Gigantic Cleveland Whale Mural Off I-90 is Getting a Fresh Update This Week
Update: The giant mammal-themed mural, seen on the Cleveland Public Power Plant just off I-90, is getting that previously-announced paint-job this week. Artist Robert Wyland starts the freshening-up process on his whale-themed work Wednesday. “This year marks the 50th anniversary of 1969 Cuyahoga River fire,” said Wyland Foundation president Steve Creech in a statement. “The Wyland murals have…
In Advance of Her Upcoming Show at House of Blues, Julia Michaels Talks About Overcoming Her ‘Issues’
Julia Michaels, who brings her first-ever headlining tour to House of Blues on Friday, May 10, is fairly insecure for a pop star. The 25-year-old Iowa native has been songwriting professionally for a decade, but it was only a couple years ago that she found the confidence to record her own music. Michaels wasn’t ready…
Cleveland’s Bloom Event Brings Awareness to Human Trafficking This Weekend
This Friday, Tampire Task Force, a nonprofit organization that aims to empower women, hosts Bloom, an event to celebrate spring and raise awareness of human trafficking. The event is in conjunction with Ingenuity Cleveland and is part of the Ignite! Impact Event Series and Ingenuity Youth Social Justice Weekend. Other non-profits are heading to Bloom,…
New Bipartisan Bill Could Forge Path to Legalize Sports Betting in Ohio
Ohio Lawmakers have announced the introduction of a bipartisan bill creating a Sports Gaming Advisory Board, taking the state one step closer to legalizing sports betting. The “Sports Wagering” bill, sponsored by State Representatives Dave Greenspan (R-Westlake) and Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati), follows the 2018 Federal Supreme Court decision to allow sports betting nationwide. If all goes according…
Cavs Play Final Game of the Season, And Last at the ‘Q’ Tonight
What has been a mostly forgettable first season in the second post-LeBron era comes to an end tonight at home vs. the Charlotte Hornets. With a 19-62 record going into the final game, the season is definitely a disappointment when viewed through the lens of preseason expectations, where optimistic fans thought the team could compete…
A Solar Eclipse is Coming For Cleveland … in Five Years
Who could forget the solar eclipse of 2017, with that image of President Trump looking directly into the sun without his special glasses? Unfortunately, back then, Cleveland wasn’t in the path of the total eclipse and didn’t experience the direct effects of the magical event. But come April 8, 2024, it’s our turn to be in…
Local Rockers Red Sun Rising Release a New Music Video For Their Take on ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’
Singer-guitarist Mike Protich and guitarist Ryan Williams grew up together and have been songwriting partners since high school. They started the hard rock act Red Sun Rising in 2007, and the Akron-based band has been touring and recording ever since. Earlier today, the group released a music video for its cover of the Beach Boys’…
E-Scooters Could Potentially Make a Comeback in Cleveland
After a failed experiment by the Bird Scooter Company last summer, Cleveland City Council is considering allowing electric scooters to officially roam the streets of our fair city — and this time with restrictions in place. In a meeting Monday afternoon, city council discussed the proposal that, if enacted, would require scooter riders to follow the same laws as…
Singer-Guitarist Dale Watson to Bring His Honky-Tonk Party to the Beachland Next Week
Singer-guitarist Dale Watson says growing up as a “loner” helped him discover the joys of singing and songwriting. Watson, a veteran musician whose career dates back to the 1970s when he started performing in and around Pasadena, Texas, comes to the Beachland Ballroom on Thursday, April 18, in support of his terrific new album, Call…
SEIU Trolley Tour Wanted to Show Downtown Bosses How Janitors Live, But None of the Bosses Showed Up
It’s not lost on the janitors of Service Employees International Union Local 1 that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis while supporting a union. Last Thursday was the fifty-one-year anniversary of King’s death, and both the Civil Rights leader and the sanitation workers for whose safety and increased wages he advocated were on…
Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason Looks Back at the Band’s Formative Years at Akron Civic Show
Only a couple of nights after Ian Hunter brought the music of Mott the Hoople back to Cleveland for the first time in 45 years with surviving members of the ’74 lineup of the group, it was time for another unexpected musical resurrection. This time, it was Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, who played the…
You Now Have to Be At Least 17 to Get Married in Ohio
New restrictions regarding child marriage officially came into effect Monday, after former Gov. John Kasich signed the bill into law in early January. The new law states that both parties must be at least 18 years old to marry, or 17 with the completion of a waiting period and consent from juvenile court. Their age…
Quicken Loans Arena to Re-brand as ‘Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse’
To coincide with a publicly subsidized exterior upgrade and major square-footage expansion, the Quicken Loans Arena will be renamed the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, according to multiple unnamed sources and breaking media reports. Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, president Len Komoroski, Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farner, Cavs GM Koby Altman, County Executive Armond Budish and Mayor Frank…
Some Cuyahoga County Council Members Want to Ban Plastic Bags for Retailers
After an ordinance that would impose a fee on plastic bags at grocery stores and eateries failed to make traction last year, members of the Cuyahoga Country Council are back with a plan to ban disposable plastic bags from use at all retail establishments in the area. Introduced by council members Sunny Simon and Dale Miller,…
Former Cuyahoga County Jail Officer Indicted in Connection With Inmate Death
Longtime Cuyahoga County corrections officer Martin Devring was fired in December in connection with the death of Joseph Arquillo, an inmate who died in August of 2018. The coroner’s office found Arquillo had fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in his system when he became ill at the county jail. He was subsequently taken to the Cleveland…
Forest City Brewery to Host a Special Chamber Brews Concert on April 19
A classical chamber music organization committed to presenting concerts in non-traditional venues and interacting with audiences, Chamber Brews comes to Forest City Brewery on Friday, April 19, for a special spring concert. The performance will feature solos as well as performances by duos and trios that will “explore the individual instruments as well as show…
Help Wanted: 2020 Census Issues a Call for Workers
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 2020 Census Day is April 1 of next year, but opportunities are opening up now to help ensure the count is a success. The Census Bureau is charged with counting every person living in the United States once each decade. It’s a massive undertaking with important consequences, including distribution of federal…
ZZ Top to Bring Its 50th Anniversary Tour to Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica
Rock Hall inductees ZZ Top, a trio that has sold 30 million records over the course of a lengthy career, have just announced the dates of a tour celebrating their 50th year together. “It’s been five decades, and I think we’re starting to get pretty good at all this!” says frontman Billy Gibbons in a…
The Center for Community Solutions to Award Reporting Grants for Local Journalists
As the Cleveland press corps relentlessly contracts and the news outlets that employ journalists abandon or abdicate their historic roles, fewer stories are being reported. The Center for Community Solutions, a local think tank concerned with social and economic conditions and community health, wants to help change that. Through a grant launched Monday, local journalists…
The Terminal Tower Observation Deck is Now Open to the Public
The Terminal Tower observation deck opened once again to the public over the weekend, but nabbing a ticket isn’t the easiest thing to do in Cleveland. The tours are only available on Saturday and Sundays, and tourists must first sign up for the pleasure of experiencing this bird’s-eye-view located on the 42nd floor of the…
Cleveland International Film Festival Will Remain at Tower City in 2020
The 44th Cleveland International Film Festival will take place from March 25 – April 5, 2020, and will remain, at least for one more year, at Tower City Cinemas downtown. The local VP of Bedrock real estate, Ken Till, announced this news Sunday at the closing night ceremony of CIFF 43. Organizers had been on…
The Raconteurs to Perform at the Agora in August
The Raconteurs, the terrific garage rock supergroup that features Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler, have just announced an extensive run of North American headline tour dates in support of their forthcoming new album, Help Us Stranger. They’ll play the Agora on Aug. 15. Third Man Records Vault members will have access…
Michael Stanley and the Resonators Among the Acts Slated to Play the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre This Summer
Earlier today, the folks at the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, a 4800-capacity outdoor venue that features views of the Youngstown skyline, announced their summer concert lineup, and classic rock fans can rejoice. Local heroes Michael Stanley and the Resonators [pictured] will team up with Donnie Iris and the Cruisers for a double bill that takes place on…
Mott the Hoople Capably Revisits Its Musical Heyday at Sold-Out Show at the Cleveland Masonic
Mott the Hoople singer-guitarist Ian Hunter began last night’s sold-out show at the Cleveland Masonic by singing a few riffs from “American Pie.” But after delivering the line, “ the day the music died,” he added another lyric that set the tone for the group’s two-hour concert. “Or did it?” he wondered aloud as he…
Documentary About Actress Olympia Dukakis to Have Its Ohio Premiere This Weekend at CIFF
Whoopi Goldberg, Laura Linney, Diane Ladd, Lynne Cohen, Lainie Kazan, Austin Pendleton, Ed Asner, Armistead Maupin and Michael Dukakis all make appearances in Olympia, a new documentary film about actress Olympia Dukakis. The movie makes its Ohio premiere this weekend at the Cleveland International Film Festival, where it shows at 7:15 tonight and at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday at Tower City Cinemas.…
Cleveland Play House’s ‘Tiny Houses’ a Big Success
Who in the hell would want to live in only 200 square feet of space? Most of us would shy away from the prospect of living in a tiny house, valuing our possessions, elbow room and non-composting toilets too much to make the switch. But what you shouldn’t shy away from is Cleveland Play House’s…
Here Are the Winners of the 2019 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards
The 2019 winners of the 83rd annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards, the Cleveland-based contest that focuses on books that explore and challenge race and diversity, were announced last night and you should immediately add them to your reading lists, if you haven’t yet already tackled them. Nonfiction: The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the…
Medical Marijuana Tinctures Finally Hit the Shelves at Ohio Dispensaries
It’s been a long wait, but if you have a license to buy medicinal marijuana in Ohio, you can now get processed marijuana products here. Tinctures produced by Ohio cultivator and processor Grow Ohio Pharmaceuticals made their way to three dispensaries this week, including dispensaries in Canton and Wickliffe. Ohio residents who have any of…
Cleveland Monsters to Play Next Season’s Home Opener on October 11
Currently in the midst of a push for the playoffs, the Cleveland Monsters have just announced that they’ll play the home opener of the 2019-2020 season on Friday, Oct. 11, at the Q. As a special promotion, the team is offering tickets to one of the last regular season games of the 2018-2019 season to…
Heritage Not Hate: Kent State Gun Girl Accidentally Exposes Racism and Partisan Vapidity of Chief Wahoo Support
Local Chief Wahoo supporters of a non-alt-right stripe might be uncomfortable to learn that the racist caricature they hold so dear, the image that they say is inextricable from Cleveland’s civic identity and soul, has been co-opted by the likes of InfoWars. That’s the Alex Jones website and radio outfit known principally for conspiratorial hate-mongering and…
MetroHealth Hosts 5th Annual Transgender Job Fair on Saturday
The Cleveland Clinic, Amazon, Giant Eagle, the Metroparks and Progressive Insurance are among the many businesses and employers that will be participating in MetroHealth’s fifth annual transgender job fair tomorrow at the hospital’s main campus. The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, is free and includes workshops and…
Opioids Awareness Music Festival to Take Place in Kent in August
Clearly at the center of the opioid crisis, Ohio has the second highest rate of fatal overdoses in the United States. As a result, local musicians, knowledgeable speakers, and Family & Community Services have just announced that they’ll team up to host the Opioid Awareness Music Festival on Aug. 11 at Kent’s Hometown Bank Plaza.…
Lindey’s Lake House to Open in Former Coastal Taco Monday
The transformation from Coastal Taco to Lindey’s Lake House is nearly complete in the Flats. Come Monday April 8, diners can observe the changes – both in terms of décor and food – themselves as the doors officially open to the public. Coastal Taco quietly closed on the last day of 2018. Since opening the…
What Happened to Money Cleveland Budgeted to Promote Flights to Iceland?
A City of Cleveland spokesperson told Scene this week that only $238,000 of a budgeted $2 million was provided to Icelandair and WOW Airlines to promote travel from Cleveland Hopkins Airport to Reykjavic, Iceland. In 2017, when the direct flights by both carriers were announced, the airport said it would commit $500,000 per airline for…
Group Looking to Bring Pro Soccer Back to Cleveland Rumored to Be Interested in ODOT-owned Land Near Inner Belt for Stadium
A slice of ODOT-owned land near the Inner Belt — from the Fire Museum to the USPS facility, and from the Cuyahoga River to Ontario Street — is rumored to be a target location for a 5,000-seat USL soccer stadium, according to various rumors and reporting by NEOTrans. Crain’s reported last year that brothers Shaw…
Former Hopkins Airport Honcho Fred Szabo Had a History of Security Violations According to the TSA
Public records obtained by WEWS show that former Hopkins airport No. 2 honcho Fred Szabo, who was suspended and reassigned after being caught shepherding City of Cleveland Chief of Operations Darnell Brown to bypass airport security last year, had a history of security violations. In a letter to the city, the TSA noted it was Szabo’s…
7 Concerts to Catch in Cleveland This Weekend
FRIDAY, APRIL 5 Ronnie Baker Brooks/Tommy Castro & the Painkillers Singer-guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks released Times Have Changed, his latest solo record, and his first in a decade, in 2017. Brooks first began working on songs in 2010 and got a significant boost when he connected with producer/drummer Steve Jordan, who brought important guidance to…
Celine Dion Announces New World Tour, Cleveland Appearance This Fall
After a longtime residency at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Celine Dion is bringing her angelic vocals to the rest of North America and beyond this fall. And that includes a stop at Quicken Loans Arena come October 18. Dubbed the Courage World Tour, the tour comes on the heels of the 51-year-old being named L’Oreal makeup’s newest spokesperson. She…
Here’s the New Music Video From Local Rockers City of the Dead
The local post-punk/hardcore band City of the Dead recently teamed up with Strongsville-based Distillation Studios to release a music video for “Algorithm,” the latest single from their new album, Bloodlines. In the video, the band performs the track while in a freight elevator. The video’s storytline follows a man (Sean Manos) who wanders around his…
Great Lakes Theater’s Production of ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ is a Comedy With Consequence
“These plays have endured not because they offer solutions, but because they ask the right questions.” Sara Bruner stated this in her director’s note in Great Lakes Theater’s “The Taming of the Shrew” playbill. She is, of course, referring to directing Shakespeare’s over 400-year-old play, a show that is witty, comedic, fun and incredibly sexist.…
New Song for Make-A-Wish PSA Features Cleveland Singer Kara Kuper
When electronic music producer Wish I Was (aka LA-based Tyson Illingworth) wanted to collaborate on “Ready To Start,” a new song that’s featured in a Make-A-Wish PSA that just came out today, he sought out Cleveland-based Kara Kuper and flew her to an L.A. recording studio donated by Universal Music. The PSA created for World…
Report: Ohio Foster Teens Need Families
COLUMBUS, Ohio – More progress is needed in Ohio to increase family placements for children in the foster-care system, a new report reveals. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 85% of Ohio kids who need to be separated from their parents are staying with a foster family or relative, a slight increase from 10…
Local Singer-Songwriter Gretchen Pleuss to Play a Series of Release Parties in Northeast Ohio Next Weekend
If Northeast Ohio has an answer to Joni Mitchell, it’s gotta be singer-songwriter Gretchen Pleuss. With her upper-register vocals and beautifully poetic lyrics, Pleuss regularly draws comparisons to the great songsmith. “I’ll take that comparison,” Pleuss says one afternoon from Nature’s Oasis, the Lakewood grocery store and coffee shop where she often performs. “I love…
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is Open Today Following Overnight Police Chase of Suspect Who Fled Into Park
Cleveland police gave pursuit to a silver truck last night following a report of shots fired near West 48th and Storer Ave. The truck eventually crashed into a pole and one of the two or three suspects was apprehended. Another fled and made his way into the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Authorities conducted a comprehensive search…
Odell Beckham’s Introduction, Culture and Terry Francona — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Andre and Zac discuss OBJ’s introduction, the end of the AAF, Terry Francona’s contract extension and why/when culture matters in pro sports. Subscribe to A to Z on iTunes here or stream below.
Thank You Jordan Clarkson For Bringing Extra Attention to Gun Violence
#Cavs Jordan Clarkson’s shirt tonight has a simple message pic.twitter.com/J3gJkEiPPe — Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) April 2, 2019 Though it’s been a rough year for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the local pro basketball fan base, guard Jordan Clarkson has been a recurring bright spot. Disparaged as an overpriced and streaky me-first scorer, Clarkson has nevertheless been…
Date, Chefs Announced for this Year’s Five Star Sensation
In 2015, longstanding Honorary Chair Wolfgang Puck ceded the reins of Five Star Sensation, a biennial fundraiser for UH Seidman Cancer Center, to Cleveland native Michael Symon, owner of numerous restaurants including Lola and Mabel’s BBQ in Cleveland, Roast in Detroit, Angeline in Atlantic City, and Mabel’s BBQ and Sara’s in Las Vegas. This year…
Ohio Lawmakers Pass 10.5-Cent Gas Tax Hike, Double Public Transit Funding
Lawmakers in the Ohio General Assembly yesterday passed a two-year transportation budget that includes a 10.5 cent boost to taxes on gasoline and a 19 cent boost to diesel fuel taxes — a big step down from the 18 cent hike Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine asked for, but more than the 6 cent increase passed…
‘Ash is Purest White’ is the Latest Gem from Jia Zhangke
Jia Zhangke is one of the world’s boldest cinematic talents. In his latest film, a sprawling romance that spans the entire 21st century, he once again portrays contemporary China through the lens of ordinary people. As in his previous films, the characters in Ash is Purest White are not “super rich” Asians. They don’t hobnob…
Cleveland’s Best Brunches
The saying, “anybody can cook an egg” might be one of the biggest exaggerations ever uttered in a dining room. When you think about it, brunch is a one-off, a menu — wholly separate and distinct from other menus — that is used for just four hours a week. And while it might seem like…
Emilio Estevez’ ‘The Public’ is Closing the 43rd Cleveland International Film Festival
A new drama written and directed by veteran actor Emilio Estevez, The Public centers on librarians Stuart Goodson (Estevez) and Myra (Jena Malone) and their struggles to maintain some kind of order at a downtown Cincinnati library that’s on the verge of becoming a flophouse for the homeless. The film features some fine acting performances…
A New Owner Has Breathed Fresh Life Into the Standard in Collinwood
Three months ago, longtime fans of the Standard in Collinwood awoke to the disquieting news that their beloved neighborhood tavern had been sold to a new owner. In lieu of that timeworn pledge “to not fix anything that isn’t broken,” this brash operator declared that he had no desire to follow the script of the…
Band of the Week: Eric B. & Rakim
MEET THE BAND: Eric B. (turntables), Rakim (vocals) DYNAMIC DUO: Back in the early ’80s when he worked on the street team for a New York radio station, Eric B. decided he wanted to put out a compilation album featuring some of the best MCs from the Tri-State area. But after he met rapper Rakim,…
Savage Love: Parts and Parting
I’m an adult man, and I have developed a trans attraction after following a particular Tumblr blog. That blog is now gone, sadly, since all adult content has been purged from Tumblr. It wasn’t just porn; it consisted of all the things I really enjoy—images of oil paintings and antique furniture, scenic landscapes, wild animals,…
Get Out: Everything You Should Be Doing in Cleveland This Week (April 3-9)
WED 04/03 Chamber Music in the Gallery The Cleveland Museum of Art regularly hosts students from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and its joint program with Case Western Reserve University’s early and baroque music program, who perform intimate concerts in the museum’s galleries. The series continues today at 6 p.m., as CIM Guitar Studio students…
Karamu’s ‘Velocity of Autumn’ Seethes with Passion and Poignant Humor
Those in the know may remember the Tony-nominated debut of The Velocity of Autumn, written by Cleveland’s own Eric Coble, on Broadway a few short years ago. After being produced in venues across the country, Coble’s universal story of love and lust for life has come back home, where Director Nathan A. Lilly and the…
Rita Montlack’s Work at the Trudy Wiesenberger Gallery Invites You to Wake Up to Reality
Rita Montlack has transformed the Trudy Wiesenberger Gallery at University Hospitals into a multi-layered, candy-coated reality. Walking through it is like walking through a dream we’ve had before. We’re walking through halls toward a brightly lit area. The sunshine reaches down from the skylight and caresses our face. There is so much color, bright and…
