Metro Times 03/06/2024

Photo by Steve Neavling

NEWS & VIEWS

We recieved a number of responses to Robert Stempkowski’s Chowhound column, “Leave the tipping system alone.”

Oh please. If your business model depends on free labor you don’t deserve to stay in business. —Ian Zajac, Facebook

I emphatically agree! How many restaurant owners do they know that aren’t millionaires? —Anne Hoerl, Facebook

I’m afraid that you and Anne have no real grasp of actual restaurant economics, I’m sorry. News and numbers of mounting closures should tell you something. Far more restaurateurs become paupers than

millionaires. I’d say about 100 to 1, more or less. Most who manage to make a living in the business over time earn no more than middle-class compensation (nothing wrong with that, of course). You’re just not right, sorry. Neither of you. Not even close. Yet you will likely see these wage increases continue to proliferate across the industry, at wich point you’ll be paying $25 for a burger and fries. And shortly thereafter, you’ll witness the demise of an entire sector of the economy that’s employed countless people over generations. Be careful what you wish for. Because it’s coming, and it’s going to cost everyone way more than you think. May I ask: Do either of you have any firsthand familiarity with food & beverage work? —Robert Stempkowski

Sound off: letters@metrotimes.com

NEWS & VIEWS

News Shorts

Listen to Michigan campaign rebukes Biden with strong ‘uncommitted’ vote

As expected, President Joe Biden handily won Michigan’s Democratic primary election last week. But all eyes were on the Great Lakes State to see if a grassroots campaign urging people to vote “uncommitted” in protest of his handling of the war in Gaza could gain traction here, with Michigan becoming more influential in the national race after moving its primary election to earlier in the year.

Launched by leaders from metro Detroit’s large Arab American community who call for a ceasefire in Gaza, the “Listen to Michigan” campaign bet that Democrats opposed to the war would turn out for the protest vote, but it wasn’t initially clear what benchmark would be considered a success. (There are some 200,000 Arab American voters in Michigan, while Biden beat Trump by about 150,000 votes in the 2020 general election.) Publicly, the campaign set a goal of 10,000 “uncommitted” votes, though that was an inadequate

gauge; there were about 20,000 uncommitted voters in each of Michigan’s past three primary elections. So to make a statement, tens of thousands of Michiganders would have to vote “uncommitted” this time.

The campaign declared victory, with the final tally revealing more than 100,000 votes for “uncommitted” — enough for the campaign to send two delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Meanwhile, Biden earned 617,728 votes, Trump earned 755,909 votes, and Republican challenger Nikki Haley earned 294,334 votes.

“Our movement emerged victorious tonight and massively surpassed our expectations,” the campaign said in a statement. “Tens of thousands of Michigan Democrats, many of whom voted for Biden in 2020, are uncommitted to his re-election due to the war in Gaza.”

The group says a ceasefire is the

bring her 18-year-old son to vote for the first time ever on Tuesday. Her sister Layla Elabed is a campaign manager for Listen to Michigan.

A similar group, the “Abandon Biden” campaign, declared victory well before polls even closed, saying that it had campaigners posted in Dearborn, the center of metro Detroit’s Arab American community, and “not a single person has said that they will vote for Biden,” the campaign’s Hassan Abdel Salam told Metro Times via email.

“Whereas Biden won by 90% in 2020, there will be virtually no support this year for Biden,” he said. “It is not an understatement to say that this is an earthquake.” In Dearborn, “uncommitted” got more votes than Biden.

Filmmaker and activist Michael Moore, who endorsed the Listen to Michigan campaign and famously predicted Trump would win in 2016, also anticipated a big turnout.

“This is a movement that’s only about two weeks old and it has caught on fire, let me tell you, my friends,” he said on his podcast Rumble with Michael Moore. “I’m just telling you this as a Michigander, there are people by the thousands who are going to vote.”

Politico reported that Biden’s campaign was privately “freaking out about the uncommitted vote” in Michigan. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, Governor Whitmer — a loyal Biden ally who has repeated the talking point claiming that anything other than a vote for Biden in the primary will help Trump in November — expressed empathy for the uncommitted voters while speaking on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on the day of the election.

first step necessary in negotiations to achieve peace, to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of all hostages and prisoners. Around 130 hostages abducted from Israel by Hamas in October are still held captivity in Gaza.

Critics warned if these voters don’t support Biden in November that the Listen to Michigan campaign could help Trump, whose authoritarian bent would be worse for Gaza, Arab Americans, and democracy.

But in a video statement, U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, one of the most prominent supporters of Listen to Michigan, said the campaign was about participating in democracy to make its supporters’ voices heard.

“We must protect our democracy, we must make sure that our government is about us, about the people,” she said, adding, “This is the way we can use our democracy to say, ‘Listen. Listen to Michigan.’”

Tlaib said that she was proud to

“Today, I anticipate that we will see a sizable number of people vote uncommitted,” she said, adding, “There’s a lot of people who are hurting.”

When asked how Biden can win these voters back in November, Whitmer said, “It’s going to be important that the administration continue to engage with leaders and individuals in the Palestinian community, the Muslim community, the Arab American community, as well as the Jewish community.”

Andy Levin, a Jewish former congressman who also supported the Listen to Michigan campaign, said that Biden must heed the warning and push harder for a ceasefire.

“Joe Biden can get the vast majority of these people to vote for him if he changes course,” Levin said, according to The New York Times. “If he doesn’t change course, there’s nothing I can do to get folks to vote for him.”

Israel’s bombing in Gaza has killed more than 30,000 people, with many more at risk of starvation and illness.

—Lee DeVito

VIOLA KLOCKO

A grassroots movement aims to pressure the President to push harder for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Detroit quiet about contamination found at missile site-turned-park

A week after the city of Detroit alerted residents in a lastminute Zoom meeting that it was closing a waterfront park on the east side after finding contamination in the soil, Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration has refused to divulge any further details.

Now residents in Jefferson Chalmers are left wondering if they’ve been exposed to dangerous contaminants at A.B. Ford Park, which was a Nike missile site in the 1950s. Those sites are notorious for leaving behind a toxic cocktail of contaminants, though it is not believed that any missiles were ever stored at the A.B. Ford Park site, which housed radar tracking towers and barracks for military personnel.

Residents are also incensed with the city’s insistence that it must remove more than 250 trees, some of which are more than 100 years old and are used by bald eagles. The city claims the best way to protect residents from the contamination is by adding two feet of fresh soil to the 32-acre park, which would make it impossible for the trees to survive.

To cover the park with new soil, an average of 20 to 30 heavy trucks would trudge through the neighborhood every day from March to September, the city said.

The city plans to replace the trees with hundreds of native and flowering trees, according to a city document.

After news broke about the park’s closure, the city abruptly canceled a meeting with residents.

Terry Swafford, who takes his two children to the park almost every day, has been trying to get more information from the city, to no avail.

In a phone conversation with Crystal Perkins, director of the city’s General Services Department, Swafford says he was told Detroit had to spend the money quickly.

None of this adds up to Swafford and his neighbors. The city has been testing the park for contaminants for years and never mentioned finding toxic chemicals. In fact, the city renovated the western portion of the park last year and added no new soil.

He’s skeptical that there’s any good reason to remove the trees.

“This is disastrous, and no one wants it,” Swafford tells Metro Times. “All of my neighbors are up in arms about it, and they feel powerless. This is a no-win for us. This is horseshit, and the city knows it.”

Swafford says residents have reached out to his city councilwoman, Latisha Johnson, but she never called them back.

When Metro Times asked for specifics about the contamination, the city declined to release details. The city also refused to divulge the funding source, the identities of the contractors, and whether there was even a bidding process.

Even for the city of Detroit, this level of secrecy is unusual.

Duggan spokesman John Roach said he would try to answer Metro Times’s questions, but on Thursday morning, he declined, saying the administration will address the community during a meeting about the park on Thursday evening.

“The city is doing a full presentation on the soil contamination to the community at a meeting at 5:00 tonight,” Roach said in a text message. “That community report will be followed by the posting of all environmental reports on the city’s website early next week.”

Trouble is, that timing prevents residents from providing any insight until the process is almost complete.

After this story was published online, a Detroit City Council committee voted to delay action on the $9.6 million plan at a meeting Thursday afternoon. Swafford says neither he nor his neighbors knew about the meeting until the last minute.

If the council approves the spending, the plan will move forward, without ample opportunity for residents to provide any meaningful insight.

Detroit resident Jay Juergensen, a flood protection expert and lead organizer of Jefferson-Chalmers WATER Project, says he has serious concerns about the plan and the city’s lack of transparency. Residents in Jefferson Chalmers have been inundated with flooded basements over the past few years, and he’s worried the plan could exacerbate the problem.

“What efforts are being made to ensure the proposed work is engineered in a manner that meets performance standards, including stability, seepage and settlement necessary to ensure it can provide flood protection or does not undermine future efforts for flood protection or put adjacent residents at great risk for flooding?” Juergensen tells Metro Times

Residents also want to know if the area’s seawalls, which are intended to prevent flooding, are going to be

raised since the ground is going to be two feet higher.

If the park is contaminated, it remains unclear why the city renovated the western portion, demolished an old building, and constructed a solar-powered recreation center last year. That building has large windows that are just inches above the ground. Adding two feet of soil around the building would put some of the building underground.

Without any answers, residents have no idea what to believe.

“If they had known it was contaminated when they took soil samples years ago, they would have done this remediation ahead of time [on the western portion] and there would have been two feet of extra soil,” Swafford says. “They didn’t follow their own recommendation. Are we to believe that it just became contaminated? None of this adds up. This should be obvious to anybody.”

From 1955 to 1960, the military used the property for radar tracking towers for missiles that were stored underground near Belle Isle. Towers from the Nike missile site are still standing at the park.

In Michigan, the military had 15 Nike sites, where workers handled hazardous chemicals. The Defense Department stationed thousands of surface-to-air missiles at about 250 Nike sites nationwide that were intended to protect major U.S. cities from aerial attacks during the Cold War.

Researchers discovered that these sites were rife with contamination.

“Normal operations of a Nike site included the use and onsite disposal of solvents, battery acids, fuel, and hydraulic fluid,” researchers found in a 1984 study. “Environmentally persistent compounds disposed of included carbon tetrachloride, trichlorethylene, trichloroethane, lead, and various hydrocarbons.”

Roach said it is believed that the contamination at A.B. Ford Park stems from the non-native fill material that was used to develop the site, which was once a marsh.

City officials hope to reopen the park in the fall. The park is undergoing renovations that will feature walkways, a playground, basketball court, fitness and picnic areas, tennis and pickleball courts, a fishing node, beach, and waterfront plaza.

But without more information, residents aren’t applauding the new amenities.

—Steve Neavling

Marianne Williamson ‘unsuspends’ presidential campaign

Marianne Williamson, the former Detroit-area spiritual guru and bestselling author, announced last week that she is “unsuspending” her longshot campaign for president.

In a video posted on X, Williamson said she was back in the race for the White House, saying American voters are “watching a car crash in slow motion.”

Williamson, a progressive Democrat who supports universal health care, tuition-free college, and a ceasefire in Israel-Palestine, announced she was suspending her campaign last month.

She said she dropped out because she was “losing the horse race.”

“But something so much more important than the horse race is at stake here, and we must respond,” Williamson said.

Her re-entry into the race came one day after more than 100,000 Democrats voted “uncommitted” in Michigan’s primary election as a protest to President Joe Biden’s support of Israel. More than a quarter of Republican voters cast a ballot for Trump opponent Nikki Haley.

The votes against the standard-bearers of both political parties suggests the leaders are having a tough time forming a winning coalition.

Williamson suggested the current candidates, including President Biden, are incapable of improving the economy for a vast majority of Americans.

Williamson also called Trump a “fascist” and “juggernaut of dark, dark vision.”

Voters deserve a candidate who prioritizes people over corporations and supports student loan debt relief, subsidized health care, reparations, and end to the war on drugs, and guaranteed housing, sick pay, and a living wage, she said.

“We can do different,” Williamson said. “We can do better. That’s what it is to make this country great again – to return it to a time when we actually had a thriving middle class. And you don’t do that with Donald Trump’s policies.”

Williamson said the current candidates lack a vision for helping the lower and middle classes.

“We need to have policies that actually expand opportunities and thus expand the economy and expand the possibilities for the future, for our children, and for our children’s children,” Williamson said.

“We need to take this country in a direction of hope and possibility and regeneration. That is the vision that will defeat Donald Trump.”

As more Americans struggle and the gap between the rich and middle class continues to grow, Williamson said voters can no longer wait around for a better candidate.

“This is serious,” Williamson said. “We need to say to the American people, ‘We see your pain,’ and we need to say to Donald Trump, ‘We see your BS.” —Steve Neavling

First Anishinaabe woman appointed to Michigan National Resources Commission

Areas that have been continuously stewarded by Indigenous people are often biodiversity hotspots where wildlife, humans, and nature thrive in balance with one another. That’s according to Robin Michigiizhigookwe Clark, who has been newly appointed to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission.

Clark is the first Anishinaabe woman to serve on the commission and was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in December 2023 for a fouryear term that began in January. The commission is a seven-member board that sets regulations for fishing, hunting, and trapping in Michigan. In her role, Clark says she wants to focus on the impacts of current harvest regulations on wildlife populations including the number of hunting and trapping licenses issued.

“In recent decades, there’s been [a] growing understanding of the significance of Indigenous knowledge when it comes to ecology and biodiversity conservation. We’re everywhere,” she says laughing. “There are 12 federally recognized tribes [in Michigan]. There’s all sorts of urban Indian populations. And so we really do have rich knowledge and relationships to draw from that can inform natural resource management, including harvest regulations.”

Clark is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and lives with her family in the city of Sault Ste. Marie, on the border of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Ontario. She hopes to bring some of the Anishinaabe ways of relating to wildlife to the table at the commission’s monthly public meetings.

“I’m new and just getting to know different sportsman’s groups… and a common theme is that folks will often call fish and wildlife a ‘resource,’ which is kind of a bummer because in my community, and a lot of Indigenous communities, we’re not talking about resources. We’re talking about relatives,” Clark says. “Fish [and] wildlife, in our teachings, these are actually elder beings who have provided for human beings over the generations. So, I will use the term ‘resource’ now, but it’s a little cringy,” she laughs.

She adds about why there tends to be so much biodiversity in areas stewarded by Indigenous communities, “It’s really hard to completely wipe out a species from an area or even endanger them if you understand that species to be an elder relative.”

The commission has only had two meetings so far this year, Clark says,

mostly for an initiative to manage deer populations in the Upper and Lower Peninsulas spearheaded by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

“There are very different deer herds in the Lower and Upper Peninsula because of the different forest and ecosystem conditions as well as winter severity and predator populations,” Clark explains. “The initiative is just bringing together a diverse group of citizens to look more holistically at how the deer population is doing and what are some management needs moving forward.”

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission is also reviewing furbearing harvest regulations. Fur-bearers are animals like martens, bobcats, foxes, and coyotes that are hunted or caught for their fur. According to Michigan regulations for 2023-24, there is no limit on coyote and fox trapping, while the cap for fisher and martens is two bags per resident fur harvester.

Clark holds both a Bachelor of Science in environmental studies and a Master of Science in community, agriculture, recreation, and resource studies from Michigan State University. As part of her doctoral studies in forest science at the Michigan Technological University,

she worked with the Sault Tribe and Bay Mills Indian Community to research Anishinaabe peoples’ relationship to giizhik, or northern white cedar trees.

The tribes utilize many parts of giizhik, according to Clark, including the leaves, needles, bark, and wood.

Besides access changing with the privatization of land over several hundred years, she found that these groups generally take a more responsible and respectful approach to harvesting cedar. This includes only harvesting with a specific use in mind and considering over harvesting can affect other animals and plants in the ecosystem.

“In birch bark canoes, the frames are also made of cedar wood,” she says. “But harvesting protocols are always focusing on minimizing harm… so you’re harvesting some of the bark of a tree at a particular time in order to best allow that tree to heal. You’re never killing the tree and you’re spacing out your harvest across the land. You’re considering not just you as the individual, your family, or your community, but you’re also considering the birds, the animals, and insects that also rely on giizhik… looking out for other beings, non human beings.”

Clark began working as the director of the Sault Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources, overseeing environmental, fisheries, and wildlife management programs last December. She also served on the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan for 10 years developing natural resource and environmental health services for tribes across the state.

Sault Tribe Chairman Austin Lowes said in a statement that Clark’s passion for sustainable forest management brings an important voice to the commission in addition to her representing Anishinaabe people.

“Her combination of academic and real-world natural resources management experience makes her an ideal representative to serve on the Commission,” he said. “As the only Anishinaabe person and the only woman serving on the commission, she will also provide an important perspective on Native American culture and treaty rights that has not previously been present within that body.”

More information on the commission and its meetings, which are open to the public, can be found at michigan.gov.

—Randiah Camille Green

Robin Michigiizhigookwe Clark brings Indigenous knowledge to Michigan National Resources Commission.

COURTESY PHOTO

NEWS & VIEWS

Lapointe

Could the Dearborn ‘uncommitted’ vote tip the election to Trump?

By Joe Lapointe

In the United States, the Democratic President runs for re-election even though it is clear to both his friends and to his foes that he is not as sharp as he once was.

In Eastern Europe, the wily dictator in Moscow goes on the muscle. Among other targets, Poland ranks high on his list. And in the Middle East, the very existence of Israel is being debated.

“Arabs would choose to die rather than yield their land to the Jews,” the Saudi king warns the American President.

You’ve probably guessed by now that we’re not talking here about 2024; or about President Joe Biden of the United States; or about President Vladimir Putin of Russia; or about Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.

Instead, it is a flashback to 1944 — 80 years ago — from the book His Final Battle: The Last Months of Franklin Roosevelt, by the late Joseph Lelyveld. (Full disclosure: I enjoyed working for Lelyveld at The New York Times).

Published in 2016, His Final Battle chronicles the 1944 campaign, the end of World War II, and Roosevelt’s death in 1945, at the start of his fourth term, as the Cold War began. In some ways, this timely book reminds us that history doesn’t always repeat itself but sometimes it echoes and rhymes.

Although every analogy wears thin when extended, one throughline theme of current events seems distressingly similar to circumstances of eight decades ago: the world of global power politics is shifting again and the American electorate will have a significant voice in how it changes.

Which brings us to Dearborn, to Arab Americans, to Muslim Americans, to young antiwar voters, and to the possibility that this segment of the Michigan electorate in November could steer the state and choose the fate of the nation and the world.

And that could bring the return of former President Donald Trump, a large, loud, orange-faced, yellow-haired demagogue who is now older, meaner, and more reckless than three years ago when he tried to cling to power

by sending lynch-mob rioters to the Capitol to murder Trump’s own vicepresident.

Crunch the vote numbers. Trump won Michigan by 10,000 votes over Hillary Clinton in 2016 but lost to Biden by 154,000 in 2020. Both times, Michigan backed the winner. But last week, more than 100,000 voted “uncommitted” in Michigan’s Democratic primary as a protest against American support for Israel.

Should those numbers increase — and should the war and the boycott of Biden carry into November — the absence of these Democratic voters could tip the tilt toward Trump in Michigan, one of a handful of “battleground states” expected to decide the Electoral College.

If so, as we did eight years ago, we will again toss our car keys to the loudest, biggest, crudest drunk in the bar and we will once more say to him, “Here you go, Butch! You get us home.”

And what might that ride be like?

In his first term, Trump harassed Muslim Americans and Arab Americans at airports with his “Muslim ban.” He tormented brown-skinned immigrants at the southern border by splintering Latin American families apart when they entered from Mexico.

Trump now vows more vicious crackdowns with internment camps and deportations. He and his followers dehumanize immigrants as “illegals” and blame them for crime.

“Our country is being poisoned, it’s really being poisoned,” Trump told personal fluffer Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel. “I call it migrant crime.”

At Eagle Pass, Texas, last week, Trump spoke of a “Biden migrant crime wave.”

It matters little to Trump or to his Make America Great Again supporters that serious crime is down and that immigrants generally break the law less than American citizens. Ignore that. What matters most is that scary image of a Venezuelan man arrested for murdering a Georgia student while she jogged.

His dark face is in heavy rotation on Fox. You must understand, America,

that, in the MAGAt view, this mug shot represents all immigrants and they must be feared because they bring drugs, sex slavery, and welfare abusers to our nation. Yeah. Because Trump says so. OK, pal?

Plus, they will take our jobs and vote Democratic. So, be afraid, America! Build that wall! In two recent trips to Detroit’s blue-collar suburbs, Trump has used blood metaphors to suggest that immigrants contaminate American genes and that foreign nations export lunatics and mental patients.

In Clinton Township last fall, Trump said immigrants are “destroying the lifeblood of our country.” Would he dare say such a thing in Dearborn? Fat chance. A proud and convicted sexual predator who was recently found guilty of (and fined for) financial fraud, Trump has called his opponents “vermin.”

That kind of talk went out of style around the time of Roosevelt’s death, but Trump revives it now for an appreciative audience. Will voters in and around Dearborn (and around the college campuses) evaluate their binary choice this autumn in a realistic calculation?

Who’s best for them: Biden or Trump? Would Biden ever call them “vermin?”

In the meantime, another of Trump’s TV family — Brother Tucker Carlson — goes to Moscow to kiss the rear end of Putin, Trump’s political pal. Carlson also praises the goodies at a Russian grocery store and marvels at the cleanliness and beauty of the city.

All this just before Putin’s main op -

ponent dies under mysterious circumstances in a prison in Siberia. Since being fired by Fox and striking out on his own, it is as if Carlson cannot decide whether he wants to be Charles Lindbergh or Tokyo Rose.

Those who have studied the Roosevelt era and World War II will recall that Lindbergh — the star-crossed aviator — took up the “America First” cause and national isolationism before Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and Japan attacked the U.S. Navy in 1941.

Lindbergh got too close to Nazi Germany and his political career crash-landed. Trump and others of his Republican party are using the same scare tactics, urging protectionism and isolationism mixed with racism disguised as nativism. Among many right-wing media contenders, Carlson is the best at this.

Tokyo Rose was the collective nickname for the female radio propagandists (more than one) who broadcast from Japan to American soldiers and sailors during the war in the Pacific, subtly whispering subversion into their ears along with songs from home that the men may have missed.

Even all those years ago, sinister people figured out how to use the medium of broadcasting to manipulate minds and undermine truth. Today’s fools like Hannity and Carlson are simply the current generation of user-friendly tools who twist the truth in traitorous ways.

And from his glass coffin in Moscow’s Red Square, the long-embalmed Lenin is laughing loudly (with a Russian accent?) at two, new useful idiots.

Two days ahead of Michigan’s Presidential primary election, a rally in Hamtramck urges voters to choose “uncommitted” instead of Joe Biden. JIM WEST/ALAMY LIVE NEWS

What a strange traffic stop in Romeo reveals about Michigan’s ‘wandering cop’ laws

By Steve Neavling

With the red-and-blue lights flickering on his patrol car, Romeo Police Officer Robert Priest pipes Beck’s “Loser” through the speakers of his patrol car, playing the ’90s alternative rock hit on a loop as he writes traffic tickets from the driver’s seat.

“I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?”

Priest is jubilant. It was February 2022, and he had just pulled over former Warren Deputy Police Commissioner Matt Nichols, who had moved to Romeo two weeks earlier.

The pair previously worked together at the Warren Police Department, and in 2017, Nichols played a role in denying Priest a promotion to the rank of lieutenant. Nichols says Priest has been angry with him since.

After he wrote the three tickets, which alleged Nichols failed to signal a lane change, use a turn signal, and show proof of insurance, Priest returned to his patrol car, where he received a call on his personal cell phone from a Romeo officer and supervisor, Patrick Bauer.

Priest boasted about the traffic stop. Bauer asked if the stop was one of his “special projects.”

“Yes, indeed,” Priest answered, according to in-car video obtained by Metro Times. “He didn’t even know who it was. … I’m sure he figured it out now after I wrote the ticket.”

Bauer laughed.

Priest bragged that he “three-banged” Nichols with tickets and said, “It was fucking great, dude.”

As Priest began to describe what led up to the traffic stop, the video abruptly stops. According to phone records, Priest and Bauer talked to each other for 16 minutes, but the Romeo Police Department is refusing to disclose the remaining audio.

It was the only traffic stop made by Priest that day, according to his police log, which was obtained by Metro Times

The traffic tickets were dismissed in April

2023 after Priest failed to show up to court.

Now Nichols is suing Romeo, Priest, Bauer, and the village’s police chief Dan Sokolnicki. Among other things, the 106-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 15 alleges malicious prosecution, abuse of process, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, governmental liability, and gross negligence.

According to the suit, Priest waited at the end of Nichols’s street to pull him over as payback for preventing Priest’s promotion at the Warren Police Department.

The stop has left Nichols feeling unsafe and humiliated in Romeo, where he and his wife had just moved.

“I knew that I was in a helpless position having been targeted by someone who was using his position as a police officer for personal vengeance,” Nichols said in the suit. “That feeling quickly shifted to a position of hopelessness because I felt there was nothing I could do to prevent the onslaught of the attacks from the police in the community that we have lived in for two weeks and just couldn’t run away.”

This case goes deeper than allegations of a cop abusing his power to seek revenge. A Metro Times investigation reveals that both the Warren and Romeo police departments violated laws aimed at preventing “wandering cops,” or officers who move from depart-

ment to department amid allegations of misconduct.

The bizarre case is yet another example of what happens when law enforcement allows cops to move from agency to agency after committing alleged misconduct. Often, the misconduct continues — as it did in this case — putting communities and residents at risk.

In 2017, state lawmakers sought to halt wandering cops with legislation mandating p olice departments maintain documentation detailing why an officer leaves an agency. But the law doesn’t work if police departments don’t properly report officer misconduct.

In October 2023, Metro Times revealed that the Detroit and Eastpointe police departments violated the 2017 law, which enabled a disgraced former cop to get a new job. Ex-Detroit cop Kairy Roberts landed the new job in Eastpointe last year, despite an internal investigation that found he had punched an unarmed man in the face in Greektown, failed to provide medical aid, and then lied about the encounter in August 2021.

After Roberts resigned under pressure from the Detroit Police Department, the city did not report the alleged misconduct — as required — to the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES), the state agency responsible for regulating police.

And Eastpointe falsely claimed to MCOLES that he had met the character fitness standards, which is required for officers to get their licenses reactivated. Those standards are intended to prevent abusive cops from getting another law enforcement job in the state.

Concerns about wandering cops are increasing as agencies face a shortage of officers. Without enough applicants, some police departments are lowering their standards for new officers and hiring cops with a history of

Something is rotten in the village of Romeo.

STEVE NEAVLING

misconduct, Metro Times revealed in a previous cover story investigation.

As part of an ongoing series about wandering cops, Metro Times and the Invisible Institute, a nonprofit news organization, filed a lawsuit against the Michigan State Police for refusing to disclose public records about the identities of current and former police officers.

The request is part of a project to create a national database to identify, track, and report on wandering cops.

Police chief lies

In May 2021, Priest retired while under investigation by the Warren Police Department over allegations that he violated a department policy, according to records and interviews.

Yet Warren Police Commissioner William Dwyer claimed in a mandated separation report that Priest left “in good standing.” The affidavit signed by Dwyer warns that “any misrepresentation on my part constitutes fraud and is punishable as a felony.”

On the separation report, Dwyer had other options he could have chosen from: “Retired while under investigation” or “retired in lieu of termination.”

The separation report is important because it is sent to MCOLES, which is tasked with providing licenses to police officers. MCOLES has the authority to prevent officers who resign or retire under pressure from getting a job at another police agency. But without accurate information, MCOLES has no way of knowing why an officer leaves a department.

MCOLES director Timothy Bourgeois says his agency does its best to curb wandering cops, but it can only do so much if police agencies aren’t transparent and don’t follow the law.

“The vast majority of agencies report timely and accurately to the commission as required,” Bourgeois tells Metro Times. “This helps the commission ensure standards for selection and hiring are met. In cases where the reporting is not timely or accurate, we work diligently to uncover the facts and apply the law, including ensuring future compliance with those acts.”

State opens investigation

In November 2023, Nichols’s attorney Jamil Akhtar filed a criminal complaint with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, saying Dwyer “knowingly falsified” the separation report.

“I believe the information that I have in my possession, in which I wish to share with you, will prove criminal wrongdoing on the part of a Chief of Police,” Akhtar wrote to the AG’s Chief of Investigation Unit.

AG spokesperson Danny Wimmer says the department is aware of the

complaint and directed it to MCOLES.

“The Department’s Criminal Investigations Division did receive a complaint about the described circumstance,” Wimmer told Metro Times in a written statement. “Upon review, and following an interview with the complainant, it was determined (and relayed to the complainant) that this complaint should rightly be filed with MCOLES, and that Department of Attorney General investigative efforts would resume upon referral or request from MCOLES.”

Wimmer added that Attorney General Dana Nessel is worried about wandering cops.

“The Attorney General is very concerned with the pattern of police officers moving from department to department while under investigation for misconduct in their previous employing agency,” Wimmer told Metro Times in an email.

MCOLES Director Timothy Bourgeois confirmed his agency is investigating this case.

“The commission is aware of this issue and is reviewing it,” Bourgeois says.

In an interview with Metro Times, Dwyer maintains he did nothing wrong, saying Priest retired “in good standing” because he wasn’t under a criminal investigation. And since he retired before the investigation was complete, the police department closed the internal probe before it was finished.

“We would not allow him to retire in good standing if he was under a criminal investigation,” Dwyer says. “If he retired and there was an internal investigation related to some sort of rules and regulations … then the investigation wouldn’t have been completed because he retired.”

Warren Lt. John Gajewski, who handles internal investigations, says the allegations against Priest stem from a violation of department policy and did not rise to the level of a crime.

But MCOLES has made clear in past cases that an officer can’t leave “in good standing” if there is an ongoing investigation, even if it wasn’t criminal. In fact, the separation report that Dwyer filled out offered him two other options to check off — “retired while under investigation” and “retired while under criminal investigation.”

Dwyer checked off neither and signed the affidavit “under the penalties of perjury.”

Under the 2017 law intended to curtail wandering cops, police departments are required to document why an officer leaves and make that information available to agencies that are considering hiring the officer. By law, a police department is required to examine that record before hiring an officer.

As Priest began to describe what led up to the traffic stop, the video abruptly stops. According to phone records, Priest and Bauer talked to each other for 16 minutes, but the Romeo Police Department is refusing to disclose the remaining audio.

That didn’t happen in this case. Before Romeo hired Priest, the department called Warren and inquired about his work history.

“They never did come to review the personnel file, which I found interesting,” Gajewski says. “They did call me and asked me to confirm what was in the MCOLES document. This was all verbal regarding a conclusion as to his decision to retire or not.”

Earlier this month, the Warren Police Department rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for that document, saying “the public interest in disclosure does not outweigh the public interest in nondisclosure in this particular instance.”

It’s unclear if Warren even filed the report.

Romeo police also broke the law

In a document to MCOLES in November 2022, the Romeo Police Department indicated it spoke to Gajewski and was told Priest retired because he “was under investigation.”

Gajewski also revealed that Priest “was separated” from the Warren Police Department in 2002 “because of allegations regarding [redacted]. After two years of fighting with the city, Priest was awarded his job back. He stated that the allegations were not true and that he was never charged with anything.”

The Warren Police Department declined to discuss those allegations, the details of which remain a mystery.

The Romeo Police Department concluded the document by saying of Priest, “He had a couple of hiccups in his career. [Redacted] will be addressed if he is employed with this department.”

In the lawsuit filed against Romeo, Nichols’s attorney noted that “Sokolnicki had a statutory duty to investigate” Priest’s former employment records.

“Sokolnicki violated the investigative procedures of the act, and after receiving verbal, not written notification from Dwyer, he went ahead and hired Priest with full knowledge of his previous termination and reinstatement of employment,” Akhtar wrote in the suit.

Less than three months after Priest received the job as a probationary po -

lice officer, he pulled over Nichols.

In December 2023, Priest was fired “due to department policy violation,” according to Priest’s separation document, which was obtained by Metro Times in a Freedom of Information Act.

Soon after the traffic stop, Nichols filed a citizen’s complaint with Romeo, saying he was harassed by Priest.

In response to the complaint, Sokolnicki acknowledged, “It has been determined that some of the Officer’s actions after the interaction with your client were inappropriate. Corrective action will be taken to help improve this Officer.”

Sokolnicki also said, “The other allegations you have made regarding the way the Officer felt about issuing the citation appears to be correct.”

In the lawsuit, Akhtar wrote that Sokolnicki’s admission “is astonishing in that it shows a total disregard of Plaintiff’s rights as a resident of the Village of Romeo and the fact that the Defendant Village of Romeo allowed Defendant Priest to continue his employment with the Village and that the Defendant Village of Romeo failed to take any punitive or administrative action against” Priest.

Although it’s clear that Priest violated the law, Akhtar said the Romeo Police Department closed the investigation without issuing any charges.

And in January, when Sokolnicki filled out the mandated separation report for Priest’s termination, the police chief insisted he had no problems with Priest and blamed the firing on officials from the village of Romeo.

“Village administration had conflict with this individual,” Sokolnicki wrote. “Police administration did not have any issues with this officer. However police chief was not included in the decision.”

Sokolnicki is retiring in April. It’s unclear whether his handling of this case had anything to do with his leaving.

Neither Romeo village officials, Sokolnicki, nor Priest returned calls for comment.

The case, as strange as it is, shows that wandering officers is a phenomenon that won’t stop until police departments begin following the laws that are aimed at protecting the public from bad cops.

WHAT’S GOING ON

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

MUSIC

Wednesday, March 6

Day of the Dude with the Beggars, 2024 Honorary Dude contest 4 p.m.-midnight; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Destin Conrad, Amaria 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $29.50.

Straight Ahead - Jazz in the Streets of Old Detroit 6-9 p.m.; Detroit Historical Museum, 5401 Woodward Ave., Detroit; $40 general admission, $30 DHS members, $15 students.

Tesla 7:30 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $74-$89.

Foxxy Gwensday presents When Lovers Jam 7-11 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $25.

Lamont Landers, Olivia Dear & Conor Lynch 7 p.m.; Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $15.

Thursday, March, 7

Candlelight: A Tribute to Coldplay 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.; Redford Theatre, 17360 Lahser Rd, Detroit; $25-$54.

Eric Roberson 8 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $39-$52.

Ska Thursday with Killer Diller, Tree House Rivals 8-11 p.m.; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Tanner Usrey 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $20.

The Broken View, Resurrection Story 7 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $10.

The Vices, Tears Of A Martian, Griffin Benton 7 p.m.; Lager House, 1254 Michigan Ave., Detroit; $15.

Vlad Tovbin Quartet 8 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $15.

Friday, March 8

Blind Boys of Alabama, Bobby Rush 8-9:30 p.m.; FIM Capitol Theatre, 140 E 2nd Street, Flint; $50-$100.

Hail Your Highness, Antighost, Chromarama, Native World, Sincerely 6 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw,

Pontiac; $15.

Icy/Dicey - AC/DC tribute band, DJ Ryan Gimpert 9 p.m.-midnight; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Kolton Moore & The Clever Few, Jordan Nix 7 p.m.; The Loving Touch, 22634 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.

Power Play Detroit 8 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; no cover.

Russell Dickerson 8 p.m.; Caesars Palace Windsor - Augustus Ballroom, 377 E. Riverside Dr., Windsor; $33-$78.

The Drowns, Come Out Fighting, Ill Collens 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $15.

DJ/Dance

Emo Night Brooklyn (18+) 9 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $13-$23.

Fiesta Night (Reggaeton and Latin music) 7 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $15.

Thirst Wave: Industrial is Not Dead 9 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $5 (21+)-$10 (18-20).

Saturday, March 9

Chris Collins & Boulder Canyon - A John Denver Musical Experience 8 p.m.; Emerald Theatre, 31 N. Walnut St., Mount Clemens; $20-$240.

George Birge, Payton Smith, Rob Stone 7 p.m.; District 142, 142 Maple St., Wyandotte; $15-$25.

Magic Bag Presents: Mega 80’s 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $20.

Michigan Jazz Festival Fundraiser-Rising Star Jazz Horn Competition 2-4 p.m.; Aretha’s Jazz Cafe, 350 Madison St., Detroit; $30.

Night of the Saw: Sawchuk, Yaksaw, Unabomb, Life Is Sweet 7 p.m.; Pike Room, 1 S. Saginaw, Pontiac; $15.

Rossini, Paganini & Respighi 7:30-9:30 p.m.; The Whiting, 1241 E. Kearsley St., Flint; $13-$65.

Saddle Up Country Dance Party 8 p.m.; Diamondback Music Hall, 49345 S. Interstate 94 Service Dr., Belleville; $15.

Superdevil, Busby Death Chair, Supreme Mystic, Angel Of Mars, Warhorses 7 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $12.

Urgent - Foreigner Tribute, Shattered - Rolling Stones Tribute

7:30 p.m.; The Token Lounge, 28949 Joy Rd., Westland; $15-$120.

Waterparks, Loveless 6 p.m.; Royal Oak Music Theatre, 318 W. Fourth St., Royal Oak; $39.50-$75.

DJ/Dance

Cobrah: Succubus Tour 9 p.m.; Leland City Club, 400 Bagley Street, Detroit; $29.36.

Heartbreak Beats: 80s New Wave Lounge with DJs Zumby and Josh 9 pm-1 am; Bowlero Lanes & Lounge, 4209 Coolidge Hwy., Royal Oak; no cover.

Point.Blank, Twan$olo, Hare Brain, Trxxed b2b Master Nyne Amiracle , 9 p.m; Harpos, 14238 Harper Ave, Detroit; $2.14.

Sunday, March 10

Carl Thomas 7:30 p.m.; Sound Board, 2901 Grand River Ave., Detroit; $45-$57. Music for the Soul 6 p.m.; Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts, 12 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; $45.

The Tossers, St Thomas Biys Academy, I Are Citizen 7 p.m.; Small’s, 10339 Conant St., Hamtramck; $20.

DJ/Dance

Saint Andrew’s Hall Solid Pink Disco With DJ Trixie 8 p.m.; Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $45.

Monday, March 11

Dead By April 7 p.m.; Sanctuary Detroit, 2932 Caniff St., Hamtramck; $20.

DJ/Dance

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

Tuesday, March 12

Dooley Wilson: Alpino Roots Cellar Music Series 6:30-8 pm; Alpino, 1426 Bagley St, Detroit; $10.

JP Saxe, Justin Nozuka 7 p.m.; The Shelter, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; $27.50.

Magic Bag Presents: The Rocket Summer’s 20th Anniversary Tour, Prentiss 7 p.m.; Magic Bag, 22920 Woodward Ave., Ferndale; $22$80.

DJ/Dance

B.Y.O.R Bring Your Own Records Night 9 p.m.-midnight; The Old Miami, 3930 Cass Ave., Detroit; no cover.

THEATER

Performance

Fisher Theatre To Kill a Mockingbird. Wednesday, March 6, 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, March 7, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 8, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 9; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m., 6:30 p.m.; and Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

Matrix Theatre Company Material Advantage by Detroit playwright Sean Paraventi. Runs March 8-24, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. $20-$25.

The Music Hall When A Woman’s Fed Up. $59-$99. Thursday, 8 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Musical

A Little More Alive Wednesday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Thursday, 8 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m., 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; Meadow Brook Theatre, 207 Wilson Hall, Rochester; $43.

On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan Tuesday, 7:30-9 p.m.; The Whiting, 1241 E. Kearsley St., Flint; $30-$85.

Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka Jr. Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m.; Ridgedale Playhouse, 205 W. Long Lake, Troy; $12.

Shrek - The Musical Wednesday, 9 p.m.; Fisher Theatre - Detroit, 3011 West Grand & Fisher, Detroit; $50-$165.

COMEDY

Improv

Go Comedy! Improv Theater

Pandemonia The All-Star Showdown

Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. $25.

Podcast: Live podcast

Royal Oak Music Theatre Cancelled Podcast Wednesday, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. $29.50-$49.50.

Stand-up

The Fillmore Bassem Youssef: The Middle Beast Tour $37.50-$57.50. Friday, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30 p.m.

Fox Theatre We Them One’s Comedy Tour $75.50-$249.50. Saturday, 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Little Caesars Arena Bill Burr Live. $49.50-$149.50. Sunday, 7 p.m.

Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle

Billy Ray Bauer; Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; $20. Michael Kosta; Friday, 7:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m.; Saturday, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.; $25. Tina Friml; Sunday, 7:30 p.m.; $25.

Critics’ picks

Detroit Day of Fashion

FASHION: Local fashion designers, models, performers, vendors, and community members will come together next weekend for Detroit Day of Fashion, hosted at Fantazma Market and Cafe in the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation.

The upcoming show is the fourth Detroit Day of Fashion since the inaugural event in September of 2022, which started in an effort to showcase what Detroit designers have provided to the fashion scene. Since then, the show has become a staple in the local fashion community.

“We’re thrilled to be able to provide a platform for local designers and models to showcase their work,” Anita Zavala, director of entrepreneurship and wealth building at the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, said in a press release. “Our goal is to bring together members of the community to celebrate the creativity and talent that exists right here in our own hood, while simultaneously bringing new customers to their businesses with each event.”

At the show, unique styles of various mediums will be showcased through three fashion categories: Cultural Fashion, True to You, and

Haute Couture. Designers involved as part of the showcase include RoseMarie Lewis, Tyera LaShay, TeNeshia Chenell, and Breezy, among others.

In addition to fashion pieces on display, the event will also feature live performances by Detroit musicians, as well as work for sale by local artists.

Free general admission tickets and $20 VIP front-row seating tickets for the show can be reserved now on Eventbrite. —Layla

McMurtrie

From 6-11 p.m. on Friday, March 8; 1211 Trumbull Ave., Detroit; eventbrite. com. No cover ($20 VIP).

Youth Poetry Con

POETRY: InsideOut Literary Arts is hosting its second annual Detroit Youth Poetry Con on Saturday, March 9. Last year, InsideOut brought award-winning poet, essayist, and music writer Hanif Abdurraqib to the city for the day-long workshop series and this year it’s tapping one of Detroit’s own. Michigan Poet Laureate Nandi Comer is one of this year’s featured writers alongside best-selling author Ross Gay. The two will host creative writing workshops and community building activities for teens ages 13-19 from 9:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. at the Wayne State University Student Center.

We’re not teenagers (obviously),

but we’d jump at the chance to learn from such esteemed writers as Comer and Gay if we could — especially if it was free, and it is. This is a pretty boss chance for young writers to meet and learn from literary professionals.

“We are absolutely thrilled that our students — and the greater community, for that matter — will have the opportunity to see Ross Gay and Nandi Comer at our upcoming Poetry Con,” InsideOut executive director Suma Karaman Rosen said. “While certainly distinct, both of these writers beautifully exemplify the power of finding, honing and sharing your unique voice — that’s something that InsideOut wants all our young people to experience, and something I personally find deeply soul-affirming.”

Luckily for us adults, the day will conclude with a poetry reading open to all ages featuring Gay, Comer, and youth poets as part of InsideOut’s Visiting Writers Series. The reading will be held at Wayne State University’s Hilberry Gateway Theatre from 7-8:30 p.m. While the Poetry Con is free, tickets for the reading cost $25 and for $60, you can also get a signed copy of Gay’s newest essay collection The Book of (More) Delights —Randiah Camille Green

From 9:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9; Wayne State University Stu-

dent Center; Free for the Youth Poetry Con (registration required); $25-$60 for Visiting Writers Series; insideoutdetroit. org.

65th Annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade

SHENANIGANS: It’s that time of the year again: Time to paint the town green at Corktown’s annual Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. A tradition since 1958, the event typically draws between 80,000-100,000 people to celebrate the Irish heritage of Corktown, which was named after Ireland’s County Cork and is Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. It’s one of the biggest Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations in the U.S.

The event features local dignitaries, floats, marching bands, and color guards along Michigan Avenue — and, of course, plenty of beer. It’s also considered the unofficial start of spring around here, and if we’re lucky we should even get some sunshine.

Despite the reputation of Saint Patrick’s Day as a drinking holiday, Detroit’s vent is a family affair. A “Kid’s Zone” is available for $12 per person of $60 for a family of six. There’s also a Corktown 5K run for those looking to burn off all those carbs. —Lee DeVito

From 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, March 10; Corktown, detroitstpatricksparade.com.

Michigan Poet Laureate Nandi Comer helps lead writing workshops for teens this weekend.

SE7ENFIFTEEN

MUSIC

Local buzz

Movement releases 2024 festival lineup

The full lineup for Movement Music Festival 2024 is here, including by day, so fans can get a start on planning their Memorial Day weekend. (Hey, we need something to get us through the rest of this Michigan winter!)

The announcement fleshes out the headliners, with German-Bosnian DJ Solomun on Saturday and Detroit techno fave Richie Hawtin on Sunday, joining the previously announced Fatboy Slim on Monday.

Of course, the festival is a celebration of Detroit, so plenty of homegrown acts are also on the bill, including Carl Craig, Robert Hood (as Floorplan), Stacey Pullen, Waajeed, DJ 3000, DJ Godfather, Aux 88’s Keith Tucker (as K-1), Delano Smith, Terrence Parker, Dames Brown, DJ Holographic, Stacey Hotwaxx Hale, DJ Cent, Drummer B, Rimarkable, Tammy Lakkis, Huey Mnemonic, Fabiola, Something Blue, John Collins, Ataxia b2b Mister Joshooa, Ladymonix, and Augustus Williams, among others.

Beyond techno and house, the festival typically includes a good dose of hip-hop, too, and this year’s lineup features Atlanta rapper Ludacris and Detroit’s own Tee Grizzley.

Other additions include drum and bass pioneer LTJ Bukem, Channel Tres, Masters At Work, The Blessed Madonna, Paul Woolford (as Special Request), Fatima Hajji, British Murder Boys, Partiboi69, and more.

They join previously announced acts including British actor and DJ Idris Elba (performing a b2b set with

Detroit’s Kevin Saunderson), Honey Dijon, Floating Points, Skream, Sama’ Abdulhadi, I Hate Models, LP Giobbi, Boys Noize b2b VTSS, Gorgon City, DJ Minx, Jaguar, and others.

The festival returns to Hart Plaza from May 25-27.

More information is available at movementfestival.com.

The full lineup in alphabetical order by day follows.

Saturday, May 25

Aboudi Issa

Acemoma

Ataxia b2b Mister Joshooa

Barclay Crenshaw

Blaaqgold (VIP pop-up stage)

Carl Craig (live)

Channel Tres (DJ set)

Colin Benders

Dames Brown

DJ 3000

DJ Etta

DJ Holographic

DJ Psycho

Dom Dolla

Donovan Glover (VIP pop-up stage)

Dreamcastmoe

Floorplan

Francois Dillinger

Honeyluv

Huey Mnemonic

J House (VIP pop-up stage)

James Ruskin

Jayda G

Julia Govor

Jyoty

Loco Dice

LP Giobbi

Ludacris

Major League DJz

Masquenada (VIP pop-up stage)

Mona Black

Paranoid London (live)

Partiboi69 (live)

Reference

Rimarkable

Ryan Elliott

Secrets (live)

Skream

Solomun

Speedy J

Stacey Hotwaxx Hale

Stacey Pullen

Tee Grizzley

Tylr_

Waajeed

Sunday, May 26

999999999

2lanes (live)

Adiel

Anané

Avalon Emerson

Blair French (VIP pop-up stage)

The Blessed Madonna

Coco & Breezy

Delano Smith

Detroit Bureau of Sound

DJ Godfather

Dream Beach

Eddie Logix (VIP pop-up stage)

Ellen Allien

Fabiola

Fatima Hajji

Floating Points

Héctor Oaks

Heidy P (VIP pop-up stage)

I Hate Models

Jacob Park

James Blake (DJ Set)

Joseph Capriati

K-1

Kevin Saunderson B2b Idris Elba

Ladymonix

Masters At Work

Moonlighter (VIP pop-up stage)

Mount Kimbie

Musclecars

Nicole Moudaber

Peter Croce (VIP pop-up stage)

Richie Hawtin

Ron Trent

Sama’ Abdulhadi

The Saunderson Brothers

Sheefy McFly B2b Ak

STS (live)

T.Linder b2b DJ Seoul

Tammy Lakkis

Teknono

Tiga

Will Clarke

Monday, May 27

Ant TC1

Armanni Reign

Augustus Williams

Azzecca

Borderland (Juan Atkins, Laurens, and Moritz Von Oswald)

Boys Noize b2b VTSS

British Murder Boys

Bruce Bailey

Channel Badso (vocalist) (VIP pop-up stage)

Chris Lake

Dbridge

Dee Diggs

DJ Cent

DJ Minx

DJ Tennis b2b Gerd Janson

Drs: In Session (ft. Dogger)

Drummer B

Fatboy Slim

Goldie (live band)

Goldie (DJ set)

Gorgon City

Hiroko Yamamura

Honey Dijon

Horse Meat Disco

Indira Paganotto

Jaguar

Jah T (vocalist) (VIP pop-up stage)

John Collins

King Jazzy (vocalist) (VIP pop-up stage)

King Mellowman (vocalist) (VIP pop-up stage)

Kinky P (VIP pop-up stage)

LTJ Bukem

Martyn

Negus Arubis (vocalist) (VIP pop-up stage)

Papa Joshua (VIP pop-up stage)

Patrick Mason

Patrick Russell

Ranking Gimp (VIP pop-up stage)

Seth Troxler

Skarpion Sting (vocalist) (VIP pop-up stage)

Skin on Skin

Something Blue

Special Request

Tama Sumo b2b Lakuti

Terrence Parker

Ti Es

—Lee DeVito

Techno heads, your moment of zen.

DOUG WOJCIECHOWSKI

MUSIC

Sonic miscellany

How Summer Like The Season aggregates little musical moments

By Jeff Milo

“I think an argument could be made that we’re at the early stages of the cyborg era,” says Summer Krinsky. The Detroit-based multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, and producer is beginning to illustrate the uncanny qualities of her music under the moniker of Summer Like The Season, as it blends organic and acoustic elements like found sounds, field recordings, violin, and piano with inherently chillier, even robotic musical entities like synthesizers and the cutting edge sequencer known as an MPC which, to put it a bit reductively, is an evolved drum machine.

It’s as though each song is a sonic, lyrical, and textural mediation between human and machine.

“Cyborgs,” Krinsky continues, “are these partially analog, partially continuous forms but also partially a digital discrete interface. So, I try to make music that blends these tonalities and these different soundscapes. What I’m trying to achieve when writing

music is capturing what it means to be living in this present moment, and a huge part of what makes this time and place unique is that we’re in this cyborg-transitional period.” She admits that the various devices of the 21st century may not yet be embedded under our skin, “but still,” she says, “how far are you, really, from your phone at any given time?”

Summer Like The Season’s music stimulates the senses with soundscapes that epitomize composed chaos; we mean this in the best way possible when we say that you wouldn’t necessarily put on a Summer Like The Season song if you wanted to relax. But there is always something captivating to keep you locked in, even as your adrenaline steadily rises while listening.

Summer’s brain

Essentially, this is what you might call experimental electronica that weaves in elements of art-pop and indie rock. And while an SLTS track might not

sound like your cup of tea, at first, it’s the kind of magically weird music that will have you spellbound once you’ve had a second cup.

“The music that’s captured my attention the most,” Krinsky says, “has been music that almost, on first listen, makes me a little angry — but then I come back to it over and over, and it turns into my favorite album.” She namechecks Kate Bush, Björk, Radiohead, and Tune-Yards in this regard. “I aspired to make my own version — not to copy those singular artistic voices or to make something that’s derivative, but to make something that sounds like… Summer Krinsky’s brain!”

If it sounds like Krinsky has a somewhat scholarly, philosophic, or even existential approach and mindset, then it might not surprise you that she was awarded a Kresge Fellowship back in 2022 as an emerging artist but that she also holds a Bachelor’s in Performing Arts Technology from the U-M School of Music. It might also not surprise

you that such a musical mind has been performing and writing music since she was 13 years old, but she started learning to play instruments at an even younger age.

“I started playing my first instrument before I could really even form memories,” Krinsky says. “Both my parents are piano teachers, so I started with classical piano. And there was just so much music around me in the house, growing up, as I studied.”

She picked up the guitar and bass at 13 and joined her first band when she was in middle school. Even though she wasn’t singing yet, Krinsky still wrote songs, lyrics, and melodies for the bands she played in throughout her formative years. This resulted in her developing a fascination “with recording, production, mixing, and figuring out how to create space in the digital world — how to translate a full sound that happens in the real world to sound not only as good but even better in the digital space, to be almost like a simul-

Liam McNitt, Summer Krinsky, and Scott Murphy of Summer Like The Season.

NIKI WILLIAMS

taneously hyper-real and surreal place where the laws of what could be played by a person are no longer in place, and layering them in a way that’s just not possible in the 3-D world we live in…”

Sweet, yet biting

The “thing,” though, that Summer struggled to “translate” to what she wanted, as far as sound, was the “drums,” which is primarily why she then started studying and eventually mastering that instrument. “In my early 20s, I moved to Detroit, locked myself in a basement, and just played drums for hours,” she says. In fact, she says the “10,000 hours” adage, be it cliché or not, is totally true — applying not only to her study of the drums but also to doing all her own recording, and eventually it applied to her singing voice, too.

We’ve been employing synonyms for “unique” throughout this article. Still, perhaps the most unique quality of a Summer Like The Season song is her voice, which can be equal parts angel and alien, hitting and sustaining these impossibly elastic pitches that sound like something a NASA probe might have captured while floating through a distant nebula.

“I’d been the composer in projects — I’d been writing songs since middle school — but I was never a lead vocalist,” she says. “I always thought my voice had an ugly quality to it until I started singing harmonies, which was a big leap. Somehow, it had never before occurred to me that, just like all other instruments, I could improve at singing through practice. Once I finally practiced singing, I learned there was this huge range — there was something really special about my voice that I could go to these dark and gritty places and have this cutting tone while also being able to locate sweeter, almost operatic sounds. I found musicality in the parts of my voice that I didn’t like and found this sweet-yet-biting sound that was very unique.”

The live iteration of Summer Like The Season is inevitably different but also wholly unique: Summer simultaneously plays drums and sings lead vocals while her longtime collaborator (and fellow sound engineer) Scott Murphy provides synth, violin, and also manipulates that versatile sequencer known as the MPC. Murphy met Krinsky back in 2017 while they were both working sound together at the Tangent Gallery; he’s been in the band ever since. Liam McNitt, a singer-songwriter and guitarist of the band Legume, joined in 2021, rounding out the group as a tight trio, providing dynamic and scintillating guitar accompaniments for live performances.

“Scott has this incredible understanding of the MPC as an instrument,” Krinsky says, “and can arrange stuff on it in a way that actually feels like a live performance — he plays it extremely musically in a very distinct way, not to mention his main instrument, violin, which he’s amazing at. Both of [Murphy’s] parents are violin teachers, so he’s also classically trained, so that, combined with my similar background on piano, creates this unique chemistry for us in performing. And [McNitt] is also just such an amazing musician. And among his many talents, [McNitt’s] also a drummer, even though he plays guitar in our band, he also adds great harmony vocals. And I had been such a huge fan of his other band, Legume!”

Aggregator

Piano, bass, guitar, recording, engineering, drums, vocals: Krinsky took on all that and then even went further to master the art of DIY tour booking. Krinsky and Murphy are even developing an app for it, having teamed up with a computer programmer friend, which is either poetically fitting or ironic as far as the “cyborg” motif goes.

This week, the band is getting ready for a 45-plus date tour that will take them all over the country, starting Friday night at the Outer Limits Lounge for the release of their new album, Aggregator. This will be Summer Like The Season’s second full-length album, and it will also be another one of many epically scaled national tours, which will take them to a variety of significant music meccas like New York, as well as stops at a few largescale festivals.

As she looks forward to this weekend’s album release party, Krinsky says that, over her ten-plus years with this project, the one mainstay has been miscellany: sonic miscellany. “When we’re touring or if I’m just moving through the world,” she says, “I’m always sampling sounds that I find that are interesting — rain pouring through the sewer grate in Duluth, or a train horn in Fargo — these little musical moments in our daily lives.”

She adds, “Aggregator, the word itself, is something that gathers together materials from a variety of sources and that’s how I see my musical palette forming — is from gathering these materials from sounds, aggregating them all together into a new whole.”

Summer Like The Season’s Aggregator record release show starts at 9 p.m. on Friday, March 8; Outer Limits Lounge, 5507 Caniff St., Detroit; with Bad Magnets and Holy Profane. Tickets are $12 advance, $15 day of show.

FOOD

Singing from the mountaintops

By Tom Perkins

Alpino

1426 Bagley St., Detroit

313-524-0888

alpinodetroit.com

$18-$35

In a corner of the world where menu rehashes are way too common, Corktown’s Alpino first scores a few points for conceptual originality with a menu of plates from the Alps region, including southern Germany, northern Italy, eastern France, and Austria. See the risotto, a northern Italian classic, made with a carnaroli rice done in chicken stock that’s hit with a black kale pesto. The kale is heartier than basil and gives it a depth and an autumnal element, and is spread atop the risotto to give it some “visual texture” and variety in each bite, says executive chef Colin Campbell. Instead of pine nuts and olive oil, Campbell turns to his Austrian pantry, using toasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin oil, which deepens the dish even more than olive oil would. The risotto is capped with a patchwork

of melted Grana Padano, a slightly soft and nutty cousin of Parmesan Reggiano, which adds even more depth. Excellent. At this point, Alpino needs little introduction — it has quickly racked up local and national accolades, and is a vision from chef-owner Dave Richter. Like so many others to open shop in metro Detroit in recent years, he grew up here and returned with his family after cutting his teeth elsewhere.Richter and Campbell developed the menu, and Campbell, who once helmed the kitchen at Steinhaus, a Marquette GermanAustrian restaurant, seems like a natural fit.The best bites, in my estimation, are in the diots au vin blanc, which includes two banging pork sausages in an onion and wine broth with a mustard rouille. The broth is what makes it, and is relatively simple. Alpino starts by sweating the onions, which serves to pull out their sweetness and soften them without caramelizing. Campbell adds a Savoie white wine and chicken stock, then simmers out the alcohol. I could drink it by the gallon.The diot sausages are made in-house, and are slightly short

pork boys driven by quartecase spice with fennel, clove, nutmeg, and pepper, along with wine. The mustard rouille, like a regular rouille, is made with olive oil and egg yolk, but Campbell adds a little soaked bread to generate some heft for the plate. It’s not too heavy of a dish and versatile enough to work in cold or warm weather. The charcuterie is excellent — not a dud among the three meats or cheeses that came with our order. The mustard and cornichons were nice, but more pickled items to cut across the pig fat and provide textural contrast would have improved it. Alpino’s wine list is deep and the cocktails thoughtful — I was hoping to discover a new Alpine amaro but the list was pretty standard. Both desserts we tried hit. Also excellent is the goulash with spaetzle, which most know as a Hungarian plate but is also an Alpine staple. The big hunk of super tender, moist beef shank arrives in a pool of deep red, slightly sweet sauce driven by onions and paprika. The dish includes equal weight of onions and beef, and Campbell again sweats the former to pull out the sweetness and

balance the savory paprika, which is lightly toasted to push its fragrance. The sauce is further enhanced with a deep, umami punch of a rare tomato vinegar, and it’s altogether a bright and exciting dish.Another cold weather plate is the slightly sweet and mellow chestnut gnocchetti dumplings with wild boar sausage. It’s a choose-your-own adventure dish with each bite as all sorts of textural and flavor contrasts are found in the mix of sweet, crunchy apples; soft, funky Saint Saint Paulin cheese; crunchy fried sage; kale; and balls of boar sausage. The latter is from Broken Arrow Ranch in Texas, where the boar live natural, free range lives and are individually killed with a gun and butchered on the spot in the field.The rösti, a Swiss potato pancake, came salty and crispy around the edges and adorned with smoked salmon, pickled shallots, creme fraiche, and mustard greens. The gurkensalat was crispy and refreshing with cucumbers in vinegar and creme fraiche with pickled shallots. Ditto for the tart rotkraut, both of which rounded out a fine meal.

The sausages sing at Detroit’s Alpino. PERRY HASELDEN

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FOOD

Chowhound

Two confirmed cases of corporate tone deafness

By Robert Stempkowski

Chowhound is a weekly column about what’s trending in Detroit food culture. Tips: eat@metrotimes.com.

While food cost inflation soars at a 30-year high, two corners of corporate America decided this month to trumpet how loftily out of touch they can be. Breakfast cereal giant Kellogg’s, for starters, just brain-farted loud and proud in the court of public opinion through its CEO, Gary Pilnick, who suggested consumers start turning to eating his company’s breakfast foods morning, noon, and night as an affordable alternative to procuring luxury-cost items like groceries for their families.

“The cereal category has always been quite affordable,” Pilnick pitched during a February interview with CNBC, “and it tends to be a great destination when consumers are under pressure. If you think about the cost of cereal for a family versus what they might otherwise do, that’s going to be much more affordable.”

Digest those words, ladies and gentlemen: Cereal suggested as a dietary “destination” for families who find balanced nutrition foodstuffs increasingly unaffordable. Save for Marie Antoinette’s infamous “Let them eat cake” line, it’s been ages since I’ve read something so infuriatingly elitist and

callous toward a food supply-oppressed populace. Is this where we’re at here and now? Pilnick seems to think so.

“Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now,” he poured it on the proletariat while also talking with CNN. So be it, pal. Since you decided to stick your neck out on this one, I assume you’ll understand the populace wanting to have your head for it. This might be a good time to purchase a little Kellogg’s stock, my fellow peasants. I’m guessing it could go low after those comments.

And then there’s Wendy’s. Perhaps you’ve heard. At the time of this writing, company mouthpieces were walking back talk of “dynamic pricing” to come, which came from their high-horse head honcho, Kirk Tanner (CEO). During a February conference call with company investors and industry analysts, Tanner touted the company’s 2025 plans to “begin testing more enhanced (tech marketing) features like ‘dynamic pricing’ and daypart offerings, along with AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling.”

Associating such terminology with how the rideshare companies couched the language of what’s now swallowed as “surge pricing” in consumer jargon, corporate and social media took those words and ran with them. The social media beatings, certainly, have been brutal. X (formerly Twitter)

price-gouging going on with manufacturers and suppliers still playing the COVID economy blame game. We’re over it and calling bullshit, period.

On the flip side, can we customers just get past the expectation of free desserts from restaurateurs for all our special occasions? Seriously, folks. Have a heart. This fishing for freebies every time we mention someone at our table celebrating something needs to stop. Between birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, recent bar mitzvahs, clear colonoscopy test results, and assorted other causes for celebration, we’ve been asking a lot for nothing.

posted prolific snark and angry words to rally collective efforts to buy low from Wendy’s and sell entirely on the prospect of paying peak-time pricing, while some portrayed the company and its shareholders as Wolf of Wall Street types in merciless, mocking memes. One commenter I noted speculated the “dynamic” value of Wendy’s food may well flex down to almost nothing in the near future, should its prices truly come to reflect the drop in demand this roundly ridiculed allusion to possible surge pricing might elicit.

And potential market share dip hasn’t been lost on Wendy’s bigwigs since they stirred up this PR shit stew. As of Wednesday Feb. 28, an official press release insisted that Tanner’s comments were simply misconstrued, and that Wendy’s dynamic pricing plans going forward “will only deliver discounts and value during off-peak service times, leaving standard prices in play during high-demand hours.” If that’s your clarified company line, Wendy’s, fine, we’ll hold you to it. But methinks an angry mob took your greedy self by the pigtails and turned your actual intentions around. Power to the people! Now, maybe that same throng should campaign to neuter Tony the Tiger for his boss’s big mouth, and buoy a boycott of Kellogg’s, sending more of a message to any and all other food supply profiteers out there that we’ve had it with all the

I get it. We all think our life’s milestones should be celebrated and our business appreciated, but where in the world did we get the idea that restaurants should foot the bill for any sweets we choose to treat ourselves to in the process? Go buy gas on your birthday and ask for a free gallon just because. Take note of the attendant’s WTF reaction. Next time you’re at the grocery store, tell the cashier it was your anniversary last week and see if he or she says, “You know what then, please, enjoy that bag of frozen fries with our compliments.” While no one entertains expectations of getting freebies when out shopping retail, so many restaurant goers throw out the term “special occasion” while making reservations or mulling dessert menus as bait for a free dessert hook-up from restaurants. That’s unfortunate, and it’s asking these businesses to assume costs higher than you might expect. In a full-service world where profit margins run around 10% of total revenue, that $8 cheesecake you and three companions do or don’t pay for during your friend or family member’s $80 birthday luncheon can make the difference between a place turning a profit or not on your visit. It isn’t a restaurant’s responsibility to spring for presents on their customer’s special occasions any more than it is our utility companies to not charge us for gas and electricity while we’re having birthday cake at home. Let’s stop trying to leverage our customer loyalty with what — perpetrated numerous times a day in any given eatery — adds up to an annual expense hard-pressed restaurants will continue to silently endure for the sake of doing business, suffering the indignity of customers too cheap to spring for a celebratory gesture themselves.

By the way, to some out there: Restaurants know damn well how much you’re lying about your birth and anniversary dates, unless you’re counting in dog years. It’s a shame some have resorted to asking for ID and setting days-before and days-after date limits on complimentary dessert offers. That shame, ultimately, is on you.

Kellogg’s CEO says, “Let them eat cake.”

SHUTTERSTOCK

CULTURE

Arts spotlight

Detroit artist Jon Harris gets studio visit from Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain

By Randiah Camille Green

Jonathan Harris is no stranger to high praise and international attention following his viral “Critical Race Theory” painting in 2021. But he wasn’t quite expecting to get a request from the Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain for a tour of his studio.

Yolanda Díaz Pérez, who is both the Second Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Labor and Social Economy of Spain, made a private visit to Harris’s studio on Tuesday with her delegation. Harris says the Spanish embassy emailed him saying Pérez wanted to meet and learn more about his work during a trip to the U.S. He actually missed the first email, but luckily they reached out to him a second time.

Pérez also took a private tour of the Detroit Institute of Arts, met with United Auto Workers union members, and met Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar in Washington, D.C.

“It was kind of surreal,” Harris says about Pérez coming to his studio. “It’s different for me now when I get on the internet or [am] just out in public. You never know who’s watching… I’m just glad that whatever they saw they liked and appreciated to say, ‘OK, I’m going to come out and see this guy and talk to him to see where his head is.’”

Harris showed Pérez and her team several of his new paintings that he hasn’t exhibited before, along with some older, personal pieces. One of the new paintings, “Let It Burn,” is based on a photo of members of the Hitler Youth Movement in Nazi Germany burning a massive pile of books from 1933.

In Harris’s modern version, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis throws a copy of journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’s The 1619 Project onto the steaming pile as the spirits of Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman

Harris’s new piece echoes a similar message to his “Critical Race Theory” painting, which garnered national attention for showing a white man “erasing” historical Black figures with white paint. It’s hard not to compare Harris’s work to that groundbreaking piece. Though the painter tells us he’s “not into politics,” messages of social justice undeniably ring true in paintings like “Critical Race Theory” and “Let it Burn.”

During Pérez’s visit Harris gave a sneak peak at an untitled student protest painting commissioned by the University of Michigan. It doesn’t depict any specific cause and instead shows students making protest signs, holding candlelight vigils, and leading marches.

Around his studio, Harris also talks about personal paintings honoring his father.

“I wanted to sort of give him his flowers while he’s still here,” Harris says about a painting of his dad wearing a cape, titled “Hero.” Purple flowers fluttering across the painting are a tribute to Harris’s mother who has passed away.

In another new piece that he’s yet to exhibit called “Remember Who You Are,” Harris’s father directs him to look at a younger of himself in the mirror. The young Harris is holding red balloons while a monarch butterfly sits on the older version’s knee with remnants of the balloons at his side.

“My dad reminded me who I am, not to get caught up in certain worldly things and just to remember to be present,” he says. “The balloons represent childlike happiness and it’s like it’s forever gone, but now you have the wisdom, and the knowledge, and strength.”

appear in the smoke.

In 2023 the State of Florida banned Advance Placement African American studies courses from schools under DeSantis’s “Stop Woke Act.” The ban aligns with backlash from DeSantis and Donald Trump against The 1619 Project, which examines the lingering effects of slavery and segregation like voter disenfranchisement and the racial wealth gap. While the book-burning youth and the historical figures appear in black and white, Harris painted DeSantis in color.

“When I read about that story, I just felt like it’s very eerily similar to what Black people are dealing with today in America,” Harris says. “So I just wanted to create something to show how serious it is and how history repeats itself. If you look at what’s going on in Florida… things that [DeSantis] is allowing are going to be very detrimental to Black history in the future.”

Harris says he doesn’t have any upcoming exhibits in the works and while he appreciates opportunities to show his work, he “isn’t chasing” any galleries or museums at the moment.

“I’m not changing my subject matters and creating work to be praised. I’m working on pieces I feel in my soul and, hopefully, when people look at it they understand the sentiment,” he says. “At one point it was like, I really wanna be in a museum or I really wanna be in this gallery… and now I don’t know if I still want to do that. Right now, today, my mind is more so on impact. How can I create change? How can I improve the conditions for people around me?”

He adds, “I’m not into regular politics and I’m damn sure not about to get into art politics. If it happens, it happens but I don’t want to say that that’s my goal because it’s really not. I could literally just paint every day for a year and be satisfied because I’m happy.”

Jonathan Harris meets Yolanda Díaz Pérez, the Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain.

COURTESY PHOTO

CULTURE

Film

Sandler in space

By Kayla McCulloch

Spaceman

Rated: R

Run-time: 107 minutes

Nearly 30 years after Billy Madison, an early Adam Sandler vehicle that bravely explored the complicated relationship between man and gargantuan penguin, the comedian-turnedactor once again finds himself facing a colossal creature that just won’t leave him alone. Sure, Spaceman swaps the man-child sent back to K-12 schooling for a lonely astronaut journeying into deep space, subs the enormous flightless bird for a gigantic alien spider, and reduces the number of bits to near-zero, but the fact remains: Even accounting for his recent run of serious roles, the Sandman can still find ways to surprise us with a performance.

It’s been six months since the Czech Republic’s first independent astronaut Jakub Prochazka (Sandler) was launched into the outer reaches of our solar system. Ever-advancing toward an ominous purple mass of intergalactic

dust known as the Chopra Cloud in a ship that appears to have seen better days, Jakub’s mission is relatively simple: collect a sample from the Chopra and bring it back to Earth. The hard part is actually getting there — especially when all the baggage left behind on his home planet is pulling at him like an increasingly taut bungee cord.

Jakub is in frequent communication with his terrestrial technician Peter (Kunal Nayyar), but the person he really wants to talk to is his pregnant wife Lenka (Carey Mulligan). It’s been a while since he’s heard from her, and it’s been even longer since he’s gotten anything encouraging about the status of their crumbling marriage. Combined with trouble sleeping, intense loneliness and those degrading (yet contractually obligated) sponsorship plugs he has to dispatch back to the boss, Commissioner Tuma (Isabella Rossellini), it’s possible he may reach his breaking point before he makes it to his destination.

Truth be told, his brain might already be broken. (And not in the way you’d

from the genre’s Jupiter-sized canon. Its restrained, melancholic feel is very Solaris — Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1972 version or Steven Soderbergh’s 2002 version, take your pick. Its “man vs. disarmingly calm foil with a threatening aura” setup is textbook 2001: A Space Odyssey Even the Sad Space Husband thing is straight out of Damien Chazelle’s First Man. Looking beyond sci-fi, certain moments between Jakob and Hanuš recall similar dynamics between Tom Hanks and his volleyball buddy Wilson in Robert Zemeckis’s Cast Away (2000). Déjà vu, indeed.

As a recurrent Sandler apologist, it pains me to admit that I wasn’t immediately hooked by Spaceman (one solid gag early on involving an ad for nausea medicine aside). From initial critical darlings such as Punch-Drunk Love to the ongoing string of hits from The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) to Uncut Gems to Hustle, every one of the much-ballyhooed standup’s breakout hits was unquestionably built around him and his strengths. Spaceman doesn’t feel that way, however. Even with the opportunity to flex a new silly voice, the role lacks that signature Sandman essence it so desperately needs to rank alongside his best work.

expect from the lead of your typical Happy Madison production, either.) See, Jakob isn’t as solitary as he thought he was. Accompanying him on board is Hanuš (Paul Dano), a horrifyingly huge anthropomorphic spider with an even bigger sense of curiosity and an even larger heart. Together, this unlikely pair is going to sort through everything on Jakob’s mind: The problems with Lenka, the suppressed childhood trauma, and, if there’s time, maybe even unpack the very origins of life itself.

Even broadly speaking, Spaceman is unlike anything Sandler has done in his 35 years of film. The reason for that is twofold: a straight-laced script from debut screenwriter Colby Day and low-energy direction from Chernobyl Emmy-winner Johan Renck. Combined, Sandler ends up seeming a little out of his element. It’s not the sort of tailormade screenplay he’s accustomed to, and as a result, I found it a little hard to acclimate to the film at first.

Alas, it also does Spaceman no favors to constantly evoke other (unfortunately, better) science fiction movies

Though I see this as a weakness, it may bode well for those who might not be so quick to roll out (or, in this case, being a Netflix Original, log on) for the latest Sandler project. And, to his credit, Sandler doesn’t do a bad job as Jakob — not by any means. It’s just that he dissolves into the character more so than he has in just about anything else in recent memory. Personally, it’s a bummer to see such squandered potential to swing for the fences during this current Sandlerssance. I imagine any fellow Sandler defender will echo my sentiments.

With Sandler’s disappearing act at the center, Carey Mulligan as the neglected wife on the fringe, and Paul Dano keeping it continually interesting as… well, Paul Dano in arachnid form, you’ve got all the makings of a mellow, moody movie night geared toward the indie crowd. Why not make it a double feature with last year’s Maestro, where Mulligan can be seen similarly sidelined?

Sure, Spaceman can’t compare to the gonzo heights of some of Sandler’s triumphs, but maybe that’s the key. Perhaps Sandler’s intention in playing Jakob was to have an excuse to beef up the portfolio with something more reserved than anything we’ve gotten from him before. If that’s the case, it’s a job well done: another previously unknown facet of this actor who, for my money, proves to be one of the most enigmatic and unpredictable A-listers of our time.

Spaceman gives Adam Sandler another meaty role, but without a script to match.

JON PACK/NETFLIX

CULTURE

Savage Love The Long Game

By Dan Savage

: Q Would it be inappropriate to introduce my girlfriend to the kink/swinger scene if I plan to break up with her? I’ve been unhappy for a decade, but I’ve been able to fake the funk until pretty recently. I’ve been failing at that lately and the lack of sex is making her unhappy, as she has a huge sexual appetite. I’m considering joining a kink/swinger club to satisfy her needs while I’m unable. I’m honestly turned on by the idea of watching her with someone else and I’ve told her this, but she worries that the reality of seeing me with someone else will be too much for me and it’ll damage our relationship. Which means, if I do get her to join the kink/swinger club and break up with six months later, she’ll assume I broke up with her because seeing her with someone else broke me somehow. I don’t want her to think she made a mistake by going to a sex club with me. The real reason we are still together is that our child — legally her child (and now legally an adult) — is in a special program only offered through the school system in our ritzy suburb. This program is preparing him to live independently. I’m also working to pay off the credit card debt she built up over the years, so she can actually afford to live on her own once we split. The plan is to have her debt paid off by the time he graduates and then asking her to move out. In the meantime, I’d like her to be sexually satisfied. And while I’m no longer attracted to her, she is a sweet person and I want the best for her.

—Long Over And Done

A: Well, you could point to the publication of your letter in my column prior to your visit to the kink/swinger club with your girlfriend — provided you can convince your girlfriend to visit that kink/ swinger club — as proof that going to the kink/swinger club didn’t doom your relationship. That will likely be cold comfort to your girlfriend, FOOF, but the existence of this letter demonstrates that the breakup was thoroughly premeditated.

OK, saying something was premeditated sounds bad, I realize, but it’s a positive in the context of being dumped by a long-term partner. It always sucks to get dumped, of course, and the realization your ex was planning to dump you for months or years can add to the humili-

ation and pain. But no one wants to get dumped at the worst possible time, e.g., right before a big family event or when they’re finishing their dissertation or when their credit is in the toilet and their kid’s future hangs in the balance. So, an ex who held off until the blow would be a little less devastating did us a favor, even if it’s hard to admit or even recognize.

So, LOAD, making sure your girlfriend’s debt is paid off and that her son (your son) gets the best possible start before you end things is absolutely the right thing to do — and good on you — but I’m not convinced the kink/swinger club proposal is coming from the same altruistic place. Still, if you think convincing her to attend a kink/swinger club with you might actually revive your sex life — if you can convince her that seeing her with someone else would make you wanna fuck her again (and it might) — it’s still a somewhat/ semi-noble goal and I will allow it.

And, hey, if kink/swinger clubs do wind up reviving your sex life… and if your sex life is your only point of conflict (it’s the only problem you mention in your letter)… maybe you don’t need to break up after all?

: Q I’m at the point in my life where I’m both a caregiver for my parents and my partner. All three have various physical and mental disabilities, and none of them is going to get any better. It’s exhausting. I don’t have an open relationship with my partner, although I’d like to practice ethical non-monogamy. The problem is, he would probably not give permission out of fear I would leave him for someone else, and then where would he be? I know you’ve gotten lots of letters lately from married people in the same boat, but we are not married. Never did that. Never wanted that. So, there are no vows here to break, no promise of lifetime commitment to walk back. But I can’t leave him, because he needs me — as his caretaker, as his patient advocate, and as his companion. But I want the opportunity to get needs of mine met that he can’t meet anymore. It feels so unfair that I have to sacrifice everything right now. I want permission, I guess, to do what I need to do to stay with him and stay sane, without feeling like an awful person. I should be less of a coward and talk to him about this, I guess, but I’m afraid of hurting him. He doesn’t deserve more pain than he’s in already. Thank you for listening.

—American Caregiver Has Intense Needs

A: Ask the average person to describe a “cheater,” and they’ll describe selfish assholes who fuck other people behind the backs of their loving, faithful, and willing

partners they left at home. And, yes, some cheaters are pieces of shit who betray their partners without remorse and don’t care about the pain they inflict. But that’s not true in every case. In fact, some people who cheat — or some people who write to sex-advice columnists seeking permission to cheat — care deeply about their partners and want to spare them pain. Which is definitely the case here.

Do what you need to do to stay married and stay sane, ACHIN, be discreet and vigilant, and don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re an awful person. You’re a good person in awful circumstances who’s doing her best to take care of the people she loves, herself included.

And everybody else: If you’re lucky enough to have a partner and you’re still relatively young and in good health, now is the time have a talk about your expectations if and/or when — and it’s most likely when — your relationship looks a lot less like it does now and a lot more like ACHIN’s relationship.

: Q My husband and I have been married for thirteen years. We’ve always been kinky, but we’ve been monogamous this entire time. For the past few years, we’ve fantasized about having a MFM threesome. We met a new friend last year and we both felt comfortable asking him to be our third. He agreed but he takes relationships —especially sexual ones — very slow. He said he would like to have some discussions regarding expectations, boundaries, and desires. This level of care makes us feel even more attracted to him. Our issue is that we are growing more deeply attracted to him with each conversation. We talk at least every other day, and we all see each other at least twice a week. We feel like we could fall in love with this person. Are these feelings we should convey to him prior to the threesome? Should we keep this to ourselves and see how the sex goes? What is happening, Dan?!?

—This Hottie Is Really Delightful

A: What’s happening here? You and your husband have a crush on your first potential third, THIRD, which is wonderful. But for now, you need to keep this — the intensity of your feelings — to yourselves. You can tell this guy you’re into him, you can tell him you’re ready to fuck when he is, but you can’t — or shouldn’t — tell him hard you’re falling for him. At this early stage, THIRD, you can’t know whether those feelings are genuine. Also, not blurting out “I love you” on impulse is one way adults let other adults know they have good judgment and are capable of self-regulation. For now, THIRD, enjoy that feeling, ride that wave and/or the dick, and wait to see if those feelings deepen after you start fucking.

: Q I was dating my nursing supervi-

sor for eight months when I found out he entered into a monogamous relationship midway without telling me. (No wonder I couldn’t get him to commit!) I was immensely hurt and ended it immediately. I wanted to tell his girlfriend, who had plastered him all over her prolific social media (this is how I found out). I had screenshots of text messages with him that aligned with their trips, family outings, etc. There were even times when he went on vacation with her and immediately came to my apartment afterwards. There are plenty of unknowns here: she could have known about me (ENM), she might not care, etc. However, it appears to be a very traditional hetero relationship. Personally, I would want to know, and I would want someone to tell me. Ultimately, I decided I was motivated by a desire for vengeance rather a duty to warn and said nothing. What do you think? Did I do the right thing?

—Seemingly Nursing A Grudge

A: If you were her — if your partner had been cheating on you — you would wanna be told. But you’re not her, SNAG, you’re you. So, it’s not just wanting to be told you need to take into consideration. You also need to consider what it would mean for you — to do the telling. Do you wanna get pulled into their drama? Do you wanna risk a shoot-the-messenger reaction? (A figurative shoot-the-messenger reaction, one would hope, but in America one never knows.) If your affair partner was capable of lying — and lying successfully — to his girlfriend about you, is he capable of lying to your supervisors and his about you? And if you need to produce proof of the affair to protect yourself from professional retaliation, can you produce that proof? Are you willing to produce that proof?

If I were in your shoes, SNAG, I would stay out of it. If he’s a liar and cheat, she’ll figure that out. It was shitty of him to keep seeing you after he made that a monogamous commitment to her — and it was shitty of him to hurt you the way he did — but maybe he’s doing his best to honor that commitment now. Whatever the case may be, I think staying out of their relationship, out of his pants, and out of the vengeance business is the best course of action.

P.S. Most straight relationships are presumed traditional — presumed monogamous — unless the couple is open about practicing ENM, and most straight ENM couples are not open about it. So, just because this couple doesn’t openly identify as ENM isn’t proof they’re monogamous. You also can’t rule out the possibility that she knows and/or doesn’t care — which would make her tolyamorous.

Got problems? Yes, you do. Send your question to mailbox@savage.love! Podcasts, columns, and more at Savage.Love.

CULTURE Free Will Astrology

By Rob Brezsny

ARIES: March 21 – April 19

“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow talent to the dark place where it leads.” So wrote Aries author Erica Jong. Is that true? Is it hard to access the fullness of our talents? Must we summon rare courage and explore dark places? Sometimes, yes. To overcome obstacles that interfere with ripening our talents, there may be tough work to do. I suspect the coming weeks and months will be one of those phases for you, Aries. But here’s the good news: I predict you will succeed.

TAURUS: April 20 – May 20

In October 1879, Thomas Edison and his research team produced the first electric light bulb that was viable enough to be of practical use. In September 1882, Edison opened the first power plant on the planet, enabling people to light their homes with the new invention. That was a

revolutionary advance in a very short time. Dear Taurus, the innovations you have been making and I hope will continue to make are not as monumental as Edison’s. But I suspect they rank high among the best and brightest in your personal life history. Don’t slack off now. There’s more work to be done — interesting, exciting work!

GEMINI: May 21 – June 20

I watched as the Thai snake charmer kissed a poisonous cobra, taming the beast’s danger with her dancing hands. I beheld the paramedic dangle precariously from a helicopter to snag the woman and child stranded on a rooftop during a flood. And in my dream, I witnessed three of my Gemini friends singing a dragon to sleep, enabling them to ramble freely across the bridge the creature had previously forbidden them to traverse.

CANCER: June 21 – July 22

VIRGO: August 23 – Sept. 22

Virgo advice expert Cheryl Strayed wrote some rather pushy directions I will borrow and use for your horoscope. She and I say, “You will never have my permission to close yourself off to love and give up. Never. You must do everything you can to get what you want and need, to find ‘that type of love.’ It’s there for you.” I especially want you to hear and meditate on this guidance right now, Virgo. Why? Because I believe you are in urgent need of re-dedicating yourself to your heart’s desire. You have a sacred duty to intensify your imagination and deepen your willpower as you define what kind of love and tenderness and togetherness you want most.

LIBRA: Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

pope of Parish #31025 in the Universal Life Church. One of my privileges in this role is to perform legal marriages. It has been a few years since I presided over anyone’s wedding, but I am coming out of semi-retirement to consecrate an unprecedented union. It’s between two aspects of yourself that have not been blended but should be blended. Do you know what I’m referring to? Before you read further, please identify these two aspects. Ready? I now pronounce you husband and wife, or husband and husband, or wife and wife, or spouse and spouse — or whatever you want to be pronounced.

CAPRICORN: Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

There are many skills we’ve had to practice to get better at, but drinking was never one of them; However, a few of you need to work on your ordering skills. Can I get an amen?!

The horoscopes you are reading have been syndicated in publications all over the world: the U.S., Italy, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Netherlands, Russia, Cambodia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Venezuela, Ireland, and Finland. Yet it has never appeared in a publication in the U.K., where there are over 52 million people whose first language is English — the same as mine. But I predict that will change in the coming months: I bet a British newspaper or website will finally print Free Will Astrology. I prophesy comparable expansions in your life, too, fellow Cancerian. What new audiences or influences or communities do you want to be part of? Make it happen!

LEO: July 23 – August 22

Author Adam Alter writes, “Perfect success is boring and uninspiring, and abject failure is exhausting and demoralizing. Somewhere between these extremes is a sweet spot that maximizes long-term progress.” And what is the magic formula? Alter says it’s when you make mistakes an average of 16% of the time and are successful 84%. Mistakes can be good because they help you learn and grow. Judging from your current astrological omens, Libra, I’m guessing you’re in a phase when your mistake rate is higher than usual—about 30%. (Though you’re still 70% successful!) That means you are experiencing expanded opportunities to learn all you can from studying what doesn’t work well. (Adam Alter’s book is Anatomy of a Breakthrough: How to Get Unstuck When It Matters Most.)

SCORPIO: Oct. 23 – Nov. 21:

“You don’t have to suffer to be a poet,” said poet John Ciardi. “Adolescence is enough suffering for anyone.” I will add that adolescence is enough suffering for everyone, even if they’re not a poet. For most of us, our teenage years brought us streams of angst, selfdoubt, confusion, and fear — sufficient to last a lifetime. That’s the bad news, Capricorn. The good news is that the coming months will be one of the best times ever for you to heal the wounds left over from your adolescence. You may not be able to get a total cure, but 65% is very possible, and 75% isn’t out of the question. Get started!

AQUARIUS: Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

SPRING FORWARD, DON’T STAGGER

Author Jean-Dominique Bauby wrote, “Today it seems to me that my whole life was nothing but a string of small near misses.” If you have endured anything resembling that frustration, Leo, I have good news: The coming months won’t bring you a string of small near misses. Indeed, the number of small near misses will be very few, maybe even zero. Instead, I predict you will gather an array of big, satisfying completions. Life will honor you with bull’s eyes, direct hits, and master strokes. Here’s the best way you can respond to your good fortune and ensure the arrival of even more good fortune: Share your wealth!

Sometimes you Scorpios are indeed secretive, as traditional astrologers assert. You understand that knowledge is power, and you build your potency by gathering information other people don’t have the savvy or resources to access. But it’s also true that you may appear to be secretive when in fact you have simply perceived and intuited more than everyone else wants to know. They might be overwhelmed by the deep, rich intelligence you have acquired — and would actually prefer to be ignorant of it. So you’re basically hiding stuff they want you to hide. Anyway, Scorpio, I suspect now is a time when you are loading up even more than usual with juicy gossip, inside scoops, tantalizing mysteries, taboo news, and practical wisdom that few others would be capable of managing. Please use your superpowers with kindness and wisdom.

SAGITTARIUS: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

Here’s a little-known fact about me: I am the priest, wizard, rabbi, and

A psychic once predicted that I would win a Grammy award for my music. She said my dad and mom would be in the audience, smiling proudly. Well, my dad died four years ago, and I haven’t produced a new album of songs for over ten years. So that Grammy prophecy is looking less and less likely. I should probably give up hope that it will come to pass. What about you, Aquarius? Is there any dream or fantasy you should consider abandoning? The coming weeks would be a good time to do so. It could open your mind and heart to a bright future possibility now hovering on the horizon.

PISCES: Feb.19 – March 20

I invite you to entertain the following theory: Certain environments, companions, and influences enhance your intelligence, health, and ability to love — while others either do the opposite or have a neutral effect. If that’s true, it makes good sense for you to put yourself in the presence of environments, companions, and influences that enhance you. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to test this theory. I hope you will do extensive research and then initiate changes that implement your findings.

Homework: What’s one way you wish you were different from who you are?

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