Aug 10-17, 2016
The Sweet-Seeker’s Guide to the Donut Trial: Every stop and can’t-miss treat along the Butler County Donut Trail
Minimum Gauge: With world problems solved, POTUS and Veep drop summer playlists
HOT: POTUS and Veep Summer Tunes If you need reaffirmation of the generational gap that separates our current president and vice president, look no further than their recently released playlists of songs they like to jam out to in the hot season (because nothing else is happening in the world, right?). While the president’s list…
Concerts & Clubs Calendar (Aug. 17-23)
Wednesday 17 Arnold’s Bar and Grill – Todd Hepburn. 7 p.m. Blues/Jazz/Various. Free. Bella Luna – RMS Band. 7 p.m. Soft Rock/Jazz. Free. Blind Lemon – Dave Hawkins. 8:30 p.m. Celtic/Folk. Free. Century Inn Restaurant – Paul Lake. 7 p.m. Pop/Rock/Jazz/Oldies/Various. Free. Esquire Theatre – Live n’ Local with Boutique. 7 p.m. Pop/Standards. $5. Fountain…
Morning News: Multiple complaints over pay raise ordinance; FOP asks for more money to wear body cams; Ky. Dems decry perceived Bevin overreach
Hey all. It never fails — you take one day off work to help a friend move and everyone in the city decides to do something newsworthy. We’ll dive right in in just a second. But before we do, I have a little gift for you, my beloved readers. Especially you Blink 182 fans. You’re…
Why Yvette Simpson Wants to be Mayor
Earlier this week, two-term Cincinnati City Councilwoman Yvette Simpson announced her candidacy for mayor, opposing Mayor John Cranley in the 2017 Democratic primary. CityBeat sat down with her to talk about the upcoming campaign, her ideas on policy, areas where she agrees with Cranley and her ideal meeting (hint: it involves donuts, coffee, and conversation…
Federal judge blocks Ohio law defunding Planned Parenthood
A federal court today blocked an Ohio law passed by pro-life state legislators that stripped the state’s Planned Parenthood clinics of funding used for reproductive health and other services. Judge Michael R. Barrett of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court in Cincinnati granted a permanent injunction sought by the health care provider against an Ohio law…
Morning News: Mallory’s Facebook post makes news; national attention for Trump’s Cincinnati efforts; ECOT sues state again
Happy Friday Cincy. Let’s keep it short and sweet today so we can go out and enjoy the scorching hot ball of gas that threatens to burn us all sunshine. First I want to start you out with the most substantive and important of all news — vague Facebook drama, specifically Facebook drama that may…
Stage Door: Rock, musical and literary classics, as well as some new works
I was disappointed by a recent ho-hum performance at the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater, but the third and final entry in its 2016 Summer Classics season, Kander's and Ebb’s Chicago, hearkens back to the engaging productions that sold out performances during the theater’s debut season last year. That’s largely thanks to a pair of bravura…
Morning News: FOP questions body camera policies; Portman pulls ahead in Senate race; Hamilton County GOP endorses Trump
Good morning all. Let’s get into this news mess, shall we? As we told you yesterday, the city has just unveiled its new body camera program for Cincinnati police officers. The move comes after officer-involved shootings across the country have been caught on video, including the local shooting death of unarmed black motorist Samuel DuBose,…
Simpson strikes positive tone, doesn’t mention Cranley as she launches mayoral run
If you’re a local political junkie and you were worried that the next 18 months were going to be boring or something, well, put your anxiety to bed. Cincinnati’s 2017 mayoral election just officially got interesting. At a brief event today at the Carl Solway Gallery in the West End, Democrat Cincinnati City Councilwoman Yvette…
When White Folks Use Drugs
EDITOR’S NOTE: During the second half of 2016, CityBeat has invited three local activists to write monthly columns on pressing issues facing Cincinnati. Christina Brown is a Cincinnati-based activist working for racial equity and social justice through a number of venues. Her columns will appear in this space the second week of each month. Presidential…
Fall TV Preview
It might still feel like we’re in the thick of summer, but — like the changing of leaves and return of pumpkin spice — highly anticipated autumn programming is right around the corner. Here’s a look at some highlights: Atlanta (Series Premiere, 10 p.m. Sept. 6, FX) – Donald Glover created and stars in this…
‘Indignation’ quietly builds and resonates
How many times have we seen the coming-of-age story of a young man, a quiet outsider, set in the academic world? It is certainly a literary and cinematic staple. With the new film Indignation, writer-director James Schamus’ adaptation of a 2008 novel by Philip Roth, we have a most worthy addition to that body of…
Creating a ‘ledge’ between serious and silly art
“I want to be clear — this is literally a ledge in my apartment.” With that Facebook message, Maya Drozdz lets another person in on her little joke. Drozdz serves as director, curator, graphic designer, social media editor, installer and caterer at the new Ledge Gallery in Over-the-Rhine. Evil genius is an additional title she’s…
Free Shakespeare performances at area parks
Back in the late 16th century when Shakespeare was the toast of the Elizabethan theater world, performances of his plays at London’s Globe Theatre and other stages were essentially outdoors. Those theaters evolved from inn-yards — inexpensive spaces where rowdy audiences gathered, drank, cheered heroes and booed villains. Shakespeare’s plays were written for such venues,…
Collecting can be an act of art-making
Ever since Impressionism, and probably earlier, many people have looked at new work in art museums and galleries and — sometimes contemptuously, sometimes perplexedly — asked, “Why is that art?” It isn’t traditional enough, it isn’t crafted enough or it doesn’t look finished, they say. With each new contemporary movement — Cubism, Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism,…
Innovative Classical music festival Summermusik returns to area venues
In one of the more notable recent attempts to find new audiences for Classical music, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra last August introduced Summermusik, a multi-week festival featuring imaginative programming and some unusual settings. Designed to fill a gap between the end of the Cincinnati Opera season and the start of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s, it offered traditional…
Your Weekend To Do List (Aug. 12-14)
FRIDAY 12 EVENT: HAMILTON COUNTY FAIR Amid a sea of industry and commerce is 30 acres of Carthage green space, home to the Hamilton County Agricultural Society. For five days this oasis will be transformed into the hustle and bustle of the Hamilton County Fair. Take a lesson in “Agriculture 101” and try your hand…
What a Week! Aug. 3-9
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 03 New emojis are coming with iOS 10, and if you think an announcement that innocuous can’t be politicized, you are obviously new here. Hi, welcome, take a seat. The 100 new and redesigned characters — coming sometime this fall — will feature more gender and race inclusivity (more skin color options, a…
West Chester’s Sushi Monk and sister food truck serve up quality sushi and creative Asian fusion
Next time you find yourself in West Chester near Union Center, pass all of those glossy new restaurants and keep driving, past those establishments with cloth napkins, hostesses, plastic chopsticks and mood lighting. Don’t blink. Go to a strip mall off of State Route 747, into the Marathon gas station-adjacent, nondescript mom-and-pop sushi restaurant, Sushi…
Ohio’s battle with the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow illustrates larger concerns over the state’s online charter schools
Ohio taxpayers have been paying $100 million a year to send 15,000 students to a school that has no books, no classrooms and, according to recent state efforts to get to the bottom of its attendance records, little proof that it is providing educational opportunities required by the state. Critics, including state lawmakers, say the…
Walter Trout’s new lease on life is the power source for his new concert album, ‘Alive in Amsterdam’
When renowned Blues guitarist Walter Trout toured Europe last year, he was playing with a palpably renewed vigor. Trout’s rejuvenation almost seemed like a physical presence within the band, and for good reason — in 2013, after a long period of fatigue and balance problems, he was diagnosed with hepatitis C, leading to a liver…
Catch great local blues at Cincy Blues Fest
The Cincy Blues Fest — which presents its 24th-annual event this Friday and Saturday on three stages along the riverfront at Sawyer Point — always brings in some nationally known touring Blues acts to headline. But it has also been the place to sample Cincinnati’s best artists in any given year. If you look back…
Sound Advice: Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band with Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle (Aug. 12)
Josh “The Reverend” Peyton is the poster boy for second medical opinions. The Rev learned guitar at 12 in his central Indiana hometown, then formed a band with younger brother Jayme on drums. He was made aware of his Bluesy playing style and began absorbing the work of electric and acoustic Blues masters, particularly the…
Sound Advice: Tinsley Ellis at Cincy Blues Fest (Aug. 13)
Georgia born and Florida raised, Tinsley Ellis was attracted to Blues/Rock by way of the British Invasion bands he heard as a teenager. But it was a B.B. King show that lit the fuse on his Blues ambitions. Ellis played in a band while a student at Atlanta’s Emory University, but stepped up to the…
Sound Advice: Alice Bag with Leggy and Birdie Hearse (Aug. 16)
Before it was possible to hear almost any song ever made in an instant via the internet, finding music that didn’t receive mainstream exposure could be a difficult task. You could perhaps find a “cool” record store that might mail order an underground record for you, but the process of discovering new music was what…
The Sweet-Seeker’s Guide to the Donut Trail
Cheesecake. Maple Bacon. Fruity Pebbles. S’mores. These sweet selections are all delicious on their own. But when these words are being used to describe the flavor of a donut, we’re talking about an entirely new level of delectability. These donuts aren’t the stuff of fairytales — every morning, these magical flavors grace the shelves of…
Morning News: Simpson to make mayoral race announcement; CPD launches body cameras; Trump, Clinton campaigns both having bad week
Good morning all. Here’s your news today. The big one today — Cincinnati Councilwoman Yvette Simpson this morning will announce her entry into the Democratic primary for the city’s 2017 mayoral race. Simpson has been mulling a run against incumbent Mayor John Cranley for at least a few months. Late last night, Simpson’s campaign team…
