CityBeat | August 10-23, 2022 by Chava Communications

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Cincinnati’s Fraternal Order of Police president Sergeant Dan Hils spoke on Drach’s behalf at her hearing, highlighting her lack of disciplinary history and positive performance evaluations. Drach’s personnel le showed a history of high marks for exceeding expectations during performance reviews. Drach ultimately was suspended for seven days without pay, which she served in May. According to the report, District Four commander Mark Burns made the recommendation based on the fact Drach repeated the slur weeks later, implying that the second incident required a longer punishment than the rst.“After the rst incident where she was confronted by a fellow employee, O cer Drach repeated the phrase again approximately one week later. Taking that into consideration, I recommend a seven-day suspension,” the recommendation from Burns read. Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval told CityBeat on Aug. 2 that the o cer’s punishment was too light. “Shameful, racist statements like these have no place in our police department. CPD is an organization sworn to serve our residents, and actions like this are a betrayal of that mission. I want to be clear that this o cer should have been red, because our City should have a zero tolerance policy,” Pureval said.

e report said that 911 call respondents could have heard Drach’s use of the slur in the nearby Emergency Communications Center. On Nov. 23, an anonymous internal complaint was made to CPD’s human resources department about her racist words. “Someone who uses this word should not work for my city. I hope you do something about this,” the anonymous complaint read. An anonymous complaint also was led with the Citizen Complaint Authority on Nov. 30 for the same incident. “ is is totally unacceptable for an o cer to say this,” the complaint read. Drach admitted to her use of the slur during the CPD’s ensuing internal review. During her disciplinary hearing, Drach attributed her decision to use the slur to multiple issues: personal stress emanating from the pandemic, health issues with her father, the loss of two children, her husband losing his job and her eldest son su ering from mental health issues. She said she had been working with a therapist for several years to address the stress.

Two Cincinnati Police Department Officers Reprimanded for Using Racist Slurs

O cer Kelly Drach O cer Kelly Drach, who is white, yelled the slur, ‘Sand n*****!” on two known occasions while working the desk in CPD’s Real Time Crime Center in November, according to a report the department provided to CityBeat on Aug. 2. e cloaked phrase typically is used by white people against those who are Middle Eastern or who appear to be MiddleAccordingEastern.tothe report, the incident happened on Nov. 17 when Drach was angered by frequent calls to the department from fraudulent telemarketers. Drach often would engage the callers in back-and-forth “banter” to the point of escalation, the report said. During one call, Drach went on a verbal tirade, saying, “You’re taking advantage of old people, you’re criminals,” before loudly yelling, “Sand n*****!” e report said that senior crime analyst o cer Christine Grimmelsman – who was within earshot of the slur – immediately confronted Drach by saying, “What the fuck, Kelly?” Drach apologized to Grimmelsman, who has two Iranian nieces, according to the report. Drach told Grimmelsman that the telemarketers were “picking on her” and acknowledged she “should not have allowed it to escalate to that point.” In the report, Grimmelsman said she did not nd Drach’s apology to be sincere.Approximately a week after that incident, Drach engaged in back-and-forth arguments with fraudulent telemarketers and again called them a “Sand n*****,” the report said. Grimmelsman went on to report Drach’s use of the slur to two fellow o cers but said she would handle the incident herself, according to the report.

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Both o cers had multiple documented incidents of racist behavior. BY MADELINE FENING

NEWS

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Both o cers had multiple documented incidents of racist behavior. BY MADELINE FENING

CPD officers Kelly Drach (L) and Rose PHOTO:ValentinoCINCINNATI

Drach often would engage the callers in back-and-forth “banter” to the point of escalation, the report said. During one call, Drach went on a verbal tirade, saying, “You’re taking advantage of old people, you’re criminals,” before loudly yelling, “Sand n*****!” e report said that senior crime analyst o cer Christine Grimmelsman – who was within earshot of the slur – immediately confronted Drach by saying, “What the fuck, Kelly?” Drach apologized to Grimmelsman, who has two Iranian nieces, according to the report. Drach told Grimmelsman that the telemarketers were “picking on her” and acknowledged she “should not have allowed it to escalate to that point.” In the report, Grimmelsman said she did not nd Drach’s apology to be sincere.Approximately a week after that incident, Drach engaged in back-and-forth arguments with fraudulent telemarketers and again called them a “Sand n*****,” the report said. Grimmelsman went on to report Drach’s use of the slur to two fellow o cers but said she would handle the incident herself, according to the report.

Two Cincinnati Police Department Officers Reprimanded for Using Racist Slurs

NEWS

T he Cincinnati Police Department has been in the spotlight lately – and not for good reasons.Internal reports supplied by CPD show that at least two o cers were found to have used racist slurs while on duty in recent months. e department says it’s continuing to investigate and is considering appropriate disciplinary action.ough CPD has provided CityBeat with requested documents related to the internal investigations as well as o cer performance reviews, CPD has not responded to CityBeat’s direct questions about either of the o cers.

Valentino has been suspended of her police powers as she awaits a disciplinary hearing, according to John Curp, Cincinnati city manager. e review process is mandated by contractual requirements outlined in the collective bargaining agreement between the Fraternal Order of Police and the city, according to Curp. “I was appalled to see O cer Valentino display such hateful, angry, and racist language. Our law enforcement represents all of this city, and Black Cincinnatians deserve to feel safe knowing they will be treated with mutual respect. A fair and complete process needs to play out, but someone demonstrating this behavior has no place in a worldclass organization like CPD,” Pureval said in a media statement. According to Valentino’s personnel le, her performance rating was classied as “exceeds standards” during the last four annual performance reviews. In Valentino’s performance review for June 22, 2021 - June 22, 2022, superiors rated her as “exceeding standards,” the second-highest overall rating. She also was recommended for a promotion to sergeant. It is unclear if the o cers reviewing Valentino’s performance were aware of her April use of the racist slur. e CPD also provided the four prior years of Valentino’s performance reviews to CityBeat, and those, too, rated her as “exceeding standards,” even though Valentino repeatedly was reprimanded for turning o her body camera and for twice crashing her police cruiser. Valentino also was the subject of a 2019 lawsuit that alleged she was one of three o cers who illegally detained a Black realtor and a Black prospective homebuyer during a scheduled house viewing in West Price Hill in November 2018.And in March 2020, Valentino reportedly was convicted in an o -duty disorderly conduct case involving family members. Records show that Valentino was referred to a behavioral health center for anger management and sen tenced to two years probation. Valentino’s personnel le also report edly shows that she was reprimanded for “failure of good behavior” in 2019 for showing body camera footage from a homicide to members of her family. Policing in schools e American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has responded to the recent report about“NoValentino.policeo cer should ever use a racial slur towards a person, but espe cially a youth on school grounds,” Celina Coming, communications director for ACLU of Ohio, told CityBeat is is the second time in recent weeks that the ACLU of Ohio has called out the presence of police in or around public schools in Cincinnati. A study by the organization recommended that the Cincinnati Public Schools district address what the ACLU calls “discipline disparities” that a ects Black students the most.eACLU and its Campaign for Smart Justice partnered with the Young Activ ists Coalition to research disciplinary practices at the school system from 2021 to 2022 and said the research showed an “over-policing” of Black students as well as “racially disparate discipline” in the schools that perpetuated the school-toprison pipeline. “ e contract between the police and the district grants CPD unilateral power over school policing, while CPS remains in the dark,” the ACLU and YAC con cluded in the study. In response to CityBeat’s request for comment about the study and about Val entino’s use of a slur towards a student, Cincinnati Public Schools shared the following“Cincinnatistatement:Public Schools does not condone racial slurs in any circum stance. CPS’ Board of Education’s antiracism vision is committed to embracing racial diversity of our students and fami lies, and we continually strive to create a positive, equitable environment for all of our students and sta .”

Pureval said the city and interim CPD Chief Teresa eetge are working to review “all options to ensure that our policies and training re ect the values of Cincinnati.”

e American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio has responded to the recent report about“NoValentino.policeo cer should ever use a racial slur towards a person, but espe cially a youth on school grounds,” Celina Coming, communications director for ACLU of Ohio, told CityBeat. is is the second time in recent weeks that the ACLU of Ohio has called out the presence of police in or around public schools in Cincinnati. A study by the organization recommended that the Cincinnati Public Schools district address what the ACLU calls “discipline disparities” that a ects Black students the most.eACLU and its Campaign for Smart Justice partnered with the Young Activ ists Coalition to research disciplinary practices at the school system from 2021 to 2022 and said the research showed an “over-policing” of Black students as well as “racially disparate discipline” in the schools that perpetuated the school-toprison pipeline. “ e contract between the police and the district grants CPD unilateral power over school policing, while CPS remains in the dark,” the ACLU and YAC con cluded in the study. In response to CityBeat’s request for comment about the study and about Val entino’s use of a slur towards a student, Cincinnati Public Schools shared the following“Cincinnatistatement:Public Schools does not condone racial slurs in any circum stance. CPS’ Board of Education’s antiracism vision is committed to embracing racial diversity of our students and fami lies, and we continually strive to create a positive, equitable environment for all of our students and sta .”

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 7

e CPD’s recently completed internal investigation revealed body camera footage from April 5 of Valentino saying, “Fucking n******s, I fucking hate them.”

e cloaked word in Valentino’s quote is a derogatory remark typically used by white people against Black people. According to the report and the footage, Valentino was in slow tra c near the school’s pick-up/drop-o area. She made her racist statement after a Black male student seemed to ash the o cer his middle nger while walking down the sidewalk after school, the report says.According to U.S. News & World Report, Western Hills University High School has an enrollment that is nearly 70% Black and more than 87% nonwhite or minority. As written on the report, Valentino claimed she had been “a ected by her profession” and was “desensitized to racially o ensive language by music and hearing people talk in the street.” e report also said the o cer has “since sought treatment.”

O cer Rose Valentino O cer Rose Valentino is under suspension for using a racist slur while in her car on duty outside Western Hills University High School in April.

O cer Rose Valentino O cer Rose Valentino is under suspension for using a racist slur while in her car on duty outside Western Hills University High School in April. e CPD’s recently completed internal investigation revealed body camera footage from April 5 of Valentino saying, “Fucking n******s, I fucking hate them.”

Policing in schools

Pureval said the city and interim CPD Chief Teresa eetge are working to review “all options to ensure that our policies and training re ect the values of Cincinnati.”

Cincinnati Reds players Mike Moustakas (left) and Kyle Farmer are preparing for MLB’s Field of Dreams game.

Cincinnati Reds to Come out of the Corn for MLB Field of Dreams Game

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 9

Farmer told reporters he had an appreciation for baseball history, having written a school report on Shoeless Joe Jackson (played by the late Ray Liotta in the lm) and the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, in which members of the Chicago White Sox were banned after reportedly throwing that year’s World Series against the Reds in order to make money from gamblers. MLB’s Field of Dreams game is becoming an annual tradition as well as an event with some prestige and revenue generation. e rst Field of Dreams game was to have been played by the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals in 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the Sox played the New York Yankees in Iowa in 2021, marking the rst time that an MLB game had been staged within the state. Before the game, Costner and the two teams walked out of the nearby corn eld as a tribute to one iconic Field of Dreams scene. e White Sox won 9-8, and the highly anticipated game drew 5.9 millionFarmerviewers.said Costner’s appearance made the 2021 Field of Dreams game special.“Ithought it was pretty cool watching Kevin Costner come out of the corn and seeing, like, [Yankees out elder] Aaron Judge and all those guys walk out,” Farmer said. “And I’m not sure if Kevin’s going to be there [for the Reds’ game] or not, but that would be really cool to see him or to see any of the actors or actresses.”eReds will play the Cubs in Dyersville for the Field of Dreams game on Aug. 11, will have a travel day on Aug. 12 and then will play the remaining two games of the series at Great American Ball Park on Aug. 13 and 14. “It’s not going to feel like a normal baseball game … but the bases are the same, the distance to the mound is the same distance, so we’re just going to have fun with it,” Farmer said. “I think the biggest thing will be wearing the old-school uniforms; that brings a different aspect to our mentality of playing the game.”ewhole experience could remind Farmer about what it was like playing in small towns in the minor leagues. “I think this might bring us back to our minor-league bus days when we’re traveling for eight hours, 10 hours a night, going from one city to the other, like going from Omaha to Oklahoma City. Kind of like that, seeing all the small towns, grinding through that,” Farmer said. In the end, the Reds will play to win, Farmer“Everysaid.game counts for us. You know, 162 games, every game counts, whether it’s sel shly or for the team. We’re out there trying to put up numbers and trying to win a ballgame,” Farmer said. “[ e Field of Dreams game is] just a di erent atmosphere. It’ll probably make us play even better. Who knows?” Follow the Field of Dreams game at mlb.com/fans/ eld-of-dreams.

PHOTO: RON VALLE

BY ALLISON BABKA

T he Cincinnati Reds are ready to experience movie magic during Major League Baseball’s Field of DreamsDuringgame.theAug. 11 game that serves as an homage to the classic baseball lm Field of Dreams, the Reds will take on the Chicago Cubs in Dyersville, Iowa. It will be just the second such game ever, with the rst occurring in 2021 between the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. During a recent media brie ng, Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer said the team is looking forward to being part of both MLB history and, in a sense, lm history.“It’san incredible movie, and I’m looking forward to being out there,” Farmer said. “I think wearing the 1919 uniform and walking out of the corn, and after everybody watching [the 2021 game] from last year, I think everybody is pretty excited.” e Field of Dreams game is a regular-season matchup that counts toward MLB season standings like all other games do, but instead of taking place within Cincinnati’s Great Ameri can Ball Park or Chicago’s Wrigley Field, it will be played at the Iowa lming site of the 1989 movie Field of Dreams. In the movie, Kevin Costner builds a baseball eld on his land that draws the ghosts of legendary baseball players.During the game, the Reds and Cubs will play at a stadium constructed spe ci cally for MLB games. According to Wikipedia, “ e eld constructed for the lm, which has been operated as a tourist destination since 1989, could not be brought to MLB game standards without permanently altering major features of the property and destroy ing its movie authenticity, so it was decided to build a separate playing facility at a distance of approximately 500 ft (150 m) in the corn elds.”

The Little Free library in Deerfield Towne Center is made from a decorative telephone call box.

PHOTO: LINDSAY WIELONSKI

10 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022 R,,

Alice Finkelstein’s Little Free Library in East Walnut Hills resembles her own house.

ALICE FINKELSTEIN’S HOUSE has its very own miniature replica, modi ed to serve as a Little Free Library. e little library is painted red and features a black roof with a chimney on the top, mirroring Finkelstein’s real house behind it. Finkelstein is a librarian and head of technical services at Klau Library, which is part of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion that houses one of the top American collections of Hebrew history, literature and culture. Six years ago, when she had taken a pause from being a librarian after a long career, Finkelstein felt she was missing that piece in her life. “I still felt like a librarian at heart,” Finkelstein tells CityBeatFinkelstein. says discovering the Little Free Library organization ful lled that longing for her librarian days while also enabling her to provide a secure place for children to retrieve books. “ ere was really no safe, walkable library, especially for children,” Finkelstein said. “So I really wanted to do a lot of children’s books. It seemed like there was a need for Finkelsteinone.”says she registered her location and Neighborhood: Deer eld Township Where to nd it: near Duck Donuts at Deer eld Towne Center, 5635 Deer eld Blvd.

Special characteristics: Repurposed London-style red telephone booth What’s inside at the moment: Divergent, Milk and Honey, House Blood, Miracles From Heaven

Neighborhood: East Walnut Hills Where to nd it: 2728 Hackberry St. Special characteristics: Red house replica situated near lush greenery What’s inside at the moment: Alone in the Dark, Deception Point, Keys to Uncomfortable Living, My Game and Yours Deerfield Towne Center’s Little Free Library has books for all ages.

YOU CAN’T MISS the big red callbox of books in Deereld Towne OriginallyCenter.justapiece of decor at Deer eld Towne Center, the telephone booth underwent light and shelf installations and now acts as a mini-library, housing books for people of all ages. In a partnership, Deer eld Towne Center and the Mason Public Library aim to promote literacy and book-access in the area. e Volunteer Friends for the Mason Public Library (VFML) donates books that keep the Little Free Library stocked. e organization also raises funds to support the Mason Public Library’s reading programs and “continued improvement of the library’s circulation and continued improvement of the facility,” according to the VFML website. Danielle Reynolds, marketing manager at RPT Realty, which manages the shopping center, tells CityBeat that one of the main goals of the Little Free Library is to o er a self-sustaining bene t to the community. Book exchanges sometimes can focus on children’s items, but Reynolds says that her team makes it a priority to include books for other age groups, too. “Our biggest thing is making sure that it has books in it for all ages. It’s just not kids’ books in there. We want everybody to be able to access it,” Reynolds says. e telephone-booth library sits in an open, centric place near a re pit. at way, Reynolds says, people can sit and enjoy live music and meals from the center’s restaurants while also browsing the Little Free Library’s book selection that day. “It’s just positioned in a great location where the kids can, you know – if their parents are eating or if we have live music going on and the kids want to go grab a book, look through it, and they put the book right back and another kid can enjoy it,” Reynolds says.

PHOTO: LINDSAY WIELONSKI

PHOTO: ALLISON BABKA

- Lindsay Wielonski

Some people have even embraced putting more non-typical items in the bright red library. Reynolds says that an antique record player made an appearance there in the past. In another surprise moment, a Little Free Library steward from another state hid items in the Deer eld Towne Center Little Free Library and then used social media to urge their Ohio followers to look for the gifts. Reynolds says that the center’s Little Free Library has had a positive response from the community and even has too many books at a time. “Sometimes we get so much that we pile them up. We go out there and we straighten it and then we take the extra and then put them out when the library starts getting low again,” Reynolds says.

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“ e rst day, I think I had put some children’s books in,” Folmar says. “I think other people put some more adult books in there, but since then, I have not put anything in there, but it looks fairly stocked.”Folmar says that there’s always risk that comes with installing a public amenity. “You put something up, you’re always scared of, you know, somebody’s going to damage it or somebody’s going to paint on it,” Folmar says.

MANY COMMUNITY BOOK stands are erected on streets with heavy foot tra c. is one takes that idea to the next level. e McKie Recreation Center in Northside sees thousands of visitors every year, thanks to its tness center, gymnasium, swimming pool and a bevy of classes and programming. A book exchange to the left of the facility’s main entrance makes perfect sense, then.e LFL-registered structure beckons in a cheerful blue hue, with a decal on the cupboard window showing that it’s sponsored by the Literacy Network of Greater Cincinnati, a nonpro t that connects local reading programs and organizations. Inside the wooden repository, curious folks can nd everything from ction to biographies to self-help. But the vast selection of children’s books is what makes this Little Free Library so much fun. at’s what seven-year-old Madison Kelly says. A regular at the rec center (her mom is an employee), Kelly tells CityBeat that she pulls out a new book to read every chance she gets. “I like to look for big words, like in chapter books, so I can try to read them,” Kelly says, adding that she’s very good at sounding out words. “Every time I come by the library, I take a di erent book that I can read rst and a di erent book that’s hard. I always say, ‘I can do Kellyit.’”opens the Little Free Library and becomes excited when she sees e Cat in the Hat and Magic Tree House books. e young student, who says she also is a gymnast, tells CityBeat that she hadn’t yet grabbed those from the book cupboard.

PHOTO: ALLISON BABKA

Neighborhood: Mason Where to nd it: Meadowbrook Lane Special characteristics: Small, light gray box posted to a wooden gazebo leg and framed by greenery What’s inside at the moment: e Lucky Years, All Creatures Great and Small, A Writer’s Reference, Green Eggs and Ham ordered a library box from the Little Free Library website, customizing the structure to match the style of her home. Due to her knowledge of libraries, Fickelstein knew where to get books for her upcoming visitors. Finkelstein says she has had the little library for years and notices a few people pass by each day, either to pick up a book or merely to browse her selection. Her favorite part of the process is interacting with the people that visit, she says. “I think it is just kind of the librarian in me that gets this little thrill,” Finkelstein says. “Like, when somebody takes a book…sometimes if I’m working out in the yard, they’ll come by and say something about it, then I want to know what it is they like to read. e librarian in me just wants to give people books. at’s satisfying in itself.”

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 13

So far, there haven’t been any signs of damage.

Kelly says that she also visits the Cincinnati Public Library for books frequently, but with the rec center so convenient thanks to her mom’s position, the Little Free Library has become her go-to source for reading material.“Ilove learning math and reading,” Kelly says. at will come in handy years down the road, as the rstgrader reveals that she might want to become a teacher in order to help others learn to read. - Allison Babka AFTER BRAINSTORMING AND conversation in 2020, the idea to install a Little Free Library on this Mason street came to fruition in March of 2021. Rob Folmar, Arbor Creek’s Homeowners Association (HOA) president, and another HOA board member installed a Little Free Library to o er book-sharing to neighborhood residents. “After conversations with a couple neighbors, we thought it would be an a ordable and nice amenity to provide the neighborhood,” Folmar tells CityBeat

e neighborhood’s Little Free Library is used often by residents and houses new books about every few weeks, Folmar says. - Lindsay Wielonski

. Folmar bought the Little Free Library from the organization’s website and installed it on a gazebo in the neighborhood that overlooks a pond. One of the gazebo’s posts made for a good foundation, eliminating the step of building a post to attach the library to, he says. Once the library was installed, Folmar stocked it with a few children’s books. After that, the “Take a book, share a book,” slogan of Little Free Library took o in the neighborhood.

Neighborhood: Northside Where to nd it: McKie Recreation Center, 1655 Chase Ave. Special characteristics: a blue box with a slanted roof What’s inside at the moment: Isabelle from the American Girl doll series, Time Castaways, Wild, e Killer Angels

PHOTO: LINDSAY WIELONSKI Madison Kelly grabs a book outside McKie Recreation Center.

As bookstores and digital reading options have increased over the years, Finkelstein says some have raised concerns about whether traditional public libraries would remain. However, she says that these developments – including the Little Free Libraries – have caused an interest in reading overall, creating a positive impact on both libraries and neighborhoods.“Ifeellikethe more people have access to books and the more they remember that reading is a pleasant thing to do, and the more that they nd books with their kids and read for their kids, it perpetuates more reading and more literacy,” Finkelstein says. “So it’s really just an opportunity to keep reading as a social thing and a neigh borly thing that’s right there when you’re walking down the street.” - Lauren Serge This library in a Mason subdivision overlooks a pond.

- Allison Babka

Jane O’Brien’s library in CUF complements her peace pole.

Neighborhood: Over-the-Rhine Where to ﬁnd it: 1300 Republic St. Nestled in a gated courtyard across from Sundry and Vice and not far from Washington Park sits a T-shaped book-exchange structure. e library is decorated with mosaic tiles, forming the shape of an opened book that also resembles the state of Ohio. e orange, yellow and white tiles o er a pop of color in the courtyard against the black metal fencing that surrounds it. Book choices such as Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright, Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux and two installments of the Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce are among the options in the concrete structure, o ering a wide range of genres from children’s books to biographies to historical ction. At the center of the courtyard is a large tree, o ering shade to those reading on one of the nearby benches. (LS)

After some research into the growing initiative, O’Brien and a friend who works on projects around her home began planning the library that eventually would be stationed on Maisel Drive in 2014. She says her library typically carries non ction, literary classics, theology books and anti-racism books, but patrons –who often are dog walkers or employees at a nearby nursing home – also drop o other genres. “Everything eventually goes, which is amazing,” O’Brien says. She says that delivery drivers from UPS, FedEx and Amazon frequently browse the cupboard, as well. “ ey knock on the door and say – this has happened three times to me – ’I don’t have any books to put in it. Can I still take one?’ And I say, ‘Sure, take two, take three,’” O’Brien recalls. “One man said, ‘You know, it’s my boy’s birthday next week and I’d like to get him a book.’”O’Brien supplies some of the books herself, but many are from friends, employees at the nursing home or nuns who visit her from Wisconsin. O’Brien, herself, is a Catholic nun and says her friends insist on bringing something each time they come. “ ey like to arrive with all the leftovers from their refrigerators. And I have a very small house, a very small refrigerator, so now I say to them, ‘Please don’t bring anything, especially anything that needs to be refrigerated. But I could use some books for the little library.’ So they come with lots and lots of children’s books, and that’s nice,” O’Brien says. Literacy is important to O’Brien, who had studied classical languages and then taught English and religion, including at a girls’ school near Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She’s been at her house on Maisel for about 20 years, she says. “For me, [the Little Free Library] is part of the literacy movement. I tutor young kids and adults who are illiterate and teenagers who are semi-literate, and many of the children have never seen any books,” O’Brien says. “Not only are people not reading to them, but their parents are illiterate. Books are a foreign thing to O’Brienthem.” says that her Little Free Library – like others around the nation – helps to open minds and build community. It’s the perfect complement to a tall pole that stands near the book cupboard, its message written in Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew and English: “Peace.”

ere are Little Free Libraries and other book exchanges throughout Greater Cincinnati. Here are a few more that caught CityBeat’s eye recently.

Neighborhood: Covington Where to ﬁnd it: George Rogers Clark Park, 301 Riverside Dr. George Rogers Clark Park holds court along the Ohio River in Covington, providing scenic views of Downtown Cincinnati and of traveling boats. Here, you’ll nd a curious library in the shape of a steamboat. e large structure is white, with a red paddlewheel and a black smoke stack, just like an actual ship. e structure has two knobs on the front that open the book cupboard. Near the library is a donated bench made of materials from an old green line steamboat. e bench honors Mary Greene, a captain who became one of the rst female boat masters and river pilots; a statue of Greene rests nearby. (LS)

As of press time, the books themselves aren’t chicken-themed, but there’s plenty of well-curated variety: e Peach Truck Cookbook, Fahrenheit 451, Rede ning Realness and books from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Goosebumps series. But the library’s most striking feature is right at the top – the rainbow shingled roof with two realistic wooden birds and a lavender cat weathervane holding court. To add to the appeal, there’s a bowl of water at the base of the structure, perfect for dogs who need a break as their own ers browse the stacks. (AB) MANY READERS THRIVE on discovery – holing up in a secret spot where they can dive into a new book that stokes their imagination more than they’d dared to hope.elocation of Jane O’Brien’s Little Free Library in CUF is tailor-made for that. With easy proximity to several local colleges – plus plenty of students housed along her street – O’Brien’s book exchange already is a boon for curious minds. But with her charming bungalow, tall, lush greenery and rabbits and squirrels running about on her cozy one-way drive, O’Brien’s dreamy setting itself also brings to mind portions of J.R.R. Tolkein’s fantasy novel e Hobbit – appropriate for housing a library with tomes of every genre.

PHOTO: ALLISON BABKA

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 15

Neighborhood: Northside Where to ﬁnd it: Donaldson Place near Haight Avenue Tucked away on a quiet street in Northside, a col orful mini-library is just begging to be Withdiscovered.itsreddishpink door and tiny arched windows, the cream-colored wooden structure somewhat resembles a dollhouse. ere are no dolls here, though – just dozens of books and an homage to poultry. Open the library’s door to be greeted with “wallpaper” covered in charming illustra tions of distinguished hens and roosters.

Neighborhood: Bellevue Where to ﬁnd it: 407 Grandview Ave. is mini library sits on the lawn of a tall, rusty-brown house in a neighborhood full of colorful narrow homes. e library itself ofitsersitswithhouse-shapedisshinglesonroofandow-attachedtoside.Dozenschildren’s books lie against each other, including works from children’s author Mary Pope Osborn and the self-help book Great Leaders Have No Rules. Stranded by Survivor host Je Probst also makes an appearance. (LW)

Neighborhood: CUF Where to nd it: 2195 Maisel Dr. Special characteristics: Pale white craftsman cupboard surrounded by greenery and a peace pole What’s inside at the moment: Midnight Sun from the Twilight series, e Scarlet Pimpernel, e 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make, LSAT Prep Tests Unlocked

Neighborhood: Westwood Where to ﬁnd it: 3115 Hanna Ave. While walking along woodenbrightly-coloredbewood,AvenueHannainWest-onemaystruckbytheboxat the end of a driveway, whose rainbow themes mirror the LGBTQ+ pride ag hanging at the home’s entrance. is box houses a Little Free Library, painted with neon purples, greens and oranges on each of its sides and edges. e cupboard is decorated with stencils throughout, featuring a white dandelion blowing in the wind as well as a pattern of di erent-colored dogs. e structure houses books like A Girl Named Misty by Kelly Starling Lyons, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, e Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov and Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. (LS)

PHOTOS: WESTWOOD: ALLISON BABKA; BELLEVUE: ALLISON BABKA; OVER-THE-RHINE: LAUREN SERGE; COVINGTON: ALLISON BABKA; NORTHSIDE: ALLISON BABKA

O’Brien says she saw her rst Little Free Library at St. Catherine University while she was visiting the Minneapolis area for a conference in 2012. “I’d never seen anything like it. It said, ‘Leave a book, take a book,’ and I thought, ‘What a great idea,’” O’Brien says. “I didn’t know anybody in Ohio who had one.”

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ARTS & CULTURE

26 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022

Growing Hope After su ering a bicycle injury that left him paralyzed, Eric Boltz is creating an inclusive gardening experience in Loveland. BY SEAN M. PETERS W hen Eric Boltz was struck by a car in 2017 while bicycling, the paralyzing injuries he sustained a ected not only him but also his family. But even in di cult times, great ideas can“Ouremerge.lifestarted over at that moment,” says Yvonne Boltz, Eric’s wife. Eric was paralyzed from the chest down. Today, he describes the rst two years after the accident as part of a prolonged grieving process. Going to physical therapy and meeting other people who’d su ered similar injuries, Eric says he saw a lot of people at very low points in their lives, many with limited resources. On top of commiserating with his fellow patients, Eric says he was subjected to some truly awful hospital food: lots of white bread and processed meats along with what the hospital kitchen claimed was jambalaya but that Eric and Yvonne recognized as Rice-A-Roni with sliced hot dogs and Ragu tomato sauce. “I did learn you can order hard-boiled eggs to get real eggs,” Eric tells CityBeat. “Because otherwise, you’ll just get the powdered stu .” Yvonne, a long-time patron of farmers markets who had developed knowledge about sourcing food, decided to take her husband’s recovery diet into her own hands. She says she has always subscribed to the notion that good nutrition is the basis for health and sees this as a critical moment in the next phase of their lives. If they needed real food and herbal medicines of quality, why not source those themselves? So their quest for a wheelchair-accessible farmhouse began. Five years after the accident and after much healing, plenty of construction and a lot of innovating, the Boltz family now owns and operates Boltz to Nutz Farm, a wheelchair-accessible raisedbed market garden in Loveland. e couple sells their products through an online service called Market Wagon, which connects customers with more than 80 local farmers, artisans and chefs and delivers the farmers’ products twice weekly. is frees up Yvonne’s time to pursue farm tasks rather than sit at farmer’s markets hoping to make a sale, she Marketsays.Wagon’s online platform accounts for 65% of the Boltz to Nutz Farm’s revenue as Eric and Yvonne expand it into a full-time operation. But fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and limited animal products aren’t all that the farm o ers. “One of the side e ects of my injury is that I’ve become hyper-empathetic,” EricNowsays.Boltz to Nutz Farm is moving into its next phase, which especially focuses on recently disabled folks. e couple soon will start o ering adaptive cooking classes and retreats in a build ing at the farm to showcase the ways in which they’ve overcome Eric’s hurdles navigating life in his wheelchair. Yvonne and Eric have been work ing to make their community kitchen more feasible for people with limited mobility or limited use of their limbs, as boiling water or moving about can be challenging. ey’ve developed a few inventions they say they can’t yet dis close publicly but that will help someone to navigate the kitchen despite mobility impairments. With Yvonne’s master’s degree in chemistry and Eric’s Ph.D. in materials science, they say they’ll provide disabled home cooks – a vastly overlooked demographic – with the tools, experience and ideas to thrive. “Having good nutrition or having access to a place where you can even just cook – because stu is expensive,” Yvonne says. “We can all get together and cook, eat, we can all contribute to our abilities and take home ve nutri tious meals for the week.” e rst public introduction to their kitchen is an open house on Aug. 14. When Eric and Yvonne eventually o er regular cooking classes and sessions, those will be limited to six at a time. e couple is looking into establish ing a 501(c)(3) nonpro t to fund these sessions.“Wewant to be able to fund these cooking classes because a lot of people Yvonne (L) and Eric Boltz have launched Boltz to Nutz Farm.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY MARKET WAGON

ARTS & CULTURE

Growing Hope After su ering a bicycle injury that left him paralyzed, Eric Boltz is creating an inclusive gardening experience in Loveland.

BY SEAN M. PETERS W hen Eric Boltz was struck by a car in 2017 while bicycling, the paralyzing injuries he sustained a ected not only him but also his family. But even in di cult times, great ideas can“Ouremerge.lifestarted over at that moment,” says Yvonne Boltz, Eric’s wife. Eric was paralyzed from the chest down. Today, he describes the rst two years after the accident as part of a prolonged grieving process. Going to physical therapy and meeting other people who’d su ered similar injuries, Eric says he saw a lot of people at very low points in their lives, many with limited resources. On top of commiserating with his fellow patients, Eric says he was subjected to some truly awful hospital food: lots of white bread and processed meats along with what the hospital kitchen claimed was jambalaya but that Eric and Yvonne recognized as Rice-A-Roni with sliced hot dogs and Ragu tomato sauce. “I did learn you can order hard-boiled eggs to get real eggs,” Eric tells CityBeat. “Because otherwise, you’ll just get the powdered stu .” Yvonne, a long-time patron of farmers markets who had developed knowledge about sourcing food, decided to take her husband’s recovery diet into her own hands. She says she has always subscribed to the notion that good nutrition is the basis for health and sees this as a critical moment in the next phase of their lives. If they needed real food and herbal medicines of quality, why not source those themselves? So their quest for a wheelchair-accessible farmhouse began. Five years after the accident and after much healing, plenty of construction and a lot of innovating, the Boltz family now owns and operates Boltz to Nutz Farm, a wheelchair-accessible raisedbed market garden in Loveland. e couple sells their products through an online service called Market Wagon, which connects customers with more than 80 local farmers, artisans and chefs and delivers the farmers’ products twice weekly. is frees up Yvonne’s time to pursue farm tasks rather than sit at farmer’s markets hoping to make a sale, she Marketsays.Wagon’s online platform accounts for 65% of the Boltz to Nutz Farm’s revenue as Eric and Yvonne expand it into a full-time operation. But fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and limited animal products aren’t all that the farm o ers. “One of the side e ects of my injury is that I’ve become hyper-empathetic,” EricNowsays.Boltz to Nutz Farm is moving into its next phase, which especially focuses on recently disabled folks. e couple soon will start o ering adaptive cooking classes and retreats in a build ing at the farm to showcase the ways in which they’ve overcome Eric’s hurdles navigating life in his wheelchair. Yvonne and Eric have been work ing to make their community kitchen more feasible for people with limited mobility or limited use of their limbs, as boiling water or moving about can be challenging. ey’ve developed a few inventions they say they can’t yet dis close publicly but that will help someone to navigate the kitchen despite mobility impairments. With Yvonne’s master’s degree in chemistry and Eric’s Ph.D. in materials science, they say they’ll provide disabled home cooks – a vastly overlooked demographic – with the tools, experience and ideas to thrive. “Having good nutrition or having access to a place where you can even just cook – because stu is expensive,” Yvonne says. “We can all get together and cook, eat, we can all contribute to our abilities and take home ve nutri tious meals for the week.” e rst public introduction to their kitchen is an open house on Aug. 14. When Eric and Yvonne eventually o er regular cooking classes and sessions, those will be limited to six at a time. e couple is looking into establish ing a 501(c)(3) nonpro t to fund these sessions.“Wewant to be able to fund these cooking classes because a lot of people

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 27 with disability or mobility issues get stuck in the Medicaid poverty trap,” Yvonne says. e “Medicaid poverty trap” is something Eric saw many of his fellow recovery patients struggle to free them selves from. Someone whose mobility is severely inhibited as a paraplegic, for example, will need assistance using the restroom every day for the rest of their life. If that person doesn’t have a partner or other close family or friend to help, they’d have to hire an aide at a cost that’s typically only attainable to signi cantly wealthyAccordingpatients.toEric, private insurance and Medicare do not cover the cost of an aide, so the person would have to go on Medicaid to pay for the service. at means they would need to spend their assets, which also limits how much income they can make in order to remain quali ed.

Boltz to Nutz Farm will soon be offering adaptive cooking classes and farm retreats.

One of the rst recommendations Eric says he received in the hospital was to get on Medicaid, but to do so, he would have had to put everything he owned in Yvonne’s name and then get a divorce to stay nancially within the program’s lim its. Only then could he go on Medicaid and get anything he needed. “ e for-pro t medical system really shows its aws when you have a chronic condition because you are a ‘loss cen ter,’” Eric says. “ e best situation for the insurance company is for you to die, because they will never make money on you.” e Boltz family hopes to share the peace of mind their farm brings, along with aiding anyone in need of assistance in the kitchen and beyond. ey’re also looking into accommodating guests over weekends to get the full farm experience. “ ere’s this massive tapestry of life,” Eric says. “As long as you’re spinning nice threads in your vicinity, that’s the best you can do. at’s what we’re trying to do here, and maybe people will pass it on and replicate it elsewhere.” To shop from the Boltz’ garden and learn more about Boltz to Nutz Farm and all of their upcoming events, visit boltz2nutz.com.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY MARKET WAGON Yvonne Boltz holds produce grown at Boltz to Nutz Farm.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY MARKET WAGON with disability or mobility issues get stuck in the Medicaid poverty trap,” Yvonne says. e “Medicaid poverty trap” is something Eric saw many of his fellow recovery patients struggle to free them selves from. Someone whose mobility is severely inhibited as a paraplegic, for example, will need assistance using the restroom every day for the rest of their life. If that person doesn’t have a partner or other close family or friend to help, they’d have to hire an aide at a cost that’s typically only attainable to signi cantly wealthyAccordingpatients.toEric, private insurance and Medicare do not cover the cost of an aide, so the person would have to go on Medicaid to pay for the service. at means they would need to spend their assets, which also limits how much income they can make in order to remain quali ed. One of the rst recommendations Eric says he received in the hospital was to get on Medicaid, but to do so, he would have had to put everything he owned in Yvonne’s name and then get a divorce to stay nancially within the program’s lim its. Only then could he go on Medicaid and get anything he needed.

“ e for-pro t medical system really shows its aws when you have a chronic condition because you are a ‘loss cen ter,’” Eric says. “ e best situation for the insurance company is for you to die, because they will never make money on you.” e Boltz family hopes to share the peace of mind their farm brings, along with aiding anyone in need of assistance in the kitchen and beyond. ey’re also looking into accommodating guests over weekends to get the full farm experience. “ ere’s this massive tapestry of life,” Eric says. “As long as you’re spinning nice threads in your vicinity, that’s the best you can do. at’s what we’re trying to do here, and maybe people will pass it on and replicate it elsewhere.”

To shop from the Boltz’ garden and learn more about Boltz to Nutz Farm and all of their upcoming events, visit boltz2nutz.com.

“We want to be able to fund these

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY MARKET WAGON

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY MARKET WAGON Yvonne Boltz holds produce grown at Boltz to Nutz Farm.

trap.”Medicaidgetmobilitywithaclassescookingbecauselotofpeopledisabilityorissuesstuckinthepoverty

“We want to be able to fund these trap.”Medicaidgetmobilitywithaclassescookingbecauselotofpeopledisabilityorissuesstuckinthepoverty

Boltz to Nutz Farm will soon be offering adaptive cooking classes and farm retreats.

28 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022

A t long last, the permanent jewelry trend has attached itself to QueenCincinnati.Cityeastsider Lindsey Brafford started her permanent jewelry business in Cincinnati in June. Bra ord is a liated with LINK x LOU, a popular permanent jewelry company that launched in Denver in April 2020 and now has locations all over the country. is fast-moving trend – which loops jewelry like bracelets and necklaces around body parts forever – has become immensely popular, and in her short time of doing it in Cincinnati, her popups have been selling out in 15 minutes. Local businesses also have increasingly requested LINK x LOU Cincinnati at their pop-ups, Bra ord says. “It’s been absolutely incredible, and I am just so thankful for the response. But I just knew going into it that Cincinnati would be the perfect market for it,” Bra ord tells CityBeat Bra ord says that she rst heard of permanent jewelry when Over-theRhine clothing boutique e Native One hosted a pop-up in December. Bra ord made her rst purchase at that pop-up — two bracelets — and was “instantly hooked,” she says. After that, Bra ord checked to see if there were any permanent jewelry spots nearby every time she traveled, and she ended up getting bracelets in Nashville and Denver. She says that one day a realization hit her. “Why don’t we have this in Cincinnati? It would be such a great market for it,” she remembers thinking. Bra ord, who previously was in the human resources and events industries, trained at the LINK x LOU headquarters in Denver for a week to learn all about the permanent jewelry process. It’s pretty simple, she says. If a Cincinnatian want to get “linked,” they can stop by a pop-up or schedule a party, pick out their jewelry and have it sized to the perfect t. Bra ord then will weld the chain together with a small loop. Bracelets, necklaces and rings are available, but bracelets tend to be the most popular. Patrons can choose among a few di erent options of 14-carat white and yellow gold jewelry at di erent price points, depending on the style. Rings are priced at $55; bracelets are $75-$135; necklaces (which are o ered in 16”-20” lengths) $175-$325. ere is also an option for an anklet in the large link style for $175.

Lindsey Brafford launched LINK x LOU’’s Cincinnati venture.

LINK x LOU pop-ups are posted three days ahead of a planned event. Once the event link is live, customers can sign up for a 15- to 20-minute slot to get their jewelry. Be fast, Bra ord says — these pop-ups tend to ll up quickly. Bra ord says slots have been getting fully booked out within 15 min utes of the link going live. ose who don’t want to sit around refreshing your Instagram feed or Braf ford’s website for information about the next pop-up can also schedule a private party for ve friends. Bra ord comes for free; customers only pay for theBrajewelry.ordsays that a lot of bookings for private parties are wedding-related, but she’s also led parties as relaxed as a wine and charcuterie girls night. Since launching LINK x LOU in Cin cinnati, Bra ord says that the market’s response and potential have exceeded her“Itexpectations.hasbeenabsolutely more than I ever could have imagined. When I rst started I thought ‘is this just something I really love, and I’m into?’ but I really thought it would stick and it has,” Braf ford says. To register for a LINK x LOU Cincinnati pop-up or to schedule a private party, instagram.com/linkxlou.cincinnati.visit

PHOTOS: PROVIDED BY LINDSEY BRAFFORD

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 29 CULTURE

ere are times when a person may have to take the jewelry o , but Bra ord says they can take a pair of scissors and cut the small welded connection. She o ers one free reattachment; any future reattachment would cost $20. is trend has taken o in recent years and has gained steam on TikTok, and Bra ord has a theory as to why. She says it has become very popular to leave jewelry on all the time, “but with fast fashion, a lot of those pieces are tarnishing very quickly.” Bra ord adds that quite often, even expensive jewelry is not high quality and could possibly cause irritation to those with sensitive skin.She also theorizes that the lack of a clasp may be a draw to this craze. “For women with an active lifestyle – someone who is constantly on the go – they’re not going to want to deal with a clasp,” Bra ord says. “So I think that claspless jewelry is something that works really well for the modern-day woman.”

A t long last, the permanent jewelry trend has attached itself to QueenCincinnati.Cityeastsider Lindsey Brafford started her permanent jewelry business in Cincinnati in June. Bra ord is a liated with LINK x LOU, a popular permanent jewelry company that launched in Denver in April 2020 and now has locations all over the country. is fast-moving trend – which loops jewelry like bracelets and necklaces around body parts forever – has become immensely popular, and in her short time of doing it in Cincinnati, her popups have been selling out in 15 minutes. Local businesses also have increasingly requested LINK x LOU Cincinnati at their pop-ups, Bra ord says. “It’s been absolutely incredible, and I am just so thankful for the response. But I just knew going into it that Cincinnati would be the perfect market for it,” Bra ord tells CityBeat. Bra ord says that she rst heard of permanent jewelry when Over-theRhine clothing boutique e Native One hosted a pop-up in December. Bra ord made her rst purchase at that pop-up — two bracelets — and was “instantly hooked,” she says. After that, Bra ord checked to see if there were any permanent jewelry spots nearby every time she traveled, and she ended up getting bracelets in Nashville and Denver. She says that one day a realization hit her. “Why don’t we have this in Cincinnati? It would be such a great market for it,” she remembers thinking. Bra ord, who previously was in the human resources and events industries, trained at the LINK x LOU headquarters in Denver for a week to learn all about the permanent jewelry process. It’s pretty simple, she says. If a Cincinnatian want to get “linked,” they can stop by a pop-up or schedule a party, pick out their jewelry and have it sized to the perfect t. Bra ord then will weld the chain together with a small loop. Bracelets, necklaces and rings are available, but bracelets tend to be the most popular. Patrons can choose among a few di erent options of 14-carat white and yellow gold jewelry at di erent price points, depending on the style. Rings are priced at $55; bracelets are $75-$135; necklaces (which are o ered in 16”-20” lengths) $175-$325. ere is also an option for an anklet in the large link style for $175. Bra ord says most people tend to get two bracelets, and the most popular combination she does is a large link ($135) and twist ($95) bracelets in yellow“Sincegold. they are all custom t, it’s perfect for someone with very small wrists where bracelets won’t stay on or just someone who doesn’t want to deal with a clasp,” Bra ord says.

LINK x LOU offers a variety of permanent jewelry.

PHOTOS: PROVIDED BY LINDSEY BRAFFORD Lindsey Brafford launched LINK x LOU’’s Cincinnati venture.

Bra ord says most people tend to get two bracelets, and the most popular combination she does is a large link ($135) and twist ($95) bracelets in yellow“Sincegold. they are all custom t, it’s perfect for someone with very small wrists where bracelets won’t stay on or just someone who doesn’t want to deal with a clasp,” Bra ord says. Once the jewelry is welded, it is permanent and should last through anything from showers to pool water to spray tans. Bra ord says, “I’ve had mine for a year and I’ve put them through anything you can possibly put them through, and they still look brand new.”

LINK x LOU offers a variety of permanent jewelry.

Linking Up: The Permanent Jewelry Trend Has Come to the Queen City, and LINK x LOU Is Leading the Way MAGGY MCDONEL

Once the jewelry is welded, it is permanent and should last through anything from showers to pool water to spray tans. Bra ord says, “I’ve had mine for a year and I’ve put them through anything you can possibly put them through, and they still look brand new.”

PHOTOS: PROVIDED BY LINDSEY BRAFFORD

CULTURE Linking Up: The Permanent Jewelry Trend Has Come to the Queen City, and LINK x LOU Is Leading the Way BY MAGGY MCDONEL

Ripple Wine Bar Brings Approachable Elegance to Covington

30 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022

FOOD & DRINK Inside Ripple Wine Bar PHOTOS: HAILEY BOLLINGER

REVIEW BY PAMA MITCHELL

Ripple opened three years ago — less than one year before COVID-19 brought our dining scene to a crashingInhalt.early 2021 after vaccination e orts made guests feel comfortable enough to resume in-person dining, Ripple’s owners made some personnel changes and forged ahead. Now it’s thriving as a semi-casual, cozy and very fun place to enjoy excellent wines, refreshing cocktails and quite a few tasty dishes. e food comes out of a “kitchen” that seems way too small to produce everything on the menu: more than 25 appetizers, entrees and sides along with charcuterie boards and several desserts. I put “kitchen” in quotes because the food-prep space is nothing more than an open area at the front of the bar where a couple of cooks work with incredible e ciency to feed everyone. A sta er described the space as “just barely big enough for three people to work in.” e same e cient use of space applies to the dining areas in what has to be the smallest building on the block. ere’s an upstairs dining room that can seat up to 30 patrons, with bar seating at ground level for another 18. A couple of sidewalk tables add a bit more capacity. Reservations are a must, even for the bar seats and especially during the weekend. Not all establishments calling themselves wine bars are as winesavvy and devoted to quality as the folks at Ripple are. One of the personnel changes in 2021 was to hire sommelier and general manager Gabriella DiVincenzo. She and owners Matthew and Kathleen Haws have created a wine selection that will please just about any palate and fall within most budgets. Next door, they’ve added a small retail shop where you can

CityBeat’s dining critic Pama Mitchell explores the small but mighty menu at Ripple Wine Bar.

FOOD & DRINK

Ripple Wine Bar Brings Approachable Elegance to Covington

CityBeat’s dining critic Pama Mitchell explores the small but mighty menu at Ripple Wine Bar.

REVIEW BY PAMA MITCHELL T ucked along a row of storefronts on Pike Street in Covington, Ripple Wine Bar has such an unassuming presence that you could easily miss it. I discovered it only last winter, and after a quick stop for wine and appetizers at the bar I became an instant fan. Recently, I returned with several friends to experience a full evening of the place’s food and drink. Wine bars seem to be having a moment in Greater Cincinnati these days, with two new ones opening this summer in East Walnut Hills (Symposium) and O’Bryonville (Annata).

T ucked along a row of storefronts on Pike Street in Covington, Ripple Wine Bar has such an unassuming presence that you could easily miss it. I discovered it only last winter, and after a quick stop for wine and appetizers at the bar I became an instant fan. Recently, I returned with several friends to experience a full evening of the place’s food and drink. Wine bars seem to be having a moment in Greater Cincinnati these days, with two new ones opening this summer in East Walnut Hills (Symposium) and O’Bryonville (Annata). Ripple opened three years ago — less than one year before COVID-19 brought our dining scene to a crashingInhalt.early 2021 after vaccination e orts made guests feel comfortable enough to resume in-person dining, Ripple’s owners made some personnel changes and forged ahead. Now it’s thriving as a semi-casual, cozy and very fun place to enjoy excellent wines, refreshing cocktails and quite a few tasty dishes. e food comes out of a “kitchen” that seems way too small to produce everything on the menu: more than 25 appetizers, entrees and sides along with charcuterie boards and several desserts. I put “kitchen” in quotes because the food-prep space is nothing more than an open area at the front of the bar where a couple of cooks work with incredible e ciency to feed everyone. A sta er described the space as “just barely big enough for three people to work in.” e same e cient use of space applies to the dining areas in what has to be the smallest building on the block. ere’s an upstairs dining room that can seat up to 30 patrons, with bar seating at ground level for another 18. A couple of sidewalk tables add a bit more capacity. Reservations are a must, even for the bar seats and especially during the weekend. Not all establishments calling themselves wine bars are as winesavvy and devoted to quality as the folks at Ripple are. One of the personnel changes in 2021 was to hire sommelier and general manager Gabriella DiVincenzo. She and owners Matthew and Kathleen Haws have created a wine selection that will please just about any palate and fall within most budgets. Next door, they’ve added a small retail shop where you can

Local artist Jon Flannery created cartoon-like murals for several walls, blending with the black and white color palette that Haws says supported their goal of making wine approachable and fun. e white paint on interior walls helps make the small space seem larger, while the rope lighting and butcher block bar adds modern elements to the historic space. e result is a super-contemporary, urban ambiance that would t comfortably into a groovy Brooklyn or Denver neighborhood. What should you eat? You might start with something like tru e popcorn, a charcuterie board or the scrumptious shrimp nachos. Beef Wellington popovers — with a lling of braised beef short rib, mushroom duxelles and pecorino cheese — can sell out early because they are so delicious. ere are a couple of salads, three atbreads and a half dozen entrées. We especially liked the scallops and a let mignon with potatoes and an excellent chimichurri sauce. Entrée portions aren’t large, but you won’t go away hungry if you partake of some of the appetizers and salads. For dessert, you can’t go wrong with a slice of house-made salted caramel cheesecake and perhaps an “afterparty” glass of port, Madeira, sherry or dessert wine. Ripple Wine Bar, 4 W. Pike St., Covington. Info: ripplewinebar.com.

Clockwise from top-left: Beef Wellington popovers; a charcuterie board with a variety of meats and cheeses; Ripple’s bar; shrimp nachos

PHOTOS: HAILEY BOLLINGER

purchase bottles of anything on Ripple’s list along with other carefully curated wines. e team also has a wine club that hosts special dinners and tastings, mostly on Sundays when Ripple is closed.erestaurant’s wine list changes marginally every couple of months while remaining consistent in its balance of a few dozen red wines, a handful of sparklers, a few rosés and 14-15 whites. Most of these are served from a state-of-the-art Cruvinet system that keeps open bottles from being oxygenated so that the last serving tastes as good as when the bottle is just opened. ere’s a nice variety of prices, and you can order almost any wine by the half glass as well as by the glass or bottle. Some of the selections are more than what I’d usually spend for a bottle and it’s a treat to be able to try a glass or half-glass of wines that go for $70 or more. On my recent visit, I loved every sip of the Albert Boxler Alsatian white blend with our appetizers, followed by a luscious Girard petit sirah from Napa that went wonderfully with my entrée. If you don’t know much about wine and aren’t sure where to start, just ask for guidance. DiVincenzo says that while wine can be intimidating to the uninitiated, she has great con dence in the sta ’s ability to demystify the experience.“Ofthemany restaurants I’ve worked at, I’m most proud of the sta at Ripple and how they make [understanding wine] easy for the guests,” she says. But before you sip anything, be sure to take in the funky-cool way the Haws have rebuilt and decorated the place. eir work started in 2018 with a demolition and gut job on a building that is over 100 years old. “We wanted to keep as much of the space in its original form as we could,” says Kathleen Haws. “But we also wanted to modernize the interior and use the space as e ciently as possible.”

She and her husband scrutinized historic photographs of the building to help achieve that blend of old and new. ey refurbished existing porcelain tiles on the outside of the building and tore out interior walls to expose original brickwork. After getting the electric and plumbing up to current building code standards, they consulted with the design rm Orleans Development to nish the interior. ey chose blackand-white hexagon shaped tiles for ooring, harkening back to photos from the 1890s when Pike Street was a busy commercial area.

Ripple Wine Bar, 4 W. Pike St., Covington. Info: ripplewinebar.com.

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 31

PHOTOS: HAILEY BOLLINGER purchase bottles of anything on Ripple’s list along with other carefully curated wines. e team also has a wine club that hosts special dinners and tastings, mostly on Sundays when Ripple is closed.erestaurant’s wine list changes marginally every couple of months while remaining consistent in its balance of a few dozen red wines, a handful of sparklers, a few rosés and 14-15 whites. Most of these are served from a state-of-the-art Cruvinet system that keeps open bottles from being oxygenated so that the last serving tastes as good as when the bottle is just opened. ere’s a nice variety of prices, and you can order almost any wine by the half glass as well as by the glass or bottle. Some of the selections are more than what I’d usually spend for a bottle and it’s a treat to be able to try a glass or half-glass of wines that go for $70 or more. On my recent visit, I loved every sip of the Albert Boxler Alsatian white blend with our appetizers, followed by a luscious Girard petit sirah from Napa that went wonderfully with my entrée. If you don’t know much about wine and aren’t sure where to start, just ask for guidance. DiVincenzo says that while wine can be intimidating to the uninitiated, she has great con dence in the sta ’s ability to demystify the experience.“Ofthemany restaurants I’ve worked at, I’m most proud of the sta at Ripple and how they make [understanding wine] easy for the guests,” she says. But before you sip anything, be sure to take in the funky-cool way the Haws have rebuilt and decorated the place. eir work started in 2018 with a demolition and gut job on a building that is over 100 years old. “We wanted to keep as much of the space in its original form as we could,” says Kathleen Haws. “But we also wanted to modernize the interior and use the space as e ciently as possible.” She and her husband scrutinized historic photographs of the building to help achieve that blend of old and new. ey refurbished existing porcelain tiles on the outside of the building and tore out interior walls to expose original brickwork. After getting the electric and plumbing up to current building code standards, they consulted with the design rm Orleans Development to nish the interior. ey chose blackand-white hexagon shaped tiles for ooring, harkening back to photos from the 1890s when Pike Street was a busy commercial area.

32 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022

Findlay Market’s

PHOTOS: MAGGY MCDONEL EATS

Waves BY

F indlay Market’s new seafood hookup is a real catch. Sen by Kiki o ers sh and other aquatic cuisine, including freshly shucked oysters ready to enjoy right at the market with all the xings. Owner/chef Hideki “Kiki” Harada says Findlay Market has been extremely welcoming, even throwing his new stand a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening June 30. “It’s more than I expected,” Harada says. “It’s been really cool.”

BY SEAN M.

SenPETERSbyKikiis, indeed, “fresh.”

For those obsessed with oysters, Sen by Kiki will become a new favorite spot at Findlay Market. e stand has been keeping a variety of mollusks available to buy individually or by the bucket. As of press time, Sen by Kiki is stocked with trout, tuna, bronzino, local tilapia, marinated and ready-to-grill octopus, bay scallop, mussels, giant prawn and more. ere also are convenient light bites ready to go along with, of course, whole sh.

Owner/chef Hideki “Kiki” Harada says Findlay Market has been extremely welcoming, even throwing his new stand a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening June 30. “It’s more than I expected,” Harada says. “It’s been really cool.” People often ask Harada what “Sen” means. It translates to “fresh” in Japa nese, but some dedicated fans of Japa nese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki’s lms have found a connection with the names of both of Harada’s restaurants, Sen and Kiki College Hill. Sen is the protagonist in 2001’s Academy Awardwinning Spirited Away, while Kiki is the title character in the 1989 animated lm Kiki’s Delivery Service “A couple of kids came up, they asked, ‘Is that why they’re called that?’” Harada says. “It’s coincidental. Great lms, though. I’m a huge fan.” Calling his stand the equivalent of the word “fresh” is quite important, though. Freshness is key when buying seafood, which means Harada works hard to guarantee he sells only the nest avail able. Sen by Kiki also o ers other dishes prepared in-house, such as kimchi, roe and smoked trout dip. With all this fresh sh, many people immediately consider using it for sushi. Harada has some tips for home cooks looking to make their own rolls at home, including the ideal sushi-grade sh for beginners (his sta can help choose items and think through options). “Salmon is the most forgiving,” Harada says. “I always call salmon ‘the omelet of the sea’ because you can really butcher it, but it’s also kind of easy to cover up your errors. Because of all the fat on salmon, with no real sinew, you can cut against the grain, or you can go with the grain. ere’s really no wrong way to eat salmon.”When cutting sushi-grade sh at home, Harada says fewer accidents happen when using sharp knives. When a blade is dull, more force is exerted to make a cut, and that’s when a cook can lose control of the blade and become more open to injury. “Don’t saw at the sh,” Harada says. “Slice. Slicing is one direction – typically toward you, not away.” Fish used in quality sushi may seem mysterious to the uninitiated: what does sushi-grade mean? Is sushi-grade sh better than others? Harada, who’s been serving sushi-grade sh for years, has the“Sushi-gradeanswer. sh is a process,” Harada says. “We’ve invested in a cryo freezer that takes everything down to -40 F. Per the health department, in the state of Ohio you have to freeze [ sh] for a certain time in order to kill o any parasites.”Aregular freezer will do, he explains, but the sh freezes inappropriately and bleeds moisture, meaning all that good avor just seeps away. With a traditional freezer, sh should be frozen for around 72 hours, while sh in a cryo freezer like Harada’s only needs to freeze for 15-17 hours.“We try to get everything whole,” Harada says of the sh he purchases for the stand. “We process everything in-house, so then we take a portion of it and put it in the super freezer so we can label it sushi-grade. en we can take the consumer in the right direction when they ask for it.”

Sen by Kiki, Findlay Market, 1801 Race St., ndlaymarket.org/merchant/senbykiki.Over-the-Rhine, Sen by Kiki Makes SEAN M.

SenPETERSbyKikiis, indeed, “fresh.”

EATS F indlay Market’s new seafood hookup is a real catch. Sen by Kiki o ers sh and other aquatic cuisine, including freshly shucked oysters ready to enjoy right at the market with all the xings.

People often ask Harada what “Sen” means. It translates to “fresh” in Japa nese, but some dedicated fans of Japa nese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki’s lms have found a connection with the names of both of Harada’s restaurants, Sen and Kiki College Hill. Sen is the protagonist in 2001’s Academy Awardwinning Spirited Away, while Kiki is the title character in the 1989 animated lm Kiki’s Delivery Service “A couple of kids came up, they asked, ‘Is that why they’re called that?’” Harada says. “It’s coincidental. Great lms, though. I’m a huge fan.” Calling his stand the equivalent of the word “fresh” is quite important, though. Freshness is key when buying seafood, which means Harada works hard to guarantee he sells only the nest avail able. Sen by Kiki also o ers other dishes prepared in-house, such as kimchi, roe and smoked trout dip. With all this fresh sh, many people immediately consider using it for sushi. Harada has some tips for home cooks looking to make their own rolls at home, including the ideal sushi-grade sh for beginners (his sta can help choose items and think through options). “Salmon is the most forgiving,” Harada says. “I always call salmon ‘the omelet of the sea’ because you can really butcher it, but it’s also kind of easy to cover up your errors. Because of all the fat on salmon, with no real sinew, you can cut against the grain, or you can go with the grain. ere’s really no wrong way to eat salmon.”When cutting sushi-grade sh at home, Harada says fewer accidents happen when using sharp knives. When a blade is dull, more force is exerted to make a cut, and that’s when a cook can lose control of the blade and become more open to injury. “Don’t saw at the sh,” Harada says. “Slice. Slicing is one direction – typically toward you, not away.” Fish used in quality sushi may seem mysterious to the uninitiated: what does sushi-grade mean? Is sushi-grade sh better than others? Harada, who’s been serving sushi-grade sh for years, has the“Sushi-gradeanswer. sh is a process,” Harada says. “We’ve invested in a cryo freezer that takes everything down to -40 F. Per the health department, in the state of Ohio you have to freeze [ sh] for a certain time in order to kill o any parasites.”Aregular freezer will do, he explains, but the sh freezes inappropriately and bleeds moisture, meaning all that good avor just seeps away. With a traditional freezer, sh should be frozen for around 72 hours, while sh in a cryo freezer like Harada’s only needs to freeze for 15-17 hours.“We try to get everything whole,” Harada says of the sh he purchases for the stand. “We process everything in-house, so then we take a portion of it and put it in the super freezer so we can label it sushi-grade. en we can take the consumer in the right direction when they ask for it.” For those obsessed with oysters, Sen by Kiki will become a new favorite spot at Findlay Market. e stand has been keeping a variety of mollusks available to buy individually or by the bucket. As of press time, Sen by Kiki is stocked with trout, tuna, bronzino, local tilapia, marinated and ready-to-grill octopus, bay scallop, mussels, giant prawn and more. ere also are convenient light bites ready to go along with, of course, whole sh. Sen by Kiki, Findlay Market, 1801 Race St., ndlaymarket.org/merchant/senbykiki.Over-the-Rhine, Findlay Market’s Sen by Kiki Makes Waves

PHOTOS: MAGGY MCDONEL

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 33

34 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022

ise Against recently returned from a European tour where things didn’t always go smoothly.Onething singer-guitarist Tim McIl rath noticed was that the band and crew reacted di erently to mishaps during those dates than they would have in prepandemic times. To him, it illustrated how musicians more than ever appreci ate simply being able to tour and make music again. “It’s like everything from at tires to food poisoning, all kinds of stu went wrong,” McIlrath explains in a mid-July phone interview. “But it didn’t seem to matter as much to my band and my crew this year than it would have mattered like ve years ago. It seemed like every body kind of saw the obstacle in front of them when it would happen, whether it was a at tire or food poisoning or whatever, and they just kind of said ‘You know what, let’s gure this out. … Com pared to a global pandemic, we’ll gure out a at tire. And we’re going to survive and move beyond. Everything got put into perspective a little bit.” As part of its e ort to move beyond, Rise Against is set to play the Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica in Cleveland on Wednesday, Aug. 17. e band is headlining a package tour that also includes the Used and Senses Fail. For McIlrath and his bandmates, bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and lead guitarist Zach Blair, the pandemic actually came at a rather opportune time. ey had nished recording the 16 songs that make up their 2021 full-length album, Nowhere Generation, and their newly released companion EP, Nowhere Generation II. Normally, a new album would be followed by an extensive tour cycle, but the COVID-19 pandemic intervened, providing a key bene t to the band. “For our band, I felt like the live music closing down for a couple of years was a good thing for us. It was the break we always talked about, but never would [take],” McIlrath says. “ at never really happened, partially because there would be some great opportunities that would come our way, and we’d have trouble saying no to them. Next thing you know, we’re just back in the studio writing songs. “In that sense, I felt like it was a good thing for us because we needed that time [o ],” he adds. “And then in that time, what happened is kind of what I hoped a sabbatical would have produced, which is we came back to this thing with like this renewed enthusiasm, and this appreciation of it all.” Rise Against had certainly earned the right to take a break by the time the pandemic hit in spring 2020. Since forming in 1999 in Chicago, the band has released nine full-length albums and toured extensively between releases.Inuenced by hardcore groups such as Fugazi and Minor reat and the punk rock of bands like Bad Religion and Pennywise, Rise Against’s sound has remained largely intact – even if the group’s compelling brand of music has expanded to embrace the occasional rocker with a more deliberate tempo or an outright ballad. e 11 songs on the Nowhere Generation full-length and the ve songs on Nowhere Generation II generally t the punk mold with their robust guitar ri s and strong melodies. e two albums also continue the Rise Against tradition of featuring topical and political themes and lyrics. In the case of these two releases, McIlrath — the band’s lyricist — wanted to give a voice especially to younger adults who feel the American dream is getting out of reach, as hopes of home ownership and a comfortable retirement become harder to achieve for middle class Americans, not to mention the poor. McIlrath explains how he came to think about the predicament many young adults face and how any failures to experience the American dream weren’t because of a lack of e ort, brains or ambition. “I feel like it was partially being a guy in his 40s and sitting around a dinner table where people like to poke fun at millennials and that kind of thing,” he says. “And I sat through enough of those jokes where I was like, ‘I hear your joke. I hear where you’re coming from. But I can’t square that with my [experience as a] young man. I can’t square it with the complaints they have about the future of the world. I feel like they may have some valid complaints here.’ … is isn’t simply a matter of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. ere are new and improved obstacles that are in their way. I felt like my generation was a little blind to that.” McIlrath and his bandmates are getting to share a few of the new songs and their messages on tour in the states this summer. While excited to play shows, there is a challenge that gets more daunting as time goes on. “ e more records we make, the more songs we write, we’re still working that same size of the parking lot, but we just keep on making new cars. We’ve still got to t the same amount of cars in that parking lot. So yeah, it gets tricky,” McIlrath says. “ ere’s probably a core of a set that Rise Against will always play, and then there’s probably like a fourth of it that we kind of tinker with, just try [di erent songs] and see what people are into.”

Rise Against will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 17 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland. e Used and Senses Fail will open the show. Info: jacobspavilion.com.

Rise

Rise Against Addresses the Nowhere Generation e band’s long-awaited tour to promote its 2021 album Nowhere Generation is worth the drive to Cleveland.

Rise Against will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 17 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland. e Used and Senses Fail will open the show. Info: jacobspavilion.com.

Rise Against had certainly earned the right to take a break by the time the pandemic hit in spring 2020. Since forming in 1999 in Chicago, the band has released nine full-length albums and toured extensively between releases.Inuenced by hardcore groups such as Fugazi and Minor reat and the punk rock of bands like Bad Religion and Pennywise, Rise Against’s sound has remained largely intact – even if the group’s compelling brand of music has expanded to embrace the occasional rocker with a more deliberate tempo or an outright ballad. e 11 songs on the Nowhere Generation full-length and the ve songs on Nowhere Generation II generally t the punk mold with their robust guitar ri s and strong melodies. e two albums also continue the Rise Against tradition of featuring topical and political themes and lyrics. In the case of these two releases, McIlrath — the band’s lyricist — wanted to give a voice especially to younger adults who feel the American dream is getting out of reach, as hopes of home ownership and a comfortable retirement become harder to achieve for middle class Americans, not to mention the poor. McIlrath explains how he came to think about the predicament many young adults face and how any failures to experience the American dream weren’t because of a lack of e ort, brains or ambition. “I feel like it was partially being a guy in his 40s and sitting around a dinner table where people like to poke fun at millennials and that kind of thing,” he says. “And I sat through enough of those jokes where I was like, ‘I hear your joke. I hear where you’re coming from. But I can’t square that with my [experience as a] young man. I can’t square it with the complaints they have about the future of the world. I feel like they may have some valid complaints here.’ … is isn’t simply a matter of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. ere are new and improved obstacles that are in their way. I felt like my generation was a little blind to that.”

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 35

PHOTO:AgainstJASON

SIEGEL MUSIC

McIlrath and his bandmates are getting to share a few of the new songs and their messages on tour in the states this summer. While excited to play shows, there is a challenge that gets more daunting as time goes on. “ e more records we make, the more songs we write, we’re still working that same size of the parking lot, but we just keep on making new cars. We’ve still got to t the same amount of cars in that parking lot. So yeah, it gets tricky,” McIlrath says. “ ere’s probably a core of a set that Rise Against will always play, and then there’s probably like a fourth of it that we kind of tinker with, just try [di erent songs] and see what people are into.”

Rise Against Addresses the Nowhere Generation e band’s long-awaited

BY ALAN SCULLEY

Rise Against Addresses the Nowhere Generation e band’s long-awaited tour to promote its 2021 album Nowhere Generation is worth the drive to Cleveland.

R ise Against recently returned from a European tour where things didn’t always go smoothly.Onething singer-guitarist Tim McIl rath noticed was that the band and crew reacted di erently to mishaps during those dates than they would have in prepandemic times. To him, it illustrated how musicians more than ever appreci ate simply being able to tour and make music again. “It’s like everything from at tires to food poisoning, all kinds of stu went wrong,” McIlrath explains in a mid-July phone interview. “But it didn’t seem to matter as much to my band and my crew this year than it would have mattered like ve years ago. It seemed like every body kind of saw the obstacle in front of them when it would happen, whether it was a at tire or food poisoning or whatever, and they just kind of said ‘You know what, let’s gure this out. … Com pared to a global pandemic, we’ll gure out a at tire. And we’re going to survive and move beyond. Everything got put into perspective a little bit.” As part of its e ort to move beyond, Rise Against is set to play the Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica in Cleveland on Wednesday, Aug. 17. e band is headlining a package tour that also includes the Used and Senses Fail. For McIlrath and his bandmates, bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and lead guitarist Zach Blair, the pandemic actually came at a rather opportune time. ey had nished recording the 16 songs that make up their 2021 full-length album, Nowhere Generation, and their newly released companion EP, Nowhere Generation II. Normally, a new album would be followed by an extensive tour cycle, but the COVID-19 pandemic intervened, providing a key bene t to the band. “For our band, I felt like the live music closing down for a couple of years was a good thing for us. It was the break we always talked about, but never would [take],” McIlrath says. “ at never really happened, partially because there would be some great opportunities that would come our way, and we’d have trouble saying no to them. Next thing you know, we’re just back in the studio writing songs. “In that sense, I felt like it was a good thing for us because we needed that time [o ],” he adds. “And then in that time, what happened is kind of what I hoped a sabbatical would have produced, which is we came back to this thing with like this renewed enthusiasm, and this appreciation of it all.” Rise Against had certainly earned the right to take a break by the time the pandemic hit in spring 2020. Since forming in 1999 in Chicago, the band has released nine full-length albums and toured extensively between releases.Inuenced by hardcore groups such as Fugazi and Minor reat and the punk rock of bands like Bad Religion and Pennywise, Rise Against’s sound has remained largely intact – even if the group’s compelling brand of music has expanded to embrace the occasional rocker with a more deliberate tempo or an outright ballad. e 11 songs on the Nowhere Generation full-length and the ve songs on Nowhere Generation II generally t the punk mold with their robust guitar ri s and strong melodies. e two albums also continue the Rise Against tradition of featuring topical and political themes and lyrics. In the case of these two releases, McIlrath — the band’s lyricist — wanted to give a voice especially to younger adults who feel the American dream is getting out of reach, as hopes of home ownership and a comfortable retirement become harder to achieve for middle class Americans, not to mention the poor. McIlrath explains how he came to think about the predicament many young adults face and how any failures to experience the American dream weren’t because of a lack of e ort, brains or ambition. “I feel like it was partially being a guy in his 40s and sitting around a dinner table where people like to poke fun at millennials and that kind of thing,” he says. “And I sat through enough of those jokes where I was like, ‘I hear your joke. I hear where you’re coming from. But I can’t square that with my [experience as a] young man. I can’t square it with the complaints they have about the future of the world. I feel like they may have some valid complaints here.’ … is isn’t simply a matter of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. ere are new and improved obstacles that are in their way. I felt like my generation was a little blind to that.” McIlrath and his bandmates are getting to share a few of the new songs and their messages on tour in the states this summer. While excited to play shows, there is a challenge that gets more daunting as time goes on. “ e more records we make, the more songs we write, we’re still working that same size of the parking lot, but we just keep on making new cars. We’ve still got to t the same amount of cars in that parking lot. So yeah, it gets tricky,” McIlrath says. “ ere’s probably a core of a set that Rise Against will always play, and then there’s probably like a fourth of it that we kind of tinker with, just try [di erent songs] and see what people are into.” Rise Against will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 17 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica, 2014 Sycamore St., Cleveland. e Used and Senses Fail will open the show. Info: jacobspavilion.com. tour to promote its 2021 album Generation is worth the drive to Cleveland.

BY ALAN SCULLEY Rise

BY ALAN SCULLEY Rise PHOTO:AgainstJASON SIEGEL MUSIC

Nowhere

MUSIC

PHOTO:AgainstJASON SIEGEL

August 13 • Taft eatre e cover of Sleigh Bells’ most recent album, 2021’s Texis, features a blackand-white image of singer Alexis Krauss at age 11. She looks directly into the camera as if posing for a school photo and sports a slightly mischievous smile, a bob haircut and a twinkle in her eye, as if she knows far more than she should. It’s a curious visage, at once innocent and oddly subversive – a tting encapsulation of what Sleigh Bells has perpetrated on listeners for more than a decade now. Krauss and guitarist Derek Miller founded the band in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the late aughts as an alternative to neighborhood’s indie rock brethren — massive, hooky songs driven by Miller’s crunchy ri s, a booming drum machine and Krauss’ voice, a modest but cutting soprano. Miller is the main songwriter, a crafter of noisy anthems informed by everything from pop culture detritus to more personal elements. But don’t think Krauss isn’t a vital part of the process.“Iwrite all the lyrics, but Alexis does have all the freedom in the world to arrange them however she sees t,” Miller said in a 2021 interview with Paste Magazine. “And I am usually blown away by the way she does it, because I’ll send her something, just a block of text, and she’ll pick out the chorus and say, ‘ is is the verse.’ While in my mind, it was actually the inverse, so that’s actually my favorite part of the process. I mean, writing is a blast, but then hearing what she does with it is the most exciting moment for me.” ere’s a clean, almost surgical, element to the duo’s music — the synth stabs and snappy drums that open Texis’ rst song “SWEET75” bring to mind the soundtrack to a glitchy video game. en a sticky Miller ri and Krauss’ vocals kick in as she insists, “Here we go, here we go/You’re legitimate rock and roll.” Sleigh Bells’ overblown tunes are just as large in a live setting, as the imposing Krauss stalks the stage front and center while Miller, a drummer and a keyboardist/backing singer heighten the studio e orts just by their human presence.SleighBells plays Taft eatre at 9 p.m. Aug. 13. Doors open at 8 p.m. Guests must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for entry. Info: tafttheatre.com. (Jason Gargano)

SLEIGH BELLS WITH N3PTUNE

SOUND

BUILT TO SPILL WITH PRISM BITCH AND SCRUNCHIES

36 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022

Sleigh PHOTO:BellsCHRIS VULTAGGIO ADVICE

BUILT TO SPILL WITH PRISM BITCH AND SCRUNCHIES August 22 • e Woodward eater Built to Spill endures, which should come as a surprise to no one. e Idaho-spawned act has exceeded most of its early-1990s indie-rock contemporaries behind a timeless sound centering on frontman Doug Martsch’s ragged guitar heroics, which recall Neil Young on a J. Mascis kick. And now, after years as a ve-piece out t, Built to Spill has pared back to a trio with drummer Teresa Cruces and bassist Melanie Radford for recent tours, including the current jaunt. “We weren’t really making enough money to support six people, with our sound guy being part of our money split,” Martsch said in a recent interview with e Providence Journal “Having it back to being three people makes a big di erence, and it’s also artistically ful lling. It’s fun to do it

Built to Spill: Doug Martsch (left), Melanie Radford and Teresa Cruces PHOTO: PROVIDED BY WOODWARD THEATRE

August 22 • e Woodward eater Built to Spill endures, which should come as a surprise to no one. e Idaho-spawned act has exceeded most of its early-1990s indie-rock contemporaries behind a timeless sound centering on frontman Doug Martsch’s ragged guitar heroics, which recall Neil Young on a J. Mascis kick. And now, after years as a ve-piece out t, Built to Spill has pared back to a trio with drummer Teresa Cruces and bassist Melanie Radford for recent tours, including the current jaunt. “We weren’t really making enough money to support six people, with our sound guy being part of our money split,” Martsch said in a recent interview with e Providence Journal “Having it back to being three people makes a big di erence, and it’s also artistically ful lling. It’s fun to do it

SOUND

Sleigh PHOTO:BellsCHRIS VULTAGGIO ADVICE

SLEIGH BELLS WITH N3PTUNE

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY WOODWARD THEATRE

Built to Spill: Doug Martsch (left), Melanie Radford and Teresa Cruces

THE WALLFLOWERS August 23 • Ludlow Garage If you think it’s intimidating being compared to Bob Dylan, imagine being born with his face, voice and name. e sound of critics sharpen ing their knives was deafening in 1992 when Bob’s son, Jakob Dylan, released his eponymous debut album with the Wall owers, but those critical knives were sheathed when Dylan’s band proved to be a jammy roots rock powerhouse and Dylan himself a compelling songwriter and frontman. e band’s 1996 sophomore album Bringing Down the Horse yielded the song “One Headlight,” which earned the Wall owers a Grammy win for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group withOverVocal.the subsequent three decades, the Wall owers has been a revolving cast of amazing talent with Dylan at its sporadic core. Although the band was shuttered for a spell while Dylan explored a solo direction, he has noted in interviews that the Wall owers and his solo work are separated only by his sonic choices in the studio and the songs he brings to each project. e band, regardless of personnel, is re ective of his creative identity, he’s said.Last year saw the release of the Wall owers’ seventh album, the much lauded Exit Wounds, but the tour joined the sad roll call of COVID postponements until 2022. e band’s full set list typically has featured a half-dozen songs from Exit Wounds; beyond that, it’s slanted heavily toward Bringing Down the Horse and its follow-up, 2000’s (Breach), with tracks from 2005’s Rebel, Sweetheart, a song from Dylan’s solo catalog and a couple of Tom Petty covers. e hom age to Petty is not surprising, con sidering Mike Campbell is a former member of Tom Petty and the Heart breakers and lled in on guitar during the Bringing Down the Horse sessions. e current touring version of the Wall owers is a stacked deck of familiar names, including longtime live guitarist Stanton Edward Adcock and three of Dylan’s studio compatri ots from Exit Wounds: bassist Wijnand (“Whynot”) Jansveld, keyboardist Aaron Embry and drummer Mark Stepro. Rounding out the band is guitarist/pedal-and-lap steel master Ben Peeler, whose association with Dylan and the band goes back to 2002’s Red Letter Days. But, as Dylan has so de nitively pointed out, no matter who stands on the stage or in the studio, as long as he commands the space, it’s the Wall owers. e Wall owers play Ludlow Garage at 8 p.m. Aug. 23. Doors open at 7 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: ludlowga ragecincinnati.com. (Brian Baker) Jakob Dylan of The Wall owers

August 23 • Ludlow Garage If you think it’s intimidating being compared to Bob Dylan, imagine being born with his face, voice and name. e sound of critics sharpen ing their knives was deafening in 1992 when Bob’s son, Jakob Dylan, released his eponymous debut album with the Wall owers, but those critical knives were sheathed when Dylan’s band proved to be a jammy roots rock powerhouse and Dylan himself a compelling songwriter and frontman. e band’s 1996 sophomore album Bringing Down the Horse yielded the song “One Headlight,” which earned the Wall owers a Grammy win for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group withOverVocal.the subsequent three decades, the Wall owers has been a revolving cast of amazing talent with Dylan at its sporadic core. Although the band was shuttered for a spell while Dylan explored a solo direction, he has noted in interviews that the Wall owers and his solo work are separated only by his sonic choices in the studio and the songs he brings to each project. e band, regardless of personnel, is re ective of his creative identity, he’s said.Last year saw the release of the Wall owers’ seventh album, the much lauded Exit Wounds, but the tour joined the sad roll call of COVID postponements until 2022. e band’s full set list typically has featured a half-dozen songs from Exit Wounds; beyond that, it’s slanted heavily toward Bringing Down the Horse and its follow-up, 2000’s (Breach), with tracks from 2005’s Rebel, Sweetheart, a song from Dylan’s solo catalog and a couple of Tom Petty covers. e hom age to Petty is not surprising, con sidering Mike Campbell is a former member of Tom Petty and the Heart breakers and lled in on guitar during the Bringing Down the Horse sessions. e current touring version of the Wall owers is a stacked deck of familiar names, including longtime live guitarist Stanton Edward Adcock and three of Dylan’s studio compatri ots from Exit Wounds: bassist Wijnand (“Whynot”) Jansveld, keyboardist Aaron Embry and drummer Mark Stepro. Rounding out the band is guitarist/pedal-and-lap steel master Ben Peeler, whose association with Dylan and the band goes back to 2002’s Red Letter Days. But, as Dylan has so de nitively pointed out, no matter who stands on the stage or in the studio, as long as he commands the space, it’s the Wall owers. e Wall owers play Ludlow Garage at 8 p.m. Aug. 23. Doors open at 7 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: ludlowga ragecincinnati.com. (Brian Baker)

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 37 that way. … I actually really enjoy the pressure it puts on me as a guitar player.”“Gonna Lose,” the lead track on the band’s forthcoming ninth studio album, When the Wind Forgets Your Name, is an uncommonly taut guitar ditty featuring this admission from Martsch: “I’ve come to realize time’s all wrong/Answers materialize then they’re gone/ ey were here, but the ones like that disappear/And they don’t come Elsewhere,back.”thespacier “Spiderweb” recalls Built to Spill’s late-’90s heyday, merging the psych-tinged guitar work outs of 1997’s Perfect from Now On with the sleeker, hook-laden elements of 1999’s Keep it Like a Secret. Perhaps best of all is “Understood,” yet another excursion in Martsch’s long-running search for clarity, made all the more poignant through the now 52-yearold’s modest whine of a voice and soaring guitar leads: “ ere’s no way to gure it out/Life’s just understood.” e current tour pulls songs from every era of the band’s 30-year history, which is a variation on a theme that time can’t contain. Built to Spill plays Woodward e ater at 7 p.m. Aug. 22. Doors open at 6 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: woodward theater.com. (JG)

Jakob Dylan of The Wall owers

PHOTO: SYDKAT, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS that way. … I actually really enjoy the pressure it puts on me as a guitar player.”“Gonna Lose,” the lead track on the band’s forthcoming ninth studio album, When the Wind Forgets Your Name, is an uncommonly taut guitar ditty featuring this admission from Martsch: “I’ve come to realize time’s all wrong/Answers materialize then they’re gone/ ey were here, but the ones like that disappear/And they don’t come Elsewhere,back.”thespacier “Spiderweb” recalls Built to Spill’s late-’90s heyday, merging the psych-tinged guitar work outs of 1997’s Perfect from Now On with the sleeker, hook-laden elements of 1999’s Keep it Like a Secret. Perhaps best of all is “Understood,” yet another excursion in Martsch’s long-running search for clarity, made all the more poignant through the now 52-yearold’s modest whine of a voice and soaring guitar leads: “ ere’s no way to gure it out/Life’s just understood.” e current tour pulls songs from every era of the band’s 30-year history, which is a variation on a theme that time can’t contain. Built to Spill plays Woodward e ater at 7 p.m. Aug. 22. Doors open at 6 p.m. ere are no COVID-19 protocols in place for the event. Info: woodward theater.com. (JG) THE WALLFLOWERS

PHOTO: SYDKAT, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

38 CITYBEAT.COM | AUGUST 10-23, 2022

AUGUST 10-23, 2022 | CITYBEAT.COM 39 CROSSWORD HEAD GAMES BY BRENDAN EMMETT WWW.BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COMQUIGLEY 1.Across“P-Valley” channel 6. Ring stones 11. It may come in a blanket or be in a bank 14. Trash ___ 15. Side of a diamond 16. “Oi, Claudius!” 17. She’s got a HOT head 19. He hosts “Jeopardy!” when Mayim doesn’t 20. Battle of Tannenberg conflict, for short 21. Chapeau holder 22. Not more than 23. Anne Nichols comic play for AIR heads 28. FaceTime platform 29. Overpower with troops 31. Yitty rival 34. Parting phrase for BIG heads 37. “Pressure” R&B singer Lennox 38. Looking like you’ve been hitting the gym 39. Was ahead of the curve 40. Glad-hand for WAR heads 43. Maker of the Gator Utility Vehicle 45. 2009 Sean Paul hit with the lyric “Girl, girl, I’ll be your sunshine, you can be mine” 46. Jimmy’s wife on “Better Call Saul” 47. Digits for FAT heads 54. ___ Scott v. Sandford 55. Shakespeare villain who says “And what’s he then that says I play the villain?” 56. “Warrior Nun” heroine 57. Midnight zone shocker 58. Stickies for PIN heads 62. Fidget toy, e.g. 63. He does analysis with Barkley 64. Sprinting hero Jesse 65. Rob Gronkowski’s 93: Abbr. 66. Tubes on the table 67. Like a 10-Down 1.Down Upside down e 2. Onetime UPN competitor 3. Cravalho who voiced Moana 4. Numbered hwy. 5. Peaceful and calm 6. BOGO, e.g. 7. Smith who is the Godmother of Punk 8. Measurements of preserves 9. “Good Luck to You, ___ Grande” (Emma Thompson movie) 10. See 67-Across 11. It’s an uncomfortable thing to wear 12. Supremely enthusiastic 13. Okerlund in the WWE Hall of Fame 18. One sitting on a potato pan in palin dromes 22. Speck of dust 24. A as in Augsburg 25. Chicago nine, for short 26. Windbreaker part 27. 1921 play about androids 30. Branch bump 31. Cuts wood 32. Check to see if a slip is showing 33. Bombers’ spots 34. “This sucks” 35. Hammock brand 36. Like libraries and shoes in French: Abbr. 38. Swing’s spot 41. Caring 42. Best director between Michel and Alfonso 43. Accomplished 44. Ambulance VIP 46. Gordian problem 48. Like an activated sourdough starter 49. Bad guy in the underworld 50. Sure-footed 51. Joyce Carol ___ 52. Set of every other number 53. With an attitude 54. Like close-up magicians 58. Explode 59. Half and half 60. Cartoon chewing sound 61. Be obligated (to) LAST PUZZLE’S ANSWERS: Bertha HelmickG. ATTORNEY AT LAW DISSOLVE Dissolution:MARRIAGEYOURAnamicableend to marriage. Easier on your heart. Easier on your wallet. Starting at $500 plus court costs. 12 Hour Turnaround. 810 Sycamore St. 4th Fl, Cincinnati, OH 513.651.966645202 DISSOLVEMARRIAGEYOUR Dissolution: An amicable end to marriage. Easier on your heart. Easier on your wallet. Starting at $500 plus court costs. 12 Hour Turnaround. 810 Sycamore St. 4th Fl, Cincinnati, OH 45202 513.651.9666

CityBeat | August 10-23, 2022

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