Cover Story
Why are so many people turning to #VanLife?
Business is booming at Drifter Vans, a shop tucked in the back of an industrial park in metro Detroit where owner Paul Domish and his team create custom camper vans. The company, which Domish founded just last year, has rapidly expanded from 1,000 square feet to 7,000 square feet, and now employs about a dozen…
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Exipure Reviews [Updated 2022] – Shocking Information About Ingredients And Benefits
Exipure is a nutritional-support formula created to help everyone who needs some help in weight loss. According to the official website, it increases the brown fat levels (also called brown adipose tissue) in the body. It triggers a natural weight loss with no compromise on energy and strength. The company ensures using high-quality natural ingredients…
Friday Plans Review: How It Works and More
There are two kinds of men in this world: Those who admit they’ve thought about using Viagra®, and absolute liars. One thing that won’t lie is statistics, and studies show more than half of all men over the age of 40 will experience erectile dysfunction at one point or another[1]. For you young guys who…
VegBash brings plant-based food, cruelty-free shopping, and more to Royal Oak Farmers Market
Man, have we come a long way from the limited selection of bland Boca brand meat-free burger patties and the once elusive soy milk. Being vegan — which means not consuming any animal products including seafood, eggs, milk, and, for some, things like honey, or gelatin products, because hooves — is no longer considered a…
Comedian Amy Miller will spread her proud self-loathing at Hamtramck’s Independent Comedy Club
Comedian Amy Miller might not be a household name but, as she points out in one of her most popular bits in response to fatphobia in which an unhoused man scolds her for eating an ice cream cone in public, calling her fat, Miller actually has a house where she eats food she buys with…
We don’t deserve Dolly Parton, who will be celebrated with movie screenings at Detroit’s Redford Theatre
In a world where we are divided in our opinions on everything from politics, vaccinations, and pizza to reproductive rights, cancel culture, fracking, and, for some reason, the 14-year-old finale of The Sopranos, it’s rare that we can collectively agree on something. That something, rather, someone, is none other than 75-year-old Tennessee-born legend Dolly Parton,…
Everyone’s favorite godless nerd Patton Oswalt will tell us what he hates at Detroit’s Fillmore
If there is one piece of advice we can give you, it is do not fuck with Patton Oswalt, the godless comedian, deadly serious cereal-eater, and voice of the most famous Pixar rat who once claimed he wanted to “be a robot that helps wolves have sex” in regard to his Lexapro dosage. At least…
JPEGMAFIA to bring fresh ‘LP!’ to Pontiac’s Crofoot Ballroom
“Everything’s great. Everything’s cool. Everything’s perfect. Everything’s good. Everything’s kosher.” No, this isn’t what we repeat to ourselves while staring in the mirror knowing damn well nothing’s great, cool, perfect, good, or kosher. This is how innovator and alternative hip-hop’s secret weapon JPEGMAFIA kicks off his latest glitch-heavy and delightfully chaotic record, LP!, which was…
Versatile R&B singer Ledisi will bring her love of Nina Simone to Detroit’s Masonic Temple
Many of us hyperbolize when we say a musician/band saved our lives. For 49-year-old soul and jazz singer Ledisi, it’s real life. The New Orleans’ native was contemplating leaving this Earthly realm after two decades of making music and had been struggling with bills, a divorce, and hating where she lived in East Oakland, California.…
Mayor Duggan trounces Adams for a third term
Mayor Mike Duggan easily defeated challenger Anthony Adams for a third term. Duggan received 64% of the vote, with nearly 75% of the precincts counted, as of 10 p.m. Tuesday, The Detroit News reports. Duggan was widely expected to win. He raised more than $2.6 million in campaign donations, enabling him to flood social media,…
Detroit McDonald’s workers strike over sexual harassment and violence
McDonald’s workers in Detroit walked out in protest last week over what they characterize as the company’s failure to address a widespread problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. An employee told the Advance Tuesday that they plan to strike again soon. In addition to Detroit, McDonald’s employees also went on strike on Oct. 26 in…
MSU fans caused more destruction in Lansing than Black Lives Matter protesters caused in Detroit… by far
Last summer, a sustained protest movement against police brutality generated a nationwide panic among the Fox News-watching set that dangerous “radical Marxists” were taking over America’s streets. In Detroit, the panic led to police, then led by Republican gubernatorial candidate James Craig, to crack down on peaceful protesters, shooting them with tear gas and rubber…
Michigan Supreme Court kills initiative to protect LGBTQ residents from discrimination
A petition-driven initiative to prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people in Michigan is now dead after the Michigan Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to weigh in on whether organizers collected enough signatures. Fair and Equal Michigan asked the court to review the case after the Michigan Board of State Canvassers in July unanimously rejected certification, saying…
How ‘The Brady Bunch’ led to Inkster native Barry Hardy’s career with the Harlem Globetrotters
In 1972, The Brady Bunch visited Honolulu, over a three-episode story arch, featuring a surfing contest, Hula lessons, and Vincent Price as a maniacal architect. Some years later, in syndication, those episodes found a young Barry Hardy, in his Inkster childhood home. “Watching that television show, I fell in love with Hawaii,” Hardy, a 1993,…
Alt-rock pioneers Pavement will bring reunion tour to Detroit in 2022
It might be time to cut your hair because pioneering west coast alt-rockers Pavement are, well, hitting the pavement in 2022 for a proper reunion tour that includes Europe and North America. The Stephen Malkmus-led band, which formed in 1989 and stuck it out on indie labels throughout their career despite a taste of mainstream…
Michigan schools without mask mandates have the most severe outbreaks
Macomb County, the only county in metro Detroit without a mask mandate in its schools, continues to lead the state in the number of students infected during COVID-19 outbreaks. In Macomb County, 31 outbreaks in schools have infected 589 students, as of Monday. By comparison, outbreaks have infected 113 students in Oakland, 110 in Washtenaw,…
Report: Mental-health needs climbing among women, young Michiganders
Women and young people have faced increased behavioral health challenges since before the pandemic, according to a new report, which assessed the state of well-being for women and children. The study from the United Health Foundation looked at more than 100 measures, from physical health to emotional, social and behavioral health determinants. Dr. Ravi Johar,…
Rick Haglund: After Ford’s investment in Tenn., here’s how Michigan can attract new auto jobs
Local economic developers, business leaders and some state lawmakers are freaking out over plans by home team player Ford Motor Co. to make the biggest manufacturing investments in its history in Kentucky and Tennessee. Unless you’ve been locked inside a Tesla with a dead battery for the past month, you’re no doubt aware that Ford…
MSP investigate missing voting equipment after QAnon-posting clerk stripped of duties
The Michigan State Police last week opened a criminal investigation to find out if a part of a voting machine that had previously gone missing was tampered with in a South-Central Michigan municipality. The Michigan Bureau of Elections on Oct. 25 stripped Stephanie Scott, the GOP Adams Township clerk, of her election administration authority, stating…
Michigan is finally getting a Jollibee
Jollibee, a popular Philippines-based fast-food chain, is finally coming to Michigan. The company plans on opening its first Michigan location inside a former Denny’s near Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, Crain’s Detroit Business reports. The plans, first announced at a city council meeting in August reported by the Sterling Heights Sentry, call for razing the…
Grey Ghost owners announce Japanese izakaya concept for new Detroit restaurant near Little Caesars Arena
The operators of a new restaurant planned for the ground floor of the former Eddystone hotel near Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena have announced new details of the project. Four Man Ladder Management, which also operates the nearby Grey Ghost restaurant and Second Best bar, says the new spot will be a Japanese-style izakaya called Basan,…
Muslim woman forced to remove hijab by police files lawsuit against Ferndale
A Muslim woman has sued the city of Ferndale, arguing the city violated her religious rights by forcing her to remove her hijab for a booking photo following her arrest. The Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) filed the lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court on behalf of Helana Bowe, who…
MasterChef is bringing the cooking competition live to Detroit
If you’ve ever wanted to take your honorary judging of the meals cooked on MasterChef from the couch to in-person, next week is your chance. On Sunday, Nov. 7, MasterChef and MasterChef Junior are coming to the Fox Theatre for a live cooking competition show as a part of the MasterChef Live tour. The immersive…
Meet Chloe Moriondo, the 19-year-old singer from metro Detroit who’s shaking up pop-punk
As Chloe Moriondo and I muse on the egalitarian effects of the internet and pop-punk as a vehicle for feminism during a recent conversation, I quickly forget that the singer-songwriter is barely 19. Moriondo (who uses she/they pronouns) carries herself with a wisdom and charisma well beyond her years, and has more accolades to her…
Fires vanish from Detroit’s notorious Devil’s Night
Detroit has chased the devil out of Halloween. For decades, arsonists have set fire to houses, commercial buildings, cars, and dumpsters on what became known as Devil’s Night on Halloween Eve. Between 1979 and 2010, more than 100 fires broke out each year. The worst year was 1984, when firefighters responded to more than 800…
New Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Kraftwerk will return to Detroit in 2022 with 3D concert tour
Influential German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk were among those inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this past weekend, and following the ceremony, the group has revealed their 2022 plans. Kraftwerk will hit the autobahn, once again, this time for a 24-date North American trek that will “not only build on their concert…
Bills introduced to prevent Michigan domestic violence, support survivors
Domestic Violence Awareness Month may have come to a close, but efforts in Michigan to prevent violence and protect survivors are ongoing. State representatives from the Progressive Women’s Caucus have unveiled a package of bills to help survivors of domestic violence or stalking get back on their feet by adding eviction protections, and making stalking a…
‘A celebratory movement’: Detroiters advocate for reparations ballot proposal
When Todd Perkins thinks of reparations for systemic racial discrimination in Detroit, he dreams not just of atonement, but of hope. The Detroit attorney, who has long been pushing for reparations in the city where he grew up, dreams of a chance to finally acknowledge the pain that runs deep amidst institutional racism, from housing…
Illuminated Glenlore Trails in Commerce will once again transform into a winter wonderland
Are you dreaming of a winter wonderland? Well, Glenlore Trails — you know, that illuminated forest in Commerce Township that transforms with the seasons to offer a festive, immersive, and, if we’re being honest, totally psychedelic excursion — has announced that its wintertime offering is returning next month. Starting Nov. 26, Glenlore Trails: Aurora will…
Buzz Lightyear, Insane Clown Posse, and a drunk-driving police chief: the top Detroit Metro Times headlines this week
This week it seems our readers were feeling a bit nostalgic as the most read story was Tim Allen’s departure from Pixar’s latest Buzz Lightyear movie. A few readers are still interested in the racist chaos that erupted at a Birmingham school board meeting back in August. Detroit’s ongoing towing scandal continues to be a…
Lume Cannabis Co. hires 1,000th employee, says it’s nation’s largest single-state adult-use operator
Michigan-based Lume Cannabis Co. says it’s hired its 1,000th employee, and that it’s the nation’s largest single-state adult-use operator. “When I first joined Lume Cannabis Co. in 2019, we had just 75 employees. Fast-forward a little over two years and we now employ 1,000 people and counting in great paying jobs with high-quality benefits,” Lume…
Detroit police commander arrested for drunken driving is named Highland Park police chief
A Detroit police commander who retired after crashing a department-issued vehicle while drunk is now the chief of the Highland Park Police Department. Highland Park on Thursday announced the hiring of Johnny Thomas, a 20-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department, to lead the city’s police department. Thomas, who once ran internal affairs, had a…
Michigan Supreme Court to weigh constitutionality of law that forces low-income defendants to pay court bills
The Michigan Supreme Court will reexamine a controversial state law that allows judges to force low-income criminal defendants to cover the costs of operating the courts. The case involves Travis Johnson, who was ordered to pay $1,200 for a pair of convictions in 2017. Opponents of the law argue it’s unconstitutional and creates a conflict…
Abandoned Lansing Mall Cinema to become Michigan’s first Black-owned film studio
A former movie theater in Lansing is on track to become what is being billed as Michigan’s first Black-owned film studio. Abandoned since 2014, the Lansing Mall Cinema at 921 Mall Drive W. is under construction to become Greenwood District Studios, MLive reports. The name comes from Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District, aka “Black Wall Street,”…
Michigan groups spotlight renewable technologies for Clean Power Week
It is American Clean Power Week, and Michigan groups are highlighting clean energy technologies and the jobs they create. A little more than 7% of Michigan’s energy is generated by clean power sources; wind, solar and energy storage plants. Bradley Pischea, deputy director of the Land and Liberty Coalition, said it is important for states…
Striking Kellogg workers say they’ve noted lack of GOP lawmaker support
On a chilly October afternoon in Battle Creek, also known as the “cereal capital of the world,” a large crowd of union workers and supporters gathered Wednesday across from the Kellogg headquarters to show solidarity with strikers as they’ve spent more than three weeks on the picket line. National labor leaders and union members from…
Sen. Mitt Romney unveils Ted Lasso Halloween costume and it’s giving bizarre Brazzers vibes
If you logged onto Twitter today, you, like us, may be asking yourself: how did we get here? And, more importantly, how do we make it stop? The answer: be a goldfish. Of course, we’re referring to Michigan-born, one-time presidential hopeful and flip-flopping Senator Mitt “binders full of women” Romney, a man who struggles to…
People with visual impairments can’t access crucial voting info in Detroit, ADA complaint says
The nonprofit advocacy group Detroit Disability Power has filed a complaint with the city, saying people with visual impairments cannot access information about satellite voting locations ahead of the November election. The group alleges the city is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide accessible information on satellite polling locations on its…
Whitmer orders state agencies to find alternatives to ‘forever chemicals’
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on state officials Wednesday to drastically reduce the purchase of products containing a toxic class of chemicals known as PFAS. PFAS – or “forever chemicals” – have been found in the groundwater in Michigan and have been linked to an increased risk of cancer, liver damage, birth defects, and other ailments…
Detroit Axe is now open inside Corktown’s new entertainment space The Yard
Ready, set, throw! More than two years after first announcing plans to expand to Corktown, Detroit Axe is now open for your axe throwing pleasure, er, anger. Adding to locations in Ferndale and Clinton Township, Detroit Axe is finally, well, in Detroit — and is the first space dedicated to axe throwing in the city.…
VH1 spotlights Black Detroit artists, innovators, and culture in YouTube series
Detroit has a history that’s deep and plentiful. A city that has bounced back from an embarrassing bankruptcy and is currently suffering through the NFL’s worst losing streak, Detroit has managed to rebuild when faced with adversity. As Detroit continues to grow and develop, the city’s gentrification has impacted what the typical Detroiter looks like…
Buddy’s Pizza relaunches dog treats to support Michigan Humane Society
Buddy’s Pizza may be known for its Detroit-style pizza, but the local chain is going to the dogs as it prepares to relaunch Buddy Bones — its line of dog treats. Pup owners can pop into Buddy’s Pizza beginning Wednesday, Nov. 3, and purchase the snacks for their four-legged best friends. Proceeds from the sales…
Bagels and coffee return to Corktown now that James Oliver Coffee Co. is open
The bagels are back in town — Corktown, that is. For anyone who has been craving carbs and coffee since Detroit Institute of Bagels closed its Michigan Avenue shop in 2020, the wait is over, as James Oliver Coffee Co. opened in the former DIB space this week. Family-owned, New Hampshire-founded James Oliver Coffee Co.…
Ongoing towing scandal leads to FBI arrests of two Detroit cops
The FBI arrested two Detroit cops on Wednesday in connection with an ongoing investigation into a towing scandal that has rocked city hall. Lt. John F. Kennedy, 56, of Rochester Hills, and Officer Daniel Vickers, 54, of Livonia, were charged with bribery after agents searched their homes earlier in the day. They’re accused of accepting…
Elizabeth Holmes suckered Betsy Devos’s family into giving her $100 million, according to testimony
Don’t ever let anyone tell you rich people are rich because they’re necessarily smarter and more hardworking than you. Because if there’s anything that the high-profile trial of disgraced Silicon Valley figure Elizabeth Holmes has shown, it’s that plenty of members of the 1% seem to be not all that great with their money —…
Charges dropped against Detroit cop accused of shooting journalists with rubber bullets
A judge dismissed charges Tuesday against a Detroit cop who was accused of firing rubber bullets at three photojournalists during protests over police brutality in May 2020. Corp. Daniel Debono was charged with three felony counts of felonious assault for allegedly shooting rubber bullets at MLive’s Nicole Hester and independent journalists Seth Herald and Matthew…
Tim Allen isn’t voicing Buzz Lightyear in new Pixar movie and people have feelings
One has America’s ass, while the other is just an American ass — and only one is the voice of Buzz Lightyear in Pixar’s upcoming origin story of the iconic plastic space ranger. Twitter was abuzz Wednesday when Pixar dropped the first teaser trailer for its latest, Lightyear, an animated journey to infinity and beyond.…
ICYMI: Michiganders quit their jobs, rap concert canceled due to vax rule, and more news you may have missed
Twitter data reveals that Michigan is in the top spot when it comes to people making posts about quitting their job. In the past month, Twitter found more than one million geo-tagged Michigan tweets that use phrases such as “quit my job” or “find new job” or “quitting my job.” Though Michigan is the employee…
Alchemi cooks up magic in Royal Oak’s former Mr. B’s Gastropub
A restaurant serving ”farm-to-table dishes with Thai and Indian influences” — I wondered which (tired) décor tropes would win out, or would it be a mix? Maybe teak elephants and statues of Ganesha? Wooden kitchen tables to gesture to the farm? As it happened, the answer was none of the above. Alchemi is decorated in…
The return of Metro Times’ Pig & Whiskey, Youmacon, and more things to do in metro Detroit this week
Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Submit your events to metrotimes.com/calendar. Youmacon Thursday, 10/28-Sunday, 10/31: Con you believe it? Something anime-zing is returning to Detroit. Youmacon — Detroit’s celebration of Japanese animation, comics, video games, and culture — turns 15 this year. Thousands will attend, many of whom will cosplay, or dress as…
In Michigan, Big Marijuana wants to crack down on caregivers who grow pot for patients at home
Medical marijuana caregivers and patients led the way in the cannabis legalization process in 2008, when voters passed the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. However, since marijuana was legalized by voters in 2018 for recreational adult-use, most of the attention has now been on that much larger market. Well, the attention has swung back to medical…
The artist known as H.E.R. offers a glimpse behind the shades
You don’t have to go too far down the YouTube rabbit hole to find a video of a then-10-year-old Bay Area native Gabriella “Gabi” Wilson performing Alicia Keys’s “No One” on The Today Show in 2007. In the segment, titled “She’s got talent!”, Wilson answers questions from behind a black grand piano about being a…
Indie rock band the High Strung dusts off ‘lost’ 20-year-old record
One of the few payoffs of the early days of the pandemic was that it gave many musicians an opportunity to go through their archives to see what treasures they might find. High Strung bassist Chad Stocker was doing that when he came across HannaH, or the Whale, a largely forgotten LP the band had…
‘Last Night in Soho’ is a childish coming of age story
“Bad girls go to hell” is the form of false wisdom passed on to far too many children, but for Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho it seems to be a guiding light. Plying a familiar framework wherein a provincial girl comes to the city to experience the world, then comes of age as a…
Free Will Astrology (Oct. 27-Nov. 2)
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries philosopher Emil Cioran wrote, “When I meet friends or people I know who are going through a difficult period, I usually have this advice for them: ‘Spend 20 minutes in a cemetery, and you’ll see that, though your worry won’t disappear, you’ll almost forget about it and you’ll feel better.’”…
Detroit voters will decide on Tuesday whether to decriminalize magic mushrooms and other entheogenic substances
Tuesday, Nov. 2 is Detroit’s general election. One of the proposals voters will decide on is Proposal E. Proposal E “would decriminalize to the fullest extent permitted under Michigan law the personal possession and therapeutic use of Entheogenic Plants by adults and make the personal possession and therapeutic use of Entheogenic Plants by adults the…
