1. The Akron Zoo It is the little Zoo that could. Recent renovations have made this menagerie a can’t-miss for new parents with active toddlers. The paths are easy to navigate and the whole circuit takes about an hour. Plenty penguins, tigers, and lemurs to fascinate. There’s also a petting zoo, where youngins can [...]
Last month, the Independent published a story [Payroll & Politics] about the rampant patronage suffocating the office of Cuyahoga County’s Prosecutor, a story the Plain Dealer had, but declined to publish. The article revealed that Bill Mason employed 49 Democratic committee members and political allies, at salaries over $100,000. It also revealed the [...]
A Political Machine, Financed By You! ** The article the Plain Dealer was too afraid to publish ** Bill Mason is as guilty as Pat O’Malley and Frank Russo when it comes to blatant disregard for the ethics of public servitude. At last count, Mason employed 49 Democratic Precinct Committee members and Ward [...]
Brimfield, Ohio is an odd setting for a revolution. Suburb of Akron. Population: about 3,200. Cows may outnumber people, here. Nonetheless, a revolt is being planned in this small town, inside the walls of the local school system, where orange-shirted teachers have begun to murmur that word of middleclass power, “Strike”. They’ve been [...]
During the holidays, crowds at bars and restaurants tend to pick up, but there is one local stimulus that helps jump-start that holiday cheer—Great Lakes Brewing’s Christmas Ale. As a bar owner, I can tell you it has the most anticipated [...]
It was supposed to be the type of case that comes in spades through the Cleveland Police Sex Crimes Unit. A simple rape, if there is such a thing. A woman had escaped from the perp’s house after an alleged assault—the police had a warrant to search the home for her pink shirt. They see [...]
By: James Renner It sure sounded cool, didn’t it? Last year, the Plain Dealer trumpeted the arrival of “Nehst Studios” to Cleveland. Star-struck North-Coasters wondered when we might begin seeing Tom Hanks strolling through Public Square. Nehst Studios. You know, like Paramount Studios. Warner Bros. Studios. They promised jobs. They promised to bring [...]
By: James Renner The kidnapping took place in broad daylight, in front of the Baskin-Robbins across the street from the Bay Village police station, at about 3PM (give or take a half-hour), on October 27, 1989. Amy Mihaljevic, a precocious 10-year-old tomboy with a penchant for tilting her [...]
Nine years after popular TV personality Joel Rose committed suicide outside his Brecksville home, on August 4, 2000, many people still blame Cuyahoga County prosecutor Bill Mason and the Plain Dealer for his death. Rose shot him himself in the head with his .38-caliber handgun after picking up the morning paper and reading the [...]
The bar was emptying of Democrats gathered for drinks in Columbus on a cold winter night. Inside was Jennifer Garrison, fresh off her first year in office as the state representative for Ohio’s 93rd District in southeast Ohio. Blonde, thin, attractive (Marietta’s very own Sarah Palin), she got the attention of a short [...]
