In an article titled "Rust Belt Cities and the New Urban Agrarianism," Huffington Post writer Aaron Bartley states, “Cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Buffalo have shown special promise as sites of food production. By melding a critical analysis of the corporate food chain with innovative and resourceful community-based production techniques, grassroots groups in these cities have reclaimed large swaths of vacant land for a range of urban agricultural e... Read more >

“It won't be easy or cheap, but creating a new bus rapid transit system could help metro Detroit restore reliability to public transportation, attract new riders and spur economic redevelopment,” writes Matt Helms of the Detroit Free Press, in regards to the city’s public transportation concerns.
 
Helms writes that "Cleveland -- a Rust Belt city like Detroit that many had written off -- has seen $4.3 billion in economic expansion along its ... Read more >

Citing a recently released study, CBS News reports that Ohio stands to gain $4.9 billion and 65,000 new jobs from shale drilling.
 
Led by a team of economics, energy and geology experts from Cleveland State University, Ohio State University and Marietta College's Department of Petroleum, the study looked at the probable economic gains that would come from the controversial practice of "fracking" -- hydraulic fracturing.
 
"By 2014, abo... Read more >

Just as every chef clears his or her schedule to attend the annual South Beach Wine and Food Festival (they don't call it Spring Break for chefs for nothing), so too do members of the media, all promising to swap ink for access.
 
It's no surprise then that media outlets from all across the nation gladly trumpeted news of Cleveland chef Michael Symon's win at the annual Burger Bash. Besting chefs from around the globe, Symon claimed top honors for an unpre... Read more >

Celebrity chef and Cleveland native Michael Symon is expanding his culinary empire once again with the opening of his fifth B Spot location, inside the city’s soon-to-open Horseshoe Casino, according to a PR Newswire press release on the Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch.
 
In addition to his B Spot -- a gourmet burger bar -- concept, Symon operates the acclaimed Lolita in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, his flagship Lola on E. 4th Street, and Roa... Read more >

Groups such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Bill Haley and the Comets are known and loved throughout the music world. Up until now, just the frontmen are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Earlier this year, the Rock Hall announced it would induct the backup groups for six previous solo inductees, according to a story by David Hinckley of the New York Daily News.
 
The six groups include the Famous Flames, who backed 1986 inductee James Brown; the Crickets... Read more >

The Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, half owned by Caesars Entertainment Corp., is scheduled to open the week of May 14, 2012, according to an article written by Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
 
The Casino will feature 2,100 slot machines, 65 table games including a World Series of Poker-themed room, as well as several restaurants, such as Corky & Lenny’s Deli and Michael Symon’s B Spot.
 
Caesars, along with Ohio developer Rock ... Read more >

Chef Rocco Whalen of Tremont’s Fahrenheit restaurant continues to get national praise not just for his weight loss efforts on Food Network’s "Fat Chef," but also for his food.  Lou Harry of the Indiana Business Journal listed the chef's Nuekse’s Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Chorizo among his favorite dishes at the popular Taste of the NFL event.
 
"Nuekse's Bacon Wrapped Dates Stuff with Chorizo courtesy of Rocco Whalen, chef ... Read more >

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine neuroscientist Gary Landreth and colleagues reported Thursday that bexarotene quickly cleared away beta-amyloid plaque, believed to cause the cognitive deficits of Alzheimer's disease, from the brains of genetically engineered mice, reports the Los Angeles Times.
 
While this is undeniably an exciting breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research, it is important to realize that even in the best-case scenario, u... Read more >

Ervin Dyer writes for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that, "In Cleveland, my goal was to walk where [Langston Hughes] walked and uncover Hughes' connection to this grand American city."

In this lengthy feature, she does just that.
 
"Born 110 years ago, the poet laureate of black Americans is indelibly linked with Harlem," she writes. But Hughes' literary sense was shaped in Pittsburgh's mirror city on Lake Erie.
 
La... Read more >

There is no denying that Rocco Whalen, chef-owner of Fahrenheit in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, is one of the most beloved people in Cleveland. His warm personality and outgoing demeanor still could not hide the fact he was morbidly obese.

While the mainstream media depicts the modern chef as a healthy tattooed rock star, in many kitchens across the country and in Cleveland, chefs often battle with their weight due to “tasting” during the day and lar... Read more >

There once was a time when Cleveland’s Galleria at Erieview was a bustling shopping mall. These days it is closed on the weekends and is down to just a handful of retailers, food vendors, and a couple of businesses according to a recent article in The New York Times.
 
The article lauds efforts by the Galleria's director of marketing, Vicky Poole, to utilize existing unused space to benefit the greater good, planting herbs in retail carts and small plots let... Read more >

In a recent article by The L Magazine, a New York publication devoted to all things local, Cleveland's Melt Bar & Grilled gets huge props.
 
In this fun feature titled "Ten Restaurants Brooklyn is Desperately Missing," writer and (I assume) Brooklyn resident Kara Zuaro dreams up a wish list of new establishments for her neighborhood. Plucked from locales near and far, indie hot spots like Cleveland's Melt and Columbus-based Jeni's Splend... Read more >

The Euclid Avenue Church of God and the former Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration continue to draw national attention in the absence of a congregation and money for general operations. This article in the Huffington Post is the most recent example.
 
The Cleveland Restoration Society desires to keep the landmarks in tact while the Cleveland Clinic would love to use the land for continued expansion. Unfortunately, the Clinic has no use for the churches but has off... Read more >

The movie "Fun Size," directed by Josh Schwartz and staring Victoria Justice, Johnny Knoxville, and Chelsea Handler, is set to release on October 12, 2012.
 
Filmed on location at Boulevard Elementary School, Coventry Food Mart, and the Coventry Road Business District in Shaker Heights, this film about a teen girl who loses her little brother on Halloween and her desperate attempt to track him down is reminiscent of John Hughes-style hits according to The Ne... Read more >

USA Today's popular PopCandy blog recently ran a round-up of Cleveland's most compelling attractions. Titled "The Pop Traveler: 11 Reasons to Visit Cleveland," the regular feature gives insiders a chance to name their city's top pop-culture hot spots.
 
In the article, which begins "Eleven ways that Cleveland rocks," a writer who goes by the pseudonym Big Business ticks of his (or her?) favorite finds.
 
Michael Symon resta... Read more >

Cleveland has been selected as one of 15 cities where America’s Navy will “come home” in 2012, giving area residents an opportunity to meet Sailors and learn about the Navy’s capabilities and relevance to national security.
 
Navy Weeks are designed to educate Americans on the importance of Naval service, understand the investment they make in their Navy, and to increase awareness in cities which might not otherwise see the Navy at work on a re... Read more >

TEDxCLE 2012 will be held on Friday, April 20th, 2012.

TEDxCLE is an annual forum that gathers the region’s big thinkers to "share ideas worth spreading." Organizers -- and recent "brain gains" -- Hallie Bram and Eric Kogelschatz seek to change the perceptions of people who live here as well as those outside the region by sharing stories of success, innovation and inspiration.

TED is a New York-based, international nonprofit whose missio... Read more >

Cleveland bars scored a hat trick on DRAFT magazine’s "100 Best Beer Bars" list for 2012.

Lakewood’s local-brew institution the Buckeye Beer Engine was lauded for its ever-expanding beer list and “topnotch burger menu [that] keeps things interesting with wacky specials like the Xmas Dinner: a patty piled high with ham and sweet potatoes."

Oft-awarded Ohio City staple McNulty’s Bier Markt made the ranks not only for its Belgi... Read more >

Great Lakes Brewing Company's Blackout Stout, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter and Christmas Ale all claimed medals at this year's World Beer Championships, conducted by the Beverage Testing Institute of Chicago and considered one of the top beer judging events in the craft beer industry.
 
Edmund Fitzgerald, available year-round, scored 93 points for a rating of “Exceptional,” earning the brew a gold medal in the “Porter” category.
 <... Read more >