Mark Craighead, who was exonerated after spending more than seven years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, filed a criminal complaint Wednesday against the Detroit detective who elicited his false confession in June 2000. Craighead alleges former Detective Barbara Simon engaged in a pattern of criminal wrongdoing by committing perjury, illegally detaining suspects for long periods without a warrant, and assaulting and threatening witnesses. Simon was the subject of a two-part Metro Times series that exposed her aggressive and illegal tactics that led to false confessions and wrongful imprisonment.

Detroit disciples and Detroit Lions fanatics both old and new: how should we be feeling this week? Are we insulted, or inspired? Justified… or terrified?

Thirty years ago, Bishop Edgar Vann of Detroit’s Second Ebenezer Church founded the Vanguard Community Development Corporation with the simple goal of providing after-school programs for local youths. Today, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization’s mission has expanded to all matters of community development and engagement, including affordable housing and commercial development. Vanguard will celebrate its anniversary with a gala and award ceremony from 7-11 p.m. on Saturday at the Henry Ford Health Pistons Performance Center.

Livingston County Sheriff Michael Murphy has stepped down from his position on a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocating for victims of sexual and domestic abuse in the wake of his controversial decision to host former President Donald Trump at the sheriff’s office last month. The Michigan Bureau of Elections is investigating Murphy after Metro Times reported that he may have violated state law by using taxpayer resources to support a political candidate.

Leo, a two-year-old French bulldog, went missing from a yard in Dearborn in August 2023, and his owner had all but given up on ever seeing him again. Then late last month, the Detroit Animal Care and Control received a tip about a dog left inside a boarded-up, deteriorating home on the city’s east side.

When playground director Gene Kelty umpired softball games at Hansen Field in the 1960s, he left no doubt about the location of a good pitch. “Stee-RIKE!” he’d call in a voice that carried across the street on Drexel and off the brick walls of St. Martin of Tours church, school, convent, and rectory in Detroit’s southeast corner. “Stee-RIKE!!” Kelty’s voice kept echoing off all those brick houses bordering the playground on Piper, Avondale, and Averhill Court in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood.

Environmental activists reached a “groundbreaking settlement” with Michigan regulators following a civil rights complaint over the state’s disproportionate licensing of hazardous waste facilities in predominantly Black, brown, and lower-income neighborhoods. The settlement, announced Thursday, also addresses the approval of a significant expansion of U.S. Ecology North, a hazardous waste facility in Detroit, which has sparked intense community opposition.

Detroit rocker Jack White slammed Donald Trump, calling him “scum” and his team “fascists,” after the Republican’s presidential campaign used a clip of White’s hit “Seven Nation Army” on a pro-Trump social media post. White said he’s suing the campaign “to add to your 5 thousand others” after Trump’s deputy director of communications, Margo Martin, posted a brief video clip of Trump boarding a plane with White’s music playing in the background.

Less than 90 days after its launch, Detroit-based Sports Rap Radio, touted as the nation’s first sports-talk radio station completely owned by and featuring African American talent, has come to an end — for now. Rob Parker, a well-known sports radio host with roots in Detroit, launched Sports Rap Radio in early June, with the goal of adding Black voices at a time when local sports radio is dominated by white hosts.

Detroit will soon welcome Michigan’s first Savage X Fenty store, the globally renowned lingerie and apparel brand by singer and businesswoman Rihanna known for “championing inclusivity, fearlessness, and confidence.” The new store will be located at 1442 Woodward Ave. in Detroit, a space owned by Bedrock, near other downtown shopping spots like H&M, Nike, and Lululemon. First announced in 2022, the store was originally planned to open in 2023.

Protesters gathered outside the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, calling for an independent and extensive review of all cases handled by a former Detroit detective accused of putting innocent Black men behind bars for two decades. Demonstrators also urged Prosecutor Kym Worthy to file charges against retired Detective Barbara Simon for allegedly committing perjury and unlawfully detaining suspects and witnesses while working in the homicide division in the 1990s and early 2000s. The protest was prompted by a two-part Metro Times series that showed how Simon confined young suspects and witnesses to small rooms at police headquarters for hours without a warrant.

On June 8, 2023, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) posted a message on social media saying that it had responded to an unusually high volume of calls reporting suicide attempts and overdoses in a 48-hour period. “Many people are facing great personal challenges and there is help available,” the post read. The message came amid a growing crisis of overdose and drug-related deaths.

Protesters plan to rally outside the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday to demand a thorough review of all cases handled by a former Detroit detective who terrorized young Black men for nearly two decades. The protest comes a little more than a month after Metro Times launched a series about Detective Barbara Simon, who confined young suspects and witnesses to small rooms at police headquarters for hours without a warrant.

A former employee of the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center is suing the hotel chain after she alleges she was sexually assaulted by a manager and then forced to leave her job. The Dearborn woman, whom Metro Times won’t identify because she was the victim of an alleged crime, claims in the lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court that the Detroit Marriott “created a sexually hostile environment” and failed to protect her. According to the lawsuit, manager Dhurba Koirala invited the employee to his hotel room at the end of her shift at 1 p.m. on Aug. 8 “under the guise that other employees would be present.”

In a Dearborn cafe, weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Abbas Alawieh tells Metro Times, “We never want to go back to the version of progressive politics where we’re allowed to be progressive on everything except for Palestine.” Alawieh, who’s the co-founder of the antiwar Uncommitted National Movement, is reflecting an increasingly mainstream position, one that the movement hoped would soon build to a crescendo loud enough to force party leaders to listen. There were reasons to be hopeful.