Free read, Dec. 9-13: Fain's plea, Temple Bar returns, Rio's first day out
Here's what I was paying attention to during week 2 of Detroit one million.
Howdy, subscribers!
I’m back with another week end news recap including some thoughts and analysis on what’s happening across Michigan from Detroit to Lansing.
But first, an update: Thank you for being one of more than 800 subscribers to Detroit one million. There are currently about 125 paid subscribers. I appreciate every single one. My goal next year is to double the number of paid subscribers, and then double that number again.
Once 375 free subscribers become paid subscribers, I will stop spamming my Instagram stories pleading with my 20-something-year-old friends to give me $8/month. I have a real opportunity to replace my salary with Detroit one million and you can help, all for the price of one chai tea latte at Dessert Oasis.
In order to keep publishing the highest quality stories, I need your help.
Paid subscribers have already helped me pay a local freelance photographer for photos used in an upcoming story.
Subscribers get full access to website, behind the scenes anecdotes and all the stuff I can’t fit into 280 characters on Twitter. Founding members get access to the link/address for a monthly call/meet up to discuss what you’re seeing shape the city’s future.
In the meantime, enjoy these free recaps — poems, if you will. Here’s what I had an eye on this week, Dec. 9-13:
Fain’s call to Michigan Democrats falls flat
UAW president Shawn Fain wrote an opinion editorial published Friday in the Detroit Free Press calling on Democrats to pass legislation benefiting working people instead of corporations.
Democrats are about to hand over control of the state House after winning each branch of state government for the first time in 60 years. Democratic leadership touts their accomplishments, but the feisty progressive wing of the caucus worry their leaders are siding with big-money lobbyists and corporations over working people.
“After decades of being left behind, working-class people have developed good BS detectors. Our politicians in Lansing should remember that,” Fain wrote, imploring Democratic leaders to “pick a side.”
“They can fight to make life better for working-class Michiganders and our communities, or they can do the bidding of corporations, wealthy donors and their lobbyists. But they can’t do both.”
As I write this at 5:16pm, it’s not looking great for Fain and anti-corporate Democrats in the Legislature: Republicans walked out of session Friday in protest. They want to force Dems to vote on legislation that would keep the minimum wage for tipped workers and paid sick leave.
Michigan House Speaker-elect Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, and the House Republican caucus at a press conference Friday afternoon in protest of Democratic leadership.
State Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, whose Twitter “poems” have been the talk of the House in recent days, shared text messages between her and House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit:
“Had this exchange w/Speaker Tate in May. We were repeatedly told wait til Lame Duck. Now, except Hate Crimes bills I’m watching us fail those who need us the most in favor of monied interests & rightwing entities. Dem leaders should be fighting like HELL for these Michiganders,” Coffia wrote in the post’s caption.
She says Democratic leadership won’t take up votes on bills to protect nurses, give undocumented migrants IDs, bring changes to the 2019 auto insurance law.
Tate could pull the ultimate power move: Issue a “call of the House,” using police escort if necessary to bring absent members back to the chamber. Which, in theory, he could have done prior to Friday to round up the Democratic members who have been absent over the last few weeks.
But he wouldn’t say whether he would, Beth LeBlanc reported at 2:16pm Friday.
Lots could change by the end of the day, so I’ll update this page to let you know the outcome of today’s rare Friday session, which follows a late-night to early-morning session yesterday.
Another progressive Democrat called on Democratic leadership to “leave majority standing on our values,” in a social media post. “Give people a reason to believe they are heard and that they matter,” State Rep. Emily Dievendorf said.
Unfortunately for House Speaker Tate, this is all happening on his birthday.
Cooking with Kya, cooking with Kya, cooking with Kya, cooking with Kya…
The internet, at least the one I’m on, is currently obsessed with talking about this girl on TikTok. The discourse over whether she’s 17 (she is not) and whether she can actually cook hasn’t stopped since a few days ago.
She’s part TikTok chef, part thirst trapper reminding girlfriends at off-campus townhouses across the country they don’t know how to cook for their man.
Youtuber and rapper and father of Halle Bailey’s child, PontiacMadeDDG (does he even go by that anymore?), is the first big-name to co-sign Kya, appearing with her in this video last night.
Keep shining, Pontiac, Michigan’s brightest star.
“RIO FREE”
Flint rapper Rio Da Yung OG is out of prison after a 60-month sentence in which he agreed to a plea agreement to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Rio is the leader of a cast of Genesee County rappers that gained national attention during the pandemic. They caught traction online in videos viewed millions of times for hilarious lyrics that often go from amusing to derogatory. He was one of the first rappers from the 810 to collaborate with Detroit artists and is the architect of Flint’s own style. Fellow Genesee County natives, YN Jay and producer Enrgy, have helped further the area’s sound during Rio’s imprisonment.
You might remember seeing a “Free Rio” t-shirt worn on stage at last year’s Thanksgiving Day halftime show at Ford Field.
Well, now he’s free.
“Bossman dlow had a good run but rio back home now 😭💯” someone said in a Youtube comment on “RIO FREE,” the first song since being released from prison, before someone else stole the joke and posted it on Twitter.
I laughed.
Rio da Yung OG, whose legal name is Damario Donshay Horne-McCullough, will complete his sentence via “community confinement,” a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesperson told Pitchfork.
Community confinement means the musician can serve his time at a halfway house or through home confinement.
His projected release date from custody is Saturday, July 12, 2025, and his sentence will be followed by 18 months of supervised release, the music publication reports.
Temple Bar returns!
Cass Corridor’s Temple Bar is reopening Tuesday after being closed since May.
Owner George Boukas told Steve Neavling they’re still not sure why part of the building fell onto the street days before Movement, the business’ busiest weekend of the year.
After raising $23,000 in a GoFundMe, Boukas is thanking the community for their support.
“My heart was trembling,” Boukas said in an interview with Neavling. “The love that was given not only to myself but to my staff has been totally amazing.”
Sitting on the other side of the street as Olympia’s District Detroit, the bar is known for its 22-year-old cat, cameo on the TV show “Detroiters” and its usually available jukebox and pool table. After the death of Joel Landy, Boukas owns the last remaining business on that block truly for the people.