Grant Could Make CLE a Manufacturing Hub, Cool Off at Mason's Creamery: CLE Daily

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🍷Fine Wine: Twelve Northeast Ohio restaurants were recently honored in Wine Spectator’s annual awards.

💨 Hazy Sky: Air quality is poor as wildfire smoke pours into Northeast Ohio amid Canadian wildfires. Experts suggest locals stay inside today.

🤘Dirty Deeds: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honors AC/DC singer Bon Scott today with a free event on what would have been his 80th birthday. 

ICYMI: Hear from the former American Greetings artist Muriel Fahrion, who helped design one of the company’s most iconic characters, in this episode of The CLE Connection podcast. 

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Trivia Question

Where was the Cleveland Zoo located before it moved to Brook Park?

Development: Cleveland wins a $160M Advanced Management Grant. 

By Ken Prendergast, NEOtrans

Northeast Ohio beat out more than 300 regions to earn the funding, which could propel Northeast Ohio and the entire state as a national center for manufacturing innovation, technology and jobs.

The Coalition: A 70-member coalition, led by Case Western Reserve University, included private industry, civic and philanthropic organizations, higher education, and state and local government were designated an NSF Engine.

• The NSF NEO-SMART Engine in Northeast Ohio was rewarded for its Regional Innovation Engines program. NEO-SMART stands for Northeast Ohio Strengthening Manufacturing for American Resilience through Technology.

The Impact: It could bring up to $160 million in federal investment to propel Northeast Ohio and the entire state as a national center for manufacturing innovation, technology and jobs.

• Funding will be awarded over 10 years, with $7.5 million in each of the first two years, $15 million annually for the following three years and $20 million for each of the final five years as milestones are met.

• NEO-SMART partners also have already committed another $120 million for the first two years, with aspirations to attract a total of more than $500 million in public, private and philanthropic investment as the work progresses.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: “This is great news for Northeast Ohio and for the entire state of Ohio. When federal dollars come to our state to strengthen manufacturing and build up our workforce, every Ohioan benefits—and I am grateful for the extensive partnership effort that made this award possible.”

Read more about the big grant.

Talk of the Town

An Amur leopard cub was born at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo this month to five-year-old mother Marta and four-year-old father Sylas. The Amur is one of the rarest animals in the world, the zoo says, with fewer than 100 left. This is the first birth of an Amur cub in the zoo's 144-year history — and at any of Ohio's zoos. 

A 57-year-old man fatally struck a woman with his car outside Willoughby Tavern on Friday. He's accused of drunk driving and charged with two felony counts of aggravated assault and vehicular homicide as well as misdemeanors for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. 

Ohio businesses fell victim to a worldwide cybercrime, according to federal officials. The businesses were not named but included enterprises in Solon, Medina, Akron and Canton. The crime, committed by a Russian group, involved the theft of files and information and holding them for ransom. The losses totaled $62 million dollars across dozens of cities. 

KeyBank is the founding partner of Cleveland's WNBA organization. The new  multiyear partnership makes the financial institution the team's exclusive retail banking partner and will help shape the franchise's fan experience, a press release says. To celebrate, KeyBank and Cleveland WNBA are raffling off two tickets to the team's inaugural season at wnbacleveland.com. Fourteen winers will be selected.   

Best Restaurants: Cool off at Mason's Creamery. 

By CM Staff

Jesse Mason and Helen Qin are among a select few restaurateurs who can inspire diners to brave winter weather for a primarily outdoor eatery. The draw? A limited-time lineup of specialty ramen, Korean corn dogs, gyoza and crispy rice, which it first launched in 2019. But when warmer weather retires the heated, covered seating area, packed picnic tables of locals slurping house-made ice cream, with flavors that rotate daily, remind us what has made Mason’s an Ohio City cornerstone since 2014. Try This: When it’s cold, pair crispy spam musubi ($6.50) with pork tonkotsu ramen ($17) warms you up. When it heats up, a cup of ube ($6) ice cream, a subtly sweet and earthy flavor derived from purple yams native to the Philippines, cools you down. 4401 Bridge Ave., Cleveland, 216-762-1095, masonscreamery.com

Check our guides to Northeast Ohio's Best Restaurants and Ice Cream shops.

Yesterday's Trivia Answer 

Which Cleveland architect designed the Cleveland Trust Rotunda? George Browne Post.

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question.

Cleveland is at its best in collaboration. Our local restaurants have learned that lately through numerous pop-up collaborations. Rood Food in Lakewood has been hosting new Supper Club events have raised money for ALS and helped drum up support for itself and neighboring restaurants after power outages devastated their businesses over the past few weeks. 

Rood Food is a great example but a small one. This new grant is proof that the power of collaboration scales. For four years, 70 of Cleveland's business leaders put aside various focuses (and, likely, differences) to win this grant for the region. 

The investment could "propel Northeast Ohio and the entire state as a national center for manufacturing innovation, technology and jobs." Talk about impact. 

Now, we want some input from you. Where else should Cleveland leaders collaborate more? What institutions should come together to help build Northeast Ohio's future? Let us know at conversation@clevelandmagazine.com. -Dillon Stewart, Editor

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