Cover Story
After getting kicked out of the house as a teenager, one young woman now wants to save Detroit’s lost children
Amber Matthews tries to stay rosy and upbeat as she prepares for an upcoming event. Her nine-month-old nephew’s relentless cries had kept her up late into the quiet hours of a snowless January night. All too soon the sunrise had arrived. She throws on a loose-fitting, light brown blazer, dark brown dress pants, and mahogany…
Shawn Fain wins UAW presidency, completing stunning upset of leadership
The workers have spoken. Reform candidate Shawn Fain has officially won the runoff election for the president of the United Auto Workers, earning a four-year term and ushering in a historic new era at the embattled labor union that has been mired in corruption. After a weeks-long nail-biting slog in which some hundreds of ballots…
Judge approves $600 million settlement over Flint water crisis
A Genesee County judge approved a $600 million settlement over the contamination of Flint’s water supply to resolve several lawsuits, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday. The state has agreed to pay $600 million to settle the lawsuits. The city of Flint will pay $20 million, McLaren Regional Medical Center will pay $5 million, and…
Cauleen Smith’s ‘Drylongso’ and Amir Naderi’s ‘The Runner’ show this weekend at Cinema Detroit and the DFT
One of film’s most obvious functions is of establishing a record, serving an essential archival function of documenting times, lives, moments, and places. Two welcome, newly restored works screening locally play to this strength of the medium and a good bit more this week, reworking in their own loose, productive ways the details of their…
The Red Hook is finally open in Detroit’s former Great Lakes Coffee space
The coffee shop on the corner of Woodward and Alexandrine in Detroit is moving on to its next chapter. The Red Hook has finally opened its Midtown location, in the former Great Lakes Coffee space at 3965 Woodward Ave. The Red Hook announced plans to take over the space following a Noel Night pop-up last…
Bombshell Treat Bar is opening its first brick-and-mortar store in Berkley
Local ice cream pop-up Bombshell Treat Bar is putting down roots in Berkley. The sweets shop announced Tuesday that it plans to open its first brick-and-mortar store at 2688 Coolidge Hwy. The company started in 2020, weathering the pandemic with contactless delivery options and later making appearances as a pop-up with its “Big Dipper” ice…
Stop dumping toxic train-derailment waste in metro Detroit, lawsuit implores
A Wayne County man is suing Norfolk Southern Corp. for exposing communities to “potential significant harm” when it transported and disposed hazardous waste from the Ohio train derailment to Wayne County facilities last month. The lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court alleges the company endangered the community by not properly monitoring the toxic waste before…
Watch: Detroit singer Apropos covers Audioslave on WDET
Got a Detroit music tip? Send it to music@metrotimes.com. Apropos channels Chris Cornell: Like many of us, I’m on my phone way too much. Most of the time I find myself scrolling, flicking through the same photos and refreshing my apps hoping that something new has come up. But every once in a while, you…
First Black-owned ‘Detroit legacy’ cannabis dispensary opens
City of Detroit officials are celebrating the opening of the first adult-use cannabis dispensary that is part of a social equity program designed to ensure that Black residents are represented in the legal marijuana industry. Nuggets Cannabis, a Black-owned family business, opened this weekend at 18270 Telegraph Rd. “This doesn’t happen everywhere,” Deputy Mayor Todd…
Metro Detroit country music artist Audrey Ray teams up with members of rock bands Sponge, Taproot
Audrey Ray is a local country music singer-songwriter who has found a community in a somewhat unexpected place — metro Detroit’s alternative rock scene. She has been recording new music at Saline’s Loft Recording Studio with producer Tim Patalan, who also plays bass in the band Sponge. Her first collaboration with Patalan, a single about…
Giant invasive snails found in luggage at Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Customs officials found six giant “highly invasive” snails with destructive potential in a traveler’s suitcase at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The giant African snails, which were alive, are “a prohibitive organism” that have the potential to wreak havoc on the environment and cause diseases in humans. They have an affinity for devouring plants, produce, flowers, tree…
Detroit fashion and hip-hop is front and center at ‘Dream’s Most Wanted Fashion Exhibit’ event
Fashion and music have been two of Detroit’s biggest exports over the last several years. A quick click on your Instagram account and you’ll see NBA players rocking Octane or Wealthy walking through the tunnel before a game, and hip-hop artists like Jezzy and Rick Ross picking up a Ruggero jacket before they hit the…
SNAP cuts leave Michigan families, food banks struggling
It’s 8 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, which means Karen Palumbo is on the move. Cradling loaves of bread, she deftly maneuvers under the neon lights of the LMTS Community Outreach Services’ food pantry in Lansing as she stocks the shelves for the people who will start streaming through the doors in a matter of…
Tylonn J. Sawyer brings ‘Dark Matter’ to N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art
This feature highlights a different local artist each week. Got someone in mind you think deserves the spotlight? Hit us up at arts@metrotimes.com. Artist of the week: Tylonn J. Sawyer Known but unseen, dark matter permeates every corner of the cosmos. Scientists believe this mysterious material makes up more than 80% of all matter in…
The vegan gyro from Detroit’s Chili, Mustard, Onions is now on the menu at National Coney Island
Attention vegans: Even though Detroit’s former vegan coney island restaurant has closed, Chili, Mustard, Onions has re-entered the chat. CMO owner Pete LaCombe tells Metro Times his vegan gyro and tzatziki sauce will be on the menu at three National Coney Island locations: 1812 N. Main St. in Royal Oak, 19019 Mack Ave. in Grosse…
Michigan Democrats waste no time flexing new political muscle
For nearly four decades, Republicans controlled the state Legislature and killed every progressive bill that was introduced. Now Democrats have a majority in the state House and Senate, and they are wasting no time pressing forward with their new political power. Since January, when Democrats took control of both chambers for the first time in…
Jack Daniel’s March Basketball Mobile Scratcher Sweepstakes
BRACKET BUSTED? JACK DANIEL’S HAS GOT YOUR BACK! It couldn’t be easier! Scan, scratch, win…or, just go to JackMarchBasketball.com. Scan the code, enter a few details, and enter for your chance to win an 85-inch TV from your friends at Jack Daniel’s. Not sure if it gets better than sippin’, scratching, and winning…especially if your…
Drake adds second Detroit date to ‘It’s All A Blur’ tour
Either Drake really likes Detroit, or Detroit really likes him. Maybe both. The “On BS” rapper added a second date at Little Caesars Arena on his “It’s All A Blur” tour with 21 Savage on July 9. It will follow the original July 8 date for a double dose of “Rich Flex.” Tickets for the…
Ex-Macomb County public works boss sentenced to prison as part of extortion probe
Former Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Anthony Marrocco was sentenced Thursday to three months in prison and at least 450 days of house arrest for attempted extortion. Marrocco, 74, tried to extort a developer by threatening to withhold a county permit if he didn’t buy tickets to a campaign fundraiser. As part of a plea…
Floraspring Probiotics: 2023 Comprehensive Guide for Consumer Awareness
Probiotics have become increasingly popular over the past few years as more and more people become aware of their benefits. In this article, we’ll be taking a closer look at the popular probiotic supplement, Floraspring. We will examine its ingredients, reviews, legitimacy, side effects, benefits, and cons to help you assess your purchase decision. What…
It’s been three long days of relitigating Meg White’s drumming
If you’re way too online, which in the year of our Lord 2023 is just about all of us, you may have noticed that people on social media have spent the past several days discussing the drumming of Meg White — whose raw, unschooled style helped make the White Stripes one of the biggest rock…
New cured resin concentrate by Cheech Marin hits the cannabis market in Michigan
Two independent cannabis companies in Michigan have banded together to create a limited-batch cured resin concentrate. Only 14,000 grams of “Harbor Farmz + Cheech’s Stash” concentrate will be available beginning this week in dispensaries that carry Cheech’s Stash, a brand created by stoner actor Cheech Marin. Aardvark Industrees, of Lansing, launched Cheech’s Stash in Michigan…
Lapointe: ‘Right-to-work’ was always wrong, as Jimmy Hoffa told me
It is good for Michigan’s Democratic leadership to abolish the “right-to-work” law in the Great Lakes State. The decade-old scheme was instituted by Republican legislators in a lame-duck session in 2012 to damage unions in a state that once backed workers’ rights. The debate brought back memories of my first conversation about “right-to-work.” It was…
High praise for Pequeño Cantina, the only Mexican restaurant on Detroit’s Avenue of Fashion
The place to start at Pequeño Cantina is the maple-lime wings, which deliver aromatic and acidic punches that are balanced out with just a touch of mellow sweetness. The exteriors are slightly crisp and the meat inside falls off the bone. Pequeño chef Frank Blackman achieves this near perfection by marinating the big wings in…
‘A Couple’ deals in bygone love and longtime loss
In one telltale moment in Frederick Wiseman’s A Couple, Nathalie Boutefeu (playing Sophia Tolstaya, the wife of Leo Tolstoy) reads aloud a diary entry from her husband, treating her with the harsh description, “thinking herself the victim of my unending whims.” The couple, who we never see together, have long been married even then —…
Wisconsin man convicted for his role in plot to kidnap Gov. Whitmer
A Wisconsin man charged for his role in the plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday to a felony count of attempting to provide material support for terrorism. Brian Higgins, 54, of Wisconsin Dells, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced. Higgins surveyed Whitmer’s vacation home in Antrim County,…
Rick Haglund: Michigan’s state budget is flush with cash. Is it sustainable?
For decades, sluggish tax revenue and difficult funding decisions defined Michigan’s state government budgeting process. Yes, total revenue went up every year. But it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with inflation and address growing spending needs for roads, education, payments to local governments and other responsibilities of state government. Oddly enough, the COVID pandemic…
Michigan students plead with lawmakers to pass more gun control laws
They’re young, angry, and scared. A group of Michigan students spoke out Tuesday about the need for gun control following the mass shootings at Oxford High School and Michigan State University. “Everyday we lose someone we love or someone close and it’s all because of gun violence,” said Taylor Jackson, a junior at Dearborn High…
Dems, Republicans push FOIA and ethics reforms during Sunshine Week
Legislative leaders from both parties this week unveiled Sunshine Week proposals in efforts to increase government transparency. Started in 2005 by the American Society of News Editors — now known as the News Leaders Association — the partnership with The Society of Professional Journalists highlights access to public information and the role a free press…
Free Will Astrology (March 15-21)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I highly recommend the following experiences: 1. ruminating about what you learned in a relationship that ended — and how those lessons might be useful now. 2. ruminating about a beloved place you once regarded as home — and how the lessons you learned while there might be inspiring now. 3.…
