Cover Story
A Michigan State professor tried to review the Dept. of Defense’s budget. You won’t believe what happened next.
For the longest time, the Department of Defense’s books were a riddle wrapped in an enigma trapped in the head of a yeti encased in amber and locked in a safe nestled deep in the Mariana Trench. While every other federal government agency undergoes regular audits to verify the taxpayers got what they paid for,…
Motown’s Kim Weston turns 80 with birthday bash at Northern Lights Lounge
It’s Sagittarius season, y’all. And one of the most restless signs of the zodiac just so happens to represent two badass ladies: Motown’s own hitmaker Kim Weston will be honored with a shared birthday celebration alongside Amanda Zieja of Melodies & Memories record store. Weston, who’s best known for her hits “Love Me All the…
Wreck the Halls returns to Hamtramck with Dear Darkness, Slob, Pet Psychic, and more
Have you checked your list once? How about twice? Have you decided who’s been naughty and who’s leading Detroit’s premier blood cult, or which band is cross-summoning the Shangri-Las with the death rattle of ’70s glam-punk? No need to labor over the holidays when you can just wreck the halls with Detroit bedroom punk duo…
Detroit’s rock ‘n’ roll veteran Stirling celebrates birthday with acoustic show at PJ’s Lager House
Every town has that guy. You know, the one with all the unbelievable stories, like the time they escorted Lou Reed to a methadone clinic; or visited Iggy Pop in Berlin in 1978, where he got cozy with the Kinks; or his many tales of friendship with Robert Plant. For Detroit, that guy is Stirling…
Transportation activist group Motor City Freedom Riders celebrates 5th anniversary with fundraiser at Anchor Bar
Five years ago, a group of public-transit activists took to the streets, marching up Woodward Avenue with a demand for restoration of 24/7 bus service to the major thoroughfare. That group was the Motor City Freedom Riders, and though the route was restored, their work is far from done. A 2016 millage proposal to fund…
Too Hot to Handel turns up the heat on a holiday tradition at the Detroit Opera House
For some, the reason for the season is not the promise of AirPods under the tree. Billed as an annual Detroit holiday tradition, Too Hot to Handel breathes some vibrant energy into George Frideric Handel’s 1741 oratorio Messiah. Unlike the stuffy opera setting that sitcom therapist Frasier Crane frequently relishes in, clapping, foot-stomping, and even…
Listen here, ya filthy animals — ‘Home Alone’ will get the Detroit Symphony Orchestra treatment
When you begin to enter “Is Home Alone…” into the old Google machine, one of the most popular search results is “Is Home Alone a Christmas movie?” To which we say, what the fuck is wrong with people? Some argue that just because a movie about an actual child who defeats a pair of creepy…
Kick brass and take names at the Detroit Party Marching Band’s 10th anniversary shindig
For some bullshit reason in bullshit high school, if you were in the marching band, you were labeled a nerd. Well, guess what, chodes? In 2019, tubas are sexy, an oboe is hot, and trumpets are basically aphrodisiacs. For 10 years, Detroit Party Marching Band has gotten the party started at countless events in and…
Detroit’s Corktown will shine during 4th annual sprawling Corktown Aglow event
The holidays are sweeping through one of Detroit’s most popular destination neighborhoods a wee bit early this year, thanks to the fourth annual Corktown Aglow. The single-day, family-friendly celebration invites folks to take advantage of discounts and specials offered by Corktown’s independent retailers, restaurants, and bars — with free shuttles to make shopping easier. Kicking…
A famous family and a famous flub: Madison McFerrin heads to Detroit with pitch-perfect EP
Before a 2016 incident, the bar was set sky-high for singer Madison McFerrin. As the daughter of jazz singer Bobby McFerrin and granddaughter of Robert McFerrin Sr., who in 1953 became the first Black man to join the Metropolitan Opera, Madison’s viral humiliation after performing a botched rendition of the national anthem during a Hillary…
Reggie Watts and John Tejada are Wajatta, the funky electronic duo of our dreams — and they’re coming to Detroit
You guys, why is Reggie Watts so dang cool? OK — so that’s a rhetorical question, considering Watts is obviously a disorienting whirling dervish. Some days he’s a surrealist comedian — peep his work on IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang! — other times, he’s an incredible solo improviser, armed with a modest setup of a loop…
Performance artist and MacArthur Genius Taylor Mac brings ‘Holiday Sauce’ to Ann Arbor
Taylor Mac is not your run-of-the-mill drag queen. For the 46-year-old playwright and performance artist, the pageantry is nothing without challenging his audience to consider existing another way, even if it means feeling uncomfortable. Take, for example, the queer prom portion of his 24-hour-long marathon stage show (which sometimes Mac performs over the course of…
Take a trip down Candy Cane Lane with the return of Cirque Dreams Holidaze to Detroit’s Fox Theatre
If there were ever a time to get freaky, it’s the holidays. Spinning, flipping, dashing, and dancing through Detroit, once again, is Cirque Dreams Holidaze — part musical theater, part Vegas-drenched acid trip, where visions of sugarplums dance in proximity to your head. The performance hosts 20 acts, with dozens of performers donning more than…
Jamon Jordan teaches the hidden Black histories of Detroit
In 1999, Jamon Jordan became a public school teacher. Twenty years later, he’s a different kind of educator, leading tours about African-American history in Detroit on topics ranging from slavery to Motown. As a social studies teacher at schools in and around Detroit, Jordan noticed that the curriculum often left out African-American history. He decided…
Group calls for Detroit to opt in to legalizing recreational marijuana sales
State Reps. Isaac Robinson and Jewell Jones held a Monday press conference calling for Detroit to opt-in to adult-use marijuana right away, rather than after Jan. 31, as the city previously said. Citing reports of $221,000 in marijuana sales at three Ann Arbor locations on the first day of recreational marijuana sales (though a fourth…
No, Eminem did not murder Nick Cannon in Detroit
Sometime between late Monday night and Tuesday morning, someone edited comedian, rapper, and Wild ‘N Out host Nick Cannon’s Wikipedia page to say the 39-year-old had died in Detroit. Cannon’s page has since been edited back, as Mariah Carey’s ex-husband is not physically dead, just dead in the eyes of Eminem stans, who have launched…
Calling all loners, all rebels — ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’ is coming to Detroit with Pee-wee creator Paul Reubens
Heard any good jokes lately? Though he may be funny, this is not a joke: Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman, is coming to Detroit for yet another adventure. The creator of the quirky, subversive and, at times, surrealist world his equally offbeat character Pee-wee inhabits, Reubens announced Tuesday that he would be taking his 1985 cult…
Michigan’s recreational pot dispensaries ring up $1.6M in sales in first 8 days
Recreational marijuana dispensaries in Michigan made $1.6 million in sales in the first eight days of being legal. The sales translated to $270,414 in new taxes for cash-strapped local governments and the state, according to the Michigan Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA). Not bad considering only a handful of dispensaries have opened since recreational sales became…
Groups call Nestlé ruling a win for Michigan’s water, democracy
Despite a legal victory against a major corporation, environmental and community groups are not letting their guards down when it comes to protecting Michigan’s water. The Michigan Court of Appeals last week ruled Osceola Township had the right to deny a zoning permit to Nestlé for a booster station to increase water extraction. The company…
DTE Energy is quietly funding Detroit community leaders who publicly support the company
In the days that followed our Nov. 13 cover story investigation into problems with DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, several community leaders posted critical comments below the web version of the story. One was written by Rev. Horace Sheffield III, a pastor at Detroit’s New Destiny Christian Fellowship. Another came from Steve Hood, a Detroit…
Netflix’s ‘Atlantics’ is a stunning debut from director Mati Diop set in Senegal
Opening on the misty construction site of a half-built skyscraper in Senegal, so modern in its design it seems to quaver with instability, Atlantics draws a bead on a cosmology of inherited social structures, class, and gender norms just waiting to be shaken. Though its thematic scope is broad, its narrative one is pointed and…
Downtown Detroit’s first Buddy’s pizzeria opens this week
Good news for fans of Buddy’s signature Detroit-style square pizzas: The company’s new downtown location opens Wednesday. The restaurant opens in the former Angelina Italian Bistro at 1565 Broadway St. in the Madison, a Dan Gilbert-owned building. In addition to sit-down tables, the new space caters to the downtown lunchtime crowd with a to-go counter…
Detroit’s Lizzo gets cheeky at LA Lakers game — and people feel some type of way
For many celebrities, appearing courtside at NBA games is basically the equivalent to landing front row seats during New York Fashion Week. In other words, it’s an opportunity to serve looks ranging from sexy casual, à la Rihanna, straight-off-the-runway realness via Beyoncé, and cozy chic, which has become supermodel Kendell Jenner’s courtside calling card. For Detroit-born Grammy-nominated…
Tame Impala plots return to Detroit next spring in support of new record
For fans of Tame Impala, “Patience” has been the name of the game, considering the last full-length release from the Australian pysch-rock perfectionist Kevin Parker came in the form of 2015’s critically acclaimed Currents. Well, it looks as though “It Might Be Time” for new music and an arena tour, as Tame Impala gears up…
Detroit unveils plan to get a handle on dangerous dogs and negligent owners
The city of Detroit is revamping how it handles dangerous and neglected dogs after years of slow response times and inadequate enforcement. Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration announced Monday it’s pumping more money into Detroit Animal Care and Control to hire new employees and expand the city’s shelter. The city expects to have a new team of seven…
Photographer sues Detroit Athletic Club, alleging repeated sexual harassment
A Detroit-area photographer is suing the Detroit Athletic Club, alleging she lost assignments there after she complained about her supervisor making repeated and unwanted sexual advances. Cybelle Codish filed a lawsuit Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court, saying Kenneth Voyles, the editor of the social club’s monthly “DAC News,” sexually harassed her for at least…
‘Shining’ sequel ‘Doctor Sleep’ lacks the thrill of the original
“See more magic” is the command leveled at an early victim in Mike Flanagan’s new Shining sequel Doctor Sleep, one which could as easily be directed to its viewers. “Magic” and sometimes “tricks” are the words used to describe “shining” and the other more violent powers that appear in Doctor Sleep’s expanded world, which unspools…
Don’t forget the block
As we move through the holiday season into the new year, there is much to enjoy and think about: family, friends and fellowship. This is the time to share stories, laughter, food, gifts, and to entertain the children and indulge the elders, visit loved ones, and remember the ones who have passed. And in a…
‘Marriage Story’ is a surprisingly realistic divorce drama
Anyone reading will know that relationships are inherently messy, reflecting the chaos inherent in life. They’re unequal and riddled with compromise, unpredictable even when things are planned, and leave countless things unsaid and unrecorded since we don’t live long enough to speak each feeling; even the closest possible people can’t read each other’s minds. All…
East Grand Rapids kindergartner’s adoption cheered on by classmates
During Kent County court’s annual Adoption Day, one kindergartner was accompanied by his classmates and teacher as he was formally adopted. Local WOOD TV reports that Michael Clark Jr., a student at Wealthy Elementary in East Grand Rapids, had been living with Andrea Melvin and Dave Eaton as a foster child since last year. On…
Virginia’s Turnover enlists Montreal trio Men I Trust for bedroom pop-heavy evening at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre
The transition from pop-punk to dream pop may seem like an unlikely evolution, but for Virginia outfit Turnover it’s been pretty natural, as illustrated by the band’s fourth record, 2019’s Altogether. The record could fare well as a hazy background mix for a party in which people are actively abstaining from sex and vaping CBD exclusively,…
R. Kelly illegally married Aaliyah by bribing government employee, according to new charges
Twenty five years ago, Vibe magazine blew the lid off rumors that singer R. Kelly was romantically involved with his teenaged protégé Aaliyah when it published the couple’s Illinois marriage license. At the time, Aaliyah was 15 and Kelly was 27. Since then, it’s been a mystery as to how the illegal marriage occurred —…
Potential uranium spill in Detroit River alarms residents, environmental groups
Detroit residents and environmental groups are outraged over the handling of a potential uranium spill from a long-contaminated riverbank that collapsed into the Detroit River two days before Thanksgiving. The public was unaware of the potential contamination until the Windsor Star in Canada revealed what had happened Thursday – nine days after the collapse of…
Black ex-bartender settles racial discrimination lawsuit with Kid Rock’s restaurant
A Black former bartender at Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit settled her racial discrimination lawsuit against the restaurant on Wednesday, the same day it was announced that the eatery would soon close. Carinne Silverman-Maddox filed a federal lawsuit against the restaurant in January, alleging she was fired for wearing her hair in an Afro. The…
11 dogs rescued from suspected dog-fighting operation on Detroit’s east side
Authorities rescued 11 dogs from a suspected dog-fighting operation on Detroit’s east side Wednesday. Acting on a tip from a concerned resident, the Michigan Humane Society (MHS) and Detroit Police Department raided two homes near Seven Mile and Conant. Authorities removed evidence from the homes, including “sled mill treadmills, brake sticks, injectable drugs and conditioning…
New art exhibit examines a Detroit ‘Neighborhood on the Edge’ of change before Ford Motor Co. moves in
Detroit’s Hubbard Richard neighborhood is due for even more changes soon. A quarter-century ago, “Matty” Moroun leveled dozens of houses in the community for his Ambassador Bridge. Now, with Ford Motor Co.’s purchase of the nearby former Michigan Central Station, the neighborhood will likely experience an influx of real estate speculators — which could mean…
Report: Michigan businesses unprepared for severe weather, climate change
Severe weather due to climate change is disrupting global supply chains and putting Michigan companies and the state’s economy at risk, according to a new report. The report by the independent research and education organization Business Forward says in the last five years, the state has experienced 11 climate or weather related disasters that each…
State Court of Appeals rules against Nestlé’s bottled water operation in Osceola Twp.
Score one for the environmentalists. On Tuesday, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against Nestle’s Ice Mountain bottled water operation in Osceola Township. The company had been pursuing zoning approval for a new booster pump station after receiving the go-ahead from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to increase pumping rates from 250 gallons per minute to…
Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center launches its 39th annual holiday pop-up shop
This season, you can give the gift of art. The Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center’s annual holiday pop-up transforms the gallery’s 3,000-square-feet into a one-stop shop where you can buy gifts hand-created by more than 100 artisans, including ceramics, jewelry, home décor, greeting cards, stationery, glassware, paintings, candles, soaps, kitchenware, and more. The event kicks off with…
Civil rights activists blast Kid Rock as ‘musical icon of white supremacy’
Good riddance, Kid Rock. That was the message from civil rights activists who gathered across the street from Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit restaurant at noon Wednesday, a few hours after Ilitch Holdings, which runs Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena, announced it was not renewing its lease with the alt-right rocker. A handful of people held…
Expecto drinkus! The Wizards Beer Festival is coming to Detroit in 2020
The last time we saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron walking the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, they had just narrowly escaped death and managed to defeat old melty face himself, Voldemort — thanks to a rebounded killing spell and, let’s be real, the heroic deeds of the wildly underrated master of the…
Lawmakers will host expungement conference and town hall on legal cannabis industry in Detroit
Two state lawmakers who are championing a bill aimed at providing a fresh start for Michigan residents with pot-related convictions are hosting an expungement clinic and town hall on the cannabis industry in Detroit on Sunday. The focus is two-pronged: Help residents expunge marijuana-related convictions and discuss about ways to get involved in the blooming…
Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena severs ties with Kid Rock. Who didn’t see this coming?
Things haven’t been going well for Kid Rock lately. Less than a week after the performer went on a drunken and allegedly not racist (according to him, anyway) tirade against Oprah Winfrey in Nashville, Ilitch Holdings — which manages Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena — announced it was parting ways with Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit…
Horoscopes (Dec. 4-10)
ARIES | March 21 – April 20: You’re on a high run. There are so many pitfalls in this neck of the woods, you’d do well to take a deep breath and keep the humility factor in check. For some reason, everyone wants a piece of you, and people are coming around, promising you the…
How rapper B Free scored a gig performing for the Detroit Pistons
Brenton Freeman, better known as B Free when he’s behind the mic, is walking down Washington Boulevard carefree and jovial. The 26-year-old emcee and his team are trading stories from their recent trip to California, where Freeman was able to lock down a product-endorsement deal with headphone maker Beats Electronics. “Basically I’m a brand ambassador,…
Singer-songwriter Carmel Liburdi mixes punk, hip-hop into her own brand of folk
Carmel Liburdi politely declines an offer of espresso, instead choosing to sip decaf. She knows herself: Just talking about music — and what it means to her — will animate her to the point where she’ll already feel caffeinated. “Music has been such a friend to me throughout my life,” the 26-year-old folk singer says.…
‘Harriet’ is mired in trepidation — too unlike its subject
Pitting a loosely rendered historical figure against a surly, vengeful fop resentful of her hard-won freedom, Harriet (as in Tubman) is far less than what it could have been, a tale of obvious (if finite) triumph beset with too many on-screen single tears. As directed by Kasi Lemmons (Eve’s Bayou, Black Nativity) and starring Cynthia…
Why Ann Arbor deserves Michigan’s first recreational marijuana shops
Could there be any better way to cap off a Thanksgiving weekend than celebrating the first legal sales of adult-use marijuana? People in Ann Arbor seemed to like it, standing in long lines in the cold and rain on Sunday to buy marijuana on the first day of sales. People even drove up from Ohio,…
We’re all fucked
I spent Thanksgiving on a chilly, nearly deserted beach, trying to disconnect from work and politics and the world at large. I wasn’t entirely successful; an idle mind can’t help but ruminate. In any event, the news tsunami awaits the second you return. So instead of picking one story from the deluge to focus on,…
The Bricks Pizzeria in Grosse Pointe Park is a slice above the rest
The Bricks is the sixth new pizzeria Metro Times has reviewed this year, so perhaps we didn’t have quite the same level of anticipation that we usually do for new restaurants when it opened this summer. Not for anything it did or didn’t do — it was just another new pizzeria. But, it turns out,…
Do I need to tell sexual partners that I have HPV?
My ex-girlfriend, who I dated for nine months, called me two months after we broke up and accused me of giving her HPV. She was going on, telling me how I needed to tell any future person I had sex with that I have HPV. I’m a 38-year-old man, and I’ve never had any signs…
