Upcoming Showcase at Bop Stop Demonstrates Range of Local Black Musicians
Last year, local instrumentalist//composer Robin Blake, who performs and records as Hyperius Blake, hosted a tribute to the late MF Doom at Crobar. A catalyst for the local music scene, Blake collaborated with Brittany Benton, aka DJ Red-I and local rappers Muamin Collective and Madstarr to celebrate a night of music by “one of hip-hop’s most…
Wary Cleveland City Council Cautiously Vets Mayor’s Picks to Rebuild Fractured Community Police Commission
Nearly everyone at City Hall agrees that 2024 wasn’t the best year for Cleveland’s Community Police Commission. There was the infighting; the meeting disruptions; the accusations of harassment; calls for removal of former commissioner Teri Wang. Then, of course, came December. Six CPC members’ four-year terms expired. Three of them quit outright altogether. All which…
City Council-Commissioned Investigation Finds Joe Jones Has a “Sustained Pattern of Inappropriate and Unprofessional Behavior”
Cleveland City Council this week released a summary of an investigative report conducted by the law firm of McDonald Hopkins that catalogs two years of harassment allegations against Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones. The investigation found that Jones had “sustained pattern of inappropriate and unprofessional behavior.” A memo summarizing the report, which was released after…
An Opera About Escaping From a Fundamentalist Mormon Sect and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week in Cleveland
Among other topics, this week’s picks hint at spring, celebrate a famous Italian composer’s 500th birthday, waft the audience on an historical tour of the Iberian peninsula, and turn news headlines into opera. – Tito Muñoz, former assistant conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and most recently music director of the Phoenix Symphony, returns to town…
Cleveland’s Kill the Fall Experiences a Rebirth
One day last year after Raymon Terry changed out of his martial arts gear and got into his punk rock garb to practice with his group Kill the Fall (he and his bandmates used to rehearse at the Middleburg Heights gym he runs), one of his martial arts students, Ryan Williams, heard the group practicing…
Bipartisan Group of Ohio Lawmakers Offer New Approach to Repealing Death Penalty
Ohio lawmakers from both chambers and both sides of the aisle announced a measure Tuesday that would abolish the death penalty and prohibit any state funding from supporting abortion services or physician-assisted suicide. Ohio law already bars state funding from subsidizing abortion, and physician-assisted suicide isn’t legal in Ohio. But the sponsors described their three-part…
Review: Bad Medicine Delivers Exceptional Cocktails, Sonic Atmosphere, and Dynamite Bar Food
Just as we sat down at the bar, the unmistakable opening licks of Pink Floyd’s “In the Flesh” began creeping out of the loudspeakers. As the tracks of “The Wall” bled from one to the next, it was like I was listening to the album again for the first time. A killer sound system can…
How a Lorain Church Became a Must-See DIY Music Venue and a Beacon of Hope
There’s no place like Lorain, Ohio. Sure, there are other Midwestern cities still battling the demons of deindustrialization and subsequent disinvestment. But Lorain also has the quaint charm of a lakefront vacation spot and the vibrancy of its famously diverse population. (It’s nicknamed “The International City.”) Lorain is a place where the American dream might…
15+ Things to Do in Cleveland This Weekend (Jan. 30- Feb. 2)
Our weekly picks of the best things to do in Cleveland this weekend. Also check out our full Cleveland event calendar. THU 01/30 Bertha: Grateful Drag A Nashville-based group that claims to be the world’s first draq Grateful Dead tribute band formed two years ago to fight the anti trans and LGBTQ laws being passed in…
Could Online Casinos Be Legalized in Ohio by 2025?
Diverse Adults Gambling Shoot Free Image and Photograph 89713176. As discussions around gambling continue to evolve in Ohio, the prospect of legalizing online casinos has sparked renewed interest among lawmakers and residents alike. With the introduction of Senate Bill 312 by Senator Niraj Antani, the conversation about internet gaming, or iGaming, is gaining traction. The…
Study Reveals Market Failures in Ohio Electricity
Ohioans have long had the ability to choose their electricity providers but new research highlighted the financial consequences of such decisions. A study examined how competitive retail electricity service options stack up against standard utility rates. Noah Dormady, associate professor of public policy at Ohio State University and the study’s lead author, said an analysis…
More Than 280,000 Ohio Kids Would Be Impacted by Proposed National School Meal Program Cuts
As the federal government looks at ways to cut costs and fund Trump-administration measures, a congressional committee is considering a cut that could take billions from school breakfast and lunch programs. That cut could impact more than 280,000 students in Ohio alone, and 728 schools in the state, according to data from the Food Research…
When Will Pre-Rolled Joints Be Available at Ohio Dispensaries?
Cleveland dispensaries may soon be selling pre-rolled joints, per protocols released by the Ohio Division of Cannabis Control late last year. This evolution of the state’s recreational program would provide new and veteran consumers alike access to a highly sought-after product. “We have been constantly asked about pre-rolls, especially when we first launched (recreational sales)…
Clague Playhouse Production of ‘OPUS’ Is a Calmingly Intense Concert of Words and Music
In Michael Hollinger’s play “Opus,” now on stage at Clague Playhouse, the fictitious Lazara Quartet is a celebrated, world-renowned classical quartet. They have a slew of recordings (one of which won a Grammy) and have toured excessively around the world. The problem is that such fame comes at a high cost. First Violinist Elliot (Doug…
Nature’s Oasis to Close Van Aken District Location in Shaker Heights
Nature’s Oasis has announced that it is closing its east-side location at Van Aken District in Shaker Heights on or about Friday, February 7th. The store, which opened in 2019, was the second location for the Lakewood-based business that was founded by Elliott Endsley in that city in 2016. “It’s with heavy hearts that we share…
ICE Raids Start in Northeast Ohio as Trump’s Mass Deportation Policies Play Out Nationwide
The culture of fear provoked by President Trump’s vow to lead the largest mass deportation scheme in Unites States history touched down in Northeast Ohio this weekend as the president issued new quotas and ICE descended. Nationwide, since last Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers across the country, from Chicago to Miami, have made…
After 24 Years, Lakewood’s El Tango Owner Calls it Quits
I had to remind Antonio Carafelli how long he’s been running El Tango in Lakewood, which I reviewed for the Free Times back in 2001, soon after he opened the doors. “I can’t even remember it’s been so long – 20 years, 30 years?” he asks me. When Carafelli opened the place on Madison Avenue…
Defense and Dunks for a Dozen Straight CSU Vikings Wins
What happens when a team that has won ten games in a row goes up against two of the worst teams in their conference? Apparently two close games until the end of each when Cleveland State decided to take over. Home game vs. Detroit Mercy This game started off exactly how no one thought it…
‘The Hot Wing King’ at Dobama Theatre Examines Modern Family Dynamics
Truth…sometimes the truth can get complicated, as in the case of Dobama Theatre’s production of Katori Hall’s “The Hot Wing King.” It is about family, but a new modern order of the term. Cordell Crutchfield (Wesley Allen) is a master of hot wings. All of his friends tell him, so therefore it must be the…
Ohio AG and 17 Others Question Protections for Immigrants From Dangerous Home Countries
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and 17 other Republican attorneys general are questioning the temporary protected status for immigrants from 17 distressed countries. They’re asking officials in President Donald Trump’s explicitly anti-immigrant administration to review whether protections are necessary. In a statement Tuesday, Yost said some have been allowed to stay in the United States…
Ask a Cleveland Sex Therapist: I Am Obsessed With Sex and It’s Impacting My Relationship
Welcome to Ask a Cleveland Sex Therapist. Want to ask Matt a question that could be tackled in a future column? Click here. Now, onto this week’s topic. Question: I feel obsessed with sex. The more I have it, the more I want it. This is making my partner feel “used” rather than loved. Every…
Wolf Pack Chorus in Little Italy to Close in February
January is traditionally the month of the calendar filled with the most restaurant closure announcements and the bad news continues in Cleveland as Wolf Pack Chorus shared today that it will close the doors in Little Italy in early February. “Service has been a fierce passion of mine, for as long as I can remember.…
Councilman Joe Jones Repeatedly Made Inappropriate Comments to Women, Prompting Misconduct Investigation
Ward 1 Cleveland City Councilman Joe Jones was the subject of an investigation of misconduct allegations, as Scene and others reported. City Council President Blaine Griffin initially opted to attempt to try and shield Jones’ identity but confirmed to reporters this week that complaints from multiple accusers led Council to hire an external law firm…
Warehouse District Mainstay Velvet Dog to Close After 26 Years
In the early 2000s, Cleveland’s Warehouse District offered an embarrassment of riches with respect to bars, lounges and dance clubs, with places like Wish, Spy Bar, Mercury Lounge, Liquid, Funky Buddha, Cloud 9, Groovee Little Nightclub, Dive Bar and Velvet Dog all vying for attention. Today, only two from that era remain: Dive Bar and…
Livewire: 12 of the Best Concerts to Catch in Cleveland This Weekend
FRI 01/24 George DeLancey The jazz bassist has toured nationally and internationally with the Larry Fuller Trio and has performed as a sideman with acts such as Wessell Anderson, Peter Bernstein, Bobby Broom, Tia Fuller, Philip and Winard Harper, Christian Howes, Willie Jones III, Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tomoko Omura, Johnny O’Neal, Houston Person,…
Some Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio Health Centers Saw 200% Spike in IUD Insertions in December
Ohio doctors saw an increase in women getting long acting reversible contraception in the weeks following President Donald Trump being elected. Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio noticed a 30% increase in call volume during the week of the election, most of them about accessing contraception or asking what another Trump presidency means for accessing reproductive…
DJ E-V, Chelsea Pastel Among Nearly 30 Performers Scheduled for Brite Winter 2025
Brite Winter might be making its way to a new home on the East Bank of the Flats this year, but the lineup is as jam packed as ever, including nearly 30 musical artists from Northeast Ohio that span over a variety of genres including acoustic, country, hip hop and heavy rock. The annual festival,…
Cleveland’s Copper Moon Coffee Shop Denies Trademark Violation Allegations in TikTok Video Lawsuit
Copper Moon Coffee, the postcard-sized, nondescript café on Euclid Avenue in Downtown Cleveland, has denied the majority of allegations brought in a federal lawsuit filed over a TikTok video posted last year. The basis of the suit began in August, when TikTok user @superheroeveryday2 recorded a Copper Moon barista refusing to sell her a coffee…
Guitar Riot To Host Reopening Party at New Ohio City Location on February 1
Founded more than a decade ago, the local guitar shop Guitar Riot is an exclusive independent regional dealer for Gibson, Fender, and Martin guitars. The company offers repair services, custom work, and a “carefully curated” consignment program. After a decade in the Artcraft Building, the store has relocated to a custom-designed space at 4517 Lorain…
Ohio GOP Lawmaker Again Proposes to Overhaul Higher Ed, Ban Diversity Efforts and Labor Strikes
A Republican state senator has reintroduced a controversial proposal to massively overhaul higher education in Ohio, including a ban on diversity and inclusion efforts as well as a ban on labor strikes by faculty and staff. Kirtland Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino’s proposed Senate Bill 1 — the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act — was…
‘Nobody’s Trying to Help Him’: Deaths in Cuyahoga County Jail Intensify Scrutiny
After pleading for medical care for several days, Glen Williams Jr. collapsed to the floor in the Cuyahoga County Jail. No one checked for signs of life. A jail officer walked up and then walked away, pausing only to handcuff the fallen man. On that morning in January 2024, at least nine minutes passed before…
NASA Signs ‘Space Act’ Deal with Blue Abyss for Massive Astronaut Training Project in Brook Park
Brook Park’s foray into commercial astronaut training is heating up. NASA Glenn and Blue Abyss, the U.K.-based aeronautics company pursuing its first U.S. facility just outside of Cleveland, announced on Wednesday they have entered into an aptly-called Space Act Agreement, tying them together as collaborators in everything space-related. By June, Blue Abyss is to release…
CLE Flag Project to Unveil Winning Design for New Cleveland Flag
The CLE Flag Project, a civic effort organized by a group of Cleveland-area volunteers, launched this spring with a simple mission: To come up with a new, modern city flag, one that more closely matched Cleveland’s current ethos. That process started with an open call for submissions from Northeast Ohio, garnering 570 designs. It continued…
Banter Closing Gordon Square Location on February 2nd
Matthew Stipe has announced that he is closing Banter in Detroit Shoreway, devastating news considering the struggle it took him to get here. He opened the original poutine, sausage and bottle shop down the road in 2014 and closed it in late 2020, vowing to return. He did just that in late 2023 after considerable delay…
Weathervane Playhouse’s Production of ‘The Amen Corner’ Is a Complex Study of Life and Religion
The first thing you notice after being seated in the Weathervane Playhouse Theatre for the performance of James Baldwin’s “The Amen Corner” is the complexity of the stage — a multi-tiered set of interconnecting stairs and rooms. At top left is the chapel where the congregation meets to worship with its requisite piano, folding metal…
Cleveland Well Represented in the 2025 James Beard Awards List of Semifinalists
This morning, the James Beard Foundation announced its list of semifinalists for the 2025 Restaurant and Chef Awards. The so-called “long list” includes both national and regional categories, both of which include Cleveland chefs. In the Outstanding Restaurateur category — a nation-wide grouping — Douglas Katz of Edgewater Hospitality (Amba, Zhug, Kiln) has been selected as a semi-finalist. Katz…
Falling In Reverse, Slipknot and Five Finger Death Punch To Headline Annual Inkcarceration Metal and Tattoo Festival
The organizers of Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival, the annual event that takes place at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield on Friday, July 18, Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, 20, have just announced the lineup for this year’s concert. It’ll feature more than 66 bands on three stages along with 100+ tattoo artists and…
Ohio Jan. 6 Defendant Says Actions That Day Were ‘An Honor,’ Claims Vindication After Trump Pardons
President Donald Trump offered a reprieve to more than 70 Ohioans convicted or charged with crimes in connection with the U.S. Capitol siege, with one of the defendants saying it was an honor to stand up with other patriots that day, to be prosecuted for it, and to be vindicated by Trump now. In an…
Influencer Who Auditioned for ‘Baddies Midwest’ Found Dead on Cleveland’s East Side
A 30-year-old Maryland woman was recently found dead in a vacant house on Francis Avenue in Kinsman, Cleveland police confirmed to Scene on Tuesday. Reyna Dunlap, a social media influencer better known as The Nude Queen, was discovered some three months after she flew from Maryland to Cleveland to audition for Baddies Midwest, a bawdy…
15+ Things to Do in Cleveland This Weekend (Jan. 23-26)
Our weekly picks of the best things to do in Cleveland this weekend. Also check out our full Cleveland event calendar. THU 01/23 Chad & JT These two podcasters discuss major current events on their podcast, Going Deep with Chad & JT. At 7 p.m., they bring their live show to Hilarities. 2035 East Fourth St.,…
Pioneering Cleveland Chef and Restaurateur Hiroshi Tsuji Announces His Retirement
Many diners living in Northeast Ohio have Hiroshi Tsuji to thank for their first true taste of sushi. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Tsuji relocated to Cleveland and opened Shujiro on Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. When the Japanese restaurant began serving sushi in 1982, it was one of…
Cleveland State Vikings Win Streak Hits 10
With CSU sitting alone on top of the Horizon League, every team wants to dethrone the best. With a tough matchup against Northern Kentucky and a rematch against IU Indy, CSU had their work cut out. Home Game vs. Northern Kentucky (9-9, 4-3 HL) NKU came to Cleveland on a two game losing streak against…
Venezualan and Appalachian Folk at the Transformer Station and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week in Cleveland
For this frigid, fourth week in January, we suggest half-a-dozen classical music events that are well worth bundling up and getting out of the house to enjoy. – On Wednesday at 7 pm at Transformer Station, the Cleveland Museum of Art will present the multi-instrumental duo of Larry and Joe — Larry Bellorin and Joe…
Ohio’s New U.S. Senator Jon Husted Has a History of Connections to Energy and Charter Scandals
“No comment.” That’s all Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said and walked away. Only at the tail end of DeWine’s press conference last Friday, to announce Lt. Gov. Jon Husted as his pick to replace J.D. Vance in the U.S. Senate, was the elephant in the room even acknowledged. What was the governor’s response to the…
First Look: Good Pizza, Opening on East 4th Street Wednesday, January 22
Since launching his YouTube channel in 2019, Charlie Anderson has amassed 180,000 subscribers who come back time and time again for the host’s no-nonsense at-home pizza-making instruction. Now Anderson has a physical space where people can watch him make New York-style pizza IRL and enjoy the spoils. This past fall, Anderson announced that he was…
Joe Jones the Subject of Cleveland City Council Misconduct Investigation
Ward 1 Councilman Joe Jones was the subject of an misconduct investigation by Cleveland City Council, several sources familiar with the matter told Scene. The allegations stem from “innapproriate” behavior by Jones, the sources said. Reports of the investigation were first brought to public attention last week by the Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com. Council President Blaine Griffin,…
Audio: Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1967 Speech at Glenville High School in Cleveland
On April 26, 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. visited three east side high schools in Cleveland, including Glenville. Audio of that speech had been recorded but sat undiscovered in the high school’s library until it was accidentally unearthed in 2011 by an art teacher and some students. King had been invited to Cleveland by the…
Security Crackdown Following Guard’s Killing in Ohio Puts Spotlight on Prison Safety
After the fatal attack on a guard at Ross Correctional Institution, a security crackdown has staff and prisoners on edge and the public questioning the safety of everyone who works and lives at the facility. Several men incarcerated at the medium-security state prison in Chillicothe told The Marshall Project – Cleveland that correctional staff, joined…
LifeWise Academy Draws Criticism From Some Ohio Parents, Support From Religious Organizations
Ohio school districts will soon be required to have a religious release time policy, paving the way for an expansion of LifeWise Academy. While supporters praise it, some parents say their kids have been bullied for not participating, and point to school day disruption. Gov. Mike DeWine recently signed House Bill 8 into law, a…
Ohio City’s McCafferty Center to Become Neighborhood’s Latest Home for Affordable Senior Housing
It’s confirmed: Ohio City will be expanding its affordable housing stock sometime this year. The McCafferty Center off 42nd and Lorain Avenue, currently an outpost of the Cleveland Department of Public Health serving mostly residents of the neighborhood, will be host to 72 units of housing for seniors, the city and Ohio City Inc. confirmed…
Ask a Cleveland Sex Therapist: Is the “Seven Year Itch” Real?
Welcome to Ask a Cleveland Sex Therapist. Want to ask Matt a question that could be tackled in a future column? Click here. Now, onto this week’s topic. Is the “seven-year itch” a real thing in many relationships? -Anonymous Now, this is a phrase I haven’t heard in some time. Not to say it isn’t…
Immigrant Son Brewery Owner Andrew Revy to Open Sofia’s Kitchen + Bar in Former Salt Space in Lakewood
Lakewood, like many neighborhoods, suffered a series of devastating restaurant losses in 2024. Eric Williams shuttered El Carnicero after 11 years, Matt Fish closed the original Melt Bar and Grilled after nearly 20 years, and Jill Vedaa and Jessica Parkison closed Salt on a high note after eight years. But in this business, when one…
Tom McIntyre of Kate’s Fish to Open Seafood Bar in Tremont
For years, Tom McIntyre has endeavored to open the type of seafood restaurant that people in the Northeast take for granted. At seafood shacks up and down the East Coast, seafood is casual, approachable, affordable and fresh. “I want to change the way people think about seafood in this town,” McIntyre told Scene. “Growing up,…
Stream the Cleveland Orchestra’s MLK Celebration Concert and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week
Our classical music recommendations this week include interesting visitors as well as distinguished local performers. – Those visitors include Minnesota’s Zeitgeist (“Spirit of the Times”), who will join Cleveland’s No Exit January 17 at the Bop Stop featuring world premieres by Christopher Goddard, Luis Daniel Jiménez, James Praznik & Timothy Beyer as well as works…
CLE Urban Winery and Bigmouth Collaboration to Bring Donuts to Cleveland Heights
Craft donuts are coming to Lee Road in Cleveland Heights. Thanks to a collaboration with Bigmouth Donuts, CLE Urban Winery will serve as a sort of weekend satellite shop for the popular scratch-made donut shop. “I am all about collaborating with other makers — I believe we’re all stronger working together,” says CLE Urban Winery (2180 Lee…
At Least 61,000 Ohioans Could Lose Medicaid Health Coverage If Work Requirements Go Forward
Proposed Medicaid work requirements mean more than 61,000 Ohioans could potentially lose their health insurance, if the incoming Trump administration allows Ohio Republican state leaders to proceed with their plan. While the Biden administration has stood in the way, Ohio’s 2023 budget signed by Gov. Mike DeWine requires the state Medicaid department to re-apply with…
‘Ripples of Plastic’ Documentary, an Examination of Lake Erie’s Plastic Pollution Problem, Comes to the Capitol
Are you cognizant of how many particles from grocery bags or water bottles are floating around Lake Erie? That’s the test and premise of the Cleveland premier of Ripples of Plastic, the latest documentary from local filmmaker Chris Langer, of Wonderhouse Films. (Answer: 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes as a whole…
