A Place Called Heaven honors Detroit's Black queer history

'Dragged to Death' emerges as the prime murder mystery to read during Pride Month

Frank Anthony Polito [https://frankanthonypolito.wixsite.com/website] is an award-winning self-published author and playwright from Hazel Park, Michigan. Recently, he's been focuing on murder mystery series starring "Domestic Partners in Crime," Peter ‘PJ’ Penwell and JP Broadway.  "Dragged to Death [https://www.amazon.com/Dragged-Death-Domestic-Partners-Mystery/dp/B0GWLK5GPW/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ahiX0AA-YXvkjvwAJvIbBKJjdYLalDOYm8kLD16d9Ej1s7eE4REui_xhvnJiX-sFyumCasaASj9naP0AsFySFL_K1quJ0AO2DKpbzn_9gYml8bA6CJSKS1IPa2KOFfWN8qf67sfTVSWg-McmJX99SVFUPgMmZWqVPiVrBxLLbs4tQ8_lQrmYWtoIdUfdXyehhXJAz7N88o-m-Je2AdLqa8zLAMw3sSR5gYHH3UbiA5o.ZYfoCYlqlGX0EGqqskeX99PwtH9xznqTOPH_L-KlTo8&qid=1779207784&sr=8-1]" serves as the fourth installment of that series, where a young drag queen from the Detroit drag scene is smothered to death by her own wig. Polito joined The Metro to discuss his book, his lived experiences in Detroit and New York, and the perseverance necessary for the role of a self-publisher.

"When the economy catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia." Cass Tretyak on hunger and the cost of living

Affordability is the word of the moment — and behind it is something stark. Nearly half of Americans can't cover their essential expenses, gas is up about a dollar a gallon since February, and more people are going hungry now than at the height of the pandemic. In Detroit, where food insecurity was already widespread, that squeeze lands even harder. "When the economy catches a cold, Detroit gets pneumonia," said Cass Tretyak, an outreach navigator at Community & Home Supports [https://chsinc.org/]. She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to unpack how a punishing economy keeps failing people living in poverty — the rising demand for food and housing help, the toll of new federal rules tightening access to benefits like SNAP, and what it actually takes to keep her clients fed and housed.

A Place Called Heaven honors Detroit's Black queer history

When people don’t feel welcomed in a space, they create their own. In 1984, a third space came to life on 7 Mile and Woodward, that was Club Heaven. Decades later, the legacy of the community continues to thrive. This month, in celebration of Pride, The Love Building is hosting a LOVE@Nite session called "A Place Called Heaven.”  [https://www.thelovebuilding.org/love-list-events/lovenite-a-place-called-heaven] The gathering will center Black queer life through storytelling, music, and community connections, and a look back at more than 30 years of history. The Metro spoke with Chris “Inpaq” Sutton, director of the film "Heaven In Detroit" and broadcast studio manager for LGBT Detroit [https://www.lgbtdetroit.org/], alongside Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, project manager at the Love Building.  They talked about the impact of Detroit’s Black queer community, explored the need for safe physical spaces, and how their partnerships honors those who live their truths.

Detroit could be home to a Michelin star soon. What does that mean for the city?

Restaurants in Detroit are now eligible to receive a Michelin star rating. That’s 20 years after the Michelin Group awarded its first star to restaurants in the United States. The designation was born from the French tire company’s efforts over a century ago [https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/about-us] to recommend places for drivers to stop. It has since become an authority on where to eat worldwide. Detroit Free Press dining and restaurant critic Lyndsay Green [https://www.freep.com/staff/6300025001/lyndsay-c-green/] joined The Metro to explain what the Michelin star designation means, why Detroit is being considered, and if a metro Detroit food spot has a real shot at receiving a star rating.

Why almost nobody follows Detroit rental law

Windows nailed shut. No heat on the second floor. Sewage backing up into the basement — in a home the city never cleared to be a rental in the first place. For 40 years, Detroit has had a law meant to prevent exactly that: landlords must register a rental and prove it's safe before anyone moves in. Almost nobody follows it. Only about 1 in 7 Detroit rentals meets the bar, and rewrites of the law in 2017 and 2024 have barely moved the needle. Outlier Media senior reporter Aaron Mondry [https://outliermedia.org/author/aaron-mondry/] joins host Robyn Vincent to explain why — and who pays for it. Part of the answer is enforcement; part is math: a Center for Community Progress [https://communityprogress.org/] study found that fixing an old house can cost more than the rent will ever bring back, so landlords ignore the law. It's a bind in any city built on old, cheap housing. Mondry lays out what it costs tenants, why a landlord without a certificate of compliance isn't even allowed to collect rent, and what it would take to change.