Medical Examiner Rules Ralkina Jones Death Accidental
Update: The Cuyahoga County medical examiner has officially ruled the death of Ralkina Jones accidental. The ME’s report, released today says Jones died of sudden cardiac death “in association with postural tachycardia syndrome and obesity with amphetamine therapy,” according to Cleveland.com. In her system at the time of death, all legally and prescribed, were oxycodone, butalbital, alprazolam…
Cleveland’s First Cider House Opens Tonight in Lakewood
Since 2010, Richard Read has been brewing his English-style ciders in Westlake and selling them at area bars, restaurants and retail outlets all over town. Starting tonight, he’ll be sliding them across his very own bar, Griffin Cider House, which will be Cleveland’s first bar dedicated to serving hard ciders. As a Brit living in…
Local Shaman Will Help Cleveland Sports Fans Cleanse City’s Sports Curse
After 51 years of losses, some Cleveland sports fans are getting desperate. On Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. (just before the Browns’ first preseason game against the Washington Redskins), a group of fans led by local psychic medium Andrew Keith will hold a 30-minute rally to attempt to lift the curse that’s plagued Cleveland’s sports…
Barberton Flasher Exposed Himself To Women, Tried To Sue Them For Taking Video
Police arrested a man in Barberton who they’re calling a “serial flasher,” after his fourth incident of public indecency in seven years. According to Cleveland.com, on July 16 around 8:45 p.m., Barberton resident Logan Wagner, 29, reportedly yelled insults at a 28-year-old female neighbor, another 21-year-old woman and a 14-year-old girl. The girl began to…
Still Thinking about Renting Your Home for the 2016 Republican National Convention? Here Are Some Common Misconceptions
Debating whether or not you should list your house for rental during the 2016 Republican National Convention? There’s still plenty of time to get a piece of property on the market. We talked to David Resnik, a property manager for Howard Hanna Realty, to clear up some of the myths and rumors involved with renting…
Cleveland Alt-Rockers Window Dogs to Release Debut EP
A new band featuring members of local rock bands Room 149 and Eclectic Mayhem, Window Dogs play everything from acoustic pop to hard rock. They aim to be both “accessible” and “innovative,” as they put it. They recorded their debut EP, Afterlife, at Defunk Studios in Brook Park; Blake LaGrange handled the mastering at Mercury…
Local Musician Paul Zegarac Seeking Post-Surgery Help
You’ll recall the music of Paul Zegarac (aka Paul Francis) from last year’s viral “Cleveland: A Million Stories” video — the one that made us feel all warm and fuzzy about our city (embedded below for your convenience). In that video, Zegarac’s soulful guitar melodies drift across gentle, percussive chords and, of course, video of beautiful Cleveland.…
Heroin Treatment Center to Open in Resource-Strapped Medina County
With the heroin addiction and overdose epidemic reaching astronomical levels in Northeast Ohio, regional leaders are coming to grips with the dearth of treatment centers in some areas. In Medina, for instance, “four newborn babies at Medina Hospital last month tested positive for heroin at one time,” according to an alarming Chronicle-Telegram news story. Medina…
Weapon-Toting Attacker Killed in Charleston; Police Looking for Chillicothe Links
As yet, there’s nothing linking 45-year-old Neal Falls, who was shot and killed by a prostitute in Charleston, W.Va., during a brutal attack last week, with the serial killer of Chillicothe, Ohio. But investigators are hoping there’s a connection. “As it stands right now, we have nothing that ties him to anything here in Chillicothe,”…
WATCH: Ohio Woman Has a Thing or Two to Say About How a Fire Broke Out in Her Neighborhood
Leavittsburg, Ohio resident Heather Tenney has a whole bunch of interesting things to say about how a fire broke out in her neighborhood in the wee hours of the morning last week. And say them, she did, on live TV to a WKBN reporter who was on the scene. Like: “It was cause of my cousin…
Elyria Man Arrested After Low-Speed Motorized Scooter Chase
A local man driving a motorized wheelchair was apprehended yesterday following a low-speed police chase in Elyria. Complaints had trickled in over the last few days after a man was spotted driving his motor scooter on roadways and into traffic, even keying vehicles as he went by. Yesterday, Elyria police attempted to take action and…
Cleveland School of the Arts Unveils Jesse Owens Mural
From February to June, students at Cleveland School of the Arts collaborated on a mural honoring the legacy of Jesse Owens. Now, the full-sized mural, located in the Lonnie Burten Recreation Center, will be unveiled to the public. Owens was a Cleveland native, starting his athletic career at East Technical High School, near the location…
Lilly Hiatt Continues Father’s Tradition of Delivering Roots Rock and ‘Raw Lyrics’
The daughter of singer-songwriter John Hiatt, singer-songwriter Lilly Hiatt, who performs with Aaron Lee Tasjan and Taylor Lamborn at 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Beachland Tavern, has had mixed experiences when she’s performed in Cleveland in the past. “I have had two shows, both opening for acts bigger than myself,” she says via phone…
VIDEO: Here’s the GCRTA Officer Pepper Spraying Black Activists at CSU Sunday
Details of yesterday’s pepper spraying incident are still adhering very closely to partisan narratives, but the video below does indeed show a GCRTA officer issuing a “general burst” of pepper spray into a crowd of activists who had formed around his cruiser after transit police took a 14-year-old boy into custody. RTA, in a statement…
No More Ticket Requests Will Be Accepted for the Republican Presidential Debate in August (Update)
Update: After receiving over 7,000 emails, the applications were shut down on Sunday and no more ticket requests will be accepted. A crowd of about 4,500 is expected for the debate. (Originally posted: July 24, 2015 at 11:22 a.m.) No need to wait until next July to see Quicken Loans Arena stuffed full of Republicans —…
VIDEO: Ohio Man Jumps Fence at Columbus Zoo to Pet Cougars
A man is facing charges after he jumped a fence at the Columbus Zoo last week to get up close and personal with a couple of cougars and then posted footage of his escapade to YouTube. Zoo officials are calling the video “alarming” and are looking to prosecute 35-year-old Joshua Newell for trespassing. The video, which…
A Cleveland Native, Singer-Songwriter Kimm Rogers Issues First Album in Two Decades
Singer-songwriter Kimm Rogers took one helluva hiatus. Rogers, who put out a couple of acclaimed albums back in the ’90s, recently released Where the Pavement Grows, her first new studio offering in two decades. “To be perfectly honest, I am just learning the ropes again,” says Rogers, a native Clevelander who plays with Marc Lee…
Bare Bones Approach Works Well for Indie Rockers Cake
Some bands need a killer light show and a deafening sound system to put on a good live show. And some bands need to have put out new albums in order to tour. Not Cake, which last released a studio album in 2011. This veteran indie rock band prides itself on its “rinky dink” sound,…
Singer-Songwriter Graham Nash to Dig into his Back Catalog for Hard Rock Live Concert
At the end of this month, Cleveland will welcome singer-songwriter Graham Nash back to town for the second time this summer. That’s not too shabby, especially when you consider that we’re talking about a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee who has been making music and singing songs for over 50 years. 50 years.…
Lower Adoption Fees for “Christmas in July” at Cleveland City Kennel
If you’re thinking of adding a new furry family member, stop by the Cleveland City Kennel on Saturday, July 25. During the “Christmas in July” event, adoption fees are lowered from $61 to $25. The kennel also has a surprise for the first 20 adopters of the day. Chief Animal Control Officer Ed Jamison says…
4 Concerts to Catch This Weekend
FRIDAY, JULY 24 The Appleseed Cast Blending some of the finer elements of the emo and post-rock sets, the Appleseed Cast has staked a very consistent claim to both camps since first blossoming in Lawrence, Kansas, around the turn of the millennium. The band’s most recent album, Illumination Ritual, captures its career’s essence really, really…
No Sleep in the CLE Podcast with Justin Market and Coventry Village’s Angie Hetrick
On today’s episode of No Sleep In The CLE, host Justin Markert talks with Angie Hetrick. Angie is the executive director of Coventry Village, and this Saturday, July 25, they’ll be dedicating a local park to Cleveland legend Harvey Pekar. They also talk about the songwriter series at Luxe that she books. Justin and Angie…
NAACP, For One, Not on Board with “Wrong-Headed” Parade Legislation
The Cleveland Chapter of the NAACP has issued a press release expressing outrage and dismay at Cleveland City Council’s parade legislation, passed Wednesday as an emergency measure (Final vote: 12-4-1). The release calls the ordinance a “wrong-headed and constitutionally questionable reaction to citizen activism,” and says that it amounts to prior restraint of every American’s…
Tom’s Foolery Set to Release Ohio’s First Straight Rye Whiskey
Can you hear that? That is the sound of gleeful cheers from Ohio whiskey drinkers, who already are lining up (figuratively, anyhow) to buy the state’s first straight rye. That it is coming from Northeast Ohio is no surprise to fans of Tom Herbruck and his growing portfolio of Tom’s Foolery craft spirits. Up until…
Softer Sounds Suit This Year’s Warped Tour
Straying away from the heavier sounds for which it’s recently become known, this year’s installment of Warped Tour went a softer route. Last year saw performances from bands like the Devil Wears Prada, Parkway Drive and Enter Shakari, all hardcore staples in the scene. While hardcore and metal bands like Miss May I, Beartooth and…
Here’s Cardale Jones Shutting Down A Twitter Troll Who Doesn’t Agree That #BlackLivesMatter
Cardale Jones has a dynamic Twitter account. And while he’s pretty good at QB, he’s really good at calling things as they are. Today, he was tackling the frustrating #AllLivesMatter rhetoric, which runs rampant on social networks and which seeks to diminish black voices in U.S. society. (Want to know more? This reddit thread actually…
School of Rock AllStars to Play Rock Hall on Monday
School of Rock, the self-described “leader in performance-based music education for all ages,” has embarked on its annual AllStars Summer Tour 2015. The most talented teens (only the top one percent) in the “school” will perform 18 concerts across the country. In the past, the AllStars super group has shared the stage with acts such…
Filmmaker Conrad Faraj Returns Home to Cleveland to Make a Sci-Fi Film
Rare is the individual whose ambition penetrates the threat of straying from the safe route to success. Usually, the persuasive voice of reason is enough to convince a young Cleveland boy that he cannot make it in Hollywood. With age, most people would laugh in the face of their childhood dream of living in a…
Alt-Rock Celebs Come Out for Second Annual Alternative Press Music Awards
Held last night at Quicken Loans Arena, the Second Annual Alternative Press Music Awards promised to be bigger and better than last year’s inaugural affair, which was held at Voinovich Bicentennial Park behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. From the moment that the stars started walking the red carpet into the…
City Council Passes “Parade” Legislation to Limit Protesting on City Streets
Wednesday evening, after a daylong Committee of the Whole session, Cleveland City Council passed a piece of legislation that will regulate “parades,” a term that now includes public demonstrations. According to the city, it was important to pass as an emergency measure (without multiple readings and public input) in order to have in place for…
Jim Obergefell Answered Questions in a reddit AMA Yesterday
Jim Obergefell, the Ohio man who was named as the lead plaintiff in the landmark marriage equality case Obergefell v. Hodges, participated in a reddit AMA yesterday, answering questions about the case and his life. Read the full series of Qs and As here. From his bio as provided to reddit: “Jim met and fell…
Medina Judge Stands Down NEXUS Pipeline Surveyors’ Requests to Enter Private Property
We’ve been tracking the development of the NEXUS Pipeline in Ohio, wherein Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp. is plotting a 36-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline that will run from the Marcellus and Utica plays in eastern Ohio up toward Canada. For our purposes, their land survey work is striking particularly close to home in locales like Medina, Grafton…
Sugar Ray Singer Capitalizes on Nostalgia for the ’90s
Sugar Ray might’ve seemed like an overnight sensation when “Fly,” a snappy Sublime-like tune that featured breezy vocals and deft turntable scratches, became a hit back in 1997. But that certainly wasn’t the case. Band members had played together since the late ‘80s before making their debut in 1995 with Lemonade and Brownies. In fact,…
The Village Bicycle Premieres Music Video for ‘She’s a Hero’
Local indie rockers the Village Bicycle went to Bad Racket, the local studio that bills itself as “Cleveland’s Craft Recording Space,” to record a music video for the tune “She’s a Hero,” a song about surviving a car crash. It starts with a bit of gentle guitar before escalating into a blast of white noise…
Indie Rockers Desaparecidos Get ‘Loud, Angry and Catchy’ on New Album
Attracting an increasingly number of fans after the release of their 2002 debut, Read Music/Speak Spanish, the post-hardcore band Desaparecidos split up that same year after lead singer Conor Oberst, made it big with his own band, Bright Eyes. The band had finally gained some momentum after appearing on MTV’s You Hear It First as…
Two Arrested After Michigan-Ohio State Brawl Breaks Out On Ohio Ferry
Michigan-Ohio State rivalries have been known to get pretty heated, but last weekend football fandom was taken to a new level when a brawl broke out between opposing fans aboard a ferry in Port Clinton, OH. 25-year-old Ashley Artiaga and her boyfriend, 31-year-old Ian Schuster, were arrested early Sunday morning after the duo began arguing…
The Sidekick: Erika Lauren
Now a mainstay on Cleveland radio — from 3 to 7 p.m. on 100.7 FM WMMS’ Alan Cox Show — Erika Lauren has taken a circuitous route to land in her buzzworthy role. Springboarding from her stint on The Real World, she’s been developing a career in radio and music. And with the North Shore…
The Gym Teacher: Anne Hartnett
“Nowadays, there’s a boutique fitness studio next to every Starbucks in Manhattan,” says Anne Hartnett. “But a few years ago it was still very new.” Spinning was certainly a foreign concept to a lot of Clevelanders. Until Hartnett took the entrepreneurial splash with her spin shop in Ohio City, she’d been a consultant for Hyland…
The People’s Artist: John Rivera-Resto
You may not know John Rivera-Resto, but you’ve probably seen his work. The dashing, Cleveland-born Puerto Rican muralist and armchair philosopher steps into his black Mazda MX5 in the heart of Lakewood’s Gold Coast and dons his sunglasses, “J. Rivera-Resto” inscribed on the side. He is armed with leather man-purse and dresses the part of…
The Classic A Streetcar Named Desire Shatters Dreams Again in this Mamai Production
We all kid ourselves every day about who we really are, and thank god for that. If we had to actually confront our personal realities, with all our vulnerabilities and missteps in full view, we’d never crawl out from under our beds. That’s why it’s still easy to relate to Blanche DuBois, the deluded and…
The Stylish Duo: Cori Imbrigiotta Anne Rutter
Three years ago, Cleveland native Cori Imbrigiotta pushed a rack of clothes onto a small patch of sidewalk at the annual Chagrin Falls Sidewalk Sale and set up shop. Flash forward to 2015 and the 27-year-old is still there, only she’s moved indoors, purchased a sign, and launched one of the region’s most successful women’s…
Liquid Courage: In Which Our Dining Editor Gives Up Food for Three Days
I’ve eaten some pretty scary stuff in my day, but I can’t recall being as squeamish about food as I was when I signed up for a juice cleanse. For three full days I was going to forgo all real and delicious food, living instead on little more than the nectar wrested from ingredients better…
The Feisty Politician: Jeff Johnson
“We expect our politicians to be thoughtful, levelheaded, calm under pressure, all that,” says Jeff Johnson, seated in his ward office in Glenville, twirling a Huntington Bank pen as he talks. “But we also expect them to have feelings.” Johnson is speaking on the subject of his Cleveland City Council reputation: as a challenger, a…
The Coventry Outdoor Courtyard To Be Christened Harvey Pekar Park
It is hard to believe it has been five years since we lost legendary comics writer and Cleveland icon Harvey Pekar. He may be gone, but he’s certainly not forgotten — especially in his hometown. To celebrate the life and work of Pekar, the Coventry Outdoor Courtyard (at the northwest corner of Coventry Road and…
The Musicians: Village Bicycle
The Davenport Collective is a loosely organized community of artists, musicians and poets from Cleveland who all call the studio space in a Lakewood office building their home. That’s where local indie rockers the Village Bicycle got their start. Back at the beginning, bandleader Liz Kelly was one of only a handful of women to…
How Our Favorite Local Food Businesses Are Using Summer Fruits
>Beth and Tim Knorr farmed together at Crown Point Ecology Center in Bath for a decade, so when their pastime of making gourmet popsicles began snowballing into a business, it felt natural to adopt the community supported agriculture (CSA) model by offering “subscribers” monthly boxes of the icy treats. Their company, Popsmith (popsmith.com), is one…
The Rec Engine: Rachel Schlather
Rachel Schlather first launched her fashion and lifestyle blog, CLEFashionista, on a whim. “I worked in digital marketing, and coming out of college I knew nothing about it,” says the 26-year-old Strongsville native. “So I started a website where I could play around and learn more about my day job. It just took off from…
Film Review of the Week: PlantPure Nation
Made by the producer and writer of the 2011 hit Forks Over Knives, PlantPure Nation puts forth a convincing argument about the benefits of a plant-based diet, and has just completed a preview screening bus tour that went through 23 cities in the U.S. and Canada. It’s not just a movie. It’s a movement. At…
The Voice of Reason: Lea Kayali
Many people experience racism. Few actually do something about it. Recent Shaker Heights High School grad Lea Kayali is one of the exceptions. Winner of the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out essay contest, she’s an activist who knows more about international relations than your typical teen working a summer…
Could the Next Major Social Networking App Be Born Right Here in Cleveland?
America’s next big social networking application might not come from San Francisco or New York City. Rather, it might be made right here in Cleveland by a team of local IOS developers and marketing experts who believe they’ve created the ultimate tool to connect and reward social media users and local businesses alike. The concept…
The Yuckster: Yusuf Ali
Cleveland is many things, but it is most definitely a comedy town. The crowds know that, judging by the attendance at the daily comedy nights that dot the calendar every week; and, of course, the comedians — locally and nationally recognized alike — know that too. Yusuf Ali has risen with the tides since 2009,…
Band of the Week: Terry Urban
Meet the Band: Terry Urban (turntables) A Mixtape Master: When Cleveland native Terry Urban was in middle school, he started making mixtapes on his two-deck tape player. “I would make tapes for my friends all the time,” he says. “I had no idea what turntables were. I heard scratching in hip-hop songs and I was…
The Dancer: Roxi DellaDonna
The business idea came as a happy accident. Roxi DellaDonna was at a party, a little get-together with some friends, when a gal pal of hers started a conversation about stripteases and her boyfriend. She didn’t know what to do or where to start. DellaDonna did. She’d performed in Cleveland gentlemen’s clubs off and on…
The Farm Guy’s Guy: Trevor Clatterbuck
In 2008, Trevor Clatterbuck concocted a no-fail model for connecting chefs and farmers. The enthusiastic Case Western Reserve University business student devised an Amazon-type marketplace where chefs could order fresh, seasonal ingredients from multiple farms 24 hours a day and have them delivered right to their kitchen door. What could go wrong? “I learned that…
The Voice: Ahmaad Crump
Back when Ahmaad Crump was growing up, his friends knew that even if they were out in the neighborhood and playing on a Saturday morning, Crump wouldn’t be joining them until noon. That’s because The Price is Right didn’t end until then, and Crump was a gameshow junkie. “I loved them all,” says Crump. “But…
The Lyricist: Matthewmaticus
“I’m too old for this,” says Matthewmaticus while sitting on the patio at Gabe’s, a westside deli near his home. With specks of gray in his cropped beard and hair, he could be on to something. But the 34-year-old hip-hop artist has a youthful enthusiasm about him, especially when he talks about his music. Or…
The Fixer: Brian Glazen
At the Mayfield home of Think Media Studios, Brian Glazen’s employees are quick to crystallize their founder’s reputation: “Around here, he’s known as the guy who can pull off the impossible,” says marketing & sales VP Mary Hipp. “If something can’t be done, Brian can do it.” Sitting across from a world map with pushpins…
The Helping Hand: Sara Elaqad
Sara Elaqad was just 7 years old when she fled home with her parents during the Bosnian War, landing first as a refugee in Arizona and then spending the next decade moving from city to city before making her way to Cleveland in her early 20s to attend law school at Case Western Reserve University.…
The Teacher: Cassi Pittman
Earlier this year, Cassi Pittman took the stage at the East Cleveland Public Library to deliver a powerful analysis of the debate over annexation: Should the city in which she grew up agree to a merger with the city of Cleveland? It’s a question that’s sparked debate for years. Now, both cities are inching toward…
The Pastry Artist: Michelle Mattox
These days, she adheres to the strict technique of classic French cuisine, but the path leading up to today hasn’t always been straight and narrow for Michelle Mattox. The same might be said for EDWINS, the upscale Shaker Square restaurant that doubles as a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated adults and those who have been…
The Grass Man: Chris Powell
There’s a saying amongst groundskeepers to this effect: If nobody is saying anything, everything is great. Hundreds of thousands of people tune into Browns’ games each fall and winter, and while they watch whatever quarterback has been left holding the hot potato at the time, they are also watching Chris Powell’s handiwork. But they’re not…
The Parlor Trio: Ben Haehn, David Spasic, Nathan Murray
When Scene arrives at the corner of Detroit and West 65th, the former Yellowcake storefront that soon will be the home of the Superelectric Pinball Parlor, Ben Haehn and David Spasic are planing some lumber. It’s going to be used for the shuffleboard table-turned-bar. Along with partner Nathan Murray, Haehn and Spasic are the visionary…
The Party Starter: Don Wojtila
Wojtila, who’s a “very young 60,” as he likes to point out, had been playing polka for decades. His dad had moved to the U.S. from Czechoslovakia and settled the family in a little pocket of Slovenians off Buckeye Road before moving to Euclid. His mother was an accomplished pianist and teacher, and music was…
The Music Man: Mike Shea
Mike Shea has been the publisher of Alternative Press since he started the national music mag some 30 years ago in Cleveland, where it is still based. That time has seen more than a few shows; Shea can still remember his first. “I saw Blue Öyster Cult at Blossom Music Center,” he says. “It was…
The Doyenne: Dorothy Silver
“I’ve been letting myself grow old for years,” Dorothy Silver says. “I’m very confident in my age. Also, it helps me be competitive in getting many stage and film roles, since so many older actresses try to take years off their age.” Silver, the grande dame of Cleveland theater at 86, is nothing if not…
The Thespian: Darius Stubbs
There aren’t many actors who can play both a wife and the gruff, cigar-chomping team owner in Damn Yankees. But that’s what Darius Stubbs did in his second show in high school. Of course, it helped that Darius himself was on the cusp of a gender change at the time. Now, as a performing artist…
The Casual Curators: Erika Durham Anthony Koch
Founded this spring in Ohio City’s Lorain Avenue antiques district, Canopy Collective is an antique and regional art consignment boutique, gallery, artist studios, classroom, screening room and more. As co-founders Erika Durham and Anthony Koch explain, the space is really whatever you wish it to be. “I think what makes us different is most easily…
The Brewer in Waiting: Pedro Sarsama
If things had been different, we all could have been enjoying a refreshing pint of Earlybird Pale Ale by now. Last year at this time, home brewer Pedro Sarsama was gearing up to open the adorably named nano brewery Earlybird, to be located near the border of the Ohio City and Stockyards neighborhoods. But babies,…
