Cover Story
Nonprofit helps metro Detroit women rebuild their lives with reused auto parts
It was a couple years ago, before the pandemic, when I first came across Mend on the Move while shopping in a local store. It was the aesthetics that first caught my eye: jewelry that was modern and somewhat industrial. It turns out it was much more industrial than I could have guessed. In tiny…
Winter at Valade returns to Detroit’s riverfront with family-friendly programming
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is bringing back the popular Winter at Valade celebration with family-friendly programming at Robert C. Valade Park. Winter at Valade features sledding, curling on synthetic ice, live music, wellness programing, dog walks, hustle classes, cultural events, and other activities. The outdoor fun occurs every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through Feb. 26…
Wyandotte is getting a new rock and country music venue
A formerly abandoned century-old building in Wyandotte will be reborn as a new music venue, with a focus on rock and country acts. Slated to open in March 2023, District 142 is a new venture by entrepreneurs Julie Law and Joshua Cade, who have experience running local festivals. Live Nation will be the booking partner,…
SZA announces ‘SOS’ arena tour with Detroit stop
Days after dropping her anticipated sophomore record SOS, R&B sensation SZA has announced her first arena tour, which includes a stop in Detroit. The singer will perform at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on Friday, Feb. 24 with support from Omar Apollo. Tickets go on sale at noon on Friday, Dec. 16 at 12 p.m. at…
This year’s flu season is ‘especially severe,’ but Michigan lags in vaccinations
Michigan’s chief medical executive has good news: Respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, cases are down after soaring in the state last month, leaving pediatric hospitals overwhelmed by an illness that sickened children across the country. Then, however, comes the bad news. “As the RSV cases decline and we’ve heard from hospitals that they’re getting a…
DJ Minx caps off a hell of a year with final residency of 2022, and more Detroit music news
Got a Detroit music tip? Send it to music@metrotimes.com. DJ Minx returns to Spot Lite: It’s been a banner year for DJ Minx (real name Jennifer Witcher). Despite her 30-plus years behind the decks, the DJ has recently started to gain wider international recognition, with a career-spanning cover feature on DJ Mag last December and…
You can now buy recreational weed in Mount Clemens, even though the city prohibits it
A Mount Clemens dispensary began selling adult-use cannabis on Monday, even though the city doesn’t have an ordinance allowing it. Pleasantrees tells Metro Times that it’s selling recreational marijuana out of its medical cannabis dispensary. Mount Clemens officials were surprised to hear the news because the city temporarily rescinded its recreational marijuana ordinance in June.…
Sweetgreen is opening a Troy location
Fast-casual lunch spot Sweetgreen is expanding in Michigan. Its second location in the state will open in Troy on Tuesday, Dec. 13. The new 2,761-square-foot salad shop is located at 730 East Big Beaver Rd. and will seat 36 diners. It will also feature a patio with outdoor seating for 30 additional guests. Sweetgreen is…
At Cinema Detroit this week, two tales of parents and daughters
At the end of most years, so much film work lands that a lot passes Detroit and its viewers by. But sometimes we get lucky, as we have this week — thanks to a slate of strong and complementary programming at Cinema Detroit. A pair of two new independent works distributed by A24 — each…
Janet Jackson announces tour with a stop in Detroit
There are superstars, and then there’s Janet Jackson. The global icon took to social media to announce a new North American tour kicking off in the spring, with a stop in Detroit. The “Together Again” tour is Jackson’s first in four years and celebrates several milestones for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.…
Michigan Supreme Court puts final nail in legal coffin for DePerno’s Antrim County lawsuit
A final attempt to relitigate a failed Antrim County election lawsuit has been rejected by the Michigan Supreme Court. In an order issued Friday, the state’s highest court upheld lower court rulings that dismissed the lawsuit filed by former Republican attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno just days after the 2020 election in which President Joe…
Group backs renewal of child tax credit for rural Michigan kids
A coalition of advocates for Michigan families is pushing Congress to permanently install the Child Tax Credit in its end-of-year spending bill. The initial 2021 expansion of the Child Tax Credit helped bring thousands of Michigan families and their kids out of poverty during the pandemic. But when the program wasn’t renewed, many fell back…
R.I.P. Detroit soul singer J.J. Barnes, dead at 79
Detroit soul singer J.J. Barnes has died, weeks after what he said would be his final performance. He was 79. That’s according to his family, who told the Detroit Free Press that he died Saturday. Barnes was featured on the cover of Metro Times in October ahead of an appearance at the Detroit A-Go-Go festival…
Detroit Symphony Orchestra bans attendee who shouted racial slur
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra says it plans to ban an attendee for life for shouting a racial slur during a Friday performance. “The DSO is deeply disappointed by an incident that took place towards the end of Friday night’s concert when an audience member shouted a racial slur,” the DSO said in a message posted…
Tlaib slams big polluters in Detroit for ‘flagrant disregard’ for residents
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib fired off letters to two big polluters in Detroit on Friday, demanding protections for residents living near the facilities. The letters — co-written by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who is chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Environment — are addressed to U.S. Ecology and Stellantis, both of…
Federal judge drops Flint water crisis charges against Snyder
A Genesee County judge dismissed two criminal charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the Flint water crisis, saying the charges “were not properly brought.” Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty in January 2021, to which he pleaded not guilty.…
Free weed: The top Metro Times stories of the week
Apparently, our readers love cannabis deals, if there is any sort of trend that can be divined from this week’s pageviews. A number of well-known local businesses also made the top 10 stories this week. Here are the top 10 headlines of this week: 10. “New Order Coffee reopens with new location and owner” 9.…
Workers move to unionize at Ferndale Area District Library as censorship grows nationwide
Workers at the Ferndale Area District Library have united to join a union as libraries across the nation are coming under attack by far-right advocates of censorship. Of the 22 eligible workers, 17 have agreed to join the Newspaper Guild of Detroit. If all goes as planned, the library would be the first in metro…
Judy Bowman’s ‘Gratiot Griot’ exhibit is straight up Detroit swag. And it’s all made out of paper.
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 revitalized Metro Times feature will highlight a different artist…
Babyface Ray talks his career, collaborations, and more on the ‘Rap Radar’ podcast
Babyface Ray is having quite a year. Despite being known as a rap vet to many, it seems that the artist is finally getting his just due with a wider audience. Related The Detroit rapper has been on an impressive press tour to promote his latest album, MOB, which was released on Dec. 2. In…
Duggan uses emergency powers to continue providing paratransit services in Detroit
Mayor Mike Duggan unveiled an emergency plan Thursday to continue paratransit services after Detroit City Council rejected a contract to fully fund rides for people with disabilities in 2023. The mayor’s administration is working with four companies on a temporary basis to take over work from Transdev, a French company that riders complained had provided…
The last film this Detroit native worked on before his death was ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains plot points for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, so if you haven’t seen it yet, you may want to come back and read this later. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. While excited superhero fans couldn’t wait to flood theatres for the release of the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever in…
Detroit is getting the world’s largest Kwanzaa kinara
For years, Detroit has celebrated the holiday season with an enormous Christmas tree and a 26-foot-tall Hanukkah menorah in downtown’s Campus Martius Park. But one of the largest Black-majority cities in the nation has not celebrated Kwanzaa with a large kinara — until now. According to a press release, a 30-foot-tall kinara monument will be…
Detroit’s Hotel Yorba is back on the market
Southwest Detroit’s Hotel Yorba, the inspiration of the song of the same name by the rock band the White Stripes, is back on the market. According to a reporter, a for sale sign appeared on the property Wednesday. The real estate listing was reported last week by Crain’s Detroit Business, which notes that the owner…
Eastpointe mayor agrees to shut up when criticized during meetings following lawsuit
A First Amendment lawsuit filed against Eastpointe has prompted the city to agree that its mayor will no longer prevent members of the public from criticizing her during public meetings. The city agreed to an injunction Wednesday that prohibits Mayor Monique Owens from interrupting or shutting down speakers during public comment periods. The injunction comes…
Black-owned cannabis company Viola launches ‘Grandma’s Kitchen’ edibles
Viola Brands, the cannabis company co-founded by former NBA player Al Harrington, has launched a new line of edibles inspired by his late grandmother. The “Grandma’s Kitchen” products are now available in Michigan at Puff Cannabis locations in Hamtramck, Madison Heights, and Utica. The company was founded in 2011, named after Harrington’s grandmother, who used…
Perfecting the dumpling on Detroit’s east side
The first thing one will note at Gajiza Dumplins, the resident dumpling pop-up at the Lost River tiki bar in Detroit’s east side, is the commitment to quality noodles. All too often, gyoza are made with frozen wrappers encasing frozen filling, and it shows in the somewhat mushy textures. What a dumpling noodle should be…
Patrick Lyoya family sues Grand Rapids and the former police officer who killed him
It’s been eight months since Patrick Lyoya was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Grand Rapids. Now, his family has filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Grand Rapids and Christopher Schurr, the former Grand Rapids police officer who shot him. The family’s attorneys Ven Johnson and Ben Crump made the…
Paratransit debate fractures relationship between Detroit’s mayor and council
By Detroit standards, Mayor Mike Duggan’s nine-year relationship with city council has been practical and affable. The war of words between past mayors and council members were a thing of the past. That all changed last month after the council rejected a nearly $50 million paratransit services contract that serves people with disabilities. Asked about…
You could win free weed for life in this dispensary’s scratch-off game
Cannabis provisioning center The Reef is hosting the most interesting game of monopoly we’ll probably ever play. “Reefopoly,” as they’re calling it, gives you the chance to win $100,000 cash, a Caribbean cruise for two, or (more importantly) free weed for life. Technically it’s an ounce of free weed every month for the next 20…
Black Detroit cop wins racial-bias lawsuit against city after his arrest and suspension
A Black Detroit police officer who was arrested and searched while off-duty has won a racial-bias lawsuit alleging excessive force, retaliation, and a hostile work environment, the ACLU of Michigan announced Wednesday. Officer Johnny Strickland, a Detroit native and 11-year veteran of the force at the time of the incident, was awarded $150,000 after a…
Detroit City Distillery’s tasting room is now a ‘Whiskey Winter Wonderland’
Fans of Detroit City Distillery’s award-winning spirits can now enjoy them in a cozy holiday-themed setting the Eastern Market company is calling a “Winter Whiskey Wonderland.” Beyond the festive lighting, the distillery’s tasting room has also released a new holiday menu with 15 new craft cocktails. “Think of this as a personal invitation to a…
Nikki Lane brings a rock ’n’ roll edge to country with the help of Josh Homme
Nikki Lane knows exactly where she wants her music to be — right between rock ’n’ roll and country. And that’s exactly where it winds up on Denim & Diamonds, the album she released in September, and in her, at times, raucous shows. “That’s the spot for me throughout my career,” she says in a…
Free Will Astrology (Dec. 7-13)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky wrote, “To be free, you simply have to be so, without asking permission. You must have your own hypothesis about what you are called to do, and follow it, not giving in to circumstances or complying with them. But that sort of freedom demands powerful inner resources,…
