Waterloo & Collinwood
For many Clevelanders, memories of bygone E. 185th St. conjure up visions of its epic annual street festival, movies at the La Salle, and bike rides down to the lake. Debra Drobnick is no exception. Born and raised in Euclid, Drobnick has fond recollections of growing up just one street away, so it's rather poetic that she's now a vital part of the street's renaissance as one of the forces behind uber-popular Irie Jamaican Kitchen.
With 20 cities in the running, Cleveland’s chances of becoming the next Say Yes to Education chapter—and only the fourth in the country to receive the distinction—were just a paltry five percent. Yet according to Say Yes founder George Weiss, it was no contest.
Fresh Water's monthly "Free Stamp" feature rounds up the freshest free events in Cleveland.
It's easy to assume that with fewer bicyclists on the roads Bike Cleveland might slow down when the temperature drops. In fact, the cycling advocacy group is in the midst of a busy month with its 2018 Strategic Summit and Cranksgiving Cleveland events.
If PRE4CLE’s annual report is any indication, the road to kindergarten readiness for Cleveland youth is getting a lot smoother. Released yesterday, the report touted a 110 percent increase in the number of high-quality preschool programs in Cleveland since July 2016—a big jump from the organization’s original goal of a 30 percent increase during that time period.
This week, 2,300 energy professionals flocked to Cleveland’s convention center for the Department of Energy's Better Buildings Summit. In honor of the Summit setting up shop in Cleveland, FreshWater has compiled a list highlighting some of our city’s most compelling eco-friendly buildings. From a green-minded school to a sustainable brewery to an energy-efficient steel mill, these seven projects are shining examples of Cleveland’s commitment to going green.
In 2016, Collinwood-based A Jubilee Academy carried a two-star Step Up to Quality rating—not high enough to be considered high-quality by the state. Two years later, A Jubilee Academy is the only five-star SUTQ center in the Collinwood area. Students participate in cooking classes, music education, and also study Mandarin twice a week. Children have individual cubbies instead of sharing them. Preschool enrollment has doubled, and a new classroom will open in the fall. So what made the difference? An intense 90-day Accelerated Quality Improvement Model (AQIM) program.
Just a few months ago, Give Box CLE was an idea. Now, six of the Little Free Library-style boxes are painted and ready to be installed throughout Cleveland’s East Side neighborhoods—but instead of books, they offer non-perishable goods, personal care items, toiletries, and other daily necessities.
More than 100 gatherings took place yesterday as part of Cleveland Foundation’s second annual Common Ground event—a series of meaningful community conversations across Cuyahoga, Lake, and Geauga counties. FreshWater Cleveland was honored to host its own installment: “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” Hosted at the Baseball Heritage Museum, the conversation was geared at connecting with neighborhood changemakers and helping bring their stories to the forefront.
On Saturday, Praxis Fiber Workshop welcomed local volunteers to help with the inaugural planting of a new natural dye garden at its Collinwood-based facility. The quarter-acre garden will eventually consist mainly of 3,000 indigo plants, says Praxis executive director Jessica Pinsky. Although it looks like basil while growing, the plant is most commonly used as a natural—and less polluting—way to dye blue denim.
Warm, sunny weather has finally arrived in Northeast Ohio, and folks are eager to shake off those winter blues. Clevelanders know how to take advantage of the summer months like no other, and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture meets that need with a wide range of outdoor activities offered by their grantees.
Fresh Water's monthly "Free Stamp" feature rounds up the freshest free events in Cleveland.
Three years in the making, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) is ready to release its Progress Index to the public. Aimed at fostering inclusive Cleveland communities of choice and opportunity, the Index had previously been available to Cleveland’s 31 community development corporations (CDCs), who helped test and fine-tune the tool.
Alex Wittenberg loves a good cup of coffee. So much so, he envisions a world where Cleveland’s coffee shop patrons share their love by buying their neighbor—whether it’s a friend, the next guy in line, or even an unknown stranger—a cup of joe. To that end, Wittenberg, along with co-founders Sebastian Thimmig, Adam Fishburn, and Edward Liu, have created CoffeeQ, an online app that allows users to do just that.
Following in the footsteps of FirstEnergy Stadium, the Cleveland Indians, and JACK Cleveland Casino, the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland has implemented a large-scale food waste recycling system known as Grind2Energy—becoming the first and only convention center in the country to do so.
It's the most wonderful time of the year...for foodies. Cleveland Restaurant Week kicks off today with more than 50 restaurants on board stretching as far as Sandusky, Twinsburg, and Akron, but mostly located in the 216.
Participating restaurants are offering three-course prix fixe menus for $33 (not including tax and gratuity). The name is a bit of a misnomer since the event actually goes on for two weeks (November 1-15), but all the better to try all six dishes on this list—and then some.
Participating restaurants are offering three-course prix fixe menus for $33 (not including tax and gratuity). The name is a bit of a misnomer since the event actually goes on for two weeks (November 1-15), but all the better to try all six dishes on this list—and then some.
In an Almost Famous–like plot twist, Danielle Romanowski almost never made it to Cleveland—but she's so glad she did.
After deciding to relocate from Los Angeles to Cleveland earlier this year, the Florida-born musician hit the road with her band, Dark Water Rebellion, for a tour-slash-cross-country-move in August. On a day off in Montana, the band ventured to a remote ghost town, but almost didn't live to tell the tale.
"We were coming back down a mountain road when our tour bus lost its brakes and crashed," shares Romanowski.
Though no one was hurt, the accident certainly put a cramp in the band's touring style—as the bus had been not only their mobile home, but also their recording studio. "We had to cancel our tour, pack our stuff into a U-Haul, and drive it the rest of the way," says Romanowski. "It was definitely an adventure just to get out here."
Find out how Romanowski plans to continue the adventure in Cleveland here.
As CAC enters its second decade, the organization is taking an in-depth look at how it invests nearly $15 million annually to make Cuyahoga County a more vibrant place to work, live, and play.
Fresh Water scoured the city in search of public art. It didn't take us long to find five new public art installments that add a little character and color to the skyline. Check them out here.
There's a whole campaign underway to bring the Forest City back to life. Here's the story of the foot soldiers in that effort—trees raised to green up our urban neighborhoods.