Cover Story
Spying on the Queen of Soul
It took four years for the FBI to release its file on Aretha Franklin. Requested via the Freedom of Information Act in 2018, the heavily redacted documents are filled with racist language and extreme surveillance of the late Detroit-based singer and activist. Based on the agency’s admissions, Franklin never did anything wrong. The overstepping surveillance…
Alpilean Reviews (Consumer Complaints) Is Alpine Ice Hack Weight Loss Waste of Money?
Obesity? Belly fat? If these are your concerns, then Alpilean is the answer to them. Alpilean is a natural weight loss supplement which claims to reduce excess body fat easily and efficiently. It acts by naturally increasing the core body temperature, which is usually low in people with excessive fat. Alpilean (also known as Alpine…
5 Best CBD Products for Knee and Joint Pain in 2023
No matter what the task or activity, it’s always best to bring your A-game. And feeling a muscle sore or joint pain would be a total bummer! These past years, most have been resorting to CBD products for that needed solace from the debilitating pain. These byproducts from the Cannabis plant contain the all-natural healing…
Black Coffee Cafe is the North End’s newest coffee shop. Well, sort of.
Black coffee is a simple pleasure. It’s also a clever name for a Black-owned coffee shop in Detroit’s North End neighborhood. Black Coffee Cafe is a cozy new-ish spot for coffee and coworking with Afro-centric sweets and decor. We say new-ish because it opened at the corner of John R and Kenilworth St. around a…
Sheetz convenience stores are coming to Detroit
Following the news that Midwest convenience store chain Kum & Go plans to expand into the Detroit market in the coming years, fellow chain Sheetz says it also plans to open stores in Michigan in 2025. According to a press release, it’s the first time the Pennsylvania-based gas station and convenience store chain has expanded…
R.I.P. Debra Walker, a Corktown activist and poet
Detroiters are mourning the death of Debra Walker, a longtime Corktown resident and booster who died last week. She was 69. According to Tim McKay, a friend of more than 20 years, Walker died Wednesday, Nov. 23, of heart complications that followed her treatment for breast cancer. She is survived by her daughters Lisa and…
Students, parents seek class-action lawsuit status against Oxford schools following mass shooting
A law firm representing 19 students from Oxford High School is seeking class-action status to include every student in the district in a federal lawsuit claiming their constitutional rights to safety and education were violated. The suit, originally filed in June, seeks to force policy changes at all schools in the Oxford Community School District…
Detroit jazz musician and activist Allen Dennard preps debut album
Got a Detroit music tip? Send it to music@metrotimes.com. 2Lanes collaborates with Jonah Baseball: After his breakthrough 12-inch single on Portage Garage Sounds (“Baby’s Born to Fish” backed with “Impish Desires”), underground favorite 2Lanes is wading into the physical realm again. This time it’s on his own Auto Shop label, with a four-track scorcher with…
Warming shelters open in Detroit as homelessness rises
The city of Detroit has opened warming shelters for those seeking to escape the winter weather as homelessness increases for the first time since 2016. Three shelter are available to Detroiters seeking warmth this year. The shelters also provide hot meals, showers, sleeping accommodations, and housing assistance services. “Winter weather creates additional challenges and risks…
Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical ‘The Fabelmans’ reframes an early love of film
In one of The Fabelmans’ best scenes, three family members — a father, a mother, and a son — work on separate creative tasks as a force moves between them. The mother dutifully practices the piano, retreating into her instrument as its tones carry through the house. The father sits with a notepad across from…
The Detroit Pistons are giving away winter coats and accessories to Detroit school students
The Detroit Pistons might be in the thick of the NBA season, but that doesn’t mean the team’s only concerns are its competitors on the court. The Pistons’ annual Season of Giving presented by Kroger kicks off this week with a winter gear giveaway at five Detroit schools. In partnership with Every School Day Counts…
The Schvitz owners are planning another wellness project inside a Romanian Catholic church
Paddy Lynch doesn’t play when it comes to self-care. He also has a thing for historic churches. He co-owns The Schvitz, Detroit’s bathhouse with a steamy past, and a former nunnery-turned-wellness oasis called The Convent. Now, the third-generation funeral director is gearing up to open Lynch and Sons Healing Center inside a Romanian Catholic church.…
Reason prevails as Michigan canvassers certify statewide election amid false claims of fraud
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers unanimously certified statewide election results on Monday, and the Republican chairman slammed conspiracy theorists who baselessly claimed widespread fraud. The bipartisan board voted 4-0 in favor of certification, delivering a final blow to the far right’s last-ditch efforts to overturn the election. The certification seals the fate of an…
Catching up with Dark Capricorn Rising Lead Guitarist and Producer Rick Young
When you think of musical artists you usually think of the musicians themselves, the players. However, we wanted to know more about the artistry of production, especially the production of many different musical styles and genres. We caught up with Dark Capricorn Rising lead guitarist and producer Rick Young to learn more. Who have you…
Metallica announces two Detroit shows in 2023
The heavy metal stalwarts in Metallica have a new album, 72 Seasons, slated for release in April, and on Monday they announced a world tour to support it with a stop in the Motor City. The “M72” tour is a mini-festival of sorts, with the band playing two shows in each city, and promising not…
Arboretum Detroit is building a forest and ‘green loop’ of nature spots in Poletown East
Imagine a wild forest full of native trees, birds, and fungi in the middle of Detroit. Imagine not having to venture outside of the city to be immersed in nature, with community gathering space and playscapes for children fashioned from recycled wood. It’s not far out of the scope of reality. Arboretum Detroit is working…
Detroit’s Noel Night announces 2022 musical lineup
Noel Night, Detroit’s long-standing winter holiday event, announced its lineup of musical entertainment featuring a mix of local and national talent. The event, which takes places across more than 90 participating venues on Saturday, Dec. 3, features more than 15 performances, including funk and jazz flutist Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shara Nova of pop act…
Prosecutor won’t charge Detroit cops who shot Porter Burks 19 times
Five Detroit police officers who fatally shot Porter Burks, a 20-year-old man experiencing a mental health crisis, acted in “self-defense” and won’t be charged with a crime, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said Wednesday. The unnamed officers shot Burks 19 times in three seconds after he lunged at them with a knife shortly after 5…
Program aims to help Michigan military vets with free pot
A new project has a plan for Michigan’s cannabis surplus: donate it to U.S. military veterans to help them treat conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder. Michigan’s recently approved Veteran Compassion Care program, a partnership between the Hero Project USA and the Canna Social Equity Foundation, is modeled after a similar program launched in California. Due…
Quality Roots Partners with Share Detroit for Annual Giving Green Drive
Providing winter items to those in need throughout Southeast Michigan Quality Roots, a cannabis company focused on connecting quality people with quality cannabis, is once again rallying the community throughout Owosso, Monroe, Hamtramck and Battle Creek to give back. This year Quality Roots is partnering with Share Detroit to collect and donate new/unused Winter items…
Southwest Holiday Fest features music, theater, food, traditional punch, and more
The seventh annual Southwest Holiday Fest in Detroit kicks off on Dec. 10 with music and theater performances, traditional Mexican Christmas punch, roasted chestnuts, and even a piñata. The annual event with winter-themed activities takes place from 3-7 p.m. on the Bagley/Vernor Corridor between 16th and 24th streets, where there are unique shops, restaurants, bars,…
Melvindale’s Fredi The PizzaMan lives up to the hype
For those unfamiliar, Fredi The PizzaMan is a pizzaiola whose Melvindale shop for several decades could have qualified for “hidden gem” status – a small pizzeria just down the street from the dozens of factories comprising the region’s industrial heart, and an owner who boasts that he has never advertised. That all changed in early…
The Lip Bar taps gospel singer Kierra Sheard-Kelly for a collection of her favorite things
There are women who like their lipstick the same way they like their wine — red. For Detroit women, there is one red lipstick that embodies all the things women are powerful, sexy, and bold, and that’s The Lip Bar’s (TLB) Bawse Lady liquid matte lipstick. “Everybody wears Bawse Lady, and it’s because it’s a…
QAnon adherent from Michigan charged with threatening to kill a congressman and FBI director
A Flint-area man who ranted about a baseless QAnon conspiracy theory was charged with making threats against a congressman and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Neil Matthew Walter, 32, of Grand Blanc, is accused of leaving a threatening voicemail for Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., earlier this month and days later posting a death threat against Wray…
Detroit’s Menjos hosting benefit concert for Club Q following horrific shooting
We’re at a loss for words to describe the revolting act of terror that took place this week at LGBT hangout spot Club Q in Colorado Springs. A shooting at the nightclub left five people dead and at least 18 others injured during Transgender Awareness Week. In solidarity, Detroit’s historic LGBT nightclub Menjos is hosting…
Jazz bassist Rodney Whitaker stays busy with upcoming gigs at Cliff Bell’s
A phone interview is scheduled with Rodney Whitaker, the native Detroiter hailed as one of the greatest jazz double bass artists on the planet, for a Saturday morning. Don’t want to call too early. Musician’s hours, you know. “I’ve been up since eight!” Whitaker counters from his mid-Michigan home. “I was in Florida for a…
Two communities find a cure for medical debt: pandemic stimulus funds
Local governments in Ohio and Illinois are using American Rescue Plan Act money to relieve residents struggling with medical debt by partnering with an organization that buys debt and wipes the slate clean for debtors. It’s a strategy advocates say could be duplicated across the country to help erase a multibillion-dollar problem. On Nov. 9,…
Column: There is hope in the fight against homelessness
November is Homeless Awareness Month and this year’s theme, “Homeless, not hopeless”, reminds us that we have the collective power to ensure that all Michiganders, regardless of age, disability or race, have a safe place to live. We’ve proven that during the COVID-19 pandemic as policymakers have made temporary policy changes and historic investments in…
Detroit neighborhood in court to hold industrial polluter accountable
Members of a Detroit-area community are intervening in an Environmental Protection Agency lawsuit against a DTE Energy subsidiary charged with dumping harmful pollutants into their community. Residents of River Rouge want the court to stop EES Coke from emitting sulfur dioxide and other toxic substances from its plant, and compensate local residents for the harm…
Free Will Astrology (Nov. 23-29)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): One of your callings as an Aries is to take risks. You’re inclined to take more leaps of faith than other people, and you’re also more likely to navigate them to your advantage — or at least not get burned. A key reason for your success is your keen intuition about…
