Scene March 22, 2023

UPFRONT

AT CCPC MEETING, STRONG ARGUMENTS AGAINST SUBSIDIES FOR BROWNS STADIUM RENOVATION

AS THE HASLAMS AND THE city of Cleveland begin negotiations for what’s next for FirstEnergy Stadium, members of the Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus used its monthly meeting in March to talk about what, if any, role the city and county should play in subsidizing renovations. (Spoiler: Very little to none.)

And to remind everyone of an under-looked fact: What’s next for the city includes still paying off the original construction costs of the stadium.

“[We] still owe about $53 million in bonds to pay off the current stadium,” Steve Holenko, CCPC’s political director and host of Wednesday’s discussion, told the attendees over Zoom. “So, maybe they’ll still be tearing it down and still be paying it off?”

The conversation included Ward 12 Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer and Brad Humphreys, an expert in stadium deals and economist at

West Virginia University.

The stadium was two-thirds funded by public dollars, and to pay for that, the city took out $139 million in bonds, Maurer said, citing an audit report. What Maurer has a problem with is how exactly that money has been repaid over the past two decades—along with requisite insurance and repairs.

According to the 2023 Mayor’s Estimate, there is $9,225,000 allocated for repayment of that remaining $53 million in bonds, along with $4 million in capital repairs and $1.4 million in property taxes and insurance.

Maurer’s issue is that a good chunk of the city’s revenue from FirstEnergy—minus $250,000 in the Haslams’ annual rent and around $4 million collected through the sin tax—is essentially carried over from the general fund.

“And then, it flows into this special revenue fund,” Maurer said, annotating a slide. “And then it

immediately flows out again to pay off our debts.”

She referred to a recent budget hearing, on February 24th, in which she asked: “Does the city bring in enough revenue directly from the stadium and its associated taxes to cover its expenses?”

“And we did get a clear answer on that,” Maurer said. “And that answer was ‘no.’”

Humphreys said the talks behind FirstEnergy 2.0 are not rare as far as most sports stadium deals unfold. Most, he affirmed, are led by billionaire owners simply looking for a return on their own investment, using the potential of team relocation as a chess piece. A threat that is, Humphreys said, always “taken as credible.” (Former county executive Armond Budish, you’ll remember, cited the possibility of the Cavs leaving Cleveland — a threat they never explicitly made and which Dan Gilbert explicitly denied but only after the Q Deal was

finalized — as a main reason for throwing open the public coffers to renovate the arena.)

What Humphreys, along with the rest of the panel, sees as unfair is how many Clevelanders, forced to pay for a new stadium, won’t actually be going to use it. (By way of context: In the midst of negotiations for the Q Deal, Cavs officials said 70 percent of attendees at games don’t live in Cuyahoga County and 90 percent don’t live in Cleveland. For other arena events such as concerts and Disney, the numbers are higher — 74 percent of attendees don’t live in Cuyahoga County and 95 percent don’t live in Cleveland. The numbers for attendees at Browns games and FirstEnergy Stadium concerts are likely similar, if not more skewed.)

Humphreys sees the same happening with the Browns.

“Because this is general revenue funds, every taxpayer in Cleveland is contributing to that, whether

Photo by Erik Drost/FlickrCC

they watch a Browns game, listen to a Browns game, care about the Browns or not—every taxpayer!” he said. “For a team that’s owned by a billionaire, the equity implications for that are shocking.”

County executive Chris Ronayne has said the county hasn’t yet been engaged in the talks. Brent Larkin recently reported Mayor Justin Bibb will begin formally talking with the Haslams soon, though conversations have been ongoing.

Browns spokesperson Peter John-Baptiste referred to a June statement, one that defers to the upcoming release of the organization’s stadium feasibility study.

“Contrary to recent speculation, a recent feasibility study we launched does not contemplate a new stadium or showcase new stadium sites,” John-Baptiste said. “As we are just beginning the study, we certainly do not have enough information to determine the cost of renovating the stadium or what the aesthetics of such a renovation would entail. We believe our study will help answer those questions and should be completed in 2023.”

Larkin reported that current plans involve a renovation costing north of $500 million and closer to $1 billion. A new stadium would likely cost double that. A renovation could also include a new covering,

DIGIT WIDGET

even if not a complete roof.

“Oh, they say it could give a ‘superior fan experience,’” Humphreys said. “But paying out of general tax revenues in Cleveland [so] that NFL fans get a more cushy experience than they do now, that’s really difficult to defend on equity grounds.” – Mark

Oprea

Would Cuyahoga County’s Neighbors Help Subsidize a Browns Stadium Renovation?

Continuing on the topic of FirstEnergy…

Of the myriad questions surrounding plans to renovate FirstEnergy Stadium, there’s one that immediately rises to the top for the civic-minded: Who’s going to pay for it?

The city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are clearly going to be on the hook for some portion, and likely the state of Ohio too. But as Larkin floated last year and in last weekend’s column, and as Cleveland City Council President Blaine Griffin told WEWS in a recent interview, Cleveland may go knocking on its neighbors’ doors for help.

“I believe there’s going to have to be a lot of creativity, we’re going to have to have a lot of conversations with our adjoining counties as well as Cuyahoga County council and the county executive,” Griffin told the station. “Everybody, the county and quite frankly the region and the state all need to look at what does this asset mean for our region.”

In interviews with Scene, some officials in the adjoining five counties expressed both curiosity and hesitation at the idea of subsidizing Browns Stadium 2.0.

John Plecnik, a Lake County commissioner, said that he’s intrigued by the idea of the team and stadium as a regional asset. (Eastlake’s construction of Lake County Captains Classic Park was done entirely with public money — $35 million — as well as a recent $4.3 million renovation. And without tax hikes, he said.)

Though he’s not been approached by anyone involved yet, he would want to see more direct upside before entertaining any kind of deal.

“Well, for this to happen responsibly, we’d have to be included in the benefit,” Plecnik said. “If there was Browns training or employees in Lake County, we’re always open to economic development and bringing that in, and we have a lot of Browns fans in Lake County. But I would want to see how our county

would be included in the benefit going forward if we were going to consider that seriously.”

Over in Medina, County Administrator Scott Miller agreed.

“Honestly, this is the first I’ve heard of it,” Miller told Scene, regarding the idea of Medina County being part of a multi-county subsidy solution. “In the end, that would be a decision the board has to make. And the question would be, ‘How does this benefit Medina?’”

“We are not aware of any proposed subsidy,” Greta Johnson, a spokeswoman for Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, told Scene. “I could not comment on if there’s any benefit at all before seeing the ask.”

Representatives in Lorain County and Geauga County did not return numerous calls for comment.

The Browns retain about 96 percent of their season ticket holders year over year. And, while the public waits for the release of the Browns’ official feasibility study on FirstEnergy stadium renovations and a firmer estimate on the cost, the Haslams continue to amass wealth, recently plopping down $875 million to purchase a minority share of the Milwaukee Bucks. – Mark Oprea

Cuyahoga County Considering Pay-to-Stay Legislation That Could Protect Renters from Evictions

Councilmember Dale Miller at last Tuesday’s county council meeting introduced a ‘Pay-to-Stay” ordinance, which, if passed, could help residents avoid evictions.

“The legislation is patterned after legislation that’s already been passed by eight Cuyahoga County municipalities,” Miller told Scene. “And it provides that if a person is late on their rent, but they put down what they owe and pay reasonable late fees before their case goes to court or, if it goes to court, before the case is completed, then they get to stay.”

Ohio is one of five states where landlords can file evictions the day after rent payments are due, along with Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey and South Dakota. And although Cleveland City Council passed an ordinance entitling some tenants to a lawyer in housing court, evictions are not criminal cases, and because of that, most people are not entitled to mandatory legal counsel.

Miller says the issue was brought to his attention by the Northeast

Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, which he’s worked with on the ordinance.

Although several Cuyahoga County municipalities have already enacted similar legislation, Miller admits the path forward is uncertain.

“There’s some legal questions. [The proposed ordinance] relates to state preemption. The state passed a bill, House Bill 430, which was not related directly to pay-to-stay, it was legislation designed to prevent local governments from engaging in rent control,” Miller said. “But some legal people feel that the way the legislation was drafted that it would also preempt legislation. So we have to look into this more deeply and get a good understanding of where we are in relation to the state of this legislation.”

Another potential hurdle comes in the form of municipal rule versus county rule. In Ohio, municipal “home rule” is more powerful than county “home rule.” As a result, despite the municipalities that have pay-to-stay legislation, if cities in the county reject the idea, the ordinance won’t affect as many people.

“If we pass the legislation and a number of communities opt out, well, then it wouldn’t help very much and so we don’t want that to happen. We’re going to invite all the mayors and municipal leaders to come to a future committee meeting and discuss their thoughts about the legislation and see what they think about it and so that what we hear from the municipalities is going to help shape what we do going forward,” said Miller. – Maria Elena Scott

Citing Racial Disparities in Policing, Shaker Heights Group Pushes Ballot Initiative for Public Safety Reform

The Shaker Citizens for Fair Ticketing PAC is seeking to get a ballot initiative in front of voters designed to “reduce brutality, increase public safety, and make police jobs safer,” organizers announced at a news conference recently.

“We have seen the shooting of two 14-year-old girls and a 17-yearold boy just in the last couple of months,” said campaign manager Ethan Khorana. “This comes as a result of our failure to take new approaches to public safety and Shaker citizens deserve to feel safe in their own city.”

Based on data from the Shaker

$80,000

Amount the city of Akron paid Hennes Paynter Communications for “critical event communications and media relations regarding” the killing of Jayland Walker by Akron police.

10

Year contract extension the Metroparks agreed to with CEO Brian Zimmerman. $340,000 Zimmerman’s new base salary. He’ll also be eligible for 3.95% annual raises and bonuses up to 10% of his salary.

1/3

Portion of the East Cleveland police department that has been indicted in the past year.

UPFRONT

Heights Police Department, the PAC says that Black residents receive 71% of tickets, despite making up just 36% of the population in 2022.

They argue bias is also evident in the department’s use of force. A report from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies found nearly all of the incidents where officers used force were directed at Black or Hispanic people.

“With the hiring of a new police chief and a national conversation for reform, we must consider new approaches,” Khorana said. “Additionally, we must finally address systemic bias in our law enforcement.”

The initiative would create a modern, transparent public police records database to track ticketing and incidents using force in order to recognize biases and make complaint submissions easier.

“Everybody can win. We want to work with police, we want to work with the city government, we want to work with all the voters and community actors. We want to work with everybody,” said Khorana.

Organizers say they’re emphasizing ticketing because community members expressed feeling unsafe in ticketing situations. However, the initiative goes beyond that.

If passed, the initiative will expand the city’s Crisis Intervention Team by implementing a Nonviolent Community Administrators Department that will not only distribute tickets, but patrol neighborhoods and respond to nonviolent crimes and mental health needs.

These administrators would be licensed in social work, psychology or de-escalation and work in two-person teams that would patrol each neighborhood equally, according to Khorana.

“I’ve been in a couple of situations where either there was a drive-by shooter down the street from me or I had a gun pulled on me. In those cases, I was glad that people called police officers because I think that that is a very valuable case,” said Khorana. “But also, you know, I have a brother who has Down syndrome…and he gets some anxiety outbursts, and I was always taught since I was little not to call police officers because we don’t know what could happen to him.”

Additionally, the initiative would create and implement a civilian oversight board with a minimum of 35 members. The board would review the actions of officers, the aforementioned community administrators and community complaints.

Organizers point to reductions in gun violence and officer injuries in cities like Sacramento and Memphis, where similar reforms have been introduced, as well as a pilot program introduced in Cleveland last year to send social workers on emergency calls.

“It’s common sense reform that we’re scrapbooking together from what people have done across the country,” said Khorana.

The PAC doesn’t yet have a complete cost estimate but cites grants from the Biden administration and the Cleveland Foundation as opportunities to fund the programs, as well as possible state support. Organizers say they intend to publish an economic impact report in the next month.

“This is an economic incentive for the city of Shaker Heights because, with the passing of this ballot initiative, they’d be open to a vast amount of grants, federal, statewide and not-for-profit. It’s a bipartisan policy. And so there’s a large amount of grants that could fund us,” said Khorana.

In order to get on the ballot for November’s general election, he estimates the initiative will need roughly 664 signatures, 10% of the number of voters in last November’s election.

Because signatures can only be completed in person, organizers say there will be a mobilization effort in the coming months.

A 17-year-old junior at the Mastery School of Hawken, Khorana can’t yet sign the petition and won’t be eligible to vote for the initiative in November. However, he’s trying to get as many eligible voters as he can to sign.

“If anybody wants to slide into my Twitter [direct messages], I will drive to your house and get a petition from you...if not, I’m sure everywhere you’re turning you’re going to see some of our petitioners there asking for your signature,” he said. – Maria Elena Scott

scene@clevescene.com

@clevelandscene

The Foilies 2023

Recognizing the worst in government transparency

By the Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock News

IT SEEMS LIKE THESE DAYS, everyone is finding classified documents in places they shouldn’t be: their homes, their offices, their storage lockers, their garages, their guitar cases, between the cracks of their couches, under some withered celery in the vegetable drawer … OK, we’re exaggerating — but it is getting ridiculous.

While the pundits continue to speculate whether President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and President Joe Biden put national security at risk by hoarding these secrets, that ultimately might not be the biggest problem.

What we know for sure is that these episodes illustrate overlapping problems for government transparency. It reveals an epidemic of over-aggressive classification of documents that could easily be made public. It means that an untold number of documents that belong to the public went missing — even though we may not get to see them for at least 25 years, when the law requires a mandatory declassification review. And then there’s the big, troubling transparency question: If these officials pocketed national secrets, what other troves of non-secret but nonetheless important documents did they hold on to, potentially frustrating the public’s ability to ever see them?

It doesn’t do much good to file a Freedom of Information Act request for records that have mysteriously disappeared.

Misbehavior like this is why we created The Foilies, our annual

tongue-in-cheek “awards” for agencies and officials that thwart the public’s right to government information or otherwise respond outrageously to requests for documents and records. Each year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock News, in partnership with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, publish this list of ne’erdo-wells to celebrate Sunshine Week (March 12-18) — an annual event to raise the profile of the democratic concept of government transparency. It may be many years before the public learns what secret and notso-secret documents weren’t turned over by past administrations to the National Archives. But when we do, we’ll be sure to nominate them for the top prizes. In the meantime, we have no shortage of redaction rascals and right-to-know knaves, from agencies assessing astronomical fees to obtain documents to officials who overtly obstruct openness to protect corporate interests. Read on and

get to know the 2023 who’s-who of government opacity.

(I’M NOT YOUR) STEPPIN’ STONE TO TRANSPARENCY AWARD Federal Bureau of Investigation

We are all lucky that the FBI is always on the lookout for “left wing innovations of a political nature,” especially those nasty “subliminal messages.” That’s why, in 1967, it sent an informant to a Monkees concert, who reported on the band’s anti-war sentiment to add to the FBI’s growing file on the band.

Micky Dolenz, the band’s sole surviving member, is suing for that file under FOIA. As his complaint points out, the FBI spied on many musicians of that era, including Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon.

Dolenz sued after the FBI failed to produce the file beyond the heavily redacted portion that it already published online. The FBI has since provided five more redacted pages, Dolenz’s attorney tells us. Hopefully, this will shed more light on the FBI’s heroic war against Beatles, Monkees, and other subversive members of the animal kingdom.

THE REDACTIONS DON’T GITMO SURREAL AWARD

The U.S. Southern Command

The U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay regularly serves up both insults

and injuries. A number of people still held there have been subjected to torture and other inhumane treatment at U.S. “black sites”; many are imprisoned indefinitely; and the Pentagon considers detainees’ artwork to be property of the U.S. government. The whole thing is a bit surreal, but U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has more techniques for turning up the dial.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Leopold submitted a FOIA request in 2017 for artwork created by those detained at Guantanamo Bay. SOUTHCOM finally fulfilled the request last spring, and it took its own creative liberties with the release.

To the hundreds of pages of colorful paintings and drawings created by Gitmo prisoners, the military added hundreds of little white redactions. FOIA requires redactions to be very particular and to specifically cite applicable exemptions. It seems there were plenty of very particular elements with which the agency took issue, claiming that amidst trees of leaves and other scenes were materials that were ineligible for release due to personal privacy concerns and the risk that they would betray law enforcement techniques. When prisoners’ art could potentially disclose military secrets, we’re well through the looking glass.

“Gitmo, after 20-plus years, is not only a black box of secrecy,” Leopold said, “but it has its own Orwellian rules when it comes to

WE CAN NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THE EXISTENCE OF THIS AWARD National Security Agency

Sometimes agencies will respond to your FOIA request with a stack of documents. Other times, they will reject the request out of hand. But some agencies choose a third route: They tell you they can neither confirm nor deny whether the information exists, because the subject matter is classified, or because a positive or negative response would expose the agency’s hand in whatever intelligence or investigation game they’re playing.

This so-called “Glomar response” is derived from a Cold War-era case, when the CIA refused to confirm or deny to the Los Angeles Times whether it had information about the USNS Hughes Glomar Explorer, a CIA ship that was used to try to salvage a sunken Soviet spy sub.

“The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is studying the prevalence of so-called ‘Glomar’ responses to FOIA requests across the federal government,” RCFP Senior Staff Attorney Adam Marshall told us. “As part of that project, it has submitted FOIA requests (what else) to every federal agency regarding their Glomar volume over a five-year period.”

So far, RCFP has learned that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent four Glomars; the U.S. Department of Energy Office of the Inspector General sent 14; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General sent 102.

The NSA came back with an astounding 2,721 Glomar responses over the five-year period. As Marshall noted on Twitter, in fiscal year 2021 alone, Glomars accounted for at least 41% of all the FOIA requests the NSA processed. And so we honor the NSA for being so transparent about its lack of transparency.

THE LEAVE NO COFFEE MUG UNTURNED AWARD

General Escobedo, Mexico

When an agency receives a records request, an official is supposed to conduct a thorough search, not poke around half-heartedly before generating a boilerplate rejection letter. What’s rare is for an agency to send a photo essay documenting their fruitless hunt for records.

That’s exactly how the city of General Escobedo in Nuevo León, Mexico, responded to a public

records request that the EFF filed for documents related to a predictive policing law under Mexico’s national transparency law. The “Inexistencia de Información” letter they sent included a moment-by-moment photo series of their journey, proving they looked really hard, but couldn’t find any records.

First, the photos showed they were outside the city’s security secretariat building. Then they were standing at the door to the police investigative analysis unit. Then they were sitting at a computer, looking at files, with a few screengrabs. Then they were looking in a filing cabinet.

The next photo almost caused us to do a spit take: They were looking in the drawer where they keep their coffee mugs — just in case there was a print-out jammed between the tea bags and the stevia. See, they looked everywhere.

Except … those screengrabs on the computer they breezed past were exactly the kind of documents we wanted. EFF appealed the case before the state’s transparency board, which eventually forced Escobedo to release a slideshow and receipts showing the city had wasted more than 4 million pesos on the Sistema de Predicción de Delitos (SPRED) project.

THE WISHY-WASHY ACCESS AWARD

Alphabet and The Dalles, Oregon

The Western United States has been

caught in a 20-year megadrought, but when The Oregonian/OregonLive sought records on water usage from the city of The Dalles, the news organization found itself on the wrong side of a lawsuit. The city claimed the data was a trade secret, and filed suit on behalf of Google parent company Alphabet to block the release of records.

Alphabet, like other major tech companies, has increasingly invested in massive data centers that slurp up vast quantities of water to cool off their hardware. How much water, however, was a mystery, and one of pressing concern for locals. One resident told The Associated Press she had seen her well water continue to drop year after year. “At the end of the day, if there’s not enough water, who’s going to win?” she asked. After a 13-month fight, there was something to savor: The city dropped its fight. Alphabet even tried to spin it as a PR win and declared itself a champion of transparency.

“It is one example of the importance of transparency, which we are aiming to increase ... which includes site-level water usage numbers for all our U.S. data center sites, including The Dalles,” a spokesperson said at the time.

The data was worth fighting for: The data centers’ water usage had tripled in the past five years, to where it consumes more than a quarter of all water used in the city, according to analysis from

THE OUTRAGEOUS FOIA FEE OF THE YEAR AWARD Rochester Community Schools District

This year’s winner for most ludicrous fee assessment takes us to a suburb north of Detroit, where parents were met with a hefty price tag for trying to find out whether the school district was spying on them.

As reported by WXYZ, the parents were part of a Facebook group where they discussed their dissatisfaction with the district’s approach to remote learning. After a local parent sued the district, claiming she was fired because a district official had complained to her employer about her criticism of the district’s COVID-19 policies, these parents began filing public records requests to see if the district was monitoring their social media.

When one parent asked for records to know whether their name was included in any social media monitoring, the district said that to comply with the request, staff would have to search every email ever sent by an employee — a total of 12,115,251 emails. The district told the parent to be prepared to be liable for a whopping $18,641,345 fee, with $9,320,673.73 due in advance. That’s a lot of bake sales.

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AWARD U.S. Office of Personnel Management

Strolling through the independent records clearinghouse Government Attic offers a wide range of interesting, useful and refreshingly creative ideas for records to request, such as government agency intranet homepages.

Producing a copy of an intranet homepage should be a pretty easy task for an agency: Open up your browser in the morning; click “Save As”; and, boom — kick back after a job well done. You don’t even need to talk to your colleagues! But after five years of inexplicable transparency purgatory, a lead government information specialist at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management responded curtly to one such request with the following:

“The FOIA does not require agencies to create a record. The records you seek would require the creation of records. Therefore, OPM is unable to provide you any records.” Even odder, the agency’s

Mike Rogoway at The Oregonian/ OregonLive.

FOIA log for last year notes the request, but writes that it was closed with “no records,” rather than being rejected. Keep that in mind when calibrating the reliability of FOIA annual reports and other official transparency statistics.

Happily, we can report that other agencies are more digitally adept when responding to these types of requests, even if they do have a maddening tendency to print out the pages and mail them rather than just sending the actual digital files. We can only hope that the Office of Personnel Management manages to get some better-equipped personnel when it comes to understanding that simply copying bits is one of the least-creative acts a computer — or FOIA officer — can do, and they should take these requests as a gift rather than a challenge.

THE BULK DATA FOR ME BUT NOT FOR THEE AWARD Los Angeles Police Department

Police departments have an uncanny knack for being able to fund cutting-edge (if horribly broken) technology to watch the public while only mustering ‘90s-era (also horribly broken) technology to help the public watch them back. This appears to be the case in Los Angeles, where the forthrightly named Stop LAPD Spying Coalition found that it was being monitored by the LAPD.

Like any good public watchdog, it filed a records request, in this case for emails that mentioned “Stop LAPD Spying” or “stoplapdspying.” We will make a concession that this is a potentially broad search. It’s not always easy for agencies to search across all departmental emails; sometimes emails are stored in different systems, and so on. LAPD didn’t seem to have an issue with conducting the search, but, rather, they just had found too much material when they did: “The query resulted in a file(s) that exceeds the maximum gigabyte that our system would allow to export; therefore, we are unable to search for and identify emails responsive to your request.”

LAPD then asked the requester to narrow their request. For better or worse, the reality of public records is that it’s often a negotiation, but if an agency is going to compile more than a gigabyte of emails on an organization dedicated to curbing surveillance, the least the agency can do is have the capability to sift through and export that material.

The agency’s response — put bluntly, we talk about you too much to tell you how much we’ve talked about you — would be flattering if it wasn’t both creepy and aggravating.

I WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT MY A** IS COVERED AWARD White House

Backroom dealers sometimes struggle to keep their deals in the backroom, especially when they inadvertently reveal them in emails that are presumptively public records. That’s when they follow up by saying, “I wanted to clarify that the email I sent was pre-decisional and privileged information,” hoping these magic words will exempt the email from disclosure should anyone file a records request.

On June 23, 2022, a White House staffer revealed to the Kentucky governor’s office that President Biden planned to nominate Chad Meredith as a federal judge the next day. Days later, the White House official then tried to use the follow-up “clarification” email as cover. But the Louisville Courier-Journal got the story, and the Kentucky governor’s office released the emails confirming the nomination plans, despite the weak follow-up email trying to claw them back into secrecy.

The president ultimately scrapped Meredith’s nomination entirely after pro-choice advocates criticized Biden’s apparent backroom trading on judicial nominations with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Meredith had defended Kentucky’s anti-abortion laws under the previous Republican governor.

The whole ordeal, which was overshadowed by the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade on the very day Meredith would have been nominated, shows the ridiculous ways officials will try to keep public records secret.

THE TRANSPARENTLY PROUD OF DESTROYING PUBLIC RECORDS AWARDS Michael Gableman

The effort to investigate unsubstantiated 2020 election fraud claims in Wisconsin sped past comedy, plowed through farce, and fell into ludicrous land. The driver of this ridiculous journey: Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who was hired by Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to investigate alleged election fraud.

Gableman’s inquiry has cost taxpayers nearly $2 million, with no evidence of any election wrongdoing disclosed when Vos shut it down and

fired Gableman last August.

The probe itself, however, has generated plenty of violations of state public records laws. Gableman’s inquiry is the subject of at least four public records lawsuits. And in the process of responding to public records requests about his election inquiry, Gableman has admitted to routinely deleting records and deactivating an email account he used while working on the probe.

After receiving a records request from American Oversight, someone deleted Gableman’s personal email account, the former justice testified during a hearing in one of the suits. And when questioned about whether he knew who deleted records responsive to a public records request, Gableman was refreshingly honest.

“Did I delete documents? Yes, I did,” he said.

In Gableman’s defense, he believed deleting the records was proper, because in his view, the destroyed records were not part of his election investigation. The problem is that no one can trust Gableman’s judgment, because there is no paper trail to confirm that the records were, in fact, irrelevant to his work. Gableman’s lack of an auditable paper trail to check his work stands in stark contrast to the auditable results of the 2020 Wisconsin election.

For his records destruction and general frustration of the public’s right of access, courts have awarded

plaintiffs $163,000 in attorney’s fees and costs in one case, and $98,000 in another.

THE ANCIENT ART OF DODGING ACCOUNTABILITY AWARD Cyber Ninjas

Wisconsin isn’t the only state where we’re recognizing an election “audit” contractor’s misbehavior.

After the audit of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County, Arizona — which ultimately reaffirmed Biden’s victory — State Senate President Karen Fann tried to save face by claiming that the reason the project spiraled out of control was because the election system was hard to audit, and not because auditing firm Cyber Ninjas might’ve been inexperienced and tilting at windmills. That’s kind of like saying it’s the homework’s fault that the dog ate it.

“As our efforts have clearly shown, elections processes here in Arizona are not designed to be easily audited, unlike every other government process accountable to citizens,” she wrote in a statement. “... (W)e look forward to implementing improvements to add ease, authentication, transparency, and accountability to our elections processes in the coming legislative session.”

The Cyber Ninjas’ own work, however, was anything but authenticatable, transparent and accountable, as the group tried

to evade legitimate public records requests at nearly every turn.

The nonprofit American Oversight and The Arizona Republic newspaper had to take Cyber Ninjas to court in mid-2021 to demand access to audit records. The firm routinely refused to hand over documents, including communications, despite a court order, leading a judge in 2022 to sanction Cyber Ninjas’ founders $50,000 per day.

“I think the variety of creative positions Cyber Ninjas has taken to avoid compliance with this order speaks for itself,” Superior Court Judge John Hannah said. Cyber Ninjas began handing over records last year, revealing connections between the firm and various election conspiracy theorists and lawyers tied to Trump’s campaign and his efforts to overturn the election.

According to The Arizona Republic, Cyber Ninjas’ fines surpassed $10 million, and the firm closed up shop — and yet they still haven’t learned their lesson. The firm continues to withhold and improperly redact text messages and other correspondence. For example, Cyber Ninjas has withheld communications between CEO Doug Logan and prominent election denier Phil Waldron, claiming the messages are covered by legal privilege. This is clearly the FOIA equivalent of a torinoko, the legendary ninja smoke grenade, since Waldron is not a lawyer at all, and definitely not Logan’s lawyer.

THE TRANSPARENCY TAX AWARD Mendocino County

The Foilies regularly recounts outrageous public records fees that seem clearly aimed at discouraging specific records requests. But those are usually one-off efforts aimed at specific requests. This award to officials in Mendocino County, Calif., is based on their creation of a fee system that appears designed to discourage everyone from requesting public records.

The ordinance lets officials charge you $20 per hour to look for records if you fail to “describe a specifically identifiable record.” So, if you asked for the sheriff’s “Policy 410.30,” you wouldn’t get charged, but if you asked for “all directives, policies, and orders related to bodyworn cameras,” you might have to pony up hard cash. Even worse, the ordinance says that if you ask for emails or other types of records that “may” include information that needs to be redacted or withheld,

the county would charge you $50 or $150 per hour, depending on whether an attorney needs to be involved.

In other words, the ordinance punishes the public for not knowing exactly how the county organizes and stores its records, or what records might contain sensitive information. If you have an encyclopedic knowledge of the county’s systems and how to request records, you may not be charged any search fees. But if you are a normal person who just wants to find out what’s happening in the county, you are probably going to be charged a huge search fee.

Mendocino County’s ordinance is on shaky legal ground. The California Public Records Act does not give state and local government agencies the authority to assess their own search fees, review fees, or even fees to redact records. The law only allows agencies to charge the public what it costs to make copies of the records they seek.

But aside from being potentially unlawful, Mendocino County’s fee ordinance is an affront to its residents. It treats all records requests as hostile, resourcewasting inquiries rather than a central mission of any public agency committed to transparency.

THE BURN AFTER READING AWARD Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Though it might be surprising, sometimes an agency will fulfill your request — and realize afterward they’d like to hit the undo button. Generally, however, the First Amendment protects your right to keep the records and publish them, even when the government could have originally withheld them.

That’s what happened to the wellknown, oft-feared FOIA warrior and journalist Jason Leopold after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used the wrong highlighter when they responded to his request for information on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) activity in Portland, Ore., in the wake of George Floyd’s murder during summer of 2020.

Leopold asked ICE for communication and documents from the DHS about the training and placement of DHS personnel in Portland that summer and received a “DHS Component Actions Report” in response. Among the information on the report that ICE later claimed was sensitive enough to warrant

a gimme-back: the exact numbers of helmets, crowd-control shields, and pepper-spray projectiles that the DHS loaned to the United States Park Police, the police force of the National Park Service.

THE MISFIRE IN ALL DIRECTIONS AWARD Irvington Township

Sometimes you just have to marvel at the hubris of an agency that would prefer to pick unwinnable fights rather than just open up its books.

Irvington Township, N.J., started one such berserk rampage in 2021 when it filed a lawsuit against a retired teacher who had gotten in the habit of regularly asking for information about local government operations. The suit claimed her requests were “unduly burdensome, time consuming and expensive” and that the octogenarian had “bullied and annoyed” township administrators.

Then, in a misguided attempt to avoid negative attention, the town sent cease-and-desist letters to NBC reporters who were covering the lawsuit, also accusing them of harassment. Less than a week after the reporters published their story, Irvington Township withdrew the suit.

But it didn’t end there. Curious about how much the lawsuit had cost and who had authorized it, Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual

Rights and Expression (FIRE), filed his own records requests. Irvington Township failed to respond to the request, and Steinbaugh filed a complaint with the New Jersey Government Records Council.

At that point, Irvington Township claimed that Steinbaugh, being from out of state, had no right to the records (false!) and deserved to be referred to law enforcement and criminally prosecuted (no!). Not only were Irvington Township’s arguments frivolous, they backfired: Saberrattling about vexatious lawsuits against a free speech lawyer is like threatening them with a good time.

The Foilies (CC BY) were compiled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Director of Investigations Dave Maass, Senior Staff Attorney Aaron Mackey, Frank Stanton Fellow Mukund Rathi, Investigative Researcher Beryl Lipton) and MuckRock (Co-Founder Michael Morisy, Data Reporter Dillon Bergin, and Investigations Editor Derek Kravitz), with further review and editing by Shawn Musgrave. Illustrations are by EFF Designer Caitlyn Crites. The Foilies are published in partnership with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia.

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GET OUT Everything to do in Cleveland for the next two weeks

WED 03/22

CIFF47 Opening Night

CIFF47 will kick off its in-person, 11-day run at Playhouse Square today at 7 p.m. with a screening of Butterfly in the Sky, a documentary about the PBS series Reading Rainbow, which inspired millions of children to “take a look, it’s in a book.” The evening includes the screening of the film in the Connor Palace and a post-film reception in the KeyBank State Theatre with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Tickets cost $100.

1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

THU 03/23

Rocky LaPorte

In 1988, Rocky LaPorte quit his day job as a truck driver to become a professional comedian. Turned out to be a good move. LaPorte hasn’t forgotten his roots and, in his standup routines, he makes simple observations about the oddities of life. In one performance, the comedian talked about putting your parents down as an emergency contact. “What are my parents going to do?” he joked. “’Mrs. LaPorte, your son has been in a horrific car accident.’ ‘Well, give him some ice cream; he likes ice cream.’” It’s that sort of simple observation that makes LaPorte’s material stand out from the pack of other truck drivers turned comics. He performs tonight at 7 at Hilarities, where he has shows scheduled through Saturday. Check the Hilarities website for ticket prices and more info. 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

FRI 03/24

As You Like It

Great Lakes Theatre presents this Shakespeare play that takes place in the Forest of Arden, where a disguised Rosalind seeks refuge after her uncle has banished her. Performances take place tonight at 7:30 at the Hanna Theatre, where performances continue through April 8. 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

Cleveland Home & Remodeling Show

Exhibitors who can help you rebuild your garage or remodel your home will be on hand today for the Cleveland Home & Remodeling Show. The event takes place from noon to 9 p.m. today at the I-X Center, and it continues through Sunday.

1 I-X Center Dr., 216-676-6000, ixcenter.com.

Monsters vs. Toronto Marlies

The Monsters take on the Toronto Marlies tonight at 7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Since it’s a Friday night game, there will be $3 beers, $2 hot dogs and $1 sodas. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

SAT 03/25

Elton John & Billy Joel Tribute

A group of musicians that calls itself Jeans n’ Classics will pay tribute to Elton John and Billy Joel with tonight’s concert at Mandel Concert Hall. Expect to hear hits such as “Rocket Man,” Yellow Brick Road, Piano Man, and Just the Way You Are. The concert begins at 8. 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

Sinfully Yours: A 20th Anniversary Burlesque Revue

This evening honoring local burlesque start Bella Sin will commence at 7 p.m. with a VIP and cocktail party at the Beachland Ballroom. There will be a red carpet opening, and doors open at 7:30 p.m. for general admission ticket holders. The show will feature Ruby Rabbit, Riley

Poppyseed, Erica Martinez, Ariyah Fuego Lakota Shekar, Heather and Lace along with many more local luminaries, national starlets and international stars. 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

SUN 03/26

Cavaliers vs. Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets, one of the NBA’s worst teams, come to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse tonight for a game against the Cavs that begins at 6. Expect the Cavs to get a win. One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

TUE 03/28

Black Daddy: The Movie Screening

Damon Jamal Taylor, who goes by the name of Dame Drummer, started out as the house band leader for Lyrical Rhythms at the B-Side in Cleveland Heights before moving to Oakland, CA ten years ago. At 7:30 tonight at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights, Drummer, who won a Grammy earlier this year for his production work on the album The Movement by Alphabet Rockers, will return to town for a special screening of his new film, Black Daddy: The Movie. A performance from Lyrical Rhythms House Band featuring Dame Drummer will follow. Black Daddy: The Movie has garnered numerous awards at film festivals. The documentary allows viewers to “journey into the hearts

and minds of black dads, providing a vulnerable look into their joys and struggles,” as it’s put in a press release. From his work as a filmmaker, producer, lyricist, vocalist and performer, Dame Drummer, who has toured and collaborated with artists including Fantastic Negrito, Los Rakas, the San Francisco Symphony and others, credits Lyrical Rhythms as one of his most formative platforms.

2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-321-5588, grogshop.gs.

WED 03/29

Shitshow Karaoke

Local rapper/promoter Dirty Jones and Scene’s own Manny Wallace host Shit Show Karaoke, a weekly event at the B-Side Liquor Lounge wherein patrons choose from “an unlimited selection of jams from hiphop to hard rock,” and are encouraged to “be as bad as you want.”

Fueled by drink and shot specials, it all goes down tonight at 10 p.m. Admission is free.

2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

THU 03/30

And That’s Why We Drink

Em and Christine, the hosts of this popular podcast, explore haunted locations across the country on this national tour that comes to the Agora tonight at 7. “The show will keep you on the edge of your seat, filled with more jumps and laughs than before,” reads a press release promising a surprise cameo from the piece of mummified fruit called Lemon.

5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.

Springworks

This concert features works from MFA candidates El-drick Aboagye, Shadrach Arthur, and Haiyan Chen. Siblings is a collaborative work choreographed and performed by the three candidates. Set to Nico Muhly’s Doublespeak, it is an abstract work that contemporizes movement ideas and aesthetic features from their collective cultural dance backgrounds. The work takes the audience through a journey of juxtaposed dance styles integrated

Black Daddy: The Movie screens at the Grog Shop. See: Tuesday, March 28. | Courtesy of the Grog Shop

to create dynamics in movement expressions. Springworks will be performed at 7:30 tonight at Mather Dance Center, where performances continue through Sunday. Tickets are $10 for students, $12 for seniors age 60+ and CWRU personnel, and $15 for general admission.

11201 Bellflower Rd., Cleveland Heights, 1-800-348-2234, dance.case. edu/.

The Tempest Symphony

Thomas Adès, in his Cleveland Orchestra conducting debut, leads the world premiere of his Tempest Symphony, based upon the music from his 2012 opera. A performance of Jean Sibelius’s Prelude and Suite that was assembled from incidental music he wrote for a Danish production of the play follows. It all begins at 7:30 tonight at Mandel Concert Hall, where performances continue through Saturday.

11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com.

FRI 03/31

Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks

Led by Julius Randle, the New York Knicks have played playoff-caliber basketball all season. Expect them to give the Cavs some serious competition at tonight’s game, which starts at 7:30 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

Summit Racing Equipment I-X Piston

Powered Auto-Rama

The Summit Racing Equipment I-X

Piston Powered Auto-Rama celebrates its 57th year in Cleveland this weekend at the I-X Center with a show featuring 1,000 vehicles. The 2023 show will include feature areas, piston-powered vehicles, vendors, swap meet tables and toy modeler tables. A parade of prestigious military color guard will open the show each morning. Check the venue website for more info, including hours and ticket prices.

1 I-X Center Dr., 216-676-6000, ixcenter.com.

SAT 04/01

Becoming Dr. Ruth

Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer changed the way we talk about sex and relationships with her hit ‘80s radio callin show, Sexually Speaking. This theatrical show pays tribute to the late Westheimer. Tonight’s performance takes place at 7:30 at the Outcalt Theatre where performances

continue through April 23. 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

The Room

Thanks to The Disaster Artist, the James Franco movie about the making of the cult classic The Room, the film’s popularity has soared. The film that features writer, director and star Tommy Wiseau screens at 10 tonight at the Cedar Lee Theatre. first Saturday of every month. 2163 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, 440-528-0355, clevelandcinemas. com.

SUN 04/02

Nate Bargatze: The Be Funny Tour

Originally from Old Hickory, TN, slow-talking comedian Nate Bargatze took inspiration from his dad, a former clown turned world class magician. In one bit, Bargatze talks about seeing a dead horse lying in someone’s yard and advises that if you ever have to move the thing, you “just run out there like you love it and it’s the third one you’ve done that day.” His narrative style is particularly unique; he performs at 7 tonight at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown.

229 East Front St., Youngstown, 330746-5600, covellicentre.com.

Jo Koy

Comedian and actor Jo Koy recently starred in the Universal Picture film Easter Sunday, a movie set around a family gathering to celebrate Easter Sunday. The comedy referenced Koy’s life experiences and his unique experiences as an AsianAmerican. Koy brings his world tour to Connor Palace tonight at 7:30. 1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

TUE 04/04

Lyrical Rhythms Open Mic and Chill

This long-running open mic night at the B Side allows some of the city’s best rappers and poets to strut their stuff. The event begins at 8 with a comedy session dubbed 2 Drinks & a Joke with host Ant Morrow. The open mic performances begin at 10 p.m. Tickets cost $5 in advance, $10 at the door., $5.

2785 Euclid Heights Blvd., Cleveland Heights, 216-932-1966, bsideliquorlounge.com.

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ALL-PURPOSE POWER

Pearl Street Wine Market & Cafe is a Swiss Army knife of eating and drinking in Ohio City

By Douglas Trattner

A YEAR AGO, CHEF KAREN

Small shocked the local dining community by announcing that she was shutting down Flying Fig, her 23-year-old Ohio City bistro. The news was particularly distressing given that it followed two years of similar announcements from chefs and owners all over town. But the news wasn’t all grim: Small also revealed at the time that she and partner Jill Davis of Toast would be opening a European-style wine bar in its place.

Despite assertions that Flying Fig’s replacement was not going to be a “straightforward full-service restaurant,” Pearl Street Wine Market & Café, which opened in November, operates much like a fullservice restaurant. Diners can make reservations, menus are provided upon seating, servers take orders, deliver food and drink, and handle payment.

The most dramatic changes are physical. Guests now enter and exit through the attached market, which features more open shelving for products and a built-in six-seat counter. Turn the corner and you land in the bar/dining room, which has been downsized thanks to a new wall separating it from a private dining room. Gone are any last vestiges of fine – or finer – dining, replaced by an open, informal, clamorous and somewhat spare space.

Ditching the ceremony in favor of the carefree means that diners are free to use the space to their liking. Don’t feel like settling in for an entire meal? Belly up to the bar for a round of black walnut Manhattans ($14) and a dish of bright green Castelvetrano olives ($6) before your dinner reservation elsewhere. Have a little more time and appetite on your hands? Snag a craft papertopped table and unwind over a ham and cheese board ($35) and a bottle of white wine from the south of France ($28).

Four of us nearly made a meal out of that impressive board one night. Arranged on a square foot of slate were mounds of fresh-sliced country hams from Kentucky and Tennessee, a selection of soft, semisoft and hard cheeses, pickled green

beans, fruit, nuts, grainy mustard, breads, toasts and cultured butter. Not only is Pearl Street a great place to load up on tinned fish for the home pantry, it’s the ideal place to sample it onsite. Grab any tin in the market – sardines, razor clams, scallops, octopus, smoked mackerel pate – and the kitchen will plate it up ($5 plus the cost of the tin) with crostini, butter and pickles.

There are many appealing small plates on the wine-friendly menu, which leans farm-to-table bistro with Mediterranean flair. Silky chicken liver mousse ($12) arrives in a glass jar beneath its hermetic fat cap. It gets smeared across warm, cheesy gougeres. Juicy, zesty merguez sausage is grilled, sliced and served atop a glossy pool of white bean hummus and showered with microgreens. A pair of cheesetopped baguette slices cap a bowl of French onion soup ($8).

Our server neglected to convey the specials, so we nearly missed out on one of the best fish fries in town, but after seeing it land on a nearby table we inquired. Two flanks of plump, firm and mild walleye ($18) are encased in honey-colored beerbatter shells. The mound of crisp frites had no chance of a lengthy existence.

When a single menu features lamb sausage, fried fish, mushroom pappardelle ($20) and a savory lamb burger ($19), wines (or tastes) by the glass from the temperature controlled Cruvinet likely make the most sense. But diners are encouraged to browse the market shelves as well, where a staffer is on hand with assistance or a recommendation. That guidance is welcome given that the bulk of those bottles tend to be less familiar natural wines from small producers. Bottles are sold at retail plus a $20 corkage fee.

In the dessert category, Small’s delicately sweet olive oil cake ($9) makes an encore appearance, here capped with ricotta, candied orange peel and a dusting of confectioner’s sugar.

Like the Fig before it, Pearl’s menu will appeal equally to snackers, prudent vegetarians and ravenous omnivores. Each plate is composed with the chef’s trademark effortless, unaffected approach to food. And because her menus are never stagnant documents, it will be a treat to return seasonally to taste what Small comes up with next.

The restaurant’s new flexible layout opens it up to more events like casual wine tastings, themed wine dinners, wine club meet-ups and “ham bar happy hours.” That last one might be the best of the bunch given that glasses of wine are just $2 with a charcuterie purchase. Given the view through the glass from Market Avenue, whatever the team is doing appears to be working.

PEARL STREET WINE MARKET & CAFÉ

Photo by Joe Szabo

BITES

Abundance Culinary to put down roots in Cleveland Heights

By Douglas Trattner

FOR THE PAST YEAR, CHEF

Liu Fang and Carl Setzer have made themselves known around town. What began as occasional pop-ups selling buns, dumplings and noodles under the name Abundance Culinary advanced to weekly two-day residencies at Larder in Ohio City. At those events, and others across town at Rising Star in Cleveland Heights, the pair cultivated a passionate, dedicated following for Fang’s elevated Chinese cooking. The chef leans into our region’s bounty to craft modern interpretations of classic Chinese dishes. Diners on both sides of town have grown fond of items like Chinese sausage-filled dumplings, dry-fried green beans, Shanghai scallion noodles, honey ma wings and Huainan brisket ramen.

Soon, Fang and Setzer’s nomadic days will come to an end. The two recently revealed their plans to set up permanent residence at the diner car on Lee Road.

“We’ve been really motivated by the reactions that we’ve seen from people who are intimately connected through family heritage or experience in Asia and by people that are just coming in blind and are motivated by curiosity,” says Setzer.

Fang, who was born and raised in China, met Setzer, who was born and raised in Northeast Ohio, in China in 2004. Together, they founded the first craft brewery in Beijing and quickly expanded, opening additional bars and brewpubs in the region. Covid drove the pair to Cleveland, where they have lived for the past three years.

“Chinese-American food has had the same flavors for the past 20, 30 years and there’s a love for it,” Fang explains. “But I think it’s time for a change. It so happens that Carl and I were in China running a food and beverage business while China had its big economic development. Being able to bring a concept like craft beer to China using Chinese ingredients, we want

to do something similar here but reversed: to bring elevated and modern Chinese flavor to a market where there is an abundance of almost everything, raw materialwise, talent-wise and curiosity from the public.”

Not a team to push things too fast, Fang and Setzer will gradually expand Abundance’s hours, days and offerings. Fans will find them at Larder this month for two more Sunday-Monday popups. Simultaneously, they will roll out Friday-Saturday service at Rising Star. In April, they will begin operating Thursday through Sunday. Come summer, those days of service likely will expand to five or six per week. A license for beer and wine is in the works.

In early 2023, the pair elevated their typical pop-up experience in Hingetown by hosting a week of sitdown prix fixe dinners. The sell-out events might offer guests a glimpse of what the future of Abundance could look like in terms of dishes, plating and service at the 38-seat diner.

“One of the reasons why we were so excited to run the week of prix fixe dinners was because it really gave us an idea of how diners were going to react to an experience that was a little more family-style and a little more communal, but still very intimate,” says Setzer. “The

lessons we learned from that at the Larder space will push us in how we architect that experience for the diner. We want to give people the feeling that it’s not rushed or temporary but that it’s permanent and is an experience that they can enjoy over and over again.”

The move across town is a bittersweet one for the Abundance team, says Fang.

“Jeremy and Allie [Umansky] have been so generous to give us their kitchen to do weekly pop-ups,” she says. “It’s great working with the two of them, but we’re ready to be able to graduate from their kitchen and move to the diner on Lee Road.”

But the pair isn’t giving up on Ohio City entirely. In a flip-thescript move, they will continue to host one pop-up per month at Larder as a way of showing their appreciation for their loyal fans.

“We want them to still have access to what they helped create with their patronage,” adds Setzer.

Now Open: Milk + Honey Cafe at Tower City

Anisa Rrapaj opened Milk + Honey downtown in 2021, snagging a spot in the Oswald Centre (1100 Superior Ave.). She also operates the Hive by Milk + Honey in the Limelight

Building, the co-working complex in Ohio City.

This week, she opened a new Milk + Honey cafe at Tower City, in the space formerly occupied by Starbucks, just steps from Public Square. Rrapaj says that she was initially concerned about the proximity of two downtown shops, but has been pleasantly surprised.

“I decided to go through with it,” she says. “There is a lot of foot traffic at Tower City and very different customers as well. It’s been insanely busy.”

Rrapaj, who also is a partner in Inca Tea cafe with Ryan Florio, says that customers can expect a similar but recently expanded menu of offerings. On the menu are coffee and espresso drinks, chai drinks, specialty coffee drinks and fruit smoothies. To eat, there are breakfast bagel sandwiches, avocado toast and vegan chia pudding. At lunch, there are sandwiches starring chicken salad, turkey and even steak.

Milk + Honey Tower City opened on March 8.

If Rrapaj has her way, this is just the beginning for her brand.

“I would love to have 20, 25 of these,” she says.

Luca Owners to Open ItalianThemed Steakhouse in Warehouse District

For 20 years, Osteria offered diners a taste of Italy from its underground lair on W. St. Clair. The restaurant closed in 2020, but soon resurfaced that same year in the former One Walnut/Porcelli’s space on Walnut Ave.

Since then, the quaint subterranean dining room with a speakeasy vibe long home to Osteria has sat idle. But not for long. Lola and Luca Sema, owners of Acqua di Luca, Luca and Luca West have taken possession of the property at 408 W. St. Clair Ave. in the Warehouse District.

Lola Sema says that she and her husband plan to open Olivia, an Italian-themed steakhouse, in the space, which sits immediately east of Acqua di Luca. The initial timeframe puts opening day in late summer or early fall.

Photo courtesy Abundance Culinary

WORTH THE WAIT

The Church returns with a long-awaited new concept album

By Jeff Niesel

THE ’80S ROCK GROUP THE Church has never been an act that rests on its laurels. It’s steadily toured and recorded for its entire career. That workman-like approach makes the six-year gap between studio albums been rather unusual for the Australian group, which finally just released its latest effort, The Hypnogogue.

“Well, one of the guys in the band left, and then, we had incredible bushfires here,” says singer-bassist Steve Kilbey in a recent Zoom call from his home in Australia. The Church performs on Tuesday, March 28, at the Kent Stage. “COVID also stopped us. Australia was the most locked-down place on earth. After a while, I think illegally, I started driving around to studios. There were no cars on the road. It was amazing. You could drive in and out of the city like it was 2 a.m. You were allowed to drive to do business, but I was still getting ready to be pulled over by some copper. I rehearsed it and figured that I would say, ‘My business is making music in a studio.’”

The fact that The Hyponogogue is such a heady concept album might also explain its particularly long gestation period. The songs revolve around a loose sci-fi concept that deals with artificial intelligence and songwriting.

“I didn’t sit down and go, ‘This is the concept,’” says Kilbey. “We were just making a record. It

started to occur to me that I was starting to sing about things I didn’t understand. There were lyrics and ideas that – to get a little mystical on you — came from what I like to think of as this overriding artist who lives within you and steers you toward things even if your subconscious mind doesn’t understand what it’s steering you toward. I’ve always been open to that. My muse was pushing me towards these lyrics and these songs and these ideas. As we went back and worked on the album, it occurred to me that it could be a concept album and once that idea got up and running for me, then I started making it work. It’s like getting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and forcing them together.”

The storyline centers on a futuristic rock star who goes through writer’s block and then hears about a person who has invented a machine that can produce the hits of the day.

“This guy who is a kind of alternative rocker who goes and uses the machine and falls in love with the woman who invented it,” says Kilbey. “She falls in love with him, and it has some kind of disastrous consequences. I’ve left that part open. It’s the bare bones of a story. The songs are the details. It’s not chronological like [the Who’s] Tommy. It’s all over the place, and it’s the vaguest notion of a framework to hang all of these songs on. I read

THE CHURCH

a review that said, ‘What a stupid story. I like the songs, but you can ignore the story if you like.’ I thought, ‘Yes. That’s true. You can ignore the story and just focus on the songs.’”

Since the album’s completion, AI has been used to write everything from songs to book reviews and poetry. When Kilbey started writing the songs on The Hypnogogue, he wasn’t aware of how timely the themes would be.

“Someone has asked AI to write a Steve Kilbey-like song, and it did it,” says Kilbey. “Interestingly enough, people who tried that got the same results. It seems like it can only write one Steve Kilbey song. What it came up with was disappointing and took the most superficial aspects of my lyrics and regurgitated them in a limp way.”

The album’s opening tune “Ascendance,” a tune that starts slow with dreamy synths and sporadic drums, recalls early Pink Floyd with its soft vocals droning guitars. Kilbey says the musical influence came from a very specific source.

“I have to say that the inspiration for ‘Ascendance’ is a Hawkwind

album called In Search of Space,” says Kilbey. “I had never heard of Hawkwind. They were on the eve of releasing their second album in Australia. In 1972, there was no good music on the radio. But this [Australian DJ] Chris Winter said, ‘Here’s a new English band called Hawkwind. Here’s the first track from their new album.’”

Kilbey says he was in his bedroom listening at the time, and the album’s first tune blew him away.

“The first track sounds like a hideous great spaceship putting itself together, and all the pieces start to clank and resonate,” he says. “Eventually, it lifts off. It’s like you’re there, and the machine is trying to get it together and finally the whole thing lifts off. I’ve always been really impressed by that. ‘Ascendance’ is to give the listener that idea. It’s a special chord progression. It’s like that drawing by M.C. Escher that features a man walking up a set of steps and never getting there. I wanted to achieve that with ‘Ascendance.’”

Even though the lineup has changed over the years, the Church has achieved a great degree of consistency. The new album serves as a worthy addition to the band’s catalog that stretches back to the ’80s and ’90s, and Kilbey says the current lineup is plenty capable of playing both the old and new songs. In addition to Kilbey, it features drummer and producer Tim Powles, guitarist Ian Haug (formerly of Australian rock icons Powderfinger, who joined the band in 2013) and Jeffrey Cain (Remy Zero), a touring multiinstrumentalist who is now a fulltime member of the band. The band has also recruited Ashley Naylor, a long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band and one of Australia’s finest guitarists.

“With this record, all of these very talented musicians had a desire to cooperate,” says Kilbey. “Sometimes, that doesn’t happen. It was a lot of collaboration. The other side of cooperation is being able to say if something doesn’t work. We had an open relationship. The old Church achieved that a long time ago and then moved away from there and into an argumentative period. I’m not necessarily the most creative guy, but I can provide a context within which other musicians can jam. And with this record, everything magically fell into place.”

8:30 P.M., TUESDAY, MARCH 28, THE KENT STAGE, 175 E. MAIN STREET, KENT, 330-677-5005. TICKETS: $32-$45, KENTSTAGE.ORG.

Photo: Hugh Stewart

The Church

MUSIC

GOOD GROOVES

Florence Dore connects the dots between rock ’n’ roll and literature

By Jeff Niesel

LAST SUMMER, NORTH

Carolina-based singer-songwriter

Florence Dore, a former Clevelander, returned to Cleveland to perform at the Beachland as part of National Independent Venue Week and as part of the National Independent Venue Association conference.

The show marked her first performance in town in more than a decade.

And she loved every minute of it.

“It was great,” she says via phone from her North Carolina home. Florence Dore returns to the Beachland Tavern on Sunday, March 26. “I love that space. It has great sound. We saw old friends and got to go up to the lake where I got married and stand there and look out at the edge of the world. I think the last gig I had in Cleveland was opening for Jason Ringenberger for a kids’ show at the public library.”

Initially, Dore met Beachland co-owners Mark Leddy and Cindy Barber when she first moved to Cleveland in the late ‘90s. They happened to be at a Guided by Voices show she attended.

“They said they were going to open a club in a former Croatian social hall,” she recalls. “I said, ‘Okay. That sounds good.’ People say stuff like that all the time. It’s not that I didn’t believe them, but I am so happy that it got off the ground. They just kick ass. They’re complete workaholics, and I just love it there. It’s beautiful, and the vibe is so good. They treat you really nice and give you dinner. It felt like coming home when we played there.”

Significantly, Leddy and Barber would loan Dore their front yard when she married dB’s drummer Will Rigby in 2004.

After moving from Cleveland to North Carolina in 2010 to take a job at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dore initially devoted most of her time to working at the university. She drifted back into the music scene a couple of years ago when she worked on Cover Charge, a benefit album that helped out the Carrboro, NC–based indie club Cat’s

Cradle. Acts such as Superchunk, Sarah Shook & the Disarmers and Southern Culture on the Skids all contributed tracks.

Dore herself contributes a cover of the Marshall Crenshaw song “Somewhere Down the Line” to the album.

“The song is very comforting and beautiful and about reassurance,” she has said of the track. “I thought it was a perfect song for the moment. We recorded it remotely, and [Cantonbased producer extraordinaire] Don Dixon mixed it.”

Last year, Dore also released a new solo album, Highways and Rocketships. She wrote the tunes for it prior to the pandemic, but the COVID lockdown meant it took a little more time to complete the record and release it on vinyl. She recorded it with Dixon and Mitch Easter, a dynamic duo known for working together on early R.E.M. records. Former R.E.M. manager Jefferson Holt released it on his Propeller Sound Recordings.

The album is (finally!) now out on vinyl, and Dore will have copies for sale at the upcoming Beachland gig.

The LP provides a nice distillation of Dore’s alt-country sound. A shimmering tune that makes the most of an evocative guitar riff, “Sweet to Me” stands out as the album’s centerpiece; it serves as a tribute to Dore’s late grandmother.

“Thundercloud (Fucking with Your Heart),” another album highlight, comes off as a twangy tune that possesses a Georgia Satellites-like swagger. A downright nasty guitar riff drives the tune.

Dore says she’s begun work on the next album and will showcase some songs from it at the Beachland.

As if releasing a new studio album weren’t enough, last year, Dore published The Ink in the Grooves, a collection of essays and interviews that trace the various connections between literature and rock ’n’ roll.

“It’s not really that academic even though it’s on an academic press,” she says of the tome. “I did have

FLORENCE DORE

7:30 P.M. SUNDAY, MARCH 26, BEACHLAND TAVERN, 15711 WATERLOO RD., 216-383-1124. TICKETS: $15, BEACHLANDBALLROOM.COM.

this beautiful interview with all the guys John Prine’s band, who are amazing. Roddy Doyle who wrote the novel The Commitments, wrote an essay about how rock made him hate Irish music a little bit less. It’s hilarious. Richard Thompson wrote something for it. I interviewed Steve Earle. There are mostly interviews and essays, but there are also short stories and novels that show how rock ’n’ roll comes into novels these days. There is this huge conversation in contemporary American culture between novelists and rock ’n’ rollers. Rick Moody wrote this awesome remembrance of Pere Ubu. He’s a giant music fan and a musician.”

The seeds for the book were planted in 2010 when Dore hosted a conference at the Rock Hall.

“Rick Moody came to it as well

as Steve Earle, and they had a conversation on the stage,” says Dore. “After that, I thought, ‘Let’s make this conversation in book form, so people can participate in this interchange between rock ’n’ roll and literature.’”

For the Beachland show, Dore’s backing band will feature the rhythm section of the dBs — bassist Gene Holder and drummer Will Rigby. Guitarist Mark Spencer will play with the band as well.

“Will and Gene have played together since high school,” she says, adding that she thought about learning a dBs cover but decided against it. “I have to pinch myself when I’m stage with those guys. But I do have a surprise cover in the works. On the last tour, we did a Let’s Active song, so that was cool. We’ll see. I’m not sure what cover song we’ll do this time around.”

Florence Dore

Photo: Melissa Payne

CHEMIST (TOMMY SHERIDAN)

and Mooke (Rodney Mynatt), the duo that formed the local hip-hop act Smoke Screen some 15 years ago, were friends long before the group came to fruition. They grew up together, and officially launched Smoke Screen when Mynatt’s uncle’s band, the Slick, got a show at the now-shuttered Peabody’s and asked them to play a show with him.

They did the show and met a friend who booked them for a run of gigs; they did about 30 shows that year. Since then, the group has shared the stage with acts such as Kid Cudi, Walae and People

Under the Stairs. In 2007, the band released its debut, Self-Educated Learning Process, and the group dropped a few “free projects” before releasing the full-length follow-up, Imagination Beyond Illustration, in 2010 and Ice Cold Water in 2012.

And now, with 15 years under its belt, the group is releasing its fourth studio effort and playing one last Cleveland show before pulling up stakes and moving to Los Angeles.

“Honestly, we have done a lot in Cleveland, and we thought the time was right to move,” says Sheridan in a recent conference call with Mynatt. Smoke Screen will play a release party on Saturday, March 25, at the Grog Shop that will double as its farewell show. “We have some friends who are doing cool stuff in Los Angeles, and we are looking forward to throwing our hat in the ring out there. Our friend Connor Musarra has made a good name for himself.

FARE THEE WELL

By Jeff Niesel

He gained some traction. It’s cool watching that happen. He did a song a day for a year on Instagram, and that got him some notoriety.”

In addition to killing it with their albums and live shows as Smoke Screen, Sheridan and Mynatt have held down a number of side projects during Smoke Screen’s 15-year run. A couple of years ago, the group collaborated with the solo artist Ghost Noises to form Smoke Noises. That group even did a few East Coast tours together.

The new album, From the Yard, represents the band’s crowning achievement. The samples feature the kind of whimsical approach that made acts such as De La Soul and

Tribe Called Quest famous.

“In a lot of ways, the new album is a return to form,” says Sheridan. “Our first album was self-produced, and it’s come full circle. The title is a reference to the neighborhood in South Euclid where we grew up, and the album is our love letter to Cleveland. For the production, we just wanted to have jazzy samples and jazzy instruments. The song ‘Time Flies’ is a sequel. The first song told the story of our first album, and now, we have 15 years of experience to pull from, which we reference in the song.”

“It’s been quite a ride,” adds Mynatt matter-of-factly.

The duo recorded the album

SMOKE SCREEN, MOOKE DA GOD, BROKEN KEYS

9 P.M., SATURDAY, MARCH 25, GROG SHOP, 2785 EUCLID HEIGHTS BLVD., CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, 216-321-5588.

at their home studio in Cleveland Heights, and Mynatt says the two will set up a home recording studio in Los Angeles, too.

“It’ll be improved,” he says. “It’ll be better and just way amplified.”

The upcoming Grog Shop show will feature the first time that the band’s solo projects will share the same bill. Sheridan’s Broken Keys and Mynatt’s Mooke Da God will open the concert. Broken Keys dropped a string of singles and collaborations since its 2019 fulllength album, Distant Mood, was released. A follow-up to that album is slated for release this summer. Mooke Da God closed 2020 out with the release of the album Twenty Thirty and has the follow-up to that album currently in the works with a release date set for this year as well.

“It’s kind of sick,” says Sheridan. “We’re opening for ourselves. I’ll do a solo set, and Mooke will do a solo set, and then we’ll do a Smoke Screen set. We’re up for a challenge. We chose the Grog Shop since they have helped us out so much over the years.”

TICKETS: $12, GROGSHOP.GS. jniesel@clevescene.com

LIVEWIRE Real music in the real world

will cover much of the band’s catalog and also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band’s 1992 EP, The House of Tomorrow. The show begins at 7:30. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

THU 03/30

John Mayer

THU 03/23

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

This blues singer-guitarist’s 1998 sophomore effort, Trouble Is..., went platinum, yielding such radio hits as “Blue on Black,” “True Lies” and “Somehow, Somewhere, Someway.”

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Shepherd will play the album in its entirety at tonight’s show at MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage. The concert begins at 7:30. 10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark. mgmresorts.com/en.html.

FRI 03/24

The Irish Tenors 25th Anniversary Tour

Since their debut some 25 years ago, the Irish Tenors have worked classic songs such as “My Heart Will Go On” (from Titanic), “Fairytale of New York” (previously recorded by Kirsty MacColl and the Pogues) and Jimmy Kennedy’s “South of The Border (Down Mexico Way)” into their repertoire alongside classics such as “Danny Boy,” “Whiskey in the Jar” and “Fields of Athenry.” Tonight at 7:30 at Connor Palace, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra joins the group for this special concert celebrating its quarter century mark.

1615 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

SAT 03/25 Indigo Girls

The Grammy-winning folk-rock duo Indigo Girls are known for their beautifully crafted songs that “revel in spirited simplicity,” as it’s put in a press release. Originally released in 1989, “Closer to Fine” remains an inspiring anthem about self-awareness. The duo performs tonight at 7:30 at the Goodyear Theater in Akron.

1201 East Market St., Akron, goodyeartheater.com.

In the early 2000s, John Mayer established himself a singer, songwriter and guitarist of some stature. His solo albums became big hits thanks to radio fodder such as “Your Body Is a Wonderland.” Then, in 2015, three former members of the Grateful Dead joined with Mayer and two other musicians to form the band Dead & Company. The group toured regularly, keeping Mayer busy until this year when he announced his solo acoustic tour. He’ll perform without a band when he plays at 7:30 tonight at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Instead, he’ll alternate between guitar and piano during his first-ever solo arena tour.

One Center Court, 216-420-2000, rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com.

TUE 03/28

Masego

Grammy-nominated artist Masego returns to the States from a European tour in support of Studying Abroad: Extended Stay, the deluxe edition of his acclaimed EP, which earned a nod for Best Progressive R&B Album. The North American tour has just announced an extensive North American tour supports his latest single, “You Never Visit Me,” a Sting-like slow burner that features soulful vocals and ratcheting percussion. The multi-instrumentalist performs tonight at 7 at the Agora. 5000 Euclid Ave., 216-881-2221, agoracleveland.com.

WED 03/29

The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields, a terrific indie rock band led by singersongwriter Stephin Merritt, will bring its “orchestral-pop experience” that features cello, piano, ukulele, and other acoustic and electric instrumentation, to Music Box Supper Club tonight. The concert

Robyn Hitchcock

When Robyn Hitchcock played Music Box Supper Club back in 2014, we wrote that his “famously oddball stage banter started out light — one bizarre, hilarious turn of phrase after the other balancing passionate performances of ‘The Wreck of Arthur Lee’ and ‘Only Stones Remain.’” Expect something similar when the veteran British singer-songwriter returns to the venue tonight at 7:30.

1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

SAT 04/01

DVSN

This Toronto-based duo featuring producer Nineteen85 and vocalist Daniel Daley is best known for delivering slow jams. The group put out its second album, A Muse in Her Feelings, last year. It includes cameos from Future, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Popcaan, Buju Banton, Summer Walker, Jessie Reyez, Snoh Aalegra, Ty Dolla $ign and Shantel May in 2020. The tour that rolls into House of Blues tonight at 7 supports the new album, Working on My Karma. The tour will be the first time the duo performs the majority of the songs in front of a live audience.

308 Euclid Ave., 216-523-2583, houseofblues.com.

An Evening with Cowboy Junkies

In 1988, Cowboy Junkies made their mark with The Trinity Session, a beautifully recorded release that relied on a combination of folk, blues and rock. Some 30 years on, the Canadian band is still at it. In 2022, it released Songs of the Recollection, an album of covers of tunes that influenced it early on. The Canadian pop-rock band plays tonight at 8 at Music Box Supper Club. 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com.

Steve Forbert

Singer-songwriter Steve Forbert comes to the Beachland Tavern

tonight in support of his acclaimed album, Moving Through America. A cancer survivor, he’s been on major labels and indies and had his songs covered by people like Rosanne Cash and Keith Urban. He survived being labeled the “new Dylan” and once famously passed on being on the cover of Rolling Stone. Filled with character portraits and quirky insights, the album “unfolds like a mosaic of modern-day American life delivered by someone who’s been crisscrossing the country for nearly half a century,” as it’s put in a press release.

15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

Grand Funk Railroad

This version of the classic rock band includes original founding members Don Brewer (vocals and drums, writer, and singer of the, band’s big hit, “We’re an American Band”) and bassist Mel Schacher along with some seasoned musicians who’ve played with the likes of Billy Squier and KISS. The veteran rock band performs tonight at 8 at the Goodyear Theater in Akron.

1201 East Market St., Akron, goodyeartheater.com.

Jill Scott

In 2020, the pandemic cut short Jill Scott’s 20th-anniversary tour celebrating her breakthrough album, Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Sounds Vol. I. Earlier this year, Scott resumed the tour, which will find the singersongwriter playing the album in its entirety. The concert begins tonight at 8 at MGM Northfield Park — Center Stage.

10705 Northfield Rd., Northfield, 330-908-7793, mgmnorthfieldpark.mgmresorts.com/ en.html.

MON 04/03

The Bobby Lees

The Bobby Lees come to the Beachland Tavern tonight at 8 on their first national tour in support of the recently released album, Bellevue Guitar World described the co-ed quartet as “deliciously sleazy garage rock… that recalls the spit and vigor of CBGBs in the ’70s.” Henry Rollins, Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry, Mike Patton and so many others have been vocal supporters of the young Woodstock, NY-based outfit.

Beachland Tavern, 15711 Waterloo Rd., 216-383-1124, beachlandballroom.com.

DVSN performs at House of Blues. See: Saturday, April 1. | Photo Credit: Nate Shuls

THE TOM DARK BAND

By Jeff Niesel

MEET THE BAND: Tom Dark (lead vocals), Robert Griffin (guitar), Mike Ramone (drums), Mike “Shoobs” Schubert (guitar), Michael Oswald (bass), Matt Lindsay (guitar)

HIS DARK MATERIALS: Before forming the Dark, all four members were in the locally based the Decapitators from 1979 until 1980. That group played just one show at a rec center in Shaker Heights, delivering some of their own material along with 90 minutes of covers of songs by the Ramones, Dead Boys, Germs and Crime. A year after the band stopped playing, Dark ran into Griffin on the RTA Rapid, and the two began talking about playing together again. They asked Dark’s brother Scott Eakin to play bass and friend David Araca to play drums. On Nov. 1, 1981, they officially became The Dark. Word got out that Mike Hudson (of the local punk band the Pagans) was putting together a compilation album titled Cleveland Confidential and was looking for bands around the area to be on it, The Dark set up a meeting with Hudson, and he was knocked out by how young they were. The Dark debuted live on Jan. 9, 1982, and Hudson became their manager after that night.

FROM PUNK TO HARDCORE: The Dark moved out of the punk scene and into the hardcore scene, playing infamous Club Hell shows in the Akron area. “We had a unique sound,” says Dark. “We mixed punk and hardcore with some death rock and Gothic stuff.” The band recorded an album before imploding in 1984. Dark says it was a particularly fertile period for Cleveland’s underground rock scene. “I personally think that Northeast Ohio had a fantastic music scene back then,” he says. “I just think it was very underrated, and that’s why I put out The New Hope compilation in 1983 featuring

many of the bands at the time. There were unique bands, and they didn’t sound the same either. I have great memories of that time. I saw all kinds of different bands — not just punk. Let’s put it this way. I had a great time growing up.”

BLAST FROM THE PAST: When Griffin, who now lives in Cleveland and runs the indie label Scat Records, decided to dig into the vaults to re-release the Dark songs from the early ’80s on Scat as a vinyl and digital download dubbed Dressing the Corpse, Dark suggested some version of the band play a release party. Griffin agreed and will reunite to play a few songs with Dark at an upcoming Beachland Tavern show. “When we get up and play at the Beachland, it will be me doing songs from my past bands,” says Dark. Dressing the Corpse arrives on Scat Records on March 23. It features four unreleased tracks: a live track from 1984; the first recording of the single “I Can Wait” from 1981; and two tracks recorded in a friend’s living room in 1982.

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM:

Songs such as “I Can Wait” feature distorted guitars and possess a simmering intensity and a Dead Boys-like quality. The muffled vocals and brittle guitar solo in “Put Your Hand Through the Plastic” suggest the main energy of the Sex Pistols.

WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: thedarkcle.bandcamp.com/album/ dressing-the-corpse.

WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: The Tom Dark Band performs with Tufted Puffins, Kill the Hippies and Muzzle at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 25, at the Beachland Tavern.

jniesel@clevescene.com t @jniesel

Photo: Scat Records

The Dark, back in the day

SAVAGE LOVE SIZE PEACE

By Dan Savage

Hey Dan: I’m a 41-year-old lesbian. Back when I was 26, I weighed 125 pounds and had a girlfriend. Sex with “Amy” was mind-blowing. Amy was exactly my type from head to toe, and she had more experience than me, so she really opened me up sexually. Our physical chemistry was off the charts. Unfortunately, Amy and I broke up (dysfunctional relationship issues), and then I moved to the West Coast. Fast-forward to age 31. I weighed 165 pounds, but I carried it well. Then I fell into a severe depression and had to live with my parents for a while. Amy lived about two hours away from me at that time. She’d seen me at my new weight and was still interested in me. Amy called me every night for months. After months of talking, we decided to meet up in person. However, because of depression meds and “mom’s cooking” and whatever else, I was approximately 200 pounds when we finally met up. Amy and I started sleeping together again, but it was obvious that she wasn’t into me physically anymore. The insanely good sex we once had together never returned. Within a few months she told me she was attracted to other people, and we ended things.

I want to be very, very clear when I say that I do not blame Amy at all for losing attraction to me due to my weight gain. Going from 125 to 200 within five years is an extreme amount of weight gain. But the experience broke my heart and I have not had sex or even kissed anyone since. That’s nine years of celibacy. I was (and am) deeply ashamed of my body. I continued to receive treatment for depression — lots of different psych meds, lots of group and individual therapy, etc., and my mental health has slowly but steadily improved — but I also gained more weight — and I lost every last drop of self-acceptance about my body. I went from loving my body, to being OK with it, to being dumped for it, to becoming severely obese. I finally started seeing a weight loss doctor last year and have begun to slowly lose some of the weight — I’m down to 230 pounds from my 275 max — and I REALLY want to have sex again, but I can’t even stay on dating sites for more than a few days before deleting my profile because I’m so

horribly ashamed of how I look. I used to be young! And hot! And pretty! And hot girl Amy wanted to fuck me! Constantly! I don’t want to get back together with Amy, not at all, but I miss the kind of lifealtering sex she and I used to have when my body was at its best.

How do I even begin trying to start dating and having sex again when I was dumped for getting fat and have such self-loathing and shame about my body?

Fat Middle-Aged Celibate Lesbo

“To begin to work on accepting our bodies it’s essential to get to the core of the issue,” says Elle Chase, a certified sexologist, sex, relationship and body-image coach, and the author of Curvy Girl Sex: 101 BodyPositive Sex Positions to Empower Your Sex Life

And at the core of your issue, FMACL, you’re not going to find your weight gain or the trauma of being dumped by hot girl Amy. No, according to Chase, your issues go much deeper, FMACL, and they’re cultural, not individual.

“From the day we are born, we are inundated with made-up, everchanging standards for beauty and our bodies,” Chase says. “These standards are rooted in systems of oppression like patriarchy, white supremacy and capitalism. These man-made ideas of attractiveness and desirability distort, skew and infect our perception and opinion of ourselves — and others — convincing us that we must look a certain way in order to be sexually desirable or deserving. But that’s a lie!”

Because sexual attraction is highly subjective — there are lots of different people out there, FMACL, and different people find different bodies and different body types and different personalities attractive.

“It’s just like art,” Chase says. “We could be looking at the same painting and have two very different feelings or opinions about it. And neither of us is wrong.”

Differing tastes in art may be easy for us to wrap our heads around. We’re not going to take it personally when a friend — or a stranger on a dating app — disagrees with us about pointillism or surrealism or cubism. The stakes

are higher when we’re the painting someone else thinks is beautiful (when we don’t feel beautiful) or doesn’t feel is beautiful (when we wish they would).

“When what you see in the mirror doesn’t match that artificial standard, it’s hard for your brain to see you as the inherently sexually desirable human that you are,” Chase says. “Your brain becomes an unreliable narrator trying to protect you from the pain of rejection by telling you that you aren’t attractive or sexually desirable enough to deserve a sex life.”

So how does one — how do you — dismantle this, er, system of selfoppression?

“Here’s a ‘Cliffs Notes’ version with some hopefully useful tips,” Chase says. “FMACL needs to rewire her brain by disrupting negative self-talk patterns. If she hates what she looks like and her inner dialog is endorsing [that self-hatred], she should acknowledge her feelings if you feel like crap, you feel like crap, and it’s important to validate that — and then say something true but neutral to herself. Something like, ‘This is what my body looks like today,’ or, ‘I feel ugly, but feelings aren’t facts.’ My favorite mantra: ‘What I think of my body is none of my business.’ Don’t be discouraged. I know it’s challenging, but it’s a lifelong practice that I myself continue to do daily.”

As for dating — as for putting yourself out there on a dating app and staying out there — Chase advises lowering the stakes for now.

“FMACL can the pressure off herself for now by just dating for practice,” Chase says. “The goal is not to get laid or find a new partner, but to grow more at ease and confident with herself. Notice how it feels to go out with people and have conversations, share experiences, even flirt. She should pay attention to how she’s feeling rather than what she assumes her date is feeling. Prioritize her own joy, comfort and desires over all else right now — she deserves nothing less.”

To learn more about Elle Chase, visit her website ellechase.com.

Hey Dan: This is a question I should have asked you 10 years ago! I’m a

68-year-old GWM who was sexually assaulted by my (also gay) medical provider, multiple times, until I finally distanced myself from him both socially and professionally. I vacillated for several years whether or not I should report him, but never did. Recently, I discovered that he apparently committed suicide after another patient accused him of multiple sexual assaults. I contacted this man’s attorneys, and they are moving forward with a lawsuit against the clinic and the provider’s estate. At their request, I have agreed to provide a deposition. They have also suggested that I consider filing a suit. I am a happily married man, retired, and living in Europe. Should I just let all this go? Or should I jump into the fire with a lawsuit?

Decline Or Challenge

Agreeing to be deposed — or agreeing to file an affidavit — in support of the other patient known to have been assaulted by your former medical provider … that’s no small thing. So, even if you decide not to file a lawsuit yourself, DOC, you aren’t just letting this go. You’re doing something meaningful and significant; you’re helping another victim get the justice and restitution he feels he needs and helping to hold the clinic where you, this man, and most likely other men were sexually assaulted.

So the question isn’t, “Am I going to sit this out?,” as you aren’t sitting this out. The question instead is, “Am I going to file a lawsuit of my own?” And the answer to that question … well, that’s not an answer I can provide you with, DOC. Because the answer depends on what you need, DOC, to feel whole. If you don’t want the hassle and don’t need a settlement, you aren’t obligated to get more involved than you have already — and, again, agreeing to be deposed (by both sides) in a case like this is no small thing. Justice is being done, institutions are being held accountable, and you’re helping. If you want to file a lawsuit of your own, you should. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. questions@savagelove.net t