Great Lakes Cruise Season, Cavs Win Game 5: CLE Daily

🌩️ 51°; Partly Sunny and cool

🎁 Gift Guide: This Mother’s Day, discover unique gifts from M Cellars, Walker Roots Design and Cleverland Puzzle to celebrate women in all walks of life.

🍷 Drink Area: The City of Cleveland is considering establishing Playhouse Square as a designated outdoor area.

🏀 Cavs Score: Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors

ICYMI: Our editors share their favorite steakhouses, small plates spots, street food and more in our annual guide to Cleveland's essential eats.

Today's Trivia

This now-demolished Cleveland-area mall was billed as the largest in the world when it opened in 1976.

Great Lakes cruise season to have a major impact on the region.

News | By Jaden Stambolia

The Cleveland cruise season kicked off on the morning of April 28 with the arrival of Victory I, and it is expected to see a 25% increase in economic impact for the Great Lakes region.

Financial Impact: Tourism leaders have forecasted that this cruise ship season will generate $300 million for the region this year.

• The cruise lines are expecting nearly 175,000 passengers.

The New Line: American Cruise Lines entered the market this year, joining six other differnt cruise lines. Those include:

• Pearl Seas; Ponant; St. Lawrence Cruise Lines; Victory; Viking; and Hapag-Lloyd.

• Those seven lines will operate 10 ships this cruise season.

Sally Davis Berry, Tourism Director of Cruise the Great Lakes: “As we look to 2026, we’re excited to see continued growth in the Great Lakes cruise sector. We forecast this upcoming season to be even stronger than 2025, both in terms of passenger numbers, destinations visited, and economic impact, which underscores the appeal of cruising in the Great Lakes.”

Talk of the Town

Another gas price jump happened in Ohio yesterday. Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, reports that the national average is $4.30 per gallon, the highest since July 2022. The average gas price in Ohio and across the Midwest is $4.99.

Two Ohio Department of Transportation crews were hit on Interstate 90 in Euclid on Tuesday night. ODOT says the crashes happened 10 minutes apart. ODOT emphasizes that drivers slow down, move over, drop distractions, and drive sober.

The Cleveland Police Department has changed its vehicle pursuit policy, making it more restrictive. To begin a pursuit, officers must have probable cause that a violent crime was committed and that the suspect is armed and dangerous. Cleveland Police, the City, and the DOJ are looking to end the 2015 consent decree.

The Cleveland City Council introduced legislation to change the city's short-term rental policy, requiring a licensing procedure and introducing regulations on short-term rentals. Those regulations include a density limit and a requirement for a local contact.

Cavs win an exciting Game 5 in Cleveland.

Sports | By Dennis Manoloff, AP Photo

The Cavs survived a thriller Tuesday night at Rocket Arena, outlasting the Raptors 125-120 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Here are three takeaways:

• An instant classic: This was as entertaining as it gets — a high-scoring, high-stakes game with a raucous crowd and constant momentum swings. The Cavs delivered late, but not without plenty of tension.
  

• Unexpected heroes stepped up: Dennis Schröder, Sam Merrill and Evan Mobley (from deep) swung the game, providing offense and energy when it mattered most. Credit Kenny Atkinson for riding the hot hands, even with Donovan Mitchell on the bench during key stretches.
  

• Series still feels wide open: Despite Cleveland’s 3-2 edge, Toronto has shown it can hang, especially after a strong shooting first half. With Game 6 back in Toronto, a Game 7 in Cleveland feels very much in play.

Watch Dennis Manoloff's three takeaways from the game.

Yesterday's Trivia Answer

This near West Side neighborhood allegedly got its name during Prohibition, as a place where people could elude law enforcement. Duck Island

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

From the Editor

When we're filling out these newsletters, I start to feel badly for the readers who are not sports fans this time of year. With the draft, NFL offseason heating up and the NBA Playoffs, if we're lucky enough to be in them, the newsletter becomes quite sports heavy. 

But if you're a true Cleveland booster, you celebrate that fact, even if you don't watch every dribble. Because you know what it means.

After an all-day meeting, I took my team for an after-work cocktail (and mocktail, for some) at a bar Downtown. We finished a little early, so when we got to the bar, just at the start of happy hour, it was empty. On Wednesdays — I know, as someone prone to sneaking off for a quick refreshment after a long day — this can be fairly common. But within 20 minutes, the bar came alive with energy. It was an energy that feels rare Downtown since the work-from-home revolution. I noticed my group's energy pick up, too, even after a long day of strategizing what comes next in the months ahead for Cleveland Magazine. In today's DMan's Three Takeaways, you hear of his experience at the game, how electric it was.

It reminds me that, while these home playoff games can be a boon for Downtown business, they also boost the energy that drives our city and brings our Downtown alive.

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