The surprise selection will be unveiled when the lights go down at Motor City Cinematheque’s new public program.

A movie with very strong Michigan connections will play Thursday night at the Farmington Civic Theater.

There’s only one hitch: Viewers won’t know what it is until the lights go down and the movie starts.

The evening will act as the kickoff of Secret Cinematheque, a new mystery movie program from Motor City Cinematheque, a nonprofit organization launched in 2025 that is dedicated to enriching film culture in Metro Detroit.

Motor City Cinematheque was founded by Kevin Maher, a veteran of several Hollywood studios who has been involved with nonprofit film exhibition for around a decade, and John Monaghan, a former Detroit Free Press film and theater critic and a former programmer at Detroit’s Redford Theatre.

The Secret Cinematheque programming, which will be held at the Farmington Civic the second Thursday of every month, is one of several film-related initiatives being launched by MCC.

Other programs include an exhibition of experimental 16mm short films at Detroit’s Galerie Camille on May 7; September’s Noir City Detroit festival at the Redford Theatre; an ongoing partnership with the Black Canon, Ali J. Wheeler and Alima Wheeler Trapp’s vast archive of important and influential films representing decades of Black culture; and a new twice-monthly podcast, “One Film Leads to Another,” which is centered on tracing contemporary film’s roots in classic cinema.

“For us, it’s all about getting people into a theater and watching a movie together, and then talking about it in a group setting,” says Maher. “Watching something communally adds another dimension to the experience, even if you’ve seen the movie before.”

That community aspect is at the heart of the Motor City Cinematheque’s mission. Maher compares it to church; there’s the service, and then there’s the greeting line afterward. “That’s the part that builds community,” he says, of the post-ceremony ritual. “And without that interaction, it’s not complete.”

Maher says his film preferences tend to run more populist, and Monaghan’s more toward the obscure. The melding of their tastes will result in a unique blend of programming, he says. The Secret Cinematheque series will also draw guest contributors from area film personalities.

As for this week’s Detroit-themed Secret Cinematheque offering — clues have been offered up on the Motor City Cinematheque and the Farmington Civic’s Instagram pages — “it’s one of those films that’s worth celebrating about Detroit,” Maher says.

No spoilers. See you at the movies.

agraham@detroitnews.com

Motor City Cinematheque presents Secret Cinematheque

7:30 p.m. Thursday

Farmington Civic Theater, 33332 Grand River Ave., Farmington

$5.75

thefct.com

By now, Milwaukee Brewers fans have hopefully found a reliable way to catch game broadcasts in 2026, the first year of a new format in which Major League Baseball produces and distributes games.

The Brewers formerly appeared on a regional sports network known as FanDuel Wisconsin (operated by Main Street Sports), but the demise of Main Street pushed the Brewers and several other teams under the MLB umbrella.

Here’s what to know about watching Brewers games in the 2026 season:

Where can I stream Brewers games?

The new Brewers.TV offering, operated through MLB.com, allows Brewers fans to see local games in-market for $99.99 a season, and there are also monthly plans. Fans can also get the full MLB.TV package – enabling them to see all out-of-market games, as well – for $199.99 this season. That’s a bit of a bargain since it costs $149.99 to watch MLB.TV alone, without the Brewers broadcasts.

Can I still watch the Brewers on cable or satellite?

It took right up until Opening Day to announce the channels, but the Brewers made good on their promise that things would be largely unchanged for cable and satellite subscribers, identifying a litany of locations for the various providers around the state.

Channels for Brewers.TV include 1263 on XFinity, 670 on DirecTV and 1743 on U-Verse. For Spectrum customers, the channel varies, depending on the local system – check 308, 1308, 319, 317 and 469 for the channel or channels in your community.

Can I use my cable or satellite credentials to watch games on the Brewers.TV app?

Not yet, even though that was an option previously available with the FanDuel Sports Network app. However, an inquiry into MLB Fan Support indicated that the option “should be available soon.” That’s significant for subscribers to a service like Spectrum, which has an app that enables viewers to watch live TV but often blacks out select channels, including the channel airing Brewers games, when a user is away from the home wi-fi.

Can I watch Brewers games ‘over-the-air’ using an antenna?

Not most games, but there’s a slate of games that will be available on local channels, including WITI-TV (Channel 6) in Milwaukee, with broadcasts that can also be viewed “over the air” with an antenna or on cable or satellite systems with local channels.

Are there some games that will air on other channels or streaming services?

Yes, and here’s the list:

• May 4 at Cardinals, game will air on Fox Sports 1 (but also the regular places like Brewers.TV)
• May 23 vs. Dodgers, Fox
• June 1 vs. Giants, FS1, in addition to regular channels
• June 13 vs. Phillies, Fox
• June 26 vs. Cubs, AppleTV (so a separate subscription will be needed)
• July 5 at Diamondbacks, NBC Sports Network and Peacock
• July 12 at Pirates, NBCSN and Peacock
• Aug. 2 at Angels, NBCSN and Peacock
• Aug. 15 at Dodgers, Fox
• Aug. 23 vs. Braves, ESPN and on the ESPN App (it’s the Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania)
• Aug. 29 vs. Rangers, Fox
• Sept. 20 at Orioles, NBCSN and Peacock

As a dire financial outlook has pushed Minneapolis’ Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) to the brink of closure, health care workers and union leaders are calling for legislative action, which could be introduced at the state Capitol as soon as Tuesday.

HCMC, part of the larger Hennepin Healthcare provider system, is Minnesota’s busiest Level 1 adult and pediatric trauma center. It is also a safety-net hospital, meaning it accepts patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay, and has been a training site for more than half of Minnesota’s practicing physicians. In 2025, the hospital saw nearly 115,000 patients, including more than 94,000 emergency department visits.

“HCMC is not just a Minneapolis hospital. It’s Minnesota’s safety net. It is Minnesota’s last line of care,” said Jeremy Olson-Ehlert, a registered nurse at HCMC and second vice president of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA), at an April 1 press conference at the Capitol.

The hospital is also in financial straits, facing up to $50 million in operating losses in 2026 and staring down $1.7 billion in losses over the next 10 years, according to projections shared in March with the Hennepin County Board’s budget committee. Right now, the hospital can’t even make its $33 million biweekly payroll and must rely on the county to cover the overdraft, Hennepin County Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde told MinnPost. Lunde chairs the Hennepin Health Board.

The hospital’s financial hardships can be attributed to multiple factors over many years, including the shutdown of Minnesota-based health insurer UCare, which owes HCMC $115 million, and the running cost to treat uninsured or publicly insured patients, who make up the hospital’s majority.

Massive changes to Medicaid eligibility under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, set to go into effect in 2027, are expected to exacerbate HCMC’s challenges. About 140,000 Minnesotans are at risk of losing their health coverage in the coming decade, according to an analysis by the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

Lunde said that without action from lawmakers by the May 18 end to the legislative session, HCMC would begin closing in June.

No other place to go

The impact would be catastrophic and felt throughout the state, several speakers said at the April 1 press conference.

“Patients will wait significantly longer in emergency departments, and hospitals across Minnesota will lose a partner that they rely on,” Olson-Ehlert said. “There is no backup plan, there is no extra capacity, and there is no other place for these patients to go.”

Lunde echoed those concerns, saying HCMC’s closure would overwhelm places like Regions Hospital in St. Paul and North Memorial in Robbinsdale, the only other Level 1 trauma centers in the Twin Cities. He also warned that wait times for the ER could skyrocket from one to two hours to up to 10.

Some cost-saving measures are already underway. In February, HCMC cut its beds by 100, to 390 total. In January, the hospital stopped accepting most non-emergency transfers from outside of Hennepin County, putting a strain on rural hospitals.

“We’re not only a safety net hospital for patients, we’re also a safety net hospital for other hospitals,” Lunde said.

The current solution being eyed is to repurpose the county’s 0.15% sales tax used to pay off bonds for the Minnesota Twins stadium into a 1% tax that would generate about $340 million annually for HCMC.

Lunde said he expects a bill in support of the tax to be introduced Tuesday in the House when the Legislature reconvenes after the Easter/Passover break. It will be introduced by a member of the DFL Party, he said, with a Republican co-signer.

“We’ve met with the speaker, the senate minority leader, the senate majority leader, leadership in the House, because we’ve been very focused on we need a bipartisan bill, and we need bipartisan support,” Lunde said.

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This story was originally published by MinnPost and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.