Randy Lerner, Told He “Cannot Win” Legal Battle, Wins Anyway
Mr. Paige to Mr. Lerner: “You cannot win . . . your opinion is irrelevant.” Randy Lerner — the Brown’s moneybags owner, Hampton enthusiast, and futbol fan — is stuffing some of his ample fortune back into the piggy bank after an ugly courtroom brawl with a former business associate. For a guy with two…
Vote on “I Voted” Stickers Before It’s Too Late (Updated)
Update: The “I [Ohio] Voting” sticker design is your winner, Ohio, so you better really [Ohio] voting. (We assume that means “love,” but it could also be “Would probably hook up with if we were drunk and the girlfriend didn’t find out.” Either way.) Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced today this version received…
Cleveland’s Original Historic District — The Plaza Apartments
This weekend offers a reminder that urban renewal wasn’t invented this century. On Friday, dozens of former residents of the legendary Plaza Apartments will convene at the Beachland Ballroom for a musical and arts celebration commemorating their former legendariness. From the late 1960s through the mid-1980s, the hulking, ivy-covered, vaguely gothic apartment at 3206 Prospect…
Heart Talk Barracudas, Magic Men at Rock Hall
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Legend Series can be hit or miss. For every genuine music legend who’s actually contributed something to rock & roll that shows up at one these things there’s some dude who used to be the third harmony singer in a vocal group that stopped having hits…
Maid to Order
Adapted from a bestselling book, The Help tells the story of Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, Aibileen Clark, and Minny Jackson – three women whose unlikely friendship sets in motion the plight of black maids in 1960s Mississippi. The movie weaves the lives of both the black and white women of one community in a way that’s…
Medical Marijuana Group Continues to Collect Signatures for Ballot
These guys would sign it. Peter B. Lewis, noted billionaire and ganja enthusiast, isn’t alone in his desire to see the voting populace decide whether medical marijuana should be legal in the great Buckeye State. A new group went public last week with plans to get the issue on Ohio ballots. A “core group of…
Movie Magic: Why Cleveland Makes a Better Hollywood Than Hollywood
Scarlett can come back any time she’d like. Victoria Justice and Nickelodeon’s Fun Size film caravan are leaving town this week, after a month of transforming downtown Cleveland and several suburbs into a fictional place called “Westbrae.” But the excitement continues as East Ninth Street becomes Manhattan for The Avengers beginning this week. The filmmakers…
Man Arrested While Doing ‘Ride Along’ With Cops (Updated)
Update: The last time we checked in with Miles Hartman, he was pillaging the Alliance police locker room, walking off with a bullet-proof vest during a citizen ride-along. Cops had video of the incident, so the ride-along went straight to jail. This time Hartman didn’t try to steal anything, but the security guard did tell…
The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Your guide to thriving in fabulous Cleveland. The Golden Age of Fund-Raising: County Exec Ed FitzGerald raises $120,000 for next campaign, otherwise known as the amount Jimmy Dimora used to make for letting plumbers union shave his back. Starstruck in Cyberspace: Cleveland.com asks readers to tweet celebrity sightings as Avengers filming gets under way. Also,…
NEO’s Most Awkward Family Photo
The Awkward Family Photos website is both entertaining and self-explanatory. The mission is right there in the name. Their Embassy Suites Awkward Family Photo contest is running now, and yes, the goal is to find the most awkward of the awkward family photos from reader submissions and votes. Currently in second place is this gem,…
Doug Katz Named Chef-Partner at Museum of Art’s New Resto, Cafe
The Cleveland Museum of Art has announced a culinary partnership with Doug Katz, chef-owner of Fire Food and Drink (13220 Shaker Sq., 216-921-3473), to oversee the museum’s new restaurant, café and all catering and banquet services. The restaurant and café will be located in the museum’s new 39,000-square-foot atrium in the heart of the redesigned…
Drunk Man Arrested After Groping Stranger, Entering Wrong House
Let he who has not gotten very drunk, taken a walk, entered the wrong house thinking it was his own, and then grabbed the breast of a sleeping stranger cast the first stone after reading this story. The Sandusky Register reports that 29-year-old Jason Parrish had quite the weekend in Vermillion. He’d tossed back some…
Rock Hall’s Acquisition of Famous Woodstock Sign Needs Your Help
$24,000 is the final price tag for the Rock Hall’s acquisition, installation, and upkeep of the famous sign from Bethel, NY and the site of Woodstock. The non-profit got a generous $12,000 donation for the Yasgur Farm Dairy sign that had been holed up in a basement for 40 odd years, but one condition on…
Second Group Joins Push to Get Medical Marijuana Issue on Ballot (Updated)
A campaign worker. Update III: The Ohio Coalition for Medical Compassion, a grassroots effort in the truest sense of the word, is working on collecting those 1,000 valid signatures still. You can download a petition from their site and get to work, if medical marijuana is your speed. They hope to collect 2,500 in total…
Concert Review: Bob Dylan at Jacobs Pavilion
Boo! I’ve heard a lot of people gripe after seeing Bob Dylan live, and the story is always the same: nothing sounds like it used to. I can think of a few answers to that complaint, not the least of which is this: Bob Dylan, perhaps more than anyone else in the whole of the…
Pic of the Day: Geauga Lake as Ghost Town
Photos of an abandoned Six Flags in New Orleans were a very popular internet thing earlier this year, and why not? Creepy, poignant, mesmerizing, it’s all there. Everyone loves some good decay porn. Which is why we liked this shot of Geauga Lake (circa 2010), which closed in September 2007. Via Reddit, this is how…
And Now, Naked People Staying Cool During the Summer
From down in Colerain Township, OH, a local news story on a nudist compound and how those bare folks are playing it smart this summer heat by not wearing any clothes. Nudism: sexy and practical. And here we were spending hundreds of dollars on air conditioning. “Just bring yourself and a towel,” one man says,…
Recap: The Biggest Comeback in MLB History — Tribe vs. Mariners, 2001
Eighteen years ago today the Indians were losing to the Mariners 14-2 in the 7th inning before mounting the biggest comeback in MLB history, overcoming the 12-run deficit to win 15-14 in 11 innings. Click below to relive the game (if the video doesn’t work, go to this link instead) with compiled calls from Tom Hamilton…
Teachers Probably Shouldn’t Call Students “Freaking Morons”
Teachers are charged with great responsibility, and with that comes great scrutiny. Parents send off their kids to school each day hoping they are being taught effectively, treated with respect, and kept safe. Teachers, on the other side of the equation, have to also put up with a metric ton of BS from parents. Not…
Do You Know Where Your 18-Month Old Is?
Sign language for: “Um, where’s Mommy?” Because these parents in Westlake didn’t. When a passerby found the tot in the street, he called cops, who then went and found the parents — yes, still at home. Via Cleveland.com and Sun News: CHILD ENDANGERING, DETROIT ROAD: An 18-month-old Westlake boy was spotted July 26 by a…
Cleveland Sports History Night Sunday at Captains Game
With only a few exceptions, minor league baseball teams make their bones on promotions. Special foods, special nights, special guests. Especially when you crawl down the farm ladder to Single A. Some of the promotional gimmicks are better than others, however. Take the Lake County Captains’ “Salute to Cleveland Sports History Night,” which won ESPN’s…
Goodman’s Sandwich Inn to Close After 62 Years
After 62 years in the business of corned beef, Goodman’s Sandwich Inn (5164 Pearl Rd., Parma, 216-398-6885) is closing for good, says owner Dennis Goodman. “We’re going out of business,” he told me, while slicing corned beef by hand in the front window, just as he always has. “I’m locking the doors and I’m going…
Ohio State Rep. Jarrod Martin: “America’s Drunkest Legislator”
With the memory of disgraced and resigned former Ohio state rep Bob Mecklenborg still fresh in the Buckeye State’s memory, it didn’t take long for another Ohio legislator to step up to the plate with a new batch of alcohol-related issues. Meet Ohio State Rep Jarrod Martin (R-Beavercreek). He was pulled over for a simple…
Ambulance Response Times Double With Huron Closing Imminent
One of the biggest worries over the Cleveland Clinic’s decision to close Huron Hospital has been the level of service available to those residents in the wake of losing their closest provider. For example, from the outset, Cleveland City Hall said ambulance response times would balloon, and it looks like they were right. 19 Action…
‘Shiphouse’ Will Appear on MTV’s Extreme Cribs
A rapper doesn’t own the famous Shiphouse on South Bass Island. There are probably no whips in the garage with 32-inch chrome spinners on the wheels, nor Cristal lining the shelves of the fridge. But the famous dwelling will nevertheless make an appearance on MTV’s “Extreme Cribs.” Bryan and Emily Kasper bought the home in…
Going Ape
After Tim Burton’s disastrous 2001 remake, a total reboot of Planet of the Apes was in order. The prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes starts at the very beginning, when a lab chimp injected with a serum to cure Alzheimer’s gives birth to Caesar, a super-smart ape raised by scientist James Franco. As…
Carl Monday’s Cattle-Call for Tips
With all due respect to the other TV investigative reporters in Cleveland, there is Carl Monday, and then there is the rest of you. Nationally known, tenacious, mustachioed, Carl’s the best in the biz. No one’s mic probes deeper. Last night’s 19 Action News broadcast (Slogan: First at 4 and 5, with the news you…
Akron Beacon Journal Reports Wrong Levy Results
The Akron Beacon Journal made a boo-boo. On Tuesday, the paper reported that both the Stow-Munroe Falls and Nordonia Hills school levies passed. In reality, both failed. The pathway to this error starts with the education reporter going on vacation, but ends with… well, here’s how it happened, in their own words: The person who…
Pic of the Day: Motorized Scooter in Drive-Thru Line
Via Reddit, here’s a pic of a gentleman in line at a fast-food drive-thru somewhere in Ohio in his motorized scooter. Hey, anyone who’s tried to drunkenly walk through the Taco Bell drive-thru line at 2 a.m. knows what’s up. Not that we’ve ever tried to do that.
Woman Takes Beer for Walk in Child’s Wagon
It’s Thursday, and that means Cleveland.com will be pumping out police blotters from around Northeast Ohio all day. Our favorite, by far, is this one from the Sun News covering Seven Hills: OPEN CONTAINER, CROSSVIEW ROAD: A 48-year-old woman from Seven Hills was cited July 28 for having an open bottle of beer in a…
Rumor: CBS Radio Changing 92.3 FM to Sports Talk (Updated)
News that makes Aaron Goldhammer sad. Update III: It’s all official now. The press release from CBS Radio this morning confirms 92.3 The Fan will launch on August 29 with a lineup like we already told you about: NFL games from Westwood One (in addition to Big 10 football), Kiley and Booms in the morning,…
Thursday Morning Music Swag Giveaway
Up for grabs today is a framed autograph print from indie rapper Grieves. He’s part of the cool Rhymesayers crew, and his new album Together/Apart is aimed straight at Atmosphere fans. Want a chance to win this cool thing for your wall? Just leave a comment below about something that causes you grief. We’ll pick…
Play “Who’s the Chef: CMA Edition”
Confirmed: Melt is not CMA’s new restaurant When the new full-service restaurant opens inside the Cleveland Museum of Art next year, it will be under the direction of “a well-known Cleveland chef.” That, according to a museum spokeswoman who — after enduring a series of lame guesses on our part — is probably sorry she…
Casey Anthony Rumors Bring Attention to Small Ohio Town Which Says It’s All a Hoax
What likely started off as a string of emails to television stations in Cleveland has exploded into full-blown rumors, the ones where even your mom says she knows someone who knows someone who knows for sure that Casey Anthony is living in Newbury, Ohio. The gossip wildfire was kindled last week, and with TMZ posting…
Concert Review: Eels at Beachland Ballroom
Eels mastermind Mark Oliver Everett (who goes by the stage name E) has definitely seen some dark days. In 2007 he published a touching autobiography, Things the Grandchildren Should Know. The book not only chronicled his career, but also his experiences with tragedy: His physicist father died when he was a teen, his mom lost…
Body Issues
The Change-Up is just like Freaky Friday, but with public urination, hooking up at Lamaze class, and characters who make “lorno” movies (that’s light porn). Dave (Jason Bateman) is a family man and lawyer on the verge of becoming a partner at his firm; his best buddy Mitch (Ryan Reynolds) is a struggling actor, couch…
‘Vomit-Drenched’ Woman Arrested
You really thought we’d use any image except this? You don’t want your name to pop up in the police blotters for any reason, but should you make a less than stellar life decision and face the wrath of Johnny Law, you hope your crime was simple, victimless, and not embarrassing. Dying with a sex…
New Blimp Launched From Akron This Morning Safely Crashes Descends In Pennsylvania (Updated)
Updated: As you can see below, Lockheed Martin went to great lengths to express that when their new blimp came down in Pennsylvania, it was a “controlled descent” and not a crash. Today, the PA EPA says that combustible fluid, Dynalene MV, from the blimp leaked into a river after the “controlled descent.” (Or was…
There is One Person in the World Who Thinks Anthony Sowell is a Decent Fella
Convicted and waiting to be sentenced serial killer Anthony Sowell is just that: a sick serial killer, one who raped and murdered at least 11 women. The mitigation phase of his trial is underway as the world awaits the decision on whether Sowell will be given the death penalty for his crimes. This portion of…
Inside the ‘Shawshank Redemption’ Prison
The Onion A.V. Club’s online tourism show, Pop Pilgrims, takes you inside the Ohio State Reformatory, where Shawshank Redemption was filmed. Cleveland: The Shawshank Redemption prison
Machine Gun Kelly Signs With Interscope Records
Looks like Cleveland rapper Machine Gun Kelly has signed with Interscope Records. In this new four-minute video, he talks about his rise from Cleveland’s streets to playing a sold-out show at House of Blues to his love for his hometown. Near the end of the clip you’ll see MGK hanging with Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine…
Cleveland Ranked Tops for Tech Job Growth
Since we work on a computer like this, we’re probably not qualified for these jobs. On the heels of the usual parade of bad and badder news around town, there’s been glimpses of hope. Just a few days ago Cleveland got love for the city’s embrace of green jobs, which puts Cle 18th nationally in…
FBI: Bank Robberies Up in Cuyahoga County
These are hard times in Northeast Ohio. Recovery from the recession (which, compounded with what looks to be like more unemployment after the debt deal, should be more fun, whoopee!) is still not in the grasp of most Clevelanders, who are most likely surviving on a diet of ramen and drug-store booze these days. That…
Pic of the Day: Casey Anthony in Ohio
Rumors have been swirling for the past couple of weeks that Casey Anthony is living in Ohio, specifically somewhere in Geauga County. Those rumors might heat up even more after TMZ posted photos that they claim show Casey Anthony, all incognito-like, walking around somewhere in Ohio. (TMZ doesn’t say where.) Lending credence to the idea…
Taste of Cleveland Canceled … but Scene’s Food Fest Sure Isn’t
Hungry? Stay tuned for Scene’s October food bash. The downtown construction that’s broadening your vocabulary with each daily commute has claimed another victim: The annual Taste of Cleveland, a Labor Day tradition since 1995, will not happen this year. And yup, it’s the orange barrels’ fault. “Every time we turned around, the city and ODOT…
Those Lips, Those Eyes Leads This Week’s Arthouse Picks
Those Lips, Those Eyes</p. The Cinematheque celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend with a whole bunch of special movies. You can find the complete list below. (They’re also showing a surprise movie at 9:15 p.m. on Friday, August 5.) The one that should be at the top of your to-do list is this 1980 comedy…
Hot Town
The summer’s best block parties are happening right in front of the Rock Hall. No, really. We’re shocked too. We’d be giddy for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Summer in the City concerts even if we had to pay to see them. The fact that they’re free is mere icing on…
High Steaks
The hot-off-the-presses press release certainly promises big. “You’ll know the moment you arrive: Prime Rib Steakhouse is extraordinary,” it reads. “Here you’ll find the fantastic food, exceptional service and great atmosphere.” Intrigued? We were, so we tracked down Roxana Axinei, assistant general manager of the soon-to-open Warehouse District restaurant, to get the scoop. Slated to…
Unmarketable Pop
In an era when no one’s buying albums, California singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles has sold millions of them. And in a time when the Grammy for Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance are mutually exclusive, Bareilles has managed to be nominated for both awards. All of this pretty much sums up Bareilles…
Concert Calendar
Wye Oak Like the state tree it’s named for, this Baltimore duo seems destined for big things. On their latest album, Civilian, Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack chart new territory that’s both harsh and sensitive, rock and folk, head and heart. The record’s title-track centerpiece captures the essence of a band going through changes and…
Next Stop: Happy Town
Mark Oliver Everett is finally finding some peace. Twenty years into his career, the frontman for Eels (who goes by the stage name E) is putting to rest the demons that ran through two solo records and six band albums. And it took a trilogy of concept albums that explore the burden-carrying themes of desire,…
Engage the Enemy
The parade of men stepping up to the courtroom podium forms a kaleidoscopic snapshot of the shrapnel expelled by the U.S. military: There are tattooed twentysomethings in baggy shorts alongside geezers who wear the strain of decades-old horror. Some look dumpy, others like they’re on break from their job at an insurance office, all clean-cut…
Screen Savers
It never would have worked in most cities, but it’s chugged through a quarter-century here. “I was talking to people in Cincinnati a couple years ago who said they didn’t think it would have taken off in Cincy,” says John Ewing, director of the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Cinematheque, the indie film house he founded…
Drink of the Week
Chef-restaurateur Brandt Evans’ new Pura Vida wafts a fresh breeze onto Public Square, and downtown’s working stiffs seem eager to bask in its coolness: During a recent lunch visit, the joint was hoppin’ with a big crowd of collars white and blue. Among the attractions: a spare and airy decor, an energetic vibe, and morning,…
Hello? Dolly?
If you adore classic musicals with eye-candy sets, lush costumes, and elaborate dance extravaganzas, then Hello, Dolly! certainly earns its exclamation point. But if you also love characters with dimension — even in a fluffy entertainment such as this — you may feel moved to replace the aforementioned punctuation mark with a slightly frowny emoticon.…
Drive-By Truckers
The rub of course is that the Drive-By Truckers aren’t much of a singles band, which makes this greatest-hits set both a misnomer and not really the ideal way to hear these consummate album artists. But damned if Ugly Buildings, Whores & Politicians: Greatest Hits 1998-2009 doesn’t hold up as a terrific primer on one…
On Stage This Week
ONSTAGE THIS WEEK: Being Earnest: A Pop Musical Play: A play under construction by Deborah Magid, Being Earnest asks what the protaganist of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest would be like if he lived today. It’s part of Dobama’s new Playwright’s Gym program, which allows local playwrights to workshop plays without the pressure…
Home Movies
Rio (Twentieth Century Fox) This likable but flat CGI hit takes a familiar fish-out-of-water story (in this case, it’s bird-out-of-cage, as a rare and pampered macaw from Minnesota ends up stranded in Brazil), drops in some saucy sidekicks (voiced by Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, and Tracy Morgan), and shakes the whole thing up with some…
Stay In!
TOP PICK – VIDEO GAME Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon (D3) There aren’t too many things as much fun on this planet as blowing up giant bugs with turbo-charged weapons. The latest game in this series (for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) doesn’t waste any time jumping into the action. In fact, we have…
Film Capsules
Beats Rhymes & Life (R) Fans of the pioneering rap group a Tribe Called Quest will find plenty to like about this documentary, as will hip-hop heads in general and anyone curious about music history circa the late ’80s and early ’90s. Director Michael Rapaport (the actor, who’s appeared in movies like The 6th Day)…
Queen of Hearts
On its surface it was just an egg. Yet the orb also presented the table with a Sphinxian riddle. The egg was deep fried whole, leaving the breaded exterior crunchy as an onion ring. When sliced across the equator, however, the amber core oozed like molten gold. As we nibbled our way through the starter…
Monkey Business
When Rise of the Planet of the Apes opens on Friday, it will mark the second reboot of the popular apes-take-over-the-world franchise. And I couldn’t be happier. The original five-movie series is a pivotal part of my childhood. I still have copies of the black-and-white magazine that came out in the mid-’70s, and have never…
CD Review: Fountains of Wayne
Much has happened since the last Fountains of Wayne album in 2007: babies were born, hair was lost, and youthful irresponsibility has been curbed. Songwriters Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger address midlife crises the only way they know how on their fifth album: with super-catchy pop songs that don’t sound all that miserable on the…
Get Out!
Thursday | 04 Funny Stuff R-Rated Raunch at Hilarities Consider yourself warned: Australian comedian Jim Jeffries’ humor is not for the faint of heart. He’s vulgar, raunchy, controversial — and absolutely hilarious. His brutal takes on religion, drinking, and sex have earned him comparisons to George Carlin — and helped him sell out shows worldwide,…
CD Review: John Hiatt
Very few singer-songwriters cover redemption, recovery, and salvation like John Hiatt. Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns transcends those subjects, charging forth with the gritty dirge “Damn This Town,” a broken American-dream requiem, and ending with “When New York Had Her Heart Broke,” a post-9/11 meditation. In between, Hiatt chugs through the landscape like the conductor…
We Get Mail
The Next Detroit? Ouch The city of Cleveland has fewer than 500,000 residents. We have fewer than ten Fortune 500 companies. Cleveland was the sixth-largest city in 1950, and now we’re not in the top 30. We always speak about “what was” in Cleveland. Now Vornado and MMPI want to build in Cleveland , but…
Local Band in Focus
Meet the Band: Myles McDonald (vocals, guitar), Myles Murray (vocals, fiddle), David Nosse (vocals, bass), Klaus Newmann (vocals, keys), Eric Radcliffe (vocals, banjo), and Anthony Campo (drums) We’re an Americana Band: These righteous rockers — who came together during a jam session — meddle with edgy folk tempos, combining fiddle and banjo with keys and…
On View This Week
On Display at Wall Eye Gallery: Old Masters Remix Wall Eye Gallery is hosting a show that is both traditionalist and classical in its conception, but great fun in its execution. For NEO-Renaissance, curator Joe Ayala challenged area artists to “pick any Renaissance work of art and remix it. They had total freedom … I…
CD Review: Taka Blak
What’s on a rapper’s mind besides fortune, fame, and balling bitches? Taka Black’s seven-track EP never gets around to answering this question, but he puts a hysterical spin on themes we’ve heard over and over again. Rhyming “constipation,” “masturbation,” and “lactation” (as he does in “Green Goblin”) in a way that makes sense takes some…
