Piecing Together The Past Lee Chilcote In 1941, the federal government paid artist Elmer Brown to paint murals depicting the men and women who built our city. Years of neglect and countless hours of restoration later, the Depression-era artwork will soon get a second life inside Cleveland State University’s new student center.
Polo Act Beth Troy Trade the horse for a bike and the mallet for a modified ski pole and you’ve got an idea what the Pedal Republik of Cleveland is all about. Two matches and one bloody thumb later, our writer discovers why the regulars keep coming back.
Fishing for Answers Kelly Petryszyn Maybe asking a 77-year-old environmental reporter to squeeze through a fence and navigate uncut grass in the Flats was a bit much to ask, but Betty Klaric just shrugged: Lead the way. Klaric is considered the first major newspaper reporter to cover the environment exclusively. She took on the beat forThe Cleveland Press in 1965. So we set out with fishing pole and night crawlers in hand to get her thoughts on how the Cuyahoga has changed.
Grand Old Homes (Continued) Colleen Mytnick These are the homes you drive by in wonder. Because you know there’s a story —many stories, actually — inside those walls. And you know there will be details that will delight you. Not a basketball court or a home spa — those belong to the flashier folks and their new construction. But lots of flourishes, from the balusters to the mantels, each of which as treated like a work of art by the owners and artisans who created it decades ago. It was a time when Cleveland was loaded with cash and the wealthy were eager to spend it on their estates. Discover the joys of Northeast Ohio’s top 200 homes built before 1940.
Guitar Zero Dave "Coondog" O'Karma Can a 53-year-old with no musical experience live out his rock ’n’ roll dream? With a little help from an over-the-hill keyboardist, a 10-year-old drummer and rocker Sonny Geraci, our writer makes one last grab for greatness.
Mr. Clean Beth Stallings Roughly 90 percent of beer is water, so it’s easy to understand why the co-owner of Great Lakes Brewing Co., Pat Conway, is obsessed with making sure it’s clean. Conway, a water preservation advocate, hosts the Burning River Fest, an environmental festival. His goal is to end the question brewery-goers occasionally ask when they see Burning River Pale Ale on the menu: Is the water that went into the beer safe to drink?
Our Fire Inside We asked 11 Clevelanders how they think the fire has changed the city’s view of itself. Here are their tales of shame and perverse Cleveland pride.
Smoke Damage by Mark Winegardner Let’s clear the air: Hack comedians, bad timing and a healthy dose of myth set our river fire loose on the nation. Forty years later, we’re taking it back.
The Trailblazer Erick Trickey Louis Stokes was a freshman congressman representing Cleveland in June 1969 when the Cuyahoga River caught fire for the last time. In 1970, he convinced Congress to approve an innovative program to clean up the river: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was authorized to remove debris and dredge the riverbed and banks to improve water quality and protect fish and wildlife. Two years later, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, the main environmental law protecting rivers and lakes from pollution.
Form and Function Lynne Thompson A down economy and elective dentistry isn’t the best mix. But Cleveland-area doctors are reporting both structural fixes and affordable, aesthetic upgrades among their top picks for what's popular now.
What's Hot Now Lynne Thompson It was a tough 2008 for the cosmetic surgery industry, with the overall number of procedures seeing the first double-digit percentage drop in a decade. But a growing interest in smaller, more affordable options and a tough job market in which people are seeking any advantage has helped the industry in '09.
Time & Again Michael D. Roberts Our writer travels back to his childhood in Cleveland’s Cedar-Central Apartments, one of America’s first public housing projects.
Built to Order Kristen Hampshire Though it’s a down economy, Northeast Ohioans are looking carefully at details when sculpting the homes in which they dream of spending the rest of their lives.
Dropping 350 Pounds and a Dream Erica Jacobson During the summer of 1956, Akron native Peter George prepared to defend his Olympic gold medal in weightlifting. But one heft at a Honolulu high school changed the 27-year-old Army Dental Corps captain’s world.
