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BLKOUT Walls Mural Festival Returns With 10 New Murals Across Detroit

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BLKOUT Walls Mural Festival Returns With 10 New Murals Across Detroit


Make the city brighter! The BLKOUT Walls Mural Festival is back for its third annual celebration in Detroit, Michigan, running Monday, Sept. 8 through Sunday, Sept. 14.

This year, the event will unveil 10 new large-scale murals by local and national artists, transforming spaces across the area.

Lamar Landers 

“Attendees will experience a different landscape of the city,” BLKOUT Walls founder Sydney G. James tells ET. 

“The featured artists are painting on walls located in the Woodbridge and Franklin neighborhoods and on East Jefferson Avenue.”

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Beyond enjoying the art itself, guests can attend talks to hear the inspirations behind the installations, each designed to amplify BIPOC voices. 

Lamar Landers 

“We prioritize small business-owned properties to adorn. The owners of the property and the surrounding neighbors get beautification revitalization,” James explains.

The 2025 theme, A Beautiful Resistance, challenges selected participants to reshape the atmosphere of their environments through vibrant, joy-filled work. 

“A mural, sculpture, and/or art installation is meant to create and/or change a mood of a space,” James says. 

For James and her fellow artists, it’s also about supporting the community. 

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Lamar Landers 

“Art itself — or better yet, the sharing of art — is giving back, especially when referring to public art,” she notes. 

Before wrapping up the festival, there will be a BLKOUT Walls Block Party on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 1–5 p.m. at Spirit Plaza (2 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48226).

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Detroit, MI

Retired Detroit sergeant faces new sexual assault charge involving 14-year-old victim from 2002

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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. 

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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. 

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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. 



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Detroit, MI

Metro Detroit weather forecast, March 26, 2026 — 11 p.m. Update

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Metro Detroit weather forecast, March 26, 2026  — 11 p.m. Update


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Fangirl Culture is Front and Center as Detroit Mercy Theatre Company Presents a Zany Y2K Comedy

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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.

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“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.

Student Actor, Rileyt McDevitt.  Detroit Mercy

Student actor Riley McDevitt, Photo by Alan Devlin

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.

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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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