CLEVELAND — Every week in Northeast Ohio is jam-packed with news. Sometimes, we can't always get to every story. So that's where Mike Polk Jr. comes in. We asked Mike to look into three stories that we didn't have time to report on. Here's his rundown:
Lizard-less dining
Bad news for Northeast Ohioans who enjoy dining casually while a reptile stares at them with no emotion.
The Winking Lizard has been exhibiting live green iguanas in its restaurants since the 1980s, but has recently begun re-homing the iconic lizards to animal care facilities across Northeast Ohio.
Take Reggie for example, a seven-year-old rascal who just moved from the Winking Lizard in Peninsula to its new home at the African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton.
Reggie will now be one of the park’s ambassador animals, making public appearances in educational programs.
So congratulations to Reggie and all his friends for not having to smell like onion rings all the time anymore.
Barbie invasion
Big news for "The Barbie Brigade," The Barbie Truck is coming to town!
“The Barbie Dreamhouse Living Tour” is making its way across the U.S. to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Barbie Dreamhouse. The Truck will arrive at Crocker Park in Wesltake on Saturday, Sept. 9th. 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Just a word of friendly advice to The Barbie Dreamhouse Truck crew. Cleveland’s an amazing city and you’re going to love it but be careful where you park that thing overnight while you’re here, we’ve been having some issues lately and we’d hate to see your trip end like this.
And finally...
I guess congratulations are in order for our kid brother city Columbus. They were just was ranked the second friendliest big city in the nation, in a study compiled by Preply.
The assessment was based on factors like: how residents reacted to strangers and actions, such as holding a door open for others, general politeness, etc. And apparently, Columbus, AKA The Crocker Park of Cities, is full of the sweetest little dandies in the nation, with the exception of Austin, TX, which is apparently even friendlier than Columbus in addition to being infinitely cooler.
So congrats to you, Columbus, but I will point out that you are smack dab in the middle of what is by far the most affluent area in our state, and it’s a lot easier to be friendly when you know the rent’s paid and I’m more likely to hold the door open for someone if I don’t have to rush back to the parking lot to make sure no one stole my Kia.
Here’s the pitch: relocate a couple of those state offices from Columbus to Cleveland and all those government jobs that they would require. Then you just watch how much more chipper we get. Heck, I’d even curtsey for you.
And those are the stories you almost missed this week.
More from Mike Polk Jr.
