U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib wants to give rent money to young adults and youth experiencing homelessness. The Detroit Congresswoman has reintroduced her Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act, which calls for direct cash payments to adults under 30 and emancipated minors experiencing homelessness.

This coverage is made possible through a partnership between IPR and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization. In a rare move, six tribal nations in Michigan have withdrawn from discussions on a federal permit for the Line 5 tunnel, which the Canadian company Enbridge wants to build under the Straits of Mackinac. Line 5 carries oil and natural gas liquids across the Straits of Mackinac.

For the past two weeks, demonstrators have gathered outside Troy’s Somerset Collection holding handmade signs with slogans like “DETROIT VS MUSK,” “STOP FUNDING A FASCIST,” and “NO KINGS! NO NAZIS!” The demonstrations support an international “Tesla Takedown” movement against billionaire Elon Musk and his meddling in politics.

Michigan is still “feeling the Bern.” On Saturday, some 10,000 people came to Lincoln High School in Warren to listen to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders — a figure that seemed to surprise even his own team.

President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night was a fascist speech. He spent much of the record-setting address — at one hour and 40 minutes, the longest ever delivered to Congress — sneering at and denigrating Democrats, spouting a firehose blast of falsehoods, threatening to annex allied nations like Greenland “one way or another,” calling for the death penalty to anyone who kills a cop, promising to round up “illegal” immigrants, and continuing to roll out the red carpet for his oligarch friend Elon Musk to take over the U.S. government. But much of the address was also centered on the ongoing moral panic against transgender people — statements that were reportedly not included in excerpts shared with the press ahead of time.

While the Democratic Party seems to be at a loss as to how to respond to President Donald Trump and his billionaire buddy Elon Musk’s rapid (and possibly unconstitutional) dismantling of the federal government, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is calling it like he sees it. The Vermont independent has hit the road for a national “Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here” tour, rallying against what his office calls “the takeover of the national government by billionaires and large corporations, and the country’s move toward authoritarianism.”

HGTV, everyone’s favorite reality TV guilty pleasure, is coming back to Detroit. The network announced Thursday that it has green-lighted Condemned, a new home improvement show set in the Motor City. “During the eight one-hour episodes, property investor and rehabber Kristyn Patterson and her builder father, Pancho Patterson, will stop at nothing to rescue The Motor City’s worst houses that are destined for the wrecking ball,” HGTV says in a press release.

Now here’s a cool idea. Michigan has brought back its retro license plate styles to help Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s goal to “fix the damn roads.” The Michigan Legislature passed bills to allow the Secretary of State to reissue the classic blue-and-white plates from 1983-2007 as well as black-and-white plates from 1979-1983.

A Michigan civil rights law firm filed a lawsuit against Lyft after one of its drivers refused to give a ride to a Detroit woman because of her weight. According to the complaint from Marko Law, PLLC, on Jan. 18 Dajua Blanding — a self-described “BBW” rapper who also goes by the name Dank Demoss — called a Lyft for a ride from her home to watch a football game at her cousin’s house.

Want to be on TV? The folks from American Pickers are coming back to Michigan in search of treasures. Producers for the hit History Channel reality TV show plan to be in the state in March looking for subjects.

The Michigan Science Center planetarium theater is getting some big upgrades in 2025 thanks to a $2.6 million grant from Ballmer Group. Dubbed the “Hyperspace Initiative,” the upgrades include inclined seats, an updated 5.1 audio system, 8K digital projection, and a seamless dome. The project also includes the addition of educational outer space-related exhibits outside the theater that feature immersive, hands-on activities and interactive games.

Once again Detroit will celebrate Black culture with the lighting of a giant Kwanzaa kinara downtown, believed to be the largest in the world. For the third year in a row, the 30-foot-tall monument will join the massive Christmas tree and giant Hanukkah menorah in Campus Martius Park. The city will celebrate the beginning of Kwanzaa with a lighting ceremony starting at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 26, where city historian Jamon Jordan will deliver a keynote address.

Teso Life, a U.S.-based Japanese department store chain that was founded in 2017 in New York City, plans to open its first Michigan location in the Detroit area.  The 12,000-square-foot store is planned for the mixed-use Asian-themed Sakura Novi development, which broke ground last year. Teso Life is known for selling Japanese snacks, cosmetics, homeware, stationary, toys, and more.

Detroit Metro Times readers can follow us on Bluesky, an alternative social media platform that has exploded in popularity in recent days and is now the No. 1 downloaded app on Apple’s App store. Our Bluesky page can be found at @metrotimes.bsky.social. Founded in 2019 by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky’s popularity has surged following last week’s U.S. presidential election.

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A company that immerses fans in sports and entertainment viewing events with LED technology announced its fourth U.S. venue is planned for Detroit. Cosm’s latest location is planned for the Campus Martius area in Detroit through a partnership with Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock real estate arm and local architecture firm Rossetti. It follows venues in Los Angeles and Dallas, as well as a recently announced location in Atlanta.