Cover Stories
A selection of Detroit 2018 holiday shopping events
Saturday, 11/24- Sunday, 12/16 MerriMonth @ Downtown Berkley Month-long celebration includes Small Business Saturday shopping on Nov. 24, a Christmas tree lighting on Saturday, Dec. 1, a MerriMix & Mingle Ugly Sweater Shindig on Saturday, Dec. 15, and a MerriMusic Jazz Concert on Sunday, Dec. 16. Various times and venues; See downtownberkley.com/merrimonth-in-downtown-berkley for full schedule.…
Gift ideas from A to Z from metro Detroit small businesses
In 2018, shopping is the worst, right? We get it: Why leave the house when you could just thoughtlessly scroll through Amazon’s homepage? Or kill two birds with one stone the next time you stroll through the checkout at the grocery store and stock up on generic gift cards for big box stores or Applebee’s?…
Travis Scott brings ‘Astroworld’ to Little Caesars Arena and will likely ride a rollercoaster
Welcome to Astroworld — rapper Travis Scott’s star-studded conceptual commentary on what happens when you take the fun out of life, but with a psychedelic-trap twist. In response to the closing of the Houston, Texas Six Flags amusement park of the same name, Scott created a world of his own with his follow-up to 2015’s…
Indie wunderkind Snail Mail brings teenage malaise to Detroit’s Deluxx Fluxx
For most, the word “teenager” brings up cringe-worthy memories of awkward hallway exchanges, shitty poetry, and bad haircuts. In the case of 19-year-old Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail, she’s got teenage malaise on lock thanks to a record deal, a sharpened wit, and an enviable emotional intelligence regarding relationships and growing up. And, yeah, her…
Don’t D.I.Y. on us — Detroit Urban Craft Fair will cure shopping woes at the Masonic
Leave it to Detroit Urban Craft Fair to take the bull-scrap out of holiday shopping. Now in its 13th year, Michigan’s longest-running indie craft fair anticipates more than 10,000 visitors to peruse more than 100 juried vendors specializing in everything from jewelry, clothing, accessories, home decor, bath products, children’s items, and other handmade goods. There…
Cobb’s Corner Bar has officially reopened
Cobb’s Corner Bar has officially become the latest restaurant to open its doors in Detroit’s Cass Corridor. The bar and restaurant announced a soft opening on Nov. 24, inviting guests to visit the establishment on the corner of Willis Street and Cass Avenue. Its menu includes traditional pub fare, such as wings, mozzarella sticks, a…
Detroit’s Protomartyr makes a mid-tour stop at the Blind Pig
Post-punk outfit Protomartyr is one of a handful of indie Detroit bands that has surpassed indie-dom by becoming one of the most high-profile Motor City rock acts this side of the White Stripes. After the band’s big record release blowout on the Detroit Princess Riverboat last year (from which we are still recovering), 2018 found…
Catch Peter Pan’s crazy origin story with Stagecrafters’ production of ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’
Let’s be honest — growing up sucks, which is why the mischievous, green tunic-wearing dreamer, Peter Pan, had the right idea all along. Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Starcatcher provides the backstories of an orphaned Peter, Tinker Bell, and that rude as hell, black mustachioed Captain Hook.…
Man who attacked Muslim woman in hospital was released on time served
A Dearborn man who punched an unsuspecting Muslim woman wearing a hijab while she checked into a Dearborn hospital was only charged with a misdemeanor and released from jail on time served after less than 90 days. He also served part about one-third of the sentence on a tether. The incident occurred on Feb. 10…
Detroit’s Noel Night to ramp up security following last year’s shooting
Organizers of Detroit’s annual Noel Night festival say they have increased security for Saturday’s event after a shooting wounded four teenagers last year and had officials considering implementing a curfew. Midtown Detroit Inc.’s Susan Mosey says security has been ramped up in response, including using personnel from multiple agencies. “There will be several law enforcement…
U-M ensemble to perform rare song recovered from Auschwitz this weekend
A historically significant Holocaust-era song has been given a new life and will be performed for the first time since WWII this Friday. After studying music manuscripts for nearly 40 years, University of Michigan music theory professor, Patricia Hall, journeyed to Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Poland to research their archives last summer. Among the rare…
Cass Corridor’s Maya’s Indo-Pak Cuisine is moving to the former Showtime building
The Cass Corridor’s Maya’s Indo-Pak Cuisine will be one of the new tenants in the space on Woodward formerly occupied by Showtime. An employee at Maya’s confirmed the move to Metro Times, but said the renovation would take at least several months. The restaurant will remain open in its current spot at 4445 Second Ave. in…
Detroit apartments are getting smaller, yet you’re paying more for them
Detroit apartments keep getting smaller, a new study finds. According to RentCafé, newly built apartments throughout the United States are getting smaller in size compared to what they were just a decade ago. And yet, prices keep going up. The study found that the average size of newly built apartments in 2018 is 941 square…
Endangered wolves found trapped in footholds in the U.P., one found fatally shot
Officials from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have filed reports detailing an incident in which three wolves were found caught in foothold traps in the Upper Peninsula. Officials freed two of the wolves, but found the third wolf fatally shot in the head. According to the DNR report, a local trapper in the…
Jeopardy game show takes shot at the Detroit Lions
It’s been a disappointing season for the Lions, but things can’t get much worse, right? According to Jeopardy, the quiz game show hosted by the ever-sophisticated Alex Trebek, the answer to that would be a big, fat “What is no?” On Monday night, Jeopardy took a jab at Lions fans for the franchise’s pitiful performance.…
Detroit’s 46th annual Noel Night debuts new daytime format
One thing is true of Noel Night — it could melt the most frigid icicles from Scrooge’s heart. Entering its 46th year as Midtown Detroit’s longstanding holiday tradition of a neighborhood-wide open house celebration, Noel Night has outgrown its evening hours. Per usual, this year’s Noel Night expects to draw nearly 50,000 visitors and will…
The dos and don’ts of legal marijuana in Michigan
The state Board of Canvassers met Monday to certify the results of the Nov. 6 election. Recreational adult use of marijuana will be legal on Dec. 6. Here’s what is immediately legal and not regarding individual personal use under the new law: • Adults 21 and over may possess or use marijuana in a private…
Metro Times’ Hall of Whiskey returns to the Fisher Building this weekend
Forget the boughs of holly. ’Tis the season to deck the halls with whiskey, as Metro Times’ annual scotch, bourbon, and whiskey-tasting event takes over the stunning lobby of Albert Kahn’s architectural masterpiece, the Fisher Building, for a pre-holiday soiree. Hall of Whiskey’s distilled delights also include a growing list of rare sips and surprises.…
Duggan says he is not bowing to threats of more ’embarrassing’ videos
Private eye detectives? An alleged affair? A wiretapped businessman and lawsuits abound? Yeah, sounds like Detroit politics. In recent weeks, Robert Carmack’s ongoing feud with Mayor Duggan has brought the politician even more into the public eye. Most recently, Carmack, a collision shop owner with a long-held grudge against Duggan and a slate of lawsuits…
Bettie Cook Scott absent from job since calling Asian Senate rival a ‘ching-chong’
Representative Bettie Cook Scott is collecting her paycheck but hasn’t been seen in the state House since August, her voting record reveals. On Aug. 7, Rep. Bettie Cook Scott (D-Detroit) was defeated in the Senate race by Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit). Shortly after the race, however, accusations were made against Cook Scott for allegedly telling…
Trump considering controversial Republican John James for UN ambassador
John James, who recently lost his bid for Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s seat, is being considered by Donald Trump to replace outgoing United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Bloomberg News reports that two sources familiar with the matter told the outlet that James and the ambassadors to Germany, Canada, and France are all under consideration. James is…
Working Class Outlaws to finally open Japanese gastropub in Ferndale
Izakaya is a compound of the Japanese words i, meaning “to stay,” and sakaya, a shop that sells the Japanese liquor saké. These local haunts, somewhat similar to Irish pubs or Detroit’s corner bars — where patrons go to drink heavily, eat and linger with good company — are prolific throughout Japan, but rare elsewhere.…
Detroit-style pizza maker Shield’s is opening a Midtown location
Shield’s Pizza is opening a new location in the former Maccabees Traders’ location across the street from the Detroit Institute of the Arts in Midtown. Co-owner Paul Andoni confirmed to the plans to Metro Times. Shield’s made its name on Detroit-style deep dish pies, and also serves a range of pastas, salads, ribs, and other…
Detroit businesses are getting all decked out for second annual Holiday Window Walk
Detroit businesses are getting a festive touch this holiday season for the second annual Holiday Window Walk. In partnership with Lawrence Technological University’s Detroit Center for Design + Technology, some of your favorite area businesses are each partnering with a local designer to create a decorative holiday-themed storefront window. Eight businesses across Cass Corridor and…
GM will halt production at two Detroit-area automotive plants in 2019
General Motors announced on Monday that it would idle production at five U.S. and Canadian automotive plants in 2019. The Warren transmission plant and the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant — which produces the Chevy Volt, Buick LaCrosse, and Cadillac CT6 — will halt production in 2019 as the company restructures to cut costs and refocus its efforts…
Kid Rock is free of election violations following last year’s Senate psych-out run
Turns out you can pretend to run for political office, sell fake campaign merchandise, grab your dick and give a fake speech about welfare abuse, “deadbeat dads,” and diss gender-neutral bathrooms and not get slammed with charges for violating candidate registration regulations. A year after Kid Rock admitted to Howard Stern that his month-long “Kid…
Michigan hospital tells woman who can’t afford heart transplant to go crowdfund
A Facebook post from a Grand Rapids-area woman that went viral over the weekend is highlighting the dysfunction and cruelty in America’s health care system. Hedda Martin, 60, needs a heart transplant or she will die. Spectrum Health’s Heart & Lung Specialized Care Clinics denied her request for a transplant because she doesn’t have $10,000…
Artist and illustrator Nathan Jerde steps out with solo show at Grey Area
Nathan Jerde took the roads less traveled and it actually fucking worked. A self-proclaimed “art school dropout,” Jerde left his small Illinois town for Chicago where he found himself drumming for the indie band the Ponys. “The goal was to become a commercial artist, and that never really panned out,” Jerde says. “I was sort…
From Siwatu to free WiFi — here’s what metro Detroit’s musicians and artists are thankful for
Hear us out — there’s a lot to be thankful for this season. Whether it is the blue wave that swept over Michigan during this month’s midterm elections, or simply that Detroit-style pizza exists and is far superior — the list is a long one. While it may be easy to be oh-so-cynical because we are…
Gentrification: What it means in the context of the Rust Belt
Gentrification (noun) – the process by which people of (often modest) means who were once castigated for abandoning the city are now castigated for returning to the city Gentrification. It is a word that we hear with increasing frequency in contemporary discussions about American cities. But what does that word really mean? And, even more…
Rainbow City Roller Rink in Campus Martius is the shiny happy thing we need now
The latest addition to the festive happenings in Campus Martius is the Rainbow City Roller Rink — and it’s so friggin’ cute! In partnership with Library Street Collective and artist duo FriendsWithYou, the recent press release describes Rainbow City Roller Rink as a “surrealist” and “inflatable wonderland” made up of floating, geometric sculptures both suspended above…
The Charlevoix starts serving po’ boys and fusion tacos in Grosse Pointe Park
Grosse Pointe Park has a new addition in the Charlevoix, a fusion, finger-food restaurant and craft cocktail bar just around the corner from Atwater in the Park. The menu references a range of the world’s cuisines, with dishes like brisket-kimchi tacos; house duck pastrami with pickled onion and marinated mustard seed on rye; a carrot…
Savage Love: How do I tell my boyfriend I’m an escort?
I’m a recently divorced single mom and full-time student. I’m really beginning to hurt financially and have decided to start working as an escort. I am at a point of great emotional stability, happiness, and confidence — all reasons that led to my decision — and I’m surrounded by people who love me and won’t…
Horoscopes (Nov. 21-27)
ARIES: March 21 – April 20 This sense of fullness and confidence has a lot to do with the feeling that you’ve finally found what you’re looking for. If that sounds a little too confident, tone it down enough to suit yourself. The sense that nothing can shake or rock you is stronger than ever.…
Review: Peter Farrelly’s directorial debut ‘Green Book’ is about a real-life odd couple
Yes, it’s a bit Driving Miss Daisy in reverse, but Green Book also has more than a hint of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles to it. Which is perhaps not terribly unexpected: This is the dramatic — OK, dramedy-ic — directorial debut of Peter Farrelly, one half of the notorious Farrelly Brothers, who brought us such…
Mitch Albom is getting reefer madness
A column in the Sunday Free Press last week by Mitch Albom displayed an ominous peek into his thinking about marijuana that is actually troubling coming from an award-winning journalist. The fact that the Freep even ran those words is even more troubling. The headline on the piece declared: “Mitch Albom: To be blunt, Michigan’s…
Former ‘Creem’ magazine editor Susan Whitall on Joni Mitchell’s Detroit years
During a 1979 interview with Cameron Crowe for Rolling Stone, singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell confessed that she would rather be “crucified” for changing musical directions than staying the same for the sake of protecting the “formula” that led to her “initial success.” Thirty years later, she would go on to call Bob Dylan a “plagiarist” when…
A Michigan casualty of Trump’s war on the media speaks out
The day before this month’s big midterm election, Huron Daily Tribune reporter Brenda Battel was calling up candidates to arrange for post-election interviews. That included Republican John James, a U.S. Senate candidate and Iraq war vet who boasted President Donald Trump’s endorsement. His campaign had been mired in bad publicity in recent weeks — including…
Review: Dearborn’s Unburger serves up all-vegan anti-burgers
After 30 years in fast food, moving from dishwasher to chef to manager, Christopher Oliver was inspired to open his own restaurant — a vegan one. His motivations were two: bouts with cancer and diabetes, and two years in a butcher shop. “It was the blood and gore that pushed me into giving up meat,”…
The Blueflowers pushes its brand of noirish rock ‘n’ roll to even darker destinations
Bands can often say that “we got a lot darker” on their new album, like it’s a stark or sudden shift. But the Blueflowers have been steadily advancing into the dark since its first record, starting out already near dusk with the 2009 debut Watercolor Ghost Town and gliding steadily through advancing twilight until arriving…
