CityBeat | April 30, 2025

NEWS

Cincinnati Autism Organization Rebukes RFK Jr.

‘He

Does Not Understand Autism’

BY MADELINE FENING

This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know needs support now, call, text or chat the 988 Lifeline.

Health and Human Services

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that autism is an “epidemic” caused by “environmental toxins” in the U.S. during an April 16 press conference, his first as HHS secretary. Kennedy vowed to identify the cause of rising autism prevalence, which he referred to as a “preventable disease.”

“Autism destroys families,” Kennedy said during the press conference at the Department of Health and Human Services’ headquarters in Washington D.C. “And more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, our children.”

The announcement came one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing autism diagnoses in the U.S. have increased from 1 in 36 children in 2020 to 1 in 31 in 2022. While the CDC report indicates higher diagnosis rates are likely due to increased early identification and better autism screening methods, Kennedy brushed off this connection as ideological.

“We need to move away from the ideology that the autism prevalence increase are simply artifacts of better diagnosis,” he said.

Kennedy declared with certainty that

“environmental factors” are driving the increase of autism, not genetics.

“This is coming from an environmental toxin and somebody made it and put that environmental toxin into our air or water or medicines or food,” Kennedy said.

In his previous role as chairman of Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy repeatedly claimed that autism is caused by childhood vaccines, which scientists have concluded is wholly untrue. Kennedy did not mention vaccines during the press event.

“Obviously there are people who don’t want us to look at environmental exposures,” Kennedy said. “If the epidemic is an artifact of better diagnostic criteria or better recognition, then why are we not seeing it in older people? Why is this only happening in young people?”

Kennedy broadly characterized kids on the autism spectrum as displaying behaviors seen in a smaller group of the autism community, those who are considered severe or with profound autism.

“These are kids who will never pay taxes; they’ll never hold a job; they’ll never play baseball; they’ll never write a poem; they’ll never go out on a date; many of them never use a toilet unassisted,” Kennedy said.

But experts who have long studied and served the autistic community say Kennedy’s characterization of autism

diagnose,” Richer said. “We have learned how to better understand autism. The more research we do, the more we understand autism, the better we get at diagnosing.”

During the press conference, Kennedy admitted there may be “small slivers of the autism epidemic that can be attributed to better recognition and better diagnoses,” but he said some studies suggest only about 10% to 25% of new cases reflect diagnostic improvements. Richer pushed back, telling CityBeat that shifts in the way autism is classified are also behind the increasing numbers.

“For many, many years, we were diagnosing Asperger syndrome; we were diagnosing profound autism; we were diagnosing Rett syndrome,” Richer said. “There were a number of things that are now under the umbrella of autism. When it was finally put together, that this is all part of the autism spectrum; of course the numbers changed.”

Implicit bias in diagnosing autism has also played a role, according to Richer, particularly for Black and brown children. This is also backed up in the CDC’s latest autism diagnosis rate report.

“When the numbers 1 in 36 came out, that was the first time we were diagnosing Black and brown children at the same rate we were diagnosing our white children,” Richer said.

and those on the spectrum is doing more harm to the autism community.

“As a professional, he does not understand autism,” said Mary Hellen Richer, CEO of Autism Connections, an organization that helps to support the Greater Cincinnati autism community. “I think this is the biggest misguided approach to talking about autism that we have had since I’ve been in the world of autism, which is over 10 years now.”

Since 1971, Autism Connections has connected Greater Cincinnati people with autism and their families with resources and information about employment, therapy, peer support and more. Oftentimes, Autism Connections is the first point of contact for families navigating autism for the first time, according to Richer.

“Our longest-running service to the autism community and the community at large is our resource helpline,” Richer said. “It is a phone and email program that you can ask any autism question. [...] We get a lot of questions about people wanting a diagnosis.”

Better diagnosis

As Cincinnati’s oldest autism organization, Richer said Autism Connections has spent decades adapting to evolving research on diagnoses, which has shifted in recent years.

“We have learned how to better

Speaking about the rising rates of diagnoses, Kennedy claimed there are virtually no adult or elderly autistic people in the country.

“I asked [Walter Zahorodny] before we came out here, ‘Have you ever seen anybody our age — I’m 71 years old — with full-blown autism? Head-banging, non-verbal, non-toilet-trained, stimming, toe-walking, these other stereotypical features?’” Kennedy said. “Where are these people? You can’t find them.”

“Have you looked that hard?” Richer said. “Because there are individuals who have severe or profound autism of all ages. Period. They are out there. They’re living at home [with family]; maybe they’re living in group homes or in other places, but they’re out there. I know some of them.”

Mischaracterizing autism

Beyond Kennedy’s disregard for older people on the spectrum, Richer is alarmed that Kennedy never mentioned the word “spectrum” at all. Instead, she said his speech characterized all people with autism as head-banging, non-toilet-trained people with bleak futures.

“He took a series of characteristics that are not necessarily found in every autistic person, nor in every autistic individual who would be labeled as severe or profound,” she said. “It’s not a linear spectrum. When I think about it, it’s a three-dimensional spectrum of all kinds of things.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held his first address as Health and Human Services Secretary on April 16.

PHOTO: CSPAN

Kennedy’s framing of autism and his plan to identify its “cause” have alarmed those who rely on Autism Connections, Richer told CityBeat.

“My phone was blowing up yesterday with people being concerned and scared and feeling misrepresented,” she said. “I really thought by now we’d be beyond the ‘autism as a disease, autism is bad’ — all the stuff that basically was strongly implied yesterday. I thought we’d be talking about, how do we increase support? How do we build best life? How do we do those things? But we’re not.”

Structural barriers

Kennedy’s remarks never touched on the structural challenges facing people on the autism spectrum or their families, like funded support. Studies show that support into adulthood for people on the spectrum is lacking; autistic adults face higher-than-average poverty rates and higher suicide rates than their neurotypical peers.

“When I talk to families who have children with severe, profound autism or young children with autism, they want to know that they can get the therapies they need, that they can get the supports they need, that they can get the financial support they need,” Richer said. “We need early intervention. We need diagnosis earlier. We need supports earlier. We need supports longer.”

Richer worries Kennedy’s descriptions of people with autism will only create more stigma, including around employment.

“Because the portrayal of that is frightening, right?” she said. “What do you mean I’m going to employ people who are not ‘toilet trained?’ I’m not saying he said that, but, wow, that is not a hard leap in my mind from what he did say, you know? We already have issues with individuals not wanting to disclose that they have autism because they get judged.”

Stigma is one of the reasons Autism Connections conducts workplace trainings to demystify working with people on the autism spectrum. Richer said a safe and fulfilling job for people with autism benefits everyone.

“There’s actually research out there that says that teams that have a neurodivergent individual on a team, that team is more creative, more effective and more efficient,” she said. “I promise you, if we learn more about autism here in our own community and we get to know more people with autism here in our own community, you will find that they are some of the most wonderful, fun, funny, intelligent, caring people that you’ve ever met, and that does not matter where they fall on the spectrum.”

UC Student Sent Islamophobic Letter to Home Address

BY MADELINE FENING

AUniversity of Cincinnati student is calling on school leaders and local law enforcement to take action after an Islamophobic letter with threatening language was sent to her home address.

“There’s no action being taken,” said Laila Shaikh, founder and president of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UC. “They just are like, you know, it’s not hateful enough for them to consider it any sort of tangible threat.”

This is actually the second letter she’s received from this anonymous author since October. The first, sent to her place of work, included a short message: “Go back to Gaza you fuckin Muslim whore. No one wants you here.”

But the letter sent to Shaikh on April 3 is a long, winding screed against pro-Palestine activists spanning several pages.

“Former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil could very well be singing his own rendition of ‘Evita’ in a Louisiana detention facility as he awaits his long-overdue deportation to whatever terrorist-loving Islamist state will have him,” the letter reads, in part. “Secretary of State Marco Rubio promises that many more students who joined antisemitic mobs and participated in campus takeovers will be deported, as well.”

One hand-written page suggests activists like Shaikh should be deported and bombed; Shaikh was born in the U.S.

“A Louisiana federal jail is too nice of a place for that little bitch, Mahmoud Khalil,” the letter reads, in part. “Deport to Syria (heard it’s lovely this time of the year) better yet air drop him and all the other terroist [sic] rag wearers to Gaza right before a fresh IDF bombing.”

Shaikh told CityBeat she has no idea how the sender found her home address, which is about 40 minutes away from campus.

“I actually recently moved to this house,” she said. “It’s not even on my license. It’s not in the BMV records. It’s not on White Pages. It’s co-owned by my uncle and my dad, so it’s not even fully my last name on both of the names for this house. So the fact that someone found it is actually much more concerning than if it was just publicly out there.”

Shaikh lives at home with her family, including three young siblings. She’s concerned about their safety after receiving the letter.

“My 10-year-old sister is the one who grabbed this letter, and my mom’s the one who opened it,” she said. “The fact that someone found [my address] and is wanting to not only intimidate me, but my family, just makes this whole situation a lot crazier.”

Shaikh received the letter during UC’s Israeli Apartheid Week. The nationwide

event featured demonstrations designed to highlight the Palestinian death toll as the Israeli government continues its all-out assault on Gaza. The unknown author of the letter repeatedly mentions Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate student who was arrested by ICE agents in March for expressing proPalestinan views as a protest organizer at Columbia University. Khalil was flown by the government to an immigration detention center in Louisiana where he faces possible deportation, despite being a legal permanent resident and married to a U.S. citizen.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently submitted a two-page memo to an immigration court asking for evidence in support of Khalil’s deportation. Instead, Rubio confirmed in the memo that the administration is seeking to expel him for his beliefs, not a crime. Rubio said Khalil’s activities were “otherwise lawful,” but that letting him remain in the country would undermine “U.S. policy to combat anti-Semitism around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States.”

The immigration judge agreed, ruling on April 11 that Khalil could be deported. Khalil’s legal team has until April 23 to submit new motions.

Shaikh said pro-Palestinian activists at UC and other college campuses across the country are committed to peace, but their efforts have made students vulnerable to attacks that aren’t being addressed fairly.

“I really want to take this as a moment to highlight, first and foremost, the double standards of safety of students when it comes to Palestinian students or students of color, especially by the University of Cincinnati, and just what we’re seeing across the nation,” she said. “A lot of the suppression that Students for Justice in

Palestine faces and local activists face is because of the alleged threat to Jewish safety. But when our safety is directly and very openly being threatened, it’s almost as if there’s this rhetoric that we should have expected these consequences.”

Seeking action

After receiving the letter, Shaikh said she went to the UC police department (UCPD) to file a report. She said UCPD told her to contact her local police department, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

“I did contact them, and again, both of them sort of said it’s not hateful enough,” she said. “I believe UCPD told me to just get bear spray and be hyper vigilant of my surroundings and that there’s not much else they could do and that if things escalate, then I should make a box of all the hateful things that I’ve gotten and save it as evidence.”

The deputy from Warren County agreed.

“I showed them everything, and they were like, ‘You should blur your house on Google Maps,’ and I was like, ‘This person already knows my address. I don’t think blurring my house on Google Maps is gonna do much,’” she said. “They were like, ‘It’s not like the letter says that they’re going to kill you directly.’”

UCPD submitted a statement to CityBeat regarding Shaikh’s case:

“A student did make us aware that they have received troubling letters at their private residence and another location, both outside of UCPD’s jurisdiction. We met with the student and connected them with their local police agency who has the authority to investigate those letters. We also connected the student with various support services the university has to offer from Student Affairs, UCPD’s Victim Services Coordinator and the Office of Equal

Opportunity.

The UCPD’s priority is the safety of our campus community and, as such, when students report a concerning issue we do all that we are able to support them. We support and protect all free speech on campus, as well as protect the safety of all of our students,” wrote Kelly Cantwell, Senior Public Information Officer for UC’s Department of Public Safety.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office declined CityBeat’s request for comment on Shaikh’s case, but legal experts say the First Amendment has a very high bar for what constitutes true threats or incitement to violence. Still, Shaikh feels the letter warrants more concern from the university.

“These same sort of, like, authority figures of the police departments and of UCPD who have more than once profiled SJP members, attacked them, arrested a student two days before this [letter] happened, are like, ‘Well, there’s really nothing we can do,’ but they’ve obviously taken action against us but never action of doing their jobs properly when when we are in need of them,” she said.

CityBeat asked Shaikh what she would say to the anonymous letter author if given the chance.

“I’d ask them to just open their eyes and hearts up a little bit more and just see that the only thing we’re advocating for is for men, women and children to stop being slaughtered by the Israeli government and for there not to be a genocide,” she said. “When we treat people like myself or Mahmoud Khalil with these threats and with these insinuations, all it does is just fuel the fire. All it does is just make more students want to get involved. It just makes us want to do more radical actions. It just gives us more of a reason to keep pushing. So if their goal was to scare, intimidate and fear monger, it’s doing the opposite.”

Laila Shaikh told CityBeat she received a threatening, racist letter on April 3 at her home address.

PHOTO: PROVIDED

Pope Francis Dies at 88 After Easter Meeting with VP JD Vance

BY MADELINE FENING

Pope Francis, the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, died of a stroke on April 21, or Easter Monday, less than 24 hours after meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance. He was 88.

Francis led the Catholic Church for just over 12 years after his election in March 2013. He became known as a humble reformer who emphasized mercy over judgment and encouraged the church to engage deeply with the poor, the marginalized and the broader challenges of the modern world.

In Cincinnati, where more than 400,000 Catholics live within the Archdiocese, leaders responded with mourning and gratitude. Archbishop Robert G. Casey, installed earlier this month, called Francis “a good and faithful servant to God.”

“As we commend a good and faithful servant to God, let us remember that Pope Francis proclaimed 2025 as a Jubilee Year of Hope — awakening us to Christ, who is alive and present in our midst. In the words of the Psalmist: “Hope in the Lord! Hold firm, take heart, and hope in the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14),” Casey wrote. “May we, then, be filled with hope — hope that Pope Francis will receive the reward of a life poured out in selfless service and love for God’s people and all creation; hope that Christ, who comforts us in our mourning, will send the Holy Spirit to be our Helper; and hope that this same Spirit will inspire and unite us as the Church to stand firm in faith, proclaiming the power of the Resurrection and the joy of the Gospel.”

Archbishop Emeritus Dennis M. Schnurr, who previously led the Cincinnati Archdiocese for more than 15 years before his retirement this spring, recalled Francis as an “unwavering champion of world peace.”

“The Holy Father will long be remembered for his great compassion for the elderly, the sick, the unborn, the persecuted and all those on the margins of society,” wrote Schnurr. “He continuously reminded us that we are the stewards of God’s creation and not its master. And he was an unwavering champion of world peace.”

Tension between Vance and Pope Francis

Francis’s final public engagement was a private Easter Sunday meeting with Vance, which followed a critical exchange between Vance and the Pope in February. That’s when Vance invoked the theological concept of ordo amoris — the “order of love” — to defend the Trump administration’s

mass deportation policies.

Pope Francis, who made caring for migrants central to his papacy, responded pointedly to the Trump administration in a letter to U.S. bishops.

“I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” Francis wrote. “...the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”

Challenging Vance’s interpretation of ordo amoris, a concept discussed by St. Augustine, Pope Francis warned Vance was too rigid and individualistic in his view, urging instead a model of Christian love.

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” Francis wrote. “In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings! The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation. The true

ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan.’”

Vance later said he wasn’t interested in litigating “about who’s right and who’s wrong,” speaking about the controversy with Francis.

In a 2019 interview with the American Conservative, Vance said his views on public policy are “pretty aligned” with Catholic social teaching.

“I hope my faith makes me more compassionate and to identify with people who are struggling,” Vance said.

“I think the Republican Party has been too long a partnership between social conservatives and market libertarians, and I don’t think social conservatives have benefited too much from that partnership. Part of social conservatism’s challenge for viability in the 21st century is that it can’t just be about issues like abortion, but it has to have a broader vision of political economy, and the common good.”

The Easter meeting

On Easter Sunday, Pope Francis spoke to Vance via a translator, who offered the vice president chocolate eggs for his children, rosaries and a Vatican tie.

“I pray for you every day,” Vance told Francis. “God bless you.”

Vance’s Easter conversation with Pope Francis wasn’t as policy-driven

as his Saturday meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Gallagher, according to a statement from the Vatican.

“There was an exchange of opinions on the international situation, especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees and prisoners,” the Vatican said. “Finally, hope was expressed for serene collaboration between the state and the Catholic Church in the United States, whose valuable service to the most vulnerable people was acknowledged.”

Vance released a statement on X following the news of Francis’s death, saying the pope was “obviously” ill.

“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis. My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him,” Vance wrote on X. “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill.”

While Francis and Vance often diverged politically, particularly on immigration and nationalism, the vice president praised the pope’s spiritual leadership on X.

“I thought his homily early in the COVID pandemic was really quite beautiful,” Vance said.

Following tradition, a conclave of cardinals under the age of 80 will gather later this spring to elect a new pope by secret ballot.

Vice President JD Vance with Pope Francis PHOTO: OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

A NEW HOME FOR CINCINNATI PUBLIC

Classical music and informative news now have a setting to engage the public BY RICK PENDER

You get into your car, hit the ignition and tune into your favorite radio station. It keeps you company while you run errands or drive to work. It might provide you with entertainment and information. Numerous commercial stations are available across the FM spectrum. Many sound pretty much the same — pop tunes, sports talk, lots of advertising, maybe an occasional newscast.

But two choices, both non-commercial stations, are unlike anything else

on the FM dial. WGUC-FM 90.9 offers classical music 24/7, while WVXU-FM 91.7 (and WMUB-FM 88.5) provide a steady menu of public affairs and news, local and international, including National Public Radio (NPR) — no ads, just occasional announcements that mention companies and organizations that support programming. Both stations are operated by Cincinnati Public Radio (CPR).

For years, much of local public radio has been hidden away on the second floor of a downtown building

on Central Parkway, the Crosley Telecommunications Center, owned by WCET, Cincinnati’s PBS TV station. CPR’s stations have been all but physically invisible. As tenants, they were landlocked, despite steady growth, and increasingly crowded for space. That’s changed dramatically this spring.

As April winds down, CPR’s stations have begun to provide programming from a new, $32 million headquarters facility, designed specifically with their broadcast and recording missions in mind. Located at 2117 Dana Avenue in Evanston, the Scripps Family Center for Public Media is today home to a cadre of skilled broadcast professionals, news reporters and recording artists. They aim to supplement, serve and respond to the listening and informational needs of residents of Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Southeast Indiana, and Dayton, Ohio.

Origins

These non-commercial stations trace their origins back to local universities. WGUC began providing classical music programming in 1960 at the University of Cincinnati, with its first studios at the College-Conservatory of Music’s Emery Hall. In 1971 it was a charter member of National Public Radio, adding the flagship news program, “All Things Considered” to its broadcast offerings. It moved to the Crosley Telecommunications Center at 1223 Central Parkway in 1980. In 1994 UC handed over operations to a “community licensee,” Cincinnati Public Radio (CPR). In 2002, UC’s license was formally assigned to CPR.

Xavier University’s closed-circuit, student-run station started in the basement of Alter Hall. In 1970, it entered the airwaves as WVXU. Its eclectic programming included old-time radio comedies and dramas, jazz and swing music, and local call-in talk shows. In 1981, thanks to

an agreement with WGUC, it became Cincinnati’s second NPR affiliate and began carrying “Morning Edition.” In 1986 it converted a one-time U.S. Shoe building on Herald Avenue on the edge of campus into its new studios. In the 1990s it disseminated programming via the X-Star Radio Network to nearly a dozen translator frequencies across Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan. When Xavier University put the station’s license on the market in 2005, CPR acquired it for $15 million. That made possible two broadcast streams for CPR, with WGUC providing an all-classical music format and WVXU delivering around-the-clock news and public affairs programs. CPR hired Maryanne Zeleznik in 2005 as its news director. She had spent two decades overseeing news at WNKU, another NPR affiliate licensed to Northern Kentucky University. (NKU sold WNKU to a religious broadcaster in 2017.)

Miami University’s WMUB signed on in 1950 as a 10-watt training facility staffed by broadcasting majors. It eventually became another regional NPR station, serving Oxford, eastern Indiana, Dayton and its northern suburbs. In 2009, Miami agreed to have CPR operate WMUB, which now shares WVXU’s programming with those listeners.

Finding a suitable location

To learn more about CPR’s plans and decisions for its new location, CityBeat sat down with members of the team, including management and board leadership, broadcasters, architects and engineers.

Serving audiences with two broadcast streams, CPR delivered its offerings from the crowded rental space on Central Parkway. Rich Eiswerth, CPR’s president and CEO since 1998, said, “When we moved into the Crosley

CPR’s new entrance lobby features two-story glass windows and a mobile by Brazee Glass Design Studios in Oakley. The colored glass pieces were inspire by CPR’s station logos. Adjacent to this lobby is the Greater Cincinnati Foundation Podcast Booth.

PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

PUBLIC RADIO

Telecommunications Center [in 1980], we were just one station. When we acquired WVXU [in 2005], we more than doubled our staff, plus we were getting involved in online streaming. With all the additional responsibilities and staff, we had literally run out of space and were putting people in converted closets.”

Through careful financial management, by 2020 CPR paid off the loan it undertook for the purchase of WVXU — five years ahead of schedule. But there was no room to expand on Central Parkway. Conversations began to consider options for a new headquarters location. General priorities were proximity to Cincinnati Music Hall (WGUC records and airs concerts by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and performances by Cincinnati Opera), City Hall (where WVXU reporters cover local government activities) and downtown Cincinnati in general. Parking for staff and visitors was also desired.

In 2018, a site on Plum Street north of Cincinnati City Hall seemed to

address many of these needs for a price tag of $1.5 million. However, further research unearthed problems with the site that promised to double the expense. Architectural plans for a three-story building were put on hold.

Eiswerth explained, “When the City Hall lot became unfeasible, we looked around at real estate and began negotiations and stumbled on a lot in Evanston.” Developer Dan Neyer helped CPR acquire land that had served as a parking lot at 2117 Dana Avenue in Neyer Properties’ Keystone Park development. His experience with several nonprofits, including the Cincinnati Ballet’s new location on Gilbert Avenue, enabled CPR to obtain the property at 30 percent below its list price. It was a site without the logistical complications that made the City Hall site unsuitable.

Most of CPR’s wishes were met. Evanston, off the I-71 Dana Avenue exit, is just minutes from downtown. It’s close to Xavier University — in fact, barely a mile from the site of the old WVXU studio building on Herald

Avenue. It offers ample free parking for staff and visitors. Awareness of CPR will be enhanced since the building is clearly visible from the highway.

CPR’s website lists additional benefits. “We’re excited about additional and updated studio spaces including a professional recording studio for local musicians and a public podcast booth. We’ll have event space for more than 100 guests, so we can host concerts, debates, classroom visits and events with other non-profits. … This new building exponentially increases CPR’s ability to connect with our audience and to welcome new audiences in to learn more about what public radio offers.”

CPR already partners with numerous arts organizations and universities for performances and live broadcasts, in addition to educational offerings such as Classics for Kids and Democracy & Me. The intention with the new facility is to do even more, including hosting debates and roundtable discussions of broad public interest. “Our job is to amplify the arts and inform

the community,” the website statement says, “and in this new facility, we can do both better.”

The three-story building plan for the City Hall site devised by architects at Emersion Design was rethought for a spacious two-story structure in Evanston with numerous windows and open space. Eiswerth and the CPR board of directors, led by business leaders Mu Sinclaire and Otto M. Budig Jr., had specific notions for the new headquarters, and they quickly approved Emersion’s approach. “We wanted to emphasize natural, open and airy,” Eiswerth said. “We came up with a design that everybody fell in love with.”

Intentional design and mass timber

Emersion Design architect Adam Luginbill recalled, “When this opportunity [in Evanston] came along, we really came in with fresh eyes. We had learned a lot from a functional standpoint [from the design work undertaken for the City Hall site]. We

CPR’s new building is a showplace of thoughtful design. PHOTO: EMERSION DESIGN, DANA NIGHT

State-of-the-art facilities for music and news gathering

CPR’s new building is a showplace of thoughtful design. With 32,000 square feet of space, it doubles the capacity of the Central Parkway facility. That includes approximately 11,000 square feet of space devoted to staff, providing flexibility for growth — especially in the news area. There’s plenty of space for work to be done, surrounded by windows and fresh air.

CPR’s tools and technology will enable productive interaction with the community in ways not previously possible. The stations won’t sound different and programming will continue unchanged, but the ability to produce meaningful content for both WVXU and pleasing musical programming for WGUC has expanded significantly. The crown jewel of the facility is its technologically sophisticated professional recording studio, which does not yet have a sponsor’s name. It’s three times larger than WGUC’s 45-year-old Corbett Studio at the Crosley Telecommunications Center. Larger ensembles can record there or perform live for an in-studio audience. All of CPR’s new studios are video-enabled for recorded and live-streaming events.

had a kind of trial run, and we knew the ‘personality’ of the project, so we could be more intentional.” Once the design was decided, Luginbill proposed a new concept: “Did you ever consider mass timber?” Eiswerth’s response: “I had no idea what they were talking about.” But he learned quickly.

In place of traditional steel-andconcrete construction, mass timber uses large solid wooden panels and beams engineered for strong, structural use. It offers an array of benefits that fit with CPR’s vision of innovation and aesthetic appeal. Because building materials could be prefabricated, faster construction times were possible, and some costs were reduced.

The Black Spruce wood used for mass timber is a renewable resource. As the trees are harvested in northern Canada at the end of their growth life, new trees are seeded. Since trees store carbon, when used for construction, the carbon remains stored, reducing a building’s carbon footprint.

“What drew us to mass timber was a great value,” Luginbill explained. “It brought wood and other natural materials into the building, and it wasn’t something that we could have done with steel, which is cold. Mass timber could bring a duplication of finishes, layered on.” Eiswerth liked the concept immediately. “I didn’t need to be convinced. It melded so well into the initial design, the glass and the openness.” The board’s executive committee met with Emersion

Design’s team and quickly approved the new plan. Even with the slight premium expense for mass timber materials, “There was no hesitation,” Luginbill said. “They were really sold on all the advantages.”

One of the first mass timber buildings in Ohio, CPR’s new headquarters is the first in Greater Cincinnati. It’s also likely the first broadcast facility in the country built with mass timber.

There were pragmatic reasons for using mass timber, but there were subtler benefits. The visual and tactile appeal of natural wood gives CPR’s new headquarters a biophilic impact. That term describes an inherent human inclination to affiliate with nature and other forms of life. Beams, wall panels and a statuesque central stairwell have created an environment that’s warm and comfortable for staff members as well as visitors.

Ground was broken in Evanston in August 2023, and the now-occupied building has earned LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It has incorporated water and energy efficiency, high indoor air quality, and thoughtful material choices. Radiant heating and cooling systems provide comfort levels throughout the building with temperatures regulated by warm or cool water tubing embedded in the floors, which enables the large volume of overhead air to adjust naturally. With no need for forced air, ambient noise is diminished. It allows

fresh outside air into the building and regulates CO2 levels. Air filters reduce pollutants. Future plans, when the budget allows, are for a green roof with solar panels to offset some of the building’s energy demand.

Luginbill said, “It has been a real joy to work on this once-in-a-lifetime project. It’s been really interesting because of the specialized needs of the building — acoustical, for instance.” He cites the complex system of three walls surrounding the box that contains a large recording studio to protect against sound and vibrations from nearby I-71. These walls and thick glass create layers of separation that make it completely soundproof. Sound simulations have ensured that the insulation works.

Sinclaire, chair of CPR’s board of directors, said, “A lot of these seeds germinated a long time ago. We’ve reenergized, and we’re in good shape. Radio has never done this before. I think we have done it very effectively, and we’re two-thirds of the way there” to the project’s $32 million price tag. He’s certain that the building can land the necessary funding for the project. “You can see not only the vision but the reality. The old place [on Central Parkway] was one-dimensional, the signal was going out, but you could hardly do anything internally. Now it’s multi-dimensional — a podcast studio, the gathering spaces that can accommodate as many as 120 people. It’s very inviting, and there’s free parking!”

Joel Crawford, recording and mastering engineer, said, “Our vision is really being a resource for this community and the music scene in Cincinnati. … Everything in this space is high-end, the best possible equipment that we can get for our budget.” Production Director Stephen Baum is excited by all the possibilities the studio offers. “Building from the ground up,” he said, “made a major difference. You do it once and you do it right — you’re never going to have to do it again.”

Two modern, well-equipped on-air studios, one for each station, will be where daily programs and newscasts originate. Adjacent to WVXU’s air studio is The Charles D. Berry Studio, spacious enough to host multiple guests for locally originated programs such as “Cincinnati Edition,” hosted at noon Monday through Friday by Lucy May. Staff members will have access to four sound booths for recording and editing, double the number available in the former location.

This state-of-the-art facility is already attracting and retaining top-notch talent similar to Baum and Crawford.

“This is what our community deserves,” according to Conrad Thiede, CPR’s director of major and planned giving. “Having talent like this here in Cincinnati not just for us but for the community is just incredible. I imagine that they will be here for the long haul.”

An opening for another recording engineer was announced recently, and

CPR’s headquarters is one of the first mass timber buildings in Ohio. Its strong, structural panels and beams are visible throughout its spaces, creating a warm, inviting and comfortable environment for staff and visitors.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY CINCINNATI PUBLIC RADIO

more than 20 applications arrived on day one, including one from Italy and one from China.

Public spaces — in and out

“The most important change will be CPR’s ability to bring the radio community we have built across six decades into its new space for debates, concerts, educational programs, station events and more,” said Eiswerth. “We’ll be reaching out to the public, and that’s really important to us. The building’s indoor gathering space can accommodate as many as 120 people for events, performances, lectures and debates. Sitting directly outside and visible from the professional recording studio, that space adds a layer of involvement not previously possible.”

Just west of the new building is a terraced outdoor area, directly adjacent to the Evanston Park and Playground Recreation area. There have already been conversations with the Cincinnati Recreation Commission about programming there, co-hosted by CPR and, in some cases, broadcast to the larger community.

Another sort of public access will be made possible by the new Greater Cincinnati Foundation Podcast Booth, adjacent to CPR’s attractive, two-story Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr., Foundation Lobby with a mobile designed by Brazee Glass Studios in Oakley using multi-colored glass inspired by CPR’s multicolored logo. Use of the professionally equipped podcast booth is free of charge during business hours for anyone who completes a training session.

On the air

Elaine Diehl, who has hosted WGUC’s midday music programming since 2016, is looking forward to “spaciousness, fresh air, more room. All lighter and sunnier. I love the mass timber beams.” She expressed excitement for live music that can be performed, recorded and broadcast. The one-time WNKU announcer works with community leaders such as Cincinnati Opera’s Evans Mirageas for previews and Cincinnati Zoo’s Thane Maynard, who records his “90-Second Naturalist” in a CPR studio. The large new recording studio, she said, can accommodate “eight, ten, twelve musicians — ensembles not possible in the past.” She looks forward to the outside space and parties in the adjacent park. (Diehl led the popular local band Elaine & the Biscaynes back in the 1980s.)

“Anybody can play [a recording of] Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony,” Diehl pointed out, “but we’ll be able to do more live and more local. We’ll talk to people who come in to conduct and perform with the Cincinnati Symphony. We’ll be telling people what an incredible city we have, so much art and culture. I feel really super lucky to be involved.”

When Zeleznik, WVXU’s news director and “Morning Edition” host was asked what she most looked forward to, she said, “It’s a silly thing, but it’s windows!” Being able to see outdoors from her broadcast studio means she can actually see the weather. “I get to work at 4 a.m. when it’s still dark. The windows in the new building are

everywhere, and they are amazing.”

More seriously, Zeleznik is immensely pleased that her news team of a dozen reporters will have collaborative, comfortable workstations. “Room for growth was a consideration. Initially, we will have more space than we need. We hope to increase the size of our staff. When I started here [in 2005] we had five. Now it’s 12, plus a pair of reporters from the Ohio Newsroom whose home base is in Cincinnati.”

She mentions the Berry studio where “Cincinnati Edition” can now accommodate multiple guests. “We can also take it downstairs,” she adds, “and have a live audience in the gathering space.”

The nerve center for both stations is a complex server room on the second level, the pride and joy of Don Danko, vice president of engineering. Chief Engineer Will Staffan said, “At Central Parkway, there were thousands of cables. Remodeling had resulted in a confusing maze. Being able to start fresh here is a big plus. You might have three devices in one box now.” Staffan’s focus is keeping the stations on the air without interruption. “We’re getting all state-of-the-art equipment, which will help us deliver a better product for our listeners.”

Visionary words

Emersion Design architect Nikki Goldstein observed, “It’s been incredibly special to design a building that is emblematic of this organization’s mission. It’s repeated throughout the design in a lot of ways. The wood and the warmth really say this is a place where the public can come in. It’s warm

and inviting.” The design team is excited to see what can be done with the result, especially the public spaces. “We asked them, ‘What do you guys want to do? Do you want to do concerts? Do you want to do lectures? Do you want to do events?’ And they said, ‘True! All those things.’” She added, “It was really cool to see everyone come together and settle on that plan.” The goal of the design was to physically embrace CPR’s mission.

Susan MacDonald, a freelance writer and former Enquirer reporter, chairs CPR’s Community Advisory Board. In a video comment on the website, she said, “When I walked into this building … the size and the expanse and the openness is what really touched me. And the warmth. I’ve never been in a mass timber building before and the color of the wood and the arches and the space is just a very welcoming open place. … As someone who used to be in the newspaper business and still follows the media today, we need this kind of … open place for conversations and talking about issues and solving problems, so it’s just a very impressive space.”

WVXU’s Zeleznik said, “Don’t expect the stations to sound differently on the air. But we’ll be even more engaged in the community.”

WGUC’s Diehl added, “Public radio is about one-on-one conversations. We just chat with listeners, people who often know as much — or more — about the music than we do.”

It’s a new era for Cincinnati Public Radio. It’s evident that WGUC, WVXU and WMUB, building on a firm foundation, will be able to do even more to enrich our community.

The Charles D. Berry Foundation Air Studio will be where WVXU programming originates, including “Cincinnati Edition,” weekdays at noon hosted by Lucy May. With natural light and wood finishes, the room will accommodate as many as four guests.

PHOTO: IMAGE BY EMERSIOIN DESIGN

ARTS & CULTURE

From Beehives to Burgers

As most local theaters are winding down for the season, the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater is just getting started.

BY JULIE CARPENTER

If the mullets and dayglow colors of the 1980s make you smile with nostalgia, the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater has a show for you as it opens its 2025 season with The Wedding Singer. “There’s no better way to kick off the summer season,” said director Stacy Searle in an interview with CityBeat. “It’s a charming ode to the ’80s.” Now based in Chicago, Cincinnati native Searle returns for her third production at the Incline, having previously directed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Peter and the Starcatcher. “It’s nice to come home,” she said. “When I was 19, I worked on the Showboat Majestic with Cincinnati Landmark Productions and have remained good friends with everyone.”

The Wedding Singer, based on the 1998 rom-com movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, features new music by Matthew Sklar as well as the two iconic original songs from the film: “Somebody Kill Me” and “Grow Old With You.”

“There’s something for everyone in this show, whether they lived through it or its history for them,” said Searle. “The wigs are outlandish. Julia Gulia is still funny. The story has a lot of heart, with crazy characters, but they’re going through something while trying to find themselves and their dreams.”

As most local theaters are winding down for the season, the Incline is just getting started. “A lot of people think of summer as an off time for theater,” said Rodger Pille, executive director of Cincinnati Landmark Productions in a conversation with CityBeat. “We lean into it and pick shows that feel like a summer night. The Wedding Singer feels like you’re going to a movie with your friends. For other shows this season, it’s sitting back and listening to some music or having a laugh.”

The Wedding Singer cast includes several actors from the recent production of Singing in the Rain at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts: Cian Steele (Robbie), Trey Finkenstead (Sammy) and Cassidy Perme (Linda).

“The Wedding Singer features a nice group of trained adults working really well with new Cincinnati talent,” said Searle. “It’s one of the reasons we can produce as much as we do,” said Pille.

“There’s a talent base to support it.”

CLP produces five productions in four months: four at the Incline and a Cincinnati Young People’s Theatre production at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts. The 2025 CYPT show is Children of Eden (July 24 – Aug. 3) by Stephen Schwartz, the creator of Wicked, Godspell and Pippin

It’s been 10 years since the Incline opened, but due to the pandemic, 2025 is only its eighth summer season. They’ll be celebrating the building dedication during the run of The Wedding Singer. “This is a community that has grown around the arts,” said Searle.

“The restaurants are fantastic, the view is fantastic, and it has a totally different vibe from everywhere in Cincinnati.”

“All the shows have a good summer vibe to them,” said Pille. “There’s a little bit of a time machine aspect to it. After The Wedding Singer visits the ‘80s, we’re transporting audiences to 1956 with Million Dollar Quartet recreating a night with completely different music

and vibe. And Hairspray is an ode to the ‘60s.”

Choose your favorite decade, then pick your show for the Incline’s 2025 summer season.

THE WEDDING SINGER, music by Matthew Sklar, book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy lyrics by Chad Beguelin (April 16 – May 11). He’s lost his rock star dreams and fiancée, but wedding singer Robbie Hart gets a second chance at love with waitress Julia. Unfortunately, she’s engaged to a Wall Street jerk. Can Robbie win her over with a song? Ted Baldwin is the musical director for the 1980s-inspired score.

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux (May 28 – June 22). Set on Dec. 4, 1956, when Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley recorded a jam session together at Sun Records in Memphis, the show features iconic songs including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Walk the Line” and “Great Balls of Fire.” Hunter Henrickson, who appeared in Memorial Hall’s 2019 production of Ring of Fire, serves as director and musical director for the production.

BURGERTOWN by Christine Jones, Ken Jones and Jamey Strawn (July 9 – Aug. 3). This musical comedy, although set in Chicago, has strong

ties to Cincinnati with writer Ken Jones (who is also the Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Theatre and a Regent’s Professor at Northern Kentucky University) directing this production alongside co-writer Strawn (Theatre & Dance Program Head Musical Theatre at NKU) as musical director. Burgertown tells the story of fry cook Danny O’Riley whose culinary creation takes the fast-food world by storm, complete with bad guys, big money and romance.

HAIRSPRAY, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, with a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan (Aug. 20 – Sept. 14). Directed by NKU Theater faculty member Dee Anne Bryll, a familiar name to local theater audiences for her work as a choreographer, director and actress at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, the Carnegie and Falcon Theatre Company. The family-friendly musical is based on the 1988 John Waters film. Set in 1962, teen Tracy Turnblad’s appearance on a local dance show changes her life, but not her beehive hairdo.

For additional information on the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater’s 2025 season, visit cincinnatilandmarkproductions.com/incline

The Warsaw Federal Incline Theater’s production of The Wedding Singer PHOTO: PROVIDED BY CINCINNATI LANDMARK PRODUCTIONS

CULTURE

TSound and Mind: Renée Fleming Champions Music and Neuroscience at May Festival

BY ANNE ARENSTEIN

he May Festival is the oldest continuing choral festival in the Western Hemisphere. Last year, the festival retooled with a new approach to programming and with two new leaders in performance and administrative roles.

Julianne Akins Smith took over as executive director in November, following Steven R. Sunderman’s retirement. Last June, Dr. Matthew Swanson was named director of choruses, following Robert Porco’s retirement.

Swanson is building on extensive innovations in repertoire, collaboration, choral and community engagement as he completes his first season in his new role. He prepares the 130-voice May Festival Chorus and is artistic leader for the May Festival Chamber Choir, the May Festival Youth Chorus and the Cincinnati Boychoir.

Two years ago, the May Festival announced a collaborative model of an annually appointed festival director working with the director of choruses on programming. This year, acclaimed American soprano Renée Fleming serves in that role, performing with the choruses, presenting a master class and convening a symposium on music and health.

It’s exciting, ambitious programming that reflects Fleming’s passion for working with young singers and the interplay between music and neuroscience.

“These are all my favorite things,” Fleming tells CityBeat. “I had the distinct pleasure of putting together a list of young singers I might like to hear in the Verdi Requiem. The festival administration put it together.”

Verdi’s Requiem, a classic choral works, opens the season on May 16 and Fleming’s choices are all A-listers. Soprano Angela Meade, mezzo J’Nai Bridges, tenor Jonathan Burton and bass David Leigh all make May Festival debuts. Bridges was a sensational Carmen in Cincinnati Opera’s 2021 production. Ramón Tebar, who has conducted for the CSO and Cincinnati Opera, will be on the podium.

“It’s a kind of Olympian feat of music,” Swanson says. “Everyone on stage has to sing the highest they sing or play the lowest, the loudest, the softest, the fastest, the slowest.”

The following Sunday, all the May Festival’s choral forces perform in Chasing the Dawn: A Choral Journey at Music Hall. Swanson and Jason Alexander Holmes, associate director of choruses, conduct what Swanson believes is the first Music Hall performance where the choruses are featured performers.

Fleming’s involvement inspired the program’s arc. “We could have done a showcase concert, but we thought it would be more compelling if there was some kind of unifying concept or theme,” Swanson says. “Renee’s performance of the song cycle, ‘The Brightness of Light’ started us off thinking of the different ways in which light is represented in choral music.”

“The program begins with the end of the workday,” Swanson continues, “and transitions into evening into the darkest parts of the night, with sunrise the next morning into a fuller appearance of day.”

The program features works by Alfred Schnittke, Luther Vandross, Lili Boulanger, Morten Lauridsen and arrangements by Swanson and Holmes.

On Tuesday, May 20, Fleming hosts a panel discussion on the intersection of music and science featuring local experts in the fields of science, music and mental health.

Prize winner Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light, based on letters exchanged between legendary artist Georgia O’Keefe and her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Images of their letters and art appear throughout. It premiered as a solo song cycle for Fleming who later suggested expanding the piece to include Stieglitz’s words.

“We’ve done this a number of times now and it’s really a joy,” says Fleming. “Kevin sets text in a really extraordinary way. The final song for Brightness of Light capture is so exquisite, the way that it pairs with the text is so perfect. He’s great at that.”

Swanson agrees, adding, “It unfolds as one piece, and there’s a sense of losing track of time because he’s woven this story together so beautifully.”

Also on the program are Stravinsky’s massive Symphony of Psalms and Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music,” conducted by former May Festival Artistic Director Juanjo Mena.

The season finale on Saturday, May 24 presents Fleming’s “incredible stylistic diversity” in a program featuring selections from her Grammy-winning album Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, along with stunning visuals. The CSO and the May Festival Chorus join her for classics from folk, opera, pop and Broadway. Fleming says she’s looking forward to having that choral powerhouse backing her up under the baton of Robert Moody.

“I really enjoy working with Robert since he has a great choral background, this is going to be a special pleasure.”

Shortly after she was appointed artistic advisor to the Kennedy Center in 2016, Fleming created a collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to form the Sound Health initiative. She helped to secure $20 million from NIH for continuing research and edited Music and Mind, a collection of essays published last year.

“I never would have guessed that scientists would be studying music at all,” she says. “After I participated in my own MRI study at the NIH, it became clear to me how this works. There’s so much they’re discovering, like the fact that an Alzheimer’s patient who may not be able to speak or recognize people can sing lyrics to songs perfectly.”

The following day, Fleming conducts a master class in collaboration with Cincinnati Song Initiative.

On Thursday, May 22, Fleming takes the stage as a soloist, joined by baritone Rod Gilfry in a performance of Pulitzer

For Swanson, this first season at the helm of the May Festival’s choruses is already beyond what he says is an honor and pleasure to work with Fleming.

Swanson joined the chorus’ tenor section for the 2011-12 season and held administrative and artistic positions as he completed his Doctoral of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.

The chorus rehearses weekly from 7-10 p.m. Swanson values the time and energy invested by the volunteer singers. He understands the choristers’ commitment from his own experience and pays it forward with his singers.

“My past May Festival experiences hugely inform how I approach rehearsing and preparing it with the chorus, especially Verdi’s Requiem. So, I’m grateful for all those experiences and having fun with the chorus.”

The May Festival runs from May 16-24. More info: mayfestival.com.

Renée Fleming PHOTO: ANDREW ECCLES DECCA

CULTURE

CHoly Jokes: How Cincinnati’s Comedy Scene Found New Life in an Old Church

BY BRENT STROUD

incinnati has nationally ranked restaurants, an expansive music scene, a thriving club culture and its share of renowned art galleries and museums; it only makes sense that the comedy scene would be on the rise, too.

CityBeat’s Best Local Comedian 2025 winner Kelly Collette and co-founder of the city’s newest comedy venue, Nathan Kroeger of Commonwealth Sanctuary, weigh in on Cincinnati comedy and how an old church turned comedy club across the river in Dayton, Kentucky, is helping build that community.

Established local anchors like Go Bananas and national chain The Funny Bone have been favorite comedy venues for comedy fans and up-andcomers for years, but non-traditional comedy venues like MOTR Pub and The Comet started hosting comedy regularly in recent years, adding opportunities for comedians and audiences alike.

Cincinnati-based comedian Collette, fresh off winning CityBeat’s Best Local Comedian 2025, was taping a special in Chicago at the time of our interview. Collette seems grateful and excited for the win and current climate in Cincinnati comedy. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this seems real,’” she says with a laugh on winning the vote. “I think the people who won it the last couple years were like Katt Williams and Gary Owen and it’s like, ‘You don’t even go to this school,’ you know what I mean?” she says jokingly, “It’s nice that someone who is actively performing comedy in Cincinnati got it, that’s very sweet.”

Collette, who now tours nationally as a full-time comedian in addition to teaching a course on stand-up for local all-female comedy organization Alphas Comedy, performed her first open mic in 2009 at Go Bananas. She was just out of college before she went all in and quit her full-time job in 2019. Collette says comedy is more available than ever.

“I think it’s really grown a lot,” she said. “I think there’s so much more stage time here than there used to be, especially with everybody putting together their independent shows at MOTR or coffee shops or things like that. Pick a night of the week and we have a show.”

Northern Kentucky got its first dedicated club and added to the current comedy landscape when the Commonwealth Sanctuary opened in 2023. The club opened after couple and co-founders Kroeger (artistic director) and Jacoba Wells (programming

director), both former employees of public libraries, moved from Bloomington, Indiana, in 2019 and bought the building in 2020 to renovate it for a to-be-determined project. The couple, both comedy fans, met local comedian and event organizer Shawn Braley, now Commonwealth’s creative director, after attending events he hosted at Dayton, Kentucky, venue The Garage. When The Garage became unavailable, the three decided on a use for the former church.

“Commonwealth Sanctuary is a refuge from the daily grind,” Kroeger says. “We built a comedy club in a former church building and named it a ‘sanctuary.’ So, we want people to think of us when they need to feel lighter and be around people who are feeling the same way.”

He tells CityBeat they had three goals in mind when opening Commonwealth Sanctuary: to bring well-known comics to an unconventional and unexpected space, benefit the local community in Dayton by bringing people to bars and restaurants before or after shows and helping local comics.

They’ve already hosted several sellout shows with noteworthy comedians featured on major platforms like Comedy Central, HBO and NBC’s Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with others coming up, like Rory Scovel, who’s had

“I like an intimate show. I like when I can see the audience members, I can feel their energy, I can tell what kind of material they’re starting to like and what they’re not so I can adjust and be playful, whereas I’ve done theater shows and you hear the laugh but you don’t see the people and you’re just like, ‘I’m talking to the darkness right now.’ I like a small venue, they’re fun.” She continues, “It feels like we’re all in a really cool experience together, feels very special.”

Collette feels people have accepted the new venue because they’re very focused on comedy and comedians, not drink specials and food sales. She says, “I think what’s great about Commonwealth is it’s run by a couple that are just big comedy fans that are really good people and they just wanna bring really great acts to Cincinnati.”

specials on HBO Max and Netflix. Former Saturday Night Live cast member Punkie Johnson and Michael Ian Black of cult-favorite movies like Wet Hot American Summer and MTV sketch show Stella, will help celebrate the club’s two-year anniversary this July.

They also host a weekly open mic on Monday nights for locals called The Workshop. “Comedians need stage time. And we wanted to create a show for the working comics, young and veteran alike, to get in their reps because that is the only way they get better as performers. As they improve as performers, we hire them to work our weekend shows, opening for the headliners we bring through each week,” Kroeger tells CityBeat.

The club makes good with the goal of an unconventional space, too. The former church built in 1914 sits high above street level. After you climb the stairs leading in, you’re met with a few more to enter the main room that features all the hallmarks of a historic church: high ceilings, exposed beams and some dramatic touches. There’s also a portion of the stage with an organ and drums that are often used to play people on and off stage.

The performance space, while feeling open, isn’t huge. Collette describes the experience of performing at the venue.

Kroeger says they’ve felt welcomed by the comedy community with the help of locals like Collette. “Kelly’s one of the top headliners that’s based in Cincinnati and she’s touring all over — she’s a true professional working comic and she’s headlined here. We love Kelly’s comedy, so any time we get to see Kelly, we’re really happy and that’s what’s great about this scene, generally, is all of these comics have been very supportive of us starting up a new venue in a town that has had, kind of, a historical scene. You know, Go Bananas has been there since the ‘90s and Wayne Memmott is running the Bombs Away! Comedy at The Comet in Northside. He’s been doing that for 11 years and has built up a huge, very cool following there and he brings in some very cool people.”

Memmott and Commonwealth have since joined together for the Crosstown Comedy Festival that will take place from July 10-Aug. 30.

Collette says the comedy scene in Cincinnati has improved in other ways, as well. “When I first started, it wasn’t super inclusive. I remember someone being like, ‘Hey, I’m not gonna bother to learn your name until you’ve been to at least six months of open mics because you’ll probably just quit one day,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, harsh reality.’ Now we’re all like, ‘Come sit next to me,’ you know? Everybody’s so much nicer now.”

For more information about the Commonwealth Sanctuary, visit commonwealthsanctuary.com. For more information about Kelly Collette, visit kellycollettecomedy.com.

Kelly Collette at Commonwealth Sanctuary

PHOTO: CHRIS WALKER

FOOD & DRINK

Something to Swoon About

A new downtown wine bar elevates the self-pour model with date-night vibes and VIP service.

REVIEW BY CAROLINE BECKMAN

Cincinnati’s Downtown district is revitalizing: more hip spots for dating, drinks out with friends, meetings with potential business partners and let-your-hair-down-worthy environments seek to make Downtown the place to be.

Something to Wine About, a new addition to Downtown and the only self-pour wine bar in the district, aims to become the perfect spot for all of the above.

Opened on Dec. 7, Something to Wine About is owned by Orlando “Lando” Chapman, known in Cincinnati entertainment circles for owning RilEntertainment, which headlines several entertainment events, including the Old School Happy Hours, weekly events held for the 30-plus-year-old crowd of R&B aficionados. In short, Chapman knows how to entertain, and you can tell from the first step into Something to Wine About. The lounge space is filled with swoon-worthy mood lighting and beautiful pink, blue and purple couches arranged for groups to congregate. When you enter, to your left is the self-pour station and a sleek white bar, to the right is a cordoned-off VIP

area, and at the very back are a stage and a gigantic TV. Smooth R&B music plays over the speakers. The appearance is that of an exclusive club, and with a staff so friendly and welcoming, you feel like a VIP.

If you don’t feel like sampling different wines at the self-pour station, you can get a full wine pour, bottle or cocktail at the bar. After a long, tiring day, I ordered a glass of Serena Sweet Red ($11 by the glass, $44 by the bottle), a stunning, sweet, effervescent Italian red. I was perhaps the only solo customer among a plethora of couples. The ambiance makes Something to Wine About perfect for date night, whether you’re meeting someone new or keeping the spark alive.

The second time around, my server recommended an off-menu pour of Vigneto Dolce Sweet Red ($10). Just my luck, the self-pour apparatus was on the fritz, and the tech was in California, but my servers kindly gave me a miniature wine tasting, including a sweet red and a sweet, refreshing Moscato d’Asti. The vibe in Something to Wine About is superb, in no small part due to the excellent staff.

In addition to delicious wines, Something to Wine About offers cocktails, and light bites (or “wine pairings”) ranging from a charcuterie board to light entrees like the jerk chicken rasta pasta to red velvet cake bites. What sets Something to Wine About apart from other wine bars is the self-pour station, inspired by the time Chapman and his wife spent in New Orleans, where they encountered similar lounges. At Something to Wine About, you get a reloadable card that you can swipe at the station to sample different wines straight from the spigot. It’s a self-guided wine tasting of sorts featuring both domestic and foreign wines from Italy, Portugal, South Africa and other countries around the world. Something to Wine About also highlights wines from Black-owned wineries, such as House of Brown in California, Markell-Bani in Cincinnati and Kumusha in South Africa. They also showcase the Eric Davis 44 Wine collection from Revel by Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer Eric Davis; currently the Red bottle goes for $56 and can only be picked up in-store.

As can be expected from an establishment owned by a local entertainment

mogul, Something to Wine About places a large emphasis on hosting events, including the weekly Something to Sing About karaoke event every Sunday from 4-7 p.m. Guests can take the stage and sing the song of their choice; despite my server’s encouragement, I did not take the stage. (Maybe next time.)

Something to Wine About has several wine memberships at various prices with loads of perks: monthly bottles from their in-house label, early access to events, members-only tastings, complimentary birthday gifts, a membership program and more. Whether you’re a casual wine sipper, a connoisseur or just looking for a new place for a night out, you’ll find style and comfort at Something to Wine About. Something to Wine About is open from Wednesday to Sunday. Wednesday and Thursday hours are from 4-10 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays it is open from 1 to 12 a.m., and on Sundays it is open from 4-7 p.m.

Something to Wine About, 136 W. 4th St., Downtown. More info: itssomethingtowineabout.com.

Inside of Something to Wine About

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY 3CDC

MUSIC

‘Open This Bitch Wide Up’

Turich Benjy is building a universe beyond music.

BY BRENT STROUD

Cincinnati hip-hop artist Turich Benjy seemed to be making a declaration in an eye-catching video clip released at the start of last year. Standing in the middle of an empty city street under a single light shining down on his contorted dancing, arms stretched wide open staring up at the night sky, he repeats the line, “open this bitch wide up” over and over from his song “SHROOMIES” off the then-upcoming album ULTRASOUND (DELUXE)

The video and much of his work blends boundary-pushing production with highfashion glamor. The hard-hitting immediacy of an artist demanding their spot and your attention makes Benjy earn it.

The moment came just after the critically acclaimed collaborative album, It’s Too Quiet..’!! with friend and fellow rapper Pink Siifu. He’s continued building momentum since. While touring Europe late last year, Benjy churned out glammedup, inventive videos, music and fashion, often on the verge of avant-garde, seemingly poised for even larger success.

Benjy, also known as Lionell Rogers, found his connection to creativity and entertainment as a child at age nine when he began dancing. He tells CityBeat the first time he performed at a school talent show he was asked to perform again; he was hooked.

“I got highly interested in just the hype of it, you know what I’m saying? I was like an attention whore kind of, basically,” he says with a laugh.

Dancing would remain his main interest through his teen years, later touring with partner and friend Carlon Jeffery, also known as Lil C-Note. “He was the artist and I was his hype man/dancer but he really was the first inspiration for me to start writing my own music,” Rogers tells CityBeat Touring would leave another impression on him, including performing on the first Scream Tour in 2001 with other up-andcoming stars Bow Wow, B2K and Chris Brown. “A lot of the artists I was around, they were doing things on BET already and with a lot of people that were in that young,

creative space, and I think that just kind of made it appeal to me. But, you know, like I said, I grew up in the era like Bow Wow and Romeo and shit like that so, seeing that type of stuff, seeing the kid celebrities, I was like, ‘Ok, I need to be a triple threat.” He was making music by 14 or 15 but wouldn’t start performing as a rapper on his own until his early twenties, starting out in a group that Rogers would get work by negotiating spots on his dancing gigs instead of getting paid.

By 22 he had some experience and more focus and was compelled to go forward after a loss. He tells CityBeat, “Once I got a little more comfortable in making my own music and one of my closest friends, he passed away about 10, 11 years ago now, but he was the one that was like, ‘Nah, you got it,’ you know what I’m saying? This is before I was called Turich Benjy and he was like, ‘Yo, you really got it,’ and I think when he passed in 2014, that’s when I really kicked it into gear. I was like, ‘I got to pick a side and stay there.’”

He moved in 2018, pursuing music and splitting time between Atlanta and LA when he became disillusioned and put off on the impossibility of success before another catalyst would spark something.

“I had one of those weird situations that it just, kind of, deterred me from music. So, I took like a year break from music,” he tells CityBeat. “And then COVID hit and, I don’t know, I’m just a creative person in general, so, I ended up buying a sewing machine to try to make merch.”

He started with embroidery on bucket hats, then jeans before going further, making what he calls “costume pieces,” eventually wearing the clothes out to shows. “Then it was like, people always kind of recognized me for my extreme fashion sense, but then when I was wearing my own clothes, it definitely gave me another life, and it really got me back into music.” He continues, “When I started wearing what I felt like, I started wearing clothes that seemed like it was a part of my personality, it started making sense.”

He talks about the role of an artist and, additionally, what fashion and image can bring to a project. “It’s like, I explain to people all the time, we as artists are

superheroes and to other people that look at us that can’t make music or can’t make clothes, they look at us as extraordinaires. So, it’s like when you get to put your cape on and you already feel super, then it adds to the whole emotion of being like, ‘Oh, this is my job, for real.’ Even in films, a huge part of film, what makes a movie good, is the cast and the costume direction. So, I think that’s highly important and they go hand in hand. You can be an artist who’s a regular guy and dress like a regular guy but I think, like I said, when you put yourself in a position to be, like, superhero material, it feels different to you and the consumers.”

His goals as a musician touch on the same philosophy. “I’m trying to entertain first. So, I think when I’m making songs and when I’m performing, I really want people to feel something. I know that probably sounds generic, but it’s not about me going out onstage and being like, ‘Listen to me,’ like ‘This is me.’ I really want people to feel invited to the same ideas and the same feeling that I have when I’m making something. Everybody can’t create but everybody likes music, so I’m trying to create a common median; a common ground between the person with the ideas and the person who is thinking the same thing but probably can’t convey it, you know?”

When asked about how he feels about being from and working out of Cincinnati, Rogers tells CityBeat, “I’ve always been a fan of Cincinnati hip-hop and Cincinnati music, in general.” He mentions King Records, Roger Troutman of early Dayton electro-funk group Zapp Band and local legend and funk pioneer Bootsy Collins, adding, “I try to remind everybody, you’re carrying a torch and it’s an honorable place to be.” He continues, “Like LA and the West Coast sound was created, the West Coast hip-hop sound anyway, that funk bop, that’s like [how] Midwest music originated. For me, I always try to remind people that we are a part of what was already birthed here, and it’s a blessing to kind of be able to look back and see what’s going on and be, like, cultivating and curating the new wave.”

He also mentions some of his contemporaries and local favorites. “Devin Burgess is a guy I really look up to; M80

is a producer from here, he just won a Grammy like last year or maybe two years ago now but he’s somebody that’s been paving his own way and I’ve seen him go from when he was 17 to getting a Grammy, from Cincinnati, so that’s important. Lantana’s one of my favorites — he’s done things that some of us haven’t, still haven’t done yet, you know, but he did it 15 years ago. Also, Sappha, she’s like the perfect median of pop but like funk music kind of meshed together. Siri Imani is another big one. I love her music but she’s also the perfect balance between humanitarian and an artist and a person for what she does for a lot of the community and stuff like that. There’s a young guy, his name is Gio Getem, he’s kind of low-key, but he’s a crazy harmonious singer, and he makes rap music, too. He’s one that embodies that funk music and soul at the same time.”

When asked about performing, he says, “My favorite shows are always the Cincinnati shows. The countless shows in Cincinnati have prepared me for the world touring I’ve been blessed to be a part of.”

He mentions Madison Live in Covington and Northside’s Radio Artifact as a couple of favorite venues, saying, “Rest in peace Mad Frog” with a laugh. “That was one of the places I got started at.”

He’s currently adding guest spots from local artists for final touches on an album that will be out in the coming weeks, in addition to a three-part series of releases that will feature a live band made up of local musicians.

Rogers tells CityBeat he’s possibly most passionate about curating events, whether it’s an art show or fashion show or performances, in addition to working with up-and-comers through his Turich Worldwide imprint.

“Right now I’m just in a space of trying to explore all creative endeavors and really utilize the people around me,” he said. “I’m really just looking forward to working with more local artists and putting out really high-quality music from Cincinnati to the world.”

To learn more about Turich Benjy and to listen to his music, visit soundcloud.com/turichbenjy.

Turich Benjy

PHOTO: GUY ALMIGHTY

SOUND ADVICE

THE ARCADIAN WILD

May 13 • Woodward Theater

The Arcadian Wild are the kind of band that can’t help but emit positivity. They frequently smile while playing, their faces beaming as they pluck their acoustic instruments with precision and purpose: Isaac Horn plays guitar, Lincoln Mick plays mandolin and Bailey Warren plays fiddle. All three sing, Mick most often. For the uninitiated, The Arcadian Wild specialize in a mix of bluegrass and folk, their interweaving vocal harmonies and musicianship bringing to mind everyone from Nickel Creek to Andrew Bird. Horn and Mick began playing together in 2013 at Lipscomb University, a private Christian institution in Nashville. A shifting lineup around them eventually settled with the addition of Warren in 2020.

They’ve independently released a full-length album (2023’s Welcome), a trio of EPs and a smattering of standalone singles since, all reveling in their shared sense of harmonics. “Harmony has been at the center of our musical experience and expression from the very beginning,” Mick is quoted from the bio on the band’s website. “Often, when we’re unsure of what to do next, we’ll say, ‘Let’s just all sing together.’

We’ve changed a lot as a band over the years, but harmony has always been the backbone of what we do, which has led us to create all these background vocals that not only support the lead but have a life and character of their own.” As one might expect given their pedigree, lyrical topics, courtesy of Mick and Horn, center on

their faith. Try this from “Lara,” the sinuous opening track from Welcome: “Lara, keep an eye on the horizon/ Don’t worry about the rain, the sun is rising/Blessed be the blazing sky, burn until we believe/Oh, what a lovely name.”

The Arcadian Wild’s optimism is hard to deny. It’s even more evident in a live setting, their soaring harmonies and earnest dispositions likely to crack the most hardened of cynics.

The Arcadian Wild play the Woodward Theater on May 13 at 7 p.m. More info: woodwardtheater.com. (Jason Gargano)

NAPALM DEATH AND MELVINS

May 15 • Bogart’s Napalm Death and the Melvins have been doing their thing for more than a combined 80 years. The pair of bands somehow remain as ear-splittingly thunderous as the day they surfaced back when Ronald Reagan was popping jelly beans at the White House. Given their shared love of heavy music — The Melvins as pillars of grunge and sludge metal; Napalm Death as progenitors of a doomsday brand of grindcore metal — it should come as no surprise that the duo is teaming up for “Savage Imperial Death March II,” a sequel of sorts to a co-headlining tour they did together in 2016.

Longtime Napalm Death singer Barney Greenway and Melvins’ founder and frontman Buzz Osborne addressed the tour and each band’s longevity in a recent joint interview

with Consequence: “Napalm is so cacophonous, it’s so noisy,” Greenway said. “Yet, it stood the test of nearly four decades now. People still support the band. It could be the other way. It could be like, ‘Enough of that, already!’ And there would be no basis for us to go out and do extensive tours. So, I’m thankful. I don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure.”

Osborne agreed: “I’ve never taken it for granted. I’ve always felt blessed. I put as much effort into this, if not more, than anyone would for any kind of career, whether it’s doctors or lawyers. I’ve sacrificed a lot of my life because I’m so interested in making this work.”

Even more intriguing this time around is the recent corresponding release of a six-song EP entitled Savage Imperial Death March that finds the two bands collaborating on songwriting and performance. The amusingly titled opening track, “Tossing Coins into the Fountain of Fuck,” features Greenway’s patented guttural bellows as Osborne and Napalm’s John Cooke emit momentous counterpoint riffs from their guitars, each playing off the other as naturally as peanut butter and jelly. “Some Kind of Antichrist” finds Osborne on lead vocals, his higherpitched wails complemented by Greenway’s lower-register roars. The song’s vigorous riffage, which scans more Melvins than Napalm, eventually devolves into ambient weirdness, the perfect finale to an unholy alliance. Napalm Death and Melvins play Bogart’s on May 15 at 7 p.m. More info: bogarts.com. (JG)

The Arcadian Wild PHOTO: PROVIDED

Buzz Osborne of Melvins

PHOTO: PETER ALFRED HESS, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Across

1. Dignified women

8. Musician who blows

15. Big name in juices

16. Attacked vociferously

SMOKE EM IF YOU GOT EM

BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY

17. Where a cowboy might shop for footwear

18. He rubbed one out in fairy tales

19. Hypothesis asking the question “does one get higher with larger equipment?”

21. Muesli tidbit

22. Prefix with Hegelianism or Confucian

23. “An Enemy of the People” playwright

25. Botanical bristles

27. E-6 in the U.S. Army: Abbr.

31. Called back in the day

32. Belonging to us

34. With elegance

36. Two places where you might find bags of weed in a smuggler’s den?

39. Relocater, in a way

40. Old brewery fixture

41. Seafood delicacy

42. Certain policemen: Abbr.

43. Bit of a pencil

45. “___ too good to be true”

47. “Pick one”

48. Houston Dynamo org.

49. Actress Cybill’s smoking apparatus?

57. Stepped on the gas

58. Land measure

61. Faux fat

62. Like a bogey

63. Place for a pilot

64. Menu section

Down

1. Unruly crowd

2. Manic activity

3. Double

4. Emu, e.g.

5. Couturier Cassini

6. Govt. labor board

7. “See ya”

8. Beer holder

9. Pleasant rhythm

10. One of three states that uses only longitudinal and latitudinal lines for its borders

11. Beach washer

12. Weed

13. Mix

14. Really stylish

20. Hot shot reporter

21. “I set the rules around here!”

23. Still sleeping, say

24. Koh-i diamond

26. 1974 Donald Sutherland spoof with a dubious spelling

27. Armenia, once: Abbr.

28. Stay on dry land?

29. Deep depressions

30. Preschoolers

33. Four-string instruments

35. World Series mos.

37. Bad dudes in late ‘80s rap

38. Keepsake from the newborn years

44. Highland pattern

46. Caveat

49. Los Angeles overhead, maybe

50. “Sup, hombre”

51. Typical party times during the holidays

52. Coin with the Ring of Splendor of the Sun Stone

53. It can help you see games clearly

54. Cork’s land

55. Colonist William

56. Rapper whose X handle is @FINALLEVEL

59. “The Pioneer Woman” chef Drummond

60. Defib venues, for short

LAST PUZZLE’S ANSWERS: