We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,

Even for some of those best forgot

The final year of this decade starts Tuesday with a fresh slate and clean plate. The wild ride of 2018 included coverage of people and things we'll regret losing, as well as counterparts at the other end of our sentiments.

See if you share our feelings about these Michigan newsmakers and developments:

We'll miss writing about . . .



Aretha Franklin ornament photo by Shinola. Tim Robinson and Sam Richardson photo from Comedy Central. Sign photo from General Motors.

♦ Aretha: At least we can look forward to a Jan. 13 tribute in L.A. that CBS will show later. Singers at "A Grammy Celebration for the Queen of Soul" include Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Patti LaBelle, BeBe Winans, Janelle Monáe, John Legend and Yolanda Adams. The absent voice, however, will be a silent reminder of how much we miss Detroit's queen. When our soul was down and out, she came along to lift it.

♦ GM Poletown plant: We join countless others who'll miss 1,500 jobs at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant and who mourn further erosion of what's left of Detroit's manufacturing identity. Economic evolution can be natural and healthy, but seeing Motor City become Scooter City or Shinola City feels weird.

♦ "Detroiters:" It'd be sweet, and surprising, if a longshot #SaveDetroiters push by grieving fans can resuscitate a Comedy Central sitcom that many viewers call TV's funniest of 2017-18. Beyond shock, denial, pain and anger comes acceptance that we've likely seen the last Cramblin Duvet antics, though surely not the last of Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson.



Miguel Cabrera: Past his prime? (Facebook photo)

♦ Miggy at his prime: As the All-Star slugger swings into shaky status next season, we brace for the likelihood of missing his batting bonanzas. That happened during the 2018 season's last three months as a torn left biceps tendon sidelined the Tigers star.

"The harsh truth is, it's probably the end of Cabrera as we once knew him," predicts Bob Wojnowski, who notes that "the scope of his ailments traveled the length of his body, from a fractured foot to an ankle injury to a calf strain to a groin strain to back problems to a persistent hamstring issue to a biceps strain. . . . Whether he’ll ever play like himself again is the great unknown." Miggy, whose contract runs until 2022, turns 36 next June.

♦ Cheli's Chili Bar: Chris Chelios, who gave us a prime-site watering hole for a dozen years, last month hosted "the world's greatest closing party." Downtown has no shortage of pub grub and new spots to hang, but Cheli's is a vanished piece of the cityscape worth toasting.



Vaughn Derderian: "A phenomenal ride."

♦ The Anchor Bar's original family: This hallowed ground at 45 W. Fort St. survives in new hands, though longtimers won't stop missing three generations of stewards -- Leo Derderian, Vaughn Derderian and Vaughn Derderian Jr. "It has been a phenomenal ride," Vaughn Derderian wrote here three months ago.

So if when you go, pour one out in respect for nearly 60 years of a distinctive family-run bar downtown.

♦ Mom-and-pop bakery: Speaking of an old-style small business with longevity, 2019 dawns without Knudsen's Danish Bakery on West McNichols Road at Greenview Avenue in North Rosedale Park. Ninety-five years of baking bread, rolls, cakes, doughnuts and pastries ended without notice last spring. Its final owner was Daniel Dimitrievski of Dearborn Heights.

"Ready to retire," a member of his family told the Freep in May. "Bakery business is very demanding and we can't commit. Ready for a vacation." And so a neighborhood's fabric changes, one strand at a time.



Tim Smith: A downtown pioneer and creative leader.

♦ Tigers broadcasters: We don't excuse bad behavior and don't know if their toxic relationship was fixable, but we enjoyed hearing Rod Allen and Mario Impemba do Tigers play-by-play and color commentary since early last decade on Fox Sports Detroit. So we wish them well with a tip of our ball caps.

♦ Tim Smith of Skidmore Studio: Because impact counts as much as prominence, we also list someone most readers didn't know about unless you're in Detroit's creative community. Smith, 54-year-old chief executive and owner of a marketing design agency, died from a heart attack early this year.

He showed early confidence in downtown's rebound, moving Skidmore from Royal Oak in 2011 to the entire fourth floor of the Bedrock-owned Madison Building at 1555 Broadway St. He also was a remarkably decent guy.

We won't miss . . .

♦ Hard Rock Cafe: This tourist trap outpost certainly will not be missed at ground zero of downtown's work-and-play district. It shuts Jan. 26 after 15 years at One Campus Martius, an address that deserves better. We described last month why this chain "concept past its time may not be widely mourned in Detroit."



Karen Spranger, Stan Van Gundy and two other welcome bygones.

♦ January auto shows: Our leading industry's international showcase for journalists, executives and consumers is scheduled at a time of frigid temps, snow, icy sidewalks and early darkness, really? The upcoming Cobo auto show from Jan. 14-27 ends that odd timing. The 2020 version runs June 8-21, when Charity Gala limos won't have road salt stains and when outdoor tie-ins can occur.

♦ Bill Schuette: For reasons too obvious and extensive to enumerate, we bid the Republican attorney general good riddance.

♦ Lou Anna Simon: Ditto for MSU's former president, forever tarnished by failure to grasp the enormity of a crisis or respond effectively.

This was a "leader" whose off-key resignation letter Jan. 24 claimed "I have tried to make it not about me," but referred 26 times to herself with the word "I." Though we'd rather not type her name again, Simon's fall isn't over. She faces two felony counts and two misdemeanor counts for allegedly lying to state police detectives investigating Larry Nassar.



Bill Schuette, Lou Anna Simon, our past logo and Chris Bosio.

♦ Karen Spranger: Was this bizarre cartoon character just a bad dream, or did Macomb County really elect a kooky clerk who finally was booted by a judge in March for lying about her residency when filing to run? In any case -- stay gone, weird woman.

♦ Chris Bosio: The Tigers pitching coach took a verbal swing into foul territory last June when he called a young African American clubhouse employee "this monkey here." Bosio was provided an opportunity to apologize to the attendant after his outburst but declined to do so, according to multiple sources," The Athletic news site reported. The one-strike offense got him fired. Good play, Tigers.

♦ Stan Van Gundy: In another pro sports departure, the Pistons' head coach became Stan Van "Gonedy" last May. He got the boot with a year left on a five-year deal. Van Gundy, who also was general manager in effect, posted a 152-176 record in four seasons here and never won a playoff game. Stan wasn't the best man.

♦ Our original logo: We'll always cherish fond memories of the formative years as Deadline Detroit 1.0, but aren't sentimental about the branding image that was replaced as part of our Nov. 1 relaunch. We look ahead without nostalgia for "Homegrown Media Revolution," whatever that meant.

Your turn now

Who or what did we miss in either category?

Post a comment below or on one of our social media pages: Twitter | Facebook