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Feedback NEWS & VIEWS

We got comments in response to our annual Fiction Issue.

To find yourself casually flipping through this potent, beautiful document and happen upon a short story by your dear friend/ kids babysitter is an utterly heartwarming, only in Detroit kind of feeling. Lucie Putnam has written a piece for the ages in “Smoking with Emmitt Till.” It’s gutting and so tenderly rendered. It manages to say more about our country and race and memory and time than most history tomes manage to. And it’s freaking funny too. Lucie has been wise beyond her years since she was 7, but now, as a teenager, she’s emerging as one of THE literary

voices in Detroit. What a gift. Shout out to Detroit Metro Times and Drew Philp and Nandi Comer for recognizing where our future is and to Julia Putnam and Peter Putnam for giving Lucie books and pens and space since she was a tot. —Zak Rosen, Facebook

Excited and honored to be back in @metrotimes.com’s annual fiction issue five years after debuting in its first one. Check out this stellar lineup of Detroit voices — and special shouts to @leedevito. bsky.social for helping facilitate the return of this tradition.

—Aaron Foley (@aaron.foley.bsky.social), Bluesky

Have an opinion? Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com

NEWS & VIEWS

Student sues over Pledge of Allegiance protest

The ACLU of Michigan and the Arab American Civil Rights League filed a federal lawsuit last week against the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools District and one of its teachers, alleging a Palestinian American student’s constitutional rights were violated when she was repeatedly humiliated for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a 14-year-old girl referred to as “D.K.” to protect her identity, claims that a teacher at West Middle School in Canton retaliated against the student for her silent protest of U.S. support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed. The eighth grader, who is of Palestinian descent, chose not to stand or recite the pledge on three occasions in January, citing her political beliefs.

Instead of respecting her decision, the teacher allegedly reprimanded the student in front of classmates, telling her that staying seated was disrespectful to U.S. military members and the American flag, according to the lawsuit. When D.K. later explained her reasons privately, the teacher reportedly told her: “Since you live in this country and

enjoy its freedom, if you don’t like it, you should go back to your country.”

Attorneys say the actions violated D.K.’s First Amendment rights to free speech and political expression, and that the incidents caused lasting emotional harm.

“By attempting to force D.K. to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, the school district violated her right to express her political views,” the ACLU said in a statement. “These actions have created an atmosphere of intimidation that has made D.K. and her classmates fearful of exercising their rights.”

According to the lawsuit, D.K.’s mental and physical health deteriorated following the incidents. She had nightmares, anxiety, social withdrawal, and a drop in academic performance. Once an excellent student, she now struggles with stress and isolation, the complaint states.

The Supreme Court has long affirmed that students have a constitutional right to abstain from reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. In the landmark 1943 case West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, the court ruled that compelling students to salute

the flag or say the pledge violates the First Amendment’s protections of free speech and freedom of conscience. Writing for the majority, Justice Robert Jackson declared, “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.”

D.K.’s lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a ruling that the teacher and school district violated the Constitution.

“The right to freely speak — or not speak — is a form of protest that is fundamental to a well-functioning democracy — even when its exercise creates controversy or makes others uncomfortable,” Bonsitu Kitaba, interim legal director for the ACLU of Michigan, said. “As we see heightened attacks on our civil rights and liberties across the nation, the ACLU will remain vigilant in its fight to protect the rights of all people who wish to protest today and those whose rights will need protection tomorrow.”

Mark Fancher, staff attorney for the ACLU’s Racial Justice Project, called D.K.’s protest an act of “conviction and

incredible courage,” especially amid heightened tensions and hostility over the war in Gaza.

“It is tragic that, while we always hope our schools will encourage young people to be independent, critical thinkers, D.K.’s teacher and the school district failed her not only by violating her First Amendment rights, but also by humiliating her for daring to exercise them,” Fancher said.

Nabih Ayad, founder of the Arab American Civil Rights League, said the teacher’s alleged remarks were especially egregious given the student’s Palestinian background and the trauma experienced by many Arab families in metro Detroit.

“It is disturbing that a teacher who is trusted to teach our children would succumb to such insensitivities to one of her students knowing that the student is of Arab Palestinian descent, and knowing of the many deaths overseas in Gaza of family members of Palestinians living in metro Detroit, that she would add insult to injury and call the student out for simply exercising her constitutional right not to partake in the Pledge of Allegiance as a sign of protest,” Ayad said. “That teacher most definitely should have known it is every student’s right in this country to not stand for the Pledge of Allegiance regardless of your personal views.”

The district declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.

—Steve Neavling

According to a lawsuit, a Plymouth-Canton Community Schools District teacher told a Palestinian American girl to “go back to your country.”

Why Nicole Curtis can’t quit Rehab Addict — or Detroit

Almost impossible to believe now, after watching Nicole Curtis up to her tool belt in rotting floorboards and moldy ceilings all these years, but the working title of her HGTV series was going to be “Princess of Preservation.”

“And I was like, ‘Listen, this is wrong — there is nothing about me that’s a princess!’” grins Curtis, the industrious blonde Lake Orion native who has been the foundation of the HGTV and DIY home renovation series Rehab Addict since 2010.

“Then one of our editors said, ‘What about Rehab Addict?’ When we started, everybody thought I was a drug user! So it was really hard that first season to sell the show with that play on words. But I am absolutely addicted to what I do. I am who I am.”

The new season of Rehab Addict, which premiered last week on HGTV, finds Curtis getting her fix by fixing homes in not one but two states, nearly 1,500 miles apart. In what she calls “one of my wildest challenges yet,” she’s renovating an historic home in Detroit, where she has restored numerous properties on the show and its spinoff series Rehab Addict Rescue and Rehab Addict Detroit including the Ransom Gillis house in Brush Park — although she describes the current house as “utter disgust” and “one of the dirtiest houses I’ve ever seen” — and a 1980s house in Wyoming, where she recently relocated for a time.

Why Wyoming? She wishes she knew.

“I took a little break from TV,” says Curtis, a loud and tenacious advocate for historic home preservation. “It’s no secret I’ve been battling developers and cities and councils, trying to save a bunch of homes. I’m from Lake Orion, which used to be this little tiny town, but they sold out to developers and I lost — we lost — about 15 historic sites the past two years. It’s very sad. It used to feel like a lovely little village, now it’s all developments.

“I was burnt out. My heart was so broken from watching all those buildings get destroyed. I was in Paris, checking houses online, and I saw this little forgotten house in Wyoming. I thought, ‘I’m just gonna do it.’ Now, had I really put some thought into it, ‘You don’t know anyone in Wyoming,’ ‘All your tools are in Detroit,’ I don’t know if I would have done it. But nobody knows me in this small town, knows what I was doing or why I was shooting, which was just what I needed.”

Curtis believes that unlike many series in the home improvement genre, where major construction appears to go smoothly with unlimited budgets, her warts-and-all approach is what has made Rehab Addict a longrunning success.

“As soon as we get on camera, I want to show the realness,” she says, sporting a gray “Detroit Coney Island” T-shirt. “I

want to show the real side of construction. It doesn’t always go right. Sometimes you fail. I don’t have $200,000 to put into a kitchen, so we’re going to put $200 into a kitchen. I like old houses and want to keep them old.

“There was a real question at the network when we started: ‘Is anyone going to watch this?’” Curtis recalls. “People want to see flashy, all these expensive things. But of course, the rest is history. Our fans are rabid. They love it. They love when I screw up. They love that I look like hell warmed over, wearing the shorts I’ve had since 2010. In fact, I’m wearing them right now. That’s what you get. I want to show who I really am.”

Who she really is now, she declares, is a Detroiter through and through, which made her Rehab Addict conversion of the “utter disgust” local house — complete with squatters — even more disheartening.

“The squatters were a sweet little surprise,” she cracks. “We’ve been very fortunate. I think this is only the third or fourth time in all these years where we’ve actually had to get people out. You could drive by the house and see lights on, so we called the utilities. They all said they don’t care who owns the house, as long as the bills are paid. Come to find out they were stealing it all!

“I’m always a positive person when it comes to old houses, but there was garbage everywhere and the back half had no roof. Now, it’s gorgeous.”

Any concern that describing the

pre-rebuild house as “utter disgust” and “one of the dirtiest ever” might just reinforce Detroit’s negative national image? “No,” Curtis responds.

“When I started the show I was based in Minneapolis, but I was a loyal Detroit girl and wore Detroit shirts all the time,” she relates. “It was very confusing to people, and when I would explain I’m from Detroit they would go, ‘Ugggh!’ Well, now it’s trendy.

“I grew up in a little town, but I dreamed of being inner city,” she reveals. “I left that town at 17 and never looked back. That’s not where my heart is. I’m a Detroiter. I don’t live anywhere trendy in Detroit. You’re never gonna find me in a trendy hotspot. My boys call themselves Detroiters. We were just at the Grand Prix. People see us at Eastern Market every Saturday. We’re at Greenfield Village four to five times a week. I’m old school, you know?”

Curtis looks at this Detroit rebuild as a statement. “Any [house] flipper coming in would have just torn everything out, thrown it in a dumpster and put in everything new,” she believes. “This is to show you that even if it’s a tiny Detroit house, its history still matters. If you want to build new houses, we have so many vacant lots you can take your money there and I will come and celebrate with you. But we need our history in Detroit. Every old city needs its history. Our history here is so important.”

—Jim McFarlin

Nicole Curtis returns to Detroit in the new season of her hit TV show.

COURTESY PHOTO

Bikers beat up protester at ‘No Kings’ rally in Detroit

A mob of leather-clad motorcyclists attacked a nonviolent anti-Trump protester in Detroit’s Clark Park last month by repeatedly punching him in the face and bloodying his nose, but the thugs were never arrested, Metro Times has learned.

The assault occurred as thousands of activists turned out to protest President Donald Trump’s administration, joining a wave of nationwide “No Kings” rallies where millions of people peacefully denounced authoritarianism and demanded protections for democracy and immigrant rights.

A menacing coalition of bikers stood along the edge of the Detroit protest, with at least one appearing to wear Nazi insignia. Another was carrying an AR-15-style rifle, and others were armed with handguns.

The bikers insisted they were there to protect the city from a riot, but they were the only ones at the rally to resort to violence. Videos posted to Instagram show a bearded biker punching a protester in the face. Other bikers piled on, repeatedly assaulting the protester, who was wearing a black hoodie and whose nose was bloodied. Another biker pushed protesters who had gathered to

stop the assault.

The following Monday, police told Metro Times they made no arrests at the protest.

For the first hour of the rally,

Detroit police stood near the bikers. At past protests, Detroit police have separated protesters from counterprotesters. It’s unclear why that didn’t happen or why police took so long to

respond to the assault.

The bikers were from the motorcycle clubs Highwaymen, Iron Coffins, and Mob Lyfe.

—Steve Neavling

No charges filled in case of burned puppy Gideon

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced Friday that no one will be charged in the highprofile case of a puppy who suffered severe burns in a Detroit home earlier this year, saying there was a lack of evidence to prove who was responsible.

Gideon, a months-old Jack Russell Terrier, was found in distress on Jan. 12 with third-degree burns, necrotic skin, and signs of extreme pain, according to medical records reviewed by animal cruelty investigators. The puppy spent 10 days in an animal hospital and continued outpatient treatment through February.

Despite the serious nature of the dog’s injuries, Worthy said the investigation did not uncover sufficient evidence to support criminal charges against any of the people who were in the home at the time.

“People are correct about this: Gideon, a four-month-old Jack Russell Terrier suffered horrific abuse,” Worthy said in a statement. “But in every crime, we must be able to prove WHO did it. We are not able to do that in this case.”

Animal rights advocates immediately criticized the decision and are

pledging to continue seeking prosecution through other means.

“This is the most horrific case of animal abuse we have seen and we have a private attorney who will prosecute the abuser,” the Detroit Animal Welfare Group (DAWG), which has taken care of Gideon, posted on Facebook.

“We are in absolute disbelief that they have chosen not to prosecute.”

The incident began just after 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 12, when a 19-year-old woman called 911, saying her mother was intoxicated and antagonizing her. Officers responded to the home on Maddelein Street and ordered the mother to leave. She stayed at her son’s house across the street.

Hours later, the mother called 911 to report that one of her dogs had been badly burned. She suspected her daughter was responsible because they had recently had an argument, but she did not witness the incident. The mother later changed her statement, saying she saw the dog jump into the bathtub on its own, which aligns with the version of events given by her 19-year-old daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend, both of whom were in the house at the time.

According to police reports, a 13-year-old sibling initially said the dog was too small to jump into the bathtub and that she saw it run down the stairs screaming in pain. But investigators were unable to formally interview the child after the mother twice failed to let her do a forensic interview, Worthy’s office said.

A veterinary expert with more than three decades of experience in animal cruelty cases reviewed Gideon’s injuries and found that the pattern of burns suggested the dog was placed in hot water hind legs first, rather than falling or jumping in. The expert called it “extremely unlikely” for a young puppy to voluntarily jump into a bathtub and noted that the burns were life-threatening and caused “severe long-lasting pain.”

Prosecutors said the timeline of the investigation raised concerns that witnesses may have coordinated their stories. But without a clear eyewitness or confession, the case did not meet the legal standard of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, Worthy said.

“In some cases, we strongly suspect who has committed a crime and we may think that they are guilty, but as

long as I am the Wayne County Prosecutor, we will not charge if it is not supported by our laws,” Worthy said. “I will never grandstand like that. None of us are going to violate our oaths to do justice by circumventing the law and what is right.”

Worthy’s office launched its animal cruelty unit in 2010 and has filed charges in 517 cases since then. She emphasized that the decision not to charge in Gideon’s case was based on the rule of law, not on the lack of trying.

The decision follows months of intense public pressure, including social media campaigns and protests demanding accountability in the case.

“We understand that there will be many that will be very displeased with our decision to deny charges today,” Worthy said. “These will be some of the same people that disparaged us for taking our time to do a complete investigation. But what is right is right. What is just is just. Sometimes our charging decisions will upset others. But ultimately, we must charge what we can prove. We must be able to prove who did this horrible injustice, and we cannot do that in this case.”

—Steve Neavling

A mob of bikers attacked an anti-Trump protester at Clark Park in Southwest Detroit.

STEVE NEAVLING

Rep. Stevens wants to block Trump from deploying troops

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens said she plans to introduce legislation that would prevent President Donald Trump from unilaterally deploying active-duty military forces within the United States without approval from state or territorial leaders.

The Michigan Democrat announced the “Stop Trump’s Abuse of Power Act” in response to the Trump administration’s deployment of U.S. Marines and thousands of federalized National Guard troops to Los Angeles last month during protests tied to the president’s immigration crackdown.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other local officials objected to the deployment, saying it heightened tensions and undermined public safety.

“President Trump has shown a disturbing pattern of disregard for the Constitution and due process,” Stevens, who is running for U.S. Senate, said in a written statement, adding, “[Trump] made it harder for local law enforcement to do their jobs in California by unlawfully deploying our military on U.S. soil – further escalating tension and violence. We must stand up to Donald Trump’s chaos and destruction, which is why I am introducing this legislation to limit his powers and make sure he cannot deploy troops on U.S. soil for his political gain.”

The bill would amend the Insurrection Act of 1807 to prohibit the president from deploying active-duty forces within a state or territory unless

the action is specifically requested by the state’s governor or territorial executive. The proposed changes would apply specifically to situations involving peaceful protests and public demonstrations.

The Trump administration’s decision to send federal troops to Los Angeles marked a rare use of presidential power and prompted legal challenges from

the state of California. A federal district judge initially sided with the state, but the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed the ruling, allowing the deployment to proceed while noting that the court had not ruled on the legality of the troops’ activities.

Trump celebrated the appeals court decision as a “big win,” while Newsom vowed to continue fighting what he

Black churches launch voter drive in Detroit

Several of Detroit’s most prominent Black churches have joined forces with the National Black Empowerment Council to launch an ambitious campaign aimed at dramatically increasing voter turnout in a city that has struggled with apathy at the polls.

The campaign, “Lift Every Voice & Vote Detroit,” began on Juneteenth and focuses on turning churches into what organizers are calling “100% Voting Churches,” which means congregations where every eligible member is registered and committed to voting in each election. The effort includes voterregistration drives, outreach events, and sign-ups for Michigan’s permanent mail-in ballot list.

“Our vision is clear: a 100% Voting Church that harnesses the power of personal connection and technology to drive historic turnout,” Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, of Greater Grace Temple, said in a statement. “As people of faith,

we have a moral responsibility to lead, not with politics, but with purpose, by empowering our members to vote and advocate for our collective future.”

In the presidential election last November, only 47.2% of registered voters in Detroit cast a ballot, compared to 65.3% nationwide. In the 2022 midterm election, just 31% of registered voters in Detroit cast a ballot, compared to the statewide turnout of 54%. In 2021, turnout for Detroit’s mayoral election was under 25%.

Organizers say they hope to reverse that trend by tapping into the social networks and influence of church leaders, along with faith-based cultural events. Grammy Award-winning gospel artist Deitrick Haddon, a Detroit native, is helping promote the campaign with a series of performances at participating churches.

“As a son of Detroit, I’m proud to be involved in Lift Every Voice & Vote,”

Haddon said. “It is a powerful call for our churches to lead with action and intention. While it is an honor to be able to perform at the participating churches, this effort is about more than music, it’s about motivating our community to vote and take their rightful place in shaping the future.”

The campaign also includes personal testimony videos and plans for civic training, digital outreach, and coordinated church-led events through 2026. The goal, organizers say, is to build long-term civic engagement rooted in faith.

“Lift Every Voice & Vote Detroit is a reclamation of the Black Church’s rightful place at the heart of civic life,” Apostle Wayne T. Jackson of Great Faith Ministries said. “Through faith, music, and testimony, we are making voting joyful, accessible, and deeply meaningful. This is our moment to remind Detroit of the power it holds and

called an abuse of power.

Stevens said her legislation aims to close what she sees as a dangerous loophole that allows presidents to deploy the military domestically for political purposes.

“We are a nation of laws and it’s about time the President begins to follow them,” she said.

—Steve Neavling

to renew our commitment to service, not just in the pews, but at the polls. More than voting, this is about protecting the future of those we love. This is how faith becomes action. This is how faith becomes impact.”

The campaign is about empowering residents and creating lasting change, said Darius Jones, a Detroit native and president of the National Black Empowerment Council.

“By partnering with faith leaders we are evoking generational change, not just by increasing voter turnout — but by restoring the Black Church’s role as a force for empowerment and accountability,” Jones said. “This is how we build lasting civic power from the ground up.”

Churches, volunteers, and community partners interested in joining the campaign can visit liftdetroit.org or contact Detroit@TheNBEC.org.

—Steve Neavling

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens.

COURTESY PHOTO

Sterling Heights settles after police officer crashes into car

The city of Sterling Heights has agreed to pay $2.95 million to a 48-year-old woman who was seriously injured when a police officer crashed into her vehicle near a high school drop-off zone.

Maisaa Kada, who suffered a traumatic brain injury and permanent damage to her spine in the 2019 crash, was preparing to face the city in court last month when a last-minute settlement was reached. A jury was about to be brought into the courtroom when attorneys announced the deal.

The crash occurred near Stevenson High School, where Kada was driving out of a parking lot around 7 a.m. when a Sterling Heights police officer, who was speeding without lights or sirens in the middle turn lane, slammed into her car. The impact flipped her vehicle and trapped her inside until rescuers freed her using the Jaws of Life.

Kada has undergone years of treatment, including 394 medical appointments, and will require back surgery every decade.

“The injuries are horrible,” Kada’s attorney Ven Johnson tells Metro Times. “She’s going to have surgeries for the rest of her life, as well as a traumatic brain injury.”

The officer involved, Richard Clark Jr., was found to have been driving negligently while on duty. But he was never disciplined or charged, Johnson says.

“He did not even get a ticket,” Johnson says.

Beyond erasure: Anti-Black racism in U.S. immigration

Police tried to blame the crash on Kadda.

“He did not even get a ticket,” Johnson says.

Police tried to blame the crash on Kadda.

“They had an in-dash camera. They saw that he was speeding and was using the center turn lane as a passing lane without sirens or lights on,” Johnson says. “Three or four days after the crash, [Clark’s] supervisor wrote a memo to the police chief saying this is not his fault at all.”

The city spent five years fighting the case, repeatedly arguing that it was protected under governmental immunity. Sterling Heights appealed three times to the Michigan Court of Appeals before finally relenting and settling the case.

Courts repeatedly rejected the city’s governmental immunity defense, citing the motor vehicle exception to immunity laws, which says “governmental entities shall be liable for bodily injury and property damage resulting from the negligent operation by any officer, agent, or employee of the governmental agency, of a motor vehicle of which the governmental agency is owner.”

Johnson, an outspoken critic of governmental immunity, says the officer had to know his driving was dangerous.

“The school zone is not even two blocks from the police station,” Johnson says. “They know how the traffic backs up. This was 7:13 a.m. He did this knowing full well there are a lot of accidents in this area, as there are in a lot of school zones. He knew that and still drove like a bat out of hell. He was flooring it.”

Johnson has represented residents in some of the biggest cases against public officials. He represented children and their parents in a lawsuit against Oxford schools following the 2021 mass shooting. He also filed lawsuits on behalf of hundreds of residents in the Midland dam failure and Flint water crisis. And he sued the city of Grand Rapids after one of its cops fatally shot an unarmed Patrick Lyoya.

In all of those cases, he was confronted with a similar challenge — governmental immunity, which gives public employees broad protections against lawsuits.

“They’re just trying to make it impossible for people to hold the government accountable,” Johnson says. “The government ain’t looking to change that because it protects them.”

Metro Times couldn’t immediately reach Sterling Heights for comment.

—Steve Neavling

The U.S. immigrant population has significantly increased to 14.3%, a nearly threefold rise from 4.7% in 1970. Over the past two decades, under three different administrations, federal immigration policies have undergone rapid changes under different administrations. For instance, the Obama administration established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program while simultaneously expanding the Secured Communities Program, leading to record numbers of deportations. The Trump administration implemented highly restrictive policies, including the “zero tolerance” immigration policies, limited eligibility criteria for asylum seekers, and bans on individuals from Arab and Muslim countries, which further cemented xenophobia, Islamophobia, and racism. States have also been active in immigration, passing numerous laws that regulate law enforcement practices and access to public benefits such as employment, housing, and health care. Immigration remains a critical political issue with ongoing questions and concerns.

Despite extensive media coverage on incidents in heavily Latino, immigrant-dense cities like Los Angeles and New York City responding to the belligerent and inhumane practices by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and the National Guard, news outlets rarely report on how Black immigrants are disproportionately harmed by exclusionary immigration policies and are continuously erased from the broader immigration discourse. This erasure occurs even though the Black immigrant population has significantly increased over the last three decades. Since 2010, the number of immigrants in Michigan has increased by 16.1%. In 2023, about 6.3% of the total immigration population in Michigan identified as Black. Repeatedly erasing Black immigrants from immigration discourse can result in inadequate protection for them.

The U.S. immigration system is deeply entrenched in white supremacist and anti-Black racism. As immigrants enter the U.S., a country with a history of racializing its own population, their immigrant status inherently assumes a racial category, which then influences their experiences of citizenship and integration. The categorization of immigrants based on their race and country of origin has historically driven restrictive immigration policies. Examples include the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, whose legacy became quite prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic when many Asian Americans faced increased susceptibility to hate crimes and exclusion from COVIDrelated services. Another instance is President Trump’s use of “shit hole countries” to refer to the majority of African and Caribbean nations, perpetuating harmful stereotypes that vilify Black communities.

Last year, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) led an investigation that showed ICE misreports racial and ethnic data from detention records and accused the agency of doing so in order to avoid accountability for their disparate treatment of Black immigrants. Between 2003 and 2015, Black immigrants accounted for over 10% of immigrants in the removal process, even though they represent only 6% of the total undocumented immigrant population in the U.S. Certain immigration policies, such as the federal 287 (g) programs, which allows law enforcement to transfer immigrants they detain to ICE, disproportionally police Black immigrants, with many ending up on ICE custody for minor offenses and sometimes without legal counsel. Furthermore, Black immigrants are also more likely to be denied asylum, serve longer sentences, and placed under solitary confinement. In 2020, reports of mistreatment of Cameroonian asylum seekers in ICE detention centers were made public, detailing instances of racial discrimination, medical neglect, and excessive force. Despite protests and hunger strikers, ICE deported hundreds of asylum seekers back to native countries, where many faced either immediate arrest or death. Haitian immigrants have also been brutalized by immigration enforcement along the border in Del Rio. Investigative journalism captured images of Border Patrol personnel whipping Haitian immigrants and collected testimonies from those attempting to cross the Rio Grande, yet no Border Patrol personnel was held accountable. These hostile practices shaped by punitive immigrant laws, contribute to perceptions among immigrants of being constantly surveilled by the police and ICE, resulting in feelings of anxiety, depression, fear, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among immigrants. While critiquing the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies is important, it is as crucial to recognize and acknowledge that the immigration system, regardless of who is president, has been and continues to be inherently racist. To address this systemic issue, states must implement policies that combat the over-policing and criminalization of Black immigrants and end programs that merge law enforcement with ICE. As a collective, there is a responsibility to uplift the voices and unique experiences of Black immigrants by building meaningful and trusting relationships with Black migrant communities and coalitions. Every level of our government must be involved in dismantling systemic racism within the immigration system, and it is our collective moral responsibility to hold them accountable.

While critiquing the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies is important, it is as crucial to recognize and acknowledge that the immigration system, regardless of who is president, has been and continues to be inherently racist. To address this systemic issue, states must implement policies that combat the over-policing and criminalization of Black immigrants and end programs that merge law enforcement with ICE. As a collective, there is a responsibility to uplift the voices and unique experiences of Black immigrants by building meaningful and trusting relationships with Black migrant communities and coalitions. Every level of our government must be involved in dismantling systemic racism within the immigration system, and it is our collective moral responsibility to hold them accountable.

Ira Memaj, MPH, is a public health educator and researcher on health policy and sexual and reproductive health rights based in New York City.

Detroit Thermal revises controversial steam plan

Detroit Thermal submitted revised plans last month aimed at resolving an ongoing dispute over its proposed steam project in Lafayette Park, pledging to eliminate controversial ventilation stacks and protect the area’s historic landscape.

But many neighborhood residents are objecting to the city scheduling a public hearing on July 2, just before the Fourth of July holiday, and accused Detroit Thermal and city officials of breaking their promises for public engagement.

The steam project is intended to reconnect the 1300 Lafayette East Cooperative, home to more than 600 residents, to Detroit Thermal’s underground heating system after the building’s boilers failed. The updated plans, filed with the Detroit Historic District Commission (HDC), remove previously proposed ventilation stacks near playgrounds and parking lots, preserve all existing trees, and promise careful restoration of landscaping.

“Our initial plans called for two or three of our iconic vent stacks, but some community members objected,” Detroit Thermal spokesman Harvey Hollins III said. “We heard them. We responded to them.”

Despite these revisions, neighborhood residents expressed frustration in a letter to city officials, saying

that promised community engagement, including meetings between stakeholders and an opportunity to review revised plans, did not occur.

Residents also criticized the July 2 hearing date, arguing it severely limits public participation due to its proximity to a major holiday.

“Clearly, the July 2nd date will prevent full public participation in the public hearing with such obviousness that the date indicates to me that the City of Detroit does not want our neighborhood’s participation in the hearing,” residents wrote in the letter.

Residents are urging city officials to reschedule the hearing and fulfill the promised community engagement process.

Detroit Thermal insists it has addressed key concerns raised by residents and city officials, including safety near playgrounds, aesthetic impacts, and potential damage to trees and historic landscapes. Hollins emphasized the urgency of providing reliable heating to 1300 Lafayette residents.

“While the City resolves a dispute between neighbors, our born-andrun Detroit company stands ready to provide a safe, affordable, reliable, and clean heating solution to 600-plus residents in Lafayette Park,” Hollins said. “Unfortunately, the residents of 1300 Lafayette East Cooperative are the victims of inaccurate and

“In keeping with that promise, we have been working to schedule a meeting with the five involved coops, and tentatively have a meeting scheduled in advance of the HDC hearing.”

misleading information.”

Residents of the nearby townhouses objected to Hollins’s claim about “inaccurate and misleading information,” pointing out that Detroit Thermal modified its plans based on legitimate concerns about safety and historic preservation. They also said Detroit Thermal has not returned calls from concerned residents.

Residents opposed to the project said Detroit Thermal ignored an earlier agreement to discuss community benefits and revised its plans based on neighborhood feedback.

“We have operated in good faith,” residents wrote. “We were promised by the City of Detroit that a community engagement process with Detroit Thermal, our neighbors at 1300 East Lafayette, and the City of Detroit would commence as soon as

Major union endorses Donavan McKinney

One of Michigan’s most influential labor unions is throwing its support behind state Rep. Donavan McKinney in his campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, marking the latest major endorsement for the progressive challenger in the 13th Congressional District.

Michigan’s chapter of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents more than 30,000 workers across four local unions, announced it is backing McKinney, a former SEIU member and union leader.

The endorsement comes less than a week after U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders joined U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib in backing McKinney.

“Donavan’s bold leadership will help rewrite the rules to win an economy that actually works for Michigan families,” SEIU Michigan Director Beth Byrd said. “As an SEIU union member and political director, Donavan helped thousands of union

members secure better wages and benefits. Donavan understands the struggles of working people, while far too many politicians are beholden to the billionaires and corporations who try to divide us.”

McKinney said he was honored to receive the endorsement from the union that helped shape his career and values.

“SEIU Michigan has been a leader taking on corporate power and greedy CEOs for a better and fairer world for our workers in all industries, and I remain deeply committed to that work everywhere — from Downriver to Detroit and beyond,” McKinney said. “This campaign is about uniting everyday people and workers across their differences and industries to deliver a better future for us all at the ballot box. We are only ever as powerful as our labor movement and from the Mighty 13th to Washington DC, I am committed to strengthening our workers’ power alongside SEIU Michi-

Detroit Thermal had finished revising its plans. We have now learned that, instead of honoring this commitment, Detroit Thermal submitted its plans directly to the HDC without any engagement with our neighborhood.”

In a statement after this story was first published, Hollins said the company still plans to meet with residents.

“We promised to share our updated plan with the neighborhood once it was submitted to the HDC,” Hollins said. “In keeping with that promise, we have been working to schedule a meeting with the five involved coops, and tentatively have a meeting scheduled in advance of the HDC hearing.”

The Detroit Historic District Commission had delayed a decision on the project during a meeting last month, requesting more detailed plans and encouraging further dialogue among residents. More than 60 residents spoke at that meeting.

Detroit Thermal originally began work on the project without Historic District Commission approval, leading to a city-issued stop-work order after residents raised concerns about safety and damage to landscaping.

The revised plans will be discussed at the July 2 hearing unless rescheduled by the city.

—Steve Neavling

gan to make southeastern Michigan a cleaner, more equitable, and more affordable place for all.”

A lifelong Detroiter, McKinney represents parts of Wayne and Macomb counties and has emerged as the progressive frontrunner in the Democratic primary. In recent weeks, his campaign has picked up endorsements from Sanders, Tlaib, Justice Democrats, and more than 30 elected officials across the district, including six state senators and over a dozen state representatives.

Also running for the seat is former state Sen. Adam Hollier.

SEIU’s backing further cements McKinney’s status as the labor candidate in a race that has drawn national attention. He has joined nursing home workers on the picket line, fought for legislation to lower costs for working families, and helped develop Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Water Restart Grant Program during the pandemic.

Thanedar, a multimillionaire who largely self-funded his 2022 campaign, has come under fire for spending public money on self-promotion and for accepting donations from corporate political action committees, including those representing Big Pharma and utility companies like DTE Energy.

McKinney, by contrast, has framed his campaign as a grassroots movement driven by working-class voters and community coalitions.

“I understand first-hand just how critical it is to have progressive, working class leaders pushing for federal government policies that truly [uplift] all people, not just the wealthy and well-connected,” McKinney said.

Michigan’s 13th Congressional District includes parts of Detroit, the Grosse Pointes, and Downriver communities, and is one of the poorest in the nation. The primary election is Aug. 5.

—Steve Neavling

While April 20 remains the undisputed king of cannabis holidays, July 10 is quickly becoming its more potent sibling.

Known as 710 — which flipped upside down spells “OIL” — the holiday is a celebration of the quickly evolving world of concentrates, or products derived from cannabis, ranging from wax and resin to infused prerolls and rosin.

In Michigan, concentrates are now on pace to surpass $1 billion in annual sales, grabbing a larger share of the recreational cannabis market than ever. In May 2025 alone, concentrates, including vape cartridges, generated $108.2 million — nearly matching flower sales of $117.9 million. Concentrates now represent 39% of Michigan’s recreational cannabis sales, a significant increase from May 2022, when they accounted for 30% of the market with approximately $49 million in sales, according to cannabis analytics firm Headset.

Live resin, an aromatic, solventbased extract, remains Michigan’s

most popular concentrate, followed by live rosin, a solventless extract known for its purity and terpene-rich flavors. Resin and rosin are so popular that cultivators that have focused exclusively on flower are increasingly embracing the gooey substances.

It shows how far the young industry has come in such a short period, as cultivators develop a deeper understanding of cannabis and its many possibilities.

CELEBRATING A CANNABIS EVOLUTION

The 710 holiday is an opportunity to celebrate the evolution of marijuana, while enjoying some of the most potent and flavorful cannabis that has ever been produced.

Dispensaries are adding more highend concentrates to their shelves, particularly live rosin, which is far more potent and flavorful than flower.

Live rosin is made by first washing freshly frozen cannabis in nearfreezing water to separate the trichomes, the resinous glands where THC and terpenes are concentrated. The resulting bubble hash is then pressed using heat and pressure to extract a thick, sticky oil without any solvents. This chemical-free process preserves the plant’s full flavor and terpene profile, resulting in a concentrate that often resembles opaque earwax.

Live resin, on the other hand, is also made from freshly frozen flower but relies on chemicals like butane or CO2 to extract cannabinoids and terpenes. It tends to be more affordable and shelf-stable than rosin, but it still has a strong flavor and aroma. Both live resin and rosin fall under the “live” umbrella because they preserve the essence of the plant by skipping the traditional drying and curing process.

Rosin and resin may sound similar, but they often look very different. Live rosin typically has a smooth, creamy, or jam-like texture and ranges in color from pale yellow to

Live resin (left) and live rosin (right).

STEVE NEAVLING

golden. It’s usually uniform and slightly wet-looking, especially when fresh. Live resin, on the other hand, tends to have a more crystalline or saucy appearance. Its color can vary more widely, from amber to deep gold, depending on the extraction method and the strain.

Beyond resin and rosin, Michigan dispensaries carry a wide array of concentrates, including waxes, crumbles, distillates, Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), and old-school hash.

Whether you’re a seasoned dabber or just curious, 710 offers an ideal chance to explore the world of concentrates.

WHY CONCENTRATES ARE GAINING IN POPULARITY

A key reason concentrates are growing in popularity is because they are much easier to enjoy. Not that long ago, dabbing required a glass rig, a heated nail, and a torch. While it was an effective way to consume cannabis, it was also a complicated process that could be intimidating for newcomers, not to mention that it was in no way discreet enough to take it to a concert, Detroit’s waterfront, or on a road trip.

Dabbing became more mainstream thanks to the technological advance -

ments in electronic rigs, also known as e-rigs or dab devices. They are more discreet, offer precise temperature control, and eliminate the hassle and hazards of traditional torches and nails.

“For people just starting off dabbing, e-rigs are very user-friendly,” says Rob Poniatowski, a partner at Eastside Alchemy, a premium rosin producer in Michigan. “They work right out of the box, and they don’t require a torch. That’s been a game changer.”

Disposable vapes serve as a convenient entry point for newcomers. They are inexpensive, discreet, and simple to use.

But once you get the hang of it, there’s nothing like scooping soft, creamy rosin from a jar, dropping it into a high-quality e-rig, and tasting the full, pungent flavors on the inhale. On the lower price range is the Puffco Pivot, a discreet, pen-sized dabber that delivers a clean, smooth hit. For the ultimate dabbing experience, the most popular choices are Dr.Dabber and Puffco Peak, though they will set you back a few hundred bucks.

An added bonus of these devices is environmental. Unlike disposable vapes, which are tossed in landfills, reusable e-rigs substantially reduce electronic waste.

LIVE ROSIN: THE CRÈME DE LA CRÈME

Live rosin remains the gold standard among cannabis concentrates, revered for its purity, robust flavors, and potent effects. Its extraction uses no chemicals, relying solely on ice water, heat, and pressure to preserve the complete terpene profile.

Terpenes are important because they contribute to the aroma, flavor, and effects of cannabis. Terpenes work alongside cannabinoids to enhance or modify the effects of THC, CBD, and other compounds.

Yet producing high-quality rosin consistently is complex and requires pricey equipment and extensive knowledge. The best rosin cultivators also meticulously hunt for the ideal strains and phenotypes that produce terpene-rich, trichomeheavy hash. Strains that are popular as flower don’t always wash as well or lack the resin production needed for quality solventless extracts.

Top-shelf live rosin is usually smooth, creamy, and slightly wet, with a uniform texture and a light yellow or golden color. But there are exceptions. For example, some high-grade rosin may be darker because of the hue of the trichomes, and other batches may be more crumbly or dryer depending on how they were stored or how the hash was cured.

What truly defines good rosin is its flavor, potency, and how smoothly it hits.

Because quality varies so widely, rosin prices can differ dramatically, typically ranging from $10 to $60 a gram. Because cannabis prices are plummeting in Michigan, rosin is as inexpensive as ever, and it’s one of the reasons it is becoming increasingly popular.

Exotic Matter, a small Michigan cultivator, has mastered the art, making rosin produced from the 1,500 plants that grow outdoors on picturesque, terraced land along an ancient creek bed feeding into the Manistee River. Their rosin is consistently smooth, creamy, and wet, and it packs a lot of flavor.

Priced at about $50 for two grams, Exotic Matter’s rosin offers exceptional value compared to other high-quality brands.

“We are plant and genetic nerds and collectors,” Jesse Rose, founder of Exotic Matters, says. “We’ve been collecting all these genetics for 15 years and saving them, and a lot of them are hash plants that are better for rosin.”

Eastside Alchemy, based in Lansing, is another producer of premium rosin. Behind the brand is a small crew with years of experience in solventless extraction.

Eastside Alchemy offers distinctive and tantalizing strains like Blueberry Tartz #6, Deep Fried Ice Cream, Berry Froyo, Strawguava, and Grape O’ Rade. They even feature “Jared Goff,” honoring the Detroit Lions quarterback with a fruity cross of Peyton Manning and Melted Strawberries. Their rosin comes in distinctive, one-

A budtender scoops out live rosin from the Hive’s unique deli. STEVE NEAVLING

gram jars, 3.5-gram ballers, and disposable vapes. It’s consistently fresh, flavorful, and unique. The rosin is always smooth and easy to handle.

“The future is solventless,” John Vogl, owner of Eastside Alchemy, says. “There are no chemicals to extract. The only thing that hits it is ice, water, pressure, cold freeze, and heat. It’s all natural. Off the bat, you have a healthier product.”

Eastside Alchemy also offers sleek, half-gram disposable vapes that are Michigan-made and have glass tips, which are far superior to the plastic alternatives.

Detroit-based Hytek, known for its high-quality flower, entered the rosin market in December, dropping standout strains like Dulce de Uva, Black Sherblato, Motorbreath, Gastro Pop, Super Boof, First-Class Funk, and Cap Junky. The rosin is sold in one-gram jars and disposable vapes.

While newcomers to the rosin market are often inconsistent, Hytek is proving to be the exception, with rosin that is reliably pungent and potent.

Owner Bill “Chocolate” Anderson recently traveled to Europe, sourcing $3,000 worth of seeds to enhance their rosin genetics.

Now the plan is to expand their rosin line with new and unique strains and phenotypes.

“We’re hunting for flavor — a lot of fruit and a lot of gas,” Anderson says. “When we first started this, we had strains that were more flower-forward. But now we’re looking for pure washers [strains that are ideal for solventless extraction] that are unique, that are actual fire. Just like our flower, we want our rosin selection to be just as special.”

Before live rosin exploded in popularity, Pleasantrees dominated the market and continues to produce the concentrate. One of the biggest cultivators in the state, Pleasantrees offers one-gram ($40) and three-and-a-half gram jars of rosin ($110). The company also produces live rosin for Binske and Clout King, two popular brands whose products are created by Pleasantrees. Pleasantrees also sells 510 vape cartridges for live rosin, which are designed to fit a standard 510 battery.

For experienced enthusiasts seeking potency, “donut” pre-rolls offer an enticing option. Typically weighing around two grams, these pre-rolls contain roughly half a gram of live rosin at the center, providing a powerful, flavorful smoking experience. Some of the best producers of rosin in the state also include 710 Labs, Ice Kream Hash Co., True North, Lambchop Melts, Wojo, Information Entropy, and Apex.

THE HIVE: ALL THE BUZZ ABOUT CONCENTRATES

In addition to selling its own flower, the Hive, a popular dispensary in Hazel Park, has an impressive selection of concentrates. It distinguishes itself by selling deli-style rosin, which allows customers to glance at the consistency and maybe take a whiff. You can’t do that with most rosin that comes in sealed jars.

Some of the deli strains include Banana Acai Mintz, Dulce de Fresa, Candy Berry, Candy Gushers, Deathstar, and Dirty Mimosa.

“I love it,” Dana Elgie, owner of the Hive, says of the deli. “It’s super unique.”

The Hive’s shelves are also well-stocked with jars of high-quality quality resin and rosin from 710 Labs, Information Entropy, Apex, LightSky Farms, Local Gove, Element, and Superb Cannabis Co., among others.

“Concentrates have come a long way, and I think live rosin is a demonstration of that,” Elgie says.

The Hive also offers infused flower, which are buds enhanced with resin, rosin, THCA, hash, or kief. The potent combinations deliver a flavorful, powerful experience.

MAKING RESIN AFFORDABLE

Utopia Extracts in Detroit has nearly a decade of experience producing live-cured resin, offering unmatched value through Utopia Gardens dispensary. Utopia produces an impressive array of 30 resin strains sold for just $10 per gram, significantly below market average for its quality.

Their diverse lineup includes fan favorites like Alien Cookie, Electric Peanut Butter Cookie, Papa Burger, Sweet Jesus, Sour Lemon Boof, Noxious, Elmer’s Myst, and the legendary Sour Diesel.

Utopia also offers cured resin cartridges for only $15, along with their “Gas Can”

five-pack of resin-infused pre-rolls retailing at $35.

These infused pre-rolls utilize an innovative atomization process to evenly distribute 0.3 grams of resin onto flower, ensuring smooth, flavorful, and consistent hits.

“Atomization is part of the reason this works so well and I can infuse the daylights out of it,” Greg Andrick, lab manager at Utopia Extracts, says. “I’m able to infuse the daylights out of it because we’re doing an atomized extract like we do with all our stuff. There’s no distillate involved. It’s all pure extracts.”

MUHA MEDS: ACCESSIBLE ENTRY INTO CONCENTRATES

Muha Meds, another affordable concentrate brand, features one- and two-gram disposable vapes, 3.5-gram jars of live resin, and rosin-infused pre-rolls at highly accessible price points. Two-gram disposable vapes cost just $18, resin jars $30, and infused pre-roll packs $40.

Ali Garawi, founder and CEO of Muha Meds, says he recommends that beginners start with the resin jars.

“Our live resin is smooth, flavorful, and easy to work with, making it a great introduction to the world of dabbing,” Garawi says. “It delivers a full spectrum effect while keeping the experience approachable for beginners.”

Garawi says he believes concentrates are becoming increasingly popular because they “offer high potency, efficiency, and discreet consumption.”

“When smoking concentrates, consumers experience a flavorful terpene-rich hit, stronger and faster effects, while remaining discreet and consuming less product to get a full spectrum high,” Garawi says. “As more people invest in rigs and dab pens, the convenience and customizability of concentrates clearly make them an at-

tractive choice. Plus, consumers can easily switch between different strains depending on their desired feeling.”

ROVE OFFERS AFFORDABLE OPTIONS

California-based Rove, which is widely available statewide, specializes in potent concentrates using melted THCA diamonds, which are pure crystalline forms of THC known for intense effects. To simplify consumer choices, Rove’s diamond-infused vapes and pre-rolls label are marked “indica,” “hybrid,” or “sativa,” along with descriptions of the flavor.

“We try to give consumers and our Rove community as much information for them to optimize their own experience,” Phil Hon, vice president of Rove, tells Metro Times. “It’s why we offer a range of strains, it’s why we offer a range of products, and it’s why we come up with fun little details like having a strain label on the outside of the pod packaging to put on your pod so you can switch things out.”

Rove’s vapes are unique because they have rechargeable vape batteries so the devices don’t end up in landfills after every use. Rove estimates it has prevented approximately 3.4 million disposable devices from entering landfills.

For newbies, Hon recommends talking to a budtender.

“For anyone new to concentrates, always ask your local budtender about potency, quality, and flavors,” Phil Hon, Rove’s vice president, says. “We provide product transparency through QR codes and consistent potency for an optimal experience.”

In March, Rove earned recognition from Cannabis Business as one of the “Top Cannabis Companies to Work For,” highlighting their dedication to employee well-being.

THE FUTURE IS SOLVENTLESS

As concentrates continue gaining popularity in Michigan, dispensaries will be offering special deals, limited product drops, and consumer-friendly events. Check your favorite dispensaries online to find the best deals.

On Thursday, July 10, Ice Kream Hash Co. is hosting “The Melt Down,” an event focused on concentrates at Annex Nightclub in downtown Detroit from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. The party will feature music, goodie bags, and various concentrate vendors. Ultimately, concentrates aren’t just reshaping the cannabis industry; they’re transforming how cannabis is consumed, and that is fueling a rapidly growing segment of the market.

July 10 is no longer a niche event. It’s becoming a cultural phenomenon, one flavorful dab at a time.

Muha Meds’ jars of live resin and disposable vape.

STEVE NEAVLING

WHAT’S GOING ON

Salute to America

Here’s a fun way to celebrate Independence Day, steeped in U.S. history. A collaboration between The Henry Ford Museum and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the annual Salute to America takes guests back in time through our nation’s history with costumed performers in period attire, rides on a 1913 Herschell-Spillman carousel, vintage automobiles, and the climax — an orchestral performance of Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” complete with firing cannons and fireworks.

From 5-10 p.m. on Wednesday, July 2-Saturday, July 5; Greenfield Village, 20900 Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn; thehenryford.org. Tickets are $36-$42.

“Weird Al” Yankovic

The chart-topping musical comedy act is on the road for his “Bigger & Weirder 2025 Tour,” a big production that includes hilarious parodies, costume changes, and lots of polka. (His single “Polkamania!” is a medley of some of the last decade’s biggest hits, including Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, Adele, and Taylor Swift.) According to a press release, this leg includes a mix of Yankovic’s biggest hits and some rare tracks that have never been performed live before. Puddles Pity Party, an actual clown, is also on the bill.

Starts at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 2; Pine Knob Music Theatre, 33 Bob Seger Dr., Clarkfest; ticketmaster.com. Tickets start at $53.

Royal Oak Taco Fest

Now in its fourth year, this event is set

“Weird Al” Yankovic.

ROBYN VON SWANK

SELECTIONS

live music, lucha libre wrestling, a Kids Zone, and more in downtown Royal Oak. New this year is a mechanical bull attraction, while JARS Cannabis will return with a cannabis lounge for adults age 21 and older. (We suggest doing the mechanical bull before hitting up the cannabis lounge.) The festival will be held east of Main Street between 11 Mile Road and Fourth Street.

From Thursday, July 3-Sunday, July 6; Centennial Commons, Royal Oak; royaloaktacofest.com. Tickets are $10

Babymetal

This one’s for metal fans who don’t take themselves too seriously. Since 2010, this Japanese “kawaii metal” girl group has mixed heavy metal with J-pop to deliciously delirious effect. (See hit single “Gimme Chocolate!!”) At Freedom Hill, the band is joined by Hollywood’s Black Veil Brides and Indian heavy metal act Bloodywood.

Starts at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 3; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill; 14900 Metro Pkwy, Sterling Heights;

The Music of John Williams

Composer John Williams is the sound of classic cinema, scoring blockbusters like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and many more. Led by Enrico Lopez-Yañez, the DSO brings your favorite films to life at the scenic Meadow Brook.

Starts at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 6; Meadow Brook Amphitheatre, 3554 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills; 313presents.

Tyler, the Creator

Tyler, the Creator has emerged as one of the leaders of hip-hop, thanks to his penchant for genre-blending and showmanship. The Odd Future founding member is touring in support of his eighth studio album Chromakopia, which was praised for its emotional candor and making a coherent statement out of disparate sounds. Lil Yachty and Paris Texas are set to open his upcoming Detroit date.

Starts at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 3; Little Caesars Arena; 2645 Woodward Ave.,

Royal Oak Taco Fest.

COURTESY PHOTO

WHAT’S GOING ON CONTD

Select events happening in metro Detroit this week. Be sure to check venue websites before all events for the latest information. Add your event to our online calendar: metrotimes.com/AddEvent.

MUSIC

Wednesday, July 2

Live/Concert

Cubist Agenda 8 pm-midnight; First Place Lounge, 16921 Harper Ave, Detroit; No Cover.

Jazzy Night Series 7:30 pm; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; $15-$70. Strung Out “Playing EXILE IN OBLIVION in its entirety” wsg: Death By Stereo & Frank White 6:30 pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck;

Vip Meet & Greet with Strung Out 4 pm; The Sanctuary, 1501 Outer Dr E, Detroit; Matt Larusso Trio and guests 8-11 pm; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.

Will Downing 7:30 pm; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit; DJ/Dance

Planet Funk 7-10 pm; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit; Karaoke/Open Mic

Continuing This Week Karaoke/ Open Mic

Hump Day Karaoke & Music Trivia 8 pm-1 am; Pronto! Royal Oak, 608 S. Washington, Royal Oak; No Cover.

Thursday, July 3

Live/Concert

BABYMETAL 7 pm; Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill, 14900 Metropolitan Pkwy., Sterling Heights; Dueling Pianos: An Interactive Entertainment Experience 8 pm-midnight; AXIS Lounge, 1777 3rd St., Detroit;

The Psychedelic Furs 8 pm; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$88. Tower of Power 7:30 pm; The Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre, 2600 E. Atwater St., Detroit.

Tyler, The Creator - CHROMAKO -

PIA: THE WORLD TOUR 7 & 7:30 pm; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Wood-

ward Ave., Detroit; $54.50-$194.50.

DJ/Dance

Curated Cool 7-10 pm; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit; Karaoke/Open Mic

Continuing This Week Karaoke/ Open Mic

Drag Queen Karaoke 8 pm-2 am; Woodward Avenue Brewers, 22646 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; no cover.

Elixer: DJs John Ryan and GEO 8 pm-midnight; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; No cover.

Friday, July 4

Live/Concert

Foreigner 8 pm; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $43-$128.

Summer Sounds 5-8 pm and 3-6 pm; The Mall at Partridge Creek, 17420 Hall Rd., Clinton Township; Free.

DJ/Dance

Elevated Fridays At Cielo

Rooftop Detroit 9 pm-midnight; Cielo Rooftop Bar, 600 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226, Detroit;

Open Air Fridays 4-10 pm; Woodbridge Pub, 5169 Trumbull St., Detroit; 0.

R&B Happy Hour[s]

Saturday, July 5

Live/Concert

Foreigner 8 pm; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $43-$128.

Summer Sounds 5-8 pm and 3-6 pm; The Mall at Partridge Creek, 17420 Hall Rd., Clinton Township; Free.

Central Dogma, Living AI, Saving Throw, Breakfast At 2pm 6 pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck;

Murphy’s Law wsg The Take and Busby Death Chair 7 pm; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck;

ROOFTOP RHYTHMS at Cielo

Rooftop Detroit 8-11 pm; Cielo Rooftop Bar, 600 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226, Detroit; $10.

DJ/Dance

Saturday Grind 11 am-3 pm; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit;

Sunday, July 6

Live/Concert

Summer Sounds 5-8 pm and 3-6 pm; The Mall at Partridge Creek, 17420 Hall Rd., Clinton Township; Free. Archers: The Temporary High Tour, Rivals, Of Virtue, Dead Eyes 6 pm; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; Back by Popular Demand: The Nina Simone Tribute performed by Faye Bradford 4-6 pm; Pontiac Little Art Theatre, 47 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $35.

Bong Wizard, Plague of Carcosa, Bog Wizard, Solar Monolith 7 pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck;

The Positive EnerG Tour at Diamondback Music Hall 4-8 pm; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $35.

The Preservation of Jazz New Residency: First Sunday Afternoons Jazz Tribute Shows at the Pontiac Little Art Theater 4-6 pm; Pontiac Little Art Theatre, 47 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $35.

DJ/Dance

SPKR BRNCH 11 am-3 pm; Spkr Box, 200 Grand River, Detroit; Karaoke/Open Mic

Continuing This Week Karaoke/ Open Mic

Sunday Karaoke in the Lounge 5-9 pm; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; 0.

Sunday Service Karaoke Hosted by Sister DJ Larry 8 pm-1 am; Pronto! Royal Oak, 608 S. Washington, Royal Oak; No Cover.

Monday, July 7

DJ/Dance

Adult Skate Night 8:30-11 pm; Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Ave., Detroit; $5.

Tuesday, July 8

Live/Concert

Heart Attack Man 6 pm; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $25. Orthodox, Mugshot, Omerta, Fromjoy, World Of Malice 6 pm; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck;

Robin Trower 7 pm; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; Sean Blackman’s In Transit 7-10 pm; Northern Lights Lounge, 660 W. Baltimore St., Detroit; no cover.

Wu-Tang Forever: The Final Chamber 8 pm; Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $54.50$194.50.

DJ/Dance

The Chamber Continues at Detroit Shipping Company July 8, 10 pm-2 am; Detroit Shipping Company, 474 Peterboro St., Detroit; 20.

Soul Tone second Tuesday of every month, 9 pm-2 am; The High Dive, 11474 Joseph Campau Ave., Hamtramck; Karaoke/Open Mic

Continuing This Week Karaoke/ Open Mic

Open Mic : Art in a Fly Space 7-10 pm; Detroit Shipping Company, 474 Peterboro St., Detroit; no cover.

Tuesday Karaoke in the Lounge 8 pm-midnight; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; 0.

VIP Tuesday Night Karaoke 9 pm-1 am; Pronto! Royal Oak, 608 S. Washington, Royal Oak; No Cover.

THEATER

Performance

Detroit Repertory Theatre COVENANT by York Walker Two years after his sudden disappearance, struggling guitarist Johnny “Honeycomb” James returns to his small town a blues star, sparking rumors that he may have made a deal with the devil to attain his musical genius. Inspired by the myth of Robert Johnson, this haunting, Gothic play explores the power of belief and tests the thin veil between rumor and truth. $25 advance Saturdays, 3-4:40 & 8-9:40 pm and Sundays, 2-3:40 pm.

Meadow Brook Amphitheatre The Music of John Williams with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra $25-$65 Sunday July 6, 7:30 pm.

COMEDY

Improv

Go Comedy! Improv Theater Go Comedy! All-Star Showdown The Allstar Showdown is a highly interactive improvised game show. With suggestions from the audience, our two teams will battle for your laughs. The Showdown is like “Whose Line is it Anyway,” featuring a series of short improv games, challenges and more. Fridays and Saturdays 7:30pm & 9:30pm 25.00 Fridays, Saturdays.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Comedy Rumble 30 COMEDIANS 90 SECONDS EACH 1 WINNER It’s the

C0MEDY RUMBLE! How it works: 30 comedians do up to 90 seconds each. Sets are scored on a scale of 1-to-5 points by a panel of comedian judges. The 4 highest scoring comedians do up to another 90 seconds each. The highest scoring finalist is declared the winner. $32.00 Saturday July 5, 7-8:30 pm.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Wes Ward Hailing from a small town that you haven’t heard of Wes Ward takes undeniable charm, quick wit, self reflecting humor, and mashes it all up to create a show that leaves an impression on anyone who has seen him live. His debut album “White Forest Whitaker” has amassed over 300,000 streams and has led to Wes working with comedy crushers like Mark Normand, Colin Quinn, and Kyle Kinane. $20.00 Thursday July 3, 7:30-9 pm.

Stand-up

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Open Mike Night Think you’ve got a killer set? On select Wednesdays, newbies get a chance at the Castle mic. Sign up is on Wednesdays (from 11am-6pm) for the following week! (We can’t promise everyone a spot, but we’ll do our best to get you on!) To sign up call 248-542-9900 SHOWTIME 7:30pm Tickets to watch will be available at the door. Admission $5 $5.00 Wednesday July 2, 7:30-9 pm.

Blind Pig Blind Pig Comedy FREE Mondays, 8 pm.

The Independent Comedy Club at Planet Ant Tonight vs Everybody: Open Mic Comedy A late night, heckle encouraged, show up, go up stand-up open mic featuring both local amateurs and touring professionals. Sign up starts at 10:30 and the show begins at 11p. Doors and Sign Up 10:30p | Show at 11p | $5 Suggested Donation* Attached bar Ghost Light opens at 7p The independent Comedy Club is a comedy club run by comics for comics inside Planet Ant Theatre. The club runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, offering independently produced comedy shows from 8p-12a. Presented by Planet Ant *Planet Ant Theatre, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization; no ticket or reservation is required $5 Suggested Donation Fridays, Saturdays, 11 pm-1:30 am.; A weekly open mic featuring both local amateurs and touring professionals. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and the show begins at 9 pm.. The evening always ends with karaoke in the attached Ghost Light Bar! Doors and Sign up 8:30 p.m. Show at 9 p.m. $5 suggested donation. Attached bar Ghost Light opens at 7 p.m. $5 Suggested Donation Thursdays, 9-10:30 pm.

One Mike Detroit Tony Roney’s Comedy Thursday Tony Roney’s Thursday Night Comedy at One Mike Detroit is your official destination for real Detroit

laughs, every Thursday! Hosted by the one and only Tony Roney, this crowdfavorite show features your favorite Detroit comedy legends hitting the stage alongside the outrageous and unpredictable Krack Jokers. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s 100% Detroit—from the hometown humor to the electric energy in the room. Whether you’re looking for big laughs or just a dope night out, this is where comedy lives. Location: One Mike Detroit When: Every Thursday Time: 7:30PM & 9:30PM Parking Available - Z Deck for a fee. $23.25 Thursday July 3, 7:30-9:30 & 9:30-11:30 pm.

Dance lessons

The Commons Ballroom Dance Lessons Ballroom Dance lessons in the community laundry mat 5.00 first Friday of every month, 6-7 pm.

FILM

Screening

Emagine Canton Summer Kids Film Series This summer Emagine Theatres invite you to beat the heat and jump into the world of animated adventures! June 20th- August 22nd 2025 Visit www. Emagine-Entertainment.com for details. Emagine will once again be offering their Summer Kids Movie Series where tickets are only $3.00 per person and Magic Pack concessions are only $5! Each week guests of all ages are welcome to revisit a different blockbuster animated movie the whole family is sure to love. $3 - $5 Mondays-Sundays, 10:30 am-11 pm.

Art Exhibition

Cranbrook Art Museum Constellations & Affinities: Selections from the Cranbrook Collection “Constellations and Affinities: Selections from the Cranbrook Collection” is now open at Cranbrook Art Museum! Sampling from the Cranbrook Collection, this ongoing exhibition gathers a broad and eclectic sampling of objects made by artists, architects, and designers associated with Cranbrook Academy of Art. Arranged like a contemporary curiosity cabinet, the works on view span numerous media and represent a broad range of practices taught at the Academy. Works have been arranged in various constellations to compare and contrast certain affinities in materials, processes, and approaches among the artists while acknowledging the singular artistic vision of each maker. Museum Admission, Free on Thursdays Wednesdays-Sundays, 11 am-5 pm.

Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) Thursdays at the Museum: Highlights of the Permanent Collection Free Tuesdays-Sundays, 1 pm, Fridays, 6 pm and Saturdays,

Sundays, 3 pm.; Free Thursdays, 1 pm.

Habatat Galleries Matriarchs of Mastery – Women Shaping the Future of Glass Art Habatat proudly presents Matriarchs of Mastery: Women Shaping the Future of Glass Art, showcasing over 20 visionary women redefining glass through innovation and craftsmanship. Featured artists include Jen Blazina, Christina Bothwell, Nancy Callan, Amber Cowan, Anja Isphording, Claire Kelly, Lucy Lyon, Josepha Gasch-Muche, Sibylle Peretti, Marlene Rose, April Surgent, and more. Many works were recently featured at the Sarasota Glass Art Fair. Join us in February 2025 to celebrate their impact. For inquiries or to RSVP, contact Habatat Galleries. 0.00 Every 24 days, 12-5 pm.

Oakland County International Airport Aviation Impressionism, Acrylic on Canvas “Fly high , take chances “ A collection of impressionist Aviation works by local Greg Upshur. Runs through May..Free In the lobby at Oakland County International Mon thru Fri 9 to 5 free Mondays-Fridays.

The Helenic Musuem of Michigan

The Hellenic Art Exhibition: Odyssey of Colors The Hellenic Museum of Michigan proudly announces the return of its annual celebration of contemporary Greek and Greek-American creativity with the 2025 Hellenic Art Exhibition: Odyssey of Colors. From May 24 through October 12, the exhibition highlights bold, evocative works that reflect the enduring spirit and evolution of Hellenic identity in the visual arts. Free/Donations Welcomed Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays, 11 am-3 pm.

University of Michigan Museum of Art Unsettling Histories: Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism Trace the fascinating and sometimes. troubling stories behind the world’s most desired ceramics. The technology and taste for blue and white porcelain originated in China in the fourteenth century, and quickly set off a worldwide craze that lasted five hundred years. Installed across four different galleries at UMMA, this exhibition explores that history and tracks the influence of blue and white ceramics across the globe. free Tuesdays-Sundays.; Following years of research into the Museum’s and University of Michigan’s relationships with Africa and African art collections, We Write To You About Africa is a complete reinstallation and doubling of the Museum’s space dedicated to African art. free Tuesdays-Sundays.; This exhibition proactively engages with debates about restitution and the ethics of museums’ owning African heirlooms collected during the era of colonization. The investigation and research into 11 works of African art will be conducted publicly — visitors will have access to documents,

photographs, and correspondence that will help UMMA develop a better understanding of each object’s history, grappling in real time with questions surrounding legal and ethical ownership of these artworks. Though complex, this project presents exciting opportunities for museum transparency and creating new pathways for relationship-building with partners in Africa and its diaspora. free Tuesdays-Sundays.; “Unsettling Histories” rejects the simple narratives of our collection’s past and forces us to examine whose history we prioritize and why. Organized as a response to the Museum’s recent acquisition of Titus Kaphar’s “Flay (James Madison),” this reinstallation of one of our most prominent gallery spaces forces us to grapple with our collection of European and American art, 1650-1850. free Tuesdays-Sundays.

Yourist Studio Gallery “Short Stories” sculpture exhibition Yourist Studio Gallery presents “Short Stories,” an exhibition of thought-provoking sculptures by Ann Arbor ceramic artist Lie Ladendorf. Exhibition hours: May 31 through July 12, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, 12:00-6:00 pm. Artist’s reception: Friday, June 13, 6:00-8:00 pm. Lie Ladendorf is a sculptor who loves stories and conveys that love through the medium of clay. As a story teller and artist, Lie expresses her ideas “through use of visual metaphor and archetypal props.” Join us in the gallery to see what stories Lie’s sculptures tell you. Free Wednesday July 2, 12-6 pm, Friday July 4, 12-6 pm, Saturday July 5, 12-6 pm and Tuesday July 8, 12-6 pm.

WELLNESS

Self-care

Beginners fitness bootcamp Beginner friendly fast paced bootcamp fitness class with great trainers that keeps the class fun and simple. Mondays, 7:30-8:30 am & 5:30-6:30 pm; Kratos Fit Gym, 9379 Telegraph, Redford; Free; 3138707580; kratosfpg.fit.

Benefit

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FOOD

Bites

Ford’s Garage expands to Macomb County

Ford’s Garage, a burgers-andbeers restaurant chain based on the iconic automaker, has opened its third location in Michigan.

The new store opened this week at 12575 Hall Rd., marking the brand’s first location in Macomb County. The chain also has Michigan locations in Ford Motor

Co.’s hometown of Dearborn and Novi.

“We’re proud to open our third location to meet the demand for a Ford’s Garage in Macomb County,” Ford’s Garage president Billy Downs said in a statement. “There’s strong local loyalty to the Ford Motor Company brand. Guests come for the fun atmosphere, stay for the food and

hospitality and keep coming back for that unbeatable combo.”

The menu boasts an auto theme with items like the Model “A” burger and Jumbo Piston Onion Rings. The motif is continued in the decor, which includes a vintage car suspended above its central bar.

Downs said he plans to open more locations in Michigan. The chain was founded in 2012 and also has locations in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.

More information is available at fordsgarageusa.com.

—Lee DeVito

Ford’s Garage boasts an automotive theme complete with a vintage car suspended over its bar.

COURTESY PHOTO

CULTURE

Film

Not just a horror movie — a genre experiment

28 Years Later

Rated: R

Run-time: 115 minutes

Danny Boyle is a master filmmaker who has never quite received the accolades he deserves, while also never really achieving the level of mastery of which he’s capable, like Martin Scorsese or Stanley Kubrick. While his films like 1996’s Trainspotting changed how drug movies were made and 2002’s 28 Days Later redefined zombies forever, it wasn’t until 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire and its boatload of Oscars, BAFTA’s, and Golden Globes did the world start paying attention to his unique eye for filmmaking. Because here’s the thing: Boyle never stops innovating. Shooting 28 Days Later on a tiny DV camera allowed them to empty normally bustling areas of London for brief moments of filming so they could make the city look empty of life. There are shots of Mercury placed against the vastness of the sun in his unsung masterpiece Sunshine that I have replaying in my head once a week. From his partnership with writer Alex Garland to his continual work with groundbreaking cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, Boyle’s worst movie still carries a dozen singular moments no one else would attempt.

Now, over two decades later, we have the epic and intimate 28 Years Later, the se-

By Jared Rasic, Last Word Features

quel to 28 Days Later that returns Boyle to the director’s chair and Garland as scribe (neither of whom had anything to do with 2007’s forgettable sequel 28 Weeks Later).

Once again, Boyle takes the path of most resistance and crafts a zombie movie that feels more like a family drama at times than a horror movie, while also playing as a critique of Brexit, an epic road movie, a deconstruction of Apocalypse Now, and a decidedly insane re-imagining of A Clockwork Orange. Do all these disparate tones fit together? I have no idea.

The new film picks up 28 years after the Rage Virus (basically making people zombies… but they’re not dead, just insane) was released in the United Kingdom, there’s still a blockade keeping everyone on the island from leaving, meaning the rest of the world still has cell phones, gets Amazon deliveries, and is living their lives like nothing is wrong. The movie focuses on an isolationist society living in a village on Lindisfarne, an island connected to the mainland by a small causeway that becomes impassable at high tide.

The first section of 28 Years Later follows 12-year-old Spike (a wonderful Alfie Williams) as he goes with his father, Jamie (Kraven himself, Aaron Taylor-Johnson), to the mainland to hunt the infected with a bow and arrow as a coming-of-age ritual.

Boyle directs this section with a coiled terror, yet also a lyrical intensity and

beauty that kept me on the edge of my seat, while reveling in the stunning imagery and gorgeousness of the filmmaking. The infected aren’t dead, they’re just caught deep in the throes of a virus that makes them rage-fueled monsters. So for the last few years, the infected have been mostly starving, relegated to eating worms out of the ground. That’s one of the first innovations Boyle makes with 28 Years Later: the infected in this film are emaciated, screaming and mostly naked, running at you, desperate to tear flesh from bone. That’s terrifying and the scenes of the infected attacking father and son are genuinely shocking, insane and, most surprisingly, profoundly sad.

The second section of the film involves Spike and his mother, Isla (the always powerful Jodie Comer), as they go on their own journey, which I won’t spoil here. While this section is filled with beautiful oddities unlike anything I have ever seen on film, it’s harder to decide if it works as a whole and I’m not sure if this is Boyle’s fault, Garland’s fault, or the fault of a studio system desperate to wring out every dollar of existing intellectual properties.

See, 28 Years Later was filmed back-toback with its sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and if both make enough money, are to be followed by a third, unnamed trilogy-capping film. While all three movies are written by Garland,

only the first and third will be directed by Boyle, with the second being helmed by Nia DaCosta (2021’s Candyman). This is a weird creative choice because while DaCosta is an interesting and tonally consistent filmmaker, her style is so different from Boyle’s that it’s hard to see how this trilogy will fit together.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very excited to see The Bone Temple (due for release in January), but it leaves 28 Years Later feeling uncompleted. There is a character named Jimmy, whom we hear about throughout the entire movie, until finally meeting him at the very end in the most tonally insane scene in the film. It feels jarring and fearless in a way I would appreciate more if it wasn’t the very end of a movie with no resolution. It’s somehow very fun, yet deeply unsatisfying, while still making me extremely excited for the sequel. This kind of filmmaking that only exists to build franchises is pretty frustrating, even as I recognize I still love most of the movie we were given.

28 Years Later is a singular, yet disjointed work of art from a filmmaker still obsessed with innovation and the actual craft of storytelling. There are huge swaths of the film shot with an iPhone 15 Pro Max that create some of the most breathlessly intense imagery I’ve seen in a horror film. Simultaneously, there are some huge swings with the story and tone that will make absolutely no sense until the sequel is released, leaving this to feel episodic, random, and incomplete. Ultimately, the film is wildly entertaining, but we’ll need the entire trilogy to really know if this rough beast works as a cohesive work of art or whether it’s just a poetic and bizarre mess.

Grade: B

These zombies aren’t dead — just insane. SONY

MUSIC WEED

The Straight Dope

Michigan weed sales continue to drop

For the fourth consecutive month, adult-use cannabis sales in Michigan dropped compared to the same time last year, a troubling trend for marijuana businesses and state and local governments that depend on the tax revenue.

Between January and May 2025, recreational dispensaries sold $1.31 billion worth of cannabis products, according to new data from the state’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. That’s down from $1.34 billion during the same period in 2024, marking the industry’s first year-over-year decline since adult-use recreational sales began in December 2019.

While the dop may seem small, it marks a turning point for a market that has grown steadily since legal sales began. From 2022 to 2024, firstquarter sales rose sharply each year. In the first five months of 2024, for example, adult-use sales jumped more than 15% compared to the year before. In 2023, sales nearly doubled over 2022.

Now that trend has reversed, and the stakes go beyond cannabis businesses. Adult-use sales are subject to a 10% excise tax and a 6% sales tax. Since legalization, Michigan has collected more than $1.9 billion in cannabis-related tax revenue, which helps fund schools, infrastructure, and local governments.

In fiscal year 2024, cannabis taxes raised about $116 million for both schools and roads, and nearly $100 million was distributed to 302 cities, townships, and counties. That money helped support local nonprofits and community projects. If sales and tax revenue continue to fall, communities across the state could feel the squeeze.

The good news for consumers is that prices are lower than they have ever been.

In May, the average price of an ounce of flower hit a near-record low of $63. A year earlier, the average price was $88. When legal cannabis sales began in 2019, an ounce cost an average of more than $500.

Prices have steadily declined since

then. In total, flower prices have plummeted about 87% in less than five years. Despite the drop in dollar figures, Michigan residents are buying more cannabis than ever — it’s just cheaper. In May, dispensaries moved about 20% more flower, shake, concentrates, vape cartridges, kief, and edibles than they did the year prior, even though the total sales numbers were down.

The primary reason prices are falling

is an oversupply of cannabis. Simply put, there are too many growers, and many of them are barely hanging on.

State regulators and cannabis business owners are calling on state lawmakers to impose a moratorium on new cultivators.

Records show dispensaries held more than 160,000 pounds of flower in April, up from 143,300 pounds the

prior year. Many of those growers were licensed during an aggressive expansion phase between 2020 and 2022, when the market was still maturing and few saw a ceiling.

Under current law, the Cannabis Regulatory Agency is required to issue licenses to applicants that meet the criteria, leaving regulators with little flexibility.

—Steve Neavling

JARS Cannabis expands presence at music venues

Michigan-based dispensary JARS Cannabis is building on its relationship with metro Detroit’s music scene by expanding its presence at Pine Knob in Clarkston and Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights.

As part of an ongoing partnership with 313 Presents, JARS is reintroducing its branded on-site experience at Pine Knob as The Block by JARS, a lifestyledriven space near the venue’s UWM West Entrance. Open to people 21 and older throughout the concert season, the setup includes a retail-style booth offering branded merchandise and information about JARS’s 30 dispensaries in Michigan.

Although cannabis sales and consumption remain prohibited at the venue, The Block functions as a hub for fans to engage with the brand in a communal setting. A surrounding open-air deck, operated by the venue, will serve as a beer garden and gathering space during events.

“Pine Knob and Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre are summer destinations for people across Michigan,” said JARS COO Raymond Abro. “We see this as an opportunity to be more than a retailer

and be part of the experiences that bring people back year after year.”

JARS is also building on its existing three-year partnership at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre by renaming the general admission lawn to the JARS Lawn and hosting a branded pop-up tent on the main concourse, where people 21 years and older can receive promotional items and coupons redeemable at JARS stores.

“This isn’t about just showing up with a logo,” Abro said. “It’s about building real connections in the places our customers already go and giving them a new way to engage with the JARS brand.”

313 Presents, which promotes shows at six major venues across southeast Michigan, praised the collaboration as a way to enhance the fan experience.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with JARS Cannabis by welcoming them to Pine Knob Music Theatre and increasing their visibility at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre,” Howard Handler, president of 313 Presents, said. “This is an innovative collaboration which will provide our guests with a unique opportunity to learn more about the lifestyle and its brand.”

New this year at Freedom Hill, JARS is also unveiling interactive signage designed in collaboration with NYDAC and Throwing Star Collective, featuring large-scale speaker-inspired art installations that celebrate the cultural overlap of cannabis and live music.

The partnership marks JARS’s latest move to add cannabis branding to high-traffic cultural spaces. Last month, the company opened a licensed pop-up called The Trap just two blocks from Hart Plaza during Detroit’s Movement Music Festival, which was the first time cannabis was sold legally that close to a major downtown event.

That effort included an open-air dispensary, live performances, and local art installations, all designed to showcase what Abro described as “raw Detroit energy in its purest form.”

“Detroit isn’t just where we do business, it’s part of our DNA,” he said at the time. “We built this to show how cannabis lives in the rhythm of Detroit.”

For more information on JARS, visit shopJARS.com or follow @JARS_life on Instagram. Concert updates are available at 313Presents.com.

—Steve Neavling

CULTURE

Savage Love

Situation Critical

By Dan Savage

I’m 27-year-old Italian guy. I just got out of a situationship with a woman five years older than me. It was a total mess. She wanted everything to revolve around her and be in control of everything because she had bad relationships in the past. She wanted to date other people, but I was always against it. Not because I wanted to control her, but because she literally said she enjoyed “betraying and lying for fun.” We argued a lot about her love of talking about her exes. That was her favorite argument. She thought I was jealous, but I was just annoyed about being constantly compared to guys from her past and those comparisons stung because — spoiler alert — the sex we had wasn’t that great. To make matters worse, she would complain to me during sex that all the men in her life had “performance issues” with her. Sometimes when I couldn’t get hard — mostly because images of her exes were playing in my head — she would have a literal panic attack. And then there was this double standard: She would go on and on about how big this ex’s cock was and how amazing sex with this other ex was, but she didn’t want to hear about any of my past sexual encounters. I told her all of this made me feel bad about myself, but she felt that since we weren’t a “real” couple she didn’t have to take my feelings into consideration. Every one of her stories was about she betrayed her exes and messed up these monogamous relationships but somehow she was the victim. I finally told her that I didn’t want to hear another word about her past. She didn’t like that and expected me to apologize for what I had said, but I never did. After that, I left her. Do you think I did the right thing? Am I an asshole for leaving her?

— Unpleasant Situationship Ends Disastrously

A: You’re not an asshole for leaving, USED, but staying as long as you did — well, I don’t wanna call you an idiot (as you’re a reader), but staying with this woman for more than five minutes was a pretty idiotic thing to do. She bragged about betraying her exes and lying to their faces for fun. She compared you to her exes (unfavorably!) during sex and then had a meltdown when you couldn’t stay

hard. She claimed she didn’t owe you consideration or even kindness because you weren’t a “real” couple. (Decent people are kind to their onenight stands.) That’s not the behavior of someone who’s had some bad experiences with previous partners and needs a little extra care and consideration from their current partner. That’s the behavior of an emotionally abusive asshole in victim drag.

Now, usually when someone sticks around despite their partner being awful, USED, it’s because the sex is amazing or they did something stupid that makes walking away impossibly hard — they married the awful person or scrambled their DNA together with theirs. But in your case, USED, the sex was lousy, she was lousier, and you weren’t married and didn’t have kids. This woman wasn’t even your girlfriend! So, the question you should be asking yourself isn’t, “Am I the asshole for leaving,” but rather, “Why the fuck did I put up with this shit for so long?” You’re gonna need to figure out the answer to that question before you get with/on/in someone else — and you gonna need to promise me you’ll grab your pants and run the next time someone puts down your dick while you’re trying to use it. (Some men like that sort of thing — you’re not one of them.)

Again, you did the right thing by leaving. Now you need to do the hard thing: learn from this experience. Drama is not romance. Traumatic past experiences (real or imaginary) are not Get-Out-of-Human-Decency-free cards. And if someone you’re fucking only has shitty things to say about their exes — if someone is the common denominator in a whole bunch of shitty relationships — then the person you’re fucking is the shitty one.

: Q I’m hoping you can put me in a better headspace about external pressure on my relationship. I’ve got a fantastic partner; we are sharing a life together and we are very happy. The challenge I face is that we own a nightclub where we encounter loads of single people. There’s music, there’s alcohol, there’s dancing — it all sounds fun, I know. Shockingly, I am not worried that my partner has a wandering eye. He’s well known in our little island town and respected here by everyone. But on many occasions, some woman has openly flirted with him, touched him suggestively, looked at him seductively — or worse — right in front of me. He deflects these advances, and he always tells these women that he is mine. My issue is with my anger I have towards these women as I feel they are testing me. I’m doing my best to let it go, even though it still gets to

me. I would like to not let my emotions make me their bitch but some of these girls are clearly testing me. What can I say in these situations that is both diplomatic and firm without creating friction?

— Peace Not Beast

A: Are you sure these women are testing you?

I mean, if the women who’ve hit on your boyfriend at the club are locals who know you’re together — and they know you’re exclusive — they may be testing you. But if these women are strangers or tourists, how are they supposed to know the hot guy serving them drinks has a girlfriend?

If we’re talking locals, you shouldn’t worry about being polite or diplomatic — you have every right to blow up — but you don’t wanna drive off regular paying customers either, right? And the alcohol isn’t “there,” PNB. You’re selling alcohol and profiting from it. Since booze is known to lower people’s inhibitions in ways that can impact their judgment, some tolerance for mild boundary violations and party fouls — and flirting with a hot-buttaken guy counts — are a cost of doing business. So, if we’re talking local bitches, I would advise you to stick to withering looks and let your boyfriend continue doing the shutting down.

If they’re tourists… yeah, a tourist isn’t gonna know your boyfriend is taken; a tourist who makes a pass at your boyfriend is only guilty of shooting her shot. And as sex-and-relationship problems go, PNB, “everyone wants to fuck my boyfriend” is a pretty good problem to have. So long as your boyfriend can be trusted not to bang two tourist girls at a time in the walkin beer cooler — and it sounds like he can be trusted not to do that — I think you should take the high road and the compliment. Laugh and tell the tourist your boyfriend is taken, offer her a shot to toast her great taste in men, and then point her in the direction of someone who might wanna fuck the shit out of her in your beer cooler.

: Q I’m an elder millennial who’s been with a beautiful guy for fifteen years. We’ve been open for half of that, starting with DADT but then becoming more transparent very recently. We navigated a few tricky episodes where he suspected emotional infidelity on my part. In hindsight, I was acting out in frustration with the DADT setup. For what it’s worth, the pivot to transparency has done us good. I don’t think we’ve ever felt as confident or secure in our bond as we have in the last few months.

My issue involves another guy: a very young millennial (late twenties) guy I met on Recon fairly early into the “Dom” journey I’ve been on for the last two years. (My husband is staunchly vanilla and enjoys teasing me about my

new “hobbies.”) I’ve explored a laundry list of kinks with this boy. We have great sexual chemistry and we’re both pretty intellectually compatible. It’s fair to say I’m a little smitten with him but it doesn’t feel like a romantic bon and I’ve never discouraged him from dating other men. Still, I ache a bit when it’s been too long since I’ve seen him last.

This guy just accepted a job offer a few time zones away. I’d like to make the effort to see him once in a while after he moves. Dumping this news on my spouse could upend the amazing vibe we’ve recently established. But it feels like a conversation worth risking. But I feel like I should maybe reach out to the other guy first to see if he’s even interested in staying connected after he moves away. Which of these conversations should come first: the one with the other guy or the one with my husband?

— Deliberating Over Move

A: You’re gay, you’re married and open, and you and your husband both see other people. It’s obviously easier for your vanilla husband to find other partners, DOM, as most gay guys are vanilla and even the kinky ones enjoy vanilla sex from time to time. But it’s harder for you: you not only have to find guys you’re into who are also into you, DOM, you have to find guys who share your kinks — and not just share them, but who are essentially the (sub) lids to your (dom) pot. So, while the guys your husband hooks up with are easily replaced, the guys you hook up with are gonna be harder to come by, on, and in.

If your husband knows you’re kinky and wants you to explore your kinks with guys you can trust, he should be able to wrap his head around your desire to stay connected to particular subs that were good-to-great matches, even if it means a little travel. But seeing as you’re only a few months into your transparency era — you’re sharing everything (or almost everything) now — I wouldn’t blame you for avoiding this convo for the time being. So, start by asking this boy if he wants to keep fucking with you after he moves away. If he’s not interested, you don’t need to have an awkward discussion with your husband about some hypothetical sub you might meet in the future. If this boy does wanna keep fucking with you, then you’re gonna need to talk with your husbandabout your travel plans.

Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@ savage.love!

Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan!

Podcasts, columns and more at Savage. Love.

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

Greek philosopher Socrates declared, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” That extreme statement is a foundational idea of Western philosophy. It’s hard to do! To be ceaselessly devoted to questioning yourself is a demanding assignment. But here’s the good news: I think you will find it extra liberating in the coming weeks. Blessings and luck will flow your way as you challenge your dogmas and expand your worldview. Your humble curiosity will attract just the influences you need. of power: source and soul

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

Recently, I brought an amazing Taurus to your attention: the German polymath Athanasius Kircher, who lived from 1601 to 1680. Once again, I will draw on his life to provide guidance for you. Though he’s relatively unknown today, he was the Leonardo da Vinci of his age—a person with a vast range of interests. His many admirers called him “Master of a Hundred Arts.” He traveled extensively and wrote 40 books that covered a wide array of subjects. For years, he curated a “cabinet of curiosities” or “wonderroom” filled with interesting and mysterious objects. In the coming weeks, I invite you to be inspired by his way of being, Taurus. Be richly miscellaneous and wildly versatile.

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

How does a person become a creative genius in their field? What must they do to become the best? In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell said that one way to accomplish these goals is to devote 10,000 hours to practicing and mastering your skill set. There’s some value in that theory, though the full truth is more nuanced. Determined, focused effort that’s guided by mentors and bolstered by good feedback is more crucial than simply logging hours. Having access to essential resources is another necessity. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Gemini, because I believe the coming months will be a favorable time to summon a high level of disciplined devotion as you expedite your journey toward mastery.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

There’s a story from West African tradition in which a potter listens to the raw material she has gathered from the earth. She waits for it to tell her what it wants to become. In this view, the potter is not a dictator but a midwife. I believe this is an excellent metaphor for you, Cancerian. Let’s imagine that you are both the potter and the clay. A new form is ready to emerge, but it won’t respond to force. You must attune to what

wants to be born through you. Are you trying to shape your destiny too insistently, when it’s already confiding in you about its preferred shape? Surrender to the conversation.

LEO: July 23 – August 22

Here’s my odd but ultimately rewarding invitation: Tune in to the nagging aches and itches that chafe at the bottom of your heart and in the back of your mind. For now, don’t try to scratch them or rub them. Simply observe them and feel them, with curiosity and reverence. Allow them to air their grievances and tell you their truths. Immerse yourself in the feelings they arouse. It may take 10 minutes, or it might take longer, but if you maintain this vigil, your aches and itches will ultimately provide you with smart guidance. They will teach you what questions you need to ask and how to go in quest for the healing answers.

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

Wise gardeners may plan their planting by the moon’s phases. Through study of the natural world, they understand that seeds sown at the ripe moment will flourish, while those planted at random times may be less hardy. In this spirit, I offer you the following counsel for the coming weeks: Your attention to timing will be a great asset. Before tinkering with projects or making commitments, assess the cycles at play in everything: the level of your life energy, the moods of others, and the tenor of the wider world. By aligning your moves with subtle rhythms, you will optimize your ability to get exactly what you want.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

In parts of Italy, grapevines were once trained not on wires or trellises, but on living trees, usually maples or poplars. The vines spiraled upward, drawing strength and structure from their tall allies. The practice kept grapes off the ground, improved air circulation, and allowed for mixed land use, such as growing cereals between the rows of trees and vines. In the coming weeks, Libra, I advise you to be inspired by this phenomenon. Climb while in relationship. Who or what is your living trellis? Rather than pushing forward on your own, align with influences that offer height, grounding, and steady companionship. When you spiral upward together, your fruits will be sweeter and more robust.

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21:

Migratory monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles, guided by instincts and cues invisible to humans. They trust they will find what they need along the way. Like them, you may soon feel called to venture beyond your comfort zone—intellectually, socially, or geographically. I advise you to rely on your curiosity and adaptability. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, the journey will lead you to resources and help you hadn’t anticipated. The path may

be crooked. The detours could be enigmatic. But if you are committed to enjoying the expansive exploration, you’ll get what you didn’t even know you needed.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

Your assignment is to uncover hidden treasures. Use the metaphorical version of your peripheral vision to become aware of valuable stuff you are missing and resources you are neglecting. Here’s another way to imagine your task: There may be situations, relationships, or opportunities that have not yet revealed their full power and glory. Now is a perfect moment to discern their pregnant potential. So dig deeper, Sagittarius— through reflection, research or conversation. Trust that your open-hearted, open-minded probing will guide you to unexpected gems.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

The legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong said, “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.” What did he mean by that? That we shouldn’t try to use words to describe and understand this complex music? Countless jazz critics, scholars, and musicians might disagree with that statement. They have written millions of words analyzing the nature of jazz. In that spirit, I am urging you to devote extra energy in the coming weeks to articulating clear ideas about your best mysteries. Relish the prospect of defining what is hard to define. You can still enjoy the raw experience even as you try to get closer to explaining it.

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

In the Andean highlands, there’s a concept called ayni, a venerated principle of reciprocity. “Today for you, tomorrow for me,” it says. This isn’t a transactional deal. It’s a relational expansiveness. People help and support others not because they expect an immediate return. Rather, they trust that life will ultimately find ways to repay them. I suggest you explore this approach in the coming weeks, Aquarius. Experiment with giving freely, without expectation. Conversely, have blithe faith that you will receive what you need. Now is prime time to enhance and finetune your web of mutual nourishment.

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

How often do I, your calm, sensible counselor, provide you with a carte blanche to indulge in exuberant gratification, a free pass for exciting adventures, and a divine authorization to indulge in luxurious abundance and lavish pleasure? Not often, dear Pisces. So I advise you not to spend another minute wondering what to do next. As soon as possible, start claiming full possession of your extra blessings from the gods of joy and celebration and revelry. Here’s your meditation question: What are the best ways to express your lust for life?

Homework: What aptitude of yours do you underestimate? Use it more aggressively! Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

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