Ohio's sales tax holiday starts on Tuesday, July 30—waiving the sales tax on school supplies needed for the upcoming school year. Cleveland Independents announced that this year, the sales tax holiday also applies to restaurants and local retail shops.

Towards Employment recently received more than $4 million in grants from Opportunity@Work and U.S. Department of Labor’s Pathway Home to enhance its mission of economic mobility and workforce equity. The funds will support pre- and post-release employment and education resources for returning citizens, provide skills training, and community connections to ensure smooth transitions from incarceration to meaningful employment.

The work of hundreds of Cleveland gardeners was on full display throughout the city last weekend during GardenWalk Cleveland. Bob Perkoski took a stroll through many of them and captured some of the beauty of the gardens and Cleveland neighborhoods.

DigitalC will host a panel discussion this Friday at the MidTown Tech Hive—when entrepreneur Chris Gray will discuss his new AI version of his Path software. Guests can receive a free, year-long subscription to the AI-powered skills trainer.

Cleveland Masterworks: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish, organized by Cleveland's Slovak immigrant community in 1903, constructed two churches in its 90 years as a thriving congregation. Abandoned in 1992, the decayed symbol of better times was demolished last week.

Neighborhood Connections announced this week that it has approved $382,114 in grants to support 121 projects in Cleveland and East Cleveland. Cuyahoga Arts & Culture will co-fund 27 of the resident-led arts and culture projects. Read about what community groups are doing with the funding to improve our neighborhoods.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History paleoanthropologist and assistant curator of human origins Dr. Emma Finestone in April was awarded the Robert J. and Linnet E. Fritz Endowed Chair of Human Origins. The position was part of a $3 million gift from Robert and Linnet Fritz toward the museum's Transforming the World Of Discovery campaign. Finestone was part of a group who, in Nyayanga, Kenya, discovered some of the oldest stone tools ever found.

FreshWater managing photographer Bob Perkoski provides a peek into the everyday lives of Clevelanders going about their business in the neighborhoods and on the streets of Cleveland.

While decluttering her basement, teacher, artist, and retired bass player Juliana Sadock Savino came across some items that inspired her to create some impromptu public art installations on the grounds of the decaying former Westinghouse Electric factory on Ashland Road.

Driven by strong demand, the City of South Euclid has five major housing projects in the works. Working with One South Euclid, these projects diversify housing options and show the city's commitment to growth and community enrichment by adding single-family homes, townhomes, custom houses, and infill housing for young professionals, families, and empty nesters alike.

The Saint Luke's Foundation, The City Club of Cleveland, Bike Your Neighborhood Cleveland, and the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival will present a free film screening of “Bike Vessel” this Friday, with a community bike ride with Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb on Saturday, to raise awareness, spark inspiration, conversation, and promote health equity through cycling.

The Mandel Foundation's Neighborhood Leadership Development Program (NLDP) has been producing neighborhood leaders since 2006. The younger Community Development Corporation Leadership Program (CDCLP) successfully empowers CDC leaders to create positive change in the communities they represent. Both programs are now looking for the next cohort of community leaders.

Greater Cleveland Partnership’s (GCP) Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) announced yesterday, Tuesday, July 9, that 21 businesses will advance to the semifinals in season seven of Cleveland Chain Reaction, a neighborhood economic development project and small business pitch competition. Find out who made the cut!

GardenWalk Cleveland will feature more than 400 gardens in 11 Cleveland neighborhoods this weekend—showing off the work, creativity, and neighborhood pride of local gardeners.

Seeds of Literacy, which helps 1,500 adults each year on their path to earning their high school equivalency, was recently awarded a $25,000 Spectrum Digital Education grant to expand its virtual classroom, hire additional tutors, and buy equipment to serve adults in literacy needs and earning their GEDs.

FreshWater managing photographer Bob Perkoski provides a peek into the everyday lives of Clevelanders going about their business in the neighborhoods and on the streets of Cleveland.

Oberlin Conservatory of Music rising senior Damian Goggans and musicians from the Cleveland Orchestra will perform the works of forgotten Clevelander, 19th Century composer Justin Holland, at Lake View Cemetery's Classically Lake View chamber music concert series on Sunday, July 7.

Built on 254 acres in Rockefeller Park, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens opened in 1916 with what is today known as the British Cultural Garden. Today, 108 years later, there are 35 gardens that celebrate a world of ethnicities and cultures. As the World on Stage series starts this weekend, and with One World Day in August, contributing editor Grant Segall looks at the history of Cleveland's cultural gem.

Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry is piloting a 3D-printed affordable housing project to create two homes for those at risk of experiencing homelessness. Cleveland City Council provided $500,000 for the project championed by Council member Stephanie D. Howse-Jones.

The Western Reserve Historical Society recently unveiled composer and educator Dr. Harrison Leslie Adams, Jr. as the seventh notable figure in its African American Art/History Walk in University Circle. The public art installation celebrates the achievements of Black history-makers and artists in Cleveland through a mural with QR links to The HistoryMakers biographies.