Donald Obermiller Allegedly Raped, Murdered Grandmother (Updated)
Donald Obermiller. Update: Donald Obermiller admitted guilt today in the murders of his grandparents and the rape of his grandmother. He initially tried to dismiss his attorneys, but after questioning by the three-judge panel allowed them to stay on, though they seemed dismayed by his guilty plea. There were 17 counts in all, and the…
Mom Leaves 4-Year-Old Daughter Home Alone to Buy Crack
Once you decide as a parent to dabble in drugs while taking care of your daughter, there are no good options when it comes to securing those drugs. You can’t have the drug dealer over. You can’t bring your daughter with you for a score. And you sure as hell can’t leave her alone while…
Governor Kasich Opens His Checkbook
You get money! You get money! You get money, too! Freshly minted Governor John Kasich took up his party’s rallying cry that public workers are making too damn much money. But the party line ends at the governor’s ledger, according to a document obtained by the political blog plunderbund.com.Proposed salaries for Kasich’s top staff, it…
Pic of the Day: Michigan Plane Avoids Ohio Airspace
University of Michigan Athletic Director David Brandon was recently down in Louisiana to interview LSU coach Les Miles to fill the vacant job as head coach of the Wolverines. We know this for many reasons, including the fact that people were tracking his plane on the interwebs. The flight’s path from Louisiana back to That…
Dead Teen’s Dentist Involved in Earlier Patient Death
Mazorow’s office The dentist holding the pliers when a 13-year old Elyria girl lost consciousness and slipped into a two-week coma that ended with her passing is hanging up the hat, according to new reports. Unfortunately, it’s also come to light that Marissa Kingery wasn’t the only patient to die on Dr. Henry Mazorow’s watch.…
The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Wherein we use math to tell you what kind of week it is for Clevelanders. And by math, we mean drink a 40 with a guy we know who calls himself “Al Go Rhythm.” The New You Is Old Again … : Area gym memberships are up, but the sheen of the new year is…
Breaking: Feds Raiding CMHA (Updated)
Update: The Plain Dealer reports that Sheriff’s deputies, not the FBI, are the ones raiding CMHA. In addition, the PD cites sources who say the investigation “involves the county’s mortgage fraud task force.” *** 19 Action News was the first to report that Federal and local authorities are raiding the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority headquarter…
Mobster Threatens Cleveland Park Ranger
We would ask how much he weighed too. Just for fun. Scene: A New York mobster type driving through Cleveland and a park ranger pulls him over for running a stop sign. Enter: hilarity. According to the Gothamist: John Gotti’s former son-in-law, Carmine “The Bull” Agnello, has come a long way since serving time for…
Study Finds African Americans Leaving Cleveland
This map is now outdated, they say. “What goes up must come down” is not exactly an axiom that normally gets tossed around in the science of population migration, but that looks like an apt gloss of the nation’s African American moving trends. According to a new study, the South is fielding waves of incoming…
The Med Mart and LeBron
“Can I get a heart at the Med Mart?” Cleveland is totally getting over Lebron. We’ve let up on making snide comments. We’ve been unpinning our hopes from flailing sports teams and attaching them instead to iffy exciting economic development projects like the Med Mart. So naturally the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has managed a snide Med…
Yet Another Thief Caught Because of Footprints in the Snow
If there’s an overarching theme to crime in Northeast Ohio this winter, it’s been that criminals are not careful about leaving their footprints in the snow.Notably, if they leave them, it has made police pursuit pretty simple. And we have yet another entry thanks to Brandon Elkins, a young gentleman with a pair of size-13…
How Poor Are You?
Are you poor? Is your neighbor poor? How poor are you compared to people in Westlake? North Ridgeville? Warrensville Heights? Good questions all. Thankfully Rich Exner, the PD’s stat guru, has broken down the poverty rates for Northeast Ohio and you can explore the penniless wonders in full. East Cleveland comes in with the highest…
Cleveland Ranked High For Reading
Zoolander would be proud. Congratulations, Cleveland. You are among the most literate cities in America. We shall begin using polysyllabic words pronto. The USA Today reports: That’s according to the latest findings of an annual study of the United States’ most literate cities, which ranks the “culture and resources for reading” in the nation’s 75…
Terry Sense, Norton Teacher, Allegedly Gives Kids Weed
Terry Sense, doesn’t have any. And we’re not talking about pot. The Gods of Appellation could not have bestowed a more fitting name to one Medina teacher, fitting at least for those of us in the peanut gallery. Sometimes the stars just align. The cosmic joke here is that the teach in question allegedly lacked…
Interview: Emerging Chefs Founder Michael DeAloia
Multi-disciplinary entrepreneur Michael DeAloia has his paws in many pots, but it was his Emerging Cleveland series, held recurrently at the City Club of Cleveland, that provided the germ for his latest brainstorm. Past topics have included Emerging Female Entrepreneurship and Emerging Technology, but the Emerging Chefs event blew them all away in terms of…
Cleveland: The Land of Second Chances, For Some
Throughout the seemingly never-ending tale of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice, the refrain from the public was clear: give the guy a second chance. Even as his lengthy rap sheet emerged, even as details of his many kids and grandkids came to light, Williams wasn’t short on defenders. This is the…
Howl at the Moon closing Saturday
This keyboard has howled for the last time After 20 years, this Saturday Jan. 15 marks lights out for Howl at the Moon Saloon. The Flats stalwart in the Powerhouse is being shuttered to make way for the long-discussed aquarium — a project that finally seems to be moving forward. The final evening will feature…
Regional Slang Strong on Twitter
Listen up: Let’s get tipsy and grab some Chipotle, even though it’ll stink afterward. Make sense? Probably not, but it should. According to a new study, regional dialects are alive and well on Twitter, where you’ll find plenty of words that get heavy use in only certain geographic areas. A new study from Carnegie Mellon…
Morning Brew: Virtual Pick-a-Prize, More Golden Voice Guy, Cliff From Cheers, and Anderson Varejao Out For Year
You sit in there and think about what you’ve done, mainly because we can’t get you out. Good morning, Cleveland. Here’s some stuff to read while you ponder how Sam was ever into Diane. — Josh Mandel will be sworn in today as Treasurer with the help of John Ratzenberger, who of course played Cliff…
Video: Black Keys on SNL
The Black Keys played “Tighten Up” and “Howlin’ For You” on Saturday Night Live this weekend. Enjoy.
Important Med Mart Announcements Are Coming, Maybe
The first evidence that somebody might actually spend money at Cleveland’s Medical Mart is due to be revealed at a press gathering next Friday morning at Mall B downtown. On tap for the groundbreaking: Names of the 49 businesses lined up to lease Med Mart space will be unveiled, in addition to a list of…
Miami Coach’s Pregame Speech Will Fire You Up
Lance Guidry is the interim head coach of Miami University. The Redhawks, who won all of one game last year, played Middle Tennessee State University in the GoDaddy.com Bowl last night. Unremarkable, right? Well, with a win in the bowl game, Miami would became the first school to go from double-digit losses one season to…
Ohio Attorney General Collects Record $411,324,856 in Debt for State
This is what Richard Cordray looks like on the phone. Think that buddy who owes you $100 is bad? Try having millions of friends like that. With grand totals north of the half billion mark. That’s what Ohio goes through every year; the state has a plentiful supply of deadbeat friends. $411,324,856 of that debt…
Cleveland + Pittsburgh = Cleveburgh?
Those lowly black and gold- brethren to our east may be our mortal enemies, and Clevelanders may never want Ben Roethlisberger anywhere within 500 yards of their daughters, but one economist claims that the Forest City and Pittsburgh should and could tag team for greater regional economic growth. Writing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Christopher Briems…
Pic of the Day: TCU Fans Taunt OSU President Gordon Gee
It wasn’t that long ago that Ohio State president Gordon Gee and his bow tie opined that TCU, the small non-BCS football powerhouse, was like the “Little Sisters of the Poor” compared to the big-boy football programs of Ohio State. His point being that TCU’s schedule, and for that matter, Boise State’s, paled in comparison…
The Cleveland Indians Really, Really Want You to Buy Season Tickets
The Cleveland Indians have been outright putrid the last few years, and their performance on the field has had a corresponding impact on ticket sales. Turns out no one wants to pay, even a little, to watch a bad baseball team. Reports put the Tribe’s season ticket base at just over 8,000, a number that…
Drunk Mom With Kids in Car Tells Cop She Needs Gas for Her Tire
She also needs windshield wiper fluid for her brakes. The trend of drunk Cleveland moms driving around with their kids in the car continues into 2011. It seemed a week didn’t go by back in 2010 without some mother hopped up on booze being pulled over for driving all inebriated and like with tots in…
Leftover Four Loko Being Recycled Into Ethanol
If you ever downed a couple of Four Lokos, sat in a liquid cocaine-fueld frenzy and thought to yourself, “Hey, this stuff makes me feel like my heart’s going to explode. It’s like nuclear power in a can! I bet if I poured it into my car it would totally work!” you’re kind of dumb,…
Morning Brew: Hells Angels Member Arrested, Greenhouse Tavern Gets More Love, Gun Pulled on Cops, and Pharmacy Violence
Come on, make me a burger. Please. Good morning, Cleveland. Here’s something to read while you wish you were eating a Greenhouse Tavern burger instead of whatever boring leftovers you brought for lunch. — In this month’s issue of Delta’s fabulous in-flight Sky magazine, bizarre food connoisseur Andrew Zimmern proclaims his love for his three…
Cuyahoga County Council Members Remain Eminently Quotable
Dale Miller. Remember when C. Ellen Connally, newly elected president of the Cuyahoga County Council, responded to critics’ complaints about the “secret” meeting of council members by saying, “Leadership is not the public’s business”? Yeah, we loved that quote, and it made us uncontrollably giddy thinking about a new year full of solid-gold soundbites from…
Cleveland Teen Birth Rates Fall
Matching pregger bellies are out. Either Cleveland teens are having less sex, having more unorthodox sex, having more protected sex, or have downed Plan B in record numbers. NPR reports that teen birth rates in Cleveland are down since 2003. A report released last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that…
Rolling Stone Takes on John Boehner
Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi takes a long look at new Speaker of the House John Boehner and busts some pretty brutal takedowns in a piece titled, “The Crying Shame of John Boehner.” For instance: The Democrats have plenty of creatures like Boehner. But in the new Speaker of the House, the Republicans own the perfect…
Vintage Video: The Beatles in Cleveland in 1964
WEWS continues to mine their video vaults and put choice cuts on the interwebs for our enjoyment. This time it’s a video of the Beatles in Cleveland in 1964 during their first U.S. concert tour. The Beatles were on their first U.S. concert tour, which lasted one month. Cleveland was one of their last stops.…
New Restaurant in Asiatown Keeps Momentum Going in Right Direction
When entrepreneur Henry Leui moved to Asiatown seven years ago, the neighborhood was very different than it is today, he recalls. “A lot of the buildings were boarded up, there were homeless people on the streets, and nobody came out on the weekends. Even I felt scared,” he says. Fast forward seven years and things…
Pic of the Day: The Mugshots of the Homeless Man With the Golden Voice
There are plenty of updates to the story of Ted Williams, the overnight internet sensation. First, it turns out the man with the golden radio voice also has a 14-carat rap sheet. The Smoking Gun reports: Williams, 53, has been busted for theft, robbery, escape, forgery, and drug possession. He is pictured at right in…
Concert Review: Girl Talk at House of Blues
Girl Talk, taking the mashup thing a little too far There’s nothing quite like a Girl Talk show. Part whirlwind DJ set, part arena-rock spectacle, part frenzied dance party, Pittsburgh native Gregg Gillis’ mix sets are events — or at least as close to big-time event as DJs get. And unlike so many of his…
John Kasich Bars Media From Inauguration (Updated)
Update: Kasich, who just recently was talking about his pledge for transparency in government, has changed his mind and decided to let media cover his swearing-in next Monday. Probably has nothing to do with all the bad press he got today. Nothing at all. *** The ceremonial inauguration of John Kasich as Governor of Ohio…
Pic of the Day: The Boehner Clan
John Boehner managed to hold back the tears as he posed with 10 of his 11 siblings for this photo to commemorate the day Lord Orange officially took his place as Speaker of the House of Representatives, taking the gavel from Nancy Pelosi. (More on Boehner’s big day and the Republicans plans for the coming…
Metalheads Shred for the Homeless
This one is for the homeless! Heavy metal fans tend to be blue-collar guys, the sort who work in warehouses and factories, and whose main indulgence is Bud or Rolling Rock, not Cristal. Needless to say, those are the kind of people hardest hit by the lingering recession, especially here in Northeast Ohio. But metal…
Video From Shooting at Wickliffe Night Club Released
Police have released security camera footage from the night of a shooting at a Wickliffe night club in the hopes the public can help them identify the culprits. From NewsNet5: A gun went off inside the Evolution Ultra Lounge during teen night last month. Police say a fight escalated between two groups of juveniles and…
People Get Mad At God, Local Study Finds; Duh
White? Check. Young? Check. Yup, he’s angry. This might surprise you, but people get angry at the Big Guy. The stubbed toe, the DUI, the foreclosed house — why blame yourself? Why not get mad at the divine fingers yanking the strings from on high. Well, one local university recently published a study that confirms…
Cavs Offer Job, House to Homeless Guy With Golden Radio Voice
As the video of Ted Williams, the homeless guy with the golden radio voice, made the internet rounds yesterday, pleas far and wide begged for someone, somewhere to give him a job. It didn’t take long. Williams appeared on WNCI 97.9 and during the broadcast a woman claiming to represent the Cavaliers called in and…
Home Movies
Family Guy: It’s a Trap! (Twentieth Century Fox) Family Guy’s third Star Wars special recreates Return of the Jedi with its usual mix of ridicule and reverence. It’s the wildest outing in the trilogy, with inspired casting — wheelchair-bound neighbor Joe as Jabba the Hutt, Rush Limbaugh giving voice to the ferocious Rancor monster —…
We Get Mail
Consider the Alternatives To those who complain about traffic-enforcement cameras: Rather than just complain about the cameras, how about suggesting other solutions? [“The Evil Eye’s Enemy,” December 22, 2010]. How can we make drivers obey the speed limits? How can we make motorists stop rushing through red lights? How can we make motorists respect other…
Get Out!
Thursday | 06 Funny Stuff Cortney Gee Drops In at the Improv The awesomely honest, incredibly candid Cortney Gee returns to his hometown tonight with a performance at the Improv. Count on the Def Comedy Jam star to spout off about everything from politics and parenting to the amorous life of zoo animals. While he…
Vanishing Act
Inspired by the stranger-than-fiction case of New York real estate scion Robert Durst and the never-solved 1982 disappearance of his wife, All Good Things marks the striking feature debut of documentary filmmaker Andrew Jarecki (Capturing the Friedmans). Like the recent I Love You Phillip Morris, not even the most creative Hollywood scribe could have dreamed…
Cleveland Celebrities Share Their Resolutions For 2011
Mark Nolan, WKYC-TV I resolve to spend less time looking forward and back … More time seeing here and now … “Contentment makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.” — Ben Franklin “Life moves pretty fast … If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” —…
In the Mix
In the early morning of November 15, Girl Talk — not so well known as 29-year-old Pittsburgh native and former Case Western Reserve University student Gregg Gillis — released All Day, his fifth album of mashup mixes, as a free download. Later that day, several websites reported that Girl Talk broke the internet. That may…
Bites: BottleHouse Brewery Opening in Cleveland Heights
This spring, Brian Benchek will move from glass blowing to glass filling when he opens the BottleHouse Brewery in Cleveland Heights. The glass artist, instructor, and longtime brewer says the time is right to launch a “brewed on premises” operation on Cleveland’s East Side. “I’ve been brewing at the Brew Kettle in Strongsville for six…
Drug Runners
Michael Shepard formed atmospheric indie rockers Lovedrug in Alliance nearly 10 years ago. Since then, the band has released albums on both indie and major labels (Lovedrug were signed to Columbia for a short time). They’re completely independent now and launching a campaign to generate dough to help release the third record in a series…
Hard to Resist
In Richard Read’s version of the American dream, northern Ohio is transformed into cider country — a destination attraction akin to Napa’s famed wine country, only with apple orchards instead of vineyards. Read has already begun the process by launching Griffin Cider Works, a producer of Ohio hard cider that is quickly gaining traction in…
CD Review: Kristoffer Carter
Akron-based singer and guitarist Kristoffer Carter (who used to play bass for ska band the Twist-Offs) tries on some indie pop for this 11-song solo album, exhibiting sharp pop sensibilities and a keen lyrical wit. The title track features a snide, Elvis Costello-like vibe; so does the snappy and self-deprecating love song “Favorite Idiot.” Meanwhile,…
The Most Elusive Reform
Cuyahoga County’s new government charter was unveiled last year amid the rising drama of the FBI’s takedown of some of the county’s top players — characters who for years had brazenly interlocked campaign donations for jobs, gifts for contracts, and other mutual favors. The new charter arrived with extravagant claims that the reformed government would…
Local Band in Focus
Stoner rockers extraordinaireMeet the Band: Singer Gary Kane, guitarist Jay Bonnell, bassist Jason Clark, and drummer Jon Vinson. History: Formed in Cleveland in 2006. What They Do: Stoner rock, with elements of metal and some prog-doom thrown in for good measure. Who They Sound Like: Corrosion of Conformity, the Cult, Life of Agony. Gigged With:…
CD Review: Diddy — Dirty Money
Sean Combs’ latest album — co-credited to his new crew Dirty Money — isn’t a hip-hop record. There’s some rapping, yes, but there’s so much more. Last Train to Paris’ beats are straight out of European clubs — dubby, abstract, trance-inducing, and icily beautiful. Between the guest stars (Justin Timberlake, Lil Wayne, T.I., Drake, etc.)…
CD Review: Duran Duran
As Duran Duran pushed musical boundaries during their post-platinum years, sonic experimentation defined their attempt to recapture an audience. That expansive thinking is all over All You Need Is Now, a nine-song version of their forthcoming album that’s available on iTunes. Original members Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, and Roger Taylor embrace the…
CD Review: Ryan Adams & the Cardinals
It’s no secret that Ryan Adams cranks out songs at superhuman speed. He’s released a dozen albums since his solo debut a decade ago. III/IV, a two-disc collection of 21 leftovers from 2007’s Easy Tiger sessions, doesn’t quite hold together as well as Adams’ best work, but for a rather lengthy set of outtakes, it’s…
CD Review: Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson chased after the Beatles most of his adult life. He wanted to break their chart records, he wanted their legend … hell, he even wanted their songs, which he bought the rights to back when he really was the King of Pop. Undeterred even by death, Jackson is still following the Beatles’ career…
On View This Week
More than two years ago, Israeli native and former combat soldier Gadi Zamir started scouring local construction sites and abandoned buildings to reclaim their dead wood. The scraps serve as the canvas for his often disturbing visions of violence and hope, which are burned, stained, or painted onto the surfaces. Zamir emerged from his basement…
At the Arthouse
The Tillman Story When Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar football gig to fight in Afghanistan, fans were shocked. But what’s really shocking is the government’s role in covering up his death after he was killed by friendly fire in 2004. This absorbing movie traces the scheming behind the official version of his tragic…
Concert Picks for the Week
The Lisps/Shivering Timbers Bronx-based indie rockers the Lisps (pictured) come off like a mix between pop-minded hipsters, goofy costume rockers, and absurdist vaudeville holdovers. You’ll hear plenty of these styles swirling around on their debut album, Country Doctor Museum, and in Futurity, a musical they penned that combines sweet indie pop with a story inspired…
STAY IN
TOP PICK — VIDEO GAME Namco Museum Megamix (Namco Bandai) As much as we love games that look like big-budget action movies (Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption), sometimes we yearn for a simpler time in video games. The 24 on this Wii collection take us back to old-school arcades, when Pac-Man and Galaga gobbled…
Ten for ’11
Cleveland’s next generation of top musicians walks among us today, but you might not have noticed them yet. Not much makes them stand out on the street — maybe it’s the long hair, the leather jackets, or the look in their eyes that says we’re hungry. But on weekend nights, they pick up their guitars,…
