Cleveland

blue

Get smarter, faster on what matters in Cleveland with Sam Allard and Troy Smith.

Axios Cleveland

Standard

A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Cleveland.

Axios Cleveland Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

Cleveland Alerts

Alert

Axios Cleveland Partners

Cleveland Members

Membership

The musicians at one of the world's preeminent orchestras are now on strike.

Why it matters: The Cleveland Orchestra musicians' walkout after a performance Thursday night imperils the start of the 2026–27 season, including an upcoming European tour.

State of play: The musicians' collective bargaining agreement expired Aug. 30 and was extended through Sept. 23 to facilitate additional negotiations, but the sides remain far apart on compensation. 

What they're saying: "Over the last six years we have lost 10 percent of our purchasing power to inflation, and 20 percent relative to our peer orchestras," negotiating committee chair and violinist Elayna Duitman said at a Friday morning press conference.

"This is not how you invest in a top-tier artistic institution."

The other side: Orchestra CEO André Gremillet called the strike "premature" and "unnecessary" in a statement, saying management had more to offer but that the union's proposed 25% salary increase over three years is unsustainable.

The orchestra says the sides have made progress on parental leave, workload, touring and hiring practices.

By the numbers: The current minimum guaranteed salary is $165,516, according to the orchestra.

What's next: Friday's University of Michigan concert and Saturday's Severance performance have both been canceled, but no other concerts have been called off yet.

Spokespeople for both the Orchestra and AFM Local 4, the musicians' union, tell Axios that negotiations are ongoing Friday, and both sides are amenable to further bargaining Saturday if necessary.

The intrigue: Time is of the essence. Instruments are scheduled to travel to Europe Monday for the international tour, with the musicians scheduled to follow Tuesday if the contract is hammered out by then.

Cleveland Orchestra musicians go on strike

The walkout has canceled two concerts and puts an upcoming European tour in jeopardy as negotiations continue.

White man in tux playing violin in front of crowd; other instrumentalists out of focus. 

Cleveland Orchestra members play the national anthem at Progressive Field in 2025. Photo: Lauren Leigh Bacho/MLB Photos via Getty Images

The musicians at one of the world&#x27;s preeminent orchestras are now on strike.Why it matters: The Cleveland Orchestra musicians&#x27; walkout after a performance Thursday night imperils the start of the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="2026–27 season" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/09/16/orchestra-opens-final-welser-most-season-strike" data-vars-content-id="1bb0368d-62bf-485c-89e4-3e020ae1cd6e" data-vars-headline="Cleveland Orchestra musicians go on strike" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2026/09/16/orchestra-opens-final-welser-most-season-strike" target="_self">2026–27 season</a>, including an upcoming European tour.

Culture

News

Carolina Panthers fans descending on Cleveland for Sunday's Browns game have a hometown connection to help plan their weekend.

State of play: Chef Rocco Whalen, who operates Fahrenheit restaurants in both Cleveland and Charlotte, shared his favorite Cleveland haunts with Axios.

🍕 Start on Lorain: Whalen recommends Visible Voice Books, a "book lovers' paradise … where Harvey Pekar would have camped out." Then enjoy eats along the burgeoning new west side corridor, including Cent's Pizza and The Judith.

🌮 Head to Gordon Square: "Brunch at Astoria with Chef Cory, and wash it down with a few cheese selections from the best in the business, cheesemonger Tom," advises Whalen.

Follow it up with the "amazing tequila selection and serious street tacos" at Blue Habanero.

☕ Then go east: Grab a cup of Rising Star coffee and wander Lake View Cemetery, where John D. Rockefeller, Eliot Ness, Alan Freed and President James A. Garfield are among the permanent residents.

Whalen calls it "one of the most exquisite backdrops in Cleveland."

🍝 After the game, try one of these gems on Rocco's dinner shortlist.

Momocho — "the best hip, modern Mexican in the Land."

Rosy — "the ultimate wood-fired splurge. (Good luck getting a reso.)"

👟 And for Panthers fans who forgot their teal gear, Whalen recommends My Cuzin Vintage or Inscentive for "all your fresh kicks to suit up" for Sunday.

Chef Rocco Whalen's Cleveland picks for Panthers fans

The Fahrenheit chef dishes on his favorite local haunts ahead of Sunday's matchup with Carolina.

Cheerful bald chef in a white shirt and black apron presents a tray of pastries toward the camera in a busy kitchen, flames blazing in the background.

Chef Rocco Whalen in the kitchen. Photo: Courtesy of Fahrenheit

Carolina Panthers fans descending on Cleveland for Sunday&#x27;s Browns game have a hometown connection to help plan their weekend.State of play: Chef Rocco Whalen, who operates Fahrenheit restaurants in both Cleveland and Charlotte, shared his favorite Cleveland haunts with Axios.

Food and Drink

The best thing I drank this week was a liter of Warsteiner at Sachsenheim. 

Why it matters: In all likelihood, it'll be the last big mug of German beer I'll enjoy at the cultural hall in the Stockyards neighborhood. 

Due to mounting debt and a laundry list of urgently needed repairs, including a new roof, Sachsenheim plans to close on Sept. 27. 

Catch up quick: The stone building on Denison Avenue has been a home away from home for Transylvanian Saxons since the early 20th century, hosting weddings, concerts and other events on its multiple floors. 

In more recent years, I've known it as a conventional, ethnically flavored neighborhood tavern, with a popular Taco Tuesday night and a wide selection of European drafts. 

State of play: I ventured there with my wife and a few pals this week to bid it adieu. 

We barely managed to find a parking spot on premises. 

The interior bar was shoulder-to-shoulder, packed with patrons at the dinner hour who clearly had the same idea we did. 

A Lederhosen-clad brass band was arriving on the patio, gearing up for an evening of jaunty live music.

🍻 What's next: If the midweek crowd is any indication, Sachsenheim may have to order a few more kegs to last through the weekend. 

Bidding Cleveland's Sachsenheim adieu 

The cultural hall in the Stockyards neighborhood is shutting down Sept. 27 due to mounting repair costs

Two-story beige brick building with a blue band at the top spelling SACHSENHEIM. Arched windows, white entry canopy, a large tree to the left, and power lines across a cloudy sky.

The best thing I drank this week was a liter of Warsteiner at Sachsenheim. Why it matters: In all likelihood, it&#x27;ll be the last big mug of German beer I&#x27;ll enjoy at the cultural hall in the Stockyards neighborhood.

History

Cleveland is launching a new bureau designed to send unarmed health professionals instead of police to behavioral health and substance-use emergencies.

Why it matters: Creating the Community Crisis Response Bureau, housed within EMS, was the primary aim of Tanisha's Law that passed in February.

It represents a big shift in how Cleveland handles nonviolent crisis calls.

Flashback: The law is named for Tanisha Anderson, a 37-year-old Cleveland woman who died in police custody in 2014 after her family called for help during a mental health crisis.

The latest: Maureen Malavé has been hired as the new bureau's first deputy commissioner.

She'll build and oversee teams of clinicians, paramedics and other specialists who can stabilize residents and connect them with resources without the presence of traditional law enforcement.

What they're saying: "This work is about more than responding to a crisis in the moment," Malavé said in a statement.

"It is about creating stronger connections to healthcare and community resources, improving outcomes and continually evaluating how we can better serve Cleveland residents."

What's next: The city will begin what it calls a "phased rollout" this fall, while police will continue responding alongside clinicians in a co-response model when law enforcement is necessary.

Cleveland launches crisis response bureau

The new EMS unit will send health professionals to some behavioral health emergencies instead of police.

Illustration of Cleveland City Hall with lines radiating from it. 

Cleveland is launching a new bureau designed to send unarmed health professionals instead of police to behavioral health and substance-use emergencies.Why it matters: Creating the Community Crisis Response Bureau, housed within EMS, was the primary aim of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Tanisha&#x27;s Law" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/12/11/tanishas-law-city-council-mayor-bibb" data-vars-content-id="6f6d2016-7891-4a67-97fc-2514a5b6e71a" data-vars-headline="Cleveland launches crisis response bureau" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/12/11/tanishas-law-city-council-mayor-bibb" target="_self">Tanisha&#x27;s Law</a> that <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="passed in February" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ideastream.org/government-politics/2026-02-02/cleveland-city-council-passes-tanishas-law-expanding-nonpolice-response-to-mental-health-crises" data-vars-content-id="6f6d2016-7891-4a67-97fc-2514a5b6e71a" data-vars-headline="Cleveland launches crisis response bureau" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ideastream.org/government-politics/2026-02-02/cleveland-city-council-passes-tanishas-law-expanding-nonpolice-response-to-mental-health-crises" target="_blank">passed in February</a>.<ul><li>It represents a big shift in how Cleveland handles nonviolent crisis calls.</li></ul>

Politics

I'm not a Marxist, Derf Backderf writes in the author's note of his new graphic novel "The Dissidents." 

State of play: Derf's gripping book — published last week — chronicles the political cartoonists of "The Masses," an American socialist magazine that printed from 1911-1917. 

He melds the lives and work of historical leftist figures with a fictional German immigrant from Cleveland who travels to New York City to make his name as an artist. 

Between the lines: The early-20th century America portrayed should be familiar. It's marked by racial tension, widening wealth inequality, labor militancy and the specter of a world war and a global pandemic. 

Catch up quick: Derf's popular comic strip "The City" appeared locally in Cleveland Scene and was syndicated in alternative weeklies across the country until its discontinuation in 2014. 

His previous graphic novels "Kent State" and the award-winning "My Friend Dahmer" both drew on his personal experiences in Northeast Ohio. 

What they're saying: Though Derf didn't grow up in the 1910s, this book feels just as personal. He writes of discovering the cartoonists of "The Masses" back when he was an Ohio State student. 

"Their work reached out to me from the forgotten past and grabbed me, inspired me and helped shape me." 

Stop by: Derf will discuss "The Dissidents" at The Grog Shop on Oct. 7.

Derf Backderf's "The Dissidents" holds a mirror to contemporary America

His new graphic novel chronicles the cartoonists of "The Masses" during the 1910s.

Two-panel image: left a blue book cover reading "The Dissidents" by Derf Backderf, featuring a giant fist gripping a man and a falling pen; right a black-and-white 1916 Cleveland street scene with a tall "PRESS" building and a streetcar.

I&#x27;m not a Marxist, Derf Backderf writes in the author&#x27;s note of his new graphic novel &quot;The Dissidents.&quot; <ul><li>&quot;I am, however, a cartoonist.&quot;</li></ul>State of play: Derf&#x27;s gripping book — published last week — chronicles the political cartoonists of <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="&quot;The Masses,&quot;" data-vars-click-url="https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/masses/notes/masses-intro.htm" data-vars-content-id="b538dd6d-13a2-46b4-bb63-0f259d9b9f31" data-vars-headline="Derf Backderf&#x27;s &quot;The Dissidents&quot; holds a mirror to contemporary America" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/masses/notes/masses-intro.htm" target="_blank">&quot;The Masses,&quot;</a> an American socialist magazine that printed from 1911-1917.

Sam Allard

Featured stories

Cleveland Orchestra musicians go on strike

Bidding Cleveland's Sachsenheim adieu

Chef Rocco Whalen's Cleveland picks for Panthers fans

Derf Backderf's "The Dissidents" holds a mirror to contemporary America

Cleveland launches crisis response bureau