Advance Publications Plans to Outsource Local PD Jobs, Hires PR Firm to Run Interference
In what may be a grim foretaste of labor negotiations set to occur in 2019 when the Plain Dealer’s union contract expires, the Plain Dealer Publishing Company and its corporate parent, Advance Publications, are now considering outsourcing the jobs of local journalists. The PD News Guild released a statement to that effect on social media Tuesday. It’s…
The Tom Katlees to Play a Release Party on Friday at Negative Space
A local indie rock band that formed six years ago, the Tom Katlees have finally finished recording their debut album, Vesper. The band will celebrate its release at Negative Space, where they’ll perform at 8 p.m. on Friday with locals the Mason District and Punch Drunk Tagalongs. Recorded by Alex Madej at his locally based…
Shake Shack to Open Downtown Cleveland Location of its Popular Burger Concept
Ohio’s first Shake Shack opened this summer at the Pinecrest development in Orange Village. Soon after that splashy opening we learned the the company also would be part of a fresh class of newcomers at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, slated to open sometime this winter. Now we’re learning that Shake Shack will open one of its insanely…
Adam Sandler To Perform at Connor Palace in February
Comedian Adam Sandler just announced dates for a 2019 tour that’ll include both his standup and comic songs. It’ll partly be based on his Netflix series, 100% Fresh, and it’ll include “surprise guests.” The show comes to Connor Palace at 8 p.m. on Feb. 7. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Rapper Vince Staples Will Play the Agora in March
Critically acclaimed Long Beach, CA-based rapper Vince Staples has just announced tour dates in support of his latest endeavor, FM! The tour will mark the first time that he’ll perform tracks from the album live. Dubbed Smile, You’re on Camera, the tour will feature support from Compton rapper Buddy and Baltimore rapper JPEGMAFIA. The tour comes…
Larry the Cable Guy To Perform at Hard Rock Live in 2019
Hard Rock Live has begun announcing comedy shows for 2019. Yesterday, the venue announced that Dane Cook is on the docket, and it has now announced that Larry the Cable Guy will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 6. A self-professed redneck, Larry the Cable Guy hosted Only in America with Larry the Cable…
Committee to Reclaim Ward 4 Eyes Ken Johnson Recall, But Building Grassroots Coalition First
[image-1] A group of nine Ward 4 residents and activists met Saturday morning in an apartment on Shaker Boulevard to map out a plan to reclaim their community after revelations of sustained misuse of public dollars by Councilman Ken Johnson. The group included Rowland Mitchell, who ran against Ken Johnson in the 2017 election, and…
A Festivus for the Rest of Us Celebration Returns to Jukebox Thursday
Festivus — the holiday made up by everyone’s favorite Seinfeld father, sweet, sweet Frank Costanza — is getting its due here in Cleveland with a big celebration at Jukebox in Ohio City this Thursday. While the holiday is technically supposed to be observed on Christmas Eve Eve, no one is probably going to mind that Festivus is coming a…
Michelle Obama’s Book Tour Coming to the State Theater in 2019
One of the most articulate and eloquent First Ladies the country has ever had, Michelle Obama embarked on an arena tour earlier this year in support of her new book, Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama. Now, she’s added a slew of dates for a 2019 tour. She comes to the State Theatre on…
Trevor Elkins, Lone RTA Trustee to Support Transit Levy, Just Lost Re-Election Bid for Board Seat
[image-1] Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins has lost his re-election bid to serve another term as a board member for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). His current term expires in March, 2019, at which point he’ll be replaced by Parma Heights Mayor Michael Byrne. Byrne will join board chair Dennis Clough, Mayor of…
Akron Native Teddy Robb to Play This Weekend at the Dusty Armadillo
Country singer-songwriter Teddy Robb grew up in Akron and played football at Kent State University before moving to Colorado and devoting himself to writing songs and touring. Currently based out of Nashville, Robb now writes with some of the best songwriters in the Music City, including Grammy-winner Shane McAnally. Hot on the heels of the…
Rally Outside Planning Summit Will Try to Teach Cleveland Leaders What the Word ‘Inclusion’ Means
As many as 70 community leaders will convene Thursday at Cleveland.com HQ (1801 Superior Ave.) for a two-day “design session” to discuss and plan a regional economic development summit. The session will employ something called the “Appreciative Inquiry” method, developed at Case, which encourages positivity and “focuses on answers, not problems” via group conversation. Per…
Jim Henson’s Holiday Special Double Feature Comes to Cleveland Cinemas This Week
Christmas is always better with puppets, as Jim Henson and team were/are well aware. Now two of the outfit’s more under-the-radar (but quite beloved) holiday TV entries, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas and The Bells of Fraggle Rock, are coming to the big screen in Cleveland tonight and Sunday, Dec. 16 in the form of Jim Henson’s Holiday…
Comedian Dane Cook Coming to Hard Rock Live in 2019
A few years ago, comedian Dane Cook was a superstar who could sell out arenas. His popularity has since waned, but he continues to tour. He’s also regularly acted throughout his career and just last year had a role in American Gods, the fantasy drama series based on the popular Neil Gaiman novel. Hard Rock…
Slayer’s Farewell Tour Returning to Northeast Ohio in 2019
Last summer, metal icons Slayer brought their farewell tour to Blossom and delivered a blistering set. The band has been on the road ever since, and Leg Three: Europe just concluded this past Saturday. Earlier today, Slayer announced the dates of Leg Five: North America. The tour will feature opening acts Lamb of God, Amon…
Tri-C to Offer Discounted JazzFest Cleveland Passes
Just in time for Christmas, Tri-C has announced it’ll offer discounted passes to this summer’s 40th anniversary of Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland. The festival takes place from June 27 to June 29 at Playhouse Square. Starting today, fans can purchase a special $200 festival pass that includes VIP seating to all nine ticketed concerts, an invite…
Dan Rather’s Interview With Kenny Loggins at Severance Hall Will Air Next Week
After rock/pop singer Kenny Loggins performed with the locally based 100-piece Contemporary Youth Orchestra at Severance Hall earlier this year, Dan Rather sat down with Loggins for a lengthy interview. That episode will finally air at 9 p.m. on AXS TV on Rather’s program The Big Interview. In the interview, Loggins talks about how the…
Why Are Some People in the Rust Belt So Resistant to Change?
Aaron Renn wrote a great piece over at his Urbanophile blog entitled The Challenge of Change. In it, he discusses some of the negative reaction that he got to his recent post on Kokomo, Indiana and its Mayor Greg Goodnight’s efforts to reinvent the city using what Renn describes as “the model of the working-class/creative-class,…
The 9 Defends Actions of Staff on Night of Kareem Hunt Assault, Which Allegedly Included Refusing to Let Victim Use Phone to Call Police
Every day since TMZ published the now infamous security footage, it seems, there emerges new and troubling questions about how just about everyone involved in the Kareem Hunt incident at The 9 in February of this year conducted themselves. While there are many moving parts and few answers so far, the common through line is…
First Look: Flight Cleveland, Opening Next Week in Gordon Square
When Flight Cleveland (5712 Detroit Ave., 216-905-2533) opens next Friday in the Gordon Square neighborhood, it will likely become one of the most attractive and appealing spaces around in which to explore and enjoy wine. The two-room storefront is unrecognizable from its days as Latitude 41 thanks to six months of intensive renovation under the…
Some Class Act Drew a Huge Penis in the Snow This Morning in Downtown Cleveland
One Cleveland snow artist got busy in the early hours of the morning Friday, drawing the thing sure to make fifth graders, immature adults and fans of Netflix’s true-crime mokumentary series American Vandal fall over with laughter. As @young_salvatore so kindly pointed out from his Marriott hotel room on Twitter, an enormous penis was drawn…
Coming to Music Box Supper Club Next Weekend, Over the Rhine Examines the Melancholy Side of Christmas
Shortly after Over the Rhine formed in Cincinnati nearly 30 years ago, the band appeared on National Public Radio and played a few Christmas tunes. That gift has kept on giving. The group continues to play holiday music on an annual basis. It performs a special holiday show at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 16,…
Mike McCarthy, Terry Bowden and the Tribe — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Andre and Zac talk winter meetings, comfort food, coaching realities and the Browns. Subscribe to A to Z on iTunes here or stream below.
Ohio Legislature Passes Gun Bill After ‘Stand Your Ground’ Provision Removed
Legislators in Ohio’s state Senate today stripped contentious, so-called “stand your ground” language from a bill designed to loosen gun regulations. The Ohio House adopted the same language. Ohio Gov. John Kasich had promised to veto House Bill 228, which passed the Ohio House of Representatives 64-26 last month, due to the controversial measure. The…
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band Deliver a Career-Spanning Set at the Q
Bob Seger is one of the latest to announce that he’s calling time on his touring career after decades on the road. As we all know, the “farewell tour” is a complicated thing for many artists. After a bit of time off the road, they start to get restless, and eventually, with the right offer,…
Is Tremont Being Taken Over By Blowup Christmas Characters? All Signs Point to Yes
Drive through the mean streets of Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, and you may be shocked to see your favorite Christmas characters in blowup form. First appearing last weekend on West 11th Street in honor of the A Christmas Story Foundation Run (see fun photos from that here), Ralphie is still standing in his super pink bunny…
ODOT is Asking for Your Best, Quippiest Highway Safety Sign Suggestions
Twice a year, the committee that chooses highway sign messages that reflect federal campaigns — don’t text and drive, don’t drink and drive, slow down, etc. — meets and bandies about clever (?), (sometimes) funny and hopefully effective suggestions that end up on the 130 message boards around the state of Ohio. “We try to…
Ohioans Continue to Suck at Moving Over on the Freeway
The results are in and it turns out that Ohio drivers still aren’t good at moving over on the freeway when they legally should. A study held this fall by Brekford Traffic Safety, Inc., collaborating with Ohio law enforcement and tow truck companies, in two Ohio cities showed that residents often choose to ignore the state’s Move…
Ohio House Passes Bill Eliminating Tax on Feminine Hygiene Products, State Senate Vote Up Next
Are you tired of paying (or watching women pay) the so-called “pink tax” on products related to feminine hygiene? It may be going away if a local lawmaker’s bill gets through the state Senate and gets the governor’s signature before the year is over. The bill to eliminate state sales taxes on feminine hygiene products…
EDWINS Butcher Shop in Buckeye-Shaker Neighborhood to Open December 13
Since opening EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, Brandon Chrostowski has been single-minded in his mission to provide a meaningful way forward for ex-convicts. That French bistro and culinary training center, the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary Knife Skills, continues to roll out graduates who are prepared to fill waiting jobs in restaurants around the city…
8 Concerts to Catch in Cleveland This Weekend
FRIDAY, DEC. 7 Wesley Bright & the Honeytones Record Release Because of their terrific live show — sharp-dressed Brent “Wesley Bright” Wesley is a real dynamo on stage — this Akron-based soul/old-school R&B band is in high demand. Their new single, “You Don’t Want Me,” features soulful vocals and some riveting organ riffs. The band…
West Park’s 5 Points Coffee & Tea to Host Live Music at This Month’s Holiday Sessions
An Irish coffeehouse located at the “5 Points” section of West Park, 5 Points Coffee & Tea began hosting live music on its patio over the summer. Now, it’s bringing more live music into the mix. From 7 to 9 tomorrow night, singer-songwriter Andrew McManus will kick off its inaugural Holiday Sessions. Local singer-songwriter Taylor…
Akron Elected Leaders are Riding Public Transit to Promote Public Transit
Down in Summit County, the Metro Regional Transit Authority is rolling out a promotion to get prominent elected leaders to ride public transit. As part of “Official-ly Onboard,” — good name — Akron’s Mayor Dan Horrigan, Cuyahoga Falls’ Mayor Don Walters and Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro will all take rides with Metro’s Executive Director Dawn…
Browns Fans Are the Best Fans in the World, FanSided Declares
Lord knows Cleveland Browns fans have been through a lot. The franchise’s 70-plus year history is a nasty patchwork of ups and downs. Mostly downs, if we’re honest — sad, sad downs. But still, beyond all reason, even when the Cavs were the best in the NBA and the Indians went to the World Series, the city’s…
Newburgh Heights Passes Student Loan Incentive to Attract College Grads
[image-1] The Village of Newburgh Heights has passed legislation that will create a fund to assist new home buyers with student loans. College grads who move to the itty-bitty blue-collar suburb off I-77 will now be eligible to receive 50 percent of their outstanding college debt or $50,000, whichever is lower. The incentive would be…
On Urban Meyer’s Retirement and Legacy — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Andre and Zac discuss Urban Meyer’s retirement and legacy. They also discuss LaVar Ball, Baker Mayfield, Mike McCarthy and more. Subscribe to A to Z on iTunes here or stream below.
Rapper Travis Scott Energizes an Enthusiastic Crowd at the Q
When Houston-bred rapper Travis Scott performed last summer at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, we wrote that his rousing performance stood “as an independent entity, an experiential upshift into an activated energetic state that can tantalize thousands.” Last night at the Q in front of a near-capacity crowd, Scott brought his tour in support of his…
Will Compromise Come on Federal Prison Sentencing Reform for Nonviolent Drug Offenders?
COLUMBUS, Ohio – People languishing in federal prison for decades on nonviolent drug convictions may get a new chance at justice if the U.S. Senate finds the political will to pass sentencing reform in the final weeks of the lame-duck session. Groups on both left and right on the political spectrum support the First Step…
Death Cab For Cutie Brought the Hits and Then Some to a Packed-Out Agora
When Ben Gibbard was nearly 30 years old, he wrote a song that people would travel far and wide to hear. At that point, back in 2005, he’d been writing songs with his Seattle band Death Cab for Cutie for almost a decade. But with the emotional and sparse “I Will Follow You Into the…
Arbitrator Rules Timothy Loehmann, Cop Who Shot and Killed Tamir Rice, Should Remain Fired
In the realm of police firings and requisite union appeals, that an arbitrator has ruled that Timothy Loehmann should remain fired (of course not for actually shooting and killing Tamir Rice but for lying on his application for the job) shouldn’t come as a shocker or a surprise, but it still feels that way. As…
The Glorious Gift That Was Once ‘Conni’s Avant Garde Restaurant’ has Morphed Into a Mostly Boring Sit, With Food
Although it has been joked about for decades, it isn’t clear if any child, or any adult for that matter, ever actually received a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking. Other than perhaps President Trump, who loves coal with unreserved passion, nobody wants that. And yet, here we have a large pile of it…
‘Burning’ is a Mysterious Slow Burn, Basically the Korean Gatsby
Burning, a Korean mystery, opens Friday at the Capitol Theatre. It was up for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this summer and will be the South Korean entry in the Foreign Language Film category at next year’s Academy Awards. Written and directed by Chang-dong Lee (Poetry, Secret Sunshine), and based on the…
Nancy Schwartz-Katz explores New Media in Borders and Boundaries at Shaker Community Gallery
Ever since the Egyptians invented papyrus and the eunuch Cai Lun standardized the production of paper, the support has been the basis for pretty much all art forms from the drawing table to modern sculpture. Scherenschnitte, the art of storytelling through the method of papercutting, has come a long way since simple Victorian silhouettes. The…
Dance Documentary ‘Hot to Trot’ Gets Cleveland Film Screening Next Week
When Gail Freedman came to Cleveland three years ago to film scenes at the Gay Games for her documentary movie Hot to Trot, which provides a look at the “fascinating but little-known” world of same-sex competitive ballroom dance, she wasn’t sure what to expect. “I knew the Gay Games would be a hoot, but you…
Band of the Week: Royal Beasts
MEET THE BAND: Will Hooper (guitar), Jason Dunlap (guitar, synthesizers), Alec Schumann (drums, synthesizers), Jeff Motika (bass) NOT YOUR TYPICAL POST-ROCK BAND: Dunlap and Motika began thinking of forming a band together several years ago and had the notion of delving into the post-rock genre. For a few months, they played with various drummers and…
Savage Love: Cringe and Purge
Dear Dan, I’m a 59-year-old man in good health. For basically my whole adult life, I’ve had this problem during intercourse with a woman of (1) being very quick to come and (2) having a too intense “cringey” sensation when I come. This has led to often going soft at the prospect of intercourse. This…
A Road to Nowhere: How the Construction of Akron’s Innerbelt Displaced Thousands
Ollie Futch, 67, remembers his childhood fondly. Growing up just west of downtown Akron, his days were filled with wonder and adventure. From visiting the library on Wooster Avenue to playing basketball with his friends, his summers were endless. He still remembers his address — 733 Douglas Street. He and his mother, Sarah Futch, lived…
Get Out: Everything You Should Be Doing in Cleveland This Week (Dec. 5-11)
WED 12/05 The Age of the Medici, Parts 1 and 2 Originally released in Italy in 1973 as a three-part TV series, The Age of the Medici, which was directed by Roberto Rossellini, chronicles the exile of Cosimo de’ Medici, head of the prominent banking family that thrived in 15th-century Florence. Part 1 screens today…
