Ohio Attorney General Office to Serve as Special Prosecutor in Case of Tanisha Anderson
Update: Today the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office announced that the Ohio Attorney General would be handling the Tanisha Anderson case as a special prosecutor. The county sheriff’s department began its investigation last summer. *** Original story 1/2/2015: Today, the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that the death of Tanisha Anderson was a homicide. She…
UPDATE: Rhode Island ‘Lookalike’ Photo of Ashley Summers is Not Missing Cleveland Girl
The FBI announced today that the woman in the Warwick, Rhode Island, photos is not Ashley Summers. “The FBI received several tips regarding this lookalike photo. A couple of possible individuals were identified. The FBI and local law enforcement worked collaboratively to identify these individuals. These individuals were determined to not be Ashley Summers,” FBI Special…
“PoopGangsta” Goes to Jail: UPDATE
Yo. PoopGangsta got 12 years yesterday. Back in May, Poop pleaded guilty to two counts of felonious assault and one count of having weapons under disability — all answered in front of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Cassandra Collier-Williams. (See below.) Separately, he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, two counts of forfeiture of a weapon, abduction,…
UPDATE: Bruce Willis Thriller To Begin Filming in Cleveland Feb. 16
[image-1]Look for the film crew and the aforementioned star to begin working around Cleveland for “Wake” as early as next week. *** Original story published Jan. 2: Bruce Willis will star as a sociopath incapable of feeling fear in “Wake” a thriller set to begin filming in Cleveland in February. WKYC posted a casting…
Son of Frank Garmback, Driver in Tamir Rice Shooting, Graduated from Police Academy Yesterday
Frank Garmback IV, son of officer Frank Garmback (III?) graduated from the Cleveland Police Academy in a ceremony at City Hall Monday afternoon. Garmback III was driving the police cruiser when his rookie partner Timothy Loehmann shot and killed Tamir Rice in November. Garmback is 46. Garmback IV was one of 46 graduating cadets…
Samaria Rice and Attorneys Plead for Justice, Demand Accountability
Samaria Rice and three attorneys spoke Tuesday afternoon at the NAACP headquarters on Euclid Ave., demanding transparency in the ongoing investigation of Tamir Rice’s death. Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, gave a very brief statement indicating that she and her family didn’t care who is spearheading the investigation. Frank Jackson announced last week that the…
Dion Waiters Is Shipped Out of Town and the Cavs Surrender to the Lowly 76ers
The Cavaliers let one slip away they’ll wish they could get back come April, losing to a historically bad 76ers team 95-92. As we’ve noted here many times, the Cavaliers have showed a tremendous ability to play down to the level of their competition and to lose focus defensively for stretches of an otherwise well-played…
Lakewood’s StrEat Burger Bistro to Close in February
Izzy Schachner is one of the few local food truck operators to effectively translate his mobile success into a bustling brick-and-mortar restaurant. StrEat Burger Bistro (16300 Detroit Ave., 216-226-0056, streatburger.com) opened last August in Lakewood and has been doing great business, according to its owner. But factors outside his control are forcing him to pack…
Machine Gun Kelly’s New Video for ‘Till I Die’ Spotlights Cleveland, Naturally
After ringing in 2015 in downtown Cleveland, Machine Gun Kelly is looking toward a big year. First up: The video for his new single, “Till I Die.” Shot mostly on the city’s east side, the video pretty much builds off the mood first established in 2010’s “Cleveland.” It’s a grittier track, though, blending short, rapid-fire…
A Bar + Kitchen Sets Opening Date for Downtown Pub
When the A Bar + Kitchen opens next week downtown, it will be the fourth or fifth restaurant to make a go of the odd alleyway space near the intersection of East 9th and Euclid. In very recent years, the location – technically in the City Club Building, but with an alley entrance on East…
What We’re Reading: Washington Post on Cuyahoga Falls Resident ‘Bad Luck Brian’ and Internet Fame
You know Bad Luck Brian, right? That handsome chap in the photo above? Of course you do. His real name — although you’d never thought to ask before — is Kyle Craven, and he lives in Cuyahoga Falls. More than two years after his goofy smile (an intentional gaffe on school picture day) graced the Internet,…
Ohio Driver’s Licenses Get Color Change
The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles announced on Monday that Ohio driver’s licenses will now sport a blueish-green hue, rather than its current and apparently contested salmon color. “It’s going,” Gov. John Kasich said of the pink tone in 2011 after renewing his license and starting his first term as governor. The color was originally instated…
The Plain Dealer Finally Has a New Editor
Debra Adams Simmons moved on from the top post of the Plain Dealer — that’s the union side, not NEOMG or Cleveland.com — last April. It wasn’t entirely clear whether Advance Publications intended to replace her position — if you’re gonna go union bustin’, why give the union a leader? — but here we are,…
Reports: Two 19 Action News Reporters Head to Competitor News Outlets
With the revving of 2015’s engine comes Ohio Media Watch’s year-opening blog post — one that foretells all sorts of fun stuff throughout the Northeast Ohio broadcast news market. Among the notables: 19 Action News’ Dawn Kendrick will be heading to WKYC, and Ed Gallek will be heading to Fox 8. Peggy Gallek (formerly Peggy Sinkovich),…
Lawsuit: CMHA Police Accused of Illegally Entering Home, Shooting Dogs In Child’s Bedroom
A Cleveland man is taking the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority to federal court, accusing its police of illegally entering his apartment following a drug raid at the unit below and shooting his two dogs that had been barking in a closed room. The incident happened in July 2013, following a raid on the bottom of…
Cleveland City Council Appoints Replacement for Martin Sweeney
In a caucus Monday afternoon, Cleveland City Council appointed Brian Kazy, 2013 council candidate and avid little league coach, to fill the slot vacated by Martin Sweeney. As the council members lavished praise on the family man Kazy, Sweeney was being sworn in as a state rep down in Columbus. Kazy, though not currently a…
An Electronic Dance Music Festival 5K is Coming to Cleveland in September
Billed as “the world’s first Running Music Festival,” Nocturnal Lands is bringing its lights and lasers to the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds in September for an electronic-music-fest-turned-5K-dance-party-thingy. Here’s how it works: Folks can sign up online for the Sept. 12 race (early bird registration is $30 and includes free stuff like a T-shirt and a glow necklace),…
Cleveland Police Recruit Involved in 2012 Shooting Will Not Be Sworn In Today
Mayor Frank Jackson will swear in the 133rd Police Recruit Class today in Cleveland, but one cadet isn’t making the cut. Brandon Smith formerly worked for the East Cleveland Police Department, from which he was allowed to resign over a 2012 shooting incident. He and another officer shot up a car after pulling the driver…
Chef Rodriguez Unveils New Menu at Orale Kitchen
Since 2011, when he opened Orale Kitchen (1834 W. 25th St., 216-781-4190, oralecmc.com), chef-owner Roberto Rodriguez has never stopped tweaking and improving his Ohio City restaurant. An offshoot of the popular Mexican foods stand of the same name at the West Side Market, Orale offers diners a full-service experience built around the chef’s contemporary Mexican…
ICYMI: Kent Police Seek Info on Person Who Threw Molotov Cocktail Under Cruiser
At around 1:15 a.m. Dec. 29 in the parking lot of the Kent Police Department, someone threw an actual Molotov cocktail beneath the chassis of a police cruiser. No one was hurt, though the underside of the car was “charred.” The explosion was caught on video, and glass, lighter fluid and Styrofoam were found at the…
Music Box Supper Club to Host Special Event with Crop’s Steve Schimoler
Crop Bistro & Bar chef Steve Schimoler is a big fan of rock ‘n’ roll. He plays in two bands — Cream of the Crop and Crop Dusters, a new act influenced by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. So it makes sense that he would partner with Music Box Supper Club, the new music venue…
Brite Winter 2015 Lineup Announced
Judging by the weather out there, we’re under two months out from this year’s Brite Winter. With more than 60 bands lighting up the music festival in 2015 — including Maps & Atlases and Welshly Arms in the headlining slots — this year’s installment feels bigger than the increasingly popular events that came before it. …
Mavericks Take Advantage of Cavs’ Defensive Lapses, Torch Cleveland 109-90
It looked a lot like the Cavaliers got their ass kicked by the Dallas Mavericks yesterday, 109-90. It was closer than that, and the Cavaliers played a better game than the score indicates. One of the league’s best scoring machines – who require constant focus to be kept in check – ran into a young…
Kyrie Finds Love as Cavs Sidestep Hornets 91-87
You’ve got to walk before you run and the Cavaliers took their first tentative steps without LeBron last night beating a Charlotte Hornets team that was also missing its best player, Al Jefferson. LeBron’s two-week R&R provides a much-advertised opportunity for the second bananas to hang out, smooth their mustaches, and figure out the pecking…
Massive Brawl Underway at Valley View Cinemark
At least 10 police departments are on scene at the Valley View Cinemark after 200-300 juveniles began fighting in the theater lobby, according to a photographer from WEWS Channel 5. The nearby Quaker Steak and Lube has closed its doors, telling patrons that it’s not safe. The Valley View police chief confirmed to News Channel…
Get Off David Blatt’s Back, LeBron’s Jock; Let’s Talk About Getting More Talent
It’s been a gossipy New Year already for the Cavaliers, with content-hungry scribes turning what they picked up while eavesdropping into “breaking news,” and then in one case, had the temerity to suggest, when LeBron corrected this misperception, “if you believe him.” When did sportswriters fashion themselves muckrakers? Hey, I get it, he left once,…
Girlfriend of John Crawford III Dies in High-Speed Car Crash
Bestowing ever more bad news on the saga of John Crawford III, the man shot to death in a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart this summer, authorities announced this morning that his girlfriend died in a high-speed car crash yesterday. Tasha Thomas, 26, was the passenger in a car traveling 90 to 100 mph, which crashed into a…
This Craigslist Poster is Looking for a High School Student to Infiltrate a Home Theft Ring as a Paid Informant
Right up front, it goes without saying that this is among the more bizarre posts we’ve come across on Craigslist in awhile, and that’s saying something. The gist of the posting goes like this: Someone, and from the looks of it, a private citizen, wants to pay a male, African American Garfield Heights high school…
John Kasich’s Inaugural Gala Will Double as a Buckeye Game Viewing Party
The Ohio State Buckeyes won a football game last night. It was a game not many around the country thought the Buckeyes would even be playing in weeks and months ago, let alone one that anyone but Buckeye honks thought they would win. But win they did, which means they’ll play another football game of…
Happy New Year: 10 Things to Do This First Weekend of 2015
The hangover is being nursed, you’re not going back to work before Monday, and there are plenty of empty hours in the middle to fill. Here, let us help with 10 things you should do before then. Happy new year, Cleveland.
New Year’s Wishes for Cavs Players After a Shorthanded Loss to the Bucks
The Cavs lost on New Year’s Eve last night to the Bucks 96-80, and in some ways it wasn’t much to see. There was a lot more talent on the bench than the floor including Shawn Marion (ankle), Kevin Love (back spasms), LeBron James (sore knee), and of course, Anderson Varejao, out with season-ending Achilles…
About Time! Columbus Road Bridge Is Finally Open
After 20 months, the Columbus Road lift bridge has finally opened to vehicular traffic, and getting downtown will no longer resemble, in the words of Scene Managing Editor Eric Sandy, “something on the order of a Peter Jackson film.” The construction faced several delays — the bridge was originally slated to open in June, then…
Incoming County Exec Armond Budish Narrowly Avoided Driver’s License Suspension With His Fancy Legal Work
This is just a nice preview to this weekend’s Cuyahoga County executive inauguration, in which Armond Budish ascends to the highest political office ’round these parts. NEOMG’s Andrew Tobias uncovered some fancy legal work performed by Budish that got him out of a driver’s license suspension — efforts, by the way, undertaken precisely as incumbent…
Atlanta Hawks Turn Back LeBron-Less Cavs 109-101
The Cavaliers should see if Cedar Point would be interested in a sponsorship because their play is nothing but a rollercoaster ride of mismatched intensity and defensive effort, offensive brilliance and ball-stopping indolence. It’s up and down to be sure, and last night they finished down, losing to the Atlanta Hawks 109-101 in a game…
Scene Podcast: Movers and Makers Looks Back at the Holiday Hackathon
This week, Scene creative director James Krouse takes a look back at Scene’s holiday hackathon, which was held earlier in December at the Cleveland Public Library. He talks about exactly what a hackathon is, for those who don’t know, and chats with some of the participants, including Recess Creative, about mixing software and hardware together…
Video: Jason Grimsley and Others Tell the Story of Stealing Albert Belle’s Corked Bat in Chicago
Fox Sports sat down with the man at the center of the Batgate caper to retrieve Albert Belle’s corked from the umpire’s room at Comiskey 20 years ago, Jason Grimsley, as well as umpire Dave Phillips, who worked the game, and others. Yeah, we can never get enough of this story.
Pic: Happy New Year’s Eve From Former Mayor Ralph Perk
Former mayor Perk on New Year’s Eve 1976 with a bunch of bears in front of the convention center. (Via the Cleveland Memory Project)
Savage Love: Routine Maintenance
Dear Dan, What is your stance on maintenance sex? I’d never thought about the issue until reading Amy Poehler’s new memoir. I didn’t find anything she said controversial, and was surprised when this quote blew up in the feminist blogosphere: “You have to have sex with your husband occasionally, even though you’re exhausted. Sorry.” I…
Psychedelic Furs Bassist Tim Butler Says the Post-Punk Band is Finally Having Fun
When the Psychedelic Furs first formed in England in 1977, the punk movement was still going strong. And yet the Furs didn’t subscribe to its principles. They didn’t scream about anarchy in the UK or write songs about rioting in London. In fact, singer Richard Butler didn’t scream at all. His husky vocals made him…
Upstate New York Jam Rockers Sophistafunk Have Become Festival Favorites
For plenty of bands, performing outside the usual circuit of clubs and bars can prove to be a good thing. That was certainly the case with Sophistafunk, a heady trio that combines hip-hop, rock and spoken word. The group came together in Syracuse in 2007 after band members met at house parties hosted by keyboardist…
Producer Jim Wirt Has Turned Crushtone Studios Into One of the Best Studios in Town
Originally, local T-shirt czar Daffy Dan, who owns a building located off Superior and East 21st St., didn’t want to lease out his fifth floor to the folks behind Crushtone, a recording studio that caters to indie and emo rock acts. But he eventually acquiesced and now, Crushtone, which appropriately has a spectacular view of…
15 Bands to Watch in 2015
In the past, we’ve used our annual Bands to Watch round-up to take a look at the local scene to see which up-and-coming acts stand poised to make some noise in the coming year. We’ve tweaked the formula a bit this time around. Instead of simply focusing on new bands, we’ve provided profiles of local…
Song of the Week
This track from one of Cleveland’s up-and-coming metal acts commences with some intricate guitar work before singer Alex Van Ness starts growling. While metal purists will like his parched vocals, he can actually sing. And the mid-song breakdown of dynamic guitar interplay and bludgeoning drums is compelling too. This is good, classic metal song should…
Hofbrauhaus Cleveland is More Than Foot-Stomping, Chair-Dancing Drinking (But It’s Definitely About That Too)
It was just shy of midnight on a Saturday, and there we were, standing like fools on benches inside Hofbräuhaus Cleveland’s main beer hall. With liter glasses of beer in hand, we swayed with strangers in tipsy unison to the brass- and accordion-driven oom-pah band. Not one of the 500 or so guests in the…
Andrew Reach’s Diagnosis Led to the End of One Career and the Beginning of Another
Sometimes, moments in life that initially appear to be tragedies eventually prove to be opportunities. With perseverance, hard work and a positive attitude, life’s unexpected obstacles can sometimes pull us from where we are to where we need to go. Architect-turned-artist Andrew Reach is a great example of that evolution, and his latest exhibition, Bits…
Band of the Week: Sydney Ellis and Her Midnight Preachers
Meet the Band: Sydney Ellis (vocals), Larry Brown (keyboards), Lee Harris (bass), Vernon Jones (drums) A Late Bloomer: Ellis moved to Cleveland when she was 8 years old and raised her kids here but didn’t start performing while she lived her with her first husband. “I didn’t do much in music here,” she admits. “My…
Moxie Expands and Retools
With 17 years as an east-side fine-dining institution, Moxie (3355 Richmond Rd., 216-831-5599, moxietherestaurant.com) unceasingly takes evolution into account as part of its stamina. Given his bistro’s national reputation for stylish execution of sophisticated American fare, partner and executive chef Jonathan Bennett has never made shying away from change an option. The newest plans for…
Anthony Trzaska Wants to Help Save Slavic Village
We’re a city that loves its neighborhoods. Even more than that, we love talking about our neighborhoods. Over time, that talk of “cool” and “hip” turns to action and thus awesomeness is born. Slavic Village, billed more and more these days as “the next neighborhood” toward whatever definition you like, boasts a unique identity within…
The 10 Best Movies of 2014, According to Us
1. Birdman Dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu Iñarritu’s epic account of a washed-up action hero taking a gamble on Broadway, directing and starring in a Raymond Carver adaptation, fires on just about every imaginable cylinder. It is foremost, perhaps, a feat of cinematography, the film’s camera a sentient beast that follows Riggan (Michael Keaton) and this…
Scene’s Theater Awards for (Most of) 2014
Yes, it’s awards time again. So for those in the theater world, get out your soft cloth and gold polish (yes, these awards are cast from solid ingots of that precious metal). For everyone else: Remember and rejoice if you were able to see some of these shows. If not, you’d best get out more…
