Cover Story
Detroit’s incinerator has folks calling for action
It didn’t smell when Brittney Willis closed on her Midtown condominium on Halloween of 2011. The emergency room nurse at Detroit Medical Center’s Sinai-Grace Hospital recalls the moment as a transformative period in her life: It was her first big purchase as an adult, she says, one that moved the 28-year-old from her parents’ home…
Artist Melanie Manos puts herself into her work
For her latest solo show, A Heightened State, artist Melanie Manos has built a strange forest inside the white walls of the Re:View Contemporary Gallery. In many ways, the show seems to be about the tension between the natural world and the mechanical world. “I thought if I do a solo show, especially in this…
Vintage ‘base ball’ takes root at old Tiger Stadium
Yesterday at Corktown’s historic Navin Field, site of old Tiger Stadium, two teams of ladies vintage “base ball” players came together for a charity match to benefit Alternatives for Girls. Detroit River Belles captain Evette “Scrappy” Griffore touted the event as strong women playing base ball for a good cause. “Hopefully we can get some…
HopCat announces new Ann Arbor location
HopCat, named the third best beer bar on the planet by BeerAdvocate.com, has announced it will open its fifth location in Ann Arbor in January 2015. The bar will be found in the heart of downtown Ann Arbor and will feature 100 taps of craft beer paired with “food your mom would make if she…
Sea of rocks blanket I-75 in Detroit at I-94
(Screenshot from WXYZ video) If you happened to be driving into Detroit earlier today, you may have noticed some rocks on I-75 — no, you must’ve noticed. There was a truck-load of them. Literally. A semi-truck apparently lost a load of rocks it was carrying, resulting in the above scene. Southbound I-75 was closed at I-94 around 10…
Water, water, everywhere
A frame from a video showing what appears to be a water main shooting out a steady stream of water. An MT reader sent us video of this fenced-in area spewing water nonstop. We honestly don’t know what it is, but it seems to be cool, clear, potable water. Water? Our informer writes, “It’s in a…
New Belle Isle stars in new meme
Remember the debate over Belle Isle last year? The idea of making Belle Isle a state park appealed to many who complained about the litter and riffraff at the park. Some of these people had even been to the island park in the last several years. But seriously, these folks objected to the noise speeding…
Jim Diamond says Ghetto Recorders is being priced out of downtown
After 18 years of working in an unassuming former poultry processing facility-turned-recording studio, Jim Diamond of Ghetto Recorders says he is being priced out of downtown Detroit, the Detroit News reports. Diamond and his studio are noted for capturing, if not creating, the sounds of the “garage rock” revival of the early 2000s, having recorded…
Hazel Park to host rare quarterhorse race tonight
Hazel Park Raceway, which recently underwent a major transformation from a harness track back to its thoroughbred roots, will host a rare quarterhorse race tonight. Tonight’s third race, slated to go off at 8:20 p.m., will the first quarterhorse race at Hazel Park since the 1960s. Quarterhorses (or “short-necks”) can run at speeds of up…
Detroit residents protest potential eviction; ‘these homes were built for us’
A group of Detroit residents and the Detroit Eviction Defense coalition gathered in New Center on July 11, 2014 to protest against an Oakland County developer currently locked in a court case with those residents. (Ryan Felton/Metro Times) A group of Detroit residents today called on an Oakland County developer to sell them homes they’ve…
Film Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | B+ In his bestselling treatise Assholes: A Theory, author and philosopher Aaron James posits that assholes are defined by their unbridled arrogance and sense of entitlement. They consider themselves morally superior to others and reject all concerns and complaints to the contrary. In Matt Reeves’ Dawn of…
Navin Field to host 1860s era women’s baseball game to benefit Alternatives for Girls
Tiger Stadium is long gone, but the historic baseball diamond still remains. A group known as the Navin Field Grounds Crew, headed by Tom Derry, maintains the field free of charge, using money from their own pockets, making sure it can be enjoyed by the public. Established in 2010, the group is dedicated to restoring Detroit’s…
Selden Standard offers a taste of what’s to come
and yet it happens all the time … In the race to provide the most up-to-the-minute news about restaurants that are opening, we have a glut of news this summer about restaurants that aren’t open at all! It’s sort of a side-effect of the burgeoning blogosphere that food bloggers (and major media outlets) simply throw…
Belle Isle disc golf course to open July 12
(Wikimedia Commons) Three years of work will culminate in the grand opening of Belle Isle’s disc golf course tomorrow, Model D reports. After many volunteer clean-ups, tournaments, and discussions with the state, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has given Detroit Disc Golf the go-ahead to open Belle Isle Disc Golf Course for daily operations. The…
Record review: Sia — 1000 Forms of Fear
Sia 1000 Forms of Fear RCA/Monkey Puzzle Record This Australian singer — who has spent the past four years avoiding the spotlight by co-writing songs for artists like David Guetta, Rihanna, and Eminem — was only coaxed into a record deal on the condition that she didn’t have to tour or do any publicity. One…
Record review: Morrissey — World Peace Is None of Your Business
Morrissey World Peace Is None of Your Business Harvest/Capitol The 10th solo studio album from perennial downer and former Smiths frontman Morrissey, World Peace Is None of Your Business is exactly as indignant and pseudo-intellectual as the title suggests (and as the old chap’s career thus far would have you expect). However, Morrissey hasn’t earned…
Record review: Delay — Circle Change
Delay Circle Change Salinas With 2009’s Plain Language and 2012’s Rushing Ceremony, Delay set the bar fairly high for itself. Arguably pop punk’s best-kept secret, the Columbus trio has been playing music together since its members were kids, and it shows: They’re effortlessly spot-on in each song. Their recent full-length Circle Change slows things down…
Christina Morgan takes “Norah Jones” approach
"I’m not sure exactly how it happened. I just kind of put it out there, whenever I performed at an open mic, that I was willing to add harmonies as a backup vocalist if anyone needed. It worked better than I thought. The only band I front for is the alternative rock and soul band…
Meet fashionable tour manager Keri Ellis
This red-hot lady was recently spotted at Cliff Bell’s in Detroit. Keri Ellis hails from Ann Arbor and is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a master’s in counseling psychology. She’s a tour manager and is currently touring the country with the local band Rootstand. Ellis is also the co-producer of the Annual Rootenanny…
A visit to Motawi Tiles
Motawi Tiles 170 Enterprise Dr., Ann Arbor 734-213-0017; motawi.com Visually similar to Detroit’s historic Pewabic Pottery, Motawi Tilework is a much newer company. Founded in 1992, the Ann Arbor-based tile maker crafts artistic slates that feature nature-inspired designs such as trees, ships and seas, flowers, birds, dragonflies, ladybugs, rabbits, and koalas. Some designs are art…
Nojo Kicks is a sneakerhead’s dream come true
Nojo Kicks | 1220 Library St., Detroit | 313-656-4402; nojokicks.com Open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday When Nojo Kicks held its soft opening on June 23, the line stretched down Library Street. Crowds clambered to get into the chic, futuristic shoe store to buy the sold-out sneakers at discount prices. Nojo Kicks…
Restaurant review: B Spot
176 N. Adams, Rochester Hills 248-218-6001 bspotburgers.com Handicap accessible Burgers: $7-$10 Open 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday What makes a celebrity chef like Michael Symon, famous for his upscale restaurants, turn to the humble burger? B Spot general manager Frank Ritz says Symon has always been a burger…
Red Bull Creation brings makers and more to Detroit
When you think of Red Bull, you might think of a syrupy energy drink that mixes well with Jager. Or you might think of Eastern Market’s House of Art sponsored by the beverage giant. Or perhaps air races come to mind. In fact, there are seemingly hundreds of events, sports, hell, even people that the…
Rapper Insite the Riot talks Detroit Future City
MT readers might remember local hip-hop artist Insite the Riot from such concert experiences as Blowout. But this local lady isn’t just spitting rhymes. She’s a leader of the Detroit community, actively working with Detroit Future City, among other groups. Insite took a few moments to speak with MT. This is what she had to…
Reports from Detroit FIFA World Cup viewing party and more
U!S!A! Detroit City Football Club, Opportunity Detroit, Fathead, and the Downtown Detroit Partnership threw their second FIFA World Cup viewing party last Tuesday, and the crowds packed in to watch Team USA battle Belgium in a do-or-die match of the 16th round. While Belgium beat our boys, 2-1, the crowd inside Cadillac Square was still…
Building family behind bars
When Blair Anderson’s youngest daughter was preparing for her high school prom, she needed a dress. That can be a financial stress in many households. But Anderson, a caring father, vowed to pay for his daughter’s dress despite the protests of his wife, who didn’t want to set the girl up for disappointment. You see,…
Taqo Detroit boasts “authentic Mexican”
We love Mexican food. The array of regional cuisines that Mexico has to offer continues to surprise us, and we’re even fans of Mexican-inspired cuisine, such as Tex-Mex and Baja-style Mexican-American food. When trapped in the car on a long road trip, we might even have some Taco Bell, enjoying it for what it is:…
Tony V’s Tavern aims to succeed where Alvin’s failed
MT readers of a certain age may harbor fond memories of Alvin’s, the old hangout, deli, bar, and music venue on Cass Avenue just south of I-94. The deli’s glory days were in the 1970s, and it became a popular music venue in the 1980s and 1990s. In the ’00s, Alvin’s was just about as…
Bourbon beer tasting comes to Grand Trunk Pub
Downtown Detroit’s Grand Trunk Pub is ground zero for fans of Michigan craft beer. Almost weekly, the bar offers special tastings of the beers that are making the Mitten a national force in the brewing scene. Next week is no exception: They’ll host a “bourbon beer tasting,” featuring Arcadia Deliverance, New Holland Dragon Milk Reserve,…
Grosse Pointe: same song, different dance
A look back at what was happening this week in Metro Times… Last week, our attention was drawn to a teapot-sized tempest in Grosse Pointe, where a handful of outspoken residents claiming Metro Times was involved with “sex trafficking” demanded that the paper be removed from the library’s racks. In a remarkable unanimous decision, the…
Carl Lundgren on becoming one of rock’s iconic poster artists
Carl Lundgren’s rock ’n’ roll posters from the ’60s and ’70s have become synonymous with the groundbreaking music that defined the era. Designing dozens of posters for bills at the Grande Ballroom — for the likes of the MC5, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, and more — Lundgren’s colorful artwork perfectly encapsulates the psychedelic vibes of…
Complexions attempts to redefine contemporary ballet
Forget what you think you know about ballet — the petite ballerinas, the tutus, the classical music. For the past 20 years, New York’s Complexions has sought to change all that, and the contemporary ballet company is once again bringing its brand of world-class dance to Detroit. “Complexions is a very American company,” says Meg…
The artwork of Miroslawa Sztuczka
Dressed all in black, wearing the angular bob of Uma Thurman’s character in Pulp Fiction, Miroslawa Sztuczka looks as dark and brooding as her artwork — a series of paintings and drawings with expressive, violent linework, and bold, dark colors. Fortunately, she’s not so scary once we start to talk with her. Sztuczka is speaking…
MT readers weigh in on Barclae, Trick Trick, Grosse Pointe, more
Arrested development We received a number of comments about Ryan Felton’s July 2 news feature about how deceptive practices could force 13 Detroit families out of their homes. Reader “Joe” posted: I’m glad there’s some light being shone on deceptive and exploitative development schemes like this, which are widespread in the Detroit area. Another example…
Atwater in the park
1175 Lakepointe St., Grosse Pointe Park; 313-344-5104; atwaterbeer.com Open 2 p.m.-midnight Monday-Thursday, 2 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday, noon-2 a.m. Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday We actually missed Atwater in the Park the first time we rolled around. We were expecting a heavily pronounced entrance, something over-the-top and loud. Instead, situated on the corner of Lakepointe and Kercheval,…
Two sets of rules in Detroit water shutoffs
It’s unusual for the know-it-alls at News Hits to get confused over something we’ve previously reported on, but we were taken aback last week by a story in The New York Times about Detroit’s ongoing water shutoffs. Written by Detroit-based freelance writer Anna Clark, the piece highlights the ongoing disparity embedded in the Detroit Water…
Back for seconds: Forest Grill
Visit Forest Grill tonight and it’ll taste nothing like it did a few short years ago. For starters, the bread pudding is gone, a move that proved surprisingly controversial for the chef who pulled it from the menu. That chef is Nick Janutol, the restaurant’s new chef de cuisine, and his decision to yank the…
The adventure with Wild Cub’s Keegan DeWitt
The third time is always the charm when it comes to getting a musician on the phone for an interview, or so they say, and this cliché rings true when we dial up Wild Cub lead singer Keegan DeWitt for our 11:30 a.m. interview last week. But when he answers the phone, he’s bright, ready…
Inside Detroit’s Better Made potato chip factory
Should you drive by the Better Made Snack Foods factory on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit on a weekday, roll down the window a bit. There’s not much to look at. The scene is a typical Detroit neighborhood, a slumbering main drag leading to side streets with a few tidy homes amid derelict vacants. But you’ll…
