On today’s episode, we check in with soccer correspondent Fletcher Sharpe about Detroit City FC’s new coach, Trevor James, and what it means for the club as it prepares for its first (semi) season of professional soccer.

Elsewhere, I-696 has now been almost fully reopened after the long delay following a labor dispute and problems encountered by cold and wet winter weather. In Warren, construction has apparently loosed a plague of rats on Jim Fouts’ fair city.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer traveled to the Affirmations community center in Ferndale today to sign her executive order prohibiting discrimination against gay and transgender state employees. Her directive goes farther than a similar order signed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder during his waning days in office last month.

Greta Van Fleet, the pride of Frankenmuth, will headline Saturday Night Live on Jan. 19.

And we catch up on some key restaurant/bar openings and closings. Among them:

• Shimmy Shack is gearing up to open its brick-and-mortar eatery in Plymouth Township later this month. (Facebook)
• The Royal Oak nightclub Luna has closed its doors after 19 years of getting people really drunk. (Facebook)
• There’s a new Biggby Coffee on Livernois in Detroit (Daily Detroit)
• In Birmingham, Hunter House might be demolished for a five-story mixed-use development. (Hometown Life)
• And Woodbridge’s latest eatery is Japanese izakaya Katsu Detroit, with tatami-style tables up in front. (Eater Detroit)

And in our “reads” section, check out this piece by Robin Runyan in Curbed Detroit about a Detroiter that’s rehabbing their childhood home they found on the Land Bank auction site.

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