Bay Village Couple Drugged, Raped Friend, Filmed It
If these people invite you over for a turkey dinner, run. You can’t trust those suburban couples; never know what kind of strange sex-crimes they’re committing while the camcorder rolls. Out of Bay Village, this mindf*ck: David Salsgiver and Kelly Maltbie, of Kinckerbocker Road, were recently arrested and charged with rape and kidnapping. Officials say…
Victor Murillo Sentenced to Chuch Choir for Busting Loud Jams
“If you don’t turn that crap down, we’re giving you the choir.” Let me hear those pretty pipes work a heavenly melody, Victor. I wanna hear your best angel voice. That’s a somewhat creative reinterpretation of what one Painesville Municipal Court Judge told 20-year-old Victor Murillo, a bass-and-woofer desperado up on his third criminal charge…
The Emperor’s Old Clothes: You Gave Us Your LeBron James Crap, We Clothed Miami’s Homeless
By Gus Garcia-Roberts and Vince Grzegorek It all started with four words uttered by a man named Patches: “Shit, I’ll wear anything.” It’s mid-September and Gus Garcia-Roberts is conducting an experiment on the streets of Miami. The former Scene staffer and current Miami New Times scribe has strayed just a few hundred feet from the…
Gwen Wright, Wellington Woman, Missing Since Wednesday (Updated)
Gwen Wright Update: Gwen, what are you doing to us? This story just gets more pretzel twisted — and sadder — by the day. Just when we thought this thing was all settled, more conflicting details creep to light. Today the Chronicle-Telegraph ran a story on what Wright apparently claimed happened to her while she…
The Imperial 11: Inside The Lives Destroyed By Anthony Sowell
The house of horrors on Imperial Avenue in Mount Pleasant where 11 bodies were found last year is the epicenter of the story of alleged serial killer Anthony Sowell. This is where the monster lived. This is where the horrifying crimes took place. But the story radiates far there, to the houses of the victims,…
Ohio’s Socialist Candidate, Hide the Kids
He even looks like a Socialist. Certain conspiracy-addled commentators want you to know that scary Kenyan Socialists are secretly plotting to overthrow America as you read this newspaper. In the face of such panic, surely no Socialist would be brazen enough to run for office — especially here in heartland Ohio. Enter Dan La Botz,…
Med Mart: Total Number of Tenants Rising, Identities to Be Revealed
Med mart planners envision a facility stocked with multi-ethnic computer people. The identity of some tenants signing up for space in Cleveland’s future medical mart will be revealed within the next few weeks, according to the lawyer handling the project for the county. Tenants’ letters of intent will start being converted to cast-in-stone contracts around…
Cleveland Fed Last to Process Checks
We use ones with unicorns and rainbows on them. It’s random fun fact time around the office. Today’s random nugget that we just learned, courtesy of an article on the slow death of paper checks: The Fed says it has shut down all but one of its 45 paper check processing offices nationwide since 2003…
LeBron’s New Nike Commercial
The ad for LeBron’s new shoe debuted today and the consensus around the internets is that 1) It’s pretty cool, even if we hate the guy, 2) He should have hired the ad firm that produced the spot for Nike to handle his pre-Decision PR, and 3) Yeah, LeBron’s still a douche. Watch it and…
Christmas Ale Arrives Today
Today at 4 p.m. Great Lakes Brewing Company will make Clevelanders happy by officially tapping the first batch of Christmas Ale. It’ll be available on draft immediately. As for bottles? Those won’t find their way to store shelves until November 1. Let’s rejoice.
Case Western Invents Biodegradable Styrofoam
Styrofoam is a wonderful invention in many ways — how else are you going to lug home the leftovers from the restaurant? — but it’s not exactly the most earth-friendly thing humans have ever made. It basically sits around forever, never breaking down. A team at Case Western Reserve University has a solution, and it’s…
Louis Bernard Accused of Raping 9-Year-Old Girl
Disgusting, disgusting news out of Vermilion today. Louis Bernard, 30, was arrested by police for allegedly raping a 9-year-old girl. The victim told her parents on Sunday that Bernard had sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. (Via Chronicle-Telegram)
Plain Dealer Circulation Drops Again
Newspapers are going through hard times, if you haven’t heard. Something about the internet and declining interest in Family Circus, or something. New numbers Audit Bureau of Circulations show that, yes, newspaper circulations dropped again in the last six month period, but not as sharply as they had in the previous period. There was a…
Clevelanders Love the Census
Who knew Cleveland was so hip to civic participation? A story from The New Republic shows evidence that Clevelanders are totally down with the Census, or at least readily willing to participate and withhold judgment and scorn or physical violence for the census workers showing up at their doors. The Census Bureau just released the…
Pic of the Day II: Rob Ryan’s Gatorade Bath
First Gatorade bath for a defensive coordinator on a 2-5 team in the history of the NFL, right?
Pic of the Day: David Bowens’ Awesome TD Celebration
There’s David Bowens being awesome during one of his two interception returns for touchdown during yesterday’s throttling of the Saints. Here we go Brownies, here we go.
Ohio School to Ruin Snow Days
You don’t screw with Snow Days. If there’s something more astoundingly wonderful when you’re a kid than waking up on a school day and seeing mountains of snow and ice covering the roads, we’re not sure what it is. Snow days, simply put, are pure gold. They’re a god-given right of every kid living in…
Video: Creating the LeBron Replacement Banner
Here’s time lapse video of Sherwin-Williams’ mega Cleveland pride banner that will be installed tomorrow morning on the spot previously claimed by some megalomaniac basketball player.
Nine Inch Nails Book: Less Trent, John, and Richard, more Gus, Greg, and Anonymous
Continuum Books has posted the first taste of an upcoming book about Nine Inch Nails’ Cleveland-born debut, Pretty Hate Machine, at www.33third.blogspot.com. The long-delayed book, part of the 33 1/3 series of pocket-sized volumes about classic albums, is now firmly scheduled for March 2011 release. Author Daphne Carr, a Youngstown native and editor of the…
Book About WIXY 1260 Slated for Release
Between organizing last weekend’s Ghoulardi Fest — a retro-kitsch pop-culture orgy held in a larger venue for the sixth year straight — Mike Olszewski and friends have completed WIXY 1260: Pixies, Six Packs, and Supermen, a book about the Cleveland radio station that brought the Beatles, Motown, surf music, and a whole wave of pop…
Good Samaritan Steals Kid’s Bike
Artist’s rendering of the get-away vehicle. Sometimes the Good Samaritan isn’t always what he appears to be. Witness this tale from Parma. Melissa Piorkowski was on her way home with her son after picking him up from school last week. Both were riding bikes. Unfortunately, the 8-year-old boy took a tumble on his bike, crashing…
Ohio No Longer Home to World’s Largest Pumpkin
First, we lose LeBron. Now, we lost the distinction of home to the world’s largest pumpkin. Crap. There’s a new king in the world of gourd-like squashes according to Guinness World Records, and it’s in Wisconsin. The gourd grown this year by Chris Stevens of New Richmond tips the scales at 821.24 kilograms. That’s 38.56…
Sophomoric Humor of the Day
Yeah, we don’t care so much about the details of this story. Hell, we’re not even sure what the details are other than that it involves Hawk Corporation, which is based in Cleveland. What we care about: Bull & Lifshitz, LLP Announces Investigation of the Acquisition of Hawk Corporation Heehee. Bull & Lifshitz. This ends…
Pic of the Day: Mike Brown, Waterboy
OK, technically former Cavs’ head coach Mike Brown is an assistant coach for his son’s 8th-grade football team, but still… he’s carrying the water bottles. Nevertheless, he probably considers this an upgrade from dealing with LeBron’s ego. (Pic via)
Jeffrey York Raped Daughter, Kept Family Trapped in Madison Home (Updated)
The Madison House of Horrors Update: York, the Madison man who ran a horrorshow out of his house, keeping his family trapped inside and abusing his children, pleaded guilty to two counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of endangering children this week. He took the deal to avoid a rape conviction, so says…
Breaking News: It Will Snow in Cleveland This Winter
NOAA and Accuweather just released their winter forecast and Cleveland will endure… wait for it… snow and cold temperatures. Holy crap. And here we thought December would bring us golf weather. AccuWeather.com’s Chief Long Range Forecaster Joe Bastardi has just released his official winter 2010-2011 winter forecast and is predicting a harsh winter with cold…
Jeremy Lukens, Man in Gorilla Suit, Sentenced Today
Jeremy Lukens, minus the gorilla suit. Jeremy Lukens, 24, engaged in some monkey business back in September and today received his punishment: a 30-day suspended sentence, one year of probation, and court costs. In what he called a stunt inspired by Jackass, Lukens dressed in a gorilla suit, hopped on an ATV, and drove around…
Concert Review: Deerhunter at the Beachland Ballroom
Moody music maker At a Deerhunter show, you live and die by Bradford Cox’s guitar. While the other three members of the band hold each song steady, Cox submerges the atmosphere in rushing distortion and sporadic soloing, all laced with incredible skill. When the Atlanta-based band played the Beachland Ballroom last night in support of…
Ohio Has Record Marijuana Seizure Year
Ohio had a record pot year. Ohio had a really good year with pot, which probably means lots of pot users, drug dealers, harvesters, and Spongebob fans probably had a really bad year. According to Richard Cordray, not since 1997 has Ohio seized as much illegal ganja as it as this year. The depressing …err……
Girl Almost Grabbed in Kent, Fights Off Suspect (Updated)
Unfortunately, a missing arm won’t easily identify this suspect. Update: Turns out the girl was BSing everyone. According to 19ActionNews, the Kent police dismantled the girl’s account of the near-kidnapping and determined it was fantasyland through and through. *** There’s an all-points out in Kent on a suspected kid-snatcher. Luckily, the little girl this alleged…
Robert Grigelaitis, Accused Real Estate Murderer, Arrested (Updated)
Finally. Update II: Robert Grigelaitis has admitted to killing Andy VonStein, the Portage County realtor found dead in a house. Grigelaitis has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. ***Update: Bond was set at $2 million for the murder suspect.According to the AP: Robert Grigelaitis, who was the subject of a nationwide search earlier…
Five Puppies in Box Rescued From Road
Cute, sad but ultimately happy puppy story time? Sure. These five cute puppies — all between 10 and 12 weeks old — were found in a box on Route 162 Wednesday morning. Speed limit on Route 162: 55 mph. Thankfully someone saw the box on the road and stopped to retrieve the adorable little pooches…
Strippers Forced to Pay Back Undercover Cops for Dances
“Hello, welcome to Chrissy’s. Let me tell you about our bunch specials.” This one is a score for good-government tax-watchdogs everywhere. When North Ridgeville police began getting reports that the dancers at a local strip club were forgetting about the whole Look-But-Don’t-Touch rule, they went to investigate. And like any thorough investigator getting to the…
Lingerie Football Coming to Cleveland or Columbus
Cross your fingers, Clevelanders, because there’s a 50-50 chance you’ll be able to satisfy your duel appetites for sex and football at the same time very soon. That’s right, Lingerie Football might be coming to Cleveland. The founder of the Lingerie Football League says Cleveland or Columbus will be getting a franchise in 2011, and…
Teen Booted Off Cardinal Cheer Squad for Maybe Not Drinking
What will these kids think of next. Here at Scene we’re your number one news outlet for stories on nefarious underground conspiracies involving high school girl’s athletics. The latest news in this growing genre comes out of Middlefield in Geauga County, where some serious tight-asses are manning the ship at Cardinal High School.
Cleveland Cop Lashes Out at Dim and Den Sum
Food truck Dim and Den Sum hit West Sixth street last Saturday night. If you got some grub, you probably had to walk a little further to get it. Owner-cook Chris Hodgson says police on West Sixth are giving a hard time to white business owners, too. Read his account of the big night out…
Half-Naked Woman Claims Ghosts Attacked Her
You really won’t find a better police blotter item today. Promise. From Medina… GHOST ATTACK, GRANGER ROAD: A woman on Granger Road ran outside naked from the waist down yelling for a neighbor to call police because she was shot and then passed out. A rescue squad was called to the scene and found the…
Susan Goldberg Resigns as Editor of Plain Dealer
Susan Goldberg has resigned as Editor in Chief of the Plain Dealer to join Bloomberg as an executive editor. According to Bloomberg’s release: Susan Goldberg, editor of The Plain Dealer, will join Bloomberg News as an Executive Editor to oversee the expansion of state and local government reporting, Editor in Chief Matthew Winkler announced today.…
3-Year-Old Saves Dad Thanks to SpongeBob
We always thought SpongeBob was too stoned all the time to use the phone. Parents, listen up: don’t feel guilty about parking your kid in front of the TV while you do all those important adult things. It could save your life one day. Beaming in on the wires from North Ridgeville is the story…
Replacement for LeBron Banner Goes Up Next Week
Next week, downtown Cleveland will get a new giant banner to replace the massive Nike roadside display that went down when LeBron left town. Tuesday October 26, Sherwin Williams — the company whose world headquarters resides in the Landmark Office Towers building across the street from the Q — will hoist a new banner entitled…
Countdown to Christmas Ale
Come here, baby. That holiest of winter treasures, Great Lakes’ Christmas Ale, is almost here. Monday, October 25. Put it on your calendars, folks. That’s when GLBC will be launching this season’s batch of heavenly perfection that makes you feel like a little, tiny, nutmeg and alcohol-doused angel is hugging your tongue. 20,250 barrels (about…
Woman Placed On Jury for Defendent She Helped Catch
Small world, right? Down in Cincinnati that truism was proved in living color at a Hamilton County courtroom. Jurors were just settling in for the domestic violence trial of 42-year-old James Capell when one of the 12 interrupted the proceedings.
Near Death
Clint Eastwood has been on a roll since 2003, when Mystic River once and for all replaced movies like Blood Work and Space Cowboys on his directing schedule. For his latest, Hereafter, he dips into the metaphysical world of the afterlife for the first time, and the outcome is kinda boring. It starts with a…
Feel Lucky, Punk?
\Director Clint Eastwood has been on a roll since 2003’s Mystic River, helming terrific movies like Letters From Iwo Jima, Changeling, and Gran Torino. Clint Eastwood the actor hasn’t been too shabby either. His last starring role — in 2008’s Gran Torino — was one of his all-time best, snagging some of the best reviews…
Get Out!
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20 WORLD MUSIC Concha Buika at the Art Museum Concha Buika spent a few months back in 2001 as a Tina Turner impersonator in Las Vegas. These days, she’s riding a career founded on her own voice. It’s a sound mixed from the earthy sensuality of a blues singer and the raspy vocal…
Demon Seed
When Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity was scooped up at the 2008 Slamdance Film Festival, theatrical release was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind. Jazzed by the film’s concept — a suburban couple are terrorized by an unseen presence in their San Diego home, with everything captured on surveillance cameras — more than the actual movie,…
Ghost Writers
Some of the best-known painters in Cleveland don’t use their real names. They find their fame not in our gallery halls but on our neighborhood walls. Call them taggers, writers, or self-appointed decorators of a city in need of some cheerful color. Their invented names go on and on, like the black book of an…
The Soul of American Eating
As summer fades to fall, our appetites invariably swing toward comfort food. And when it comes to comfort food, there’s no topping soul food. It’s the fuzzy blanket of American cuisine. While every chef in town is busy updating the classics, Angie and the gang at Angie’s Soul Café stubbornly cling to history, preparing the…
Bump in the Night
The quickie follow-up to last year’s surprise hit Paranormal Activity is sort of a sequel/prequel/software patch to indie director Oren Peli’s camera-POV chiller. But you don’t have to know the first movie to follow Paranormal Activity 2, even though if centers on relatives of the original’s demon-bedeviled couple. A fast-food magnate wires his house for…
Bites: True Blood Dinner at Bistro 185
True Blood fans, you are not alone. Ruth Levine, the chef and owner of the popular Bistro 185 (991 East 185th St., 216-481-9635, bistro185.com), has gotten so swept up in the HBO series that she’s planned a True Blood Dinner. Levine and company will feature a meal composed entirely of red dishes and libations, inspired…
Film Capsules
Buried (R) — What do you get when you give an artful director 95 minutes of real time, one actor, a coffin, and a handful of props? The answer is a mostly realistic, mostly engrossing art-thriller that zeroes in on Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), an American truck driver doing contract work in Iraq. At best,…
We Get Mail
ALL HAIL THE BUFFOON Thank you for the wonderful story on Mike Trivisonno [“The Face of Cleveland Radio,” September 22, 2010]. I loved it, and I am a big fan of his. His love for his wife Linda almost brought me to tears, and the honesty of your story made my heart smile. Thank you…
Heavy Venomin
Formed in 2005 after guitarist Joe Fortunato, bassist Erin Corcoran, and guitarist Tomasz Scull split from a hardcore group they’d been playing in, Venomin James (myspace.com/venominjames) quickly became a major force on the local metal scene. Their 2007 debut, Left Hand Man, received global attention and comparisons to Black Sabbath and Kyuss. Tragedy then hit…
CD Review: SUFJAN STEVENS
Indie-rock hero Stevens isn’t above using Auto-Tune on a song. In fact, on his first album of original material since 2005’s Illinois, Stevens doesn’t shy away from the unexpected. You don’t see it coming after the sweet opener “Futile Devices,” but the record swirls with complex, spastic electronic noises. Three minutes into The Age of Adz,…
Stained?
In the polite atmosphere of the League of Women Voters’ forum for county executive candidates, the only person to directly address the county corruption scandal was Democrat Ed FitzGerald. And he did it with a joke. How would the losing candidates continue their efforts to better the county after the election? a voter asked at…
CD Review: Sugarland
When did Jimmy Buffett become the patron saint of country music? From Kenny Chesney to the Zac Brown Band, Mr. Margaritaville’s sun, sand, and suds ethos has permeated nearly every corner of landlocked Nashville over the past few years. After occasional dips into Buffett’s pool on 2008’s Love on the Inside, Sugarland come to shore…
Star Time
The songs on Ryan Bingham’s new album, Junky Star, were written before the 29-year-old singer-songwriter won an Oscar in February for “The Weary Kind,” the plaintive theme song from Crazy Heart. The tales of hopelessness, the songs of desperation, the stories about families barely surviving this tough, hard world — all of them were in…
CD Review: DIE ANTWOORD
Die Antwoord sound like they come from a place that’s a lot farther away than South Africa. On its debut album, the Cape Town trio spins hip-hop into a frothy blend of futuristic electro beats, outer-space bips and bleeps, and old-school boasting rhymes from a guy named Ninja. $0$ isn’t so much an album of…
Place Your Bets
A few weeks back, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its list of nominees who are eligible for induction next year. It’s filled with the usual mix of legends, leftovers, and long shots. The most surprising thing is that so many of the artists were eligible years ago (Rock Hall rules state that…
Rock and Roll Photos Lead This Week’s Art Picks
TREASURES OF HEAVEN With dozens of Catholic churches closing around Northeast Ohio, diocesan officials are fond of saying the Church is not about buildings or objects, but about community. The opposite notion played out in the medieval era, when sacred art — dazzling illuminated manuscripts, paintings, sculptures, relics, and reliquaries — were seen as mediators…
CD Review: New Lou Reeds
The New Lou Reeds are back with their first album since 2006’s Top Billin’. But if these are hit songs, don’t expect to hear them on commercial radio anytime soon. Opener “Headed for a Felony” is a boisterous rocker punctuated by singer-guitarist Steph DK’s woozy voice. As he stumbles and slurs his way through the…
At the Arthouse
My Darling Clementine John Ford’s 1946 take on the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral stars a solid Henry Fonda (as Wyatt Earp) and a not-so-sturdy Victor Mature (as Doc Holliday) kicking up some dust in the Old West. It’s one of Ford’s lowest-key westerns and one of his best. The Cinematheque busts out a restored…
On Stage This Week
An Ideal Husband — The Great Lakes Theater crew spins Oscar Wilde’s witticisms into a seamless symphony of laughter. Set in the hot-house environment of elegant London society, the play is mixed with just enough social relevance to give the whole enterprise more heft than you might expect. (Howey) Presented by the Great Lakes Theater…
Concert Time
DEERHUNTER Despite all the saxophones and harps crowding Deerhunter’s new album, Halcyon Digest, indie-rock fans still insist they’re some kind of Sonic Youth-My Bloody Valentine guitar-god hybrid. And compared to Grizzly Bear’s chamber pop, Animal Collective’s art soup, and Dirty Projectors’ Afropop chorales, Deerhunter indeed come off like a new-school version of the Stooges. After…
Stay In!
TOP PICK — DVD King Kong (Warner) The world’s greatest giant-monster movie comes to Blu-ray. And while the nearly 80-year-old film doesn’t gain much in HD, it’s still a thrill to see the big ape pummel dinosaurs and scare the shit out of natives. The coolest extra recreates the lost spider-pit scene, where doomed crew…
Dinner Mystery
We are all destined to be orphans at some point, given the usual progression of life spans. And it can be a shocking and transforming experience when our parents leave us alone in the world. But the orphan at the center of Brainpeople by Jose Rivera, now being presented by Convergence-Continuum, treats her psychic wounds…
CD Review: Kings of Leon
Fans who were into Kings of Leon before their 2008 breakthrough album Only By the Night may enjoy the band’s fifth CD more if they played the new songs in reverse order. That way, the record starts with the great “Pickup Truck” and winds its way through a few songs featuring the spare-but-dynamic arrangements found on the…
