Last Saturday, July 23, Shaker LaunchHouse and Ohio Homecoming hosted the largest gathering of Ohio entrepreneurs and innovators of its kind at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Great Lakes Science Center. The 6ixth City Tech Fest is designed to promote and celebrate the region's hottest entrepreneurs.

"We had 200 people and 26 of the fastest growing start-up companies," says Todd Goldstein, LaunchHouse partner in charge of finance and operations. "It was ... Read more >

MedWorks' first-ever vision-only clinic at Quicken Loans Arena last Wednesday proved to be quite successful. So much so that it also illustrated the need for more free or affordable vision care in the area. "We served over 900 people with exams or glasses," says MedWorks office manager Alyson Andrassy. "We anticipated up to 800 people. We had to turn away 500 people." Optometrists, opticians and ophthalmologists from all over Ohio volunteered their time, while the equipment for ... Read more >

In American culture, automobiles have long symbolized personal freedom. But present-day bike advocates say the exact opposite is true: Rather than create a sense of giddy liberty, cars foster feelings of isolation and enclosure. For that reason and more -- environmental concerns, high gas prices, the desire for a healthier lifestyle -- more people are opting to go "car-light" and "car-free."

As a corporate attorney, Candace Klein has worked with a lot of women who own businesses. She saw many of her clients struggling to stay afloat -- maxing out personal credit cards and mixing personal and business accounts to make ends meet. "My heart went out to them," she recalls. She began researching alternative financing options and discovered a hard truth: Women have a harder time getting financing for companies than men. So Klein decided to do something about it. In 2010, ... Read more >

Gateway Animal Clinic, a Tremont pet hospital that is known for accepting four-legged patients regardless of their owners' ability to pay, has relocated to a new, larger facility across the street from its original Abbey Road location.

Gateway's old home was torn down this year to make way for the Innerbelt bridge project, which is now under construction. Although Dr. Brian Forsgren, who founded the clinic 12 years ago, scoured the city for prime real estate, he ultimate... Read more >

With months-long waiting lists for many downtown apartments, it's clear that Cleveland is attracting plenty of new residents. But some aren't "new" at all. Boomerangs, native Clevelanders who've left and returned, claim a host of reasons for their homecoming. What they often find upon arrival is a city far different from the one they left behind.

For more than a year, advocates of multi-modal transportation have lobbied the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to add bike and pedestrian lanes to the new Innerbelt bridge. They lost that fight, yet ODOT agreed to fund a $6 million renovation of the Lorain-Carnegie bridge.

That project, scheduled to be completed next fall, will add a broad, multi-use path on the north side and narrow intersections so they can be crossed more easily. It will also narrow driving l... Read more >

When asked why he decided to open his custom-engraved baseball bat store, Johnnyville Slugger, on W. 25th Street in Ohio City, owner Johnny Smatana naturally employed a sports metaphor.

"If you go to the Yankees and bat .280, they'll hate you," he says. "If you go to a little place where you can do some good, they'll still like you."

Smatana, whose career includes a stint playing football for the Miami Hurricanes and 27 years moving freight for Estes Forwarding ... Read more >

Over the past year, more than $48,000 has been invested in energy audits and "green" retrofits for merchants along Buckeye Road on Cleveland's East Side.

According to Deepa Vedavyas, Associate Director for Development at Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC), this is just the beginning. She hopes to see Buckeye Road merchants become the first "green-certified retail district" in Cleveland.

"We're using this as a learning opportunity, and encouraging them no... Read more >

January of last year, a natural gas explosion ripped through a vacant house on W. 83rd Street in Cleveland, destroying the home, damaging 57 others, and displacing at least 15 families.

Ultimately, investigators determined that the devastating eruption was caused by a gas main that hadn't been shut off at the street. This prompted neighbors and city officials to wonder if many of Cleveland's vacant and abandoned homes aren't ticking time bombs, waiting to explode under t... Read more >

It's been several years since I relocated from Florida to Cleveland. And truth is, I was hesitant to claim myself a queer in the Midwest, especially in Ohio, which earned a reputation for its lack of acceptance. What I discovered, however, was a gay oasis on the North Coast. Here, I have the option of frequenting the large variety of LGBT-owned businesses exclusively -- but I don't have to. To me, that's the most accurate meaning of the phrase "queer-friendly."

Some 300 young professionals and interns from 26 local businesses and organizations volunteered their time at this year's Business Volunteers Unlimited's (BVU) Summer of Service event on July 20. The number is a large increase from last year, when 199 volunteered. The volunteers planted urban gardens, organized medical donations for humanitarian aid shipments, painted shelters, interacted with seniors and more at 17 local nonprofit organizations.

BVU's mission is to link ... Read more >

Cleveland Kings and Girls, a six-year-old outfit that performs regularly at Bounce Nightclub, features an eclectic troupe of performers that includes drag kings, drag queens, trans kings and bio-boys and girls. Fresh Water photographer Bob Perkoski takes us on a risk-free sneak peek. Consider your two-drink minimum waived.