Cover Stories
Don’t miss these Michigan summer festivals
If you’re like us, you probably miss seeing people and doing things. This year, many big summer events are returning for the first time since 2019. We’ll see you at… all of them. Food & Drink Michigan Taco Fest, June 24-26 Head up to Lake Orion for the 3rd annual Michigan Taco Fest for tequila,…
Free summertime events in Detroit for the whole family
Here’s a little known fact: Metro Times loves the kids. While most of our content is geared toward adult nights out on the town, we understand that some of our readers are real adults with families. Museum trips and carnivals are a great way to spend the summer, and who doesn’t love a good funnel…
20 cool ways to spend summer nights in Detroit
Michigan’s warm season is mercilessly short, and its temperate spring is even shorter. It seems like not long after Memorial Day, we’re already in the thick of a Midwestern summer, with the hot sun beating down, sticky car seats, and humidity that makes the air feel like swimming through soup. Just existing can be painful,…
Two of Detroit’s rising rap stars land spot in XXL magazine’s Freshman 2022 class
Since 2007, XXL magazine’s Freshman Class has been one of the most coveted, and debated, lists in rap music. The annual list highlights roughly a dozen upcoming artists who the magazine feels is worth keeping an out for in the near future. Over the last 15 years, four Detroit artists have been featured on the…
Best Protein Coffee Creamers in 2022
Do you love coffee but need to add a bit of protein to your diet? If so, then you’ll love the best protein coffee creamers of 2022! These creamers are perfect for adding a boost of protein to your morning cup of Joe. They also taste great and will help keep you energized throughout the…
Documentary on Flint hip-hop artists wins an Emmy
On Saturday, June 11 the documentary Breed & Bootleg: Legends of Flint Rap Music won a Regional Emmy award in the Topical category. The film explored the legacy of Mc Breed and Bootleg of the Dayton Family, along with the musical impact they had on the city of Flint. The film, which screened as part…
Detroit City Council debates giving billionaire Dan Gilbert another $60M in tax breaks for delayed Hudson’s project
The Detroit City Council on Tuesday postponed a controversial vote on a $60 million tax break for billionaire Dan Gilbert’s real estate firm to develop the delayed Hudson’s site project in downtown. Gilbert’s Bedrock firm is asking for a 10-year local tax break on top of the more than $200 million the company has already…
Detroit’s Woodward Cocktail Bar damaged in fire
Smoke billowed across Woodward Avenue as firefighters worked to extinguish a fire at Woodward Bar and Grill (also called Woodward Cocktail Bar) Tuesday morning. The fire at the longstanding LGBTQ hangout started around 11 a.m. and by 1 p.m. the Detroit Fire Department was still on scene trying to put it out. Detroit Fire Department…
Detroit chef Warda Bouguettaya wins James Beard Award for outstanding pastry chef
It’s a fact, the financiers and tarts at Warda Pâtisserie in Midtown are outstanding. And that’s not just our personal opinion: owner Warda Bouguettaya won the James Beard award for outstanding pastry chef on Monday night. Now located at 70 W. Alexandrine St. in Detroit (after operating out of Trinosophes cafe near Eastern Market), Warda…
BrisaBar brings a beach vibe to the heart of downtown Detroit
With its wooden decks and imported sand, you’d be forgiven if you temporarily forgot you were in Detroit, Michigan, and not on a tropical getaway while at the newest downtown bar. BrisaBar is now open at Detroit’s Campus Martius Park, in the space formerly known as the Fountain Detroit at 800 Woodward Ave. It’s operated…
‘Cane Fire’ glides through a century-plus of Hawaiian history
While always speaking in a language of abundance, Hollywood has a way of crowding out all but a few kinds of stories. With Cane Fire, Anthony Banua-Simon explores both the outcomes and precursors of this long-running tendency, examining the pull of media narratives on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i for viewers both there and outside.…
Motor City Pride was my first out of the closet — and a reminder of what Pride really means
After I returned from New York City last June, I knew that I finally had some time to process my identity. I hadn’t had a real break since the start of photographing the George Floyd protests that began in late May 2020. During those consecutive 163 days, I soaked in a ton of history but…
Cannabis dispensary with drive-thru opens up in Lansing
Lansing got is first drive-thru cannabis dispensary on Friday. Bazonzoes Provisioning Center opened the drive-thru weed shop, located at 920 American Rd. on the city’s south side. It’s the Lansing-based brand’s third location. But you can’t just roll up and order an eighth like you would a burger at a fast-food joint, you have to…
Former Macomb County priest convicted of sexually abusing child in 1980s
A former Macomb County priest faces up to 15 years in prison after a jury convicted him of sexual abuse. Neil Kalina was accused of fondling a child and giving him drugs and alcohol when he was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township from 1982 to 1985. A jury on Friday…
Radiohead side project The Smile announces Detroit date
For whatever reason, English rock band Radiohead avoided playing in the Detroit area for many years, finally following a 1997 show at what is now the Fillmore with a concert at the former Palace of Auburn Hills in 2012. If the band ever had a boycott against Detroit, apparently they’re officially over it. A new…
Warren bomb suspect is outlaw motorcycle gang member with extensive criminal record
A Warren man is clinging to life after an explosion tore through his body while he appeared to be building a bomb, police said. The 38-year-old man was in critical condition Monday morning, with second- and third-degree burns over 55% of his body, Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer tells Metro Times. “If he survives, he’s…
Detroit playwright Michael R. Jackson snags two Tony Awards
Michael R. Jackson showed up and showed out at the 75th annual Tony Awards over the weekend. Donning a glamorous pink cape, Jackson took home best musical and best book for a musical awards for his play A Strange Loop. It took Jackson nearly two decades to write A Strange Loop, which he called “emotionally…
The FBI raids a GOP candidate’s home and a man was found dead inside of a funeral home: The top 10 Metro Times headlines
There’s something ironic about a man being killed inside an abandoned funeral home. Our readers were certainly interested in the circumstances surrounding a man’s death inside Flint’s Swanson Funeral Home. It’s not a Michigan political season without scandal and our readers were interested in the FBI searching the home of GOP gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley.…
Michigan’s Blake Farms releases line of cold-pressed juices
From cider and doughnuts to hard cider, flower festivals, and U-Pick apples, Blake Farm can do no wrong in our eyes. Now they’ve added a line of cold-pressed juices to their offerings. Blake’s Cold-Pressed Juice is now available at all Blake’s locations, Old Woodward Shop in Royal Oak, and TJ’s Market in Commerce Township. They…
Judge sets $100,000 bond for Grand Rapids cop who fatally shot Black man in back of head
A judge set a $100,000 bond Friday for the Grand Rapids cop who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head following a traffic stop in April. Officer Christopher Schurr was arraigned on a felony count of second-degree murder. Schurr’s attorney Mark Dodge said his client “was justified in his use of force.”…
James Craig launches improbable write-in campaign for governor
Former Detroit Police Chief James Craig announced Thursday that he’s launching a long-shot write-in campaign for the Republican gubernatorial primary election after his nominating petitions were rejected last month. Despite the long odds, Craig expressed optimism that he’s going to win and defeat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in November. “I’m going to be the next governor,”…
More Michigan Starbucks workers vote to unionize, including in Macomb County
Baristas at four additional Michigan Starbucks stores voted to unionize on Thursday, joining a growing national labor movement at the coffee juggernaut and bringing the total number of union Starbucks stores in the state to nine. The latest Michigan stores to vote in favor of unionizing include 17410 Hall Rd., Clinton Township, 8-3; 2624 Lake…
Grand Rapids cop faces second-degree murder charge for shooting Patrick Lyoya in back of head
The Grand Rapids cop who shot 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya in the back of the head on April 4 will be charged with second-degree murder, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker announced Thursday. Officer Christopher Schurr turned himself in and will soon be arraigned on the felony charge. If convicted, Schurr faces up to life in prison.…
What does the future hold for Detroit’s Belle Isle Zoo? Michigan DNR seeks public input
An outdoor classroom, pollinator garden, and performing arts center are a few options being considered for a revamp of the former Belle Isle Zoo. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking for public opinion on what to do with the zoo, which has been abandoned since 2002, in an online survey available until July…
Meet Phil Simpson, the artist behind Detroit’s smile
It’s a sunny day on Detroit’s east side when I meet Phillip “Phil” Simpson at his second-floor studio. The artwork in his studio is as colorful as the smiles he’s been known to paint around the city of Detroit. A few of the canvases are adorned with his signature smiley face, while others are paintings…
FBI arrests GOP Michigan gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley, searches his home
The FBI arrested Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley on Thursday and raided his home in Allendale. Kelley is accused in federal court documents of joining a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. He faces four misdemeanor counts of knowingly entering or remaining in restricting buildings or grounds without lawful…
On the Rise Bakery reopens in Detroit with new location
Detroit’s On the Rise Bakery has reopened in a new cafe after closing its shop on Gratiot Avenue in May. The bakery’s new location opened Thursday morning inside the Solanus Casey Center near Mt. Elliot Cemetery. On the Rise is known for its freshly baked bread, cookies, cheesecakes, doughnuts, and other sweet treats. But what’s…
Report: Shutting down Line 5 would increase gas prices half a penny
New court documents in Michigan show that shutting down the Line 5 pipelines, which run under the Straits of Mackinac, would have a negligible impact on the cost of gasoline. The State of Michigan ordered the pipelines to be closed more than a year ago, but the Canadian gas company Enbridge Energy maintains that would…
Body found inside abandoned Flint funeral home belonged to a scrapper, building owner says
A man whose body was found inside an abandoned funeral home in Flint died while trying to steal scrap metal, according to the owner of the building. Three urban explorers found the man crushed beneath a hydraulic coffin lift in the basement of Swanson Funeral Home at 2210 Martin Luther King Ave. earlier this month.…
Satori Shakoor on what makes the Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers a Detroit phenomenon
The crowd is hushed to a deafening silence as Rev. Edward Knox relives having to identify his son’s lifeless body. His hands tremble and a tangible pain pours from his voice as he tells his story of despair, questioning God, and being humbled. Rev. Knox is one of the speakers at Detroit’s Secret Society of…
Michigan county sheriff’s office says it’s already run out of gas money
The price of gas is too damn high. According to AAA, the average cost of gas today in Michigan is $5.21. Apparently, we aren’t the only people feeling the pain at the pump, one Michigan law enforcement office agency has adjusted its operations as a result of the rising prices. Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main…
Detroit’s Concert of Colors returns in-person with tributes to Alice Coltrane and Iggy Pop
Detroit’s free multicultural music festival, Concert of Colors, is heading back to Midtown this July. The extensive 2022 lineup was announced Wednesday, including international and local acts from jazz, hip-hop, rock, and beyond. It’s going down July 16-24 across several venues including the Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and more. Burnt Sugar, The…
4 Starbucks stores in Ann Arbor voted to unionize, and a 5th voted against it
Baristas at four Starbucks stores in Ann Arbor overwhelmingly voted to form a union Tuesday, and employees at a fifth store voted against it. On Thursday, five Starbucks stores in Clinton Township, East Lansing, Flint, Grand Blanc, and Lansing are set to vote on unionizing. Since December, 135 Starbucks stores in 28 states have voted…
Detroit venue PJ’s Lager House launches intimate ‘Legends Only’ series with cult country singer Billy Don Burns
Detroit music venue PJ’s Lager House is launching an intimate concert series — and by intimate, we mean really intimate. The venue is only selling 30 tickets for the show, in order to create a “very small club atmosphere” with seating and table service provided. That sounds perfectly suited to the series’ first installment, which…
Troy’s NYC Halal Eats mastered the gyro platter
The gyro platter reigns as the world’s best street food. Since first being served from a New York City food cart more than 30 years ago, it’s become a staple in big cities around the country. In Michigan, where food carts are rare because we don’t do a lot of walking on the streets, one…
Free Will Astrology (June 8-14)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “It takes a spasm of love to write a poem,” wrote Aries author Erica Jong. I will add that it takes a spasm of love to fix a problem with someone you care about. It also takes a spasm of love to act with kindness when you don’t feel kind. A…
Memorializing the victims of gun violence
Memorial Day serves as the unofficial starting block for summer. For those of us who live in parts of the United States where the thermometer spends more time south of freezing than it does above it, it’s a welcome opportunity to spend time outdoors. But Memorial Day is about more than hotdogs, swimming pools, and…
