🏨 On this date in 1898, Colonial Hotel (now the Residence Inn) opened on Prospect Avenue.

☀️ Today's weather: Sunny, with a high of 62 and a low of 47.

Today’s newsletter is 986 words — a 3.5-minute read.

Cleveland tourism hit a record $7 billion in visitor spending in 2025, according to new figures released by Destination Cleveland.

Why it matters: Tourism remains a major economic driver for Northeast Ohio, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and generating billions in spending at hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops.

By the numbers: Cuyahoga County welcomed 18.9 million visits in 2025, a 1.7% increase over 2024 — both the national growth rate of 1.5% and Ohio's visitation growth of 1.2% during the same period.

• Visitor spending generated an estimated $11.4 billion in total economic impact for Northeast Ohio, while the local tourism industry supported more than 70,000 local jobs.

The big picture: Tourism has grown for five consecutive years, with Cuyahoga County outperforming state or national visitation growth in 11 of the past 12 years, excluding pandemic-affected 2020.

What they're saying: David Gilbert, president and CEO of Destination Cleveland, believes the region is positioning itself for another tourism boom, fueled by waterfront investments, new professional sports teams, an upcoming Browns domed stadium and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport upgrades.

• "While we can't predict exactly what will produce the next shift, it is likely to result from the compounding effect of significant destination developments," Gilbert says, "coupled with perception change from national or global events and sustained brand marketing."

Wedding bells are not far off for Mayor Justin Bibb. The 39-year-old Cleveland mayor and fiancée Mia Lee Garcia are preparing to tie the knot in an intimate ceremony in the very near future.

Driving the news: The couple recently obtained a marriage license in Cuyahoga County, Ideastream first reported.

• Axios confirmed the engagement and Oct. 13 marriage license via Probate Court records.

What they're saying: Bibb spokesman Tyler Sinclair said in a statement the couple will exchange vows surrounded by family.

• "Mia and Justin are excited to begin this next chapter and build a life together as a married couple."
• "They are grateful for the kind wishes and ask for respect for their privacy as they celebrate this joyful and deeply personal moment with the people closest to them."

Zoom in: Garcia is a partner at Cleveland law firm Frantz Ward, specializing in cannabis law.

• Both she and Bibb are Case Western Reserve University alumni. The couple now lives together in Detroit-Shoreway.

🚨 U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver has rejected a request from the City of Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice to end the consent decree. Federal oversight will continue for at least two more years. (News5)

Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign for Ohio governor is doubling down on a bombshell ad in which opponent Amy Acton's estranged mother attacks her daughter.

• Acton has said her mother sided with her stepfather after he sexually assaulted Acton when she was 12. The ad has received fierce bipartisan backlash. (Axios)

🚧 The board overseeing Cleveland's Huntington Convention Center doesn't want a new downtown pedestrian bridge to impede potential expansion. (Cleveland.com)

🌎 International enrollment at Northeast Ohio universities has fallen drastically this year, with Cleveland State and Youngstown State each losing nearly a third of its international student population. (Crain's Cleveland Business 🔐)

🇵🇭 Mestizo Kitchen, a Filipino-Mexican fusion restaurant, will open in the coming weeks in the former home of Sichuan Hot Pot on Rockwell Avenue downtown. (Cleveland Scene)

Nestlé plans to shutter its Solon manufacturing plant by the end of 2027, transferring production to South Carolina.

Why it matters: The factory has been part of Nestlé's Northeast Ohio operations for decades and its closure will mean job losses, though the number of affected workers remains unclear.

Driving the news: A Nestlé USA spokesperson tells Axios the company will gradually shift production of food service pouches — used for sauces, beverages and other commercial products — to its Gaffney, South Carolina, facility.

• Nestlé cited changing customer needs and production volumes, calling consolidation the "most sustainable path forward."

Between the lines: The closure affects only the factory, not Nestlé's larger Solon campus, which houses research and development, corporate operations and other departments.

• Its Cleveland factory on West 25th Street and its distribution center in Streetsboro will also be unaffected.

What's next: The company expects to file a federal layoff notice around March 2027, which will clarify how many jobs will be eliminated.

• Production in Solon is expected to end in the third quarter of 2027.
• Nestlé says its priority will be supporting employees by providing separation benefits, transition support and internal job opportunities.

Some of Northeast Ohio's most prestigious cultural institutions harbor artifacts that could give even the bravest visitors the creeps.

In the spirit of Halloween, here are four spooky museum highlights:

🐟 Cleveland Museum of Natural History: The museum's Visitor Hall houses fossils of Dunkleosteus, a fearsome armored fish that terrorized Ohio's ancient seas 360 million years ago.

⚰️ Cleveland Museum of Art: The nearly 4,000-year-old coffin of Senbi features painted "magical eyes" intended to let the deceased witness the sun's daily rebirth.

👿 Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick: The Old Brooklyn museum is packed with occult curiosities, but an artifact known as the "Demon in a Box" sounds like something straight out of a horror movie.

🤘 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Among its collection of artifacts celebrating punk, goth and shock rock is an early version of Alice Cooper's infamous stage guillotine, used to simulate his execution during concerts.

🩻 Sam has had about enough of his nagging shoulder pain. After a year of this baloney, he's gonna gird his loins and schedule and MRI.

✖️ Troy is rewatching the "X," "Pearl," "MaXXXine" trilogy, which he feels is a little underappreciated in the realm of horror.

This newsletter was edited by Tyler Buchanan.