Cover Story
50 ways to ring in 2018 in Detroit
A new year is upon us, which means we can finally kiss the hell scape that was 2017 goodbye. We compiled a list of parties at which you can toast the new year in style. Atheneum Suite Hotel The word “gala” should not be tossed around lightly, but it fits when it comes to the…
The very best party songs for New Year’s Eve in Detroit
OK, we lied. These aren’t the best. They’re just a handful of pretty darn good party songs for New Year’s Eve, and for Detroiters, as well. Please fill up the comments section with your own favorites, which are doubtless way cooler than these choices, with the exception of the ones by Kid Rock or Ted…
Detroit cop known online as ‘FatalForce’ cleared in killing of teen
With a Michigan State Police trooper in the spotlight for the alleged murder of an unarmed teen who was riding through a Detroit neighborhood on an ATV, it can be easy to forget that the Detroit Police Department also notched a killing of at least one unarmed teen this year. The department had gone about…
Bobcat Bonnie’s Corktown location will offer brunch every day from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31
Got relatives in town for the holidays and have absolutely no idea how to entertain them for an entire week? Take them to Bobcat Bonnie’s for brunch. While the Corktown restaurant usually only offers their brunch menu on the weekends, they’re extending the service for the holiday, offering savory and sweet breakfast dishes every day…
Sexual harassment investigations of Detroit media personalities complete
We now know the fate of all three Detroit media personalities who were accused of sexual harassment by a Detroit reverend in a Dec. 5 news conference. The reverend, activist W.J. Rideout III, is out of a radio job at 910 Superstation after leveling the ambiguous claims on behalf of what he said were anonymous…
Jens Hoffmann resigns from MOCAD following sexual harassment claims
MOCAD curator at large Jens Hoffmann has stepped down from his role at the Detroit art museum following allegations of sexual harassment. “MOCAD has accepted Jens’ resignation,” museum director Elysia Borowy-Reeder told Metro Times via email on Friday. “At this time he feels that it is best for MOCAD that he resign from his position.…
Federal judge overrules Michigan’s effort to continue suspending poor people’s licenses
A week ago, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction calling for Michigan’s Secretary of State to stop suspending driver’s licenses of people too poor to pay court debts and traffic tickets. Michigan’s Secretary of State, which oversees the licensing of drivers, called the ruling irresponsible and asked that the ruling be stayed. The court shrugged…
City of Detroit waives metered parking until Christmas
REJOICE! Santa came early and he brought free parking! The City of Detroit announced Friday that they have lifted parking enforcement from now until Tuesday, Dec. 26. “People are encouraged to use the opportunity to visit many of the unique businesses and attractions offered in neighborhoods across the city,” the press release stated. What does…
Whoops: DPS misses deadline to get $6.5 million from state
Detroit Public Schools’ deputy executive director of finance resigned on Thursday after it was revealed the district failed to submit paperwork that would have granted it $6.5 million to help pay off its debt to the state. In an email sent to school board members on Monday, Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti…
Flowers of Vietnam cancels its New Year’s eve opening celebration
Flowers of Vietnam will not celebrate its grand reopening on New Year’s Eve as planned. Instead it’s now shooting for a mid-January opening, Eater reports. The original plan was to hold a preview pop up dinner at El Club, but it appears that owner George Azar isn’t ready for the event. Flowers of Vietnam was…
Detroit Metro Airport ranked among best for holiday travel according to recent study
Fear, not Detroit travelers—whether you’re departing, arriving, or simply flirting with escape, the Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the best for holiday traveling, according to a recent study. Home lighting supply company Elite Fixtures gathered government data pertaining to transit statistics to determine the best and worst airports in the U.S. as well as the…
Amici’s Pizza and Living Room will open a Midtown location
Berkley-based pizzamaker Amici’s Pizza & Living Room will open a new location in Midtown’s Park Shelton. Deadline Detroit reports that the company will take over the spot occupied by the Detroit Pizza Co. The Detroit Pizza Co. closed in August, reopened under new ownership last month, but appears to be closing again. The Detroit restaurant…
The latest salvo in Michigan’s legislative war over environmental quality
To listen to Michigan’s GOP legislators, you’d think the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is run by anti-business zealots who delight in delaying permits, hamstringing businesspeople, and rejoicing in over-regulating the state’s job creators. On Sept. 6, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof sent a letter to Gov. Rick Snyder signed by a majority of…
Governor Rick Snyder approves unemployment reforms after false fraud fiasco
Governor Rick Snyder has signed into law a series of bills aimed to improve the Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency following a blunder in which it falsely accused nearly 50,000 residents of fraudulently collecting unemployment. None of the eight laws address compensation for the victims, many of whom saw their wages garnished or income tax refunds taken. According…
20 years ago today: Barry Sanders breaks the NFL’s 2,000-yard mark at a doomed Pontiac Silverdome
Embed from Getty Images It’s hard to believe, but it was 20 years ago today that Lions running back Barry Sanders broke the NFL’s 2,000-yard single-season rushing mark, becoming only the third man in league history to do it, after O.J. Simpson and Eric Dickerson. In the final game of the 1997 regular season, Bobby…
Ford is now playing a sexual harassment video on loop in its factories
Ford Motor Co. and the UAW released a video Tuesday as part of their national campaign effort to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The video comes on the heels of an investigative report published by The New York Times on Tuesday that exposed extensive sexual harassment at two Ford plants in Chicago. The report also…
Ex-Michigan trooper charged with Damon Grimes’ killing is being held on $1m bond
Mark Bessner, the former Michigan State Trooper charged with second degree murder in connection to a Detroit teenager’s death, is being held on a $1 million cash bond after an arraignment hearing on Thursday, Dec. 21 at the 36th District Court in Detroit. Related According to a press release from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office,…
Dildo joke goes wrong, leads to seatbelt ticket
Police pulled over a man on the suspicion of indecent exposure after a woman reported that he flashed his package near the intersection of Ann Arbor and Haggerty roads in Plymouth Township. Hometown Life reports that police discovered that the man hadn’t exposed himself, but was trying to take a selfie with a sex toy…
Metro Detroit could still get a white Christmas this year
Despite a days-long warm-up that melted the six-or-so inches of snow that fell on metro Detroit last week, it is still possible that we could have a white Christmas. According to WXYZ meteorologist Chris Edwards, “a fresh coating of snow looks like a good bet for the night before Christmas.” The weatherman reports that cold…
Joe Louis Arena to host clearance sale on Detroit Red Wings memorabilia Saturday
This could be a good opportunity to get a last-minute Christmas gift for the Red Wings fan in your life. The Red Wing’s old stomping grounds, Joe Louis Arena, is still selling off old memorabilia — with a last-call clearance sale planned for Saturday, Dec. 23, Olympia Entertainment reports. The event follows an auction held…
Jimi Hendrix’s apartment finds a new home at DIA
We all know “All Along the Watchtower,” but what about all along the London flat? As Metro Times reported earlier, the DIA will be opening a new gallery on Jan. 12 that will showcase recent acquisitions that will remain on display for six months. One of those acquisitions happens to be a piece of repurposed…
Stef Chura gets a nod from ‘Rolling Stone’ for her debut album ‘Messes’
Christmas came early for Detroit indie-darling Stef Chura. Chura, who signed to Saddle Creek Records last month, landed a coveted spot on a year-end list with none other than Rolling Stone. ’15 Great Albums You Probably Didn’t Hear in 2017′ features Chura’s debut LP Messes, calling it “perceptive,” “compelling,” and sly in its use of irony.…
PuppetART Theatre brings back children’s holiday favorite ‘The Snow Queen’
As the downtown and mid-city areas of Detroit see rising rents and soaring occupancy rates, it hasn’t been all great news for everybody. Some arts nonprofits that were formerly able to eke out existences in the city have had to find new homes. Some have been more fortunate than others. The Carr Center, for instance,…
Motown Museum receives $500,000 to move forward on expansion
Detroit’s own Motown Museum “ain’t too proud to beg” and thanks to recent funding efforts, they might not have to. The historical Hitsville U.S.A announced on Monday, Dec. 18 that they had received a grant in the amount of $500,000 from the Hudson-Webber Foundation, Hour reports, to assist with the 50,000 square-foot expansion announced in…
Royal Oak’s Haberman Fabrics will get new life as a furniture store
Haberman Fabrics, an independent retailer operated in downtown Royal Oak since 2002, announced a move to a more modest footprint in Clawson earlier this year. Since the mid-November closure, the building has been left vacant — but it won’t remain so for much longer. Today, another downtown Royal Oak business announced it is under contract…
Former Michigan State Trooper charged with murder in Damon Grimes’ killing
Mike Bessner, the ex-Michigan State Police Trooper who shot 15-year-old Damon Grimes with his Taser gun, has been charged with second degree murder in connection with the teenager’s death, according to a press release from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. Grimes had been illegally riding an ATV through a Detroit neighborhood, and Bessner and his…
We now know how low Detroit will go to get Amazon HQ2 — and wait, why are we doing this again?
We knew it would be a race to the bottom, but holy shit we did not think Detroit’s political and corporate leaders would actually put the city up for sale in their quest to secure Amazon’s second headquarters. Crain’s Detroit Business managed to get the wraps off the 242-page book and summary document that contain the pitch…
Of course, every Michigan GOP rep voted to ram this tax bill through to Trump
On Tuesday, House Republicans voted to rush a tax reform bill that has been described as the “wholesale looting of America” — one that will increase the nation’s deficit, throw 13 million people off health care by dismantling the Affordable Care Act, and provide large tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, including President Donald Trump. Such was…
A Warren man is being hospitalized after teens threw a sandbag off an I-75 overpass
Four teens have been arrested and charged with felonious assault after throwing a sandbag off an I-75 overpass in Toledo on Tuesday. The sandbag hit the windshield of a vehicle, critically injuring the passenger, 22-year-old Marquise Byrd of Warren. WJBK reports the teens, all of whom are 14 years old or younger, were tossing things off…
Chef Garrett Lipar plans a January opening for tasting menu restaurant Albena
An eight-seat tasting menu restaurant planned by chef Garrett Lipar is expected to open in downtown Detroit’s Siren Hotel near the end of January, Eater reports Lipar – a two-time semi-finalist in the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef of the Year category – partly made his name on his tasting menu at the now-closed…
Review: Rumi’s offers enough Persian parts to make a meal
To check out Rumi’s, I took along a friend whose ex was from Iran. He was in the habit of cooking stews in big quantities, she said, and his prowess in the kitchen was not a reason they broke up. She looked forward especially to scoring some fesenjon, a thick stew made with ground walnuts…
Savage Love: Loving lesbians
I am a 22-year-old Italian man, 100 percent straight, sensitive and sporty. I have been reading Savage Love for years in Internazionale. I have one question for you: Why do I always fall in love with lesbians? Why do I instantly fall in love with girls who have that something more in their eyes? Something…
The agony of MSU
Larry Nassar, the physician for Michigan State University’s women’s gymnastics team, was celebrated for years as a wonderful sports physician, especially skilled with young women athletes. He also worked with the USA Gymnastics and U.S. Olympic teams. Unfortunately, there was one major problem: He was a monster of a pervert who has been charged with…
Horoscopes (Dec. 20-26)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 You are coming out of what is often referred to as the dark cloud of unknowing. So much has changed, or is about to. With more clarity than you’ve had in a long time, you seem to have found the courage to step out of the box, into the…
John Szymanski reflects on a quarter-century of the Hentchmen
Year 25 has turned out to be a landmark one for quintessential Detroit garage rock trio the Hentchmen. Devil’s Night saw the Third Man Records reissue of their 1998 record with Jack White, Hentch-Forth. The week after that, vocalist and keyboardist John “Hentch” Szymanski and wife Kelly Jean Caldwell finally reopened the Outer Limits Lounge…
We’re dreaming of a Downtown Brown Christmas
Downtown Brown frontman Neil “Neebo” Patterson Jr. is as down to earth in person as he is larger than life on stage. There is a willful silliness to his onstage persona — live, his band comes across as a funkier Tenacious D infused with Andrew W.K.’s party-hard aesthetic. Offstage he’s thoughtful, intelligent, and insightful —…
A brave new world for marijuana in Michigan
Got a lawyer in your back pocket? Got your millionaire lined up yet? After nine years of the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act, the state has finally rolled out a distribution system for the substance. And while it’s about damn time, it’s not a terrain you want to wander into without a lawyer and a big…
On urban farming and ‘colonialism’ in Detroit’s North End neighborhood
The Oakland Avenue Farmers’ Market in Detroit’s North End is one of those small-but-mighty neighborhood markets that accomplishes a lot with a little. Each Saturday, it offers fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthy foods in a historically low-income and black neighborhood where such options aren’t readily available. Just as important is its contribution to the…
