The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire 50 Years Ago Today
But, as Wired points out, it caught fire lots of other times between 1936 and 1939. The June 22, 1969 conflagration, however, was given nationwide coverage by Time, meaning people all across the nation got their first glimpse of a major river in a major city burning and thought, “Holy hell, that’s not good.” Once…
18-Year-Old Caught in Vermilion Bathroom with Girl
If this is modern teen love, we’re gaping at the future with considerable uncertainty. What happened to the time-tested burgers and shakes, swing through the parish festival, have her home by 11:30? From the Morning Journal, an 18 year old male, romancing the girl, emphasis ours: Nicholas Plato, 18, of Berlin Heights, was found by…
Thugs Storm Family Dollar (Updated)
Update: One of the punks who used an old lady as a human shield at Sunday’s Family Dollar shoot out was charged today in juvenile court. He’s up on aggravated robbery, assault, felonious assault, and kidnapping. The other suspect remains at large. ***** Sunday mornings — church bells, waffles, Meet the Press, hangovers, bath salts.…
Law Enforcement Grabs 20lbs of Weed in Medina
Over the holiday weekend, Northeast Ohio might feel the pinch. Looks like someone’s re-up of weed got gobbled up by Johnny Law, a big dollar score for law enforcement and hit to July 4th weed consumption. The find happened yesterday after the Ohio State Highway Patrol pulled over a Ford Fusion with Arizona plates in…
Cincinnati Homeless Advocates Protest Over Closed Bathrooms
This is fresh from our People with Nothing Better to Do desk. The boys have been up all night getting to the bottom of the story, so tune in. It seems a controversy has broken out in Cincinnati over the temporary shuttering of the public restrooms in Washington Park. Homeless activists say the closure has…
Jeffery English, Local Youth Leader, Charged with Prostitution
Jeffery English was one of the good guys, at least according to the rave reviews the youth mentor garnered in this Plain Dealer story on his life of serving the under-privileged . As the youth program coordinator at the St. Martin de Porres Family Center, he was a beacon of adult respectability in the Glenville…
Ohio’s Longest-Serving Employee Retires
I’d say Durfey in six rounds. Ohio’s longest serving public employee is hanging up the proverbial hat, according to Columbus Dispatch. You might think we’re talking about some longtime clerk stuffed and forgotten in the belly of a government building, but 80-year-old Miles C. Durfey ain’t no slouch. In fact, he’s kind of like the…
Pic of the Day: Clevelanders Badly in Need of Self-Esteem
Reddit’s dug up this shot of a Cavs fan who’s not afraid to let his or her true, sad, slightly embarassing feelings show. It’s an Ohio license plate ringed by a Mavs holder, containing a special message for the now-champion Dallas ballers. We’re guessing whoever did this caught that “Cavs-For-Mavs” bug bad, and in some…
Ninja Nanny School
Required for admission to nanny school: ability to fly. A fun little article in the Chagrin/Solon Sun points out a school right here in Northeast Ohio that trains, for the lack of a better description, ninja nannies. From how to bond with children, to kickass self defense, to dining with princes and princesses, students at…
Med Mart Loses the Kennedy Connection
The Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center is touted as the cornerstone of the city’s future economic development. But the head of the project’s developer has quit. Chris Kennedy will step down as president of MMPI on July 23 in order to start other businesses that might spur economic development somewhere else. Eventually. “I propose…
Putnam County Man Pays $740 for Beer; Meth Use Sky Rockets in Putnam County
How far will you go? For some of us, an additional $740 means a jump in the tax bracket. For others, it just the price of a beer. That’s right, we said it. Thepriceofabeer. That’s the sticker price some guy shelled out this week for the first beer served at the Putnam County Fair, a…
A Cavs Fan’s Diary of the NBA Draft in New Jersey
Former Scene intern Jordan Zirm trekked to New Jersey to witness the NBA Draft. Here’s what he saw. While many of you sports fans settled into the comfort of your arm chairs and stared at Jeff Van Gundy’s bald head for over four hours, I decided to make the trek to Newark, New Jersey as…
How Shin-Soo Choo is Rebounding From His DUI, Early Slump
Shin-Soo Choo wasn’t matching his normal level of production this season even before he blew more than twice the legal limit and was cuffed for a DUI in Sheffield. But any chance of the Tribe’s star right fielder righting the ship was put in doubt after his legal troubles. According to Anthony Castrovince’s recent article,…
Market Garden Brewery Just Days from Beer-Soaked Opening
When Market Garden Brewery opens — finally! — this coming Monday, June 27, it will further cement Ohio City as one of the region’s preeminent entertainment districts. But more than that, perhaps, is the fact that Ohio City will be one giant step closer to becoming a “brewery district.” In addition to granddaddy Great Lakes…
Cleveland Woman Promises to Name Child “Dirk” After Heat Loss (Updated)
Update: So, the lady who made national news, including an appearance in the New York Daily News, for her Twitter promise to name her then unborn child after Dirk Nowitzki if the Mavs beat the Heat? Well, shockingly, she didn’t. Ohio Media Watch reports that Cherise Navidad instead asked listeners of Q104 to suggest and…
Lake Erie Wind Turbine Project Delayed
Remember Scene’s cover story a little while back about the prospect of wind turbines in Lake Erie? There’s the initial plan for five off the coast of Northeast Ohio and debate and hopes and fears about more coming after that, with plenty of folks wondering why Cleveland is pursuing wind farms when everyone else is…
Firetruck Hits Flock of Geese, Then Runs Over Them Again
The Ashtabula Star Beacon has the unfortunate tale of a fire truck en-route to a car accident that ran over a pack of 13 geese that were in the road. Naturally, the fire truck pretty much obliterated the animals, leaving a horror movie-esque landscape of blood, feathers, and geese parts strewn across the road. Naturally,…
Start Your Engines
Cars 2, the sequel to one of Pixar’s most popular outings doesn’t have the same topnotch storytelling as many of their other other movies, but there’s so much going on that it should keep little ones (the target audience here) happy. Picking up where he left off in the original movie, Lightning McQueen (voiced by…
Police Blotter Item of the Day
“I was just hiding behind the couch! Don’t shoot!” Your tax dollars at work, Mayfield Hts (via Cleveland.com): MAYFIELD HEIGHTS ASSIST, MAYFIELD ROAD: An extremely upset resident called police at 2:10 a.m. June 17 because her cat was stuck behind a couch. Responding officers safely rescued the cat.
Orlando Cabrera is an Ayn Rand Fan
There are plenty of characters on the Tribe with plenty of quirks, but this might just be our favorite tidbit of the season so far (via The PD): The Tribe’s Orlando Cabrera prepared for his second-ever start at third base Wednesday night by reading “Atlas Shrugged,” by Ayn Rand. “This is my bible,” Cabrera said.…
Pittsburgh Thinks the RTA is Awesome
Pittsburgh rarely looks at Northeast Ohio with anything except a smattering of pity in its eye. Their football team is better, their economy stronger, their Panini-style sandwiches more original and tasty than our Panini sandwiches. Of course, the Pirates suck, so there’s that. But the Steel City cast its sights on Cleveland and took note…
Parking Job of the Day
Spotted on W. 9th in front of Scene’s offices. You sir (or ma’am), are incompetent.
You Like Free Stuff? We’re Giving Away a CD
We totally loved Winter’s Bone, the movie that came out last year about some really scary meth dealers in the Ozarks. We also really liked the music. The people who played on the soundtrack are coming to the Beachland Ballroom on July 3. We don’t have tickets to give you, but we do have a…
Cleveland.com Turns 15 Today
Today is the 15th anniversary of the launch of Cleveland.com, the online home of The Plain Dealer and outlet for plenty of non-PD contributors. For all the complaints about the design, navigation, and layout of the website, there’s no debating that it’s essential reading for Clevelanders, a hub for a host of talented reporters and…
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Suspends Service Because of Construction, But Not Before Selling Hundreds of Tickets on Groupon
The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad won’t be choo-chooing for awhile because of construction. No date has been set for CVSR to resume service. Per the press release: The cancellation is due to the construction of the track work on the Valley Railway causing excessive delays in the train schedule, negatively affecting visitor services. The cancellation…
Asiatown’s Newest Eatery, Saigon Grille, Now Open
On Tuesday, June 21, Cleveland’s Asiatown neighborhood welcomed it newest eatery. Saigon Grille (3142 Superior Ave., 216-589-9300), a 60-seat Vietnamese restaurant, opened in a freshly renovated storefront about 200 feet east of #1 Pho. Henry Leui, owner of the property, says that the district’s increased popularity and safety motivated him to open the restaurant. When…
Cleveland State’s Norris Cole, and His Flat-Top, Will Be Drafted Tonight
Former Cleveland State point guard and all-around all-star Norris Cole will be taken in the NBA draft tonight, perhaps as early as the late first round. Even if he falls to the second, it’s still a huge success for Cole, who after high school only had one Division I scholarship offer: Cleveland State. Coach Gary…
School’s Out
Bad Teacher’s one joke is right there in the title. Cameron Diaz plays Elizabeth Halsey, quite possibly the sluttiest woman to ever lead a seventh-grade classroom. After her fiancé dumps her, Elizabeth tries to snag the nerdy new substitute teacher (Justin Timberlake), who also happens to be an heir to a wristwatch fortune. She’s also…
Cleveland Women Try Out for ‘The Bachelor’
Over 100 young women who have dreamed since childhood of fighting with other women over a random guy they just met while being filmed for a national TV show, and likely compromising their values and morals in the process, lined up in Cleveland to audition for “The Bachelor.” Reality TV dreams are really the purest,…
Judge Throws Out Mentor Schools Suicide Suit
Mohat Last year Mentor schools landed in the headlines after a wave of student suicides. Parents alleged the deaths were precipitated by school hall bullying, and a few filed suit to hold the district accountable. Yesterday a Federal judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by the parents of one dead teen, ruling the district is not…
Four Suburbs Consider Merging
County Exec Ed FitzGerald announced this morning, along with the mayors of Moreland Hills, Orange, Pepper Pike and Woodmere, that the four richy-rich eastern suburbs are discussing a possible merger. “Time for leaders in smaller communities to try to come together,” Woodmere Mayor Smith said, according to Cleveland Magazine. According to the PD’s Laura Johnston,…
Video: Lightning Strikes Key Tower
Awesome shots from NewsNet5 as lightning from last night’s intense storm strikes Key Tower.
Home Movies
The Adjustment Bureau (Universal) — In a way, this destiny-tripping movie (based on a story by Blade Runner author Philip K. Dick) wants to blow the part of your mind Inception left untouched. But it also wants to be about a love so intense, nothing can keep the beleaguered couple (played by Matt Damon and…
Get Out!
Thursday | 23 Soul Music Independence Hosts A Healing Harp If stress at work or home has you counting the days until vacation, the respite you seek may be closer than you think. This evening from 7 to 8:30 p.m., certified music practitioner Carol J. Spears is offering a program on the harp’s healing effects,…
Beach Buns
Love it or loathe it, Whiskey Island no longer is a hidden gem. Despite its maddening inaccessibility and out-of-the-way locale, this hedonistic retreat on the shores of Lake Erie is attracting more visitors than ever. This summer promises to be the busiest yet. In a move that scared the bejesus out of longtime fans —…
Mr. Hollywood
Mini strip malls dot the length of Chillicothe Road in rural Lake and Geauga counties, cropping up mostly at the intersections of country routes. They’re stocked with the usual dentist’s offices, hair salons, pizza parlors, and real estate agencies. But open the door of one such anonymous space — marked only with a sign sporting…
Gay Old Time
When most people reach their mid 70s, they start taking it easy. Maybe they poke around Google or take up birdwatching or scrapbooking. They’re not using their final chunk of time on this planet to find themselves or throw the lives of their loved ones into a whirlpool of WTF. In the relationship drama Beginners,…
Bar Chords
Back in the mid-’80s, a group of local lawyers with an affinity for ’50s and ’60s rock formed the Barflys. They played the occasional benefit around town and started gathering momentum, eventually expanding to include other attorney-rockers. Over time, they developed an extensive repertoire of cover songs and came to be known as the 11-member…
Film Capsules
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (R) In a country where pop-culture frenzy comes and goes faster than summer, it’s easy to forget that a little more than a year ago, late-night TV viewers were picking sides in what became the feud of 2010. In this documentary chronicling that period, a bearded Conan O’Brien sprints (and at…
We Get Mail
Death to Death Taxes The article “Life After Death Tax” [May 25, 2011] makes those of us who support estate tax repeal appear as though we care nothing about local governments and the programs they support. The reality is that we are working for repeal because we care about the long-term future of our cities…
CD Review: LMFAO
You can say one thing about LMFAO: They know their audience. A quick scan of song titles on the L.A. jokers’ second album tells you all you need to know about them: “All Night Long,” “Put That A$$ to Work,” “Sexy and I Know It.” The electro-rap duo makes the Black-Eyed Peas’ club jams sound…
Love and Darkness
Before they could get down to the business of making visceral, reverberating noir-rock together, Gretta Rochelle and Jack Armando had an obnoxiously romantic hipster love story to overcome. Jack, the guitar man, was raised in Brooklyn. Gretta, the singer and drum basher, was born on the bayou. He liked Depeche Mode. She preferred the Cure.…
Pass the Hat
Families are fundamentally support groups. That’s one of the reasons local singer-songwriter Chris Allen thinks of his fans as family. That was quite evident on a busy Friday night a few weeks ago at the Happy Dog, where Allen indulged longtime followers by playing all of 2004’s The Story of Gasoline, a record from his…
The Secret Is Out
Atechno party in Europe has paved the way for an unlikely international art show devoted to Cleveland. It all started when Clevelander Helen Schneider moved to Cologne, Germany, four years ago to work for a design firm there. Back in the late 1980s and early ’90s, Schneider had been a radio host at Cleveland State’s…
Fattening Frank
“Russo” has been a brand name in politics here for as long as I can remember. Never mind that most voters had no idea which Russo they were voting for or why. The name itself was synonymous with victory. These days, the name is synonymous with theft in office, bribery, and generally corrupting all of…
On View This Week
Quilts A Modern Patchwork Clusters of gems and seashells and drops of gold swirl in seas of blue in “Kaleidoscopic XVII: Caribbean Blues” (pictured left), by New York-based fiber artist Paula Nadelstern. Machine-pieced and hand-quilted, the silk and cotton quilt is part of Kaleidoscope Quilts, the Akron Art Museum’s exhibit dedicated to the work of…
Local Band In Focus
Meet the Band: Brett M. Burlison (pictured, vocals & bodhran), Timmy Clausing (guitars, vocals), Nikki Wolfe (tin whistle), Andrea D’Amore (fiddle), Mitch Kozub (banjo, vocals), Eric Rom (guitars, vocals), Jason Kollar (bass), and James McWilliam (drums) Road to Glory: Burlison and Clausing decided to form an Irish band two years ago. But plans were delayed…
At the Arthouse
Nostalgia for the Light Super-relaxed and meditative documentary about a desert in Chile, where astronomers ponder big questions and old ladies look for bones of loved ones. At the Cinematheque at 7:50 p.m. Thursday, June 23, 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 24, and 9:10 p.m. Saturday, June 25.— Michael Gallucci Chunhyang Two South Koreans fall in…
Stay In!
TOP PICK – DVD Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology (1978-2006) (Warner) This eight-disc, super-stuffed box includes all four Christopher Reeve movies as well as 2006’s not-nearly-as-bad-as-you-think reboot Superman Returns. There’s also a disc of bonus material, including the pilot for 1958’s The Adventures of Superpup. Best of all are the two Blu-ray editions (theatrical and…
Club Isabella lives again in Little Italy
For 25 years, Club Isabella was the place to go in University Circle for matchless jazz and food. That all ended in 2007 when University Hospitals razed the legendary club to make way for a new hospital. Understandably, fans were heartbroken. One thing that will help ease the pain is a visit to the brand-new…
Yacht
Yacht waste no time letting their freak flag fly on their fifth album. On the first two cuts, “Utopia” and “Dystopia,” the Portland electro-pop group moves from hyperactive alien frolic to end-of-the-world incantations. Owing as much to the B-52’s kitschy humor as it does to Of Montreal’s digital future, Yacht turn heavy themes into weightless…
House of Wax
These days, it can be hard to convince record collectors to leave the cozy confines of their home computers and turntables. The digital age has made us picky and lazy, so when David Ignizio started Akron’s Square Records, he wanted to create a shop where underground, unusual, and unique music brought in curious customers. “Records…
Moor to Love
It’s time to toss the lawn chairs in the trunk, pack a mini cooler, and head out to the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival. This is the 14th year that CleveShakes has been mounting open-air productions of Shakespeare at various locations around the city. Best of all? It’s free. In the first of CleveShakes’ two shows this…
CD Review: Bon Iver
Justin Vernon’s trajectory from isolated bearded folkie to pliable Kanye West collaborator is one of modern music’s most surprising stories. But without it he never would have been able to make Bon Iver’s terrific second album, a rumination of sorts on rural America. Almost all of the songs are named after remote areas (“Perth,” “Lisbon,…
On Stage This Week
Jersey Boys at Playhouse Square: A smash hit with Cleveland audiences when it debuted here in 2008, the Tony, Grammy, and Olivier Award-winning musical Jersey Boys returns to the Palace Theatre today through July 17. Maybe it’s a reflection of our own blue-collar values that makes Clevelanders cheer the story of Frankie Valli and the…
Concert Calendar
Empires This Chicago band racked up a ton of fans after it released its debut album online for free in 2008. It rode the success to Rolling Stone’s recent Choose the Cover contest for unsigned artists, getting the boot last month — just one round short of the final showdown. But the quartet didn’t take…
CD Review: Swarms of Bats
(swarmofbats.bandcamp.com) These industrial rockers include former members of the emo band Brandtson, who opt for a more primal and direct approach than their old group used to take. Swarm of Bats claim they recorded their debut album with “shitty mics and a crummy laptop,” but There Is No Tomorrow doesn’t come off that unpolished. Songs…
