Update: Twelve Literary Arts Announces International Recipients of Barbara Smith Writer-in-Residence Program
Update: Earlier today, Twelve Literary Arts announced that Canadian poet Adebe DeRango-Adem and Pittsburgh-based writer and educator Elizabeth de Souza have been named the first international Barbara Smith Writers-in-Residence. The two writers will spend three months completing major literary works in progress. They will each be provided a $5,000 stipend, an apartment and several opportunities…
Version 2.0 of Ohio City Pizzeria, a New Partnership with West Side Catholic Center and Brandon Chrostowski, Opens July 19
Update: Version 2.0 of Ohio City Pizzeria will open its doors for lunch and dinner service, along with a full bar, on July 19. If you missed the story earlier this year touting the old Ohio City favorite’s second life with a new mission, the short version: The new restaurant is reopening as a combined…
Update: Sad Planets, a New Indie Rock Band Featuring Pat Carney of the Black Keys, Releases a New Music Video
Update: Earlier today, Sad Planets, the indie rock band featuring John Petkovic (Cobra Verde, Sweet Apple, Guided by Voices, Death of Samantha) and Patrick Carney (Black Keys) released a video for “Just Landed,” a song from Sad Planets’ debut album, Akron, Ohio. The video focuses on a spaceman (Petkovic) who lands in Los Angeles and…
Tremont’s Cat Cafe Proves That Cats Aren’t So Bad in Small Doses
Upon graduating college, and my parents’ house, I was informed by friends, co-workers and the internet that I needed to adopt a cat. Living alone could be lonely, they said. You won’t be happy without one, they said. A dog would be fine too, but a cat is easier. Now, I’m not a monster, obviously…
In Advance of Their Upcoming Masonic Auditorium Show, Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog and Hollywood Undead’s George ‘Johnny 3 Tears’ Ragan Talk About That Infamous West Coast High
Two weed-obsessed acts from Southern California, Cypress Hill and Hollywood Undead have teamed up for the first time ever for what they’ve called the West Coast High tour, a co-headlining run that comes to the Masonic Auditorium on Saturday, March 9. Last year, Cypress Hill released its ninth studio album, Elephants on Acid, and Hollywood…
Cleveland Bagel Company’s New East Side Shop Will Open Next Week
Just about a year after plans were announced, Cleveland Bagel’s new east side location on Carnegie and East 77th St. is about ready to open. That should happen Tuesday or mid-week, depending on final health inspections. Herbst and his partner Geoff Hardman have enjoyed steady growth in the nearly six years since they first sold…
Legal Aid of Cleveland and ACLU File Federal Lawsuit Alleging Bedford’s Horrible Nuisance Laws Are Unconstitutional
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and the ACLU of Ohio today filed a federal lawsuit that alleges the suburb of Bedford’s nuisance ordinance is unconstitutional and discriminatory. The suit specifically says the city used its ordinance to label the apartment of a black woman named Beverly Somai a nuisance after she had called the…
R&B Singer Nina Creque To Be Honored With Several Local Memorial Services
The daughter of local pianist Neal Creque, R&B singer Nina Creque tragically passed away earlier this month. She was 43 years old and had been ill for quite some time. Creque performed locally with Gerald Levert’s group, One of the Girls, and also performed on “Space Age Pimpin’,” a track by rappers 8 Ball and MJG.…
RTA Can Improve Ridership or Improve Geographic Coverage. It Can’t Do Both
Transit consultant Jarrett Walker presented the outline for his RTA redesign study Tuesday afternoon, suggesting that his role was not to make recommendations for RTA’s board of trustees and Cuyahoga County residents, but to help the region understand the system’s problems more clearly. As it turns out, there is one central problem: “RTA is spread…
Antonio Brown, Francisco Lindor and the State of Basketball — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Andre and Zac talk Antonio Brown, baseball free agency, Frankie Lindor and the state of basketball, plus play a little Glory Days presented by American Fireworks. Subscribe to A to Z on iTunes here or stream below.
Great Lakes Theater Puts on a Lovely Production of ‘Witness for the Prosecution,’ Even If the Story’s Twists Feel Dated
When you think of Agatha Christie, you think clever murders, engaging mystery and questionable characters. When you think about modern day courtroom dramas, you think about intense questioning, contradictory witness statements and linguistic lawyer dynamos. A combination of these two elements is now being performed at Great Lakes Theater in Agatha Christie’s “Witness for the Prosecution,”…
Burke Airport Traffic Declined in 2018, Again
For those keeping track of Burke Lakefront Airport’s decline, it continued in 2018. According the Federal Aviation Administration’s number count, Burke had 34,407 takeoffs and landings in 2018 compared to 38,571 in 2017. A decline of 10.5%. The sixth straight year the plane usage has gone down, and it has dropped in 17 of the…
Legendary Lutist Paul O’Dette at Plymouth Church and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week in Cleveland
Here are events both large and small for your calendars this week, ranging from the excitement of a full symphony orchestra to the intimacy of a solo lute. How to live long and prosper? Take up orchestral conducting, like the spry, 91-year-old Herbert Blomstedt, who guest conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in Beethoven’s “Pastoral” and Mendelssohn’s…
Cleveland Blockchain Company Votem Abruptly ‘Restructures’ with Major Layoffs
Update: This article’s previous headline stated that Votem had closed and that all employees had been fired. CEO Pete Martin told Scene in an email that while the company had “kicked off a restructuring and recapitalization” plan on Friday that included “major layoffs,” Votem is still in operation and actively supporting current customers. Scene can…
Here’s the Schedule for the Lakeland Jazz Festival
Founded by retired professor and former music department Chair Charles M. Frank, the Lakeland Jazz Festival is now in its 47th year. It’s left quite a mark over the decades too. More than 30,000 middle and high school musicians from throughout the state have participated in the annual event during its 47 years. This year’s…
Cleveland Orchestra’s 2019 Summer Blossom Schedule is Here
Get your picnic baskets and wine bottles ready, the Cleveland Orchestra has finally announced its 2019 Blossom summer concert series schedule. Running June 29 through Labor Day Weekend, the orchestra is set to play 20 shows at the music center’s outdoor shed. Adding to the previously announced Harry Potter and Star Wars bookend programs are…
Cedar Point Gets Mysterious New Attraction Called ‘Forbidden Frontier’ This May
Cedar Point is set to open a mysterious new attraction, The Forbidden Frontier, in late May. “Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island is an experiential attraction,” Cedar Point Director of Communications Tony Clark wrote cryptically in a press release. “Some of it tangible, some intangible. It’s a story that begins with you.” The island attraction, which…
City Dogs Cleveland Moves to New Location This Week
City Dogs Cleveland is getting a new home this week, closing its offices today and tomorrow as workers ferry dogs and gear to their fresh digs on the near west side. Moving from its current spot on West 7th St., the city kennel is expanding to a state-of-the-art facility that meets ‘green’ standards and can house 150…
Armond Budish Responds to Raid: It Was a ‘Political Attack’ a ‘Public Stunt’
Agents from the FBI and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation raided the downtown offices of Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish last week. According to a search warrant obtained by cleveland.com, they were seeking evidence of corrupt activity, extortion, civil rights violations and other crimes, most of them relating to operations at the Cuyahoga County…
On the Art of Conversation and John Cusack’s Appearance at the Akron Civic Theater
The Akron Civic Theater hosted a screening of the film ‘High Fidelity’ this past Saturday evening. Following the film was a live conversation with the film’s star, John Cusack. The conversation was moderated by Rover’s Morning Glory co-host, Susan Catanese, better known as Duji. The film itself played great to the audience, which more than…
$15 Minimum Wage: Ohio Lawmakers Try Again
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s minimum wage workers are earning 25 cents more per hour this year than last, but some lawmakers and policy analysts contend $8.55 an hour still isn’t enough. A 2006 ballot measure set Ohio’s minimum hourly wage at $6.85 and indexed it to inflation. But Michael Shields, a researcher with Policy Matters…
Pollution Controls Along the Ohio River Will Stay Put — For Now
A commission that sets pollution regulations for the Ohio River won’t roll back its standards just yet. Instead, the board of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission has shelved past proposals for changes to the ways it regulates the river and today voted to take public input on a new plan. The board’s new…
New Burning River Baroque Program to Address Toxic Masculinity and Other Social Issues
Inspired by the social reform that took place after the 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire, the classical ensemble Burning River Baroque, whose mission is to “give voice to the voiceless,” was founded in 2012. The group’s 2018-2019 season continues next month with The Other Side of the Story: Untold Perspectives on Familiar Tales, a program that…
Big Economic Inclusion Summit Tentatively Planned for September
An economic inclusion summit that aims to tackle the region’s woes and identify priorities for our economic future via in-depth engagement and “Appreciative Inquiry” has been tentatively scheduled for September. Friday, organizers with Destination Cleveland sent out follow-up material to the 84 stakeholders who participated in a two-day summit-planning session in December and said that…
Everything You Need to Know About Cupid’s Undie Run This Saturday
First, what you need to know about the annual Cupid’s Undie Run is that the event features a whole lot of skin. In the summer it’s not uncommon for the athletically inclined among us to run outdoors in sports bras and short shorts, but the difference here is it’s winter. Which brings us to the…
Black Lives Matter in Cuyahoga County Will Suspend Frank Jackson Recall Effort
Organizers with Black Lives Matter in Cuyahoga County have announced that they are suspending an effort to recall Mayor Frank Jackson due to insufficient support. “The still-popular mayor will, unfortunately, continue in his role as Pied Piper, leading the Black community into incrementally deeper states of socioeconomic oppression,” said organizer Jeff Mixon, in a prepared statement. Mixon said…
Planned Parenthood Files Lawsuit Against Ohio Over New Abortion Restrictions
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, along with state and local chapters of the women’s health organization and an affiliated Dayton clinic called the Women’s Med Center, filed a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court against the state of Ohio over abortion restrictions state lawmakers passed last December. House Bill 145 banned so-called “dilation and…
CLASH to Launch Petition Drive For Lead-Safe Legislation Today
Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing (CLASH) will launch a petition drive this afternoon, the first step in getting a “Lead Safe” ordinance on the ballot in Cleveland’s 2019 general election. The coalition of seven member organizations will make its announcement at 1:30 p.m. on the steps of City Hall, and will proceed to file…
Rincon Criollo Expands with Second Restaurant
Papo and Nydvia Ruiz have been running Rincon Criollo (6504 Detroit Rd., 216-939-0992), a popular family-style Puerto Rican restaurant in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood, since 2006. Only now, after 13 years, did the desire and opportunity to expand present itself. When La Fiesta in the Stockyards neighborhood closed this past fall, the Ruizes got to…
Maelstrom Collaborative Arts’ ‘FreeForm’ Live Art Series Kicks Off Tonight in Ohio City
Not to be confused with the cable TV channel formerly known as ABC Family, FreeForm is a fresh event put on by Maelstrom Collaborative Arts group starting tonight at its Ohio City location. All improvised, the mixed media show is meant to feel more like you’re sitting in on an artistic jam session, with no…
These Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Animals Are Way Cuter Than Your Valentine
In this week’s installment of adorable Cleveland Metroparks Zoo animals doing ridiculously cute things, the baby snow leopards were recently given a special icy heart-shaped surprise in honor of Valentine’s Day. As with pumpkins, which the animals are given during Halloween, watching majestic creatures dig into any holiday-themed treat is always a welcome spectacle to…
Frank Jackson Has Been Very Busy, Will Launch Regular Briefings to Prove It
The Mayor’s Office of Communications announced Thursday morning that Mayor Frank Jackson has been very busy. In order to keep residents apprised of all he’s been up to, he’ll be launching regular briefings in the coming weeks. These briefings look like they’ll be delivered via the Mayor’s existing eNewsletter, and will provide “information and insight”…
Craft Collective Now Open at Van Aken District
Last night, the Craft Collective celebrated its grand opening at Van Aken District in Shaker Heights. Located inside the Market Hall (3449 Tuttle Rd., 216-556-1146), the 70-seat taproom specializes in ciders, sours and meads, about 20 percent of which hail from sister establishment BottleHouse Brewery’s own tanks and barrels. The rest, along with the selection…
In Advance of an Upcoming Show at the Agora, Coheed and Cambria’s Guitarist Talks About the Band’s New Album and Its Loyal Fans
Members of the prog/metal act Coheed and Cambria played in various other bands before coming together as Coheed just over 20 years ago. Guitarist Travis Stever says that it became apparent when they jammed together for the first time that Coheed would be the band that would stand the test of time. “I think that’s…
Singer-Songwriter Jenny Lewis to Perform at the Agora in September
Singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis, who’s just released the second single from her upcoming album On the Line, has announced the dates of an extensive tour in support of the album. The tour starts next month and continues into the summer and fall. It includes a Sept. 17 stop at the Agora. Ticket presales begin at 10…
Local Rockers Echostep to Play a Release Party at the Odeon in March
A veteran on the local electronic music scene, James Young, who performed with the local act Shadow Saints before forming his latest “adventure,” Echostep, self-released the band’s debut back in 2017. That EP includes four original tracks and two remixes of the title track. Now, the industrial rock-leaning band has just announced that it’ll release…
7 Concerts to Catch in Cleveland This Weekend
FRIDAY, FEB. 15 Cowboy Mouth Nathan/The Zydeco Cha Chas Mardi Gras is a New Orleans tradition, but the New Orleans-based rock act Cowboy Mouth will bring some of the event’s flavor to Northeast Ohio tonight. The band has played more than 3,000 shows to over 10 million fans. Back in the 1990s, the group inked a…
Great Lakes Brewing News’ Sexist ‘Parody’ Receives Swift Condemnation from Brewers
Rape jokes aren’t funny. They’re not funny at the bar. They’re especially not funny when printed in an industry-wide trade magazine, and they’re not funny when you slap on an “Oops, I forgot to mention, this is just a parody” non-apology the next day. Bill Metzger, the co-publisher of bimonthly magazine Great Lakes Brewing News,…
Report: Pilot Flying J Pulling Out of ESPN Ad Deal Two Years Early Because of ESPN Story on Browns
[image-1] Last month, ESPN’s Seth Wickersham published a deeply reported piece that took readers inside the top levels of the Cleveland Browns dating back a couple of regimes. It was perhaps the best look yet at how Jimmy and Dee Haslam have run the team, complete with the missteps, egregious missteps, the tensions, the fiefdom…
Wadsworth Woman Sentenced to Jail for Abandoning Sick Dog at Walmart
After leaving her blind and deaf dog in a Wadsworth Walmart parking lot in November, a Wadsworth woman was sentenced in court Tuesday. Rita Swartz pleaded guilty to abandoning her ill 15-year-old pug, Agnes, claiming she had sought out local shelters for assistance but was turned away. Agnes was found by Wadsworth police in a…
Cilantro Taqueria Takes Over Former Chipotle Spot on Coventry
On January 11, Raul Carrillo opened Cilantro Taqueria (2783 Euclid Hts. Blvd., 216-331-3069) in the former home of a Chipotle restaurant that closed after about eight years. The replacement is a windfall for fans of authentic Mexican and Cal-Mex food like tacos, tortas, burritos and bowls. “I come from in Santa Ana, Mexico and we…
Beck Center/Baldwin Wallace Collaboration for ‘Once’ is an Exceptional Celebration of Love and Song
There are moments when you listen to a song for the first time and you know you’re going to love it from the first notes. The Beck Center’s production of Once is one of those such moments. Based on the 2007 Josh Carney-helmed film of the same name, Once found a new identity in its…
Fight Continues for Clean Water on the Ohio River as Long-Awaited Vote on Standards Comes This Week
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A long-awaited vote is expected this week on the future of water-quality standards for the Ohio River. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission is reconsidering its role in setting limits on pollution discharges in the river. The agency has been around for nearly 60 years, made up of commissioners from eight…
‘Plain Dealer Needs to Back off Mayor Frank Jackson,’ an Open Letter from Norman Edwards
Norman Edwards is the loud and imposing figure who years ago founded the Black Contractors Employers Association in Cleveland and who, in 2017, could be counted upon to strike up a solo “ALL IN!” counter-chant anytime activists began choruses of “NOT ALL IN” at public Q Deal hearings. Today, Edwards dashed off an open letter…
Teachers at Summit Academy Parma Charter School Announce Strike Date
The teacher’s union at Summit Academy in Parma yesterday announced an intent to strike beginning February 19th. After the strike authorization on January 31st, the union had remained hopeful that the Summit Academy Management team would negotiate an acceptable contract to avoid a strike. The teachers and intervention specialists say this has not been the…
At Lindey’s Lake House, a Family History of Food in a Lovely Setting
You don’t build a vast culinary empire without being a great storyteller, and when it comes to spinning a yarn, there’s no better knitter than Rick Doody, co-founder of the Bravo Brio Restaurant Group. To hear him tell it, the story of Lindey’s Lake House is no less than the chronicle of his youth in…
Band of the Week: Kandace Springs
MEET THE BAND: Kandace Springs (vocals, piano) ROOTS IN NASHVILLE: Inspired by her father, a Nashville-based soul singer who’s worked with the likes of Chaka Khan and Aretha Franklin, Springs began playing piano at age 10 and started singing at 13. “I wouldn’t be playing music if it wasn’t for my dad,” she says. “He would…
Savage Love: The Doll
I am a 56-year-old heterosexual man, and I have lived with ALS for the past six years. I am either in a wheelchair or in a hospital bed, and I have very little motor ability in my limbs. Like most or all male ALS patients, I still have full sensory ability, including a fully functioning…
In Her New Exhibition at HEDGE, Meghann Hennen’s Beautiful Evolution as an Artist Continues
Meghann Hennen is about movement. She is about exposing the self and being through her art, while pulling in the viewer in an almost intimate way and exploring her place in the wider Cleveland and arts communities. “I feel like I’m not a Cleveland artist, because I have a hard time finding my place here,”…
Corrections Officers Talk About Life Inside the County Jail Before and After a Year of Scathing Headlines
The news felt like it arrived abruptly and never slowed down. An inmate had died in the Cuyahoga County Jail. Then another. Then another. By the end of 2018, eight had died. County executive Armond Budish was ostensibly taken aback. How could this be happening? And so the U.S. Marshals were summoned to investigate the…
Get Out: Everything You Should Be Doing in Cleveland This Week (Feb. 13-19)
WED 02/13 Galentine’s day Blind Date with a Book The Reading Room CLE and Fear’s Confections are hosting an event for women who love literature, so bring your best girlfriend, or come solo, and celebrate women and books. With each ticket you get a surprise novel from the Reading Room CLE and a hot drink…
