CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) will host a special screening at 7 p.m. Jan. 22 of the award‑winning documentary “Ripples of Plastic” at the Cedar Lee Theatre, 2163 Lee Road in Cleveland Heights.
Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased here through Cleveland Cinemas. More information about the film is available at ripplesofplastic.com.
Following the screening, attendees are invited to stay for a panel discussion moderated by Cuyahoga SWCD’s Board Supervisor, Anton Krieger. The panel discussion will feature local conservation partners who will explore the science, policy, and community action surrounding microplastic pollution in the Great Lakes region.
Panelists will include: Chris Langer – Director, Ripples of Plastic; Carin Miller – Education Specialist, Cuyahoga Solid Waste District; Erin Huber – Founder & Executive Director, Drink Local Drink Tap; Eddie Olschansky – Trash Fish; and Scott Hardy – Extension Specialist, Ohio Sea Grant.
Microplastics are tiny plastic fragments ranging from the width of a human hair to the size of a pencil eraser that have become a pervasive pollutant in waterways across the globe. An estimated 22 million pounds of plastic enters the Great Lakes each year, posing risks to ecosystems, wildlife, and human health.
Lake Erie alone supplies drinking water to more than 11 million people in the United States and Canada. While water treatment facilities remove most microplastics, some particles are small enough to pass through filtration systems, entering both the water supply and the broader food chain.
“Ripples of Plastic” investigates how microplastics enter the Great Lakes, the scale of the problem, and the implications for the environment, public health, and the food we eat. The film also highlights practical steps individuals and communities can take to reduce plastic pollution.
Executive Producer of Great Lakes Now Rob Green underscores the urgency of the issue by stating, “Recent studies suggest that we may each have a plastic spoon’s worth of microplastics in our brains.”
Sherri Mason, director of the Freshwater Research Program at Gannon University in Erie, Pa., adds, “There has been a dramatic increase in microplastics within the Great Lakes in the last 10 years, but we still have no regular monitoring for them.”
Cuyahoga SWCD’s mission is to foster a healthy and resilient urban environment through soil and water conservation practices, community engagement, and environmental stewardship. To learn more about SWCD, visit cuyahogaswcd.org.
Read, Create, Celebrate in Beachwood: Beachwood City Schools will welcome students and families for an engaging evening of literacy, creativity, and technology during its Read, Create, Celebrate Night from 5:30-7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Beachwood High School Library, 25100 Fairmount Blvd.
The evening will feature a variety of interactive experiences with school librarians, technology teachers, Beachwood High and Beachwood Middle School library club volunteers, and Beachwood Public Library staff.
A Read-a-Loud Zone for students in grades K-5 will offer themed storylines led by the Cuyahoga County Public Library, followed by related crafts and digital activities.
Families can also explore the Creation Stations, where they will have opportunities to make bookmarks, create mini-books, play games, and tackle fun STEM challenges.
In the Tech Playground, participants will enjoy hands-on exploration of Chromebooks, robots and circuits with guidance from the district’s technology staff and student leaders.
The evening will also include a Podcast Booth and Photo Station, providing families a chance to record short podcasts and take “book character” photos using a green screen setup.
Families are encouraged to drop in at any point during the event to take advantage of the unique opportunities to connect, learn, and celebrate literacy.
Ohio’s first garden-style suburb: The Shaker Historical Society (SHS) invites all to attend “Garden City Dreams, an exploration of how the innovative Garden City Movement inspired the Van Sweringen brothers to develop Shaker Heights into Ohio’s first planned garden-style suburb.
The event is scheduled for 7-8:30 p.m. Jan. 15 in the Shaker Library’s Boulevard & Fernway Rooms, 16500 Van Aken Blvd.
SHS Education & Outreach Manager Makialani Kanewa-Mariano will lead the presentation.
Attendees will learn how the brothers’ vision blended nature, architecture, and modern infrastructure into a model of early 20th-century community design that, today, continues to be studied and admired.
The event kicks off the Shaker Historical Society’s America250-Ohio programming, part of a statewide celebration of Ohio’s contributions to the history and future of the United States.
Each month in 2026, America250-Ohio will highlight a different theme reflecting Ohio’s unique impact on the nation.
“Garden City Dreams” explores Shaker Heights’ role as an innovative planned suburb in celebration of Ohio’s Firsts & Originals.
Offered in partnership with the Shaker Heights Public Library, the talk is free and open to the public, but registration is required at givebutter.com/gardencitydreams.
Tree totals from Shaker: The city of Shaker Heights’ Forestry Division reported that, in 2025, a total of 441 trees were planted in the city. Of those, 327 were new trees, while additional volunteer efforts resulted in another 114 being planted.
The species inventory of trees selected for street tree planting can be found in the Five-Year Street Tree Master Plan .
Forestry crews pruned approximately 11 miles of street trees in 2025. Young tree pruning is an essential part of the best urban forestry programs, because it creates a structurally stronger tree that reduces the likelihood of limb or trunk failure, which, over time, lowers maintenance costs.
To complete more of this essential early pruning, the Forestry Division applied for and received a 2025 Cuyahoga County Healthy Urban Tree Canopy Grant in the amount of $25,0000.
The grant will fund the first pruning of an additional 646 young trees by private contractors.
Cleveland Heights seeking new council member: Cleveland Heights City Council, in its search for a resident to fill a vacancy created with Jim Petras’ election to mayor, has reopened its application process until midnight Jan. 22.
To apply, visit here.
Cleveland Heights celebrates hockey Olympian: Cleveland Heights native Laila Edwards was selected to the Team USA Women’s Hockey roster and will take the ice at the Winter Olympics in February.
Edwards, a city release notes, “is a rising star, starting for National Champion University of Wisconsin, and will be the first Black woman to represent Team USA Women’s Hockey at the Olympics.”
To see a video Team USA Hockey produced about Edwards, visit here.
MLK Community Conversation and Meal, donation drive: At 1:30 p.m. Jan. 18, a Community Conversation & Meal centered on Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be held at St. Dominic School, 3455 Norwood Road in Shaker Heights (the parking lot is accessible from Van Aken Boulevard).
The meal will be catered by Zanzibar Soul Fusion. Residents can participate in a shared group activity and discussion about what can be done to make sure Shaker Heights continues to build on the idea of a beloved community. The event is free, but registration is required.
Also in conjunction with MLK Day, from 10 a.m. to noon at Shaker Heights Middle School, 20600 Shaker Blvd., donations will be accepted of non-perishable food items, hygiene products, diapers and baby wipes. The donations will go to nonprofit organizations. For more information, visit here.
These events are being held under the theme, “Building the Beloved Community for Such a Time as This.” They are being hgeld by the city of Shaker Heights, in collaboration with the Shaker Heights City School District, the Shaker Heights PTO, the Shaker Schools Foundation, and the Shaker Heights Public Library in celebration of the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Heart Sellers: Cleveland Heights’ Dobama Theatre will present “The Heart Sellers” from Jan. 29 to Feb. 22 at 2340 Lee Road.
Dobama describes “The Heart Sellers” in this way: “A heartfelt comedy about finding friendship in the land of opportunity. When Jane and Luna run into each other at the grocery store, they discover that they’re both 23 and recent Asian immigrants.
“Over a bottle of wine (or two) and a frozen turkey, they dream of Disneyland, learning to drive, and an unknowable future as they share their hopes and fears of making their new reality a home.”
To see times and dates, and to purchase tickets, visit here.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day: The Kol Israel Foundation (KIF) will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day Jan. 27 by exploring a provocative topic — Countering Holocaust Distortion and Denial.
The program will take place at 7 p.m. that day at B’nai Jeshurun Congregation, 27501 Fairmount Blvd. in Pepper Pike.
Attendees will view a 12-minute film, “Holocaust Distortion: A Growing Threat,” produced by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Following the film, panelists will discuss the difference between Holocaust denial and distortion, how to recognize the two in daily life and on social media platforms, and what to do when confronted with these forms of hate.
Deb Hurwitz, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and a former KIF Board member, will moderate the program.
Panelists will include: Mark Cole, executive director of the Ohio Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education and a Cleveland State University professor specializing in the history of Nazism and the Holocaust; Jodi Elowitz, director of education at the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission; and Lee C. Shapiro, regional director of American Jewish Committee Cleveland.
The United Nations General Assembly established International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005. Jan. 27 was chosen to correspond with the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, but the commemoration is intended to remember and honor all Holocaust victims.
“The use of Holocaust-related rhetoric and imagery to target Jews is not new, but it has certainly increased in recent years,” said KIF Executive Director Hallie Duchon, in a release. “Antisemites have become more cunning in how they frame and disseminate their hateful claims.
“As Jews and descendants of Holocaust survivors, we must be prepared to recognize and respond forcefully to Holocaust distortion and denial.”
The program is free, but registration is required at Kol Israel Foundation – Resilience, Remembrance and Holocaust Education.
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