Howard The Duck, A Cleveland Icon: CLE Daily

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🐶 Adopt-a-Pup: City Dogs Cleveland is urgently seeking adopters and fosters as its large kennels hit capacity — the shelter has taken in so many dogs it's set up crates in staff offices. Adoption is $61 (microchip, license, shots and spay/neuter included).

👯 Seeing Double: Twinsburg hosts Twins Days Aug. 7-9, billed as the world's largest annual gathering of multiples — thousands of twins, triplets and more for look-alike contests, talent shows and parades. No twin required to attend.

🦕 Dino-Mite: The Akron Zoo's Dino Trek is back through Sept. 20, with 30 life-size dinosaurs — some with animatronic movement — roaming the grounds.

ICYMI: Just 40 minutes east of Cleveland, Geauga County packs in the hidden gems. Our guide to 30 must-go spots hits maple syrup ice cream, an International Dark Sky Park for stargazing, small-town wineries and old-school diners.

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Trivia Question

Radio announcer Ron Penfound was better known as what TV host, dressed like a railroad engineer and showing cartoons and Three Stooges shorts in the 1950s and 60s?

Arts & Culture: How “Howard The Duck” became Marvel’s Cleveland-based comic book.

By Annie Nickoloff

 Howard The Duck, Marvel's eponymous comic book character, is a Cleveland icon.

Local Connection: Working with Marvel comic book writer Steve Gerber, Youngstown native Val Mayerik was the first illustrator to depict the Cleveland-based character when he appeared in a series featuring The Man-Thing in the 1970s.

Rise to Fame: Later, the cigar-smoking, beer-drinking duck got his own comic book series, which was even developed into a George Lucas-produced film.

Val Mayerik: "When it came to Howard having his own comic book, Howard manifested himself and emerged in Cleveland when he came to Earth for the first time from Duck World. How and why that happened, and what Steve (Gerber) was actually going for at that point, I don't remember, but that's how Howard got associated with Cleveland."

We talked with Mayerik in an episode of The CLE Connection, Cleveland Magazine’s podcast that takes a look at Cleveland’s surprising ties to major pop culture moments.

Read more and listen to the conversation here.

Talk of the Town

What's next for the old Greyhound station? Playhouse Square CEO Craig Hassall is floating ideas for the historic Chester Avenue terminal it bought in 2024 — a cabaret, a food hall, Christmas markets, even a grocery — though renovations are three to five years out. A 1940s Greyhound bus out back is slated to become a mobile museum on the Great Migration. 

The Cavs shopped overseas. After missing on LeBron James, Cleveland agreed to a one-year, $2.8 million deal with EuroLeague star Mario Hezonja, adding a much-needed wing and bringing the Real Madrid standout back to the NBA.

Fair security, leveled up. After last summer's parking-lot shooting, the Summit County Fair added airport-style screening checkpoints, more deputies, drones and brighter lot lighting. 

Medicaid's new fine print. Many Ohioans on Medicaid will soon have to prove 80 hours a month of work, school or volunteering under a new federal law, with a January 2027 deadline; state officials must figure out how to track it.

A $3 billion accounting deal. Grant Thornton has agreed to acquire Independence-based CBIZ for nearly $3 billion, a merger that would create the fifth-largest accounting firm in the U.S.

Who pays to fix the stadiums? With Progressive Field and Rocket Arena needing costly repairs, Signal Cleveland examines what happens if Gateway can't cover the tab under the Guardians' and Cavs' leases.

Health & Wellness: TFIT Studio creates a women-only gym experience in Rocky River.

By Lydia Koszegi

Owner and trainer Tori Hvizda guides her trainees — all women — through personalized fitness plans at TFIT Studio in Rocky River. The space is one of a growing number of gyms across the country that cater entirely to women.

Building Strength: Started in December 2024 by Hvizda, the gym welcomes women of all ages and holds a variety of workshops and classes for its members, including group training classes, Pilates and a full-body strength class.

Distinctive Design: Over the past two years, Hvizda has catered her space to women by giving the gym a feminine feel with pink workout mats, walls, mirrors, LED lights and workout equipment.

Best of the West: It was voted Cleveland Magazine’s Best Independent Gym on the West Side in 2025.

Tori Hvizda: “Everyone's friends with each other here. Everyone lifts each other up, and that support helps people reach their goals. I've never seen more comfort before in a gym. They just want to be themselves. No one wears makeup, no one goes all out. We're just regular people trying to work out and get stronger every day.”

Read more about TFIT Studio.

Give the local style scene some love by voting for your favorite shopping spot in Cleveland Magazine's Best of Cleveland. Fashion boutiques, spas, hair salons, gift shops, markets and more are taking the stage, as the spots that received the most nominations face off in final voting. Other categories include restaurants and entertainment.

But we're all winners for simply living in Cleveland, right? Cast your vote now through Friday. 

Find the ballot here.

Yesterday's Trivia Answer

Matthew McConaughey came to the Cleveland area to film what Detroit-set movie, based on a true story of the FBI’s youngest informant? White Boy Rick

Check back tomorrow for the answer to today's question

From the Editor

I made a trip down to Heinen's yesterday, and it didn't make me anything other than sad. Every city struggles to maintain a grocery store within its limits, and for a while, Cleveland was an exception.

I love cities. I love walking around them, getting to know the character of a place. Whether that is Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago or Zurich.

For Cleveland, Heinen's is one of those places where you get a vibe for what is happening in town. The soccer match last month brought a different character to the store and the city. When the Guardians or Cavs are playing, same thing. Throw in a cold winter day, and you still could pop in at lunchtime and get a feel for what people are thinking. 

With Heinen's closing its doors tomorrow, the store and its employees will be missed.

— Ron Ledgard, Managing Editor

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

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