Cover Story
One family fights to win their house back in the Wayne County foreclosure auction after being scammed by a sub-subprime entrepreneur
[Image-2] SHAKIYA ROBERTSON WAS STANDING on her front porch when a small maroon sedan heading west on East Outer Drive slowed to a crawl and parked in front of her home. A middle-aged man with blond hair and glasses got out and made his way toward her. “Do you know this house is in the…
Show preview: Hell City Annual this Sat. Nov. 14 at 13Fifteen Broadway
Maybe it is for aging Warped Tour attendees of years gone by (like myself), that the people at Hell City Records have organized a sort of reenactment in downtown Detroit. The venue at 1315 Broadway features multiple stages, much like a big festival. Except in this case, you can actually see and hear the bands…
Extreme Home Makeover: Joseph Berry Edition
The Detroit Land Bank Authority is offering one lucky bidder the chance to have neighbors like Mike Duggan and Kid Rock.
Detroit Zen Center Café and Co-Op in Hamtramck making a comeback this weekend
Did you miss the Zen Center Café? Well, now’s your chance to go back.
Report calls ‘improved’ Detroit police response times into question
A new report is calling the figures used to point to a drop in Detroit police response times for urgent calls into question. According to records obtained by Bridge Magazine, the drop in response times could have less to do with an improvement in services and more to do with the department redefining its highest-priority calls. In…
Garden City council: Forget foreclosures! Gimme pizza!
Why did city council refuse to hear from people losing their homes? They had hot and ready business to get to.
The guy who filmed the cruel McDonald’s prank is apparently giving out Gucci bags to Detroit’s homeless
The sleazeball McDonald’s worker who pulled a cruel prank on a homeless man in Detroit has been getting his fair share of Internet scorn this week, but the guy who filmed — and laughed through — the whole thing has been slammed as well. Turns out, he’s a local rapper who goes by the name…
“The new treasurer has to know exactly what the fuck is going on with tax foreclosure”
One week after our deep dive into the foreclosure auction and scams targeting foreclosures and Wayne County’s skimpy resources for family’s going through foreclosure and the auction — seriously, do read it all — Next City published a comparably devastating and detailed look at the same topics. This one looks at the situation through Jerry…
Pitchfork’s love affair with Protomartyr is far from over
This is making us blush, looking at all the love the tastemaker music site continues to laud over Protomartyr. “On Saturday, August 29, Pitchfork presented a pop-up show at Villain. It featured a set from Protomartyr, and today, Pitchfork.tv have shared three songs from their performance. Watch them perform “Why Does It Shake?”, “I’ll Take…
R.I.P. Allen Touissant
Word arrives today that the great New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint, whose work spanned decades and influenced dozens of other important artists (not to mention getting sampled quite a few times), died this morning at the age of 77, while on tour in Spain. Toussaint is one of the key New Orleans musicians no matter…
Former Eloise Psychiatric Hospital for sale for $1.5 million
The complex that used to house the Eloise Psychiatric Hospital on Michigan Avenue in Westland is up for sale, the Detroit Free Press reported yesterday. The asking price? A cool $1.5 million. Currently under Wayne County ownership, an interested buyer could scoop up the 50+ acres which includes a fire house from the 1800s, a decommissioned…
Fans of Harry Bertoia: Still time to pre-order his box set, and to see his Cranbrook show
“I don’t hold onto terms like music and sculpture anymore. Those old distinctions have lost all their meaning.”—Harry Bertoia, 1976
The group to ban alcohol in Hamtramck isn’t Muslims
Who ever wanted a dry Hamtramck? We can think of one ethnic group that has.
What’s for lunch: Pho Lucky makes its Detroit debut today
Just in time for fall, Pho Lucky opened its doors in Midtown today.
Tiger Stadium land transfer hearing set for Thursday Nov. 19
Your story could make a difference.
Just announced: Yo La Tengo to play Ann Arbor Folk Fest Jan. 29
Yo La Tengo will play an all acoustic set on January 29, 2016, as part of the 39th annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival at the Hill Auditorium. They’re playing the same night as Richard Thompson, too! Oh man, this is really something to look forward to, now. Which reminds us, hey, we’ve also got the…
Watch: Drone footage of the Marysville power plant implosion
Because everything looks cooler from the eyes of a remotely controlled quadcopter.
Cranbrook is using superheroes to educate about bats
Oakland University students used a superhero conceit to teach attendees why it’s important to “help save the bats.”
Where to celebrate Veterans Day in metro Detroit
Here’s a list of events dedicated to giving thanks to our vets on or near Nov. 11.
Five metro Detroit nacho plates you should be eating on National Nacho Day
National Nacho Day is a holiday we try to celebrate year round but, indeed, today is actually the real deal holiday if you believe in food holidays. Naturally, that begs the question, where to go? And, more importantly, what to order? Lucky for you, the MT staff has culled some of our favorite nacho joints…
Taste a ton of whiskey at Whiskey Business tomorrow night
Taste all the whiskey. Feel all the feels.
Show preview: Savoy Brown at the Magic Bag tomorrow, Sat. Nov. 7
Savoy Brown plays tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Magic Bag. They were among the first British blues-rock acts, and they’ve taken several turns along the way, but Savoy Brown spent much of the 1970s crafting heavy blues boogie that at times approached the brilliance of the Groundhogs.
Syndicated ‘Ask a Mexican’ columnist schools us on the perils of Yelp
Yelpers can be pure evil, we think that’s established. But most of us still turn to the free-for-all review site when we’re headed to a new place to kind of get the CliffsNotes of a spot. That’s what we did for our most recent restaurant review and we almost immediately regretted it, as many of…
Taking advantage of Detroit
Photo by Michele Oberholtzer Michele Oberholtzer of the Tricycle Collective pens the following editorial on the forces vying for property in the Wayne County tax auction, and what their various advantages — or disadvantages — mean for the future of Detroit. For more of Metro Times’ coverage of the auction, check out this week’s cover story: “Out…
The Magic Bag unveiled its killer new marquee last night
“The custom designed marquee sign mirrors the aesthetic of old theatres and advertising signs that lined Woodward Avenue in years past. Every city in every neighborhood; every town across the US at one time or another had a theater at the hub of their town, providing news & entertainment. “
Ch-ch-ch-changes announced at the Detroit Lions
For a predictably terrible team, it’s been an unpredictable week for Detroit Lions fans, with owner Martha Ford announcing some of the biggest overhauls the team has seen on its executive side in years. On Thursday, news broke that Ford was ousting general manager Martin Mayhew and president Tom Lewand. Both had been at the helm since…
Bizdom, the startup accelerator founded by Dan Gilbert, is effectively shutting down
A formal announcement, apparently, is coming tomorrow.
Ford Motor Company launch new ‘By Design’ murals in Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco
The murals were introduced in early November to audiences in Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles robbed twice on the same night, thieves make away with jack squat
Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles has food so good, folks can’t seem to stay away. And that goes for thieves too. WDIV reports that the popular Livernois Avenue eatery suffered not one, but TWO robberies early Tuesday morning. Fortunately, the would-be robbers got away with very little. Former NFLer and Kuzzo’s owner Ron Bartell said that the first…
Event preview: David Italy and Johnny Hentch spin punk/garage/DIY favorites in the daytime this Sun., Nov. 8 at UFO Factory
This Sunday at 3 p.m., if you feel like hanging out and eating a fancy Coney while experts spin the coolest and rarest — but mostly just coolest, because these dudes aren’t snobs — jams, then you know where to go.
Event preview: The Grasshopper Underground’s fifth anniversary this weekend
Get your butt on over to Ferndale and shake it at the Grasshopper Underground this Friday. It’s definitely a testament to their programming that they’re not only open every night, but they’ve been here for five years now!
Dan Gilbert wants to own the Lions, Jeff Lesson says
WWJ’s Jeff Lesson, who grew up with Gilbert, says he knows “for a fact” that he really wants to own the team.
Climate change & maple syrup at heart of new stage comedy
The Detroit Repertory Theater tackles serious issues, but often with a rib-tickling twist.
Fall in love with these Ann Arbor school kids doing the 1970s hit “Brandy”
We’ can’t get enough of this recording of the Dicken Elementary School in Ann Arbor doing the 1970s hit song “Brandy,” originally performed by one-hit wonders Looking Glass.
Show preview: Carl Craig’s ‘Detroit Love’ showcase this Fri., Nov. 6 at Populux
Carl Craig! Stacey Pullen! Chuck Flask and Keith Kemp! Octave One, performing live! Your eyes do not deceive you — all of that is happening this Friday at Populux, with the return of Craig’s “Detroit Love” showcase. Doors area t 9:30 p.m. Tickets are still available, but we hear they are going fast, so don’t delay,…
Sister Pie wants you to eat good pie this Thanksgiving
Don’t even THINK about getting one from Walmart.
Study finds that Detroit Lions fans are among the drunkest
Surprised? We aren’t.
Weekly reader responses
Full disclosure In a news feature in our Oct. 28 issue (“How far will a charter school go to stop a staff from unionizing?”), investigative reporter Allie Gross examined the difficulties teachers at Detroit’s University YES Academy had in forming a union. Reader “Better Schools” took issue with Gross not disclosing her personal history with…
The Weeknd brings his R&B crooning to the Palace
We all know that Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (aka the Weeknd) is playing the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday, Nov. 7. And everyone will totally be there. It is easily the biggest show in metro Detroit through the end of the year — an artist at peak popularity coming to town fresh off two consecutive…
Higher Ground: Out, damned spot
I saw purple spots. I saw yellow spots. I saw green spots. I saw orange spots. No, I wasn’t tripping on some hallucinogen. I was looking at the map of Detroit on display at the City Planning Commission’s public hearing on the zoning ordinance for the city’s Medical Marijuana Caregiver Centers. Each of the colored…
Horoscopes (November 4 – 10)
ARIES (March 21 – April 20):This could be where the sidewalk ends. There is no map to where things go from here. Where are you going to pull it from? At times like this we get to see what we’re made of and who we really are. Total trust, and the ability to show up…
Sexless Marriages: The Last Word
Dear readers: Two weeks ago, I announced I would be taking a nice long break from questions about miserable sexless marriages. (I don’t get questions about happily sexless marriages.) I tossed out my standard line of advice to those who’ve exhausted medical, psychological, and situational fixes (“Do what you need to do to stay married…
Dabls explores sex and sexuality in his first art exhibit in 20 years
We’ve written about Dabls before, the artist and powerhouse behind the quintessentially Detroit African Bead Gallery and MBAD Museum — and the sprawling, impossible-to-miss outdoor art installation that surrounds it. But what we didn’t know was that Dabs is also a painter in his own right, and he’s exhibiting his first solo show in 20…
Drink up
Wild Turkey Master’s Keep 43.4% ABV What makes Master’s Keep bourbon special is two-fold: First, the bourbon is the oldest in Wild Turkey’s portfolio. Second, it wasn’t distilled in a particularly traditional style. Eddie Russell, one half of the father-and-son duo that serve as the brand’s master distillers, sent excess bourbon barrels to age in…
Get a taste of familia at Tienda Mexicana, one of the best Mexican joints in town
A review of a Mexican or Central American eatery around here is often tinged with hints of racism, even if it’s not intentional. “Doesn’t look like much, but that’s how you know it’s authentic.” That sort of thing. It’s like the shittier the surroundings, the more legitimately Latino. And we Detroiters eat that notion up.…
Orleans + Winder is ‘pushing the boundaries’
Many may have seen the downstairs Detroit vs. Everybody store in Eastern Market, but did they check out what’s upstairs? Orleans + Winder unveiled their flagship store during Eastern Market After Dark and showed off their unique avant-garde look with a twist. Erin Wetzel has been dreaming of opening her own high-end retail store since…
Politics & Prejudices: Time to end our misery
This spring I was in Eastern Europe, where after half a century of communist oppression, the people are in love with capitalism, private enterprise, and the free market. When I’ve talked to Europeans about our system, however, there’s one thing they find batshit crazy: The idea that one bloated billionaire, one Manuel “Matty” Moroun, is…
Casey Veggies set to serve Detroit on Nov. 11 at St. Andrew’s
Although Casey Veggies (born Casey Jones) is only 22 years old, it feels like he’s a veteran in the hip-hop game. The Inglewood, California-born emcee started dropping jewels at 14. And he hasn’t stopped since. For years, he was most notably known as one of the founding members of the Odd Future Collective. But after…
New J Dilla comp reveals the producer’s electronic side
J Dilla Dillatronic Vol. 1, 2 & 3 Green Streets Techno has never been the mainstream force in Detroit (and certainly not the rest of America) that it is in Europe. I’m not saying it’s not hugely popular, or doesn’t have millions of followers. But you aren’t seeing too many local clubs paying thousands to…
George Clinton part of the DIA’s ‘Tales from the Funk’
The legendary George Clinton is coming to the Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of Arts to spin Tales from the Funk this Thursday, Nov. 5. I got a thing, you got a thing, everybody’s got a thing — but if you like good old music, I’ll bet you don’t want to miss this…
