🎢 Please Don’t Call It Six Flags of North Ohio

Good morning, Cleveland! This is The 216 Scoop: Some people decorate for Halloween. Other people apparently build an entire spooky attraction in their yard. Parma has the second kind 🎃👻🏚️

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John Petkovic & Jude Perez

Iconic brand? Storied 156-year history? Generational memories?

Six Flags: Ah, who cares anyway.

The operator of 20 amusement and 14 water parks is testing new names for Cedar Point and other properties that would incorporate the Six Flags corporate name.

How about “Six Flags of North Ohio”?

It’s one of the options sent in surveys to passholders of one of America’s most beloved amusement parks.

Opened in 1870, Cedar Point is the second oldest in the country -- and the only of Northeast Ohio's once plentiful parks still standing.

Other names in the survey: “Cedar Point, a Six Flags Experience” and “Cedar Point by Six Flags.”

(Wait, no “Cedar Point Data Center & Waterpark”?)

Six Flags has pitched the survey as research tools.

No need to wait for responses: There’s already an intense backlash filled with obscenities and boycott threats.

The move also conjures bad memories for Clevelanders who remember rebrands by a previous incarnation of Six Flags:

What do you think? Take our poll and we’ll publish the results on Wednesday.

Hit gas station. Insert credit card. Watch digits run… $10, $20, $40, $60...

The cost goes far beyond a fill-up.

A 17% jump in diesel prices has helped drive into 16 trucking companies into bankruptcy proceedings in a month.

“We’re managing OK, but such a crazy jump creates cash-flow problems that can kill a company,” says Dave Ferrante, owner of Cleveland-based Bessemer Management, the country’s 56^th biggest trucker.

You see, carriers face 30-60-day billing cycles – but must cover expenses in real time.

“Profit margins are 3-5%,” adds Ferrante, who also owns Visible Voice Books. “Diesel is going nuts, then you have insurance rates running higher.”

Diesel impacts construction, shipping, food and retail — and the concert business.

“The price of fuel for a tour bus is now $600 a day,” says Cindy Barber, co-owner of the Beachland Ballroom. “A lot of bands are cutting back or canceling tours.”

The list includes Roxette, Dry Cleaning and Pussycat Dolls. It has also impacted charter tours.

Diesel is the goo that powers the economy. Ohio is the sixth-biggest user of it in the country.

“OK, so Diesel up 17%,” says Ferrante. “Do the math.”

Soul food has been a staple of Cleveland cuisine since Eugene “Hot Sauce” Williams and Virgil Whitmore Sr. brought Southern takes to town in the 1930s and ‘40s.

Here comes 7 Cravings – a hidden gem on Clark and West 25^th.

Opened in 2019 and rebranded two years ago, the family-owned restaurant is the go-to spot on the West Side for authentic soul food.

The catfish dinner is a melt-in-your-mouth delight that comes with two generous sides – from collards to mac & cheese to candied yams.

The mac & cheese is creamy, thick and tasteful. Yams are often sickly sweet; these are a smoky, spicy treat.

7 Cravings dives deep into seafood with walleye, perch, lobster rolls, seafood boils and a $20 shrimp-over-rice entrée that can feed two.

Saucy wings are also a draw, especially on Wednesday when they’re $1.

Ditto for Polish Boys and their unique ‘Soul Rolls’ – mac & cheese, yams, and greens wrapped in a crispy egg roll.

7 Cravings is mostly take-out, but there’s a dining area with a bar, TVs and games.

Be ready for a 40-minute wait and you’re told up front about it -- because “Every meal is made from scratch.”

MONDAY

Guardians vs. White Sox: Gavin Williams and the hitting need to step up to get Cleveland back into the best-of-series series after Saturday’s 3-0 loss. 5 p.m. Progressive Field. Info.

TUESDAY

Wayne Hancock: His mix of old country, roadhouse blues and rockabilly is tough and gritty – and makes alt-country sound like easy listening. 7 p.m., Treelawn Social Club. Info.

Chagrin Documentary Film Festival: The five-day celebration of dozens of documentary films from around the world holds screens in a variety of venues in Chagrin Falls. It opens year 17 at 5:30 p.m. Info.

Gorillaz: The virtual cartoon band created by Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett hits Rocket Arena with more than a dozen backing musicians and a light show that brings the cartoons to life. 7 p.m. Info.

The Who’s Tommy: The Broadway musical based on rock opera opens an eight-show run through Oct. 11 in Connor Palace. 7:30 p.m. Info.

👉 View Listing on Zillow

For 11 months, it’s a charming Colonial with a well-manicured lawn in Parma.

Then the ghosts and goblins come out to play in what is one of the area’s spookiest strolls.

Egads, it’s Haunted Walkthrough.

It rolls out corn stalks, layers of fog, spooky tunes, animatronic cretins and tomghoulary.

Jill Puro-Lindeman and her husband Jason Lindeman debuted their homespun attractions on their front and side yards a year ago.

“I wanted a walk-through area with serial killers and clowns, so we built some of them ourselves,” she says. “Mushroomhead gave me all these skulls on the poles in the front yard.”

The couple are on site during showings, with Jill passing out candy to visitors.

Haunted Walkthrough runs 7 to 10-11 p.m. daily (weather permitting) through Halloween -- at 6482 Ridge Road.

“Down goes Anderson,” announced Tom Hamilton, as Jose Ramirez delivered a right hook to the jaw of White Sox infielder Tim Anderson on August 5, 2023. Jose’s TKO – in response to a taunt and a punch -- instigated a 15-minute, bench-clearing melee with multiple flare-ups and six ejections.

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

61 °F 🌡️ 46 °F | ☀️ (Mostly Sunny) | 2% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 15 mph NNW (≈ 13 knots)

68 °F 🌡️ 54 °F | ☀️ (Sunny) | 4% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 9 mph SSW (≈ 8 knots)

73 °F 🌡️ 55 °F | ⛅ (Partly Cloudy) | 8% | 💨 ↑ ≈ 14 mph WSW (≈ 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. Jets, 1 PM October 11 (Sunday)

Home vs. Celtics, 7 PM October 8 (Thursday)

Home vs. Magic, 6:30 PM October 11 (Sunday)

Home vs. CWS, TBD October 5 (Monday) — ALDS Game 2

Away vs.CWS, TBD October 7 (Wednesday) — ALDS Game 3

Away vs. CWS, TBD October 8 (Thursday) — ALDS Game 4 *if necessary

Home vs. CWS, TBD October 10 (Saturday) — ALDS Game 5 *if necessary

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