Cover Story
Detroiters overwhelmingly voted for reparations. What happens next?
The most popular choice on Detroit’s 2021 ballot wasn’t the candidate you probably expected. In fact, it wasn’t a candidate in the traditional sense at all. It was an idea. When they hit the polls last November, Detroit voters overwhelmingly approved Proposal R, which will now establish “a reparations committee to make recommendations for housing…
Rappers Nick Speed and Ro Spit’s ‘Coney Island’ is a love letter to Detroit
Nick Speed has worked with hip-hop heavyweights such as 50 Cent, Big Sean, Danny Brown, Quavo, and Elzhi. But his latest release, Coney Island, sees him collaborating with Ro Spit, an old friend and Pontiac native. “I’ve been working with Ro since I first started making music, so it was easy to collaborate with him…
New Buddy’s Pizza location opens in Clarkston
Detroit-style pizza purveyor Buddy’s Pizza is getting ready to open its latest location in Clarkston. The new restaurant, the company’s 21st, is located at 5530 Sashabaw Rd., Suite B, and is expected to open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m. on Monday, April 18. According to a press release, the new restaurant is carry-out…
Indigenous sugarbush organizers call for restorative justice with police who raided their ceremony in Detroit
Sun rays peek through the trees at Detroit’s Rouge Park as members of Michigan’s Indigenous community gather to turn maple syrup into sugar. It’s like watching magic happen before your eyes as the syrup is boiled and then churned into fine crystals in a wooden trough. Sugarbush season has come full circle, as these surrounding…
Grab your Burn Books, ‘Mean Girls’ is coming to Detroit
You don’t have to be a graduate of North Shore High School to score your tickets to the musical adaptation of the cult teen classic, Mean Girls. The movie-turned-musical will run June 7-19 at Detroit’s Fisher Theatre. If you’ve been under a rock for the last 18 years, Mean Girls is a comedy, written by…
Michigan is among the top states for exonerating people for wrongful convictions
Michigan ranked third for the number of exonerations for criminal convictions last year, according to a report released Tuesday. Michigan and California were tied with 11 exonerations in 2021. Illinois ranked first with 25, and New York was second with 18, according to the National Registry of Exonerations (NRE), which tracks wrongful imprisonments. Nationwide, 161…
Twelfth Starbucks in Michigan moves to unionize
Workers at the Ann Arbor Starbucks at 3650 Carpenter Rd. filed for a union election Tuesday morning. The Carpenter location is the sixth Starbucks in Ann Arbor and the twelfth in Michigan to join the Starbucks Workers United wave sweeping across the country. Starbucks workers in Clinton Township, Grand Rapids, Flint, Grand Blanc, and Lansing…
Detroit’s Comerica Park is now selling pasties
Nothing is more American than baseball, and few things are more Michigan than pasties. And now, the Upper Peninsula staple has made its way to Detroit’s Comerica Park. The park is now selling pasties in four different flavors, including brisket and macaroni and cheese; Polish sausage, sauerkraut, and pierogi; a sweet apple pasty; and something…
Detroit e-scooter fans can now rent one through Lyft
Whether you’re on Gratiot, Jefferson, or Woodward, you’ve likely almost ran into, or almost been ran over, by a Detroiter scooting their way through downtown. Typically, in order to access one, users have to download the respective electric scooter’s app in order to rent it. Well, one of those companies is trying to simplify the…
Detroit’s Yum Village restaurant is now open late
Detroit’s African-inspired Yum Village restaurant located in the New Center area has extended its business hours. The African-inspired spot is now open until midnight six days a week. (The restaurant is closed Sundays.) Chef-owner Godwin Ihentuge previously told Metro Times that Yum Village is working to acquire the former West Village Detroit Vegan Soul location,…
Michigan Craft Cannabis Company, Pleasantrees Celebrates 420 With 10 Days of BOGO
By his own admission, Randall Buchman’s attempt to grow his first four cannabis plants after getting his medical marijuana card failed miserably. He’s come a long way since that try in 2009. Buchman quickly refined his cultivation methods, scaled to the maximum number of plants under the medical caregiver law, and in 2018 launched Pleasantrees,…
Fundraiser seeks to help struggling ex-Detroit Tiger who never gave up on baseball
A fundraiser has been launched to help Ike Blessitt, a former Detroit Tiger whose struggles were highlighted in a recent Metro Times story. The GoFundMe campaign seeks to raise $50,000 for Blessitt, who is among an estimated 179 former professional baseball players who weren’t on a major-league roster long enough to qualify for a pension…
Combining bank heists and medical thrillers, ‘Ambulance’ rides a wild line
“We got 5 minutes to know whether you’re in or you’re out,” says hectoring bank robber Danny Sharp, played by a maximally bitchy Jake Gyllenhaal, to his reluctant, stoic ex-Marine brother Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) not long after Ambulance kicks off. Many viewers may feel some of Will’s hesitation themselves in that moment of commitment,…
Community rallies in support of Royal Oak’s Main Art Theatre
In Royal Oak, one piece of history has stood the test of time and remained an integral aspect of the local arts community. But the city’s longstanding Main Art Theatre is threatened by extinction after abruptly announcing it was closing its doors for good last summer, and new plans call for replacing the beloved art…
Forest defender sits in tree to protest luxury homes development in Ann Arbor
A self-identified “forest defender” camped high in a tree Monday morning to protest a planned development of luxury homes in a forested section of Ann Arbor. The protester, who goes by the name Nuthatch, plans to sit in the tree “indefinitely” to prevent the removal of hundreds of trees to make way for the Concord…
Susan J. Demas: Republicans said KBJ was soft on pedophiles. But they have a Michigan problem.
If you sat through the excruciating Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson, it was clear just how exceptional the first Black female justice in history had to be just to get there. Just compare Jackson’s composure and legal analysis in hearings to Brett Kavanagh, who was credibly accused of sexual assault (which naturally…
A struggling ex-Detroit Tiger, Grande Ballroom for sale, and what comes next for reparations
Opening Day is, in fact, a holiday — or at least that’s the case for Detroit, and baseball was on a lot of people’s minds. This week, our readers were most interested in a story about the struggles of an ex-Detroit Tiger who has faced hardship since leaving the team. Two Michigan cannabis companies have…
All Things Detroit Day showcases small businesses in Eastern Market this Sunday
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Detroiters were born with the hustle bone. We’ll drum up a business idea and run with it in a heartbeat with no regard to the haters that doubt us. This is the spirit of All Things Detroit Day, a huge showcase of small businesses taking place at…
Whitmer chief of staff calls kidnapping verdict ‘the normalization of political violence’
The high-profile criminal trial of four men charged with plotting to kidnap and murder Governor Gretchen Whitmer resulted in a jury failing to convict anyone on Friday. Daniel Harris, Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., and Brandon Caserta were all charged with conspiracy, while all but Caserta were charged with knowingly conspiring to use weapons of…
Detroit’s Fowling Warehouse to open Ypsilanti location
Detroit’s popular Fowling Warehouse is expanding to the Ypsilanti area. Fowling — or “Fōwling” as the owners now spell it — is like bowling, but with a football. The Fowling Warehouse Ypsi-Ann Arbor will open to the public following a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 14. The new space is located at…
Ford Fireworks return to the Detroit riverfront
After two years without in-person crowds, the Ford Fireworks will return to the Motor City this June. On Monday, June 27, the fireworks will make a comeback on the Detroit riverfront and welcome in-person crowds once again following last year’s broadcast-only event. The annual fireworks show was a televised-only event in 2020, and moved to…
Detroit Police Dept. releases vague statement about officer who did bad thing (allegedly)
Last year, the Detroit Police Department’s new police chief, James E. White, acknowledged that law enforcement has a trust problem. “I think you get the people to believe in policing and trust the police by partnerships. You get the increased trust through transparency and acknowledgment,” he told the Detroit Free Press, adding, “I’m not speaking…
Local social worker might be Detroit’s next big social media influencer
Jennifer Onwenu is a real girl’s girl and on the frontlines of Detroit’s bad bitch brigade. If you were to check her Instagram story right now, you’re more likely to find shares of other women, or Onwenu giving someone their virtual flowers. By trade, Onwenu is a practicing licensed social worker, but by chance, she…
Planned Parenthood of Michigan and ACLU file lawsuits to block 90-year-old felony abortion ban
Two Michigan groups have filed preemptive lawsuits to block the state’s decades-old abortion ban as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood of Michigan and local abortion provider Dr. Sarah Wallet filed a suit Thursday to restrain Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel from enforcing the state’s 91-year…
Jack White to perform instrumental version of national anthem at Detroit Tigers opening day
Jack White has added another Detroit pitstop to his upcoming tour dates. Well, sort of. White is set to perform the national anthem during the Detroit Tigers’ opening day at Comerica Park on Friday. White’s band will perform an instrumental version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the first time just before the game starts. Later…
Whitmer takes steps to protect right to abortion as U.S. Supreme Court weighs ‘Roe v. Wade’
Governor Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit on Thursday asking the Democratic-majority Michigan Supreme Court to “immediately resolve whether Michigan’s Constitution protects the right to abortion.” It’s the first time a governor has done so since the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court signaled it could overturn the landmark decision that allows abortion, according to a statement from…
Neo-soul songstress Res comes to Detroit to perform her classic debut
There are few artists that define the early 2000s soul music sound, and most musical experts will tell you there was only one city… Philadelphia. One of those artists was Res. With her classic debut, How I Do, Res entered the world with a girl-power anthem, “Golden Boys,” that mocked the backpack rappers who were…
Dearborn’s Ramadan Suhoor Festival returns for late-night eats
The Ramadan Suhoor Festival is back after a two-year hiatus, and this year it’s taking over Dearborn’s Fairlane Town Center parking lot with more than 50 food trucks and vendors. The outdoor culinary extravaganza is held in honor of Ramadan, when Muslim practitioners fast from dawn to sunset. As such, the festival takes place from…
Two Michigan cannabis companies to give away a total of $70k in free gas cards
Smoke some gas, get some gas. That seems to be the wave. Last month two Michigan cannabis companies partnered for a free gas giveaway and another set of companies have joined forces to give its customers a chance at some free fuel. JARS Cannabis has partnered with HYMAN to hand out a total of $70,000…
Detroit area legacy politician arrested faces drunken driving charges
Michigan State Rep. Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford) is facing a drunken-driving charge, making her the third Michigan representative to face the charge within the past 12 months. According to reports, Cavanagh was arrested just before 3 a.m. on Feb. 25 after a Livonia police officer witnessed her driving on I-96 with two flat tires. A field…
Detroit’s historic rock venue the Grande Ballroom is up for sale
Another one of Detroit’s historic buildings could potentially bite the dust. The abandoned Grande Ballroom is up for sale for a hefty $5,000,000, according to a listing on Jim Shaffer and Associates Realtors that went online this week. The old-school music hall was a hub for classic and psychedelic rock bands in the 1960s until…
Cookies cannabis dispensary opens in Ann Arbor
Cookies, a cannabis company co-founded by California Bay Area rapper Berner, is getting ready to open its latest dispensary in Ann Arbor. The store will open on Friday, April 8 at 2460 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor. The venture is a partnership between Cookies and Gage Cannabis Co. According to a press release, Berner will…
‘The Return of the Legends’ concert brings hip-hop heroes to Detroit’s Russell Industrial Center
As hip-hop continues to be the most dominant musical force on the planet, it should be no surprise that there’s still a demand for live performances from the genre’s analog generation. Enter “The Return of the Legends” concert, featuring KRS-One, Rakim, Slick Rick, Chubb Rock, and J.J. Fad, presented by Derrick Kearny of 2D Production…
Free Will Astrology (April 6-12)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): To provide the right horoscope, I must introduce you to three new words. The first is “orphic,” defined as “having an importance or meaning not apparent to the senses nor comprehensible to the intellect; beyond ordinary understanding.” Here’s the second word: “ludic,” which means “playful; full of fun and high spirits.”…
Fox News is gaslighting America
What I most clearly recall from the media ethics class I took as an undergrad — yes, there was such a thing, and yes, this was two decades ago — was the idea that the media can’t tell you what to think, but it can tell you what to think about. (There was also a…
KBJ and CRT
Ketanji Brown Jackson graduated among the top of her class at Harvard University. Not once, but twice. She practiced law for two decades and was nominated to the federal judiciary and approved by the U.S. Senate. Not once, but twice. Beyond the intellectual credentials to occupy a seat on the court, she’s unique in having…
Jack White kicks off tour, Dearborn’s Ramadan Suhoor fest is back, hip-hop in Eastern Market, and more things to do
Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Submit your events to metrotimes.com/calendar. Be sure to check venue websites for COVID-19 policies. Jack White Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9: Like many of us, rock star Jack White appears to have emerged from the pandemic shutdowns as a bit of a changed man, now…
Birmingham’s posh Madam restaurant makes the Daxton a destination hotel
Hotel restaurants used to have a bad rep — diners were a captive audience, so management didn’t feel a need to make the food shine. Madam, on a busy downtown corner in the Daxton Hotel, appears to be reversing that disrepute. On my two visits I saw scads of Birminghamites sitting on their coats —…
Why does my vulva hurt when I have sex?
I am a 29-year-old woman and I have a problem when I have sex or masturbate. I always feel an annoying pain, a stinging sensation in my vulva, at the entrance of the vagina, that does not allow me to enjoy it, as the pain is too overwhelming. Unfortunately, this situation has led me to…
