Plain Dealer also apologizes.”

In addition, Grossi discussed the unfortunate situation in a video podcast. He said:

With the news that Randy Lerner is looking for a $6 Million handout from the City of Cleveland to help repair Cleveland Browns Stadium, Roldo wanted us to reprint a story he did on Mr. Lerner's sweetheart deal with the city he published in June. Here is what the legendary Cleveland journalist had to say:

The Wonder of Randy Lerner's Life

The realization that the school children of Cleveland subsidize the lifestyle of Browns owner Randy Lerner is testimony to our times. Let the wealthy get wealthier. Let the poor get poorer.

It’s one of the most disgusting examples of wealth living off poverty. It goes uncontested by columnists, by politicians, by our sharp news media outlets.

Mayor Jackson, the Plain Dealer and civic leaders as Ronn Richard of the Cleveland Foundation and Joe Roman of the Greater Cleveland Partnership – in other words the servants of the rich - want more attention paid to school teachers and their pay and working privileges (see my last posting below).

Privilege, however, thy name is Lerner.

The Wall Street Journal has been tracking the use of private jet planes and how they are used by the wealthy. Of course, you pay for this too as corporations write the cost off as an expense.

The Cleveland Browns are asking the city of Cleveland to pay up front for the next six years of its 12-year-old stadium's repairs at a cost of $5.8 million. The Browns' lease requires the city to use an $850,000 portion of the county-wide alcohol and tobacco sales tax revenue for stadium repairs, however the team says that they need $5.8 million now for "major repairs."

The Browns would like to use $1.2 million to refurbish club seats, $750,000 to waterproof concrete under the club seats, and most of the remainder of the funding to replace and repair concrete in and around the stadium.

The sales tax raises $13 million per year, but expires in 2015. It is not clear how the city will pay for future repairs on the $290 million stadium beyond 2015.

The effects of the accusations of the sexual abuse of children at the hands of former Penn State University defensive coach Jerry Sandusky are being felt in Cleveland, Ohio, where one of his own children works for the Cleveland Browns football team. Sandusky's son, Jon, works as the director of player personnel with the Browns. Jon Sandusky, in light of the scandal that is still unraveling in the news, has opted to take a leave of absence from his position with the Browns.

Jon Sandusky is currently in his second season with the Browns. Prior to coming to Cleveland, Jon spent the past nine seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. He had joined the Eagles as an intern in 2001, and was named a pro scout the following year. Sandusky remained in that role until he was promoted to pro of personnel in 2008. Prior to his time with the Eagles, Sandusky was a coaching intern at Penn State for one year in 2000.

Jon Sandusky has a connection to the Nittany Lions beyond just being the son of Jerry Sandusky -- he also played there. Sandusky, a native of State College, Pa., was a safety for Penn State from 1996 to 1999, an graduated from there with a degree in exercise science.

The Madden Curse has gotten a grip on Peyton Hillis and won't seem to let go. The latest incident in the well-documented string of bad luck for the Madden cover-boy came yesterday in practice as the running back re-injured his hamstring and is making it look like he will miss yet another game.

So far this season, when Hillis hasn't be sidelined due to injury he has created drama off it. He has gotten married out of town unexpectedly, missed a game due to strep throat when most players thought he was well enough to play, and recently skipped a Halloween party he was expected to show up to for area kids. Last week, he was fooling around during pregame of the San Francisco 49'ers game, which drew the ire of his teammates.

The distractions have become so much that rumors are swirling that the Browns are so fed up that they want to part ways with him during the offseason when he becomes a free agent. The once star running back has tested the patience of both the team and their fans, and it looks like Hillis is doing his best to try to get out of the city who was taken to him just a year ago.

Cleveland Browns' running back Peyton Hillis reportedly failed to appear at a scheduled Halloween event for the Boys & Girls Club last night. Ex-Browns center LeCharles Bentley, who was the organizer of the event, expressed his frustration about Hillis' no-show Monday evening by posting on twitter.

Bentley wrote:

"Peyton Hillis looking for 10mil guaranteed from Browns and can't show up to kids charity event? #ManPlease"

The event was billed as "Halloween with Hillis" and was to be aired live as a part of Bentley's radio show. Later in the evening Bentley seemed to get over his initial anger, and posted another message on Twitter:

"FYI, I'm a board member at Boys & Girls Club. Great event planned..just didn't work out. We all can move on."

Hills better have a darn good excuse because disappointing children is pretty low.

My new book “Pass the Nuts: More Stories About the Most Unusual People and Remarkable Events from My Four Decades As a Sports Journalist
” is coming out in early November. Here’s a preview of the book– taken from Chapter 1.