Raising Cane’s Is Coming to Detroit Ave. in Lakewood This September
Update: Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is officially taking over the old Bob Evans on Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, the restaurant chain recently announced. When it opens in September, this will be the 33rd Ohio location for the Louisiana-started chicken joint. After breaking ground at the site earlier this month, plans are underway to hire about…
ACLU Calls to End Unconstitutional Panhandling Bans in 69 Ohio Municipalities
In a letter nationally coordinated today by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio is urging 69 Ohio municipalities to repeal their bans on panhandling. Since the 2015 Supreme Court decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert determining panhandling is a right to free speech, every single…
Topical Issues Inspired Birds of Chicago’s Latest Effort
Birds of Chicago, a folk/pop/rock duo that features singer-songwriters Allison Russell and JT Nero, began assembling the songs for its most recent album, Love in Wartime, while on tour a couple of years ago. Since the band had just teamed up with producer Joe Henry for 2106’s somber Real Midnight, it wanted to go in…
Local Effect of Trump’s Plan to Freeze Fuel Economy Standards Would Be Like Adding 4 Million Cars to Cuyahoga County
Donald Trump’s proposal to rollback fuel economy standards would have significant and dire environmental and financial effects. If it gets a green light, beginning in 2020 automakers would no longer have to make vehicles more fuel efficient every year. The Obama-era standards would have required cars to average 43 miles a gallon by the year…
The ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ National Tour Heads to Cleveland This Fall
So You Think You Can Dance is finishing up its 15th season this summer, with just two episodes left to decide America’s Favorite Dancer from the Final 4 contestants. But no matter who wins the title, all of the series’ Top 10 performers are headed out on tour this fall with So You Think You…
First Look: Southern Tier Brewery, Restaurant and Taproom, Opening Next Week
Cleveland has no shortage of homegrown breweries, with more than 30 small, medium and large producers located in and around the region. But come Tuesday, September 4, downtown will welcome into that frothy mix a well-known out-of-town brand. That’s when Lakewood, NY-based Southern Tier Brewing will open its brewery, restaurant and taproom in the Gateway…
NEEDTOBREATHE’s Upcoming Show at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica to Feature ‘High-Energy Rock’
Singer-guitarist Bear Rinehart and singer-guitarist Bo Rinehart were initially a coffeehouse folk act, but they expanded to a four-piece after adding singer-bassist Seth Bolt and singer-keyboardist Josh Lovelace to the fold about 15 years ago. They’ve steadily toured and recorded as NEEDTOBREATHE ever since. The tour that brings the group to Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica on Wednesday,…
Urban, Wylie and the Problem with Buying Jeans — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Andre and Zac are back, and they’re wound up. They talk birthdays, summer heat, Urban Meyer and how to shop for jeans and shoes in middle age. Subscribe to A to Z on iTunes here or stream below.
Henry Rollins Talks About His World Travels, Photography, and Sharing it All at Playhouse Square Sept. 19
The former frontman of the monumental punk band Black Flag has spent the last three decades establishing himself as a true renaissance man. A performer, writer, journalist, publisher, actor, comedian, radio host, motivational speaker, activist, voice-over actor, musician and now photographer, Henry Rollins is a living cultural icon. His most recent endeavor, the “Henry Rollins…
Hold On to Your Nuts! The Planters NUTmobile Comes to the Cleveland Area Wednesday
Move over, Weinermobile, there’s a new novelty food vehicle coming to town. Jordyn Hack, a self-described Planters Peanutter is traveling across the country piloting the Planters NUTmobile, a 24-foot-long peanut on wheels, and it’s arriving to the Cleveland area tomorrow. At the Peanutter events, fans can see the NUTmobile up close, take pictures, meet the…
Cleveland Traffic — ‘Please Kill Me’ — is Bonkers Bad This Morning
Intrepid Scene correspondent BJ Colangelo, reporting live from her vehicle on Detroit Avenue with a fatalistic (and frankly nasty) sneer, said that traffic on Cleveland’s West Side this morning is as bad as she’s ever seen it. “I’ve been stuck across from Local West for 10 minutes,” she reported, more than an hour ago. “I…
Hot in Cleveland: CMSD Closes 18 Schools Tuesday Due to High Temperatures
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District has announced that it’s closing 18 schools Tuesday due to forecasts of extremely high temperatures. The high is expected to eclipse 90 degrees, as it did Monday, with humidity making it feel considerably hotter. The following schools are closed: Ben Franklin, Charles Eliot, Charles Mooney, Collinwood, East Clark, Facing History New…
Cleveland Flea Expands to Shaker Heights Through October
The Cleveland Flea at Tyler Village is only offering two more events this year, but look for the market to expand to one other east side location this September and October as well. The Van Aken District in Shaker Heights is the spot selected for the new Cleveland Flea events, meaning there are four final outdoor…
Farm Bill: What’s at Stake for Sustainable Food, Farms
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Farm Bill Conference Committee meets right after Labor Day to hammer out a final version of the legislation, and there’s a lot at stake for sustainable food and farm systems. At the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, policy program coordinator Amalie Lipstreu said the House and Senate versions of the…
Local Music Showcase Love MuffinPalooza Returns for Its 11th Incarnation
For the past ten years, local musician and label owner Adam Rich has hosted Love MuffinPalooza, a festival that showcases local bands. This year’s event once again serves as a fundraiser for the Gathering Place, a cancer support center with locations in Beachwood and Westlake. It provides free programs and services for individuals and families…
Renowned Oberlin Conservatory Professor and Organist James David Christie Resigns After Sexual Misconduct Allegations
World-renowned organist James David Christie recently resigned from his position as a conservatory professor at Oberlin College amidst allegations of sexual misconduct. Scott Wargo, a spokesperson for Oberlin College confirmed Friday that on Aug. 10th, the college’s Title IX coordinator took a report alleging that Christie had violated Oberlin’s sexual misconduct policy by engaging in inappropriate…
Former Pastor Sues Ohio Televangelist Ernest Angley Over Sexual Abuse
Brock Miller, a former pastor at the Grace Cathedral megachurch in Cuyahoga Falls, has accused televangelist Rev. Ernest Angley of sexually abusing and harassing him. The allegations were detailed in a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Last January, Miller recounted the events of the assault and abuse to the Akron Beacon Journal,…
Cleveland Police Graduates 49 New Officers and One New Fire Inspector
At City Hall on Friday, the 140th Cleveland Police Academy graduated 49 new officers and one fire investigator. Council Safety Director Michael McGrath, Chief of Police Calvin D. Williams and Mayor Frank G. Jackson administered the oath to the academy graduates who are set to be assigned to patrol the neighborhood districts. Each of the…
InCuya Music Festival Makes an Impressive Debut
It seems as if every major metropolitan city in the country has some kind of music festival. Chicago has Lollapalooza, Riot Fest and Pitchfork, Columbus has Rock on the Range, Milwaukee has Summerfest and Louisville has Forecastle. To rectify the situation here in Cleveland, a group of local investors operating as the Cleveland Concert Company…
Cleveland’s Leaders are ‘Old and Not Smart’ and Other Weaknesses of our Civic Culture
During a deep-dive discussion at the City Club Friday about The Two Tomorrows report, an in-depth regional economic development assessment and road map published earlier this year by the Fund for Our Economic Future, attendees were asked to name the strengths and weakness of Cleveland’s civic culture. The discussion occurred prior to a City Club…
Former City of Cleveland Chief of Demolition Department Federally Charged for Bribery
Rufus Taylor, the ex-Chief of the City of Cleveland’s Demolition Bureau, was today charged in federal court with soliciting and accepting a series of bribes from 2013 through 2016 from two contractors. Taylor, as the Feds laid out in today’s information filing, engaged in a pretty straight up illegal scheme whereby he’d ask contractors for…
Six Internationally Renowned Artists to Participate in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Creative Fusion: Composers Series
The Cleveland Museum of Art has just announced the details regarding Creative Fusion: Composers, a new Cleveland Foundation-sponsored series that will feature original works from a group of international composers who’ll “draw inspiration for original compositions to be performed in Cleveland over the next two years.” “The Cleveland Museum of Art presents a year-round performing arts…
New Podcast Released Today Surrounding the Unsolved Murder of Bay Village’s Amy Mihaljevic
On Oct. 27, 1989, 10-year-old Amy Mihaljevic was kidnapped from the Bay Square Shopping Center in Bay Village. After an extensive missing persons search, Mihaljevic’s body was found on Feb. 8, 1990 in a field off County Road 1181 in Ashland County. Her kidnapping and subsequent murder was one of the first cases presented by John…
Detroit Shoreway Businesses Experience Rash of Break-Ins Over Four Days
Over the past few weeks, at least nine businesses in the Gordon Square/Detroit Shoreway neighborhood have been burglarized, with five businesses experiencing break-ins in the last four days. The Big Egg was broken into on Aug. 7, Frank’s Falafel House on Aug. 8, and Gordon Square Market on Aug. 18. After a two day hiatus,…
Sauced Taproom and Kitchen Coming Soon to Lakewood
Partners Brent Pease and Geoff Mathias are putting the finishing touches on Sauced Taproom and Kitchen (14701 Detroit Ave., 216-303-9213) in Lakewood. The casual pub is going into the space that was very briefly occupied by Ivory Keys, which was preceded by the Detroiter, which was preceded by World of Beer. Before the conversation turns…
Capitol Theatre to Host a Night of Short Films to Mark the Halfway Point to Next Year’s CIFF
To mark the halfway point to the 2019 iteration of the Cleveland International Film Festival, the Capitol Theatre will host a special screening of shorts at 9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 27. Sacred Hair [pictured], a film about a chance meeting between a young ill boy and a Muslim woman in a Montreal park, will screen.…
The CleCast With Special Guests Dwayne Duke of the Midwest Queer Comedy Festival and Scene’s Own Sam Allard
Dan & Brian had the chance to sit down with two distinct guests this week. First up is Dwayne Duke promoting his Midwest Queer Comedy Festival in Columbus. It’s this weekend, running through Aug. 26, all over our state’s capital. Check it out! Then we sit down with Scene’s own Sam Allard. If you’ve picked…
Lis Kenneth Regula is Running for Portage County Auditor, and is Ohio’s First Transgender Candidate
Lis Kenneth Regula, a Democrat from Kent running for Portage County auditor, is the first openly transgender candidate to run for elected office in Ohio. Regula is challenging Republican Janet Esposito, the six-term incumbent for the office position responsible for setting property values and keeping an eye on county government spending. A biology professor at…
‘The Happytime Murders’ Is a Waste of Excellent Puppetry
I’ve been worshipping at the altar of the Henson family for as long as I can remember. The Muppets films are obvious childhood favorites, but movies like Peter Jackson’s Meet the Feebles, Toledo filmmaker Dustin Mills’ The Pupppet Monster Massacre as well as South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America all provide…
The Woggles and Barrence Whitfield & the Savages to Deliver a Double-Dose of Garage Rock at the Beachland
A few years back, Professor Mighty Manfred, the man responsible for the screaming and shouting in the garage rock band the Woggles, met guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt for the first time at a club in Brooklyn. When Van Zandt, a renowned DJ as well as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, met…
Rusted Root’s Michael Glabicki and Guitarist Dirk Miller to Perform at Royal Docks Brewing Co. in Canton
During the last 25 years, Rusted Root has played on some big stages supporting acts such as Santana, the Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews Band, the Allman Brothers Band, the HORDE Festival and the Jimmy Page/Robert Plant reunion tour. Its music has been featured in films like Ice Age, Twister and Matilda as well as in TV shows…
O.A.R. Bottles the Joys of Summer in Cleveland, and for That We Thank Them
On a blissed-out summer evening, as the Cleveland Browns pieced together a jarring 5-0 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles right across the river, O.A.R. did the sort of thing they’ve become known for — especially in the wilds of Northeast Ohio. They threw down a career-spanning heater of a show, keeping a near-capacity crowd at…
The Unify Project, Star of Cleveland’s Amazon HQ2 Bid For Some Reason, is Finally Hiring
The Unify Project, the early-stage nonprofit-supporting nonprofit described in Cleveland’s failed Amazon HQ2 bid as “the most broad-reaching effort ever mounted to use big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning to end poverty” is finally hiring. Four positions are available at the organization, which has tweaked its mission from ending poverty to “enabling sustainable upward…
Cuyahoga Falls School Assigns Homework Asking Who ‘Deserves’ to Survive the End of the World
Sixth graders at Roberts Middle School in Cuyahoga Falls are starting off the new school-year with a bang, assigning children the responsibility of determining who deserves to survive the end of the world based on factors like race, religion, age, occupation and sexual orientation. It’s like a combination of 12 Angry Men and the horror film…
Proposed Ohio Constitutional Amendment Backed by Facebook Founders Would Reform Sentencing for Nonviolent, Low-Level Drug Offenders
The Ohio Ballot Board yesterday certified the ballot language for Issue 1, a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment that would eliminate prison sentences for many low-level, nonviolent drug possession convictions, among other criminal justice reforms, that will appear on the November ballot. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative is currently spearheading the Ohio Issue 1 campaign, an allegiance of…
The Cleveland Garlic Festival Takes Place This Weekend at Shaker Square
Northeast Ohio is prime garlic-growing territory, so it makes perfect sense to honor the stinking rose with its very own festival. A fundraiser for the North Union Farmers’ Markets, the Cleveland Garlic Festival features music, wine and beer vendors, food competitions, top chef grill-offs and countless vendors peddling garlic-scented foods. The festival also rounds up…
What Ifs and What Might Have Beens Take Center Stage in ‘Bloomsday’ at None Too Fragile Theater
Oh, if we could only talk to our younger selves and give them advice on how to handle their affairs, romantic and otherwise. How wonderful our lives might have turned out! Every life is full of lots of things, but it’s usually regret that leads the way. What if I hadn’t decided to be a…
Another Adorable Baby Rhino Was Just Born at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
A second rhinoceros was recently born at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, park officials announced today. This time, an eastern black rhino calf was born to 25-year-old Inge, a mama of four. Earlier this year, baby Lulu joined the Metroparks Zoo rhino family, and now seven rhinos have been born at the park in total. Pregnant for…
New Silver Hall Concert Series to Launch Next Month at the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center
Starting next month, the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center at the Temple Tifereth-Israel on the Case Western Reserve University campus will launch the Silver Hall Concert Series, 19 free musical performances. The series will feature professional, semi-professional and community ensembles from Cleveland and the surrounding areas. The concerts will also include performances by Case…
First Look: Ninja City, Just Days from Opening in Gordon Square
When Bac Nguyen and partner Dylan Fallon closed Ninja City in University Circle back in February, they estimated that it would be a few short months before the crew was back at work in the new and improved Gordon Square location. Then again, the process always takes longer than owners would like. “There were some…
5 Concerts to Catch in Cleveland This Weekend
SATURDAY, AUG. 25 Great Lake Swimmers/Native Harrow The Toronto-based indie rock act Great Lake Swimmers comes to town tonight on a tour that celebrates its 15th anniversary. The band just issued The Waves, the Wake, a gorgeous sounding album that it recorded in a church. The hushed vocals on opening track, “The Talking Wind,” carry…
Report Details Massive Benefits of Ohio’s Medicaid Expansion
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Gov. John Kasich went against the wishes of some people in his own political party when he expanded Medicaid in 2014. Now, years later, a new assessment indicates the decision has paid off for hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. As a followup to a 2016 report, the Ohio Department of Medicaid released…
Thompson Twins Singer Tom Bailey, Who Plays the Kent Stage Next Week, Gets Conceptual on His New Solo Album
During a recent phone conversation, Tom Bailey of Thompson Twins fame, lays out a story that’s just one memorable example of why David Bowie became an international superstar. “I met him once at a concert that we did together and that’s all. It’s interesting, actually, because I did this concert, a big, big concert back…
NuJoy Brings New Joys to Uptown in the Form of Chinese Street Foods
[image-1] Just in time for the new school year, a new dining option has sprung to life near the campus of Case Western Reserve University. NuJoy (11311 Euclid Ave.) has opened in the space previously occupied by Ninja City, which closed in preparation of a move to Gordon Square in late winter. This new casual…
Honor the Greatest Cleveland Movie of All Time With the ‘Major League’ Collection from RSVLTS Clothing
With the exception of officially licensed professional sports apparel, it’s usually pretty difficult to find CLE-centric clothing outside of our local T-shirt companies like CLE Clothing Co., Kay-Em Apparel and Fresh Brewed Tees (just to name a few). The rest of the world doesn’t appreciate or glorify Cleveland they way they do Chicago, New York…
Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul to Perform at Hard Rock Live in November
A Rock Hall Inductee with the E Street Band, Steven Van Zandt created the “Jersey Shore” sound with the Asbury Jukes before becoming a member of Bruce Springsteen’s band. He’s also a successful solo artist who recently released his first new album in more than 15 years. Zandt and his backing band, the Disciples of Soul, will perform…
Malicia Morrigan
Malicia Morrigan’s 6-foot-2 frame (6-foot-9 in heels) drapes across a chaise longue, nestled between walls adorned with leather cuffs, whips, chains, ball gags, gimp masks and an assortment of prods. A St. Andrew’s Cross looms in the background. A human-sized dog cage sits in the corner. Her perfectly manicured toes peep out of her patent…
The 2018 People Issue
From someone who watches you sleep, or at least your brain activity while you slumber, to a dominatrix who fulfills a wide range of humiliation and BDSM fantasies for clients, this year’s People Issue is all about what happens after the sun sets in Cleveland. Long after most of us have retired to the couch…
Maurice Summons
Twice, in the beginning, Maurice Summons left work, got into his beloved Chrysler 300 and fell asleep before the keys slid into the ignition. He’d wake up hours later having never moved from the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport employee parking lot. “I’m sure you’ve been tired before in your life,” the night-shift custodian says. “But…
Kurt Zoss
With more than 22 years of night shift experience in his own bakery, Kurt Zoss, of Zoss the Swiss Baker in Cleveland Heights, has had a bit of time to figure out how to balance a family, a healthy lifestyle and a demanding business. The start time for Zoss’ quotidian night-owl stretch varies based on…
Mike Vielhaber
On Nov. 29, 2012, news cameraman Mike Vielhaber was sitting alongside police Sgt. Ali Pillow for a ride-along. WEWS Channel 5, where Vielhaber has worked for the past 13 years, had given him the green light to do a story about what was then a new law enforcement initiative: V-GRIP (Violence-Gun Reduction & Interdiction Program).…
Richard Witkowski
It’s 8 a.m. on a Friday, and if we didn’t know any better, we’d think Richard Witkowski was just starting his shift. His blue sport coat looks like it’s just been pressed, and his tie is wrapped snugly around his neck. On his lapel, he has a pin featuring a picture of one of the…
Jeff Weisenberg
With just seconds left on the clock, a group of people kept their eyes glued to a television screen awaiting the final outcome of Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. When the final buzzer sounded, the entire city of Cleveland erupted with joy and poured into the streets for a long night of revelry…
Linda Mercadante
Waking up in the dead of winter is the hardest, says Linda Mercadante at 3:12 a.m., sitting in her office at the Plain Dealer distribution depot on Van Epps Road in Brooklyn Heights. “When it’s pitch-black and the wind is …” — she waves her hands and goes whoosh — “it’s so hard to get…
Tony Hanf
As audiences flood into the streets of downtown hoping to catch a Hamilton actor outside the stage door, and the lights begin to dim inside the State Theatre, the work begins for a new batch of people. Production supervisor Tony Hanf has been part of the Playhouse Square family for 12 years, a decade of…
Kev Boycik
He wasn’t at the first screening of Rocky Horror at the Cedar Lee — he was recovering from knee surgery at the time — but he was there for the second. And he became a regular after that. Now, 31 years later, Kev Boycik serves as the host for the screenings that take place at midnight on…
Edwina Polk
For 14 years, Edwina Polk has watched people sleep, or at least watched people’s brains while they sleep. “People always want to know, ‘Are you watching me all night?'” says Polk, a supervisor at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorder Center. “But I have so much to do, I don’t have time to stare. I’m watching brain…
The Potential Mental Damage Done to Football Players is Explored in ‘Down by Contact’
Since we are on the cusp of a new football season, from pee-wee to pro, it is inevitable that the issue of the sport’s violence and resulting medical traumas will be addressed. And well it should be, since football is, for better or worse, close to the throbbing heart of American culture. So the fact…
Get Out: Everything You Should Be Doing in Cleveland This Week (Aug. 22-28)
WED 08/22 Hamilton Since making its Broadway debut three years ago, Hamilton, the hip-hop musical that tells the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, has been a smash hit. It traces the life story of Hamilton, referred to in the play as “a bastard, orphan, son of a whore,” as he joins the Revolutionary War…
Bell & Flower Isn’t Much of an Upgrade Over the Tired Restaurant it Replaced
Bell & Flower is what you end up with when operators get their hands on a prime piece of real estate but have run out of good ideas for a restaurant concept. Those owners are Shawn Monday and Michael Schwartz, the team behind the fine dining bistro One Red Door, gourmet burger bar Flip Side,…
Savage Love: Pickles & Surrogates
I’m in a pickle. All I want is to experience touch, intimacy, and sexual pleasure — but without freaking out. I grew up with a lot of negative messages from men due to developing early, as well as having some other physical/sexual trauma (no rape or abuse), but the combination has me seriously fucked up.…
