🏀 Cleveland’s Going to the ECF

Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop: Festival season is coming, which means it’s almost time to pretend we’re “just stopping by for one hour” and then somehow spend $47 on tacos 🎡🌮🍻

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John Petkovic & Jude Perez

Cavs owner Dan Gilbert chartered 25 busloads of fans to attend Sunday’s Game 7.

With four minutes to go, it sounded like they were the only ones left in Little Caesar’s Arena.

It was one Cavalanche after another in a 125-94 domination of the Pistons to send Cleveland to its first Eastern Conference Finals without LeBron since 1992.

Donovan Mitchell didn’t force his shot. He was a playmaker and set up Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen to score in the paint – and showed why he is such an elite offensive player.

Allen and Mobley combined for 44 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists.

This was not a soft team, not at all.

Sharpshooter Sam Merrill – who came off the bench to score 23 points – hit five 3s to spread the floor and give Mitchell space to operate against the physical but offensively challenged Pistons.

It was one of the Cavs’ most efficient offensive games all season.

Their defense also frustrated Cade Cunningham, who scored 13 points on 5-16 shooting (0-7 from 3) and saw his Pistons outscored by 31 points while he was on the floor.

The Cavs imposed their will on Detroit and showed how dominating they can be – and, of course, how frustrating they are when they don’t play up to their talent level.

A hulk that powered Cleveland’s rise. A victim of its demise. A haunting ruin that summons ghosts.

If the city gets its way, the old Westinghouse Electric factory will see its fourth and final act: death.

Its new Midline initiative has targeted 200 acres of abandoned buildings, rubble and contaminated brownfields for demolition and clean-up.

The plan?

Create 350 acres of industrial and commercial space, parks and connections to transit.

None of the parcels are as prominent as 4175 Ashland Road.

Opened in 1888 and closed in 1979, it’s one of country’s most iconic ruins – an industrial gem co-authored by decay, natural erosion, vandalism and Cleveland winters.

The cathedral-like architecture, crumbling bricks, overgrowth and post-apocalyptic panache landed it a scene in “The Avengers.”

It’s also been called an eyesore.

“I hate to see these awesome old industrial buildings disappear,” says Dave Sharkey, president of Progressive Urban Real Estate.  “But the city doesn’t have a lot of good industrial sites now and this will give it a lot of different options to sell to companies.”

Midline’s projections are big: 2,500 direct jobs, $100 million in annual tax revenue.

So are the challenges: $80-100 million for demo and clean-up – a wide range because brownfield and demolitions always go over budget due to unforeseen contamination issues.

Yes, there’s food and drinks and music. But there’s much more, something bigger that makes Cleveland festival season the highlight of the year.

The celebrations boast what’s best about the city:

Diverse people joining together to tell the stories of communities and neighborhoods with culture, cuisine and traditions.

From May through September, dozens of ethnic and cultural celebrations, street parties and fairs will assault the senses with enough music, food and partying to make you feel as if you’d traveled around country and the world.

And yet, you are here, in Cleveland.

Festival opened with massive crowds in Asiatown, and the mad dash starts Memorial Day Weekend.

Subscribe to the 216 Insider for our 2026 Cleveland Festival Guide – out Tuesday. Make it your roadmap through the summer.

MONDAY

Slow Roll Cleveland: The weekly bike riding group will trek through one of the city’s most neighborhoods for a pint of Guinness: Kamm’s Corners. 7 p.m. Info.

TUESDAY

Case Oats: Casey Walker brings her band and idiosyncratic songs – they cross off-the-cuff yet poetic observations with rambling, country-folk – to the Beachland Tavern. 8 p.m. Info.

“Manet & Morisot”:  The acclaimed CMA exhibition focuses on the creative exchange between Édouard Manet — the father of modern painting— and Berthe Morisot, the only woman among the founding members of the Impressionist movement. Through July 5. Info.

👉 View Listing on Zillow

A $300,000 house costs $34K more than it did just 80 days ago. And it has nothing to do with the house, bank or Federal Reserve.

All eyes are on gas prices, but the Iran war has hit housing just as it enters peak season.

Rising rates, risks

Spiking inflation has pushed up bond yields – which in turn sent 30-year mortgage rates to 6.47%, the highest level since September.

It was just Feb. 26, when they dropped to 5.98% -- producing a rosy scenario in which the Fed cuts rates three times.

No more. Odds of increases have surged to 31% after inflation hit a 3-year high.

So, in 80 days:

Cleveland has stayed strong, even as speculative bubbles pop elsewhere.

It’s cooling off after a hot ‘25: Active listings up almost 11%. Prices down.4%. Houses sit 11% longer. But affordability remains a draw with Gen Z and Millennials, first timers and relocators.

Hessler Street Fair in University Circle, 1970-’71. The street became a hot bed for hippiedom in the 1960s and kept the freak flag flying for decades, even as development took hold around it. Co-founder and resident John Prusnek rides an artisanal go-cart he made out of a refrigerator.

Ooh and don’t forget! Tag @The216Scoop on Facebook & @scoopcle on Instagram to get your photos in the Scoop!

89 °F 🌡️ 70 °F | ☀️ (Mostly Sunny) | 10% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 18 mph SSW (≈ 16 knots)

86 °F 🌡️ 54 °F | ⛅➡️⛈️ (Scattered PM Thunderstorms) | 40% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 21 mph SSW (≈ 18 knots)

60 °F 🌡️ 45 °F | 🌧️➡️⛅ (AM Showers) | 50% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 14 mph NNE (≈ 12 knots)

_{Please note that weather conditions can change rapidly. For the most up-to-date information, consider checking a reliable local weather service.}

Away vs. Tigers, 6:40 PM May 18 (Monday)

Away vs. Tigers, 6:40 PM May 19 (Tuesday)

Away vs. Tigers, 6:40 PM May 20 (Wednesday)

Away vs. Tigers, 1:10 PM May 21 (Thursday)

Away vs. Phillies, 6:40 PM May 22 (Friday)

Away vs. Phillies, 4:05 PM May 23 (Saturday)

Away vs. Phillies, 1:35 PM May 24 (Sunday)

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