As the summer solstice looms, groups of cycling advocates invite riders to celebrate Cleveland’s best bike year ever amid a host of two-wheeled activities with something for everyone.

Tucked away on East 41^th Street just across the way from Tyler Village, Stephen Yusko is toiling away at his studio wherein you'll find milling machines and band saws and the usual residents in a metalworking shop. But Yusko's tools also include anvils, a white-hot forge and the tongs and hammers that transform steel into the smith's graceful designs.
 
"My work is a combination of forging, machining and fabricating. It seems like more machining, but it always starts with a forged … something," says Yusko. "I enjoy that process: heating up a bar of steel and transforming it into a shape."
 
Yusko continues while a cat named M slinks around the shop, completely unimpressed by the craftsman's lofty musings:

Read them here, and find out where this able smith like to sup when he's not manning the forge.

With a career in retail that spans more than 25 years, Megan Featherston knows the trends and shopping behavior of the furniture and home furnishings market.

“I’m really wired for and passionate about putting the fun back in retail,” Featherston says. “Most people shop to fill a void. But with everything so homogenous, it’s like [the movie] Groundhog’s Day.’”
 
Then last year, Featherston noticed a problem that she knew she could solve. She saw Baby Boomers looking to downsize and get rid of some of the nice furniture they’ve acquired over the years, while Millennials are constantly searching for unique, affordable furnishings,
 
So earlier this month Featherston opened VNTG Home, 1427 E. 36^th St. at Tyler Village. 

Read about how VNTG Home solves both generational problems here.
 

To preview the much-anticipated 8th annual event this weekend, Fresh Water managing photographer Bob Perkoski offers up a host of dazzling images from previous festivals.

Inspired by CNBC's Cleveland Hustles, Cleveland Chain Reaction aims to keep the economic development wave going with up to $1 million invested in five new businesses — all in one neighborhood.

The organization intends to prioritize programming accessibility and ensure that people across all races, incomes and education levels feel included in its programming and funding.
 

As some 76 million baby boomers retire, they are stirring a “silver tsunami” across the country, testing public and nonprofit agencies as well as the housing market. Fresh Water checks in to see how Northeast Ohio is preparing for the trend.

Fresh Water explores a quartet of Cleveland's ethnic houses of worship that endure in traditions of faith, history and culture.

While Congress floats a proposal to raise the full Social Security retirement age to 69, the impact will hit hardest in Cleveland's urban neighborhoods, where life expectancy is as low as 70—nearly nine years shorter than the national average.

While the Cleveland Renaissance rises all around us in gleaming fashion, Fresh Water takes a steely look inside five spots that evoke the Rust Belt's hey day.

Children living in Cuyahoga County have some of the highest lead blood-levels in the Ohio. Public entities, nonprofits such as Neighborhood Connections and – most importantly – residents on the ground are tackling the broad and complex problem.