Cleveland Heights City Council and child services agency Bellefaire JCB are leading efforts to improve police interactions with LGBTQ+ youth. The initiative, supported by the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland and Columbus-based Kaleidoscope Youth Center, focuses on reducing harmful encounters through updated protocols, officer training, and improved youth programs.

Advocates of pollinator gardens—plots with native plants that nurture bees, butterflies, and birds to preserve the ecosystem—have groups around the region, like Heights Native Pollinator Pathway and Wild Ones Greater Cleveland, sowing seeds and spreading a message.

Cleveland Heights residents are finally getting a new grocery store with Grocery Outlet moving into the vacant space in the Cedar-Fairmount business district, ending a two-year stretch without a walkable supermarket in the district. 

The Astro Restaurant owners invite guests to take a cosmic voyage at their new outer space and alien-themed eatery at Towner City Center. From the creators of the Haunted House Restaurant in Cleveland Heights, The Astro gives a nod to sci-fi classics like Men in Black, Star Wars, The Jetsons, Star Trek, and more in an out-of-this world atmosphere.

Morris Ervin overcame a troubled past to become a passionate educator and advocate for social justice. His memoir, “Reflections of a Troubled Black Man,” recounts his transformation and his ongoing work to foster empathy and inclusivity in challenging environments. Ervin will host a book signing infused with music and meditation at The Yoga Lab, reflecting his journey and mission.

With a degree in games and simulation from the Emerging Technology and Business Design department at Miami University, Cleveland Heights resident, game designer, and Dungeons & Dragons pro Deckard Manne is releasing his Myrwoods D&D campaign book on Kickstarter next week—suited for gamers at all levels or people who enjoy delving into mythical fantasy worlds.

The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes launched the online portion of its annual plant sale this week, with hard-to-find native plants that attract and support local wildlife available. A free lecture series on native plants will be hosted by Curb Appeal Painting and Bartlett Tree Experts through April, with the in-person and the Home Grown sales happening in May and June.

Literary Cleveland announced today it will host its third Cleveland Poetry Festival in April at Cleveland Museum of Art's Community Arts Center in Tremont. This year's festival celebrates the overlapping influence of poetry and visual art with workshops and events with local and national poets and artists.

Lake Erie Ink's 12th annual Kids' Comic Con: Ignite you Imagination takes place on Friday and Saturday, March 1 and 2 at institutions like Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art's Pivot Center, and MoCa. Kids, teens, and adults are encouraged to ignite their creativity all weekend!

During the Puppy Bowl 2024 yesterday—a highlight for many during Super Bowl LVIII between San Francisco and Kansas City—Destination Cleveland aired its 30-second sport "Dog’s Day Off” to promote Cleveland as a great place to live, play, and visit. The ad featured places like North Coast Harbor, Studio West 117, East 4th Street, Grog Shop, and the Capitol Theatre in the Gordon Square Arts District.

The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes recognizes that many people’s green thumbs are itching to get outside and dig in the soil during this cold, dreary period of winter. So, it is hosting a Winter Seed Sowing Workshop, using seeds from the Nature Center's Native Seed Library, to get people ready for spring plantings.

This weekend, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes and the Shaker Historical Society will host a Historical Homes & Building Tour, with presentations from local historians on the 1960s fight to stop construction of freeways over the wetlands and greenspace in Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights.

Rust Belt Fibershed will convene textile artists, farmers, and community members at 78th Street Studios this weekend for its first annual Rust Belt Fibershed Symposium to discuss the potential of a place-based, soil-to-soil textile system.

David Knott, founder of the Veterans and First Responders Foundation, is on a mission to give military and police dogs everything they need when they retire from duty—from staying with their handlers to healthcare—with his nonprofit Howling Heroes. The first five dogs were just honored last month.

This holiday season Steve Presser's Big Fun—the nostalgic store selling vintage toys, gag gifts, old-time candy, and funky jewelry—is returning to Coventry Village as a pop-up shop in the store's original location.

Shaker Heights attorney, judge, and author Burt W. Griffin just published his book about the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald’s involvement, and Jack Ruby's motivations.

Managing photographer Bob Perkoski joined the seasonal fun at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes' AutumnFest last weekend and captured in photos everyone celebrating all that fall has to offer.

This weekend Lake Erie Ink will host its fall fundraiser, Culinary Creativity, at Dunham Tavern Barn in MidTown—bringing together Cleveland’s restaurant and writing communities to support creative expression among Cleveland youth.

Cleveland Heights' Taylor Tudor project will renovate three 1928 three-story brick Tudor buildings into residential units and retail space, while also launching an effort to create a vibrant, connected neighborhood around Cain Park.