🥞 Crepes in Cleveland? Oui, chef 📰

Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop: You don’t usually hear “Cleveland” and “space race” in the same sentence. Until now 🚀🌕✨

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You’d be hard-pressed to find civic leaders celebrating this anniversary, even if was a record-breaking day for Cleveland.

Imagine 1.5 million balloons released in Public Square. Imagine all that color over the skyline. Imagine the national headlines.

Bravo, Balloonfest — Sept. 27, 1986 — earned the city a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

But the headlines didn’t go as expected. Neither did the event. 

Within hours, the sight of Terminal Tower consumed by balloons was marred by winds and rain, which sent them falling to the ground prematurely.

They caused the closure of Burke Lakefront Airport and car accidents — when drivers swerved to avoid the swarms. 

They also filled Cleveland Harbor, and Coast Guard helicopter crews said they felt like they were flying thought asteroid fields as they searched for a missing boater.

Complaints reached as far as Canada -- where beach-goers were seen wading through balloons.

A would-be feat of pride became a mockery. Years later, it’s the stuff of legend…

Welcome to Cleveland.

Life is cheaper and easier and we’re helping you get to Mars. That’s been the pitch from Ohio to the Trump Administration to relocate NASA HQ to Cleveland. 

Now there’s another angle: NASA Glenn Research Center has been chosen to lead a project that would bring nuclear power to the moon. 

The plan is to build a reactor by 2030 — which is crucial to realizing the goal to get to the Mars. 

“You need a manufacturing habitat on the moon to get to Mars, and it needs to be sustainable,” says Chris Sheehan, of Sierra Lobo, a NASA aerospace contractor. 

“Right now, they’re scanning for ice and water,” he adds. “The nuclear reactor is the other part of the equation.”

NASA Glenn is well-placed politically, with bi-partisan support and access to the administration with Ohioans J.D. Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy. It’s also well-positioned technologically — with Artemis, Blue Abyss and satellite communications programs. 

“You never know what will happen with the HQ,” says Sheehan. “But Glenn has never been this well-positioned in NASA’s future plans.”

There are waffles. There are crepes. Then there are the luxurious, elaborate creations at Crepe N’ Drip. 

The new creperie on the West Side takes the Euro treats and takes them on worldly detours — from the Middle East to America. 

“I wanted to try something unique,” says owner Adam Sbaih. “I’ve seen places like this in Chicago and Michigan, but there’s nothing like this in Cleveland.”

Sbaih, who moved to the U.S. from Jordan in 2014, brought his culinary sensibilities with him. Perfect timing; they’ve become very trendy in the U.S. 

Check out the Dubai Waffle, which tops a crispy waffle with the Middle Easter desert kunafa, pistachio nuts, three kinds of Belgian chocolates and pistachio sauce. 

“It took six month to develop my recipes,” says Sbaih, who also owns and operates Mad Chicken in the Clifton-Detroit neighborhood. 

A lot of mixing and matching went into in them. The waffle and crepe menus feature sweet and savory pairings of rich chocolates with nuts and fruits and even cheese. (As in, yes, the Dubai Cheese Bomb.) 

The drink menu is just as eclectic — from Turkish coffee to smoothies to Pistachio latte to the Hawaiian Pineapple (served in a hollowed pineapple). More info.

The ten-game winning streak came to an ending. But the Guardians remain the most amazing comeback story in sports — and, hey, the Tigers also lost on Sunday.  It all comes down this: A three-game series between Cleveland and Detroit at Progressive Field, Tuesday through Thursday. Info

Silent Planet/Invent Animate: Cali metalcore band Silent Planet and Texas prog-metal hit House of Blues. 5:30 tonight. Info.

Cannibal Corpse: The death-metal legends hit the Agora. Also on the Municipal Waste, Full of Hell and Fulci open. 6 p.m. Tuesday. Info. 

Andy Summers: It’s billed as ‘of the Police,’ but the innovative guitarist has played with Soft Machine and the Animals and has a solo career. Kent Stage. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Info. 

Hot Milk: The power-pop rockers from Manchester hit the Grog Shop. 8 p.m. Info. 

👉 View Listing on Zillow

It opened with hope and hype — no doubt because of its sponsor, LeBron James. 

Seven years later, the ex-Cav and Akron’s favorite son’s I Promise School is getting a failing grade from Ohio's annual School Report Cards.

It earned one-star ratings in the Achievement and Early Literacy categories, based on student performance on standardized tests. 

In math, just 2.7% of seventh graders—two out of 75 students—achieved proficiency in 2024-2025, compared to the statewide average of 50%. 

I Promise, a partnership between Akron Public Schools and the LeBron James Family Foundation, also sits among the bottom performers statewide, ranking #3,136 out of 3,181 public schools in Ohio, or roughly in the bottom 2% overall. 

Stone carvers pose on one of the Guardians of Transportation, 1931.

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75 °F 🌡️ 60 °F | 🌤️ | 30% | 💨 W ≈ 9 mph (≈ 8 knots)

76 °F 🌡️ 61 °F | ⛅ | 32% | 💨 SW ≈ 10 mph (≈ 9 knots)

75 °F 🌡️ 62 °F | ☁️ | 30% | 💨 W ≈ 9 mph (≈ 8 knots)

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

Home vs. Miami Dolphins, 1:00pm October 19 (Sunday)

Home vs. Tigers, 6:40pm Tuesday

Home vs. Tigers 6:40pm Wednesday

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