CityBeat | March 19, 2025 by Big Lou Holdings

NEWS

Welcome to the ICE Age: Inside Butler County’s Jail for ICE Detainees

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones has nearly 60 immigrant detainees in his jail, and more than 50 former detainees speaking out about the last time he opened his doors to ICE.

punished for that. They’re not allowed to do that. Very simple.”

The plaintiffs also claim officers used excessive force against ICE detainees, including one instance when a man named Bayong Brown Bayong of Cameroon claims he was pushed down a set of stairs and told, “I hope you die, bitch” by a guard. Bayong claims the guard told him, “When you get down the stairs I’m going to beat all the teeth out of your mouth.” The lawsuit also alleges an officer repeatedly punched Bayong in the face and knocked out a tooth. Jones denies all of this.

“We sent him to the dentist,” Jones said. “And just so happened, he was born without that tooth. He had a gap in his teeth. It was never a tooth there.”

Complaints beyond the lawsuit

In 2020, dozens of former ICE detainees contributed to an administrative complaint letter sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleging they were abused or mistreated while in the Butler County Jail.

Complaints beyond the lawsuit

The letter builds on the claims of the 2020 lawsuit, adding that some ICE detainees were denied necessary medical treatment during the COVID pandemic, and that an 81-year-old ICE detainee with stage 4 cancer was “denied a vital medication for months.”

Jones denies the allegation.

“We have a doctor, we have a dentist, we have paramedics, we have a nurse and we probably spend a million dollars a year on medication,” he said.

BY MADELINE FENING

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones has nearly 60 immigrant detainees in his jail, and more than 50 former detainees speaking out about the last time he opened his doors to ICE.

BY MADELINE FENING

TThe mattress in a Butler County Jail cell for immigrant detainees slowly released air when this writer tested it out.

he mattress in a Butler County Jail cell for immigrant detainees slowly released air when this writer tested it out.

“How is it?” the officer escort asked.

“No pillows, right?” CityBeat replied. “Correct.”

“How is it?” the officer escort asked. “No pillows, right?” CityBeat replied.

“Correct.”

Ever since President Donald Trump was elected in 2024, he’s sought to deliver on his campaign promise to carry out the “largest deportation in the history of our country,” and Jones has enthusiastically opened his doors to help.

Apart from the soft hum of the slowly deflating mattress, it was dead quiet in the roughly 112-square-foot cell for two. This cell is one of 48 that make up a “pod” in the Butler County Jail. CityBeat was given a tour of a pod that’s reserved for immigrant detainees brought to the jail by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. There were 15 ICE detainees in custody at the jail when CityBeat interviewed Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones on March 7; that number is up to 60 as of March 13. Ever since President Donald Trump was elected in 2024, he’s sought to deliver on his campaign promise to carry out the “largest deportation in the history of our country,” and Jones has enthusiastically opened his doors to help.

“I believe we started getting inmates Monday — today is Friday — that’s very, very quick,” Jones told CityBeat. “And everything changes with, right now, with ICE, because the president wants this done.”

Jones is able to keep ICE detainees in his jail because of a special contract with the federal government. Undocumented immigrants who are detained by ICE face civil immigration charges with the threat of deportation, something the criminal system isn’t set up to process without the ICE agency. But ICE needs county jails to meet the high deportation quotas set by the Trump administration.

“They depend on sheriffs,” Jones said. “There’s 3,300 sheriffs in the United States, 3,300 counties, and they depend on sheriffs for jail space. And so that was the process that started.”

Butler County will be paid $68 per day to house each ICE inmate, plus $36 per hour to transport detainees to airports for deportation, according to county records. Jones previously had a contract during the first Trump administration but said he canceled it in June 2021 because thenPresident Joe Biden took office. He told CityBeat he voluntarily canceled the ICE partnership, which started in 2003, citing frustration with Biden’s border policies.

“He let everybody come across the border,” Jones said. “They didn’t want anybody deported. [...] He let people get

raped, killed and the drugs came in. I woke up one morning and I said, ‘Tell ICE we’re done.’ That’s how easy it was.”

ICE agents deported fewer immigrants in February 2025 than they did under the Biden administration during the same month in 2024, according to ICE data obtained by NBC News.

The lawsuit

With Trump again in office, Jones has enthusiastically reopened his doors to ICE, but he’s still fighting a lawsuit filed by former ICE detainees who claim Jones’ officers were verbally and physically abusive. Jones has flatly denied every claim in the suit.

“I’ve been sued my whole career,” Jones said, denying the suit’s claims. “I’ve been doing this 48 years. I get sued often.”

The suit, filed in 2020 and still in litigation, alleges officers working the ICE pods called Black ICE detainees “racial epithets, including ‘dirty Africans,’ ‘monkeys,’ and ‘goats.’”

“They’re not permitted to use that type of language,” Jones told CityBeat “Everything’s on video. There’s witnesses everywhere. If somebody does, they get

Jones said ICE detainees, like all his inmates, get the daily basics: three dietician-approved meals, up to five hours of recreation time outside their cell, a pair of underwear (though underwear is not standard-issue for male inmates outside the ICE pods), access to the law library, phone calls, in-person attorney visits, etc.

“I’ve been doing prisons and jails my whole career,” Jones said. “I inspect the jails. They have to be clean and the inmates have to be treated fairly.”

An immigration attorney speaks out

A Cincinnati area immigration attorney, who requested anonymity to protect his access to clients in the Butler County Jail, exclusively told CityBeat that he witnessed officers refuse bathroom access to ICE detainees. The alleged incident happened while this attorney and his client were waiting in line for a virtual court hearing — Ohio’s immigration court is in Cleveland — leading his client and others in line to soil themselves before court.

“They were in a line, about 12 to 15 sitting in chairs across from the room with his closed-circuit TV,” the attorney told CityBeat. “The sheriff’s deputies who were in the jail did what is expected, to let the attorneys use the bathroom. They didn’t

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones

PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones

PHOTO: AIDAN MAHONEY

let the immigrants use the bathroom. I spoke Spanish, so immigrants were like, it’s been three hours, four hours, I just ate lunch. I need to go to the bathroom. They were forced to urinate or defecate in their pants.”

The attorney told CityBeat he asked officers if the ICE detainees could use the restroom for the attorneys while they waited for their hearings.

“I asked one of the sheriff’s deputies, and he just refused to even think about it,” the attorney told CityBeat. “He said, ‘Let them do what they have to do. I’m not going to let them use the bathroom.’”

During a later visit to the jail, this attorney told CityBeat he was reprimanded by the warden for raising the bathroom issue with officers.

“He said, ‘You know, we could lose the ICE contract. We could stop this ICE contract if we have this kind of behavior from attorneys,’” the attorney said. “I don’t know [why my behavior of] trying to find a bathroom for people, immigrants, and also complaining to a sheriff’s deputy that he should help — I wasn’t that vociferous. I just, I didn’t understand their reaction.”

CityBeat asked Jones about this complaint, which, like all the complaints in the 2020 lawsuit and administrative letter, he denies.

“We don’t want to deal with somebody shitting in their pants or pissing on the floor, pissing on themselves, no more than they are embarrassed about doing it,” Jones said. “These people don’t cause us any issues. They’re the prisoners that my employees prefer to be in the pods with, and we treat them like humans, and we treat them firm and fair. We don’t make people poo-poo their pants or pee-pee their pants. That’s all horseshit, but people can say anything they want.”

“Preferred” prisoners

During CityBeat’s tour of an empty ICE pod, an officer said this is her preferred assignment.

“They’re typically not criminal,” she said. “They’re not, you know, super-” “They’re being held civilly,” CityBeat responded.

“Right, yes.”

While Jones repeatedly defended his officers’ treatment of ICE detainees as no different than the U.S.-born inmates, he said the biggest difference between the two populations is behavior.

“ICE pods are the ones my officers prefer to work. You know why? They don’t cause any problems,” Jones said. “They like to play dominoes and cards, and they’re in a pod together and there’s no fights.”

“Why do you think that is?” CityBeat asked Jones.

“I don’t know,” Jones said. “But my officers prefer if they can get that

pod, versus the homegrown criminal [where] somebody’s always fighting or screwing around with somebody.”

Jones has admitted before that undocumented immigrants don’t commit crimes at a higher rate than U.S.-born people. Immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.born citizens, according to the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research.

But, to Jones, that doesn’t matter. During the Biden administration when Butler County did not have an ICE contract, Jones claims his jail held 1,400 undocumented immigrants, amounting to 2,000 crimes committed locally.

“I don’t need any country dumping people in here that are going to commit crime,” he said. “A majority [of immigrants] come to this country, they work hard, but there’s a percent that come across that does not, and they are the ones that we’re interested in. And the ones that have worked hard and come here, hey, you know, everybody wants to go to a country and to get away from [violence] and make more wages, okay, but there comes a point. [...] It’s not pretty to get people out of this country, but you just can’t come here and stay.”

Nationally, ICE deported approximately 11,000 immigrants in February, but roughly half did not have any criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, according to data obtained by NBC.

Lynn Tramonte is the director of the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. She told CityBeat there’s no reason to detain immigrants in jail who have not been charged with a crime. Even though the Trump administration has declared undocumented immigrants are “criminals” because they entered the country illegally, they are not held criminally or charged with a crime once in ICE custody — the matter is civil.

“There’s no other area of civil law where you get put into jail while your case is pending,” Tramonte said. “Like, if I’m getting evicted from my home, they don’t put me in jail. If I don’t pay my taxes to my local government, they don’t throw me in jail, right? They give me a payment plan, and I work it out with them. That’s how immigration law should be.”

What next?

Jones is awaiting a separate contract from the federal government that would allow deputies to assist ICE on arrests and large-scale workplace raids, which Jones told CityBeat are coming.

“We’re going to do workplace raids, enforcement,” Jones said. “I’ve said it several times in 50 days. Hell, I had billboards up in the past that said it’s illegal to hire illegals and you’ll go to jail.”

CPD Releases Body Cam Video After Officer Shoots Man Holding Knife in Walnut Hills

BY MADELINE FENING

The Cincinnati Police Department released details and body camera footage after an officer shot a man armed with a knife on March 2 in Walnut Hills.

The shooting happened around 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot of an apartment building on Gilbert Avenue. During a March 3 press conference, CPD Chief Teresa Theetge said officers were dispatched to the area for reports of a man armed with a knife and a gun.

Theetge played a 911 recording where the caller told the dispatcher he feared for his life.

“He’s extremely dangerous, I fear for my life,” the caller said. “How fast can you get here?”

“I don’t have an ETA,” the dispatcher responded.

“Get here as soon as possible,” the caller said.

Theetge said officers were at the scene within minutes and immediately tried to de-escalate the situation, but that the subject ran toward officers with a knife.

Body camera footage shows officers with their guns raised to 31-year-old Patrick Lyons, urging him to talk.

“What’s going on? I need you to talk to me, Pete,” the officer behind the camera is heard saying. “Don’t do this. Don’t do this. I need you to talk to me, man. What’s going on?”

Lyons shuffles in place before he sprints towards the officers, only making it a few steps before an officer fires, striking him twice in the hip, according to Theetge.

Officers quickly handcuffed Lyons after flipping him onto his stomach on the ground.

“That’s what they’re trained to do,” Theetge said. “Secure the individual who was posing the threat, check on their wellbeing, put him in a position that is most likely they can continue to breathe and then they start rendering aid until the fire department arrives.”

Lyons is still in the hospital recovering from surgery for the gunshot wounds, according to CPD.

“He is expected to recover,” Theetge said. Theetge indicated during the press conference that Lyons may have been experiencing a mental health crisis before the shooting.

“CPD can be a resource to get family members connected with mental health professionals,” Theetge said. “If you try to do it through another avenue and you just feel like you’re hitting a wall or you just can’t make headway, call us. We have resources within our department, we have resources outside our department, we’d much rather work with family members to point them or get them in a right direction of mental health resources before we encounter an incident like this.”

Officers recovered a knife from the scene but did not find a firearm. Theetge said Lyons was released from jail two months ago after serving a sentence for aggravated robbery.

The city has launched an internal and external investigation with the Citizen’s Complaint Authority to review the use of force.

“We are committed, as always, to a thorough process that is transparent and in accordance with the collaborative agreement,” said Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval during the press conference.

CPD released body camera footage from a March 2 incident where an officer shot a man armed with a knife in Walnut Hills.

PHOTO: CINCINNATI POLICE DEPARTMENT

Greater Cincinnati Girl Scouts Appeal to New Archbishop to Mend Relationship

BY MADELINE FENING AND ZURIE POPE

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio (GSWO) wants more than just cookie sales right now; they’re asking for signatures on an open letter to Cincinnati’s new archbishop.

“We welcome you to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,” reads the letter addressed to Archbishop-designate Robert Casey. “We ask your help with an urgent issue affecting thousands of Catholic Girl Scouts.”

The letter with signatures from the public will be sent to Casey at the end of March, but the conflict with the church started in October. That’s when Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr announced the Archdiocese of Cincinnati would be ending its relationship with the Girl Scouts of the United States of America, due to their “impoverished worldview regarding gender and sexuality.”

In a letter published on Oct. 28 and shared with the roughly 500,000 Catholics in the region, Schnurr said every Girl Scout troop currently based on any Catholic campus in Greater Cincinnati would be expected to convert to an American Heritage Girls troop, find another location to meet or disband, with a deadline of December 2025.

“This decision is devastating to so many of the 200 local Catholic Girl Scout troops and nearly 4,000 local Catholic Girl Scouts,” reads the GSWO open letter. “We want to continue to meet at our parishes. Troops have already been forced to move meetings to protestant churches, city halls, and anywhere that will take us.”

Schnurr’s reason for the ultimatum? The Girl Scouts organization had “contributed to normalizing a sexual and gender ideology contrary to the Catholic understanding of the human person made male and female in the image and likeness of God.”

The gender grievance stems from Girl Scouts’ inclusive approach to membership for transgender girls.

“Placement of transgender youth is handled on a case-by-case basis, with the welfare and best interests of the child and the members of the troop/ group in question a top priority,” reads the Girl Scouts’ website. “If the child is recognized by the family and school/ community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe.”

GSWO has been a specific source of frustration for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati as early as 2016. The two

groups signed a “Memorandum of Understanding,” which laid the ground rules for their relationship. The Girls Scouts were told to adhere to several rules, including “maintain regular, ongoing communications with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,” “respect the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church” and “recognize and honor the principle that religious instruction is the responsibility of parents and religious leaders,” among other things.

After their Memorandum of Understanding expired in 2016, the archdiocese began investigating GSWO’s social media presence. The archdiocese took issue with a post promoting Phoebe Hall, founder of Glitterary, a digital literary magazine for LGBTQ+ youth, as well as a post sharing information related to the LGBTQ+ Pride Month Fun patch.

In November 2023, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati requested that GSWO “cease promotion of activities, resources, badges and awards repugnant to Catholic teaching.”

By 2024, Schnurr had endorsed American Heritage Girls, an explicitly Christian alternative to the Girl Scouts, writing “AHG is openly Christ-centered and dedicated to helping girls respond

to God’s call to grow in purity, service, stewardship and integrity.”

Founded in 1995, Heritage Girls is centered around four categories: Purity, Service, Stewardship and Integrity. In the “Purity,” section it states: “We are to reserve sexual activity to the sanctity of marriage; a lifelong commitment before God between a man and a woman.”

On the organization’s website, which features extracts from their podcast, Raising Godly Girls, one episode is titled “Equipping Your Girl Against Cultural Witchcraft This Halloween.” In the description, Heritage Girls states: “Join us as we explore how witchcraft, once considered fringe or fictional, is now being normalized in popular culture, drawing in girls from all walks of life.”

Archbishop Schnurr reiterated his support for AHG in his Oct. 28 letter declaring an end to the relationship between the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and GSWO.

“Girl Scouts of Western Ohio is – and always has been – a secular organization that welcomes girls of all faiths,” GSWO said in response to Schnurr’s Oct. 28 letter. “Our membership includes girls and families of many

faith traditions, and we believe that a part of girls’ healthy development is encouraging girls in their spiritual journey, through partnerships with their faith communities.”

Then, on Feb. 12, Archbishop Schnurr announced his resignation from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Schnurr was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in May 2024. Pope Francis appointed Reverend Robert Casey, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as Schnurr’s successor.

Speaking to WCPO on LGBTQIA+ issues, Casey said, “All we have to do is look within our own families and we see that we are a very diverse family of God and what needs to happen I hope is the ability to build bridges.”

With Casey at the helm of the archdiocese, GSWO hopes the bridge between the two organizations may be repaired.

“As leaders, we know we are Catholic ministers and that it is our responsibility to follow and teach the Catholic faith and help our girls grow to be strong, kind, compassionate Catholic women,” GSWO wrote to Casey. “It is Girl Scouts’ strong programming content that gives us the ability to do that in line with the Church’s teachings.”

Girl Scouts of Western Ohio

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY GSWO

Made With lOve

hOW iMMigrants are shaping CinCinnati’s FOOd Culture

On a Friday night in the middle of October, a chill settles in the air and a city center comes to life, with one street in particular brimming with tents, crowds, lights and sounds. Smoke and steam pour from grills at these tents as the scent of meat and Asian spices greet customers and revelers, with offerings like Vietnamese pho, Nepali momos and Indian curries advertised on boards that guests crowd near to get a better look. Overhead are rows of lanterns as children and adults alike play glow-inthe-dark games. Artisans and crafters with tables full of beautiful goods beckon browsers and soon, a traditional lion dance will enchant all nearby.

While this scene may draw visions of places like the Temple Street Night Market in Hong Kong or the Night Bazaar of Chiang Mai, Thailand, this market could be found in downtown Cincinnati last October as BLINK 2024 took over the city.

“In the past, BLINK was a light show, but we wanted an Asian American element too,” Lam Dang with Asianati, the organization that put on the Night Market, told CityBeat. “So we had this [thought], ‘What better representation of lights, smells, sounds, night than an Asian night market?’ Asian night markets throughout the world are just known for their food, but also known for how amazing, how vibrant it is, how beautiful it is … so Asianati Night Market is important to us because during this major event, we have an element of Asian American [representation].”

And that kind of representation matters, says Dang. The Asianati Night Market was a returning, fan-favorite activation, having drawn around 540,000 visitors in 2022. In 2024, that number

BY KATHERINE BARRIER

rose nearly 50% to 800,000 visitors, according to organizers.

Food unites. It’s a bridge between people and cultures, and it’s one of the most accessible ways to learn more about another country or culture. Looking at the Night Market, 14 different types of Asian and Pacific Islander cuisines were represented that weekend, with several local immigrant-owned restaurants, bakeries and bubble tea shops, including Tea ‘n’ Bowl, Bridges Nepali Cuisine, Queens Bakery and Boba Cha, filling out the roster and introducing thousands of visitors to their home country’s food culture right in the heart of the Queen City.

While food is one of the biggest expressions of a culture, it’s also perhaps the most loving. Making food and serving meals is an act of love; after all, we all need food to survive and thrive. It’s an act of love that restaurateurs, chefs and

servers all across Greater Cincinnati participate in daily, chopping at counters, stirring at stovetops, plating and arranging dishes to be carried out to tables so we can fuel our bodies, relax and reconnect with family and friends over a meal we didn’t have to make.

While all restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs have a love for their chosen industry and know it’s not an easy one to break into, for an immigrant, there are often challenges U.S.-born citizens won’t face that make the usually thin margins of a restaurant seem even more daunting, whether it’s having to adapt to a new culture, navigate language barriers or figure out how to source ingredients for a cuisine that’s underrepresented in their new home. Immigrants’ restaurants and food businesses have to be born out of a kind of love that bears the brunt of these particular challenges — one that fully

encompasses their love for their families, for their home countries, for their food traditions and for their new communities with whom they want to share these traditions and recipes with.

This love makes Cincinnati’s food and restaurant scene much more rich and diverse, giving us the opportunity to try dishes we may never would otherwise. And these dishes have an incredible power: to build communities and influence and shift Cincinnati’s food culture. In fact, Cincinnati’s food culture has been influenced by immigrants as far back as the mid-1800s.

a histOry lessOn

in CinCinnati Cuisine

Cincinnatians take pride in their hometown dishes — Cincinnati-style chili, goetta, Graeter’s ice cream. They’ve been a part of the city’s food landscape for so long that many probably see them as 100% Cincinnati, and, therefore, 100% American. But we wouldn’t have these dishes had it not been for the immigrants that brought recipes from their home country to our little pocket of the Ohio River Valley, adapted them and shared them with the community.

The storied history of Cincinnati chili can be traced back to brothers and Empress Chili founders Athanas (Tom) and Ivan (John) Kiradjieff, immigrants from a village called Hrupishta, Macedonia, which is now part of present-day Greece. In 1922, the brothers set up a small shop right next to the Empress Theatre in downtown Cincinnati to serve patrons hot dogs and spaghetti topped with a ground beef-based stew flavored with traditional Mediterranean spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and chili

Asianati Night Market during BLINK 2022

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY ASIANATI

powder.

The brothers called this “chili con carne,” or “chili with meat,” but the dish itself isn’t related to the chili con carne of Mexican origin that the rest of the country is familiar with. Rather, it’s believed to be adapted from saltsa kima, a Greek meat sauce.

And when it comes to Cincinnati’s beloved breakfast meat goetta, that’s a type of grain sausage, or gruetzwurst, from a region in northwestern Germany food historian Dann Woellert calls “the Cradle of Goetta” in his book Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable History. Traditionally, gruetzwursts were peasant dishes made from a mix of leftover pork and beef scraps and grains like oats and barley, meant to stretch out servings.

Many immigrants from the Cradle — a geographic parallelogram between Oldenburg and Hamburg to the north and Münster and Hanover to the south — arrived in Cincinnati and Covington in the mid-to-late 19th century with the knowledge of how to create this kind of meat-grain dish that could sustain them through the winter. Family goetta recipes varied when it came to spices and additions like onions — Woellert says this is due to different regions in Germany having different ingredients readily

available — but the main ingredients of pork and beef scraps and pinhead oats (which Woellert thinks may have been an American adaptation to possibly pearl barley) remain its faithful hallmarks.

Immigrants have also gifted Cincinnati with some of its favorite sweet treats. Most notably, Graeter’s and its unique and innovative French pot ice cream was developed by German immigrant Louis Charles Graeter in the 1870s. Likewise, beloved ice cream parlor and chocolate shop Aglamesis Bro’s was founded in the early 20th century by Greek immigrants, brothers Thomas and Nicholas Aglamesis.

“a COlleCtive thrOugh stOries“

Tracy Liu is a newly minted entrepreneur driving growth in Cincinnati’s nightlife industry with her upcoming bar, Afterlife, which she hopes to open on Court Street downtown this summer. Liu immigrated to the U.S. from China for college and graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2014 with a degree in accounting. But after several years of working as an accountant in the corporate world, she felt herself slowly burning out.

“I think a lot of immigrants would agree the No. 1 career path when they’re

in America always has to be the safest bet, right?” Liu said. “It has to be steady; we have to have a stable job, climbing the corporate ladders … I came from a very strict background; it’s very Asian and very Chinese where traditional career paths are always kind of emphasized that way.”

Liu said she struggled and felt lost as she tried to figure out if accounting was what she wanted to continue doing. In 2017, though, she started going to raves and festivals, where she found a new sense of freedom and empowerment.

“It was such a liberating experience, just seeing how people could fully embrace themselves and be free,” said Liu. “So that was my initial thought. If I ever wanted to open a space, I wanted to bring that sense of belonging and freedom to people. Because that made me free. It was very contrasting in a way with my corporate world.”

Liu quit her job in 2024 to finally pursue her dream of opening a bar with a focus on community and making connections with others. Afterlife, at its core, will be a neighborhood bar, says Liu, but she’s weaving Chinese culture into its fabric.

“So, in Chinese drinking culture, drinking is always about connections.

It’s never really about alcohol; it’s always about [being] social, bonding … It basically makes drinking a shared experience. It’s lively; it’s sharing just more than consumption [of alcohol],” she said. “Afterlife is more about: How can we be more interactive with other people so that, when we bring new people in, we feel like they’re heard, they’re seen, they’re accepted for the way that they are?”

Liu’s ideas on how to connect her patrons include activities like decorating a blank wall with notes written by customers sharing their experiences, with monthly prompts like, “Share something you’ve never told anyone” and “Share your unrequited love stories.” At the end of the month, those submissions will be turned into a book.

“So people can see, hey, maybe your experience is no different than mine. I mean, in the end, we’re just human. We’re a collective through the stories,” said Liu.

Ibtisam Masto is also a foreign-born entrepreneur in Cincinnati. The owner of Olive Tree Catering, Masto can often be found at Findlay Market on the weekends selling authentic Syrian and Mediterranean food made from her family’s recipes. You may even know her as “the

Asianati Night Market during BLINK 2024 PHOTO: PROVIDED BY ASIANATI

Baklava Lady,” she jokes, but if you ask her what her favorite dish to make is, she’ll tell you it’s 100% kibbeh — croquetlike balls usually featuring spiced lean ground meat, bulgur wheat and onion. Masto, however, is the master of adapting the recipe to make more inclusive varieties for those who are vegetarian or have allergies.

Masto and her family came to Cincinnati as refugees in 2016 after having fled war in Syria and spending several years in Lebanon waiting to be approved for asylum. Like all girls in her culture, Masto learned to cook from her mother when she was 12, and she developed a love for it. While in Lebanon, she joined a cooking program for female Syrian refugees created by Lebanese restaurateur Kamal Mouzawak, called Atayab Zaman, or “The Delicious Past.”

“I thought they were going to teach me something new. I teach them what we have in our culture for all the holidays, what we cooked,” Masto said.

Through the program, Masto worked in a small kitchenette where she cooked for the United Nations refugee agency’s staff. The agency would later help her

recipes, everything,” she said.

Everything changed for Masto in 2018 when she joined the FreshLo Chef Fellowship Program through the Center for Great Neighborhoods in Covington. At the time, the program helped those who wanted to start businesses that would add culturally diverse, healthy and affordable food options to the community. Chef Renee Schuler of Eat Well Celebrations and Feasts helped mentor Masto as she went through the program.

“She come and sit with me, and she said, with bright eyes, ‘I’m going to help you, to make your dream happen.’ I tell her, ‘Are you sure?’ She said, ‘Yes! I’m sure!’” Masto said.

Masto says Schuler taught her a lot about catering and helped her gain experience through helping with jobs. Masto watched and learned how to do things like arranging tables, serving large amounts of food and organizing groups.

The FreshLo program also helped Masto rebrand her business from Lebanon with a more English-friendly name — Olive Tree — and create a logo to match, along with menus and marketing.

Olive Tree now hosts its catering operations from Findlay Kitchen, and you can find Masto in the Findlay Market Farm Shed on Saturdays and Sundays during the market season, selling kibbeh, hummus, baklava — of course — and more. She’s currently working on getting a wholesale license so she can sell her culinary creations in stores year-round.

But as much as owning her own food business was Masto’s dream, it’s the “why” that keeps driving her.

through entrepreneurship. Creating new businesses creates new jobs.

“We know that job growth happens with new businesses, and we know that after the pandemic recovery, with new business growth, it was largely driven by immigrant entrepreneurs,” said Bryan Wright.

Wright is the executive director of Cincinnati Compass, a collaboration of organizations and community partners dedicated to the economic and social inclusion of immigrants and refugees in the city. He says data shows foreign-born Ohio residents are punching above their weight class when it comes to starting new businesses. While just above 5% of Ohio’s population is foreign-born, according to the American Immigration Council, more than 8% of Ohio’s entrepreneurs are immigrants or refugees — around 38,000 total. Their endeavors bring in an estimated $1 billion in business income.

This isn’t a new phenomenon, either. Years of data show immigrants have long owned businesses at higher rates than U.S.-born citizens. A recent American Community Survey shows immigrants made up 21.5% of self-employed workers between 2016 and 2020. And the Annual Business Surveys 2014-2019 found that 24.2% of new business owners were immigrants.

“If there are barriers to mainstream employment, [people] turn to entrepreneurship,” said Wright.

apply for asylum after a newspaper doing a story on the cooking program reported her words criticizing former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, putting her in danger.

“I was very mad about this story; I was crying and very scared,” Masto told CityBeat. “And they said, ‘Don’t worry; we can help you to make something good for you and your family. So don’t be scared; we are here to help you.”

Masto and her family were accepted as refugees to the United States and moved to Cincinnati in June of 2016. She didn’t speak English and had a difficult time adjusting to life in the U.S., but she held onto her dream to continue the business she had launched during her time in Lebanon. Called “Kan Yaman Kan,” which means “Once Upon a Time,” it was the initial concept that would later become Olive Tree in Cincinnati.

“The manager I was [working for] as a chef, he said, ‘You’re going to have a very beautiful future in America; they [are] going to love you, love your food and just keep going. Once you make it there, just keep going. And I brought with me the menus, the logo and all the stuff, the

“When [a client] called me, he [said he could] feel the love [in my food]. So, I touch his heart. When a newspaper from London, a lady, she came and she also wrote my story, and I tell her, ‘I want the people to love me for my food.’ And she said, ‘They will. They will love you, because your food is very amazing. We feel, with the taste, the love. We ate the love. And we ate the peace you tuck in it. We feel that.’”

GrowinG communities

Like Cincinnati of the 19th century, much of modern-day Cincinnati’s population growth is being driven by immigrants. According to research from New American Economy, between 2014 and 2017, 98% of Cincinnati’s population growth could be attributed to immigration, and data from the United States Census Bureau shows foreign-born residents made up just over 7% of Cincinnati’s population between 2019 and 2023.

While the links between population growth and economic growth are complex, past research has shown that immigrants are crucial in keeping big cities vibrant and growing, as well as aiding smaller, rural regions, as U.S. birth rates decline and large portions of the population age. One way immigrants do this is

Immigrant restaurant owners are also more likely to pass down their businesses to their children, says Lam Dang of Asianati. This brings the benefit of both economic stability in keeping dollars local, but also in keeping the community connected.

“You’ll see bigger businesses come in here and once there’s an inkling of lower sales, they leave. They don’t care about Cincinnati; they don’t care about the food scene. All they care about is profits,” Dang said. “Immigrant-owned family businesses care about the community because they want to build that community. They also care about their families, so they want to create an everlasting business that they can pass down from generation to generation.”

Wright agrees.

“It keeps the dollars local rather than a business shutting down or being bought out by someone outside of the region,” he told CityBeat. “But it also keeps that knowledge local so that it builds community. … So I can go into a restaurant and not only speak to the owner, but now know that their kids are graduating high school and celebrate that. … It also keeps relationships here and opportunities for people to build those deeper ties in the community.”

We also can’t ignore or discount the power of immigrant dollars. Locally, immigrants have a total household

Food from Asianati Night Market in 2024 PHOTO: PROVIDED BY ASIANATI

income of $4.1 billion and contribute almost $400 million in state and local taxes, says Wright. They also have a spending power of almost $3 million — money that gets reinvested in Cincinnati’s communities.

A bridge Across cultures

As much as there’s a positive economic impact that immigrant restaurant owners bring to Cincinnati, their businesses also create opportunities for community building that make Cincinnati a more dynamic, vibrant city. Food is a major part of any culture, a thread that connects all of us, despite what spices we reach for. In her book, Eating Together, Chatham University professor Alice Julier makes the case that sharing a meal with non-kin can radically shift people’s perceptions when it comes to inequality, writing, “...diners tend to view those of different races, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds as more equal than they would in other social scenarios.”

“Conversations happen over food,” said Wright. “People can come together and build community by sharing food and sharing a meal.”

Someone sharing their family’s or culture’s dishes not only allows their neighbors to get to know them better, but it has the power to shift customs and traditions. As we saw throughout Cincinnati’s history, immigrants have always brought their food and recipes with them to their new homes; they introduce these dishes to the community, and those dishes become part of the city’s wider culture.

Asianati’s purpose is to uplift and increase representation for Asian Americans in Cincinnati, and one way it does that is through programming, like the BLINK Asianati Night Market. But the organization hosts other events throughout the year, including Asian Food Fest at the end of April. And, as Dang explained, Asian Food Fest is a strong showcase of how the shared experience of a good meal can connect us.

“How I always see Asian Food Fest is, when you want to get to know somebody better, you bring them into your home, you cook them a meal and then you talk and get to know them better. It’s just Food Fest is that home to us, and we’re bringing everybody into our home, cooking them a lot of amazing meals. And just through the food, through the entertainment, through some of the cultural activations, that’s how they get to know Asian Americans better,” he said. And with attacks on words like diversity, equity and inclusion from the Trump administration, as well as the abandonment of DEI initiatives from large companies like Target and Walmart, food-focused events like Asian Food Fest and Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati’s Cincy Cinco highlight why diversity in the city’s restaurant scene is

so important. Without a multicultural food and entertainment scene, Cincinnati can’t compete as easily against places like New York, San Francisco and Chicago for top job talent; it would also stifle tourism and alienate recent college graduates who may be looking to move somewhere more diverse.

“When we’re trying to attract talent to the region, we think about young professionals, college graduates. People want diverse experiences. So, if they may not have traveled outside the U.S. or traveled abroad, then they want to have a diverse experience of food and entertainment here. And in order to have those experiences, we have to have entrepreneurs to provide those opportunities,” Wright said. “People want to be able to see themselves reflected in the cultural offerings.”

“Moving to Cincinnati, I moved away from home for the first time and I just didn’t have that connection when it came to food,” Dang said. “I had nowhere to eat when I wanted some of my homecooked dishes. So, when Pho Lang Thang (a Vietnamese restaurant in Over-theRhine) opened, I was able to find that community, because when you go into a place and see other people that look like you, you feel more welcome to a city and it makes you want to stay.”

Liu says she believes her bar, Afterlife, will add to the diversity of Cincinnati and provide a place where people can feel accepted and free.

“I want the bar to be a sanctuary for people, just like how festivals were to me. And people can just come in and

just be who they are,” she said. “I think that’s what diversity is about, right? It’s about bringing new perspectives … It’s about getting people out of their comfort zone for new things and, at the same time, they feel like they’re being introduced with a more open-minded mindset. I do think things like [Afterlife] keep things more refreshing and exciting, especially when you have people from different cultural backgrounds. It brings its own flavor, traditions and experience. It just makes the city better and more welcoming.”

Both Liu and Masto also offer Cincinnatians a glimpse of what the wide culinary world has to offer. The average person will probably never get to travel to China or Syria, but these entrepreneurs allow us all a chance to experience their culture without leaving Cincinnati. Liu’s bar will offer drinks incorporating Asian ingredients, including Chinese teainfused cocktails and Chinese-style soft drinks for mocktails. She’s also planning theme nights, including for Asian holidays and taking holidays like Halloween and celebrating it in both Western and Eastern styles.

And Masto prides herself on using authentic Syrian ingredients that allow customers to truly taste Syrian cuisine.

“When I open my restaurant, I get ingredients — olive oil, tahini, a lot of seasonings, all this stuff — I get it from Syria. It’s very expensive, but I don’t care. I give people very real taste of what we have in my country, because they can’t go to Syria, but they always love [the] food. So I’m going to give them here what

we have.”

How you cAn support immigrAnt-owned

restAurAnts

On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term in office, with a plan to turn a hammer to immigration policy. That day, Trump signed a barrage of executive orders, with 10 aimed at immigrants and their families, including one that would end birthright citizenship — which was immediately challenged in several lawsuits — and one that declared an emergency at the southern border, virtually erasing the right to seek asylum for now. Orders also now allowed ICE to go into vulnerable places like schools, hospitals and churches for arrests.

Trump has repeatedly stated ICE would be focusing on weeding out undocumented immigrants who had committed crimes, but reports indicate this isn’t entirely truthful. While Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has said the administration views all undocumented immigrants as criminals, most undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. legally and then overstay their visas, which is a civil violation, not a criminal one. And according to a recent report from TRAC, which tracks immigration data, ICE detention has now increased to the highest level since November 2019, and of their detainees, 52.1% do not have criminal records, and many more only have minor offenses, which include traffic violations.

The arrests go further than

Ibtisam Masto, owner of Olive Tree Catering PHOTO: EMMA STIEFEL

undocumented immigrants, however.

On March 9, ICE arrested Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University graduate student who helped lead protests at the school. Despite being a lawful resident of the U.S., Khalil was threatened with deportation in a new Trump administration effort to punish and deport students who protested against the war in Gaza, saying, by participating, protestors supported Hamas and forfeited their right to stay in the country. A judge blocked the deportation order pending a legal fight over Khalil’s detention.

A few days prior to Khalil’s arrest, Jensy Machado, a naturalized citizen living in Virginia, said he was briefly detained by ICE as he was driving to work. In January, ICE agents raided a New Jersey seafood store, arresting three people, including a Puerto Rican U.S. military veteran. This immigration pushback has also landed here in the Greater Cincinnati area, with the Butler County Jail now able to hold ICE detainees, and the overall anti-immigrant sentiment is creating a chilling effect, with people afraid to leave their homes.

“There are people who are scared to leave their homes, who are scared to go to their jobs because of that. I know people who are American citizens who carry around their passports because

being intentional about where and how they spend their dollars to show support and solidarity.

“Businesses have been hurt, but then through that, we see a great gathering of the community to be kind of more supportive of each other and more supportive of businesses as well,” Dang said.

And if you’re interested in showing support to immigrant-owned restaurants and businesses, spending your money there is the obvious first and best way, but there are also other things that you can do. One is to use social media and review platforms like Yelp and Google Reviews to share positive experiences. Facebook offers local food groups like Chowdown Cincinnati and Cincinnati Foodies to share restaurants you enjoyed. Be sure to like and follow the restaurant’s social media pages and engage with their content. Classic word-of-mouth is also still a solid option in uplifting restaurants.

“Whether it’s talking to their friends or [saying], ‘Hey, I ate at this great new restaurant’ or, ‘This restaurant has been here for 15 years; I’ve never gone. I went; it was fantastic.’ So that kind of storytelling and sharing of information, I think that is really helpful,” Wright said.

by iCe

agenTs

BY MADELINE FENING

The Trump adminisTraTion has deployed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to cities across the country to carry out the “largest deportation in the history of our country.”

Undocumented community members in Cincinnati and beyond are preparing for the threat of deportation. Knowing what to say or what not to say in the face of a distressing ICE encounter is crucial. That’s why advocates for immigrant communities are stressing the importance of knowing your rights.

they’re scared of being approached by an ICE agent as well,” Dang said.

“People are fearing more hate toward them — like this whole aspect of diversity is bad and culture is bad. And if you have somebody saying that, repeating that so much, then everybody is saying that and repeating that so much and it creates lots of backlash; it creates lots of hatred toward the more diverse groups.”

This fear also has an adverse effect on businesses, says Wright.

“Rumors are shared of ICE presence or actual deportations, which hurts the businesses because they need customers; it also happens where people do not go out if they hear of a potential activity,” he said.

However, that immediate fear and pullback often comes with a push of support for immigrant-owned businesses by other community members, both Dang and Wright say.

Organizations like Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, Legal Aid and Catholic Charities have put together “Know Your Rights” workshops for business owners and the community. Wright says these workshops, along with initiatives to share stories highlighting how immigrant-owned businesses are part of the fabric of our neighborhoods, help build knowledge and trust, allowing people to come back out. You’ll also see more people

Wright also cautions against drawing too much unwanted attention to businesses or their customers, so it’s important to be mindful about what you’re sharing and where.

If you’re being intentional about trying more immigrant-owned or ethnicfood restaurants, there are also several resources and directories that can help. Asianati offers a directory of AAPIowned restaurants, bakeries and more on its website, and you can filter the results based on what type of cuisine you’re looking for. Hispanic Chamber Cincinnati offers a similar directory, Somos Cincy Sabroso, with a list of Latin American restaurants and food trucks. Voice of Black Cincinnati also has a list of Black-owned restaurants, featuring immigrant-owned spots like Darou Salam and Teranga.

Above all else, though: Do your best to be a good neighbor to those who make our food with so much love for their found communities.

“There’s a need for more knowledge around immigration as a policy, but often in those conversations, what’s hidden, intentionally or not, is we’re talking about humans. We’re talking about people. And, I think … these kinds of stories are necessary to remind us of our own humanity and our goodwill to others,” said Wright. “Yes, the economic impact is important. … [We want] to build a stronger regional economy, but the more important piece is that people want to feel a sense of connection and belonging.”

If ICE agents knock on your door or approach you at work, demand to see a warrant signed by a judge. If you’re at home, you can ask agents to slide the warrant under your door or hold it against a window. If agents don’t have a warrant, you do not have to open your door or answer any questions. Even with a warrant, you have the right to remain silent and request an attorney. If you choose to speak with ICE agents and you don’t speak English, you have the right to request an interpreter.

Advocates for immigrant communities are distributing informational cards, known as red cards. Red cards list basic rights for immigrants to know in the event of an ICE or law enforcement encounter. They are legal to print, carry and present to ICE agents or police.

Red cards also give holders a script of what to say if questioned by ICE:

I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.

I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution unless you have a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with my name on it that you slide under the door.

I do not give you permission to search any of my belongings based on my 4th Amendment rights.

I choose to exercise my constitutional rights.

Ohio Immigrant Alliance has a website called OhioisHome.org that links to options to order red cards or download a printable version in one of 16 languages.

Tracy Liu, owner of Afterlife bar PHOTO: PROVIDED BY 3CDC

ARTS & CULTURE

Language and Personal Identity

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park presents English, a heartfelt production about how our personal identity is strongly influenced by the way we express ourselves.

colorful and reflective of each woman’s vivid character.

REVIEW BY RICK

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park presents English, a heartfelt production about how our personal identity is strongly influenced by the way we express ourselves.

PENDER

REVIEW BY RICK PENDER

OOur native language, whatever it might be, shapes who we are. While English is spoken around the world, it’s not universal. For people who grew up speaking another language but having aspirations beyond their nation’s borders, learning English is often both a necessity and a challenge. For some, it can be a barrier that thwarts dreams and desires. English has many idiosyncrasies and dialects, and obtaining fluency can be a frustrating, uphill battle. The five Iranian characters in Sanaz Toossi’s 2023 Pulitzer Prize winning play English personify the hopes and yearning that might be satisfied or thwarted by the fluency needed for certification by TOEFL, the “Test of English as a Foreign Language.”

ur native language, whatever it might be, shapes who we are. While English is spoken around the world, it’s not universal. For people who grew up speaking another language but having aspirations beyond their nation’s borders, learning English is often both a necessity and a challenge. For some, it can be a barrier that thwarts dreams and desires. English has many idiosyncrasies and dialects, and obtaining fluency can be a frustrating, uphill battle. The five Iranian characters in Sanaz Toossi’s 2023 Pulitzer Prize winning play English personify the hopes and yearning that might be satisfied or thwarted by the fluency needed for certification by TOEFL, the “Test of English as a Foreign Language.”

Playwright Toossi’s clever script, almost entirely in English, employs a conceit. When characters speak Farsi, it’s rendered in fluent, unaccented American English. When they struggle with their English language lessons, they have heavy accents and halting delivery. At the play’s outset, the teacher writes “English Only” on a classroom whiteboard. It’s the rule she strictly imposes on her four TOEFL learners in Karaj, Iran, in 2008.

or expression, they often revert to Farsi to ask a question or make a remark. Marjan is quick to remind them of her rule. The script makes it abundantly clear how hard it is to shake loose from Farsi’s pronunciation and musical qualities. The actors, ably directed by Kimberly Senior, handle the switches effectively, often fueling the play with humorous moments.

Each character has a reason to build proficiency. Goli (Aryana Asefirad) is a spirited 18-year-old, infatuated with American pop culture. Eager to experience it firsthand in the United States, she has enthusiasm but is easily distracted when she can’t come up with the right word. For a show-and-tell exercise, she hilariously interprets Ricky Martin’s 2000 hit “She Bangs” as an example of the art form she admires.

passing TOEFL grade for further training in gastroenterology in Australia. She has been down this path more than once, and she finds English tremendously frustrating. A prickly, impatient personality, she often clashes abruptly and rudely with her fellow students.

The teacher, Marjan (Neagheen Homaifar) speaks almost exclusively in slightly stilted English and constantly reminds the students of her expectations. Nevertheless, when they grope for a word

Roya (Leyla Modirzadeh), a generation older than her classmates, yearns to join her son’s family in Canada where he has immigrated. He won’t let her visit or come to live with them unless she will speak only English to her granddaughter. Roya tries to break through to him with a series of imploring, motherly calls that repeatedly go straight to voicemail. It’s an uphill battle that she is losing and desperate to turn the tide, while fearful of losing touch with a culture she honors.

Elham (Sanam Laila Hashemi) is a medical student who needs to earn a

Omid (Fady Demian) impresses everyone with his conversational American English. His family has lived in both Iran and Ohio, and he wants to maintain his linguistic duality. As the 95-minute play’s story unfolds, we discover his somewhat dishonest motives. He spends time after several classes in the six-week course conversing with Marjan; together they watch rom-com movies (Love, Actually and Notting Hill) to deepen their understanding of spoken English. It’s obvious he has a bit of a crush on his teacher. There is no singular dramatic moment in English. In addition to classroom language exercises, each character has revelatory one-on-one scenes with Marjan, but there is no major conflict and resolution. The show flows quickly from scene to scene with constant, choreographed rearrangement of four student desks in a stark, bland classroom (designed by Afsaneh Aayani), accented by various lighting effects (designed by Anshuman Bhatia) that reflect the passage of time. Shahrzad Mazaheri’s costume designs, especially for the three female students, are

English is told with warmth and engagement: Each character has moments that audiences will understand — self-consciousness, uncertainty and frustration. Anyone who has endeavored to learn a foreign language can relate. But Toosi’s script digs deeper, exploring the nature of identity that is tied up in the ways we express ourselves. Goli, a free spirit, shows regular progress as she steps into a different linguistic world, while Roya holds onto the spirit ingrained in her through lifelong use of an expressive language. Elhan knows she must refine her English to pursue her medical career, but she chafes at the language’s complexity that seems to stand in the way of caring for others.

The character of Marjan has more texture. We learn that she has felt disconnected between her two languages. She excelled in English during nearly a decade of living there, and she confesses that she liked who she was when it was her principal communication. But she missed her roots in Iran, speaking Farsi, to the point that she felt compelled to return. As Marjan, Homaifar delivers a nuanced performance of a complex woman.

This is a well-acted and well-staged production of an important new play (receiving numerous productions across the United States) — one that will linger with audiences long after seeing it.

English, presented by the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park on its Rosenthal Shelterhouse stage, continues through March 30. For tickets and more information, visit cincyplay.com.

The cast of English at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park PHOTO: MIKKI SCHAFFNER

CULTURE

TTUC’s Robert and Adele Schiff Fiction Festival Returns

This

Spring

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY

UC’s Robert and Adele Schiff Fiction Festival Returns This Spring

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY

he University of Cincinnati’s Robert and Adele Schiff Fiction Festival returns to the Elliston Poetry Room April 2 and 3. Director of Creative Writing Chris Bachelder says the fest gives their community of students and the greater literary scene a chance to see writers at varying points in their careers.

“This time we have two writers with one book and two writers for three books,” Bachelder says. “They’ve taken different paths; that’s the kind of diversity we’re looking for. We’re also looking for writers doing different things on the page with different influences, inspirations and models.”

Speaking on the selection process, he notes that they began with a big list before whittling it down to four: Lydi Conklin, Ananda Lima, Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Adam Ehrlich Sachs. CityBeat caught up with Lima ahead of the festival to discuss her work, process, love of Gremlins 2 and more.

Published in 2024, Lima’s Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil features interconnected stories in which a writer sleeps with the devil and sees him throughout her life. Craft is surreal, meta and layered with pop culture references to horror icons.

“I love reading about other writers and I love when they put themselves –– either themselves or a writer, an avatar –– [in a story],” Lima says. “One of the things I love is acknowledging how the story is constructed.”

Craft takes readers through writing workshops and the very creation of the story within the story. Lima’s meta approach might make you question what’s real and what isn’t (or if she is actually the writer depicted).

“When I started writing this book ages ago to the end, I felt like I understood myself as a writer much more than before I began,” Lima says. “That was fun. Earlier on, I was a good student, so I was always like: ‘I must do this. I must do that.’ Toward the end, I was like: ‘No, I don’t have to do these things.’”

Lima finds inspiration in ‘80s and ‘90s horror in the way they often blend scary and funny moments together. This mixture of two feelings from opposite poles creates an unsettled feeling Lima loves. Readers will see this play out in “Tropicália,” which opens with a quote from Brain Gremlin. In the same story, the character carries around a Gizmo keychain.

“There are so many layers in Gremlins 2 that work with [Craft],” Lima

says. “First, the meta aspect of it. And also, the fact that in Gremlins 2, it feels like they did whatever they wanted to do. You feel great joy in the writing and people having a lot of fun. Even though my book has so much darkness in it, I felt that, ‘Yes, I am doing whatever I want here.’”

Another layer that makes Gremlins 2 work with Craft is its play on invasion fears, which Lima ties to current immigration anxieties and prejudices. Now splitting her time between Chicago and New York, Lima grew up with the movie in Brazil, making it feel like a part of her personal lore. While you’re likely to find humor in Craft, it also touches on heavy, pressing themes.

“I need the joy of language and all the fun literary stuff I’m doing ––the meta, the references –– all these things that make me happy have to be there together with the things

Brazil, she says there is folk literature featuring the devil where people often trick him instead of the other way around. Later on, she researched takes on the devil from varying political theologists, literature and more.

“I could not put any of that research in the book,” Lima says. “Other people told the history and did that work very well. And the writing would just be bad if I tried to be faithful to the theory out there and to the fact. I decided I would take all that inspiration and let my devil be whatever he wanted to be.”

Circling back to the festival, Lima echoes Bachelder’s sentiment, saying that her, Conklin, Ruffin and Sachs make for a great variety of writers. When asked what advice she would give aspiring writers, Lima says that it has always been hard to know the future, but now even more so.

“Separate in your mind career, prizes and publication –– all this external world stuff –– from your writing and your art. They do go together and live together, but make them independent in your mind. Just because you’re not getting published, it doesn’t mean that your work is bad,” Lima says. “Having done that separation, really learn how to get your joy and find the good stuff in your work and enjoy the process of making the work just for the making.”

that make me extremely sad for me to get through it,” Lima says. “That is something very important for us living through this now. You have to not forget and pretend that terrible things exist.

“You have to have that very present in your mind. But you cannot forget the things that make you want to get through it. In this book, that happened very organically just from living it.”

Lima didn’t necessarily set out intending to write about immigration or other political issues. Instead, she sat down to write things that interested her from an artistic perspective; those themes just happened to come out in her writing.

When it came to evoking the devil, Lima says it started with the idea of writing a story about a devil that was a bit of a bro. But it also came from being exposed to a host of devils. In

Festivalgoers can hear a fiction reading from Conklin and Ruffin at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2. On April 3 at 11 a.m., the festival will host a panel discussion about the “various forces that have helped to generate and shape their work.” Lima and Sachs will close out this year’s fest with a fiction reading at 5:30 p.m. on April 3. While the writers are different in style, Bachelder says they’re all “energetic on the page.”

That sentiment is reflected in UC’s creative writing department. Bachelder says that, unlike some grad programs, they’re not looking for an in-house style or specific kind of writer.

“That extends to the visiting writers that we bring into this fiction festival,” Bachelder says. “Our undergraduates and graduates are doing all kinds of different work and hopefully they find something in one of these writers that they respond to.”

The University of Cincinnati’s Robert and Adele Schiff Fiction Festival returns to the Elliston Poetry Room April 2 and 3. More info: artsci.uc.edu.

Ananda Lima PHOTO: BEOWULF SHEEHAN

CULTURE

MMMeet Manga Manga’s Sister Store-Within-a-Store: The Little Tiny Bookshop

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY

Meet Manga Manga’s Sister Store-Within-a-Store: The Little Tiny Bookshop

BY MACKENZIE MANLEY

anga Manga, a small bookshop nestled along Hamilton Avenue, now has an even smaller store-within-a-store inside: The Little Tiny Bookshop.

Launched in February of this year, The Little Tiny Bookshop functions in two ways. First, it’s a literal small bookstore offering itsy-bitsy (but still legible) books and cutesy merchandise. Second, it specializes in custom orders. If you want a new book (tiny or not!), you can order it through The Little Tiny Bookshop and pick it up at Manga Manga, ship it or get it hand delivered locally by owner C. Jacqueline Wood.

“When I look back at my life, I’ve always loved tiny things, and I’ve always loved tiny books,” says Wood. During the interview, Wood brings out a bag and pulls out three vintage copies of the Ant and Bee books. As a child, her dad would buy her books in the series at the now-closed downtown Queen City Books, and she has cherished them ever since.

“I have little mugs. I have a little fake fruit collection,” says Wood as she reaches in the bag to pull out one last item. “Another little thing that I brought to show you my love of little things is my little projector. It’s actually a little pencil sharpener. It’s a prized possession I got from a vintage shop in Austin, Texas.”

These items all inspired the design and curation of The Little Tiny Bookshop, a whimsical and colorful experience held within a cabinet behind doors printed with black-andwhite bookish icons in Manga Manga’s hallway.

“I have these wonderful memories of my dad taking me to stores,” says Wood. “[Manga Manga] is just a place where people are making memories. That is what The Little Tiny Bookshop is, in a way.”

Open the cabinet doors of The Little Tiny Bookshop and you’ll find books, greeting cards, notebooks, stationary and more –– all 4-by-6 inches or smaller. (The store does not stock miniatures, only tiny-but-functional items).

“During this time, where the world feels a little out of control, it was nice to have this project to work on that was very small and manageable,” says Wood. “That’s a theme with this project: It’s a reminder to think about the small things and to take care of your tiny piece of the world.”

The other arm of The Little Tiny Bookshop is custom ordering. Think

of it as a local alternative to Amazon.

Whether you want manga or a novel, head to littletinybookshop.com and fill out the order form. All you need to provide is the title, author and your preference of a paperback or hardback copy. The LTB team will get back to you with a price estimate and it goes from there. You can pick up your order at Manga Manga, get it locally delivered (for ZIP codes 45224, 45223, 45220 and 45219) or ship it.

of it as a local alternative to Amazon. Whether you want manga or a novel, head to littletinybookshop.com and fill out the order form. All you need to provide is the title, author and your preference of a paperback or hardback copy. The LTB team will get back to you with a price estimate and it goes from there. You can pick up your order at Manga Manga, get it locally delivered (for ZIP codes 45224, 45223, 45220 and 45219) or ship it.

“When you get a book delivered, which is free to some ZIP codes within the 275-belt loop, you know who’s going to be delivering it: Me, my baby and my dog,” laughs Wood. “We’re going to be driving around on the days when the shop is closed and dropping

books off to people.”

While they are not faster or cheaper than big corporations, what Manga Manga and The Little Tiny Bookshop can offer is face-to-face service. Wood cites a recent review, saying that the customer almost bought her book from Amazon, but ultimately opted to order from her.

Wood reads part of the review aloud, laughing that she hopes she doesn’t cry: “I’ve hugged my book all night. I’m so in love with it… Thank you again. It’s always a great experience coming to Manga Manga and now The Little Tiny Bookshop.”

Wood views The Little Tiny Bookshop as adding to the store’s overall mission to connect people with each other.

Beyond Manga Manga, Wood says that Cincinnati is lucky to have a wealth of neighborhood bookstores.

“When you pay full price for something at an independently owned store, what you are actually paying for is the place to exist,” says Wood. “I want to urge people to not just focus on the actual item they are buying, but the experience they are having and to support the people who made that experience possible. If consumers would flip their thinking and look at it that way, no small business would ever have to close.”

The Little Tiny Bookshop (inside of Manga Manga), 5908 Hamilton Ave., College Hill. More info: littletinybookshop.com

Pamphlets from The Tiny Little Bookshop PHOTO: VIA INSTAGRAM

Pamphlets from The Tiny Little Bookshop

PHOTO: VIA INSTAGRAM

FOOD & DRINK

A Taste of Nostalgia

Tizita Eats is an Ethiopian pop-up focusing on three fundamental dishes in a cuisine that begs you to dive in with all five senses.

Typically, meals are eaten with the hands, using injera in place of utensils. Taking flatware out of the equation removes the last small barrier between you and your food, allowing you to feel your meals in a whole new way. Though he offers flatware with all of his dishes, Wallis says some of his guests who are familiar with Ethiopian food forgo the utensils and use their hands instead.

It’s also a communal cuisine, where diners sit close together and share food to connect to one another. “We have this tradition called gursha, where you make a nice bite out of all the different flavors on the plate, and you feed it to someone that you want to recognize, that you love,” Wallis says.

Although an authentic communal eating space isn’t in the cards for Tizita right now, Wallis says he plans to offer coffee service, another strong point of connection in Ethiopian culture. Ethiopia is the largest coffee producer in Africa, and one of the largest in the world, and it’s well-known for cultivating award-winning coffees year after year. “In Ethiopia, you wake up — coffee. Midday — coffee. It’s a very hospitality-based culture, so coffee is a big part of it,” Wallis says. “We have a certain way that we make coffee and serve it, so I would eventually like to work that into [Tizita].”

BY SAMI STEWART

Tizita Eats is an Ethiopian pop-up focusing on three fundamental dishes in a cuisine that begs you to dive in with all five senses.

BY SAMI STEWART

SSimeon Wallis has a strong desire to connect to his culture, and connect his culture to others, through food. He founded Tizita Eats to do just that. Tizita is an Ethiopian pop-up focusing on three fundamental dishes in a cuisine that begs you to dive in with all five senses.

imeon Wallis has a strong desire to connect to his culture, and connect his culture to others, through food. He founded Tizita Eats to do just that. Tizita is an Ethiopian pop-up focusing on three fundamental dishes in a cuisine that begs you to dive in with all five senses.

Ethiopian food is incredibly aromatic, leaning on fragrant herbs and spices to liven dishes. Wallis says some guests’ first interaction with Tizita is the smell wafting down the block. What they’re smelling is typically sega wat, a dish Wallis recommends to the uninitiated. It’s made of beef simmered in a rich tomato sauce with berbere and spiced butter and eaten with injera, a spongy flatbread perfect for sopping up the last bits of broth at the bottom of the bowl. In addition to sega wat, Tizita offers a vegetarian version called dinich with potatoes in place of beef, and misir, a spiced red lentil dish.

Tizita is an Amharic word that means “nostalgia.” In Ethiopian music, it refers to ballads about lost love, or specific melodies that evoke nostalgia in the listener. For Wallis, Tizita is a touchpoint to his culture. “I was adopted. So once I came here, I didn’t get Ethiopian food hardly at all until

I came to UC and started going to the restaurants around here,” he says. “I didn’t have it for a long time, and so it felt fitting to call it Tizita, because I do long for this, for the experience that it brings.”

Wallis really started reconnecting with Ethiopian food during the pandemic when he was cooking for his friends often and working as a hospitality specialist at Somerset in Over-the-Rhine, a bar that hosts rotating pop-ups in their food bus.

This connection laid the groundwork for Tizita’s first of many pop-ups at Somerset, as well as other bars around the city. Almost a decade in the service industry left Wallis with more than just a few transferable skills — it left him with dozens of connections that would bud into opportunities for his new business.

One of his more significant pop-up opportunities didn’t come from an industry connection, it came from his brother, who owns Big Chill in College Hill. Tizita established something of a residency there, popping up monthly alongside the bar’s fun snack menu, delicious cocktails and soft-serve walkup window.

Wallis and his brother are just two members of a 23-person family. He and many of his siblings were adopted from Ethiopia and grew up partially in Africa and partially in Cincinnati. As an adult, Wallis has been able to reconnect with his heritage and share his culture with his family by cooking for them. “The more I make [Ethiopian food], the more me and my siblings and my family can enjoy it, but also just sharing it with my family and friends has been amazing,” he says.

Beyond its rich flavors and bold aromas, Ethiopian food is very tactile.

Wallis has been surprised at the sheer amount of connections his customers have to Ethiopia, even if they’re not originally from the country. He recalls a time when a couple came to a Tizita Eats pop-up at Somerset after their anniversary dinner reservations fell through. They shared with Wallis that they both had connections to Ethiopia; one had lived there temporarily, the other worked at an Ethiopian restaurant in college, and both were pleasantly surprised to have serendipitously stumbled upon an authentic Ethiopian pop-up on their anniversary.

“It’s really cool to connect with people that I otherwise wouldn’t have any connections with,” Wallis says. With a desire to connect his guests with his culture, Wallis hasn’t found it very difficult to get the word out about Tizita. Cincinnati has a penchant for rallying around food businesses that are testing out a concept or just getting off the ground. “[Tizita] has really snowballed from this little thing. I’m grateful to the people along the way who have given their time and resources to set me up where I am,” he says. “I’m grateful to the community I’m surrounded by.”

Tizita Eat’s next pop-up will be at Urban Artifact on May 3.

For more information about Tizita Eats, visit instagram.com/tizita_eats.

A dish from Tazita PHOTO: PROVIDED

Tazita founder Simeon Wallis PHOTO: PROVIDED

A dish from Tazita PHOTO: PROVIDED

Tazita founder Simeon Wallis PHOTO: PROVIDED

MUSIC

Going to Critterland

Folk singer Willi Carlisle embraces nostalgic folk traditions in his latest effort, Critterland.

Going to Critterland

Folk singer Willi Carlisle embraces nostalgic folk traditions in his latest effort, Critterland.

BY THOMAS CRANE

WWilli Carlisle has a healthy respect for the past. He has modeled the growth of his career, in part, on the folk singers of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, people who traveled a self-made circuit of coffeehouses, clubs and theaters that catered to singer-songwriters.

illi Carlisle has a healthy respect for the past. He has modeled the growth of his career, in part, on the folk singers of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s, people who traveled a self-made circuit of coffeehouses, clubs and theaters that catered to singer-songwriters.

Pete Seeger, in particular, is someone that he feels kinship toward, though he also looks to contemporary performers for guidance from afar — folks like Tyler Childers (more on him in a moment) and mid-career, touring lifers like Hayes Carll.

Carlisle’s interests go further back than just the ‘50s, as he’s got a collection of banjos that date back to the 1850s. So, yeah, he digs what’s come before.

But he’s also a curiously in-the-now kind of guy.

Take, as one small example, the title video for his latest album, Critterland. He posted a note to Facebook, suggesting that he was looking for someone to create a stop-motion animation video that could capture the mood of the album’s cover, while neatly reflecting the song’s lyrics. The feedback was immediate, useful and employed.

Take, as one small example, the title video for his latest album, Critterland He posted a note to Facebook, suggesting that he was looking for someone to create a stop-motion animation video that could capture the mood of the album’s cover, while neatly reflecting the song’s lyrics. The feedback was immediate, useful and employed.

“That nicely says more about what I’m saying,” Carlisle suggested in a

recent interview, staking his claim to certain modern conveniences. “I just asked the world of the internet, ‘Do you know any animators?’ And out of the hundreds of bots that also responded, there were two people who reached out and who do exactly that kind of animation, one of whom said she’d love to do it. So as the weeks tore on, I hired a friend (who’s a really good fiddle player), Julie Bates, to make the video. Julie, to her credit, works on a mid2010s MacBook with a camera that’s 20 years old and she does it all by hand.”

He said Bates’ style is such that the video was done when it was done and that there “was no asking ‘Can you bring up the lighting there a little bit?’ What’s done was done,” he said. “And that’s more pure and interesting to me. Higher stakes, more fun.”

Again, it was a blending of times, influences, styles of working and ways to reach a collaborator.

And speed’s a part of it all, too.

Critterland was recorded, Carlisle said, “in three days, with no takebacks.” It’s the kind of record that reflects Carlisle’s musical roots, based in the folk and country idioms of states like Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Illinois, places where he’s hung his hat over the years.

And speed’s a part of it all, too.

Critterland, from the outside, looks

like the kind of thoughtful, unique work that’s going to break the artist behind it to a wider audience. Asked if, with his career in obvious ascendance, he thinks of things in the context of an annual calendar, or an album cycle, or a tour itinerary, Carlisle said he prefers to break things down to the smallest fraction possible.

“I wake up every day, work the hardest I possibly can,” he said. “If it doesn’t all work out, I can try again tomorrow. Some day, some type of clarity of organization may come to me.” Barring that, it’s all about touring as “travel and meaningful encounters with people really drive my writing. I love to practice and I love to play. The only things that kill me are publicity and logistics. Like, I have to go to the post office today. Pretty much everything else, I like. I haven’t had to plan too much as I’ve worked with people who I simply say, ‘Hey, guys, I’m ready.’ And it always works.”

It’s worked to the point that Carlisle’s touring business has grown notably. Maybe he’s had a year with more dates on the books; he’s known to be on the road for 80-90% of his days, making “home” a relative term. But having finished a busy 2024 slate with the usual clubs and festival appearances and

some support slots for Childers, he’s now back out on a headlining tour in support of Critterland

some support slots for Childers, he’s now back out on a headlining tour in support of Critterland.

For someone who came up playing house shows, folk halls and corner taverns, the jump’s been kind of wild and awesome for Carlisle, he says. He’s worked hard for it all, of course. The performer is still putting out a quarterly zine, producing videos for pennies on the dollar and playing for all the cool, online channels that’ll have him. While performing live, he still tells stories, lots of them, on all sorts of topics.

There are times when he looks out at an audience and realizes there are a lot more people looking back at him than there were in the not-at-all-distant past.

“The growth has been exponential,” he said. “But the shows haven’t changed much between doing them for 50 people or just 10 people or 20,000. It shouldn’t. It’s my job to give my all and that hasn’t changed very much.”

A pause.

“Maybe I tell a dirtier joke in a smaller room,” he said. “But that’s about it.”

A pause.

“Maybe I tell a dirtier joke in a smaller room,” he said. “But that’s about it.”

Willi Carlisle plays the Southgate House Revival on March 29 at 8 p.m. Northern Kentucky native Jordan Smart opens the show. More info: southgatehouse.com.

Willi Carlisle PHOTO: PROVIDED

MUSIC

BBBridget Battle of Cincinnati Band Tweens Moves in Her Own Way

BY BROOKE BURKHARDT

Bridget Battle of Cincinnati Band Tweens Moves in Her Own Way

BY BROOKE BURKHARDT

ridget Battle didn’t always want to be a singer.

“I never thought that I would do it like I was,” she said. “I didn’t think that I was gonna be in a band.”

Growing up in Cincinnati’s Mount Washington neighborhood, Battle began going to DIY music shows around town by herself when she was a sophomore in high school. It was during these adventures that she would meet her future Tweens bandmates, Jerri Queen and Peyton Copes.

Although Queen and Copes are older than Battle, the trio struck up a friendship that resulted in Copes and Battle moving in together when she was just 18. Queen’s girlfriend resided in a small house in Northside, and told the trio that due to the lack of available spaces for shows, the house’s basement would be a great impromptu spot to practice.

“So the three of us all — well, the four of us together there — and then Peyton and Jay were in a band that would practice in the basement when there wasn’t a show,” Battle said. “And then we just all started playing music together.”

The band started out playing covers around the Cincinnati area in the late 2000s and early 2010s, as well as recording a “fake live” album, as Battle called it, but had yet to release any original music. Less than one year into being an official band, Shake It Records gave Tweens an opportunity unlike any other.

In 2012, Tweens opened for the iconic indie rock band The Breeders, who were performing a 20th-anniversary show celebrating their landmark album Last Splash at the Southgate House Revival. Shake It Records was the one to recommend Tweens as the opening band for the show.

“After that happened, Kim Deal [the lead singer of The Breeders and a Dayton native] came over to us and she’s like, ‘That was great! Why don’t you play more shows with us?” Battle said.

Then-19-year-old Battle and her bandmates embarked for the west coast — for the first time — to open for The Breeders’ anniversary tour.

demos were released on the internet, the band gained interest from New York record label Frenchkiss, who signed them at the end of 2013. “It was just all of this luck at once,” Battle said. Now, at the age of 32, Battle is still writing original songs. Only one thing has changed: she is now getting used to performing solo.

demos were released on the internet, the band gained interest from New York record label Frenchkiss, who signed them at the end of 2013. “It was just all of this luck at once,” Battle said.

Now, at the age of 32, Battle is still writing original songs. Only one thing has changed: she is now getting used to performing solo.

The Carnegie hosted Battle and Cincinnati band IdleAires for a night of music accompanied by Art Academy graduate Ian Hayes’ psychedelic art projections.

Accompanied only by her guitar, her vocals and songwriting were on full display. Thunderous applause and cheers followed each performance. Battle could be seen smiling at friends on both sides of the small stage while strumming her guitar.

This was Battle’s second time performing by herself in almost a decade.

“Honestly, I was terrified. I was really nervous,” Battle said. “I was really stressed out.”

— she mentions during her set what an “honor it is to be performing at this beautiful venue.”

Immediately after her performance, Battle was greeted by friends and fans complimenting her on her performance and the new songs before heading out into the cold night in late January.

“Everything was moving so fast. But if we really sat and thought about it for too long, like our minds will explode,” Battle laughs while reminiscing. It was then that Battle began to write original music. Tweens released a self-titled full-length record in 2014 featuring professional recordings of several previously released demos. Around the same time that the

“Everything was moving so fast. But if we really sat and thought about it for too long, like our minds will explode,” Battle laughs while reminiscing.

It was then that Battle began to write original music. Tweens released a self-titled full-length record in 2014 featuring professional recordings of several previously released demos.

Around the same time that the

Battle, equipped with a pastelcolored guitar, took the stage at 8 p.m. to a crowd full of kids, tweens and adults. Performing never-beforeheard songs, the audience was completely captivated by her powerhouse of a voice.

Visions of blue waterfalls and bright yellow fireworks floated above her, coating her in various colors as she sang into the microphone.

Battle stated that it was easy to hide under the moniker of Tweens, and that she was initially very hesitant to perform a solo set. But now, she says, “it’s cool.”

“My friend, my coworker at The Woodward [Joe Winterhalter of IdleAires], asked me to do this a few months ago,” Battle said. “And I was like okay, alright, I’ll do it.”

Having never performed at The Carnegie before — Battle says she is a “sucker” for playing at new venues

Battle’s following performance at The Woodward on Feb. 8 featured her once again performing with IdleAires for a dark-wave show benefitting the Freestore Foodbank. Battle is currently recording new material for both Tweens and her own solo album. After navigating a career she never thought she’d embark on, Battle can’t see her life any other way. “You just pick up something, and then next thing you know you’re on stage.”

After navigating a career she never thought she’d embark on, Battle can’t see her life any other way. “You just pick up something, and then next thing you know you’re on stage.”

Tweens play Café Bourbon Street in Columbus on April 5. More info: eventbrite.com.

Tweens play Café Bourbon Street in Columbus on April 5.

More info: eventbrite.com.

Bridget Battle

PHOTO: BROOKE BURKHARDT

Bridget Battle

PHOTO: BROOKE BURKHARDT

SOUND ADVICE

Shannon McNally PHOTO: PROVIDED

SHANNON MCNALLY

March 26 • Southgate House Revival

Shannon McNally is a musical lifer — a singer, songwriter and performer who can’t help but express her love for tradition-rich musical genres (mainly country, folk, blues and rock) through a voice rife with authentic ache and gritty urgency. The Long Island native has released nine full-length studio albums and a half-dozen EPs over the course of a nearly 30-year career that continues to move in intriguing directions. Then there are the various and wide-ranging projects with other artists, the most recent being a tour with a host of performers celebrating the music of The Band (dubbed “Life Is a Carnival: Last Waltz Tour ’24”) and Don’t Ya Take It Too Bad , an album of duets she recorded with Son Volt’s Jay Farrar that drops April 25.

And, of course, there is McNally’s ceaseless commitment to performing live, whether it be for thousands at a place like Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium or dozens at an oldschool hole-in-the-wall joint down the street.

“As an artist, the most important thing to me is the freedom to pick

and choose based on how something hits my gut,” McNally wrote in a recent Instagram post about her approach to projects. “As a musician, tone is the color palette. You don’t have to be a great instrumentalist to have an incredible tone. You just need ears for that. However, the more you become an instrumentalist the wider your whole pallet becomes. It’s a sum total gain. In this celebrity driven age, tone seems to be the first thing that goes. No one has time or money for depth.”

McNally brought an evolving creative and emotional palette to her most recent full-length solo effort, 2021’s The Waylon Sessions , an album of Waylon Jennings covers that nods to the original creator’s intent without sacrificing her own unique sound and vision. Expect a Jennings tune or two in her current solo-tour set list, along with songs from her recently independently released EP, 2024’s Special Edition , which moves from swampy roots rock to slow-burning folk with uncommon ease.

Shannon McNally plays the Southgate House Revival on March 26 at 7 p.m. More info: southgatehouse.com. (Jason Gargano)

Shannon McNally PHOTO: PROVIDED

SWITCHING SIDES

BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM

Across

1. Band that called itself a computer command to make a delta symbol

5. Involuntary movement

10. Book ID with ten digits

14. Stead

15. “The game of unspeakable fun” board game

16. Sports org. that award 90 different championships

17. CPR pros

18. Fully locked

19. Frosh’s home

20. Come up with what to call the final Beatles record?

23. “___ on?” (“Is that my cue?”)

24. Irish dramatist who co-founded the Abbey Theatre

25. Weak guy who delivers cold blocks

31. Namely

32. The guys

33. In the past

36. Pizzeria installation

37. Belong

38. Made sure the levels were right

39. Detract from

40. Beignet’s cousin

41. Jeddah resident

42. Angel’s motto?

44. Wiliness

46. “Color me impressed!”

47. Hardliners about stamps?

53. ___ 51

54. Co-star of the “Morning Latte” skits

55. Place where people get stacks

57. Lab assistant, stereotypically

58. Hudson of the original “Ghostbusters”

59. Bring to the ground

60. Lorgnette part

61. Checks out chicks?

62. Ragout or ratatouille, e.g.

Down

1. Goose Island selection

2. An arm or a leg

3. French bean

4. “Gimme two secs”

5. Having no motion

6. London’s ___ Mall

7. Competent

8. Nursery supply

9. Angel investors

10. Take out choice

11. Adam of “Severance”

12. Stinging comments

13. Reputation

21. Tag line?

22. Afternoon beverages

25. Bit of physics

26. Fish with a bagel

27. Fancy jug

28. She played Elphaba alongside

Kristin’s Glinda

29. Hysterical comedian

30. Teddy Roosevelt’s wife

33. Alternative to robin’s egg blue

34. Diplomas for dropouts

35. Comic strip character who’s only sentence ever said was “I’m hungry”

37. Precedes

38. They grow out of a canal

40. ___ Soul

41. Photographed

42. Stringed instruments played sitting down

43. Bouquet flowers

44. Canyon

45. Apply to

47. Condiment/napkin/menu holder at some seaside eateries

48. French 101 word

49. They grew up with cable TV

50. HOMES lake

51. First-rate to aging b-boys

52. Seep

56. Spot for the devout LAST PUZZLE’S ANSWERS: