Morning News: Third mayoral debate yields few surprises; infant mortality rate twice as high for black babies in Hamilton County; beware hippo scams
Good morning Cincy! It’s news time. Cincinnati’s three mayoral primary contenders squared off last night for a debate hosted by WCPO. They talked about… get ready for it… the streetcar. I for one am glad that we as a city are finally having a frank, no-holds-barred conversation about this often-ignored topic. All sarcasm aside, the…
Stage Door: ETC offers Irish fare, Cincy Shakes stages a classic and the Playhouse presents a world premiere
I’m out of town this weekend, taking in the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville. It’s always an exciting opportunity to see a half-dozen new works, many of which could end up on Cincinnati stages — for instance, last year’s This Random World by Steven Dietz has been selected by…
Noon News: Deters: Cameo shooting started as neighborhood feud; immigrant with work visa detained in Butler County; this map shows the age of nearly every Cincinnati building
Good morning all. Here’s some news today. The Cameo Nightclub shooting started as a feud between two rival factions from Price Hill and Madisonville, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said yesterday in a news conference. Deters said that suspect Cornel Beckley was the first to begin firing into the crowd from an elevated location inside…
Your Weekend To Do List (April 7-9)
FRIDAY 07 ONSTAGE: EVACUATED Erika Kate MacDonald was a strange girl in a strange land in 1998 as an exchange student in Jakarta, Indonesia. When the city erupted in riots triggered by food shortages and student unrest, more than 1,000 people died. She had to make a hurried, chaotic departure dodging tanks and gunfire. Her…
Morning News: New info on Cameo shooting; Richardson plans final push for name recognition ahead of primary; Ohio Democrats say party should swing conservative, focus on economics
Good morning all. Here’s the news today. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters released new information about the Cameo Nightclub shooting at 11 a.m. this morning. Deters says charges against Deondre Davis, who was a suspect in the shooting, are being dropped because he died in the hospital Tuesday. The other shooting suspect, Cornell Beckley, now…
Back from hiatus with a vengeance, heavy Cincy rockers Mangrenade unleash ‘Severed Part Two’
It’s been almost three years since Cincinnati’s Mangrenade released its third EP, Severed Part One, and went on hiatus. The release marked a defining transition from the then trio’s cocky Rock & Roll roots into a much heavier and abrasive style of Rock and Metal fusion. Nick Thieme (vocals/guitar) and Ben Morgan (vocals/guitar) have always…
Even Conservative Media Turning on Trump
Media magnate Rupert Murdoch — whose sleazy Australian and British tabloid journalism informs his creation and ownership of the Fox News Channel — is courted by politicians worldwide. They crave his support but fear his opposition even more. Trump was not immune. So far, however, Murdoch has not debased his Wall Street Journal as he has cable…
What a Week! March 29-April 4
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29 Everyone knows Comic Sans is the worst font there is. The childlike text popularized by Beanie Babies and family newsletters was mocked by designer types for years before it became common knowledge that the font is to be avoided at all costs, especially in the professional world. Use Comic Sans in a…
Is ‘Trial & Error’ the New ‘Parks & Rec’?
Television audiences are constantly barraged with headlines about new shows that promise to fill the void of old or discontinued favorites: Parks and Recreation is the new Office; Girls is the new Sex and the City; Orange Is the New Black (just kidding). On one hand, certain shows definitely share similarities — some forget Parks and Rec was originally intended to serve as an Office spinoff — but…
A ‘Raw’ Coming of Age
Justine (Garance Marillier) is a typical second child — doted on by her loving parents (Laurent Lucas and Joana Preiss) and envied by her older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf). Following the family line, Justine enrolls in school to become a veterinarian. As a legacy kid, she must endure a carnivorous hazing ritual visited upon all…
Trump gives Lewis Black plenty to rage about
“I was wandering around the country and saw that there are people out there that are really angry about shit,” says comedian Lewis Black, who brings his Rant, White, and Blue tour to the Taft Theatre this Thursday. “And I wondered, ‘What are they so angry about?’ It’s because nobody was paying attention to them. They…
Class Warfare at a Repair Shop
John Pollono’s 2013 script, Small Engine Repair, will remind many theatergoers of David Mamet’s terse, staccato plays, replete with macho male behavior, crude language and dark humor. But the play, produced by Clifton Players and Untethered Theater, strikes a resonant chord in 2017 with a trio of blue-collar guys weary of being pushed aside by…
Teletubbies in a World of Angst
To me, Teletubbies rates with the greatest of TV series. More cyphers than fully developed personalities, the four Teletubbies are sort of alien-like teddy bears with antennae protruding from their heads. They are minimalist creations, smiling and waddling, muttering “uh-oh” at everything, and emitting unencumbered happiness in a landscape as minimalist yet inviting as they are. …
Kentucky Symphony to perform the first screening of restored film ‘Amadeus’ in the Midwest
On Friday and Saturday, Greaves Concert Hall at Northern Kentucky University will play home to a live orchestra screening of the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus. The Kentucky Symphony Orchestra’s presentation will be only the second symphonic screening of the film in the United States, after Eugene, Ore. It premiered in London last October. After this…
Buzzed Bull Creamery: Dessert and Drinks in One
As swimsuit season rapidly approaches, you may be thinking to yourself, “Wouldn’t it be nice if Cincinnati acquired the world’s first alcoholic liquid nitrogen creamery, complete with made-to-order 5 percent alcohol-by-volume frozen desserts?” If you’re hoping to spend the summer sipping on/eating alcohol ice cream, you’re in luck, because the Buzzed Bull Creamery is slated…
The Mysterious Case of the Sloth and the Bakery
A sloth, a bakery and a bike. Can you guess what they have in common? If you said they all have something to do with Over-the-Rhine’s newest artisan bread spot, Alléz Bakery, you’d be correct. Also, you should buy a lottery ticket. The white-tile and natural wood storefront at 1208 Main St. opened March 14 right…
The Reds’ Forgotten Role in Integrating Major League Baseball
When it comes to the history of ending racial segregation in Major League Baseball, the Cincinnati Reds would appear to have an unexceptional past. When the Reds brought two Latino players into Major League Baseball in 1911, they were light-skinned Cubans. As a 1984 article on Cuban baseball by Bruce Brown in The Atlantic pointed out, the…
Sound Advice: Brandy Clark with Charlie Worsham (April 7)
Country singer/songwriter Brandy Clark self-released her first EP five years ago, and has since recorded a pair of acclaimed albums, 2013’s 12 Stories, which placed high on many critics’ year-end lists, and last year’s Big Day in a Small Town, which hit the top 10 of Billboard’s Country chart. That slender discography, which includes five singles…
Sound Advice: Miles Nielsen & The Rusted Hearts with The Newbees (April 7)
Singer/songwriter Miles Nielsen may well be the scion of Cheap Trick six-stringer and Pop/Rock legend Rick Nielsen, but don’t imagine that the son has any affinity for his father’s night-of-a-thousand-guitars-and-baseball-caps shtick. Miles Nielsen is very much his own artist and has offered conclusive proof on a number of releases, from his 2009 star-studded debut, Miles,…
Sound Advice: Casper Skulls with Flea Bite, Sweet Lil, Crime of Passing and Sky Hank (April 8)
If you’re a fan of Indie Rock and all of the music that led to it and you haven’t heard about the Canadian quartet Casper Skulls, it’s time to fix that. You will not be disappointed. Upon its debut, the band immediately caused a stir in its Toronto hometown, hooking up with the city’s well-regarded…
Outdoor Music Returns with the Warm Weather
The outdoor concert season doesn’t truly get started for another couple of months. But with hints of warmer weather arriving, a couple of outdoor music series have launched for the springtime. • The saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers,” but last year, the Cincinnati Zoo’s great weekly Tunes & Blooms local music series was derailed…
Cincinnati Industrial duo Relic has quickly gained a foothold in the local scene
Walking into the living space of Relic’s Jordan Davis and Dan Dickerscheid, the Cincinnati band’s Industrial-style Electronic music is made corporeal. Housed in an old factory, the building has steep steps, low ceilings, concrete and old tools strewn about, plus dirt, grime and at least three angry poltergeists gunning for revenge Dickerhscheid’s room features a…
Sheriff Richard Jones’ ramped-up rhetoric is sparking increased fear among Butler County immigrants
Butler County is home to thousands of Hispanic residents and an unknown number of undocumented immigrants whose family and friends feared the worst after President Donald Trump was elected on promises to clamp down on immigration. After all, their county is also home to Sheriff Richard “Rick” Jones, a staunch Trump supporter known nationally for…
