Cover Story
Icewear Vezzo’s moment of clarity
Royal House Recording studio sits snug within an unassuming commercial area on Delemere Boulevard in Royal Oak, but walking into the $3 million studio feels like you’re checking into a suite at the Sheraton in Dubai. It’s as if owner Roger Goodman took his 15 years experience as a sound engineer and combined it with…
‘Food & Wine’ names Michigan restaurant as one of the best places to eat in 2019
One Michigan restaurant is getting a nod in Food & Wine’s list of “32 Best Place To Go (And Eat) in 2019.” The list shines a spotlight on American cities and destinations with drool-inducing food scenes. Although Michigan’s cuisine of meat and potatoes doesn’t make the state a breakout destination for exciting food, Frankenmuth’s Bavarian…
Michigan House GOP votes to ‘undermine’ recently approved voting access expansion
The Republican-controlled state House on Thursday night approved proposed laws that critics say will undermine the voting access expansion approved by voters in November. The implementation bill received no support from Democrats in the estate House or Senate, and the next go for SB 1238-1242 is Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk for a signature or veto.…
Detroit’s Woodbridge Pub changes hands, makes plans for renovations
Woodbridge Pub has finally sold after originally being listed on the market in April of 2017. The popular bar and restaurant just west of Wayne State campus sold early Tuesday morning, Crain’s reports. The 1,300 square-foot property on Merrick Street and Trumbull was purchased by partners Yanni Dionisopoulos and Spiro Vamvakas. Both of Woodbridge Pub’s…
Michigan Senate GOP votes to strip power from incoming Democrat attorney general
The Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday afternoon approved a bill that would strip power from incoming Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel. The vote to do so fell mostly along party lines. House Bill 6553 grants the Republican-led legislature authority to jump into any court case in which residents are challenging the GOP’s unpopular laws. Nessel has…
Wise panda chews on box, predicts U-M will be Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl winner
It’s friggin’ panda-monium, folks — a 21-year-old giant panda at Zoo Atlanta just predicted that Michigan will win the coveted Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl over the Florida Gators. The panda, named Yang Yang, made the prediction by chewing on a box marked with U-M’s maize and blue logo. This year’s Peach Bowl will mark Yang Yang’s third…
The Accidentals record a new song with the Cleveland-based Contemporary Youth Orchestra
The Accidentals — violinist-guitarist-bassist Sav Buist, singer-cellist-guitarist Katie Larson, and drummer Michael Dause — all met in a high school orchestra program in Michigan, where the members grew up, so it makes sense that when they had a chance to record with the Cleveland-based Contemporary Youth Orchestra, they would take advantage of it. This week,…
Elon Musk just bought laptops for all Flint middle schoolers
Billionaire Elon Musk has been feeling philanthropic lately. On Wednesday, Flint Community Schools announced the Elon Musk Foundation donated $423,600 to be used to buy laptops for all of its middle school students — the second time the foundation has made a large donation to the school district this year. The donation will be used to purchase Chromebooks…
Michigan’s population is growing but still lags behind the national average
Michigan’s population is growing, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Wednesday. The state’s population is once again approaching 10 million, with 9,995,915 residents according to 2018 estimates. The data, which was compiled between July 1, 2017 and July 1, 2018, saw Michigan grow by 19,468 residents over the year, an annual growth of 0.2…
Warren Mayor Jim Fouts denies secret recording, using homophobic slur
Mayor Jim Fouts of Warren is calling a recently released recording in which he can be heard using a gay slur “a phony tape.” The recording, supplied by an anonymous source and former city employee, surfaced Tuesday as part of an investigation by Deadline Detroit. Fouts, who is gearing up for a 2019 re-election bid…
717 people have been shot and killed in Detroit since 2014
In the last five years, 717 people have been shot and killed in Detroit according to a new report by the independent nonprofit news organization The Trace. The map created by The Trace illustrates the prevalence of gun violence throughout the country, excluding suicides committed with firearms (which amounts to more than 20,000 deaths per year…
GOP plan to strip power from incoming Democratic Sec of State appears dead
A Michigan Republican plan to strip power from Secretary Of State-elect Jocelyn Benson appears dead. The Detroit News reports that the bill will not make it through the House Elections Committee. It meets Wednesday morning for the last time of the year and Rep. Aaron Miller, R-Sturgis, who chairs the panel said the proposal is…
Tired of all the winning
Is anyone else tired of all the winning? Even by Trumpian standards, this week has stuffed a month’s worth of insanity into 168 hours. To hit just the highlights: Michael Cohen, the president’s longtime lawyer and fixer confessed in open court that the President Known as Individual 1 directed him to break campaign finance laws…
Detroit’s vertically integrated BotaniQ creates marijuana products from start to finish
BotaniQ is the kind of name that stirs up visions of verdant vistas painted by flowers in their colorful whimsy. Planted on the corner of I-75 and Rosa Parks Boulevard in Corktown, the main vista at Detroit’s BotaniQ is a stretch of interstate with lanes multiplying before it splits, with I-96 heading toward Lansing. The…
Savage Love: ‘Just because I have a big butt doesn’t mean I want to sit on men’s faces’
I’m a kinky single woman who keeps attracting the wrong men for me — specifically, submissive guys into face-sitting. I’m submissive myself, and face-sitting is not a turn-on for me. But the vast majority of men who hit on me have this fetish. I think it’s a size-related issue — a my-size-related issue. I’m a…
Horoscopes (Dec. 19-25)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 At any major crossroad, so many things come up for review. With pictures of your perfect life dissolving in the face of direct experience, the “should I stay or should I go?” button is switched on, big time. Up until now, you thought you had your bases covered. In…
Signal-Return pairs Detroit artists with nonprofits for new poster series
For its latest project, Eastern Market letterpress shop Signal-Return wanted to push Detroit artists out of their comfort zone — for a good cause. Its new poster series, On Press: Making Visible an Unseen Detroit, pairs artists with a different local nonprofit to create a poster. But while all of the participating artists are seasoned…
Review: ‘Burning’ is a meandering, daylit noir
What’s exceptional about Burning is clear right from the start. A kind of meandering, daylit noir that is as invested as any of the best of the genre in the most buried parts of our psychology, Lee Chang-dong’s brimming newest film is as sensitive to group dynamics and the emotional temperature of a room as…
Review: Detroit’s Brujo Tacos and Tapas serves up some delicious street food
Detroit Shipping Company is good for groups who don’t agree. Should we eat Thai, Mexican, or Caribbean? Or should we just drink? Do we want to be indoors or out? Would some of us like to visit an art gallery while we’re at it, while the rest of us look at the game on TV?…
Bret Michaels might be the nicest guy ever
Bret Michaels wants a new dirt bike for Christmas. Oh, he also makes a point to wish for health and wellness for all people and peace on Earth. As it turns out, the former Poison frontman might be more akin to a rock ‘n’ roll Yoda, or one of those motivational posters in a physical…
Where to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2019 in Detroit
Go big, go out, leave the friggin’ house — 2019 is almost here. Whether you want to enjoy a quiet meal with bae, pop off with some major bottle service, or get freaky with your favorite space invaders at a hometown dive bar, New Year’s Eve is what you make it — and this time…
