Cover Story
The 2020 Foilies Awards: Recognizing the year’s worst in government transparency
“The Ringer,” the first track on Eminem’s 2018 album, Kamikaze, includes a line that piqued BuzzFeed reporter Jason Leopold’s curiosity: the rapper claimed the Secret Service visited him due to some controversial lyrics about Ivanka Trump. To find out if it was true, Leopold filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the…
2020 was supposed to be a big year for Protomartyr, one of Detroit’s luckiest indie rock bands — then came a plague
We didn’t realize it at the time, but it’s likely the last rock band we will have seen perform this year — like, live, in a densely packed crowd of thousands (remember those?) — was Protomartyr, who warmed up the crowd for Sen. Bernie Sanders’s big Detroit rally for president in early March. Sure, the…
Detroiters remember Nelson Mandela’s 1990 Tiger Stadium visit
Last week we commemorated the 30th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s historic visit to Detroit. As Metro Times readers know, South African president F.W. de Klerk freed Mandela in February 1990 after the Black anti-apartheid leader had spent more than 27 years as a political prisoner of the country’s white minority government. In June of that…
Michigan sends out record number of absentee ballots for August primary election
Michigan has sent out nearly four times as many absentee ballots for the August primary election than it did over the same time four years ago. With three weeks before the Aug. 4 state primary, the Secretary of State’s Office has issued 1.7 million ballots so far, compared to 475,000 at this time in 2016.…
Michigan hot dog stand owner in hot water after posting wild political Facebook rant
The owner of Pronto Pup, a popular corndog stand in beachside Grand Haven, says he’s sorry for accidentally posting a political tirade on his business Facebook page and not his personal page. In the meandering, grammatically-challenged rant, owner Carl Nelson starts off by criticizing Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s new mandate that people wear masks indoors to…
Macomb County Sheriff’s Office refuses to issue citations for violations of Gov. Whitmer’s mask-wearing order
The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said it won’t issue citations to people who violate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s requirement to wear masks indoors, even as the number of coronavirus cases in continues to rise in the state. The sheriff’s office made the announcement Monday on Facebook, drawing criticism and praise. “The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office will…
Royal Oak marijuana proposals get pushback
A stretch of Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak could become a hub for customers of Michigan’s new recreational marijuana market, but many citizens expressed their disapproval of the move during a video conference meeting for the City Commission on Monday. Due to the coronavirus, the meeting was held online and accepted public comments as voicemail…
First Time CBD Buyers Guide: What Blue Ribbon Hemp Product Is Right For You?
This article was originally published on Blue Ribbon Hemp. To view the original article, click here. First Time CBD Buyers Guide: What Blue Ribbon Hemp Product Is Right For You? See our guide below: Blue Ribbon Hemp Products are designed to help you maintain: • Healthy sleeping patterns* • Recovery from inflammation* • A sense…
A teenager didn’t do her online schoolwork. So a judge sent her to juvenile detention.
This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica Illinois is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism with moral force. Sign up for The ProPublica Illinois newsletter for weekly updates. One afternoon in mid-June, Charisse* drove up to the checkpoint at the Children’s Village juvenile detention center in suburban Detroit, desperate to be near…
Could Michigan get toll roads? State to hire outside consulting firm to determine feasibility
In an effort to maybe, finally, fix the damn roads (which have been found to be the worst in the country), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed state Senate Bill 517 last week, which gives a green light to the Michigan Department of Transportation to hire an outside consulting firm to see if toll roads would do…
Dozens of people infected with COVID-19 after Fourth of July parties in Michigan
Unsurprisingly, dozens of people are now infected with the coronavirus after attending packed parties during the Fourth of July weekend. The Washtenaw County Health Department has traced more than 43 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 66 exposed contacts to a house party in Saline on July 2-3. The health department is urging everyone who attended the…
Manuel ‘Matty’ Moroun, Detroit’s billionaire ‘Mr. Burns,’ is dead at 93
Controversial billionaire Manuel “Matty” Moroun has died, Crain’s reports. He was 93. Moroun made his fortune, which Forbes estimated to be $1.7 billion, in the trucking industry, making him of the top 400 wealthiest Americans. But in Detroit, he was best known as the owner of two blighted structures: the crumbling Ambassador Bridge that connects…
Michigan joins 17 other states suing Trump administration over rule suspending student visas
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is joining 17 other states that are suing the Trump administration over a new policy that could prohibit thousands of international students from studying in the U.S. this fall. Immigration officials announced a new federal rule last week that would strip international students of their visas if their colleges exclusively…
21st annual Allied Media Conference will go virtual to explore the cross-section of media and social justice
Since 1999, Detroit’s Allied Media Conference has been an incubator of imaginative media strategies in an effort “ignite” social justice organizing and progressive ideas. After a one year hiatus, which AMC co-director Nadine Marshall refers to “the Year in Chrysalis,” this year, AMC returns with virtual programming hosted on platforms Socio and Zoom. This year’s…
Mayor Fouts accused of unilaterally increasing the city’s tax rates as officials call for an investigation
Elected officials in Warren are accusing Mayor Jim Fouts of unilaterally increasing the city’s property tax rates, in violation of state law. During a special session Saturday, the Warren City Council voted unanimously to take legal action against Fouts, saying he altered a document to increase the 2020 tax rate beyond what the council approved.…
The Ultimate Guide to CBD and Seniors for Insomnia
This article was originally published on CBD Seniors. To view the original article, click here. The Ultimate Guide to CBD and Seniors for Insomnia By Igor Bussel Does it seem like it is harder and harder to sleep as you get older? Your insomnia is not in your mind. According to the National Sleep Foundation,…
High Profile marijuana provisioning center opens in Buchanan
C3 Industries is opening another one of its High Profile marijuana provisioning centers this week. The new store, the brand’s fourth in Michigan, opens on Wednesday. It’s located at 804 E. Front St. Buchanan, south of Kalamazoo. Business hours are 10 a.m.-9 p.m., seven days a week. The store is licensed for recreational marijuana sales,…
Biden-Sanders task force comes short of calling to legalize marijuana
The camps of presumed 2020 Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden and former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders have come together to hammer out joint policy recommendations to unite the moderate and progressive wings of the party — but marijuana was one issue they could not agree on. Sanders vowed to legalize marijuana via executive order on…
Michigan woman defends pulling gun on Black family in viral video
The white woman who pulled a gun on a Black mother and her daughters is defending her actions, claiming she thought she was going to die. In a 15-minute interview with WXYZ-7, Jillian Wuesternberg said she was “terrified” when Takelia Hill and her three children approached her car after she had an argument with them…
The note a Michigan antique store owner put on this ceramic jug is the darkest, bleakest thing we’ve read all week
Wow. Just wow. We thought we’ve been going through some shit, but clearly we have nothing on a Michigan antique store owner, who let it rip in a lengthy note to customers. Apparently, somebody stole the brass spout of a ceramic water jug. But they didn’t just steal the spout — the took something from…
Detroit’s Dally in the Alley is officially called off due to the coronavirus
For the first time in more than 40 years, organizers have canceled Dally in the Alley, the annual block party in Midtown, originally scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12. “After conversations with city officials and amongst ourselves, we’ve made the decision that the health and well-being of our community members are much too important to risk,”…
Detroit’s Charivari electronic music festival switches to online format due to coronavirus
Detroit’s other electronic music festival, Charivari, has now switched to a digital format, following other local fests that have pulled the plug due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The festival, now in its seventh year, was originally set for July 31 through Aug. 2 at Riverside Extension Park. But organizers announced on Friday that the…
Whitmer strengthens mask-wearing requirements as coronavirus cases increase
With coronavirus cases increasing in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer toughened the state’s mask-wearing requirements. Whitmer signed a new executive order Friday that requires the use of masks in crowded outdoor spaces beginning Monday. Business also are required to refuse entry or service to people who aren’t wearing a mask, with a few exceptions. Anyone who…
Black Democrats in Lansing propose banning facial recognition technology in Michigan
Mounting calls to ban facial recognition technology are now coming from every level of government, from the city of Detroit to Congress. Democrats in the state House said Thursday they are proposing a ban on the technology as part of a sweeping overhaul of police departments following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.…
Civil rights coalition files class-action lawsuit to ban water shutoffs in Detroit
A coalition of civil rights groups has filed a class-action lawsuit to prevent future water shutoffs in Detroit and force the city to develop an affordable payment plan. With one of the highest water and poverty rates in the nation, Detroit has shut off water to nearly 150,000 households since 2014, drawing criticism from human…
Leadership shakeup at Ferndale’s Imperial over sexual harassment allegations shows need for union for service industry workers
On Thursday, July 2, Jeff King resigned as the daily operations manager of Working Class Outlaws, the restaurant group that runs Ferndale’s popular taco spot Imperial. The sudden resignation came a day after a former Imperial employee shared screenshots of anonymous claims in a Facebook post that included allegations of sexual harassment, racism, and abusive and exploitative…
Gov. Whitmer orders implicit bias training for health professionals to combat racial inequalities
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is requiring implicit bias training for health professionals as part of an ongoing effort to combat the coronavirus’ disparate impact on people of color. The directive, issued Thursday, was recommended by the Michigan Coronavirus Task Force on Racial Disparities, which Whitmer created in April after a disproportionate number of Black people were…
Saugatuck ice cream shop denies it received — or even asked for — millions of federal coronavirus relief funds
A Saugatuck business owner says she was perplexed to learn that her small ice cream shop was awarded a hefty $2 million of Paycheck Protection Program coronavirus relief funds — at least according to a database released by the U.S. Small Business Administration on Monday. Owner Lisa Freeman says she learned that her ‘Round the…
Singer John Legend endorses Victoria Burton-Harris for Wayne County prosecutor
Singer and activist John Legend recently began “paying close attention” to elections for district attorneys and prosecutors, saying they are “crucial to changing our justice system.” On Wednesday, Legend threw his support behind five candidates in Arizona, Florida, and Michigan, including Victoria Burton-Harris, a Detroit-based attorney who is running to unseat Wayne County Prosecutor Kym…
Dani Darling shares lyric video for lonely quarantine song ‘S+M,’ talks performing live shows during a pandemic
For her new video, Ann Arbor singer-songwriter Dani Darling goes full lo-fi bedroom pop — literally. She recorded a timelapse of herself during a recent night in, a familiar sight for many of us during the coronavirus quarantine: strumming on her guitar, and toggling between checking both her phone and computer. That matches perfectly with…
Rep. Tlaib supports BREATHE Act, includes defunding police, reparations, universal basic income
Two members of “the Squad” have thrown their support behind wide-ranging legislation that would address many of the demands of the massive nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that followed the death of George Floyd under Minneapolis police. In a press conference on Tuesday, Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts announced the…
Nelson Mandela’s historic Tiger Stadium rally 30 years later
Thirty years ago on a portentous day in Pretoria, South African president F.W. de Klerk announced he would free Nelson Mandela the following day after the Black anti-apartheid leader had spent more than 27 years as a political prisoner of the country’s white minority government. It was a watershed moment in world history. In Detroit,…
Warren City Council eliminates job of Mayor Fouts’ beloved assistant
Warren City Council eliminated the job of Amanda Mika, whose salary more than doubled since she was caught holding hands with her much older boss, Warren Mayor Jim Fouts, in 2014. Council members said they thought they were eliminating a vacant position because the mayor never notified them – as required by the city’s charter…
Friends of George Floyd to speak at Kalamazoo’s Black Lives Matter protest, including former NBA player
A Black Lives Matter demonstration scheduled to take place in downtown Kalamazoo this weekend will feature close friends of George Floyd, the unarmed 46-year-old Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him down, kneeling on his neck for more than 8 minutes. Floyd’s death sparked nationwide unrest and protests demanding police reform,…
New Red Order postpone MOCAD exhibition following allegations of racism against museum’s executive director from staff
New Red Order postponed its planned solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit indefinitely while the museum’s board investigates allegations of racism against executive director Elysia Borowy-Reeder. On Friday, nearly 40 current and former MOCAD staffers went public with a list of grievances against Borowy-Reeder, alleging “racial microaggressions, violent verbal outbursts, retaliations, misrepresentation…
Michigan AG’s office to review case involving packed sandbar party on July 4
Organizers of a party at Diamond Lake in West Michigan, where hundreds of people without masks packed onto a sandbar on the Fourth of July, face potential charges for defying the state’s social-distancing requirements. The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has agreed to review the case after the investigation is wrapped up by the Cass County…
Michigan among four states suing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for prioritizing relief funds for private schools
Cruella DeVos is at it again, and now she’s being sued by her home state, among several others. On Tuesday Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Michigan would join California, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia in taking aim at the U.S. Department of Education and Secretary of Education…
Corktown’s Black housing project is a ‘target area’ for developers
Updated 11:49 a.m., Thursday, July 9: After this story ran, representatives from the City of Detroit and American Community Developers contacted Metro Times to say that they intend to preserve all 87 units of Clement Kern Gardens as affordable housing, and that residents will be invited back to their apartments after the redevelopment is completed.…
Beware of this tiny alligator on the prowl in Macomb County
Authorities in Clinton Township are warning people to be on the look out for Georgie, a foot-long alligator that escaped from its owner about a week ago. Well, technically Georgie isn’t an alligator but a caiman, a related species native to Central and South America. And yes, they are illegal to own in Macomb County.…
Free Will Astrology (July 8-14)
ARIES | March 21 – April 19: “As beautiful as simplicity is, it can become a tradition that stands in the way of exploration,” said singer Laura Nyro. This is practical advice for you to heed in the coming weeks. According to my analysis, you’re scheduled to enjoy an extended engagement with rich, fertile complexity.…
Look, we got more thoughtful letters to the editor!
As predicted, our decision to disable the comments section on our website has already yielded a slew of thoughtful letters to the editor. Let’s dig in. Backsliding A while back, I emailed you regarding the Metro Times’s failure to communicate with print edition readers about changes to the publication. You took my suggestions to heart.…
Cucking dykes
I’m a lesbian in a long-term relationship. After much conversation with my partner, we’ve decided to explore cuckolding role-play together. I’m not comfortable bringing another person into the relationship — especially right now — but I am willing to explore this as a fantasy. The thing is, I’m having a hard time figuring out how…
