Seven Hills Wants to Recoup the $200,000 it Spent on David Bentkowski’s Ridiculous Lawsuit
Update: First things first here, people. It’s been almost three full years since former Mayor and noted doofus David Bentkowski filed the suit in question. The details on the case are all below, in a depressing but funny timeline that starts with Little David being very, very angry that people criticized him on the internet.…
Frank Jackson Sort of Clarifies his Immigration Stance
Mayor Jackson’s unconventional interview-style State of the City address generated some controversy last week. Up for discussion was his backwards, “un-American” approach to attracting immigrants to Cleveland, or apparent lack thereof. “I believe in taking care of your own,” Jackson said. The implication, of course, was that Cleveland ought to look after its natives before…
John Kasich: No, I Don’t Really Care For This Gay Marriage Racket
The tidal shifts in favor of marriage equality across the U.S. have even wrangled a few tenacious conservatives this season, including, famously and locally, our own Sen. Rob Portman. That’s good news for purveyors of, you know, civil rights and all that. But Gov. John Kasich’s heels are still entrenched in his plush Statehouse carpet.…
Vibrant ‘Fela!’ opens three-night stand at Palace Theatre
Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams might get top-billing in Fela!, the Broadway musical that arrived in town last night at the Palace Theatre for a three-night stand. But Adesola Osakalumi, who plays Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, deserves all the accolades. Osakalumi, who played Fela when the play was on Broadway, commands attention from the moment he arrives…
We Told Canada How Cool Cleveland Is
Cleveland is huge in Canada. At least, a little more so now that Scene Dining Editor Douglas Trattner penned a glowing travel feature about our fair city for the Globe & Mail, Canada’s national paper. In it, Trattner dishes on everything from bike-friendly infrastructure to sustainability minded chick-and-bees legislation. But mostly he dishes on the…
Good Eats: Twister Pizza @ Slice Above
It’s easy to name the providers of great pizza pie throughout Northeast Ohio. Angelo’s, Mama Santa’s, Geraci’s, Danny Boys, Marotta’s, Valentino’s all are no-brainers. But there are many lesser known joints that dish up fly pie as well. One of those joints is A Slice Above Pizzeria (8788 Pearl Rd., 440-826-1300, asliceabovepizza.com) in Strongsville. Now,…
Brunswick Mom Jailed for Middle School Parking Lot Fight
Image: Brunswick PD Okay, this bullying epidemic was totally disturbing and tragic and all a couple years ago, but after the umpteenth cable news special on kids being dicks, it’s getting a little played out. Thankfully, the mantle of barbarous juvenile antics is now being passed to…PT Cruiser-driving Brunswick moms. Last Thursday, Medina Municipal Court…
Bombino’s ‘Nomad’: New Music Tuesday
Niger-born guitarist Bombino brought his band across the Atlantic Ocean to Nashville, Tenn., last year where they met with The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. The combination plays out on Bombino’s new album Nomad exactly as it may sound: intriguing and (pardon the French here) really friggin’ awesome. This album has Auerbach’s rock ‘n’ roll attitude…
Strongsville Teachers Propose Binding Interest Arbitration
ERIC SANDY/SCENE Tracy Linscott approachs the school board building in Strongsville. After initially being turned away, she was eventually escorted to the front door to present the union’s proposal to Superintendent John Krupinski. The fifth week of the Strongsville teachers’ strike looks much like the first: a lot of chanting, a lot of disgruntled community…
Tom Hamilton Calling a Bunch of Game Winners, Because It’s Opening Day
Happy Opening Day, Cleveland. Here’s a montage of Tom Hamilton calling a bunch of game-winning plays and monumental moments in recent Tribe history. Howwww abouttt that. (Personal favorite is Travis Hafner’s walk-off grand slam at 2:44.)
Matt Danko up for F&W’s People’s Best New Pastry Chef
The editors of Food & Wine magazine have opened up the voting for The People’s Best New Pastry Chefs in the country, an opportunity for diners and readers to get in on the ballot-stuffing process. Representing Cleveland in the Central Region is Matt Danko from the Greenhouse Tavern, who recently was named as a semifinalist…
McCoy to San Francisco for Seventh Round Pick
To the extent that there was one, the Colt McCoy era is over, Browns fans. The University of Texas legend who has battled for starter status and respect since the day he arrived in Cleveland has been traded, along with a sixth round pick, to the San Francisco 49ers for a fifth and seventh round…
Tremont Scoops 2.0 Ready for its Close-Up
After a dozen years in operation, Tremont Scoops shuttered its doors this past December. But the business and building were quickly scooped up by an entrepreneurial group of investors. This week, the Tremont ice cream shop (2362 Professor Ave., 216-781-0352) reopened to the public, with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony slated for this Saturday.…
Marco Benevento at Beachland Tavern: Concert Review
Marco Benevento Kicking off his spring tour with a voraciously enthused crowd at Beachland Tavern last night, Marco Benevento certainly brought the party to Cleveland. After all, ain’t no party like a Monday night party. With last fall’s release of TigerFace still fresh in the minds of fans and band members, the energy was sky-high…
ODOT Adorably Plans Fish “Rest Stops” for Cuyahoga
The Ship Channel: Like Mordor, But With Water As you may recall from watching acclaimed nature documentary Finding Nemo, being a fish is a rough gig, and for aquatic wildlife in the Cuyahoga, it pretty much sucks total butt. Never mind egg-munching barracudas, sadistic captors, and Ellen Degeneres—fish migrating through the Cuyahoga’s 5-mile ship channel…
Hiram’s Mackenzie Creamery Snags Silver Medal at US Cheese Competition
Mackenzie Creamery in Hiram, Ohio, was honored with the Silver Medal Award at the United States Championship Cheese Competition held March 12-13 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The local company took the second-highest honors for its fresh Cognac Fig Chevre goat cheese. Mackenzie Creamery was the second licensed goat cheese producer in the State of Ohio.…
Concert Review and Slideshow: Garbage at House of Blues
While the alt-rock group Garbage didn’t exactly qualify as a supergroup when it formed in the early ’90s, the members did bring some serious musical experience to the table. Prior to joining Garbage, singer Shirley Manson had recorded an album as Angelfish and drummer Butch Vig achieved fame for producing Nirvana’s Nevermind. That experience translated…
Morning Snapshot: Rally for Reform at Public Square
ERIC SANDY/SCENE Robin Stone speaks to the crowd at the Rally for Reform this morning. At least 100 people gathered at Public Square beginning at 7:30 a.m. today to promote animal protection reform in Ohio. The Public Animal Welfare Society of Ohio led the event, which comes on the same day as Raymone Clements’ trial…
Matt Lauer is Sorry He Was Mean to Fox 8’s Mark Zinni
Matt Lauer has been the focal point of a media barrage in the last week, and for not very great reasons. Seems the Today Show is a cupboard packed to the brim with backstabbing and a whole bunch of other nonsense. Then the reports of NBC offering the show to Anderson Cooper emerged and, well,…
Pic of the Day: This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, Cleveland
(Via @oconnorclaire)
The Amish Just Want to Poop in Peace
Way the hell out in Kenton, Ohio — in that nebulous nowhere between Toledo and Columbus — two new Amish homes have been condemned by the county health board for improper septic systems. And the Amish are pissed off. More than 100 of them gathered in a protest earlier this week asking Hardin County officials…
Rally For Reform Set For Monday Morning In Public Square
ROBIN STONE Forrest Animal protection advocates will congregate in Public Square at 7:30 a.m. April 1 to raise awareness for the struggle against Ohio’s low-ball animal cruelty laws. April is “Animal Cruelty Awareness Month” and such a time of reflection is needed greatly in the state of Ohio. Momentous things are happening, but the Statehouse…
Bishop Lennon Granted Me Unprecedented Access — WHY?
If you haven’t read our profile on Cleveland’s Bishop Richard Lennon, published in this week’s issue of Scene, it’s blowing up all around the country and you should read the whole thing immediately! Just kidding guys. It’s an in-depth piece which covers a great deal of the Bishop’s views and rehashes the parish closing crisis…
Updated: Downtown Sushi Rock Not Reopening as Planned
Despite assurances to the contrary, it is now patently obvious that Sushi Rock in the Warehouse District will not reopen this fall as planned. The space on W. 6th Street currently is available for lease. The once-swanky sushi restaurant and club opened 13 years ago this month. When it abruptly closed its doors last July,…
Man Denounces Laws of Physics and President Obama, Border Patrol Calls Secret Service (Updated)
Image: Sandusky Register The green tunic and leggings are underneaeth the texas tux, probably Update: Neither Robert Pierce nor his wife were arrested or charged with any crimes after their misadventures in Marblehead and Robert’s protestations that gravity doesn’t exist (oh, and that whole maybe, sorta threatening President Obama thing). But a fun little ancillary…
ICYMI: Browns Broadcasts Move to Different Radio Stations
The Cleveland Browns’ broadcasts, long the province of Clear Channel’s WMMS and WTAM, will show up on a trio of other radio stations this season. Interestingly enough, two rival sports stations will each have a hand in the new operation. Via the News-Herald: The Browns will be broadcast on CBS Sports Radio’s WKRK-FM 92.3 The…
Plans Come to Light for Shuttered ChopHouse Space
When the Cleveland ChopHouse & Brewery closed on the first of the year, it was a shock not only to Cleveland diners, but to the employees of the long-running Warehouse District eatery. CraftWorks, the corporate parent of the ChopHouse, opted to shut down the operation, leaving many wondering what would happen to their jobs and…
This Week in Controversies
City Council members met Tuesday morning to express their individual anxieties about the new ward map concocted by President Martin Sweeney and consultant Bob Dykes without contributions from the public. In a vote Tuesday afternoon, council approved the map 17-2 with Joe Cimperman and Mike Polensek voting against. Cleveland will be downshifting from 19 to…
Art Sleuth
With a nose honed to the shady and an eye tuned to the purloined, Victoria Sears-Goldman has been hired by the Cleveland Museum of Art to ensure that paintings in its collections weren’t wrongfully acquired. She’ll be here for the next seven months, off and on, digging through obscure catalogues and archives. The Cleveland Museum…
Screens
In researching some movies for a potential new article, I came across an interesting sub-genre of the sci-fi movie category: women in space. Now, most movie geeks are familiar with Barbarella, the granddaddy of sci-fi chick movies, but there are some other “ladies in space” movies that, while not technically “great” or even “very good,”…
Experiments in Sound
Marco Benevento flashes a wide smile on stage as he works the multi-colored keys before him. The Berklee-educated pianist and composer has spent years honing his craft and, more significantly, his own personal style of experimentation in music. He’s a collaborative artist and a friend to many. And his solo material, which he brings to…
Best Buds
There are bands that dive deep into issues like emotion, society and existentialism in their music, and there are bands that just keep their music basic. Wavves is of the latter persuasion. Yet the indie surf-rock band has managed to capture the attention of critics early on with its genuine, no-need-to-impress-you approach. Founded in San…
On View This Week
AKRON ART MUSEUM The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats. Over 80 sketches, drafts, and final works from the portfolio of Ezra Jack Keats (1916–1983), author and illustrator of the first full-color illustrated children’s book to feature an African American protagonist, are on display. Through June 30 at One South High St.,…
The Sober Truth
Gravelly voiced singer Eddie Money was a bit of a late bloomer. He started performing in the late ’60s but didn’t sign a record deal until 1977. His self-titled debut became a huge hit and yielded singles like “Two Tickets to Paradise” and “Baby Hold On.” Money continued to deliver hits throughout the ’80s until…
Film Capsules
Beyond the Hills Set in a convent in rural Romania, this film follows Alina (Cristina Flutur) and Voichita (Cosmina Stratan), two young women who have been friends since they met as children at an orphanage. At the film’s start, they’re reunited after a period of separation. But all is not well as Alina wants Voichita…
Savage Love
Dear Dan — My brother is 22 years old and mentally ill with social anxiety on the scale of agoraphobia (officially diagnosed). He’s made significant progress in the past few years, but he’s stuck on the fact that he’s a virgin and is convinced that he’s not going to make any real social progress until…
We Get Mail
On: “Linndale Mayor’s Court: And Into the Books It Goes” It’s about time that these parasites get their just due. A town should not exist at all if it must depend entirely upon traffic ticket revenue for its very existence. Good riddance. They never had any business placing police cruisers on I-71, as the ingress…
Experiential
Now settled into its new University Circle home, MOCA Cleveland is unafraid to challenge visitors. Eschewing displays of discreet art objects, its spring schedule instead offers performance art and experimental film. Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller’s The Paradise Institute explores cinema as technology for tampering with viewers’ sense of reality. Inside a plywood shed,…
Band of the Week
Meet the Band: Matt Hayes (vocals), James Skrtich (guitars, vocals, programming), Adam Markov (percussion), Davo Billock (guitars, vocals, programming), Jason Minks (bass) A Supergroup of Sorts: The members of Impending Lies all played together in heralded local hard rock acts like Scalera, Vendetta Point, Resist, Puppet, Ground Lift, Element, Rikets and D-Rail before coming together…
Culinary Calendar
On Saturday, March 30 La Dolce Vita hosts its Mambo Italiano Salsa Dance Party, when it transforms its charming ristorante into a Latin Quarter hotspot. Can’t dance to save your life? No sweat, lessons will be offered at 9:30 p.m. (30 minutes before the party kicks off). The front half of La Dolce Vita will…
Tassel-izing
“Who doesn’t love titties?” says a member of the audience at Mardi Gras Burlesque, when asked what attracted him to the show. On stage, a black corseted female dancer is twirling her tassels in hypnotic circles, casting a seductive spell on the audience. To her right, a live three-piece jazz band keeps time, punctuating a…
Opening: G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Paramount shelved this movie for nearly a year to retool it. But no amount of retooling could save it. An ill-conceived sequel to 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, it starts out with a scene in which the G.L. Joes are betrayed after seizing a nuclear warhead during a dangerous military operation in a…
The Cleveland Craft Beer Report
One of the most common craft beer misconceptions is the assumption that the term “craft” applies only to beers with exotic ingredients, intense flavors and high alcohol. People who operate under this impression seek out only the most extreme beers they can find while ignoring the more subtle styles at the low end of the intensity spectrum.…
TAKING IN THE TRASH
When a theatrical property has been turned into a movie and also a TV show, you can be sure it has some popular appeal. And so it is with Sordid Lives by Del Shores, the down-home Texas comedy that explores a big ol’ dumpster full of white trash with joyful abandon. This is a make-fun-of-the-low-IQ-rubes…
By His Hands
Bishop Richard Gerard Lennon has never used a computer in all his life. He’s never even used a typewriter. Like a lot of Catholics of a certain age, he’s old-fashioned, foremost where correspondence is concerned. And like a lot of Catholics of a certain age, he feels no immediate pressure to evolve. Thank yous, birthdays,…
Also On Stage This Week
Struck Cleveland Public Theatre “It’s a rare and wonderful opportunity to find out what is true.” That line is spoken to describe a stroke suffered by Tannis Kowalchuk, who is one of the two performers on stage, along with Brett Keyser. Struck explores this “cerebrovascular accident” from the inside out, utilizing captivating and often startling…
Adventures in Argyle
This article was going to be about The Lakewood Village in Lakewood, because I very rarely like to leave my home city and it’s not always easy to find a ride. I wanted to talk about how it’s my Wednesday-night spot because they have a pretty good free open mic night for stand-up hosted by…
Top Pop Culture Picks for the Week
TOP PICK Wire Change Becomes Us (Pink Flag) This British post-punk band returned to unfinished material from 1979-1980 — arguably its most productive period — for this new studio release. Opener “Doubles & Trebles” admittedly sounds like it was written decades ago. But the band sounds invigorated playing the tune and the tracks here retain…
Culture Club
“I was a big, fat, bloated miserable person. I looked like a mean-old Republican,” Bryan Davis chuckles over a mug of coffee at the Root Café. These days, Davis, who’s known as “Doc Fermento” to his Internet fanbase, looks more like a taut, punk rock Wolverine, replete with a double-crested mohawk. Five years ago, Davis…
First Look: Helvetica
The Lakewood food scene continues its unabated expansion with Helvetica, which is located in an unassuming storefront on Detroit Avenue’s east end. If the name sounds familiar, it should: Helvetica is a font that changed the face of visual advertising, as evidenced in the documentary of the same name. When owner Edward Padilla selected the…
CD Review: Norselaw
norselawmusic.com There’s Norse Law, then there’s Norselaw. And while the former is a hip-hop act that channels both Vanilla Ice and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the latter plays Viking thrasher metal. Now for the twist: they’re the same band. Don’t let the minute-and-a-half instrumental intro to this EP’s opening tune, “Dungeonlurker,” fool you; its acoustic, soothing style…
