The issue of concussions among both professional and student athletes is a hot topic these days. But repetitive brain injuries – how to detect, prevent and treat concussions – are also a concern among people in virtually every walk of life.

So on Tuesday and Wednesday, June 23 and 24, national scientists, engineers, clinicians and researchers will gather at the Global Center for Health Innovation to brainstorm and share their ideas at Concussion: A National Challenge.
 
The event, ,sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C., Case Western Reserve University, MetroHealth and Taipei Medical University, among others, will focus on medical advances in concussion detection, prevention and treatment in areas such as athletics, auto accidents and military personnel.
 
“This is bringing people together who don’t normally attend the same meetings for a frank discussion of what we need to do,” says Jay Alberts, director of the Cleveland Clinic Concussion Center and one of the event’s speakers. “It’s unique to have people from the automotive industry, sports and military. All of these groups are concerned about concussions and mild to moderate brain injury. We will take the best practices from each group to address what the fundamental practices are.”
 
The public is invited to join the discussions and presentations. “You don’t have to be a trained specialist or an engineer to be a part of the talks,” stresses Alberts. “Parents and coaches are encouraged to attend. They will ask questions that will force people on the panel and the speakers to think about it differently. It’s always important to get the patient perspective to understand the fundamental problems and the questions that need to be answered.”
 
 
The symposium is free, but registration is required. 

The proposed three-mile trail and linear park along the rapid tracks could be one of the most transformational projects the city has seen in years.

This weekend, enjoy authentic Greek food at Tremont Greek Fest, indulge in brunch at Hingetown’s May Market, tear it up at East Meets West's 2015 Game of S-K-A-T-E and more.

While on spring break in 2013 from his junior year at Ohio University, Seth Miller and three of his friends were killing time in the car on their way to Florida. “My buddy and I were freestyling on the way down to spring break,” he recalls. “It was pretty terrible, but they were hilarious. I knew people would enjoy doing it.”
 
Miller, now 22, then spent the next two years developing his app concept – pick from a curated rap beat, freestyle over it and send it to friends in a one-minute message. The Lakewood resident presented RapChat at Startup Weekend Athens and won $1,000. Miller officially launched RapChat for iPhones in June 2014.
 
The app targets 16-24 year olds and spans gender and racial lines. RapChat is available for iPhone free download in the iTunes App Store.
 
“In December we ramped up and started going like crazy, like a rocket ship,” says Miller. Today, RapChat has already seen 410,000 downloads and 4 million raps sent in 2015. There’s no shortage of beats to choose from either. “We haven’t had to do much recently,” Miller brags. “Producers submit beats and we pick out the best ones. We curate new beats once a week.”
 
The app features beats from more than 20 artists such as Cal Scruby and Matt Houston. The company has plans to add bigger producers as time goes soon and has plans to release a beat by ASAP Ty Beats, a member of the ASAP Mob and producer of ASAP Rocky’s hits “Purple Swag” and “Peso.”
 
When the app hit 300,000 downloads last year, Miller decided to quit his job and focus on RapChat full time. The company now has 10 team members – all located throughout the Midwest. One of the other three original founders, Brandon Logan, is still with RapChat.

Right now, the company is not focusing on revenue. Miller takes freelance jobs to pay the bills. But he says they already have some "major brands" interested in partnering with RapChat when the time is right.

The Flashstarts business accelerator and venture fund recently moved from Playhouse Square to a much larger location in Terminal Tower for two basic reasons, says cofounder Charles Stack.

The first reason was to make it easier for startup companies to find stable office space. The second was to condense newbie entrepreneurial efforts into StartMart, a single, highly energetic nucleus where water cooler moments can foster new ideas and economic growth.

This concept of "engineered serendipity"  began May 16th when Flashstarts, which provides coaching, funds and other resources to new companies that participate in a 12-week program, left for its new 30,000-square-foot headquarters on Public Square, a space six times larger than its previous office.

"I've been doing this for 30 years, and I've never been more optimistic about startups having the opportunity to turn this region into a powerhouse," says Stack, who began planning StartMart with fellow Flashstarts founder Jennifer Neundorfer last spring. "This move is a small step in that direction."

Flashstarts itself will be the hub's first official tenant in the lead-up to a public launch in September. Over the summer, the accelerator will engage the community for feedback on StartMart's design and begin identifying and communicating with potential members. Though the group's focus is on use of software and technology, Stack expects a diverse range of occupants to fill the space.

"It's wide open to anyone who wants to join," he says.

Participants will work in a flexible space where privacy is an option even as collaboration is encouraged. Ultimately, StartMart will stand as a focal point for large-scale innovation.

"We want this to be a global center for startups," says Stack. "Cleveland can be a great home base (for small businesses), and we need to play up that strength."

An immigration proposal with local ties has connected groups statewide in the battle for brainpower.

Financial cuts and aging infrastructure require creativity for a transit authority seeking to connect riders to new and improved rapid transit stations.

When the Incubator at MAGNET launched ProtoTech last year, the event was a pitch competition for product-based start-ups competing for $25,000 in prize money. This year, organizers have shifted focus a bit with ProtoTech: INVEST – a networking and pitch event that is all about investment in growing companies.
 
“Last year it was a pitch event for really early stage companies,” says Dave Crain, the Incubator at MAGNET executive director. “This year we’re more about connections and networking than it is of a contest. It’s for presenters who are looking for $500,000 to $2 million in investments.”
 
There will be pitches, but in a less formal setting without voting or prize money at ProtoTech: INVEST. Fifteen to 20 technology based start-ups with a focus on products will showcase their companies to investors at the event. “It’s an opportunity to get the right people in the room to make connections, network and find funding,” says Crain, adding that ProtoTech: INVEST is the next step in pitch competitions.
 
“It’s just a part of the evolution, part of maturity,” Crain says. “There will always be pitch competitions, there always should be pitch competitions. We’re just building a pipeline. This is the next level of maturity as these companies grow up.”
 
Crain says the shift came in response to feedback from both sides involved in start-up fundraising. “What I’m really hearing from both the start-ups and investors is while Ohio has made a lot of progress, no one is doing this locally – this is something successful ventures cities are doing.”
 
Some of the companies already registered are Cleveland Whiskey, Vadxx, Biolectrics and Everykey.
 
ProtoTech: INVEST will be held at the Metropolitan at the 9 on Thursday, June 4. Registration and pitches will be from 2pm to 5pm; dinner and networking at 5pm. Presenters can register here; investors can register here.

Thirty years ago, Carol Emeruwa began searching for an alternative to the standard chocolate chip cookie to put in a care packages to her daughter at college. “I was looking around for something, but she didn’t like chocolate chip cookies,” Emeruwa recalls. So she started fooling around with different recipes and developed a ginger cookie made with natural ingredients and three kinds of ginger.  “She moved to New York after college and I still sent those cookies.”

Then Emeruwa was downsized from her accounting job two years ago. New job prospects looked bleak. “My daughter said, ‘do something you enjoy doing,’” Emeruwa says. So she decided to devote her time to baking and crated Red Head Artisanal Ginger Cookies in December of 2014.  She sells gift boxes and subscriptions through the Red Head website and AHAlife. Prices start at $24 for a dozen cookies. Emeruwa now has a two-pack of cookies that she plans to distribute to area stores.
 
The business has taken off. Emeruwa now offers five different flavors of ginger cookies that she bakes in the Cleveland Culinary Launch and Kitchen. “It’s really exciting down there,” she says. “It’s a great place to learn and taste other people’s products. There’s a great atmosphere down there.”
 
Emeruwa says she thinks she’s found her true calling. “I want to spend all my time building the business,” she says. “This is something I really enjoy doing. Now we’re working on new flavors, more savory items, and I’m tinkering with bacon.”  Emeruwa recently recruited 15 customers to taste her new flavors, and she still sends the new flavors to her daughter.

"Proprietor Paulius Nasvytis and the bartenders of The Velvet Tango Room are 'torchbearers of tradition.' Since 1996, the bartenders here were serving classic cocktails long before it was trendy. There are more than 80 cocktails on the menu; about 30 of them are house creations, including the India Lime Fizz (a rich, creamy, and powerful cocktail that combines gin, rum, flora India limes, vanilla, and a whole egg). The bar is housed in a space that was once a speakeasy — bullet holes can still be seen in the ceiling. The bar and back bar are made of refinished mahogany and the front room feature a baby grand piano at which music is played nightly by a three-piece jazz combo and a late-night pianist. The second room is reached by walking through a mirror in the coatroom. There's another baby grand piano there, along with a cozy fireplace, comfy leather chairs, and, further beyond, a patio where some of the bar's cocktail ingredients are grown. Both rooms have an old-fashioned black-and-white TV that shows classic movies with no sound. There are limited snacks, like speck, which is locally sourced smoked pork belly made by a German family in Cleveland."

Read the full story here.

Three new creative studios, BRICK Ceramic + Design Studio, Praxis Fiber Workshop and Ink House Annex, are set to open just in time for the summer season.

Since 1965 Pier W in Lakewood has been a seafood destination for special occasions. On May 11 the restaurant will mark its 50^th anniversary and it seems there is no shortage of memories shared at the iconic dinner spot on Lake Erie.

“We’re 50 years and still going strong,” says general manager Mark Kawada. “We’re having some of the best years of the restaurant’s history and it’s great to be a part of it, and great to hear the stories.” Only a handful of area restaurants have the bragging rights to 50 years in business, he says.
 
Kawada recalls a man who recently came in for brunch and brought in a Polaroid photo of himself and his prom date from 30 years ago. “That happens all the time here,” he says.
 
Although the world has changed in 50 years, Pier W has kept up with the times while maintaining its commitment to fresh seafood in a beautiful setting. “Back then we didn’t have social media or a ton of websites that review you,” he says. “And people have a fascination with food now. When times were tough and most people pulled back, we didn’t pull back. We have to stay true to who we are and what we make.”
 
What they make is fish that is handled only seven times or less before cooking – the average restaurant serves seafood that has been handled an average of 100 times before it is served – by sourcing its fish from places like Copper River Salmon in Alaska or tuna overnighted three times a week from Hawaii.
 
“We get fish in almost every day and when we say we get all of our fish in whole, we get it quicker and we get it fresher,” Kawada explains. “We have whole cooler with running water and we cut all of our own fish. It does make a difference.”
 
Executive chef Regan Reik is an expert in sustainable seafood, building relationships directly with the fishermen who fish responsibly. The same practices hold true for Pier W’s meat and chicken.
 
The commitment to quality is what has kept Pier W going for five decades. “How we evolved, even in slow times, is we’ll spend the time and money to do it right, because it’s the best,” Kawada says. The restaurant closed for a year about 10 years ago for a $4 million remodel.
 
Yes, a lot of practices have remained the same. “We have the same bouillabaisse recipe we made 50 years ago,” Kawada says. “A lot of things are old school, the same way we did it 50 years ago.”
 
A new generation of regulars come to Pier W every day, as well as folks who have been coming for the past 50 years.