This Detroit-made mobile game explores housing inequality in familiar story
Dorothea Hawkins is offended and appalled when a developer knocks on the door of her grandma’s house, offering the family cash to sell the home. With a leaking ceiling and other repairs piling atop exorbitant property taxes, Dorthea’s (aka Dot) grandma has a difficult choice to make — sell and start over or fall deeper…
Grosse Pointe Park foundation wants to turn historic Detroit land into parking lot
A prominent corner of historic Detroit land is in danger of becoming a parking lot as Grosse Pointe Park and a nonprofit ignore city officials’ insistence on preserving the property. At issue is a vacant lot and building at East Jefferson and Alter near the border of the two cities in what is known as…
Upscale bistro and music venue Soul on Ice opens in Detroit
A new soul food-inspired bistro and lounge that will also host live music is opening on Detroit’s west side. Soul on Ice is set to open to the public on Wednesday at 8867 Livernois Ave. in a space south of the Avenue of Fashion that was formerly known as the Varsity Lounge and the Penthouse…
JARS Cannabis is giving away over $1 million in luxury prizes for holiday campaign
JARS Cannabis is giving customers the chance to win a PlayStation 5, a brand-new car, a Rolex, and more during its Holiday Survival Campaign. The 12-day campaign will raffle off a different prize every day from Dec. 21 to Jan 1. The grand prize on the final day is a 2022 Malibu LS, while other…
Michigan has one of the lowest adult-use marijuana tax rates, study finds
If you’re out shopping for last-minute gifts for the stoner in your life, just be grateful you don’t live in Alaska. Michigan has one of the lowest adult-use tax rates in the country, second only to New Jersey, a new study found. A study by Richard Auxier and Nikhita Airi of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy…
Michigan’s cannabis prices have hit an all-time low
According to the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency, the price of pot is the lowest it’s ever been in the state. In November, the average price of weed was $95.12 per oz., a 50% decrease from the same time last year, or $100 lower. While many other sectors have seen prices rise due to inflation, Michigan’s…
Opinion: Michigan’s blue trifecta will be judged by progress on environmental justice
State legislators are taking their oaths of office this week, placing Michigan’s governorship and both chambers of the state legislature under Democratic control for the first time in nearly four decades. There are many urgent issues on the table, but none deserve more attention than the right long denied to many of us in Michigan…
Congress leaves out cannabis banking reform from spending package
A massive spending package before Congress does not include marijuana banking reform, delivering yet another blow to cannabis business owners. Advocates of legal marijuana were hoping lawmakers would add cannabis banking reform to the omnibus appropriations legislation, but that didn’t happen, Marijuana Moment reports. After the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act failed to…
Detroit’s Pie Sci cooks up ‘Metro Thymes’ pizza
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Pie-Sci (@piescipizza) We did a double-take when we were scrolling on Instagram and saw a hand-drawn Metro Times logo in a Monday post by inventive pizza makers Pie Sci. And was that a little cartoon cabbage version of our Savage Love mascot, a heart struck in…
Double Winter’s solstice show returns, and more Detroit music news
Got a Detroit music tip? Send it to music@metrotimes.com. Double Winter’s solstice show returns: Released in the throes of the 2020 March lockdown, Double Winter’s latest full-length offering It’s About Our Hearts finally delivered a whole picture of the band, dabbling in space rock with retro psychedelic and ’50s surf sounds, and lead vocalist Holly…
In metro Detroit, suburbs have higher carbon emissions than the city, according to climate impact map
Carbon emissions for Detroit households are below the national average, according to a climate impact map released by The New York Times. We can’t say the same for metro Detroit suburbs, however. On the map, which uses data collected from CoolClimate Network, Detroit is surrounded by a sea of orange with areas like Royal Oak,…
‘The Way of Water’ re-stages ‘Avatar’ with greater nuance, both narrative and graphic
James Cameron’s career and impact have reached a point now where his works can seem almost cozily familiar, reflecting widespread industry norms he’s himself long helped to create. As much as Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jerry Bruckheimer, or Quentin Tarantino (not all of whom I’d always rate), he’s shaped Hollywood after him in ways that…
Tlaib champions bill of rights for underpaid, overworked restaurant workers
Crystal Coleman has worked in the restaurant industry in Detroit for most of her life, barely making enough money to raise her five children. When her husband died last year, the 52-year-old was forced to raise a family on less than minimum wage. “I couldn’t even afford to buy food for my own children,” Coleman…
Detroit restaurant The Peterboro is reopening soon
Come Friday, Dec. 30, The Peterboro’s almond chicken will be back on the menu. The contemporary Chinese American restaurant in Detroit’s Cass Corridor shut down over the summer to focus on repairs and is finally reopening with new(ish) owner Chuck Inchaustegui at the helm. Inchaustegui was a managing partner of the restaurant when it…
Blind Detroiters tell paratransit service horror stories to Dept. of Justice
Dozens of blind and visually impaired Detroiters and their allies packed into a conference room on the city’s west side on Saturday to tell a representative from the Department of Justice harrowing stories about their experiences using Detroit’s paratransit services. The hours of testimony included anecdotes of chronically late drivers who left blind riders out…
Carhartt to expand operations in Dearborn, creating more than 120 new jobs
Carhartt Duck jackets are a part of the Detroit clothing essential starter pack. The brand was founded in Detroit in 1889, and continues to be a leader in workwear and outdoor apparel. On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the legacy retailer will be expanding its operations in Dearborn, where the company is headquartered, with…
‘I’m still subject to death threats,’ Upton says as he prepares to leave Congress
Sitting at a borrowed desk in the Washington, D.C., office of his longtime friend and colleague U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor), U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) had two words to describe 169 Republican House members voting against a bill protecting marriage rights for same-sex and interracial couples: “dark ages.” “This is about people’s…
A new Downriver venue, and other music news
A number of music-related stories led our most-read articles this week, including news of a Live Nation rock and country venue coming to Wyandotte, R&B singer J.J. Barnes dying weeks following what he told Metro Times would be his final performance, a rare Janet Jackson tour announcement, an incident over the weekend that resulted in…
This metro Detroit family’s Christmas light display makes others look like amateur hour
Pine Knob’s Magic of Lights display may have a 30-foot waving Barbie, but do the lights dance in unison to music from Star Wars? No. Only the Bostick Family Light Show in Garden City does that. What is the Bostick Family Light Show, you may ask? It’s one metro Detroit family’s dedication to over-the-top holiday…
Police shot and killed 135 people in Michigan since 2015
Police in Michigan have fatally shot 135 people since 2015, with 19 of those deaths occurring so far in 2022, according to a database from The Washington Post. Of the shootings, 25 occurred in Detroit, with 10 of them taking place since March 2021. Statewide, 35 of the fatal shootings involved a person experiencing a…
Phil Simpson’s smile is the joy we need in this messed up world
When God or whoever is out there made Detroiters, they sprinkled ingenuity on top of heaping amounts of creativity, grit, and talent. Our city is abundant with artists who fuel the city’s creative undertow, from painters to poets and performance artists and everything in between. This feature will highlight a different artist each week. Got…
Community college offers first-ever Fowling class
A local community college will soon offer a course on Fowling, the popular, homegrown game that’s like a mix of football and bowling. Washtenaw Community College has partnered with Ypsilanti’s Fōwling Warehouse to offer the first-of-its-kind course, a non-credit personal enrichment class that will be available for anyone to attend starting in the winter. “It…
House of Dank Welcomes the Opening of Saginaw Location
SAGINAW, Mich – House of Dank, the rapidly expanding cannabis retailer is celebrating its opening day, today, December 16th, in Saginaw. House of Dank will be a recreational dispensary open daily from 9am to 9pm to anyone 21 years and older with a valid picture ID. The new shop is located at 3024 E. Holland…
Detroit Soul opens second location with help from Motor City Match
Popular soul food joint Detroit Soul has a new location in Jefferson Chalmers. It’s the second outpost for the restaurant owned by brothers Samuel Van Buren and Jerome Brown. While the first Detroit Soul location — which opened in 2015 on E. Eight Mile Road — focuses on takeout and catering, the new spot has…
3 men convicted in plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer sentenced up to 20 years in prison
Three men were sentenced to serve up to 20 years in prison on Thursday for their role in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison, and Pete Musico, who were members of Wolverine Watchman militia, were found guilty by a jury in October of providing material support for a terrorist act…
Gmac Cash performs on Jimmy Kimmel Live and gets the host to pose in Buffs
One thing about Gmac Cash, he’s going to do it for Detroit culture. On Wednesday night, the rapper performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, accepting the show’s 2022 Clip of the Year award on behalf of the chaotic Belle Isle Giant Slide viral moment from earlier this year. Related The “Big Gretch” rapper took to the…
Detroit’s Leila offers a different take on Lebanese cuisine
After your visit the Leila software sends you an email: “How likely are you to recommend Leila to others? 1-10.” I object to the question — no room for nuance! My nuanced answer is that I would recommend Leila to others if they want alcohol with their Lebanese food, if they want to try some…
Upside-down braille signs on the Detroit QLine cause complaints
Cathy McAdam is blind and has been reading braille since she was four. Despite her lifetime of experience, she’s never encountered upside-down braille signs like the ones along the Detroit QLine. The signs have the name of each QLine stop in English text with accompanying braille to assist the blind and visually impaired. However, they…
Detroit’s Baobab Fare is having its first brunch pop-up this weekend
Baobab Fare brought a slice of Burundi to the corner of Woodward and E. Grand Blvd., and now it’s bringing us a banging brunch. The East African restaurant, located at 6568 Woodward Ave., will host its first-ever brunch on Sunday, Dec. 18. The one-day pop-up will feature a halal menu with items like chapati, samosas,…
Sponge to record live acoustic album to benefit Detroit homeless center
Members of some of the biggest Michigan rock bands are coming together to rock for a good cause. Vinnie Dombroski of Sponge is leading a concert that will raise money for the Pope Francis Center, a Detroit homeless shelter. Sponge will perform an acoustic set that will be recorded for an album, with all proceeds…
Free eviction defense is getting closer to becoming a reality in Detroit
The city of Detroit’s plan to provide lower-income residents with free legal representation when facing evictions took a major step forward on Wednesday. After missing a deadline to begin providing the services by Oct. 1, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration announced the hiring of April Faith-Slaker to lead the Office of Eviction Defense and Dylon…
Forthcoming Black-owned grocery store distributes free boxes of food to Detroit families
We’ve all heard Detroit referred to as a “food desert” at some point. But Raphael Wright says the proper term for the city where liquor stores and fast food are more common than supermarkets is “food swamp.” “We have grocery stores, but the ones we have are just no good,” he says. “Then you have…
Detroit City Council isn’t ‘dysfunctional,’ but it can let the perfect be the enemy of the good
We love French words here in metro Detroit, even if most of us don’t pronounce them correctly. A phrase I’ve been thinking about a lot lately has its roots in a French proverb attributed to Voltaire (who apparently cribbed it from the Italians): “l’ennemi du bien est le bien,” or “the best is the enemy…
Protesters to gather in Detroit neighborhood to oppose a concrete crushing plant
Protesters on Wednesday are converging on the site of a proposed concrete crushing plant in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Detroit. Activists say the proposed facility at 4445 Lawton St. would create dust, noise, exhaust fumes, and other chemicals within a block of a school, church, and an urban farm that provides food to more…
Man sentenced in Michigan for abusing children while he was in the Boy Scouts and LDS Church
A New York man was sentenced to prison in Michigan for abusing two children when he was involved in the Boy Scouts of America and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Chapman pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. According to his…
Susan J. Demas: Mike Shirkey’s long, crazy goodbye
“That was some weird shit.” That was former President George W. Bush’s reported take on former President Donald Trump’s angry inaugural address back in 2017. And that seems to be the consensus on the farewell speech last week from Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake), who, notably, dismissed his frequent foe, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,…
With his music project the Imaginatron, Steven Pivalsky wants to make you move ‘like an ouija board’
Steven Pivalsky hopes to wake people up, in more ways than one. The primary catalyst for doing so would be the Imaginatron, which is technically a band, but it’s also an instrument, and possibly even an ambulatory dimension onto itself, too. But Pivalsky, a longtime Hamtramck resident who’s technically been residing way over on the…
Free Will Astrology (Dec. 14-20)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries painter Vincent van Gogh was renowned for translating his sublime and unruly passions into colors and shapes on canvas. It was a demanding task. He careened between torment and ecstasy. “I put my heart and soul into my work,” he said, “and I have lost my mind in the process.”…
