Detroit, MI
Audio engineer recalls Grammy victory with Aretha Franklin
(CBS DETROIT) – The Grammys are this Sunday, and it goes without saying, that Detroit knows music.
Mark Pastoria has been making music just about his entire life. From his time as a keyboard and songwriter in the band DC Drive to his time now as an audio engineer for StartupNation in Birmingham, Michigan.
He shares that title with modesty though, because before his title as an audio engineer comes two key words: “Grammy-winning.”
“I had no idea, I thought it was a joke,” Pastoria says when recalling his 2005 Grammy win. He won it alongside music producer Arif Mardin and a name you may recognize, Aretha Franklin.
“I found out weeks later. The Grammy office called the studio and they said that I won the award. To share it with [Aretha Franklin] and Arif Mardin,” Pastoria said.
The award was for the “Best R&B Vocal Performance” of “A House is Not a Home.”
“It’s pretty surreal, you know. You never work towards that. You just do your work and just do the best work you can do, and I guess when it’s the most unexpected, that’s when things happen,” says Pastoria.
He says he knew Franklin was nominated for the award, but didn’t know he was included on the 2005 nomination until after he received the call.
Pastoria says the opportunities to work with the “Queen of Soul,” and even bring home a Grammy, created memories that he’ll take with him for life.
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Detroit, MI
Retired Detroit sergeant faces new sexual assault charge involving 14-year-old victim from 2002
An additional case, this one involving a victim who was then 14 years old, has been added to the sexual assault investigation against a former Detroit Police Department sergeant.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the latest charges on Friday against Benjamin Martin Wagner, 68, who now lives in Greenville, N.C. He had retired from the Detroit Police Department in 2017.
The victim in the additional charges was 14 years old when the assault happened in October 2002 in Detroit, Worthy said. The prosecutor alleges that Wagner approached the victim, pointed a handgun at her, ordered her away from the location and then sexually assaulted her.
In this case, he faces charges of kidnapping, two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. An arraignment hearing took place Friday in the 36th District Court in Detroit. A probable cause conference is scheduled for April 7.
The woman is now 37 years old.
“She has lived with what happened to her for 23 years and has now bravely decided that she wants to be a part of holding him accountable,” Worthy said.
Wagner participated in a court hearing Thursday and was remanded to jail, one week after he was charged with 15 counts of kidnapping and rape in five separate sexual assault cases. All of those incidents happened between 1999 and 2003 in the northwest side of Detroit, with the victims being young women between the ages of 15 and 23.
The court dates for the earlier list of charges are April 7 for a probable cause hearing and April 14 for a preliminary exam.
Wagner joined the Detroit Police Department in 1989 as a police officer and was eventually promoted to sergeant. He retired in 2017 and moved to North Carolina.
Detroit, MI
Metro Detroit weather forecast, March 26, 2026 — 11 p.m. Update
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Detroit, MI
Fangirl Culture is Front and Center as Detroit Mercy Theatre Company Presents a Zany Y2K Comedy
I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire closes Detroit Mercy’s 55th Season
DETROIT — Detroit Mercy Theatre Company (DMTC) closes the inaugural season of the new Detroit
Mercy Black Box Theatre with I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire by Samantha Hurley, playing April 10-19 on University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus.
I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire is set in 2004 and follows 14-year-old Shelby Hinkley, who is obsessed with Hollywood star Tobey Maguire and creates a play to kidnap and marry him in her basement.
“This play is as hilarious as it is heartfelt,” said DMTC managing director Sarah Rusk. “Shelby truly believes Tobey Maguire is her destiny, and through her obsession we get a look into the complicated emotions of growing up during the Y2K era.”
“I absolutely love working with young actors,” said director Cassandra Svacha.
“Watching them create and rise to the challenge is thrilling. I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire to college-aged kids is like a period piece; none of them were alive when this story takes place so it’s extra fun to have them dive into this world in an anthropologic way. They aren’t reminiscing or remembering 2004, they have to study that world and build it for themselves.”
I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire runs six performances April 10-19 at the new Detroit Mercy Black Box Theatre on University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus. The DMTC Ticket Office is open Tuesday-Thursday 10 a.m.- 2 p.m., with tickets being available for purchase anytime online at www.DetroitMercyArts.com.
Individual tickets are $25 for adults, $18 for seniors and Detroit Mercy faculty, staff and alumni, and $10 for veterans and students (ages 4-college). Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. To schedule your group, contact Sarah Rusk at 313-993-3273.
Those looking to buy tickets should note that the play is rated R and contains adult language and
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