T-Pain To Perform at the Agora in November
Rapper T-Pain, a guy who’s notched 60 hit songs during his career, returned last year after a brief break to release Everything Must Go, a mixtape that collected previously unreleased tunes. He followed it up earlier this year with the studio release 1UP. Now, he’s just announced the dates of fall tour. He performs on…
Holden Arboretum’s Goblins in the Garden Event To Take Place on Oct. 5 and 6
Earlier today, Holden Arboretum announced that its annual Goblins in the Garden event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6. During the event, families can trick-or-treat through decorated gardens, scramble through a hedge maze and see a scarecrow display. There will also be a petting zoo and pony rides. A press…
The Browns Show They’ll Be There For You in New ‘Friends’ Parody Video
Following Monday night’s win over the New York Jets, the Cleveland Browns released a ridiculous parody video of the Friends theme song, “I’ll Be There For You.” Dancing and laughing their hearts out in the video are Browns players Odell Beckham Jr., Damarious Randall, Denzel Ward, JC Tretter, Jarvis Landry and Joel Bitonio. Also seen…
Ideastream’s Joe Frolik Heading to MetroHealth
MetroHealth has hired veteran local journalist Joe Frolik as its Senior Vice President of Communications, Government and Community Relations. Frolik had been serving as executive editor of the ideastream newsroom and was, in years past, the senior editorial writer at the Plain Dealer and the communications director for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty. MetroHealth CEO…
‘Sesame Street’ Star Sonia Manzano To Speak at Case Western Reserve University in October
One of the first Hispanics on national television, Sonia Manzano, who portrayed Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 to 2015 while also writing for the PBS show will speak at Case Western Reserve University as part of the 2019-2020 Power of Diversity Lecture Series. Entitled “From the South Bronx to Sesame Street (A Puerto Rican…
The First Tuesday Musical Concert of the Season and the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week
This week’s attractions start with a visit from a splendid English vocal ensemble — the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, which was the first Cambridge chapel choir to include women. They’ll visit Trinity Cathedral on Wednesday, September 18 at 7:30 pm to sing music by Byrd, Tallis, Purcell, Arvo Pärt, John Tavener, Victor Kalinniko, Ēriks…
Orange ‘Believeland’ Pepsi Debuts in Cleveland For Browns Sunday Night Football Return
The Cleveland Browns haven’t made a Sunday Night Football appearance since 2008. And in honor of this weekend’s highly-anticipated matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at FirstEnergy Staduim, Pepsi is unleashing an orange soda they’re calling “Believeland” Pepsi. To go along with the release of the safety cone-colored concoction, the company is also hosting a…
Energy-Efficiency Jobs Continue to Boom in Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Energy-efficiency jobs are booming in Ohio, and the pace is not expected to slow any time soon. According to a report released Monday, Ohio added more than 2,000 energy-efficiency jobs in 2018. That’s a nearly 5% increase – compared with the overall state employment growth rate of less than 1%. Dave Rinebolt,…
Akron Street Named After Local Guitar Pedal Manufacturer EarthQuaker Devices
Earlier today, Akron-based, hand-crafted effects pedal manufacturer EarthQuaker Devices announced that it now has its own street. The street where the company resides has been named EarthQuaker Drive. Watch the unveiling here. The company creates products that are available in over 865 retail locations in approximately 50 countries. Its key retailers include Guitar Center, Sam…
City of Cleveland Issues Advisory Against Vaping
After six reported deaths in the U.S. and at least 13 hospitalizations in the state of Ohio all associated with vaping products, the Cleveland Department of Public Health (CDPH) has issued an advisory against the use of e-cigarettes. Citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the CDPH said that vaping exposes users to “substances…
Crime Stoppers Asking for Tips, Offering Reward in Hocking Hills Photographer Death
Central Ohio Crime Stoppers is now offering a $10,000 reward to anyone with information regarding the death of 44-year-old Victoria Schafer. Over Labor Day weekend, the Chillicothe photographer was out taking senior photo portraits on one of the most popular trails in Hocking Hills State Park when she was struck from above by a large tree…
Both Maria’s Sunflower Field of Hope Locations Have Bloomed in Northeast Ohio
Both Maria’s Field of Hope locations are officially open, and Northeast Ohioans can take photos with happy, yellow sunflowers in Avon and Sandusky over the next few weeks. For the past six years, the the Avon Maria’s Field of Hope has blown away visitors and Instagramers alike with its sheer beauty. This year, the Prayers…
Marta’s, the Czech Gem, will Close its Doors After 25 Years on Sept. 28
Marta’s, the Eastern European restaurant (800 E. 222nd St., 216-731-9596) in Euclid, will serve its last meal on September 28. The homey restaurant was opened in 1995 by Marta and Jerry Runza, who originally are from Prague. After 25 years in business, the owners have decided that it’s time to retire. In addition to Czech…
Cars Singer Ric Ocasek Dead at Age 75
Various news outlets have reported that Ric Ocasek, the singer of Rock Hall Inductees the Cars, has died at age 75. The band’s long overdue induction into the Rock Hall took place last year, and Brandon Flowers of the Killers did the honors. “They turned my black and white town into color,” he said before…
Fourth Democratic Party Presidential Primary Debate Comes to Ohio in October
The fourth debate for Democratic Party presidential primary contenders will take place in Ohio at Otterbein University, the Democratic National Committee announced last week. CNN and The New York Times will host the event, which will be moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Erin Burnett and Times national editor Marc Lacey. The location in Westerville,…
Report: Secret Fracking Chemicals a Concern for Ohio
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Troubling information has been uncovered about the use of so-called classified chemicals in fracking operations in Ohio. Using mapping and data analysis by FracTracker Alliance, new research from the Partnership for Policy Integrity shows the oil and gas industry injected potentially toxic chemicals more than 11,000 times into roughly 1,400 fracking wells…
Giant Eagle Requests Customers Not Open Carry In Its Grocery Stores and Gas Stations
Giant Eagle has joined a host of other stores that have in recent weeks updated their policies regarding open carry following Wal-Mart’s decision in the wake of the El Paso mass shooting to ask customers to not open carry. The grocery chain last Friday announced that it will now ask customers to do the same.…
Here’s the New Music Video From Cleveland’s Dark Water Rebellion
Local rockers Dark Water Rebellion have just released with a new music video release for their single “Chamensea.” The new video was written and directed by DWR frontman Brent Gorcie and was shot, produced and edited by local hero Ben Schigel of Spider Studios. The video features live footage of the band performing at one of…
Celebrate Friday the 13th Tonight at These Haunted Northeast Ohio Attractions
It’s still September — and still summer — but fans of the ghastly and ghoulish get to celebrate this Friday the 13th all the same. Tonight, under the glow of a full moon, some of Northeast Ohio’s favorite haunted attractions are opening for the season, of for one-night-only events, in honor of this unlucky date. Check them…
Is Red Tape Keeping Ohioans from Health Care Coverage?
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some researchers believe red tape might be behind the rising number of Ohioans without health-care coverage. New census data reveals Ohio’s uninsured rate edged up a half-percentage point between 2017 to 2018 to 6.5% – that’s about 58,000 more people without health coverage. Emily Campbell, associate director with The Center for Community…
Ski Fest Kickoff Party To Take Place at Buckeye Sports Center on Sept. 26
Anyone who loves winter sports will be happy to know that winter is just around the corner. With that in mind, a weekend-long Ski Fest will commence at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, at Buckeye Sports Center in Peninsula with a kickoff party that’ll include a fashion show featuring new winter ski and snowboard outerwear…
Newest Pro-HB6 Ad Falsely Says China is Buying Ohio Power Plants
[image-1] The pro-HB6 group pounding the airwaves and mailboxes of Ohioans with inflammatory and brazenly misleading ads claiming the Chinese are coming for and invading Ohio’s power grid has doubled down in its newest spot. “Now because of deregulation, foreign entities including China are pouring into Ohio buying power plants and infiltrating our power grid,”…
In Advance of His Upcoming Agora Show, Singer-Songwriter Mac DeMarco Talks About His Old School Approach
Mac DeMarco, who brings his stripped-down songs to the Agora on Thursday, Sept. 26, is one of the few millennials and musicians without an Instagram account. “I don’t need that shit in my life. It’s not cool; people believing their self-worth is quantified by a heart symbol. It’s just fucked up,” says the 29-year-old in…
Humble Pie and Glory Days — The A to Z Podcast With Andre Knott and Zac Jackson
Andre has been found! The guys pay tribute to Fred McLeod, share concerns about the Browns and talk a little baseball, too. Subscribe to A to Z on iTunes here or stream below.
Peace, Love & Little Donuts Opens Third Cleveland Location
Earlier today, the “experience-driven bakery” Peace, Love & Little Donuts opened a third Cleveland location in Crocker Park’s Comet Alley next to Hyatt Place Hotel. To commemorate the grand opening, the donut shop hosted a special ribbon-cutting ceremony. The bakery regularly has over 60 flavors in rotation and features daily “house favorites” plus seasonal specials…
Dave and Buster’s to Host a Harry Potter-Themed Fundraiser in October for A Special Wish Cleveland
Dave and Buster’s, A Special Wish Cleveland, and Brodies Good Vibe Tribe have teamed up to present the Festival That Must Not Be Named, a special Harry Potter-themed fundraiser that takes place from 9 a.m. to noon on Oct. 5. It’ll include a “world of wizardly staples,” including butter beer and a hat sorting station.…
Court Rules Lawsuit Against Ohio for Prohibiting Gender Changes on Birth Certificates Can Proceed
The lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Ohio and others last year against the state of Ohio over its policy that doesn’t allow someone to correct their gender on their birth certificate may proceed, a U.S. District Court ruled today. The state had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed. It is only one of two…
Frank Jackson Dons Authoritarian Garb to Deny Involvement in Grandson’s Investigation
Facing growing pressure and scorn from the local media, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson managed to enlist the services of cleveland.com reporter Bob Higgs to create a stunning piece of City Hall propaganda. It’s an interview between Jackson and Higgs, conducted Wednesday, Sept. 11 in the Mayor’s office. The interview was video recorded, edited — Higgs…
THE Ohio State University’s Trademark Application for the Word ‘The’ Has Been Denied
Accidentally refer to The Ohio State University simply as “Ohio State University” and you’ll instantly get corrected by one of the school’s thousands of fans and alumni walking around Cincinnati on the daily. And back in August, The Ohio State University filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to trademark its…
Upcoming Cleveland Art Exhibit Features the Concert T-Shirt Collection of Mary ‘Scary Mary’ Tomazic and Tom Dark
Three years ago, You Are What You Wear, an art exhibit that showcased the private collection of rare classic heavy metal T-shirts, came to the Derek Hess Gallery. The gallery will host a follow-up exhibit, You Are What You Wear 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. Married couple Tom Dark, a…
The 2019 Bacon and Bourbon Fest Takes Over the Flats This Weekend
Bourbon and bacon may be a match made in heaven. And at the 2019 Bourbon and Bacon Fest, hitting up the Flats East Bank on Saturday, those smoky and salty flavors are coming together for a free event. Attendees can taste up to 30 bourbons, which will be paired with specialty bacon dishes made by…
Jeezy Coming to the Agora in November
Earlier today, Grammy-nominated multi-platinum rap superstar Jeezy announced the dates of his TM104 fall tour. The 13-city jaunt includes a Nov. 13 date at the Agora Theatre. The tour supports the trap artist’s new album, TM 104: The Legend of the Snowman, the final album in his career-spanning Thug Motivation series. A limited number of…
What You Need to Know About This Weekend’s Chalk Festival at the Cleveland Museum of Art
Over the past 28 years, the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Chalk Festival has become one of the museum’s most highly anticipated community art events. This weekend, the event returns. It’s based on a Renaissance tradition from 16th-century Italy in which beggars copied paintings of the Madonna by Raphael and his contemporaries by using chalk on…
Around the Corner to Celebrate Its 45th Anniversary This Week
Around the Corner, one of Lakewood’s most popular watering holes, celebrates its 45th anniversary this weekend with a series of special events. The weekend-long party kicks off at 3 p.m. today with a free T-shirt giveaway to each guest who purchases food and drink. Tricky Dick takes the stage at 9 p.m. Tomorrow, the place…
King Crimson’s Tony Levin Talks About the Prog Rock Band’s 50th Anniversary Tour Coming to MGM Northfield Park
Earlier this year, prog rockers King Crimson embarked on a tour celebrating their 50th anniversary. Their goal — to play 50 shows on three different continents. While that might sound arduous, especially when you consider the band regularly delivers very intense three-hour performances, bassist Tony Levin says he’s thoroughly enjoying the trek. “It hasn’t been…
The Who’s Blossom Concert Proves the Rock Hall Inductees Remain a Force To Be Reckoned With
The Who released their first album 55 years ago. Their raw power, exquisite songwriting and larger-than-life stage presence made them one of the most influential bands of modern music. The vibe of legend was everywhere at Blossom last night as Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend were joined by a half a dozen band members and a…
Deposed Pastor Tom Randall Launching New Nonprofit, Advocates Call on Portman to Investigate
A group of advocates in greater Akron that has been pushing for accountability and transparency at Hudson’s Christ Community Chapel in the wake of an international sexual abuse scandal sent a letter last week to Rob Portman. They have asked that the Republican Senator from Ohio open an official investigation into deposed pastor Tom Randall…
10 Concerts to Catch in Cleveland This Weekend
FRIDAY, SEPT. 13 The Selecter — 40th Anniversary Tour/DJ Rhoda Dakar A British group that’s celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Selecter will play an extended, hit-rich set tonight that promises to feature a few “surprises” too. Pauline Black and original member Arthur “Gaps” Hendrickson lead the high- energy group. Notably, Black is one of very few women…
Browns Claim Man Who Wasn’t at Game Poured Beer on Titans Player, Ban Him From Stadium
Eric Smith was going about his morning at the Cleveland Music Group today when he got a call from Bob Sivik, the Cleveland Browns’ Vice President of Ticket Sales & Service. Sivik, Smith says, informed him that he had been identified as the fan who poured a beer on Titans’ player Logan Ryan during the Browns’…
Hordes of Dragonflies Are Showing Up On Cleveland Doppler Radar
The lapping shores of Lake Erie are a big bug hot spot, and this week it seems that dragonflies have taken over, even showing up on Cleveland-area Doppler radar (as these types of swarms are wont to do). While we are not biological experts, we have determined (through input from our followers) that it's most…
SNAP Changes: Latest Threat in Fight to End Hunger
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio already has a high rate of food insecurity, and during this Hunger Action Month, there are concerns it could become an even bigger problem if eligibility changes for SNAP benefits. An estimated 61,000 Ohioans could lose their food assistance if what is known as “categorical eligibility” is eliminated as proposed by…
Cannaday Chapman
By the time you read this, Cannaday Chapman will already be in Berlin where he’ll fulfill a long dream of living abroad for a year. A few days before he left, as he was still trying to unload furniture on Craigslist, deciding what he wanted to store at his parents’ house in Rochester, New York,…
Band of the Week: Raveena Aurora
MEET THE BAND: Raveena Aurora (vocals) A CUTURALLY RICH CHILDHOOD: R&B/indie pop singer Raveena Aurora grew up in Queens, New York, where her parents immigrated from India after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She was raised in a traditional Sikh household but still managed to absorb healthy doses of R&B, soul, jazz and folk music. OUTSPOKEN AND…
Gabi Mirelez
Sometimes late at night, when she has Netflix blaring and the darkness seeps in through the shop windows, she wonders why she continues with this work of pins and thread. Exhaustion wins out over the caffeine and she worries a dress or jacket won’t be done in time. “But then first thing the next day…
Savage Love: Open Wide
My roommate is a gay man who is into getting fisted. A lot. We were FWBs until he moved into my place, at which point we agreed it would be better for us to not have sex anymore. It’s worked out fine, and he’s been here for a year. Here’s the problem: About two years…
Jeannette Sorrell
It’s one thing to be nominated for a Grammy. It’s a whole other thing to win. At the Staples Center in Los Angeles in February, exhausted from travel and wearing a dress from a concert the night before, Jeannette Sorrell got to experience, much to her surprise, the latter as she heard the name Apollo’s Fire…
Julian Bruell
Like many kids growing up, Julian Bruell spent summers working at the family business. In his case, that business was Parallax, the Tremont restaurant that opened during his freshman year at Shaker Heights High. Instead of backpacking through Europe, dog-eared “Let’s Go” guidebook in hand, the straight-A student ran food, bussed tables, polished wine glasses…
Lydia Munnell
Now that she’s in charge of Brews and Prose, the free monthly literary series in the basement of Market Garden Brewery in Ohio City, Lydia Munnell is absolutely content to keep it running the same way it’s always run, for the same reason that she first fell in love with the series years ago. “I…
Lynn Tramonte
Cleveland Heights resident Lynn Tramonte has been sounding alarms on the injustices of the American immigration system for years, long before President Donald Trump’s militarized ICE units began rounding up families in the streets. When she moved from D.C. to Northeast Ohio, back in 2007, she began what today is called the Ohio Immigrant Alliance.…
Omar McKay
Omar McKay is perched on a stool at Stevenson’s Bar, where he’s picking at a plate of fried clams. It’s a Monday, so his restaurant, Irie Jamaican Kitchen, is closed, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to do. In just a few weeks, he will open a second outpost of his popular restaurant on…
Ricardo Leon
Ricardo Leon is the youngest CDC director in the city of Cleveland. At only 27, he’s a ball of energy and ambition. His curly jet-black hair and James-Harden-esque beard glisten in the summer heat at Cafe Social, a new coffee shop temporarily housed in the rear of Las Dos Fronteras Mexican restaurant. Cafe Social was…
Trinidad Snider
When her mother picked up stakes and moved her kids from the Bronx to Cleveland, Trinidad Snider, Near West Theatre’s talented new artistic director, admits it came of a bit as a culture shock. She was only 12 at the time. But Snider quickly acclimated and enrolled at the Cleveland School of the Performing Arts.…
Yvonka Hall
In 2015, Yvonka Hall was abruptly informed by former mayor Michael White that her professional services were being terminated. Hall was working as an assistant for White at the time as part of a local leadership initiative. But after she’d organized a community meeting in response to the 2014 DOJ report about police brutality, White…
Get Out: Everything You Should Be Doing in Cleveland This Week (Sept. 11-17)
WED 09/11 Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is a weekly series that pairs fine food with storytelling. Through it, the folks at Music Box Supper Club hope to raise awareness of the mission of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Cleveland History Center. The goal is to “bring to life some of the…
Dobama Soars With Delightfully Daring ‘Stupid F**king Bird’
The inaugural production of Dobama’s 60th season is a perfect fit for the theater’s experimental, risk-taking approach of Off-Broadway entertainment, and those arriving for this production of Aaron Posner’s acclaimed Stupid F**king Bird should expect to leave with laughs, shock, some sorrow and a twinge of bewilderment: in essence, everything that makes contemporary theater so…
Official Secrets Dramatizes Story of British Whistleblower Katharine Gun
South African actor-director Gavin Hood most recently helmed 2015’s Eye in the Sky, a taut fictionalization of modern warfare and its fraught moral landscape. The characters in that film were military personnel grappling with complications in a proposed drone strike. It was an edge-of-your-seat political drama. The characters in Official Secrets, Hood’s latest film, which…
Meet the People of the 2019 Cleveland People Issue
There are but two qualifications to merit inclusion in our annual People issue. One, you’re a Clevelander (or, more generally, a Northeast Ohioan). And two, you’re a good person doing good things in the city. That’s it. Which doesn’t help us narrow down the list, of course, because this damn fine city is overflowing with…
New Documentary ‘Linda Ronstadt — The Sound of My Voice’ Touches All the Right Notes
In the past year or so, a slew of terrific but unrelated music documentaries (David Crosby: Remember My Name, Echo in the Canyon) have captured what Los Angeles was like the ’60s. Add to the list Linda Ronstadt — The Sound of My Voice, a well-researched, touching film about how Ronstadt fought great odds to become…
Anthony LaMarca
Known for his role as guitarist in the indie rock act the War on Drugs and as the drummer in St. Vincent and Dean & Britta, multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Anthony LaMarca has recently embraced his Youngstown roots. He grew up there before moving to New York to study music. Two years ago, he came back to Youngstown…
At Choukouya, a Taste of West Africa in Warrensville Heights
I spent much of my time at Choukouya restaurant struggling to learn about the cuisine. Over the course of two dinners I peppered our servers with questions, probed nearby diners about their selections, typed menu items into Google and even asked to speak with the chefs, owners or whomever it was doing the cooking in…
Adam Miller
Adam Miller still listens to the Today Show on the radio every morning as he commutes to work from the eastside suburbs. The Orange native was a producer at Today for nearly a decade, having lucked into an internship with the Beijing Olympics team in 2008. And while he worked at the show and lived…
Cleveland’s Samantha Bias Creates Powerful Portraits Directly on Leaves
It used to be standard etiquette that an artist would send out a press release in order to present new and exciting exhibitions or ideas that they were working on. These are the days of social media, however, and in a matter of an afternoon one can easily fall into the rabbit hole and stumble…
