Detroit, MI

Detroit Opera broadens its stage with new events, $3 million grant

Published

2 weeks ago

February 17, 2026

Press Room

Detroit Opera broadens its stage with new events, million grant

Detroit Opera is launching a new initiative called Detroit Opera House Presents to offer a wider variety of live events.
The new series aims to activate the venue year-round alongside its traditional opera and dance productions.
The company also received a $3 million grant from the Fred & Barbara Erb Family Foundation to support operations and new programming.
Upcoming events include “Bugs Bunny at the Symphony” and a tribute to Whitney Houston.

Detroit Opera is broadening its profile as a presenter with Detroit Opera House Presents, a new initiative designed to bring a wider mix of music, dance, storytelling and other live events to its historic downtown venue.

The series will run alongside the company’s acclaimed opera and dance productions and aims to keep the opera house more fully activated year-round.

“For thirty years, this opera house has been home to great entertainment beyond its spectacular opera and dance programming,” said Patty Isacson Sabee, Detroit Opera’s president and CEO. “It has hosted Broadway tours, major concerts, community celebrations — this building has always been a cultural destination for Detroit.

“Detroit Opera House Presents formalizes our commitment to actively programming this incredible venue year-round. Like the city of Detroit and the people who call it home, Detroit Opera refuses to be put into just one box. We’re committed to welcoming people for a variety of exceptional experiences, bringing the Opera House to life more often and inviting new audiences to experience its magic.”

The move builds on decades of varied programming at the opera house since its 1996 renovation — from Broadway tours and major TV tapings to civic events. Detroit Opera has already piloted the new format this season with a run of high-profile events, including Raphael Saadiq’s “No Bandwidth Tour,” a conversation with author Margaret Atwood, and a sold-out symphonic tribute to Parliament Funkadelic featuring George Clinton and the Detroit Opera Orchestra.

The company continues to push artistic boundaries in its core offerings. This season opened with “Highways and Valleys —Two American Love Stories,” a double bill directed by Kaneza Schaal, and will feature Poul Ruders’ “The Handmaid’s Tale” next month, led by an all-female creative team.

Situated next to Detroit’s major sports venues, the opera house is positioned to tap into the city’s deep musical heritage — from Motown to techno — through Detroit Opera House Presents. More programming announcements will appear on detroitoperahouse.com.

Upcoming Detroit Opera House Presents events include:

Bugs Bunny at the Symphony: April 18 at 7:30 p.m. and April 19 at 2:30 p.m.
Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán: May 9 at 7:30 p.m.
GameSymphonic with Éímear Noone: June 13 at 7:30 p.m.
The Voice of Whitney Houston: October 10 at 8 p.m.

Opera receives $3 million grant from Erb Foundation

Detroit Opera has secured a $3 million grant from the Fred & Barbara Erb Family Foundation, funding that will bolster day‑to‑day operations and underwrite a new initiative aimed at broadening the artistic offerings and audience experiences at the Detroit Opera House.

“On behalf of Detroit Opera, I’d like to thank the Erb Family Foundation for its tremendous support and investment,” said Sabee. “Detroit Opera House is more than just a stage for opera — it is a community asset for downtown Detroit that must evolve to meet modern audience needs and financial realities. This funding will give us the flexibility to reimagine and reinvest in the potential of the Opera House and our company as a whole, as we continue our mission to serve the Detroit community in new and exciting ways.”

The Erb Family Foundation, known for its work advancing environmental stewardship, cultural institutions, Alzheimer’s research, and sustainable business practices, has long been a supporter of Detroit Opera. Including the new award, the foundation has provided $1,481,050 to the organization since 2009.

“Fred and Barbara were deeply committed to investing in the people in their community,” said Melissa Damaschke, president of the Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation,“ and Detroit Opera is a perfect example of that principle in action. From its early days as an underdog in downtown Detroit to its recent reinvention as a national destination for progressive opera, Detroit Opera has continuously found new ways to give a voice to the community. The Erb Family Foundation is happy to play a role in its next phase, and we’re eager to see how this company continues to enrich the cultural fabric of southeast Michigan.”

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Detroit, MI

Report: Lions tender K Jake Bates ERFA offer

Published

3 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Report: Lions tender K Jake Bates ERFA offer

The Detroit Lions are starting to take care of their own ahead of free agency, and it begins with one of the easier decisions to make. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the Lions have tendered kicker Jake Bates an exclusive rights free agent offer. What that means is Bates now has a one-year contract offer at the minimum salary ($1,075,000 for Bates). He can choose to sign it or sit out the season.

The reason the Lions can offer this ERFA tender is because Bates’ contract is expiring after just two accrued seasons in the NFL. All players with fewer than three years of experience who are on expiring contracts could be offered these ERFA tenders. In fact, the Lions did so with three other ERFAs earlier this offseason, all of whom already signed the deals: OL Michael Niese, RB Jacob Saylors, and CB Nick Whiteside.

Bates is coming off a season where he took a step back after an outstanding 2024. After making 89.7% of his field goals in his first year with the Lions, Bates slid back to just 79.4% accuracy. That said, five of his seven misses all season were from 50+ yards, and he was a perfect 14-of-14 from 39 yards or shorter. Additionally, he increased his extra point accuracy from 95.5% to 96.4%. He also steadily improved at the new NFL kickoff, which requires a lot more precision from kickers to boot the ball as close to the goal line without going into the end zone.

It’s unclear if the Lions intend on bringing in competition for Bates this offseason, but special teams coordinator Dave Fipp made it abundantly clear all last season that they value Bates, despite some struggles in 2025.

“Clearly, we have a very, very good player,” Fipp said in December. “If you put him on the streets, there would be a bunch of teams claiming him right away. And the truth is, we’d have a really hard time finding a guy even near the same player as him.”

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Detroit, MI

Detroit Pistons’ loss to Cavs shows weaknesses before playoffs

Published

15 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Detroit Pistons’ loss to Cavs shows weaknesses before playoffs

CLEVELAND – In just five days, the Detroit Pistons faced the Cleveland Cavaliers twice.

They split the games to finish their season series against the Central Division rivals, but with a potential reunion looming in the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Pistons came away from both games unsatisfied.

On Friday, it was the Pistons needing overtime to overcome a Cavaliers team missing James Harden and Donovan Mitchell at Little Caesars Arena. On Tuesday, March 3, in Cleveland, however – with Harden back in the lineup – the Pistons struggled in the areas they usually thrive, for a 113-109 loss.

The Pistons’ first loss on the road since Jan. 29 didn’t feature their usual fire for much of the night.

“I’m frustrated with the effort level, the attention to detail that we played on that end of the floor,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The times and opportunities where we did do the right thing, did get stops, we let people outwork us to come up with offensive rebounds. We can’t afford to not play at maximum effort. That’s been our superpower all year long and, tonight, I felt like there were times where we were outworked. If we’re outworked, this isn’t going to be the results that we want.”

The Pistons work at being the league’s most disruptive team via turnovers has given them a top-three defensive rating. They force turnovers on 17.2% of possessions – best in the NBA –and only trail the Houston Rockets in offensive rebounding percentage. They also lead the league in steals and blocks per game. Getting out in transition and capitalizing on second-chance opportunities has created an above-average offense despite struggles on 3-point shooting.

For three quarters against the Cavaliers, little of that materialized – as least until the Pistons grabbed seven steals in the final period (after just two in the first three). Overall, the Pistons were beat on the offensive glass (11-10), mustered just 10 fastbreak points (their lowest total since Jan. 27) and picked up 11 second-chance points (their least since Feb. 6).

It was, in all, a lackadaisical defensive performance, with the Pistons repeatedly losing shooters behind the arc as the Cavs knocked down 17 3-pointers – eight more than the Pistons.

“Obviously they’re a good team, but we haven’t been playing to our standard on that side of the ball,” Pistons wing Javonte Green said. “Coach talked about the effort we need to bring every game. We just need to play harder. We can’t get outworked on offensive rebounds and 50-50 balls, that’s our identity. I feel like we needed to pick up that slack.”

The Pistons also were hurt by a poor shooting performance by Cade Cunningham; he finished with 10 points and 14 assists but shot 4-for-16. Cleveland threw multiple defenders at him all night, and he obliged by passing the ball and setting up his teammates. It led to a big second half for Tobias Harris, who scored all 19 of his points in the last two quarters.

But it wasn’t enough.

“On the defensive end we just couldn’t put up a wall, couldn’t get a stand going,” Cunningham said. “Personally, I had a lot of bad closeouts; just off the ball, I didn’t feel sharp. Just gotta clean all that stuff up.”

With 22 games remaining, the Pistons are focused on cleaning up the margins so they’ll be ready for postseason play. These two games against the Cavaliers have given them a list of areas to clean up.

Friday, they needed an extra period to win after rallying from a late nine-point deficit despite losing Cunningham late after he fouled out with just under two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Jalen Duren and Daniss Jenkins stepped up in overtime after Duncan Robinson also fouled out.

Mostly, the Cavaliers have proven they can pounce during soft stretches on defense. Thursday brings another rematch with a contender, as the Pistons wrap up a three-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs (another opponent from last week).

“We didn’t play our best basketball the other night,” Bickerstaff said of the Cavaliers’ game on Feb. 27. “Give our guys credit because we played 53 minutes and were able to pull it out in some adverse conditions. Cade fouls out, Duncan fouls out, our guys still figure out a way to get it done.

“We need to be better. We need to be better defensively, we need to impose ourselves on the game a little bit more than we did last game. I thought the last two quarters of the Orlando game [on Sunday] were the best quarters we’ve played defensively since New York [on Feb. 19]. I hope, and told our guys, that we can continue to build off that, because that’s where it always starts for us. You can tell the tone by how we are defensively and how we’re getting after it.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky and/or X @omarisankofa.

[ MUST WATCH: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Pistons podcast, listen available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live on YouTube. ]

Next up: Spurs

Matchup: Pistons (45-15) at San Antonio (44-17).

Tipoff: 8 p.m. Thursday, March 5; Frost Bank Center, San Antonio.

TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit; WXYT-FM (97.1).

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Detroit, MI

Police search for suspect, accomplice after teen injured in shooting outside Detroit school gym

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Police search for suspect, accomplice after teen injured in shooting outside Detroit school gym

March 3, 2026 / 6:54 PM EST
/ CBS Detroit

The Detroit Police Department is searching for a suspect and an accomplice in connection with a shooting last week that injured a teen outside a school gym.

The shooting happened in the 3400 block of St. Aubin, the same area where the Detroit Edison Public School Academy’s Early College of Excellence is located. Police say that at about 8:27 p.m. on Feb. 27, there was an altercation inside the gym that continued outside.

Detroit police are searching for a suspect and their accomplice in connection with a shooting outside a school.

Detroit Police Department

Police say the suspect allegedly fired multiple shots at the victim, striking him. The teen was taken to a hospital for treatment. His current condition is unknown.

Police say the accomplice who was with the suspect was also armed.

Anyone with information is asked to call DPD’s seventh precinct at 313-596-5740, Crime Stoppers at 800-Speak Up or DetroitRewards.tv.

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