It’s the end of an era for Detroit.  After more than 130 years, the owners of Dittrich Furs — one of the city’s oldest privately held businesses and a Detroit fashion icon — announced their retirement and closing of the company. The fifth-generation owners made the announcement Saturday on its website dittrichfurs.com and on social […]

The post Dittrich Furs, one of Detroit’s oldest businesses, announces closing appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

When he learned about a quirky, nearly century-old metro Detroit home made from concrete blocks embedded with thousands of glass bottles, Carl Schiller says he knew he had to save it. “As soon as I saw the place, my jaw just hit the floor,” Schiller tells Metro Times. “I could not believe how cool it […]

The post Historic Hazel Park ‘bottle house’ hits market for first time in 70+ years appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

This is the seventh installment in “Exploring Integrity: Reviewing Wrongful Conviction Remedies,” a series examining the impact of conviction integrity units on the American judicial system’s rate of wrongful conviction. Presented by the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism, the investigation is supported by Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Detroit’s top man at the Fire Department still […]

The post Detroit fire official undermines 2008 murder case in surfaced video appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging state utility regulators to reconsider their approval of special power contracts for a massive data center planned in Washtenaw County, warning the fast-tracked decision could leave electric customers exposed to higher costs.

The post Nessel challenges fast-tracked DTE data center deal, citing risks to ratepayers and lack of public scrutiny appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

Severe mold contamination inside an apartment at Alden Towers in Detroit left two adults and a baby seriously ill, forcing them to throw away nearly everything they owned and ultimately leaving them homeless with ongoing health problems, a family says.

The post Family says mold exposure at Detroit’s Alden Towers left them sick, homeless, and ignored appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

With proposals of large-scale data centers spreading across Michigan, U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Thursday released what he called “terms of engagement” aimed at protecting communities from higher utility bills, grid strain, and environmental harm.

The post Senate candidate El-Sayed says data centers must protect communities or stay out of Michigan appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

An internal assessment by the Michigan Department of Corrections contradicts the state’s public claims that conditions at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility pose little cause for concern, documenting widespread infrastructure failures that create ideal conditions for mold to grow and spread.

The post State’s own report blows holes in public claims about Michigan women’s prison appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

Senior Detroit Department of Transportation officials abused their authority by shielding employees who disrupted bus service by having “a romantic interaction,” abandoned a running city bus, and violated workplace rules, a Detroit Office of Inspector General investigation found. The findings are detailed in a final OIG report that describes “employee misconduct and lapses in disciplinary […]

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For more than a decade, Krystal Clark has warned that mold inside Michigan’s only women’s prison is killing her.

The post Michigan inmate with mold illness begs Gov. Whitmer to save her life appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

Mary Sheffield, a political phenom whose rise began when she was elected to Detroit City Council at age 26, made history Sunday when she was sworn in as the city’s first woman mayor. 

The post Mayor Mary Sheffield reflects on leading Detroit and the road ahead appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

A newly released tranche of Justice Department records tied to Jeffrey Epstein includes a handwritten letter addressed to Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused hundreds of young athletes over nearly two decades.

The post Alleged jailhouse letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar surfaces in federal records appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

Detroit has demolished roughly 27,000 abandoned houses and sold another 19,000 formerly vacant homes since Mayor Mike Duggan took office in 2014 and embarked on what became one of the largest residential blight-removal efforts in the country, city officials said this week.

The post Detroit demolished 27,000 abandoned homes under Duggan as Land Bank inventory dwindles appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

Tenants of Detroit’s historic Leland House plan to rally Saturday afternoon, accusing city officials of blocking them from retrieving their belongings after a sudden evacuation earlier this month and raising alarms about what they call a “hostile takeover” of the troubled and storied downtown building.

The post Tenants plan rally over alleged ‘hostile takeover’ of Detroit’s historic Leland House appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

A 56-year-old immigrant died this week at a newly opened federal immigration detention facility in northern Michigan, raising new questions about transparency and conditions inside one of the largest detention centers in the Midwest.

The post Tlaib pushes for answers after death at ICE detention center appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

A downtown Detroit restaurant and nightclub is facing a civil rights lawsuit after an employee says he was subjected to racist and homophobic slurs, physically assaulted by a coworker on the job, and then fired after complaining that management failed to protect him. The lawsuit, filed this week in Wayne County Circuit Court by Marko […]

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A Wayne County judge has rejected Detroit Thermal’s bid to shut down a lawsuit brought by residents of Detroit’s historic Lafayette Park neighborhood, keeping in place a court order that blocks the utility from running steam lines through the protected greenspace.

The post Judge deals major blow to Detroit Thermal in Lafayette Park dispute appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

State regulators are facing increasing pressure to slow down a $7 billion, 2.2-million-square-foot data center proposed for rural Saline Township, where residents and environmental groups warn the project would destroy wetlands, strain Michigan’s energy grid, and permanently reshape a farming community that opposes the development.

The post Residents raise alarms over environmental risks tied to massive data center in Saline Township appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

A federal jury on Monday found that a Clinton Township cop used excessive force during a non-emergency encounter, awarding $4 million in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages to Daniel Reiff, who was left blind in one eye after being punched in the face by the officer.

The post Jury awards $4 million to man whose eye was ‘squished like a grape’ by Clinton Township cop appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

This is the sixth installment in “Exploring Integrity: Reviewing Wrongful Conviction Remedies,” a series examining the impact of conviction integrity units on the American judicial system’s rate of wrongful conviction. Presented by the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism, the investigation is supported by Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The meeting should have happened in 2008. Detroit […]

The post Expert testimony casts doubt on 2008 arson case that sent Detroit man to prison appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.