Kabir Bhatia

1 week ago | ideastream.org | Kabir Bhatia

Judith Cetina casually strolls through the former warehouse, motioning to shelves of documents as if they were her family albums. “This is what a death record would have looked like at one time,” she said. “And then this was a naturalization paper.”The Cuyahoga County archivist has been with the department for “over 40 years.” Her colorful wardrobe matches the colorful characters lurking in the pages of the archives: everyone from the Torso Murderer to Drew Carey to Jimmy Dimora.

1 week ago | ideastream.org | Kabir Bhatia

Juneteenth is officially on Thursday, June 19, but Northeast Ohio, which has already been celebrating this month, will continue through this weekend. Canton offers two more days of events, including a block party on Friday and a 5K on Saturday. Events in Youngstown this weekend include a cultural festival, car show and soul food cook-off. This week kicks off 11 days of Cleveland History events.

1 week ago | ideastream.org | Kabir Bhatia

Cleveland International Film Festival Board President Joe Marinucci, in an email addressed to friends of the festival Monday evening, acknowledged that the organization will need to make “difficult decisions” and that there is “a significant challenge in securing a sustainable future for CIFF.” The email was sent in response to reporting last week by Ideastream Public Media about a mass exodus of CIFF staff and allegations by former staff that Executive Director Hermione Malone, hired last...

2 weeks ago | ideastream.org | Kabir Bhatia

An exodus in the last year of staff at the Cleveland International Film Festival, some of whom described to Ideastream Public Media a "toxic" work environment — as well as increasing financial pressure on the nonprofit — have raised concerns about the organization's future. The executive director, who has been in place for a year and helmed last year's festival, said she was brought in to shepherd change and make tough decisions.

2 weeks ago | ideastream.org | Kabir Bhatia

Callahan Auto Parts in Sandusky does not exist, never has, and the movie "Tommy Boy" was not filmed there, either. But is that going to stop Sandusky from hosting a Tommy Boy Festival? In Sandusky, they don't take no for an answer. Tommy Boy Fest is on, August 7-9. The Northwest Ohio city was the setting, though not the location, for the 1995 film starring Chris Farley as Tom "Tommy Boy" Callahan III, trying to save his father's auto parts company with the help of snide sidekick David Spade.