Crop Adding All-You-Can-Eat Saturday Brunch In Addition to Sunday
[image-1]Update: It seems as if the groundswell of eager brunchers that awaited the arrival of Crop’s all-you-can-eat Sunday brunch have provided impetus for the Ohio City restaurant, now run by Tony George and Marcelo Fadul, to expand the popular service. Beginning June 24, Crop will offer its smorgasbord on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.…
Local Retired Ironworkers Will See Pension Cuts Following Union Vote
Update: With a 616-320 vote, members of Iron Workers Local 17 approved cuts to the union’s pension payments. The vote is unprecedented among private pension plans for American unions. The gist behind the vote, which was overwhelmingly greenlit by current union members, hits retirees’ wallets hard in favor of avoiding bankruptcy down the road. Some…
Public Square Traffic Study Begins Tomorrow, Jackson Seeks Intercession from DOT Secretary
The city and RTA, with help from traffic engineering consultants at Parsons-Brinckerhoff, will conduct traffic counts Wednesday at seven downtown intersections. This is to establish baseline data as part of the first formal traffic study at Public Square since its renovation. Superior Avenue has been closed to buses at Mayor Jackson’s continued insistence since the Square re-opened…
Hard Rock Act Mastodon to Perform at Agora in May
The Atlanta-based heavy rock act Mastodon has completed the follow-up to its 2014 album Once More ‘Round The Sun. While details regarding the new studio album will be released soon, the band has just announced the dates of a spring U.S. tour. The jaunt, which includes support from Eagles of Death Metal and Russian Circles,…
Lakewood Family to Appear on HGTV’s House Hunters International
[image-1]The adorable, all-American family above is none other than Oliver and Jaclyn Palmer, with their two-year-old daughter Roma. The family, formerly of Lakewood, Ohio, now resides in the Netherlands. Their journey abroad will be chronicled in the HGTV program House Hunters International on Jan. 24 at 10:30 p.m. (and then again at 1:30 a.m.). Oliver,…
New Report Shows the Effects of Ohio Resuming Its Renewable Energy Standards
Ohio’s renewable energy standards are again in play, following Gov. John Kasich’s veto of a Statehouse-approved continuation of the freeze on those standards. And thanks to Kasich’s decision, we can now get back to discussing what lies ahead for the state’s energy production and, inevitably, business development. A new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory…
Kent State Ranked Top Ten Nationally for Sugar Baby/Daddy Website Signups
“FAFSA and grants can be a nightmare – that’s if you are approved. With SeekingArrangement.com’s Sugar Baby University, students from all backgrounds and income levels are welcome. No minimum GPA required.” So begins some of the introductory remarks on SeekingArrangement, a site that connects sugar daddies and sugar babies, ostensibly to help students pay college…
Oberlin High Grad to Host Local Screening of His New Dark Thriller
When he was only 6, Josh Folan’s grandfather took him to the Apollo Theatre in Oberlin to see Dances with Wolves. While he admits he probably didn’t fully comprehend the film, Folan says it was a formative experience. Folan, who graduated from Oberlin High School back in 1999, has spent the last 11 years working…
Ohio Family Opens Up About Heroin Addiction Struggles in Daughter’s Obituary
[image-1]The obituary for Emily Kristine Cooley, who fatally overdosed age 20 on Jan. 5, urges people to “reach out and speak out” amid this opiate addiction crisis — and directly addresses Cooley’s friends, who remained silent. “Her family wants to express to her friends that when you know something is wrong, even at the risk of…
First Look: Masthead Brewing, Opening Tuesday
Frank Luther knew that he wanted to open a brewery in Cleveland, he just didn’t know where exactly that brewery would be. That is until he and his partners landed on the two-story Bryant Building at 1261 Superior Avenue, originally built in 1921 as an automotive dealership and most recently home to the Cleveland Title…
Transformer Station Opens 2017 with Esther Teichmann’s Multimedia Exhibition ‘Heavy the Sea’
Kicking off 2017 with a bang, Transformer Station will host the first public individual exhibition of work by London-based artist Esther Teichmann. A large-scale, multimedia exhibition, Heavy the Sea explores the relationship between desire, loss and the imaginary through narratives of longing in large scale still and moving images, painting and sculpture. Teichmann was raised…
Video: Steve Kerr Made a Joke About “The Diff” at Quicken Loans Arena
After the Warriors beat the Kings the other day in Sacramento a reporter asked Golden State head coach Steve Kerr if he noticed the new scoreboard in the Kings’ arena. Kerr took the opportunity to throw a little troll action toward the Wine and Gold and Cleveland. “Does it say ‘The Diff’ on it, like…
Rock Hall to Host Free MLK Day Celebration
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has just announced that it will host a free admission day in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event, which takes place from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, will feature live performances, education programs and family activities. Visitors will also have the chance to…
Mitch Trubisky Declares, and Why Deshaun Watson Should Go to Mobile — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Former Ohio Mr. Football Mitch Trubisky has entered the 2017 NFL Draft, as expected, and Andre and Zac discuss Trubisky’s path, expectations and the lack of patience throughout the NFL. They also implore Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson to play in this month’s Senior Bowl and discuss Le’Veon Bell’s big game and Odell Beckham’s lack of…
Cleveland Police Investigating MCPc and a Former City Employee
Cleveland police are investigating MCPc, an information technology company headquartered in Cleveland, and a former city of Cleveland employee, a City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Scene. The IT company has six active contracts with the city of Cleveland and four expired contracts. In addition to Cleveland, MCPc has locations in seven other cities. It was…
Public Scare Tactics: Jackson Doubles Down on Terrorism, “Irreparable Harm” Looms
The embarrassing powder-keg spectacle of the Public Square controversy continues its sold-out run: Last week, while Scene’s eyes were turned briefly elsewhere, letters changed hands, legislation was promised, and official voices were raised, all in connection to the looming $12 million debt that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has demanded be repaid by the Greater Cleveland…
Classic Rockers Foreigner Return to Hard Live in April
While none of the band members that assembled on stage last year at Hard Rock Live could lay claim to being original members of the classic rock group Foreigner, that didn’t prevent the capacity crowd from embracing the band. During a 90-minute concert, the group catered to the fans too, delivering hits such as “Double…
New State Law Forces Cleveland Group to Withdraw Its $15 Minimum Wage Petition
[image-1]Unsurprisingly, Raise Up Cleveland officially withdrew its petition for a $15 minimum wage hike ballot issue that would have come before voters in May. The move comes after Gov. John Kasich signed into a law a bill that loosens regulations on where pet stores can source their puppies. You follow? In December, the Statehouse approved…
Garage Rockers Bash & Pop to Play First Local Show in Years
When Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson formed the thrashy garage pop band Bash & Pop in the wake of the Replacements’ break-up, he intended the band’s debut, 1993’s Friday Night is Killing Me, to be a group effort. Instead, the album was more like a solo project. “Me and Steve [Foley], the drummer, recorded all the…
Basheer Jones to Announce Candidacy for City Council Ward 7 Seat
Local activist and speaker Basheer Jones, he of the Cleveland Renaissance Movement, will officially announce his candidacy for Cleveland City Council next Monday. Jones released a statement Sunday saying he would make the announcement at the former home of councilwoman Fannie Lewis. Jones will challenge the Ward 7 incumbent TJ Dow, whom he challenged in…
Singer-Songwriter Justin Townes Earle Keeps Alt-Country Legacy Alive
Most kids don’t start listening to hard rock until their teenager years. Not singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle. Not that you’d know it from listening to his alt-country music, but he developed an appreciation for the heavy stuff at an early age. “When I was 7 and most people my age were listening to kids’ music,…
Chido Johnson Brings ‘Love Library’ Project to Zygote Press
Growing up in Zimbabwe, Chido Johnson spent his childhood reading whatever he could get his hands on. Fatefully, the small library of Johnson’s rural mission had an abundance of romance novels. After leaving Zimbabwe, Johnson’s Love Library project was conceived while the artist was living and teaching in Sweden. By the time he came to…
EDWINS to Open Butcher Shop in Buckeye Neighborhood in Mission to Better Lives of Many
Brandon Chrostowski promised that he was just getting started. In addition to EDWINS Leadership & Restaurant Institute, the fine-dining bistro that provides formerly incarcerated citizens a foothold in the hospitality industry, the philanthropist recently unveiled EDWINS Second Chance Life Skills Center, a three-building campus in Cleveland’s Buckeye neighborhood that provides housing, services and amenities to…
Cleveland Clinic to Discipline Physician Who Published Anti-Vac Opinion Piece on Cleveland.com
[image-1] Dr. Daniel Neides, the medical director and COO of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, penned a fiercely anti-science and anti-vac opinion piece. There are, at least, two big problems with that. First, that he believes anything that he said and disseminated, without authorization from the hospital, the myths to the general public. The second,…
Green Day to Bring Revolution Radio Tour to Blossom in August
Released last year, Green Day’s latest album, Revolution Radio, debuted at No. 1 around the world. The album features the pop punk band’s 10th No. 1 song, “Bang Bang,” and the Top 10 anthem, “Still Breathing.” Now, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees have announced additional dates for their Revolution Radio summer tour.…
U2 to Play FirstEnergy Stadium in July
When U2 released The Joshua Tree back in 1987, Rolling Stone proclaimed, “The title befits a record that concerns itself with resilience in the face of utter social and political desolation…The Joshua Tree is an appropriate response to these times, and a picture bleaker than any U2 has ever painted: a vision of blasted hopes,…
ClevelandFeelGood: Marcus Alan Ward Opens the Year with a Sentiment We Could All Use
The song begins with a simple, beach-combed riff and the squirming high end of vocal melody and, soon, Marcus Alan Ward’s own words. From there, we dance. Ward is greeting 2017 with something that we could all use: a groovy, upbeat soul number called “BodyFeelGood,” one of plenty more singles to come this year. The…
Noble Beast Brewery to Bring Craft Beer to the Edge of Downtown
Things are coming together quickly at Noble Beast Brewery, the craft brewery and taproom from Shaun Yasaki. In just a handful of years, Yasaki has moved from wedding photographer to cellar rat at Fat Head’s, to opening brewer at Platform Beer, where he worked for a year and a half. He left that post to…
7 Concerts to Catch This Weekend
FRIDAY, JAN. 6 High Class Criminals For North Ridgeville’s High Class Criminals, winning a battle of the bands like the local High School Rock Off could never compare to what they’ve accomplished of their own accord since their two years in the competition. Formed in 2013, High Class Criminals thought their time might be up…
Artists Show Off Portraits at Heights Arts’ New Exhibition
The artists in Heights Arts’ first exhibition of 2017 capture a deeper sense of personality and character in their portraiture through a wide variety of media. Organized by guest curator Sharon Grossman, Likeness showcases the work of several portrait artists from Northeast Ohio in Heights Arts’ main gallery in Cleveland Heights. “You can have a…
Onward to the NFL Playoffs — The A to Z Podcast with Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Dre and Zac return for some talk about the NFL playoffs and much more. Subscribe to A to Z on iTunes here. Download the episode directly here. Or stream below.
Cleveland Plain Dealer to Celebrate 175-Year Anniversary with Special Sunday Edition
Sunday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer will mark its 175th Anniversary with a special “Milestones” edition. It will continue to celebrate its history throughout 2017. At points this year, the paper will devote ink to the city’s “rich sports history, share stories of founding innovation and industry and take a look at the leaders who shaped…
Gov. Kasich Stakes Claim Opposing Obamacare Repeal
In an unsurprising move, Gov. John Kasich this week publicly denounced the otherwise much-ballyhooed GOP repeal of the Affordable Care Act, saying that such a measure would devastate hundreds of thousands of Ohioans. Here’s Kasich: “Let’s just say they got rid of it, didn’t replace it with anything. What happens to drug treatment? What happens…
Self-Taught Singer-Songwriter Margaret Glaspy to Perform at Beachland
New York-based singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy is proof that you can make a great sounding album with nothing more than a laptop. She recorded her first EP, 2012’s Homeschool, at her Brooklyn apartment. The tender songs show off her fluttering vocals and poetic sensibilities, setting the stage for terrific full-length debut, last year’s Emotions and Math.…
The xx to Play Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica in May
Next week, the English indie rock act the xx issues its anticipated third album, I See You. In the wake of its release, the group has just announced it will embark on an extensive North American tour. The dates will follow a “historic European tour” that included a record-setting, seven-night run at the O2 Academy…
The Media Circus and the Sports Biz — The A to Z Podcast with Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
The A to Z Podcast is back! 2017 feels right, finally. Our pals get into a lot of the latest headlines as the calendar flips from one year to the next, and they give a particularly close look to the impact of Instagram and the social media biz on sports. The media circus slows down…
Cinematheque to Screen Landmark Films by Female Directors
The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque has just announced that starting on Jan. 14 it will screen nine movies by six female filmmakers as part of the series, The Female Gaze: Landmark Films by Women. The movies, all of which come from the United States, France and Belgium, have been recently restored and re-released. Admission…
Potluck Dinners with Tim Bando, Jonathan Bennett and Karen Small
If your family enjoyed weekly Sunday night suppers, when every member of the household made sure to grab a seat at the dinner table in time for the big feast, consider yourself lucky. Fewer families are electing to dine together on a regular basis, slowly picking at the fabric of this traditional American ritual. Three…
Ohio City, Tremont to Hire a “Safety Coordinator”
Tremont West Development Corporation and Ohio City Incorporated are teaming up to hire a Safety Coordinator. The new hire will work with residents in both neighborhoods and with the Cleveland Division of Police’s Second District to address safety issues and initiate safety-related programs. Via a job posting, the Safety Coordinator will manage existing safety programs,…
Local Theater Vet Aaron Calafato’s “Authentic Audio” Podcast Tells Stories From the Rust Belt
Aaron Calafato moved back home to Northeast Ohio in 2009 after four years in New York City where he was trying to make it as an actor. After returning to Ohio, he started working at a for-profit university in Akron. The job brought his life full circle, in a good and bad way. Part of…
Cuyahoga County Jail Corrections Officer: “Something Needs to Happen Before Something Bad Happens”
Cuyahoga County Jail corrections officer Charles Enoch posted a thoughtful, damning video this afternoon on Facebook. In it, Enoch speaks directly to the many lingering safety concerns that officers have been trying to address with management. Those include the practice of double-podding (one officer supervising two pods, a total of 96 inmates in all), faulty…
Billy Joel Will Perform at Progressive Field This Summer
[image-1]There’s been buzz all week about a “major concert” announcement for Progressive Field, and here it is: Billy Joel will headline a show at the stadium on July 14. The stage will be set up in left field. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 13 at indians.com/BillyJoel. And, with that buzz in mind, there’s…
Reward Offered For Info on Missing Lafayette Township Trusttee, Billboards Appear on Highways
It’s been three weeks since Lafayette Township trustee Bryon Macron disappeared, and no credible leads have surfaced publicly. Now, billboards along Northeast Ohio freeways are advertising rewards for any sort of information that might send the FBI down the right path. With questions piling on and no answers to be found, the Macron Family Benevolent…
New Law Increases Naloxone Access for Schools, Treatment Centers
The opiate overdoses crisis is not getting any better. Fatalities were at an all-time high in every Northeast Ohio county, and observers are predicting 2017 will bring more bad news. With that backdrop, Gov. John Kasich signed a bill yesterday that will increase access to the overdose-reversing drug naloxone — brand name Narcan. The law…
Video: All the Browns Quarterbacks + “We Didn’t Start the Fire” = This
Thanks, Colin Cowherd.
Cleveland Officer Who Insisted Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams Were ‘Not Victims’ Wants to Get on the Community Police Commission
[image-1]As Eric Heisig reports, another Cleveland police officer with a notable community engagement backstory wants a seat on the Cleveland Community Police Commission. Sgt. Johnny Hamm, who was suspended for social media posts relating to Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams three years ago, is seeking the vacant position. The gist is that, in 2014, Hamm…
Study: Nearly 10,000 Metric Tons of Plastic Flow Into Great Lakes Each Year
About 21.8 million pounds — or nearly 10,000 metric tons — of plastic flow into the Great Lakes each year from the United States and Canada, according to a new study from the Rochester Institute of Technology. The study, “Inventory and Transport of Plastic Debris in the Laurentian Great Lakes,” was published this month in…
CWRU’s Dr. Ruth Keri on Misunderstandings in Cancer Research, Underrepresentation of Women in Science, and NIH Funding
While the numbers for the biomedical research community in Cleveland themselves are absolutely astounding (I would reference the BioOhio Bioscience Growth Report for specifics on the ~$5 billion industry here in Ohio), what I find more impressive is the groundbreaking research that pushes boundaries daily on how we understand and treat disease. Every week it…
In Parting Interview, Prosecutor Timothy McGinty Defends Tamir Rice Decision
Michael O’Malley was sworn in as the county prosecutor yesterday, and with that we watch Timothy McGinty saunter out the back door of the Justice Center. He stopped for a moment for an interview with Cory Shaffer at Cleveland.com, and it’s a good read while we rest at this Cuyahoga County crossroads. Two main takeaways:…
Listen to Dining Editor Doug Trattner Preview the Coming Year in Food
[image-1]The past year was a big one for area diners, loaded with splashy restaurant openings like Mabel’s BBQ, Salt, Ushabu, 811, The Plum, Sarita, Bold, Vita Urbana, Hansa Brewery, Nuevo Modern Mexican, Proper Pig, Goldhorn Brewery, Parker’s Downtown and The Burnham, to name just a few. But the coming year is shaping up to be just…
Two Years In, the Grocery OHC Continues to Evolve Along with its Neighborhood
[image-1]It’s been exactly two years since Rachel Kingsbury opened The Grocery (3815 Lorain Ave., 216-303-9099), a green grocer dedicated to stocking and selling locally produced food items to those in the immediate neighborhood. That neighborhood – the stretch of Lorain at the western edge of Ohio City – continues to evolve with each passing month.…
The Orchestra’s MLK Celebration Concert and 4 More Classical Music Events to Catch In the Coming Weeks
The classical scene in Northeast Ohio gradually picks up speed during January. The hard-working Cleveland Orchestra is among the early groups to check in for 2017. Former assistant conductor James Gaffigan (not the comedian) will return to the podium at Severance Hall from Thursday, January 5 through Saturday, January 7 to lead The Cleveland Orchestra…
Paul Verhoeven’s ‘Elle’ Offers New Take on Rape-Revenge Thriller
The rape-revenge movies of the ’70s followed a fairly standard formula. In the wake of a gruesome rape, the victim would rehabilitate herself and then prepare to take vengeance on her attacker and just about any other man who treated women poorly. A veritable bloodbath would ensue. Elle, the new psychological thriller from always-controversial director…
Film Spotlight: A Monster Calls
A Monster Calls, the heartbreaking fairytale that opens Friday, will make you cry a lot harder than Rogue One. That’s because it’s a better movie. Both star Felicity Jones, but only in A Monster Calls does one recognize her as the marvelous talent who was nominated for an Academy Award two years back for The…
Savage Love: Just Drinks
Dear Dan, My brother is a virgin and turning 30 in a few weeks. He said he wants to hire an escort just for drinks and conversation for his birthday, but he doesn’t really know how to tell what’s a reliable service or what criteria he should be looking for to tell whether an agency…
Twelve Productions That Stood Out in 2016
Listing awards for “Best This or That” is always a fool’s errand — especially for a critic who was in Provincetown for a quarter of the season. But here are 12 productions from 2016 that easily cleared the bar for being entertaining, professional, and just plain wonderful. They are listed alphabetically by title: All the…
Welcome to the 5th Annual Comics Issue
Five years ago we sat down with John G. at a coffee shop and talked about what should have been an obvious idea long before it became one: creating an issue devoted to and produced by local comic artists. Each December since then, John has gathered some of the best and brightest comic artists from…
Band of the Week: Daniel & the Best Dressed
MEET THE BAND: Daniel Rylander (vocals, guitar), Brian Fackelman (bass), Nathan Allison (drums) A SELF-TAUGHT MUSICIAN: A drummer for 17 years, local singer-songwriter Daniel Rylander taught himself to play piano and guitar. He can also handle a ukulele. Back in 2012, he co-wrote “A Friend & Brother (Be Thou at Peace)” with his uncle for…
Jo Jo Carloni’s Italian Restaurant Serves Up Red-sauce Comfort in Olmsted Falls, and Will Soon Do the Same in Ohio City
Although we all lived 20 miles or more away, as soon as we landed inside Jo Jo Carloni’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria in Olmsted Falls, we immediately felt like neighborhood regulars. Despite its zip code, the snug space had all the Old World charm of our favorite spag-and-ball joints in Little Italy, where descriptors like “gourmet”…
Fawaky Burst Juice Company is Keeping Cleveland Fresh and Healthy
It’s that time of year: pretty soon you won’t be able to un-hear words like “detox,” “cleanse” and “diet.” With 2017 just beginning, we all want to live up to our New Year’s resolutions, and one of the most common is devoting yourself to a healthier lifestyle. While many claim that their elixirs are an…
