Findlay Market Celebrates Renovation Anniversary
In 2004, Findlay Market reopened after extensive renovations to its historic market house. From 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Wednesday (July 2), the market celebrates the 10th anniversary of the reno with recognition for key individuals who made the reno possible — Mike DeWine, the late Senator William Mallory, Buck Niehoff and Tom Jackson — on the Elm Street Side…
The Fourth of July and Me
There will be a moment on July Fourth in which you realize that it might be too hot to be day-drinking outside. Then things will get hazier and you’ll eat too much before passing out all sweaty during or shortly after some nearby fireworks spectacle. Perhaps that’s the problem with July Fourth — most people…
Fireworks and Freedom
Balloon Glow at Coney Island — The 15th annual LaRosa’s Balloon Glow features live music, family entertainment and Coney classic rides all night. Starting at 8 p.m., hot air balloons will light up the sky followed by a Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks show over Lake Como at 10 p.m. 5-11 p.m. July 3. Free; $8 parking until…
Things That Go Boom
Fireworks: exploding balls of color, light and sound that humans have used for centuries to celebrate holidays, festivals and whatever else they want, including birthdays, coronations and a yearly reminder that WEBN is still relevant. But their origins lie in something a bit more violent. HISTORY In mid-9th century China, alchemists were trying to create…
Happy Birthday, America!
W hat’s more American than Classic Rock and watching stuff get blown up with 100,000 of your closest friends? It can only get more American when you name it after the stars and stripes. Every year, Blue Ash rolls out the red carpet for Red, White & Blue Ash, one of the region’s biggest Fourth…
Democrats Highlight Higher Education Expense
City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld and other Democrats held an event June 27 near the University of Cincinnati criticizing Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio legislature for the low level of funding available for higher education in the state. Democrats also gathered in Columbus to protest dwindling education spending, which they say makes college unaffordable for…
Group Asks Kroger to Support Farm Workers
A national group working to convince companies to change the way they buy produce picketed Kroger’s annual shareholder meeting June 26. About 100 activists held signs and chanted as shareholders filed into the meeting at Music Hall. The group organizing the event, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, is based in Immokalee, Fla., and pushes for higher…
Council Funds OTR Affordable Housing Development
A deal approved by City Council June 25 splits limited funds among two affordable housing projects, funding one in Over-the-Rhine and leaving the door open for another that’s been in the works for the last few years in Avondale. A 100-unit permanent supportive housing project called Commons of Alaska first proposed in 2008 for Avondale…
Federal Judge Strikes Down Kentucky Gay Marriage Ban
A federal judge today ruled Kentucky’s ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. But same-sex couples in the state can’t get marriage licenses just yet. U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II ruled that a 2004 amendment to Kentucky's state constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage violates the guarantee of equal protection under the law found in the…
Event: Tri-State Antique Market
If the Fourth of July has you pining for some relics of the good old days, take a drive around I-275 to Lawrenceburg, Ind., for the Tri-State Antique Market. Search for treasures from more than 200 vendors spanning from the 1800s through the 1970s. The July market promises patriotic finds like War Bond posters, military…
Music: Andy Grammer
Though Andy Grammer’s utilization of technology has helped him become (and remain) a Pop star — drawing major streams on sites like Spotify and YouTube and engaging with his many fans consistently through his social media sites — his start was decidedly low-tech and old school. After college, he began busking on the streets and…
Event: Art Fair 562
Celebrate our nation’s independence by creating commerce with local independent artists. With a long list of Cincinnati original vendors (plus food and drink providers), Art Fair 562 has something for everyone. Held at the Listermann Brewing Company, count on fine craft beer to accompany all your independent pleasures and indulgences; George Washington would want it…
Fourth of July: Fireworks on the Fifth
Washington Park keeps the party going by celebrating America’s independence in style with a Saturday fireworks display and party. There will be food trucks, craft beer, cornhole tournaments and live music by Seven Handle Circus, The Almighty Get Down and the Scotty Bratcher Band. The evening culminates with a fireworks show above Music Hall. Pretty…
Northside’s Bourbon Nation
A collection of Northside residents and art lovers are taking a stab at creating Cincinnati’s first bourbon bar and restaurant, the neighborhood’s soon-to-open The Littlefield. Cincinnati Art Museum adjunct curator Matt Distel had never worked in the food and beverage industry, yet he knew he wanted to open a bar. As a Northsider, Distel felt…
Happy Chicks Bakery (Feature)
H appy Chicks Bakery owners Jessica Bechtel and Jana Douglass met in 2001 while working together as exhibit designers at a local landmark. It was not a pleasant work environment; the pair was referred to as, “The Painter Chicks,” and it wasn’t a term of endearment. But, as Bechtel says, “It was because nobody ever…
Fourth of July: Stricker’s Grove Fourth of July Celebration
The only two wooden roller coasters in Hamilton County (plus 15 midway rides, a miniature golf course and a baseball diamond) live in Stricker’s Grove, aka Cincinnati’s cutest amusement park. It’s family-owned for rental to private groups and open to the public only four days each year — one of which is the Fourth of…
Attraction: Edible Landscape Summer Show at Krohn
Local produce, farmers markets and community gardens are giving a seasonal push to the farm-to-table movement in Cincinnati, and the Krohn Conservatory is getting in on it. Opening Friday with crafting and live music, its 2014 summer show will feature a landscape filled with summer annuals and edible plants to demonstrate how carefully planned backyards…
Fourth of July: Ice Cream Social at William Howard Taft National Historic Site
The William Howard Taft National Historic Site — the childhood home of President William Howard Taft — hosts an ice cream social on the Fourth of July. In addition to free ice cream (as if that’s not enough), the social features music by Ma Crow and the Lady Slippers, an all-female Bluegrass band from Cincinnati and…
Fourth of July: Red, White & Boom
The Cincinnati Pops continues its yearly Independence Day tradition with Red, White & Boom, an all-American concert at Riverbend with the Pops and strings trio Time for Three. Rozzi’s fireworks will follow the show. Ticket includes free admission to Coney Island; rides open at 11 a.m. 8 p.m. Friday. $15-$35; $5 active military and veterans…
Kings of Power
The members of Martin Luther and the Kings are recovering from a long night of partying, performing and drinking. Guitarist and vocalist “Hellcat” Matt Smith, bassist Aaron “Bogie” Bogren and drummer Jimmy “Jims” Snowden are sitting at a table with pints of Guinness, hot wings and sunglasses, all within reach. While the boys may be…
Comedy: James Johann
Comedian James Johann lives by his motto, “Keeping it rural.” “I’ve always worked in the Midwest and the middle of the country,” the Paola, Kansas native says. “I’ve never had the urge to go to L.A. or New York and get in line for a TV show. I fit in better here. I’ve gone to…
Grave Concerns
T ommy Lee might sound a bit morbid when he says he wants each show on the final tour with his band, Mötley Crüe, to be like a wake. But it’s not as gloomy as it seems, even though fans may be a little teary-eyed saying goodbye after sharing in 30-plus years of music, mischief,…
Fourth of July: Northside Rock N’ Roll Carnival and Parade
Celebrate one of America’s greatest expressions of freedom — Rock & Roll — in Cincinnati’s most independent neighborhood. Northside’s Rock N’ Roll Carnival kicks off Thursday; the three nights of revelry will include a beer garden, fire breathers and a carnival sideshow, not to mention a lineup of local bands. See Tweens, Twin Peaks, Frontier…
Fourth of July: Newport Motorcycle Rally
Start your engines and head to the Newport riverfront for four days of bikes, brews and giving back. The annual Newport Motorcycle Rally once again takes over Festival Park with live music from the likes of Swan, Hillbilly, Inc., Prizoner and Kerosene Alley, plus food from vendors like Papa John’s and Queen City Sausage. There…
Fourth of July: Balloon Glow at Coney Island
NASA may have put a man on the moon, but pizza will light up the sky. The 15th annual LaRosa’s Balloon Glow offers more than just hot air. As one of Coney Island’s most popular events, every Cincinnatian should see these aircraft marvels once in their Queen City tenure. Glowing, tethered hot air balloons will…
Treasure Fingers with Millennium Robots, Disco Joe & Friends, Aviators and more
Producer/musician/DJ/remix-specialist Ashley Jones first came to the attention of the Dance music universe under the stage name The Enemy, part of the innovative Drum ’n Bass trio Evol Intent, which released club and critical favorites on its own Evol Intent Records, as well as Dieselboy’s Human Imprint label. In the mid-’00s, Evol Intent worked with…
Event: German Boot Night at Mecklenburg Gardens
Mecklenburg Gardens in Corryville invites beer lovers to its German Boot Night, where brave guests can slosh down some brew from “Das Boot.” A 1-liter boot-shaped mug of any beer on tap is $25, while a 2-liter boot is just $10 more (aka $35); the boot mug even gets to go home with you for…
Protomartyr with Jaill, The Sidekicks, Mardou and more
Joe Casey is agitated. The frontman and chief word slinger for Detroit’s Protomartyr opens the quartet’s second full-length record, the stellar Under Color of Official Right, with this recurring statement: “There’s just a clack in the brain now.” “Scum, Rise!,” an urgent manifesto that rivals early Clinic for its atmospheric menace, includes this sentiment: “Pound…
Local H with Mad Anthony, New Strange and One Day Steady
Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Local H by dual-purpose guitarist/vocalist Scott Lucas and original drummer Joe Daniels in their hometown of Zion, Ill. In the beginning, Local H was a standard issue Indie Rock trio, but three years in, bassist Matt Garcia opted out of the band and Lucas…
Patrick Sweany
If fame and fortune were merely by-products of well-placed connections, Blues guitarist Patrick Sweany would have a kidney-shaped pool filled with Dom Pérignon and he’d be ducking the paparazzi every time he walked out the front door. As it stands, the Massillon, Ohio, native has a solid 15-year career as a journeyman Blues guitarist thanks…
Morning News and Stuff
Phew. It's only Tuesday and this week is already shaping up to be super intense. Let's get into it. One of the Cincinnati area’s two abortion clinics must close, a Hamilton County magistrate said yesterday, though his official ruling on the matter will come July 10. Magistrate Michael Bachman’s decision is the next step…
Art: Paul Laffoley at Carl Solway Gallery
Often characterized as a “visionary” or “outsider” artist, painter Paul Laffoley’s suite of eight complex, oversized paintings depicting the artist’s interpretation of the eight phases of Elvis Presley’s life will be shown publicly for the first time in The Life and Death of Elvis: A Suite. Completed in 1995, the images are painted in calendar…
Taste of Belgium Clifton to Host World Cup Viewing
The Clifton location of Taste of Belgium — Cincinnati's only Belgian-inspired eatery — will host a World Cup viewing party for the Team USA versus Belgium game on Tuesday, July 1. (The game begins at 4 p.m.) The Clifton locale of TOB has seven HDTVs, one large HD projector screen, a big bar and a…
REVIEW: Jay Z and Beyoncé at Great American Ballpark
The first family of Hip Hop/R&B — and perhaps music in general — graced Cincinnati with their presence Saturday for Jay Z and Beyoncé’s On The Run tour. Downtown’s Great American Ballpark was Jay and Bey’s second stop on their first joint stadium tour, aptly abbreviated OTR (cue the wave of #thisisotr hashtags). The BeyHive…
Morning News and Stuff
The big news this morning is that President Obama will reportedly tap one of Cincinnati’s most prominent business leaders to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been mired in some pretty hefty troubles lately. Obama is expected to nominate former Procter & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald for the post. McDonald has a long…
Lavomatic and Local 127 Close
Two local restaurants served their last meals this weekend. Lavomatic, OTR's first Gateway Quarter eatery, and Local 127, the New American eatery on Vine Street downtown, both announced via their social media that they would be permanently closing their doors. According to Local 127's Facebook account, their last night of service was Saturday, June 28: …
Local 127 and Lavomatic Close
Two local restaurants served their last meals this weekend. Lavomatic, OTR's first Gateway Quarter eatery, and Local 127, the New American eatery on Vine Street downtown, both announced via their social media that they would be permanently closing their doors. According to Local 127's Facebook account, their last night of service was Saturday, June 28: "To all…
Stage Door: Options Abound
There's a great array of theater this weekend, no matter what you like. That's a good thing, because local theater, like baseball, takes a kind of midsummer break (no All-Star Game onstage anywhere, however). So get out and see something this weekend, then enjoy the fireworks and picnics next. Here are some suggestions: Traditionally entertaining…
Not-Quite-Morning News and Stuff
So I'm a bit late with news this morning, or the morning was a bit early, one of those. It probably has something to do with CityBeat winning six Cincinnati SPJ awards last night. Though I wasn't part of the team in 2013 when those awards were earned, I did my part by putting in…
Group Asks Kroger to Support Farm Workers
Oscar Otzoy, center left, stands with fellow protesters outside a Kroger shareholder meeting at Music Hall Nick Swartsell A national group working to convince companies to change the way they buy produce picketed Kroger's annual shareholder meeting Thursday. About 100 activists showed up, holding signs and chanting as shareholders filed into the meeting at Music…
Morning News and Stuff
Alright, it’s pretty early in the morning for me, so please forgive me for the following hokey, news-related metaphor. Cincinnati City Council is about to go on summer vacation, but they’ve spent the past few days doing all their homework, including at least one pretty tough math problem. Yesterday they turned their work in, giving…
A Win-Win of Sorts for Affordable Housing
A deal approved by City Council June 25 splits the city’s limited funds among two affordable housing projects, funding one one in Over-the-Rhine and leaving the door open for another that’s been in the works for the last few years in Avondale. The compromise didn’t come without contentiousness, though. A 100-unit permanent supportive housing project…
From the Copy Desk
Welcome to week two of the vocab blog. I got a teaser on page 7 of the issue this week so you could say things are getting pretty serious. In case you weren’t here last week, this is where I showcase the wackiest words from this week's issue of CityBeat. I’m paying close attention while…
A Midsummer Festival of Cinematic Dreams
O nce upon a time, the summer movie season started on Memorial Day, a little more or a little less than a month away from the date heralding the official summer reckoning. Such a quaint idea because the blockbuster release schedule has steadily pushed its way into spring to the extent that today the box…
Please to Start Serving at Cheapside Cafe
Ryan Santos and his team at Please — his novel farm-to-table style pop-up dining experience, which has previously found homes in storefronts like OTR's streetpops and at Carriage House Farm in North Bend — are making dinner a regular date at the new Cheapside Cafe downtown. Friday and Saturday nights, Please will be taking over…
Ed FitzGerald to Walk in Northside Fourth of July Parade
Ohio Democrat gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald is coming to Northside for the annual Fourth of July Parade. FitzGerald will walk in the parade but will not hold a speaking event. The parade will be his only public appearance while he is in Cincinnati. “He knows it’s a great celebration for the 4th of July and…
Courts: Ohio Bureau of Workers Comp Charged Unfair Rates
What do the Cincinnati Ballet, Jungle Jim’s and the YWCA have in common? Last month, an Ohio court upheld a ruling that the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) has been overcharging these and thousands of other businesses and organizations in the state. Meanwhile, the BWC cut rates for other employers who were part of…
GE Set to Move Into The Banks
General Electric is officially moving 1,800 employees to The Banks, the entertainment and retail complex on Cincinnati’s riverfront. But it took some deal-sweetening by the city to make it happen. City Council and Hamilton County Commissioners on June 23 approved a landmark deal that incentivizes the company to consolidate some administrative and finance jobs at…
Morning News and Stuff
This morning, as it seems every morning, people are disagreeing on the streetcar. I know, big breaking news, right? Currently, the disagreement is as follows: Have cost estimates gone up for the always-embattled transit project’s eventual operations, or haven’t they? It depends on what you read, and which study you look at. The Enquirer yesterday…
Moving North
T he southern section of Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine is a row of shiny glass facades, boutique shops and start-ups. Nearby Washington Park has received an extensive facelift, and other projects are popping up around the neighborhood. But just a few blocks north across Liberty Street, the 10-year drive to remake OTR has had far…
Considering the Reporter/Opinion Writer Hybrid
It was the day after I retired from The Enquirer and Rick Pender, an editor at CityBeat, asked me to consider being this paper’s lead columnist. “I don’t have an opinion every week worth 750 words,” I told him. We left it at that. Two years later, CityBeat news editor Greg Flannery asked me to…
Cincinnati vs. the World 06.25.2014
Three Al-Jazeera English journalists were convicted in Egypt on terrorism charges in a trial that was politically motivated. They have been detained for 177 days and will now serve seven years in prison in a decision that has outraged human rights groups. WORLD -2 U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is receiving bipartisan Congressional support for…
Wagging the Dog
“I’m sure there are lovely pitbulls but I know the capacity of pitbulls to injure because of how they’re engineered.” — Judge Judy I thought I was done with pitbulls, with thinking about little Zanaibou Drame and all the Internet postulating about the two. But the Cincinnati police shooting last Friday of a stray pitbull…
Boca Hosts “Backyard BBQ” for Fourth of July
Celebrate the Fourth of July with a special, one-day-only American-style dinner at Boca, prepared by executive chef Jeremy Lieb. His three-course meal tastes like freedom, with classic summer dishes including deviled eggs, fried pickles and Lieb's take on the cheese puff. There will also be a Blue Oven Farm salad and watermelon and feta salad…
Them’s the Brakes
The Lockland Brakes, an excellent Cincinnati Pop Punk foursome, celebrate the release of their debut full-length, Attachments, Friday night at Northside Tavern (northside-tavern.com). The band — which features current and former members of superb area acts like Situation Red, Newport Secret Six and DAAP Girls — will be joined by Cincy Punk greats The Dopamines,…
Street Life 101
Sitting down with Northern Kentucky-based Punk rockers The Nothing on May the 4th (Star Wars Day for the non-geeks in the audience) felt like fate. The members of the band (vocalist Jimi Caudill, guitarist Paulie Burgio, drummer Eric Robinson and bassist Dan Snow) have all had a Jedi-esque journey of redemption littered with band transitions,…
Sonic Barbarism
H ere’s a clear sign the apocalypse is coming: Lydia Lunch is touring North America, especially the Midwest, with her Retrovirus band and show. Lunch is featuring music from throughout her long, still-busy and controversial career, which started in the late ’70s with New York’s classic Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and has moved on…
Party Like It’s Your Birthday
The more prominent flavor trends of the past few years have succeeded in creating buzz and profits, but often there’s a limited shelf life for seasonal tastes. Who wants a Pumpkin Spice Latte in the middle of August? Who eats “peppermint stick” anything after December? But a current trend has a lot more elbow room…
Nando (Review)
T he implicit question that the brand-new Nando and its sister restaurant Nuvo ask: Is this town ready for an adventure in dining unlike anything it has seen before? And, I might add, is Greenup Street in Covington, Ky., the right location for presenting this wonderful pair of creatively different restaurants — under one roof…
The Other 98 Percent
The haunting trailer for The Leftovers (Series Premiere, 10 p.m. Sunday, HBO) sets the scene perfectly: A busy mom, on the phone, secures her fussy infant son in his car seat before buckling up and heading home. As she details the day’s schedule on the phone, the baby cries in the background. Mom hushes and…
‘Obvious Child’ is Not Just an Abortion Rom-Com
I love Donna Stern (Jenny Slate), the protagonist of Obvious Child, the new indie dramedy from co-writer and director Gillian Robespierre (working from her 2009 short of the same name), because Donna is wickedly smart and engaging, a cute Jewish woman we rarely get to see in mainstream romantic comedies. She’s not put together; in…
Love and Terror
Dorothy Weil’s new novel, Love and Terror, takes place in a past so recent that we’ve all been there — the middle of the 21st century’s first decade — and is set in a place we know just as well, Cincinnati. The other side of the Love coin is Terror, it seems, and both love…
Walking the Steps of Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City’s Scenic and Historic Secrets
Walking the Steps of Cincinnati: A Guide to the Queen City’s Scenic and Historic Secrets is a wholly delightful book that first appeared in 1998 and returns in a revised edition as the weather invites taking full advantage of its subject matter. Many of Cincinnati’s wealth of hillside steps, originally installed for a population more…
CAC Exhibit Pushes Back Against Museum’s Architecture
“When people ask me what are my influences, they’re ghosts and magic,” artist and curator Michael Stillion said during a recent visit to his studio in Evanston. So you can be sure that Stillion, a preparator and senior crew member at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), hid at least one ghost in his debut curatorial…
And the Winner Is … Cincinnati Theater
It’s award season in the theater world, locally and elsewhere, when past work is pored over to find outstanding productions and performances, accolades are bestowed, “thank you” speeches are made and egos are boosted or blasted. On June 16, the League of Cincinnati Theatres handed out its awards, descendants of CityBeat’s Cincinnati Entertainment Awards and…
Another Man’s Treasure
M att Joy has a deep respect for the stories that objects tell us about history and the people who owned them. Since the days when he was a young boy growing up on a fully functional farm in Sabina, Ohio, feeding the animals, mowing grass and doing other tasks involved in daily operation, he’s…
