Going Analog with Ladybug A/V Club: CLE Daily

🌤️ 83°; Humid, Thunderstorms

🗣️ Primal Instinct: Bad week? There's a beach for that. The Cleveland Scream Club gathers at Edgewater Beach every Sunday at 6 p.m. for free, gong-punctuated primal screaming — three or four rounds of 30 to 45 seconds each, with breathing exercises first so nobody shreds a vocal cord. Health coaches Megan Ruggiero and Patric Pariano started it as a joke. "People are either deeply disturbed by it," Ruggiero says, "or they are really deeply curious."

💜 Monk-y Business: Ohio's most globally imperiled plant lives in a secret corner of the Summit Metro Parks, and it just had a decent year. This month's count found 153 Northern Monkshood — a poisonous, purple-hooded buttercup relative also known as wolfsbane — up slightly from last year. Road salt nearly wiped out the population in the 1980s; the Cincinnati Zoo has since cloned the plants from single cells as insurance.

ICYMI: Bad Luck Brian, the chicken salad guy and a Cleveland cat with a following — we asked Northeast Ohioans what it's actually like to go viral, and the answers range from free sandwiches to genuine regret.

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Trivia Question

Finish this Cleveland beer advertisement slogan: “Hey Mabel! …

Arts & Culture: Ladybug A/V Club uses old TVs to create striking installations in Cleveland.   

By Annie Nickoloff

Kyle Leuszler's hobby of tinkering with dated technology led to Ladybug A/V Club, Leuszler and his wife Rebecca’s cathode ray tube TV project. In it, they give outdated TVs new life, using them to create grid-like canvases for video art.

• Screens On Screens: Their TVs made a big appearance in The Vindys' music video for "Elton Glasses Baby," and provide the focal point of Sound on Tape's 41-minute video for the album Price.

• Move Night: At No Class and Amazonia, they’ve hosted a couple of intimate horror movie nights with walls of CRT TVs airing public domain double features.

Kyle Leuszler: “I like dragging out this technology for a few different reasons. It's cool and striking, in person, when you see whatever we put together; it's always some sort of collaborative effort. But the other cool part is watching people watch the stuff … It’s always cool to talk to people about the nostalgia factor.”

• Retro Treasure: All of Ladybug A/V Club’s CRT TVs are secondhand or thrifted. Currently coveted by retro gamers and a new wave of analog tech aficionados, demand has soared in recent years for the increasingly scarce product. 

Read more about Ladybug A/V Club at clevelandmagazine.com.

Talk of the Town

Ohio's ban lands on a $200 million-a-year habit. Botanic Tonics told a Columbus judge it has been selling about 59,000 bottles of its kratom drink "Feel Free" in Ohio every day — roughly 21.5 million a year at $10 each — as state regulators move to make processed kratom a Schedule I substance. Dr. Theodore Parran, a Northeast Ohio addiction physician, told the Ohio Board of Pharmacy he has been admitting nearly as many patients withdrawing from kratom as from fentanyl.

RTA's biggest levy worry isn't a "no" vote; it's a shrug. General Manager India Birdsong Terry told NEOtrans that her larger fear about the May 2027 sales-tax ballot issue is that Greater Clevelanders simply won't show up. It would be GCRTA's first levy in more than 50 years; without it, staff says 10 bus routes get cut by 2029. The agency's first new railcars in four decades arrive from Sacramento next month for testing.

Cleveland just took Ohio's job-growth crown from Columbus. A new PNC regional analysis found the Cleveland metro outperforming the state and nation in the first half of 2026, led by a 4.4% year-over-year jump in leisure and hospitality — the sector's best in a decade. June unemployment was 3.5%, below the 4.2% national rate. Columbus, meanwhile, lost jobs in three of six months.

Akron moves to fire the officer who killed Jazmir Tucker. The police union says the city intends to terminate Davon Fields over policy violations, including failing to activate his body camera before shooting the 15-year-old. A grand jury declined to indict Fields in 2025; FOP Lodge 7 President Brian Lucey calls the move "politics at its worst" and promises a fight.

It's Cleveland Wing Week

A great wing says a lot about a restaurant. Some let a buttery Buffalo sauce do the talking, and others stake their reputation on house-made dry rubs, smoked wings or signature sauces. Cleveland Wing Week, running Aug. 17-23, is your chance to compare them all, with more than 25 restaurants offering $10 wing specials throughout the week. Grab a few friends, split a few orders and discover a new favorite along the way.

Check out our guide to Northeast Ohio's Best Wings, too.

Things To Do This Week

Cleveland Guardians vs San Francisco Giants (Aug. 18-20): This week, the Guardians take on the Giants in a three-game series as they try to make their way back to the top of the AL Central standings. Extra tickets are available for promotional items (a Hello Kitty figurine and a healthcare lunch bag) on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tue. and Wed. 6:40 p.m., Thu. 1:10 p.m., $20-$178, 2401 Ontario St., Cleveland, mlb.com 

Public Square Farmers Market (August 20): Get your fresh, seasonal food and handmade goods from lots of local vendors in Public Square, along with live music, food trucks and a bar. EBT/SNAP benefits are accepted at the market. This is a chance to shop local and enjoy a beautiful afternoon in Downtown’s central park. Free, 4 p.m.-7 p.m., 50 Public Square, Cleveland, downtowncleveland.com

Jon Batiste with Cleveland Orchestra (August 20): Grammy-award-winning artist Jon Batiste is making his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Blossom Music Center this week. His show will include a mix of originals and classics as he teams up with conductor Jonathan Taylor Rush for a night of music that pushes typical orchestra expectations. $34-$158, 7 p.m., 1145 W Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, clevelandorchestra.com

Great Lakes Brewing Company Guided Tasting Experience (August 21): GLBC is offering a chance to refine your beer-tasting chops. The group will be led through the tasting of five craft beers by the GLBC Beer Educators. Guests will even be sent home with their own GLBC Tasting Glass. $20, 5 p.m., 2516 Market Ave., Cleveland, greatlakesbrewing.com

Friday's Trivia Answer

This Cleveland native started working at his father’s restaurant in the Arcade before developing a chain of restaurants and expanding into a frozen-food line that is still found in stores today. Vernon Stouffer

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question

From the Editor

As a food writer, one of the questions I'm asked most is, "Where should I eat?" The truth is, even after spending countless hours covering restaurants across Northeast Ohio, there are still many places on my own list that I haven't made it to yet. Like anyone else, I have my favorite neighborhood spots and the restaurants I find myself returning to week after week.

But every time I step outside that routine, I'm reminded why I love this job. Whether it's the family-owned restaurant you've driven past a hundred times, the neighborhood bar tucked into a strip plaza or the small cafe you keep meaning to try, there's always the chance you'll discover your next favorite meal. 

So consider this your invitation to take a chance on somewhere new. Order something you've never had before. Wander into that place you've always been curious about. Cleveland's food scene is full of surprises, and sometimes the best ones are hiding in plain sight. And don't forget, it is Cleveland Wing Week. 

Not sure where to start? Sift through our dining guides to find your next dining destination.

— Christina Rufo, Editorial Assistant

Have a story idea? Tell us what we should cover at conversation@clevelandmagazine.com.

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