Cleveland Thief Posts Selfie on Instagram, Is Immediately Caught
Update: Rodney Johnson was sentenced to 12 years in prison today for the robbery to which he was tied, and later admitted his role in, after posting a selfie with the loot to Instagram. (Cleveland.com) *** Original story posted 12/20/13: Cleveland’s Rodney E. Johnson Jr. could use a lesson in stealth. The 21-year-old was charged…
Kevin Costner as the Browns GM: Watch The Trailer For ‘Draft Day’
Dennis Leary as the Browns head coach, left, and Kevin Costner as the GM, right. The trailer for the Browns-focused movie “Draft Day” popped up online yesterday and it looks like quite a doozy. It blends real footage with fictional characters and centers around the the drama of picking first in the NFL draft. Kevin…
Cleveland Scene Sold! (We’re Not Going Anywhere!)
Your friendly local altweekly was put up for sale by Times-Shamrock, our previous owner, back in August, along with other papers in its portfolio. Since then, it’s been business as usual around these parts except for that pesky “For Sale” sign sitting in our front yard. Today, that sign was taken down. Euclid Media Group,…
Cleveland Metal Holiday Food Drive generated record numbers
Anne Goodman and Bill Peters On Dec. 6 and 7 at the Beachland Ballroom, Auburn Records, WJCU 88.7 FM and Iron Ingo Stührenberg hosted their annual food drive for the Cleveland Foodbank. While the weather outside was frightful, organizers still managed to top last year’s donation to the Cleveland Foodbank, Friends of the Cleveland Kennel…
Aqueous Set to Release New Live Album; Catch Them in Cleveland on Friday
ERIC SANDY/SCENE Aqueous at Beachland Tavern earlier this year The floor at the Beachland Tavern tends to wobble a bit when the music really get going on the stage. Even when the crowd is small, the aged linoleum acts a barometer for the energy in the room. Aqueous, four guys from down the road in…
Pillsbury Thinks Cleveland Sports Fans Don’t Need Their Teams in the Playoffs
For some reason, Pillsbury is sponsoring a BuzzFeed post (you can probably just stop reading here, if you’d like) about Cleveland sports fans’ post-season aspirations. To wit, there are so many better things in this city; why worry about the playoffs? The savvy listicle whips out reasons that Cleveland fans should divert their attention elsewhere,…
Cleveland’s “A Christmas Story” House Valued at 53K
Ever wonder just how much it would cost to buy the famous A Christmas Story house? Well, the folks over at Movoto (a “fun” real estate blog based in California) have unwraped an answer. Their estimate? $53,000. That’s saying something, considering the house’s current owners recently put a Christmas Eve/Christmas Day overnight up for auction…
Local Musicians, Acoustic Sets: Download & Listen To The Year’s Best Scene Session Tracks
One of the great perks of working for Scene this year is extremely talented musicians have started to drop by our office to play acoustically for us. It’s great, seriously. We call these three or four-song sets “Scene Sessions” and they showcase the crazy talent of the Cleveland music scene. As 2013 wraps up, we…
Charles Ramsey Signs Book Deal
Charles Ramsey, the man credited with rescuing the Cleveland kidnapping victims from the Seymour Avenue house of horrors earlier this year, has a book deal. It’s not surprising, really, given that he shot to fame for putting down his Big Mac to help pull Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight to freedom, and for…
Browns Receiver Davone Bess Posted a Picture of Himself Smoking… Something
That’s pot, right? There’s no way that’s not pot. And while it’s not our role to say whether pot use is wrong or right, the NFL surely is in that position when the user in question is an NFL receiver. The internets caught wind of this photo, purportedly from Bess’ Instagram account, of Bess smoking….…
State Representative Wants Ohio to Have Stronger Beer
Beer – it’s good for the soul and the economy. But, it could be even better for Ohio’s economy. State representative Dan Ramos of Lorain is pushing a bill that would permit a raise in the alcohol content from 12 percent to 21 percent. Under current regulations, consumers looking to purchase beer with an alcohol content…
Highly Contagious Bout of Diarrhea Hits Cleveland
A highly contagious form of diarrhea is wiping out Clevelanders left and right as they try to finish up the final work week before the holidays. The Cleveland Department of Public Health is warning residents who feel a little, er, uncomfortable to seek professional care as they may have contracted a disease called Shigellosis. From…
10 Things Going on in Cleveland this Weekend (December 20-22)
The holidays are here, and this weekend is jam packed with exciting events to indulge in before family time and food bloat prevent you from leaving the house. If you haven’t yet had your fill of holiday beer (and really, who has?) head to downtown Willoughby to tag along on the 12 Bars of Christmas…
Scene Podcast: The Many Problems of the Cleveland Metroparks
This week, Sam Allard’s feature looks at the Cleveland Metroparks fresh off a levy victory, flush with more cash than ever, holding six new lakefront parks (including historic Euclid Beach), and led by a CEO who has a vision… and a propensity to rub some the wrong way. The park system seems to fly under…
Interactive Map: Six Months & $245 Million In Lottery Ticket Sales In Cuyahoga County
The black icons with white circles are the top 10 lottery-ticket-selling stores in Cuyahoga County. View the embedded map for more information. Did you know there are more than 1300 places you can buy lottery tickets in Cuyahoga County? We didn’t either, until we checked the data. Scene submitted a records request to the Ohio…
More Bullshit from the Cleveland Heights Police
The NEOMG reported this morning that the Cleveland Heights Police Department deliberately concealed the armed robbery of a high school student this week. Directly in the face of a reporter, Chief Brad Sudyk blacked out references to the crime with a black marker on the department’s blotter. The reporter later waited four hours to speak…
Where to Shop: Winter Farmers’ Markets
Many locavores, foodies and seasonal CSA members feel somewhat lost when those weekly farmers’ markets and farm shares suddenly cease operation at the first gust of winter winds. But fear not, shoppers, as there still are numerous locally grown and crafted items that are available well into the season. A wide variety of local meats,…
Cleveland Garbage Collectors Have Been Robbing a Local Store
A crew of city garbage collectors is garnering some rotten attention after repeatedly robbing a local convenience store owner of snacks and soda during their regular rounds to pick up trash. Apparently, the crew operates by sending in one guy to grab the grub— without paying— while the others wait in the truck. When their…
Sandusky Student Grows Massive Cabbage, Wins Statewide Contest
Whelan and cabbage Spending our days pounding the pavement of dear Cleveland, it may sometimes elude the typical resident that Ohio is mostly farmland. That fact certainly doesn’t elude the 24,020 students who participated in this year’s cabbage-growing contest, sponsored by Bonnie Plants. Elle Whelan, a student at Osborne Elementary in Sandusky, snagged top honors…
Ohio City Singers play Scene session
Yesterday, singer-guitarists Chris Allen and Doug McKean of the Ohio City Singers stopped by our office to play a couple of original Ohio City Singers’ Christmas tunes. They perform at 9 p.m. on Saturday at Roc Bar and then again at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Stone Mad. Check out previous Scene Sessions with the…
Metroparks Board OKs Zimmerman Salary Increase
The Metroparks Board of Commissioners authorized CEO Brian Zimmerman’s salary increase at their final meeting of 2013 this morning. Starting today, Zimmerman will collect $178,000 a year, up from the $165,000 he makes currently. That’s an increase of roughly 7.5 percent. Immediately prior to that action item, Metroparks chief HR officer Harold Harrison presented a…
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts capably christen new Hard Rock Live
In Richard Linklater’s cult film Dazed and Confused, actor Matthew McConaughey, who plays a guy who’s regularly hanging out with people much younger than himself, delivers one of the movie’s best lines. “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man,” he says. “I get older, they stay the same age.” You could say…
Peter Billingsley Reflects on ‘A Christmas Story’ and How the Film Shaped His Life
Ralphie/Peter Every now and then, BuzzFeed rolls out a nice little story that won’t turn brains into list-based gunk. Today, Adam Vary’s profile of Peter Billingsley – that’s Ralphie to you – hit the website. The piece speaks for itself, so do check it out. For fans of the canonical Christmas tale, it’s a fairly…
The Browns QB T-Shirt for the Sad Browns Fan in Your Life
You know all about the infamous Browns quarterback jersey, which will definitely be getting a new name added to the tally next year, but how do you represent that ineffectual drafting, poor front office decision making, and general shit luck in real life? How about this t-shirt, The Chosen 21? There’s a sad Browns fan…
First Edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Discovered in Cleveland Public Library
A rare read was recently discovered amongst a plethora of other covers in Cleveland Public Library’s Special Collections Department: an original first-edition copy of the classic Charles Dickens holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. CPL staffers aren’t exactly sure when the 170-year-old book was donated or by whom, but they do know they’ve unearthed a real…
Today’s Buzz: Lakewood Named One of the Most Exciting Small Cities in America
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons National love for Lakewood is making the rounds on Twitter today, after Business Insider named the Cleveland suburb one of the 10 most exciting small cities in America. To gauge just how exciting Lakewood is, the folks over at BI evaluated six criteria: 1. Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy,…
Bedford Mom Wins Parent of the Year— Not
Parent of the Year, Falesia Clark In a fierce attempt to win Helicopter Parent of the Year, a local mom took to the Bedford High School grounds this week to fight her daughter’s battles— literally, with a hard right hook and a loaded .22 caliber pistol. 45-year-old Falesia Clark was arrested on Monday after assaulting…
Anchorman 2 is The Most Important Movie of the Year
In much the same way that The Onion is often, in tone if not in content, the most reliable news source in America, Anchorman 2 is perhaps the most important movie of 2013. He said what? Look, understandably, movies like 12 Years a Slave, Gravity and Fruitvale Station aspire to a higher and much more…
Harvard Avenue Murder: Cleveland Heights Man Gunned Down on 21st Birthday
FELA LOCKHART’S FACEBOOK PAGE Lockhart A blessing to be turning 21 everything count from here — Fela Lockhart (@Fay_Lock) December 17, 2013 Fela Lockhart was 21 for little more than two hours. Cleveland police are now investigating the attempted robbery that turned into a murder when Lockhart was shot in his chest outside Harvard Wine…
Emma Thompson is Gleefully Unfiltered in Disney’s Saving Mr. Banks
Disney’s latest release, Saving Mr. Banks, revolves around the making of the hit film “Mary Poppins,” in which the company’s own Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) must woo the book’s starchy, soured author, Mrs. P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson), to obtain the rights to the text. Amid the film’s savvy dialogue, as well as its haphazard…
Ohio Roads Safest in Recent History
Ohio may be one of the most obese states in the country, and we may be the sweariest, but apparently we are also one of the safest, at least on the roadways. According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, 945 people died this year in Ohio as a result of driving-related accidents. That’s the lowest…
Cuyahoga County Residents Rally Against Food Stamp Cuts
DOUG BROWN/SCENE Al Porter, a leader with Black on Black Crime Inc., speaks about his experiences with food stamps. Tom Johnson, former mayor of Cleveland, looked upon the freezing congregation. His steely gaze was sympathetic, as theirs was a cause he surely would have lent support during his administration (1901 to 1909). But Johnson is…
Could Cleveland be Next Silicon Valley?
Matthew Yglesias, the upstart economics bloggers for Slate, has penned a column arguing that the tech giants of Silicon Valley ought to relocate to Cleveland en masse. Yglesias contends that the San Francisco Bay area is no longer a happy or economically compatible host. “The Bay Area is sick and tired of the antics of…
Savage Love: Change Agent
Dear Dan — I’ve talked to my girlfriends, my mom, and his mom, but I need some unbiased advice. I’m a 28-year-old woman in a relationship for 3.5 years with a wonderful man, also 28. I hit the jackpot: He is loving, sweet, kind, driven, active, handsome, generous, etc. We’re very committed to each other…
Parks & Reclamation
Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman is the only parks director in the state of Ohio who calls himself a CEO. He’s also, by many authoritative accounts, a really nice guy. He’s now on the windward side of 40, which means he’s only a former administrative wunderkind, but he’s still sort of childlike, as head honchos…
Warp-Speed Family Saga: Three Generations Pass by in a Flash in The Big Meal at Dobama Theatre
I once thought it would be a breakthrough idea to write a story without using any verbs. It would be different, I thought. And indeed it was. It was also awful, so I decided to slip in some verbs here and there, to help the piece along. Then, my story just became mediocre, and I…
Also on Stage
Also On Stage Christmas Is Comin’ Uptown Karamu House Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is sort of like a theatrical Mr. Potato Head, with adaptors sticking new elements onto it to fit into various cultural motifs. And why not? Chuck is long dead and the story of redemption for Scrooge (picture Dick Cheney, but with…
Your Complete Guide to Cleveland Concerts (December 19 – 25)
THURSDAY DEC 19 Bad Boys Jam: 9 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Cleveland Jazz Project: 8 p.m., $15. Nighttown. Johnny Fay & the Blazers/The Balls of Fire: 8:30 p.m., $8. Beachland Tavern. Chris Hatton (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Hillbilly Idol/Zydeco Kings: 8 p.m. Barking Spider Tavern. Jam Night with Tower City Blues: 8:30…
Pour Yourself a Cold One: Seriously Though, Pour it Yourself. Self-Serve Beer Systems are Coming to Northeast Ohio
It was just a matter of time. First it was ATMs replacing bank tellers. Then it was self-checkouts eliminating grocery store cashiers. And now it’s self-serve beer systems taking the place of our beloved bartenders and servers. With the recent opening of DeMore’s Offshore Bar and Grill in Sandusky, self-serve draft beer systems officially have…
The Cleveland Craft Beer Report
National Lager Day was Dec. 10. Like every other made-up beer holiday, the celebration was largely a marketing ploy masquerading in a party hat. What set Lager Day apart, however, is the depth of the pockets of the sponsorship; while grassroots holidays like IPA Day and International Stout Day were started by craft beer aficionados…
Anything But a Con Job: The Story of EDWINS Isn’t Who’s Working There, But the Fine Food They’re Pumping Out
It is an incredibly admirable thing that Brandon Chrostowski is doing at EDWINS, his Parisian bistro and training facility at Shaker Square, but at the end of the day it all comes down to the diner experience. All the good intentions in the world won’t make up for middling food, uneven service or an unpolished…
Meet the Makers: Kevin and Kristyn Henslee, Yellow House Cheese
Kevin and Kristyn Henslee, proprietors of Yellow House Cheese, have been making cheese from their home-based farm in Seville, Ohio, for about two and a half years. Their blue cheese is a unique, high-quality offering like none other in our area. There are fewer than 100 sheep dairies in the U.S. With Ohio’s large sheep…
Film Review of the Week: American Hustle
Last year, when Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver were nominated for Academy Awards in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, it was the first time all four acting categories were represented in a single film since 1981’s Reds. Yet it’s entirely possible that American Hustle, the latest in a string of…
Film Spotlight: Inside Llewyn Davis
A fictional account of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early ’60s and the trials and tribulations of singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), Inside Llewyn Davis, which opens on Friday at the Cedar Lee Theatre, features such a minimal script, producer T-Bone Burnett was taken aback when he first read it. “In the script,…
Out of Africa: Singer Lorine Chia Portends to be Cleveland’s Next Big Thing
Earlier this year, fake track lists for the anticipated release of Kanye West’s new album Yeezus circulated freely. One of them listed relatively unknown Cleveland singer and rapper Lorine Chia, whose name was included in the credits for the tune “Blood on the Leaves.” Even Chia was surprised when she heard the rumors that West…
Metal for the Masses: Chimaira Takes a Low-Dough Approach for its Annual Christmas Show
Shortly after forming in 1998, local metal band Chimaira signed a deal with Roadrunner Records that effectively launched the group’s career. It achieved national and international fame as albums such as 2003’s The Impossibility of Reason and 2005’s Chimaira were every bit as heavy as anything by Slayer or Metallica. The group was on Ozzfest…
Band of the Week: The Suede Brothers
Meet the Band: Mike (drums), Kevin (bass), Dylan (vocals, guitar) Teen Dream: Dylan and Kevin started playing in 2005 in the hard rock outfit Black Diamonds, playing a battle of the bands at Peabody’s when they were only 15. In 2007, they started the Suede Brothers, a power trio with stoner rock impulses. “We got…
Regional Beat: DiCOSIMO
DiCOSIMO: Where We Are (self-released) leonarddicosimo.com Singer-songwriter (and President of the Cleveland Federation of Musicians) Leonardo DiCosimo assembled an impressive team of local musicians for this album that features him on lead vocals and bass guitar. Singer-songwriter Brent Kirby produced the disc and singer-songwriter Brian Straw engineered it at Survival Kit Gallery. It sounds sharp…
Diner of the Day: Inn on Coventry
The Inn on Coventry (2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., 216-371-1811, www.innoncoventry.com) opened in 1981, which makes it a three-decade, three-generation, family-friendly, neighborhood restaurant dedicated to filling bellies with good food at a good price. The family’s matriarch, Amy Haley, was involved with the business well into her 90s. The Inn feels homey and familiar — even…
