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Alice Pepper
Special to the Free Press
Christina "Chris" Kucharski passed away July 2 in hospice care in Rochester Hills. She was 71, the only child of Jennie and Chester Kucharski.
Kucharski was a Cass Technical High School music major and played oboe in the school’s varsity band. She earned her Master of Library and Information Science degree at Wayne State University while working at the Detroit Free Press library. Kucharski worked at the newsroom for more than 30 years as a researcher, writer and news archivist, retiring in the late 2000s.
Kucharski traveled (although not as much as she wanted to) and enjoyed going to Poland to visit family. She also went to Hawaii and appreciated Asian clothes and furnishings.
Kucharski was known for her fast and fearless driving — passengers in her car seldom rode with her a second time — as she enjoyed the freedom and speed not possible with her cerebral palsy.
The last few years hurled extra challenges at Kucharski: breast and bone cancer, effects of age on her cerebral palsy, and many ambulance rides to hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Most heartbreaking was the sudden death in 2020 of her devoted friend Theresa Grafton (Terri Sosnowski) who had supported Kucharski through these difficulties.
More:Roseville police officer won't face charges in fatal shooting of man with knife
Kucharski was an animal lover and missed her last cat, Oreo (now at Michigan Humane) during this time. Still, she endured and was “strong beyond her size,” noted Free Press friend Kathy O’Gorman.
Kucharski's colleagues from the Free Press newsroom recalled her valuable research skills and helpful attitude. She was a news junkie and showed “little flashes of temper when something – or somebody – stood in her way of finding something out," wrote former staffer Bill McGraw.
Reporters and editors praised Kucharski for asking questions as well as answering them. She asked “good questions that made for better journalism. She was an often-unheralded asset to much of the best work produced by the Free Press," said former editor Ron Dzwonkowski.
Patrice Williams, who worked in the library with Kucharski, described her as "loving, lovable, unforgettable!"
Her beautiful smile greeted co-workers as they asked for background, facts and missing details for stories on which they were working.
Kucharski is survived by her godson, Andrew Kucharski, and many friends.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Michigan Humane (michiganhumane.org/) or Mitch Albom's SAY Detroit (saydetroit.org/).
Visitation for Kucharski begins at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Anne's Parish, 32000 Mound Road in Warren, followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m.
Alice Pepper is a former Free Press news librarian. | 2022-07-07T23:04:48Z | www.freep.com | Chris Kucharski, former Free Press archivist, dies at 71 | https://www.freep.com/story/news/obituary/2022/07/07/chris-kucharski-obit/7827034001/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/obituary/2022/07/07/chris-kucharski-obit/7827034001/ |
Javier Báez, Beau Brieske shine as Detroit Tigers sink ChiSox, 2-1, for 5th straight win
CHICAGO — Beau Brieske took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.
Javier Báez went yard in his return to Chicago.
And the Detroit Tigers have won five games in a row, all against American League Central opponents. The Tigers opened their longest road trip since April 2003 — 12 games in 11 days — with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
"We're one win away from six," catcher Tucker Barnhart said, "and then hopefully we just keep piling them on."
Detroit improved to 35-47.
WELCOME BACK, JAVY:Back in Chicago, Tigers' Báez reflects on Cubs, pre-COVID contract talks
FEELING A DRAFT? Tigers' pick at No. 12 in MLB draft forces balance of readiness, overall talent
Brieske, in his 14th MLB start, did not allow a hit until ex-Tiger Josh Harrison's leadoff single in the sixth. Harrison, who turns 35 Friday, also drew Chicago's lone walk against Brieske in the third inning.
"I was just thinking about the pitches I needed to execute," Brieske said, "the minor tweaks I was making in between innings and what I felt like I could have done a little bit better. I was really only thinking about that stuff. I wasn't thinking about the amount of hits I gave up."
The 24-year-old pitched into the seventh inning and completed 6⅓ innings with four strikeouts, allowing two hits and one walk. Brieske, a right-hander drafted in the 27th round in 2019, threw 62 of 93 pitches for strikes.
It was a brilliant performance and by far the best start of his big-league career.
"Going a third time through, I didn't want him to walk away with anything bad that happened," Hinch said. "He gave up the hit, so I got him out of there. Excellent job of executing. He showed different looks. He had the two-seamer inside quite a bit. The right-on-right changeup was really good. Just an all-around good effort by Beau."
After Jose Abreu's one-out single in the seventh, Hinch pulled Brieske in favor of right-handed reliever Alex Lange to face Eloy Jimenez.
Lange struck out Jimenez, then Barnhart picked a ball in the dirt, froze Abreu between first and second base with a pump fake and ran him down between the bases for the third out.
Left-hander Andrew Chafin and lefty closer Gregory Soto slammed the door on the White Sox in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Soto, pitching for the first time since July 4, notched his 17th save.
But not before Soto nearly gave away the game.
With one out, Soto allowed a single to Tim Anderson and walked AJ Pollock. Luis Robert followed with an RBI double down the first-base line. The ball got past diving first baseman Spencer Torkelson, scoring Anderson and putting runners on second and third. But Soto came back with a strikeout of Abreu on a foul tip, then got Jimenez to ground out to Báez.
"It popped over," Torkelson said of Robert's double. "It hit off the end cap (of the bat), so it had some funky spin on it and grabbed some dirt and popped over my glove. Not really much I could do."
Before Abreu's at-bat, pitching coach Chris Fetter emerged for a mound visit. Hinch wanted Soto to challenge Abreu, rather than pitching around him or intentionally walking him with first base open.
"Fett had a great visit," Hinch said. "Javy was coming in. Everybody was telling him to be aggressive and stay in the zone. Getting Abreu was huge. I didn't feel comfortable walking guys because of the erratic nature of maybe a base on balls that comes after the intentional walk. ... He made pitches at the end."
In the top of the ninth, pinch-hitter Eric Haase entered for a matchup with White Sox left-handed reliever Tanner Banks. He singled to center. Two outs later, Torkelson entered as a pinch-hitter.
The 22-year-old rookie, who entered hitting a measly .193 in 73 games this season, came off the bench and put Banks' first-pitch changeup into left field for an RBI single, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
"When you're on the bench, you're always staying locked into the game, thinking about the situations that may come up that you would go into the game and just preparing yourself mentally for that," Torkelson said. "Going into the at-bat, I watched a couple videos of the pitches he's thrown. I know what pitches he has. Just stick to my approach and get the job done."
In the second inning, the Tigers had their first opportunity to score against White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease, who entered Thursday's outing with a 10-0 record and 1.91 ERA in 11 career starts against Detroit.
"Those are the most fun games to pitch in," Brieske said. "You know that you have to be at your best in order to give the team a chance to win. A pitchers' duel, when you look back, is the most fun game to pitch in, especially when you come out on top."
Harold Castro started things off with a walk, and Jonathan Schoop hit a single. But the next three batters struck out — Jeimer Candelario, Kody Clemens and Barnhart — to strand the runners in scoring position.
Cease matched Brieske throughout his start, but a mistake in the fourth inning put the Tigers on the scoreboard. His slider ended up at the bottom edge of the strike zone, and Báez cranked the ball 383 feet for a solo home run and a 1-0 Tigers advantage.
Báez leads the Tigers with eight homers this season, one ahead of Eric Haase and two ahead of Schoop.
"We were pretty frustrated at first and third, no outs, and we didn't score anybody," Hinch said. "When you have a pitcher like Cease on the mound, there's this sort of undertone that you have to be perfect and have to capitalize on any opportunity you get. ... Javy coming back and getting us on the board was pretty awesome."
Besides Báez's homer, the Tigers were shut down by Cease.
He allowed one run on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in six innings, throwing 61 of 101 pitches for strikes. His nasty slider provided 11 of his 16 swings and misses, with four more whiffs coming from his 96 mph fastball.
"He's nasty," Barnhart said. "He's leading the league in punchies per nine (strikeouts per nine innings) for a reason. With as good as Beau was tonight, he made it easy for us to grind out at-bats."
In total, the Tigers' offense posted five hits, four walks and nine strikeouts against three pitchers. Báez, Schoop, Haase, Torkelson and Robbie Grossman logged the hits, while Castro, Candelario, Barnhart and Victor Reyes worked the walks.
Brisk Brieske
Brieske retired the first seven batters he faced.
The stretch included all four of Brieske's strikeouts and seven of his nine swings and misses. The eighth batter, Harrison, reached safely with one out in the third inning when Brieske missed outside with a four-seam fastball in a 3-2 count.
Schoop, the best defensive second baseman in baseball, ended the third with a leaping catch to take a hit away from Tim Anderson. The ball, hit with a 104.2 mph exit velocity, had a .930 expected batting average.
"You got to make plays and not give them extra outs," Hinch said. "It was good for us to play rather clean. ... It's a fundamental game, but in one-run games, you look back at that and those are really key."
With one out in the sixth, after Harrison broke up the no-hit bid, Anderson grounded the ball to Báez at shortstop. The 2020 Gold Glove winner put the ball in the dirt, but Clemens — Thursday's the starting first baseman and a natural second baseman — picked it to save him from a throwing error.
At first, the play was ruled an error.
But Hinch challenged and won for the second out.
"Kody was pretty emphatic," Hinch said. "Right away, he pointed at the base that he had it. ... I didn't love that it took forever because those usually don't go your way whenever you challenge and it takes a long time. But it was good all the way around."
A wild pitch advanced Harrison to third base, but Brieske escaped by inducing a lineout from Pollock to end the sixth. He also got the first out in the seventh before Abreu's single chased him.
For Brieske's 84 pitches, he used 26 sliders (31%), 20 changeups (24%), 19 four-seam fastballs (23%), 18 two-seam fastballs (21%) and one curveball (1%). He recorded nine swings and misses: three sliders, two changeups, two four-seamers and two sinkers.
He had 12 called strikes, as well.
"That was the difference maker tonight," Brieske said. "I felt like I executed the sinker better than I had all year. I was able to throw it for strikes and throw the strike-to-ball that got in on guys' hands so we could get some weak contact and quick outs. That was probably the best the sinker has been so far." | 2022-07-08T04:22:06Z | www.freep.com | Javier Báez, Beau Brieske shine as Detroit Tigers sink White Sox, 2-1 | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/07/detroit-tigers-score-chicago-white-sox-beau-brieske/10010199002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/07/detroit-tigers-score-chicago-white-sox-beau-brieske/10010199002/ |
LAS VEGAS — The Detroit Pistons are far more athletic than they were a month ago. That was clear Thursday night during the Summer League opener in the high desert, when the team’s two lottery picks made their debut.
It took less than 15 seconds for Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren to show what the future might look like — soon.
Ivey, a 6-foot-4 combo guard and the team’s No. 5 draft pick, took a pass as he curled around the elbow and darted into the lane. Duren, meanwhile, cut toward the rim from the right baseline. He gave Ivey a nod. Ivey gave him the ball, a soft toss high above the rim, and Duren rocketed to grab it and it dunk it.
Not bad for a couple of players that had spent no time on the practice court together; the trade to acquire Duren on draft night wasn’t officially sanctioned by the league until earlier in the day.
MORE FROM WINDSOR:Here's what makes Cade Cunningham-Jaden Ivey-Jalen Duren Pistons so tantalizing
But then with Ivey’s speed and Duren’s power … and speed, and explosiveness, and height (he’s listed at 6-11), who needs to practice a lob?
“He’s got great feet,” Ivey said of his teammate. “He moves well. Whenever I get an opportunity to throw a lob he’s gonna make a play.”
There’s a wide catch radius and then there’s what Duren showed in 11 minutes and 56 seconds of play in Thursday's 81-78 win over the Trail Blazers — his minutes were restricted because of a lack of practice time. Pistons coach Dwane Casey compared Duren to former All-Star Shawn Kemp at the rookies’ introductory news conference two weeks ago.
And while that’s a lofty comp, watching Duren rise toward the top of the square on the backboard to vacuum lob passes in his Summer League debut makes Casey’s statement — hope? — more plausible.
“His athleticism is next level,” said Jordan Brink, the Pistons’ Summer League coach. “We just told him to go out there and have fun. Show off your athleticism, show off your skill. I thought he did a really good job. Tons of stuff to clean up, but that’s why we have practice tomorrow.”
Duren is 18. He was the youngest player in the draft. And even in a game in which the center position isn’t the fulcrum it once was, save for a couple of uniquely skilled outliers in Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, Duren’s debut revealed the promise of a game-changing force.
The Boston Celtics made the NBA Finals in part because of Robert Williams, a 6-9 shot blocker and rim protector who anchored the best defense in the league the last half of the season. Duren could be similar, with more lob radius, and better offensive footwork overall.
WHO'S ON THE TEAM? Where Pistons roster stands, and what they still need, after quiet free agency
At the least, he showed why Troy Weaver traded for him on draft night. The Pistons general manager loves athleticism. It worked for the last franchise he helped build in Oklahoma City.
Now, he’s got work to do. He’s raw. But there is skill there, too. Not just lob-catching gifts but actual basketball skill.
Duren showed decent touch on a turnaround, kicked a pass out to an open shooter, tried to thread a bounce pass to a teammate he thought was about to cut back door. His teammate didn’t. Duren’s pass went out of bounds.
Still, he saw the angle open up. More revealing is that he anticipated the possibility.
Those are instincts Casey and his staff can work with. Just as they can work with Ivey’s otherworldly burst.
He, too, has much to work on. And he’ll have plenty of nights this season that look like his debut, where he opens the throttle and damn near pulls G-force on his way into the lane and ends up with no good place to go.
Or on the floor, watching the ball he just lost roll away. Young players with such gifts need time to understand what to do with them.
[ Why Larry Brown believes Jalen Duren is in a 'perfect situation' with Pistons ]
And as Ivey said after the game, he hasn’t played much basketball in his life where he couldn’t just race past anyone he wanted. As quick as he is, full-out won’t always work in the NBA. His advantage in quickness and explosiveness isn’t on the same margin as it was at Purdue.
Yet he will have many moments where even the best players in the league have no chance at staying with him. He showed those moments Thursday, especially in the second half, when he slowed down and began to feel the speed and pace of the game and hit the afterburners after surveying from a point of calm.
Like he did on his final bucket, late in the game, when he took a pass and took a couple of dribbles before darting around and between defenders and gliding to the rim to for the dagger layup. He skip-hopped back down the court, veering to the edge of the court to dap up Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey, who are here to practice with the rookies and build chemistry.
“My job was trying to slow down,” Ivey said. “Once I got into a rhythm the game opened up.”
Ivey scored 20 points on 14 shots and made his free throws in the clutch. He was more excited about his six assists. Many of them came after he’d blitzed into the lane and whipped the ball out to his shooters.
“I was finding teammates,” he said, “that’s the best feeling.”
This is where Ivey will live as a rookie when he’s at his best: the paint. Either to finish himself — he had a couple of slick finishes against Portland — or to find his guys.
Speed does that. Controlling and using that speed to manipulate the court will do even more.
“In college, I would go 100% fast all the time,” he said. “In this league, you’ve got to change speed.”
It will take him a while to get there. As it will Duren. But both had the kind of moments that justified the buzz their arrival generated on draft night.
They are young. And they are talented. And while it’s only Summer League, the season can’t get here fast enough. | 2022-07-08T11:28:25Z | www.freep.com | Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren show why Detroit Pistons' future is bright | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2022/07/08/detroit-pistons-rookies-jaden-ivey-jalen-duren-nba-summer-league/10011404002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2022/07/08/detroit-pistons-rookies-jaden-ivey-jalen-duren-nba-summer-league/10011404002/ |
247Sports composite ranks Moore as the No. 1 overall prospect in Michigan and the No. 4 quarterback in the country. Standing 6 feet 2 and 210 pounds, he was first offered by U-M coach Jim Harbaugh while in seventh grade.
With Moore off to Oregon, which moves up to the No. 16 class nationally, the Wolverines' class remains without a quarterback for 2023. Michigan failed to add another five-star quarterback recently: Legacy 2024 prospect C.J. Carr picked Notre Dame over U-M last month. | 2022-07-08T17:54:48Z | www.freep.com | Michigan football loses out on QB Dante Moore, who picks Oregon | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/07/08/dante-moore-detroit-recruiting-oregon-michigan-football/10012775002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/07/08/dante-moore-detroit-recruiting-oregon-michigan-football/10012775002/ |
Federal prosecutors are attempting to seize funds held by PayPal and the fundraising website Plumfund as they try to collect close to $200,000 that former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick still owes the IRS, according to court records filed Friday.
Prosecutors filed writs for continuing garnishment against Kilpatrick, his wife Laticia, who he married last year after his release from federal prison, and the two companies.
More:Report: Kwame Kilpatrick to marry Saturday in Detroit
More:Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick preaches at Historic Little Rock Baptist Church | 2022-07-08T20:57:20Z | www.freep.com | Feds seek money from fundraising site used by Kwame Kilpatrick | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/08/kwame-kilpatrick-money-plumfund-paypal/10016320002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/08/kwame-kilpatrick-money-plumfund-paypal/10016320002/ |
More:As Brittney Griner's wife gets Biden call, Paul Whelan's family has to keep waiting
She was arrested in February after authorities at an airport in Moscow found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage. She pleaded guilty Thursday to drug charges, telling the court she didn't intend to break the law, Reuters reported.
Reed was returned to the U.S. in April as part of a surprise prisoner exchange with Russia for convicted drug trafficker Konstantin Yaroshenko. Reed was arrested in the summer of 2019 in Russia, accused of assaulting an officer following a night of heavy drinking. Reed denied the claims but was sentenced to nine years in prison. Soon after Reed's family spoke with President Joe Biden in late March, Reed was released.
When news broke Wednesday about Cherelle Griner's phone call with the president, Whelan's brother, David, wrote an email to journalists about the approach the White House had taken.
Though Elizabeth Whelan said her family had repeatedly asked for a similar conversation with the president, it didn't happen until Friday.
"What got under my skin was the uneven nature of the attention from the White House to wrongful detainee families," Elizabeth Whelan told the Free Press on Thursday. "Who thought it was a good idea to make one call and not two? How did they think we would react, for goodness' sake?" | 2022-07-09T03:06:16Z | www.freep.com | Paul Whelan's sister gets call from President Biden | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/08/paul-whelans-sister-gets-call-president-joe-biden/10019476002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/08/paul-whelans-sister-gets-call-president-joe-biden/10019476002/ |
First-pitch forecast: Low-70s, wind gusts of 15 mph.
Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Garrett Hill (1-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. White Sox Johnny Cueto (2-4, 3.30 ERA).
Game notes: The White Sox jumped on Tarik Skubal early Friday, but the Tigers' offense came through late for a 7-5 win, Detroit's sixth in a row. Hill is making his second career start. The 26-year-old gave up to two hits and struck out three across six innings in a win Monday vs. Cleveland .The teams finish the series with a day game Sunday before hitting the road for Monday games; the Tigers head to Missouri to play the Kansas City Royals and White Sox begin a series in Cleveland. | 2022-07-09T09:59:03Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers game vs. Chicago White Sox: TV, time info | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/09/detroit-tigers-score-chicago-white-sox-updates/10018539002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/09/detroit-tigers-score-chicago-white-sox-updates/10018539002/ |
A few days before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, Cadillac of Novi's General Manager Ed Pobur got a surprise phone call.
It was his Cadillac representative, who told him, "You’re getting delivered the first Lyriq in the world."
Pobur said he was supposed to get it before July 4, but because of the holiday, it was delayed a few days. A Cadillac spokesman confirmed a hauler truck delivered the Lyriq to Cadillac of Novi before taking the second production Lyriq to LaFontaine Cadillac in Highland.
To be first is big, but it's especially noteworthy in this case. The 2023 Cadillac Lyriq all-electric SUV is the cornerstone of Cadillac's future.
The Lyriq is the first EV to enter Cadillac's lineup, which General Motors vows will be entirely electric by the end of the decade. As a company, GM has said all its brands will be all-electric by 2035.
The car is so important to Cadillac that the person who bought it cannot take delivery of it for seven to 10 days so that Cadillac engineers and a team of specialists can inspect it and teach Cadillac of Novi's service technicians how to service it.
Pobur said he had strict instructions from his brand rep: “Don’t touch it."
The 'white glove treatment'
Cadillac spokesman Michael Albano told the Free Press that GM started shipping 2023 Lyriqs last week to the highest demand markets: New York, Los Angeles and Detroit.
Of Pobur’s dealership, he said, "they're pretty fortunate," Albano said.
Cadillac started building the Lyriq in late March at its Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee.
Just days before opening the order banks for the rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive models in May, GM said the 2023 rear-wheel drive model will top 300 miles in range and offer two new colors.
The rear-wheel drive Lyriq will start at $62,990, a $3,000 price bump from the Lyriq Debut edition. The all-wheel drive model starts at $64,990. Initial deliveries of the all-wheel drive model will start early next year and the EPA-estimated range for that model will be announced closer to the start of production.
GM opened the order banks on May 19, but stopped taking orders for the 2023 Lyriq in two hours, saying it sold out. GM will not say how many Lyriqs constitute "sold out," but earlier this year GM told suppliers to prepare to produce 25,000 Lyriqs this year.
As for the delivery of the SUVs to customers, Albano said all cars go through a dealer inspection no matter what the make and model, but there is "an added element on this car."
"We're doing a white glove treatment," Albano said. "These first early cars, we're going to make sure everything is perfect. I don't know if we'll do that at every dealership. But with Lyriq we're doing everything we can to assure this launch is perfect."
Four minutes on the floor
About 1 p.m. Thursday, an open-air hauler truck rolled up to the store on Grand River Avenue in Novi. On it was the Satin Steel-colored Lyriq.
Pobur and his staff were anxiously waiting and ready to greet it.
“We took pictures and videos. It was very exciting," Pobur said. "No one’s seen the car. Usually, people, the engineers, are running around town with them. But this one’s been kind of a secret. When you see it in person, it’s spectacular."
GM did bring a few pre-production Lyriqs to metro Detroit in February to test.
Pobur's crew got it off the truck, inspected it, wiped it down and put it on the showroom floor, he said.
"Then Cadillac’s team showed up to inspect it, so we had to move it and up it went on the hoist," Pobur said. Cadillac has to teach his technicians about the EV because "we've never had it before," he said.
As a result, the first Lyriq in the world was only on the showroom floor for four minutes, Pobur said.
That was long enough for another customer to see it and tell a sales associate that if the customer who bought it has a change of heart, "tell him I’ll give him $30,000 over sticker for it."
A near $1 million investment
Once Cadillac gives the dealership the OK, Pobur will put it in the showroom until the customer can take delivery.
"We can’t let anyone drive it because it’s somebody’s car," Pobur said.
Albano can't say why Cadillac of Novi was the first to get a production Lyriq, but Pobur believes it's because he has been the top-selling Cadillac dealer in the country for eight of the last 12 years, including last year.
“I do the most business in Detroit and I do the most business in the country, so I get preferential treatment on some of this stuff," Pobur said. "That’s the way it should be when you sell the most cars.”
Albano said Cadillac concentrated its first Lyriq deliveries on the markets that have the highest volume of orders which are Detroit, New York and Los Angeles, and "geographically the trucks got here from Tennessee first before they got to LA and New York."
Cadillac of Novi has 13 orders for the rear-wheel drive 2023 Lyriq and 130 more orders sitting in the order bank for either 2023 or 2024 models when GM switches to the new model year.
Cadillac of Novi, meanwhile, spent $900,000 to make the dealership EV-ready, Pobur said. He had to get new electric wiring throughout the buildings to support the chargers, new electrical lines and various chargers in place.
“I didn’t want to do it half-ass," Pobur said. "I wanted to do it right. So we spent a little more than we probably wanted to, but we’re ready now.”
More:Before tragic Shockwave crash, I rode fastest semitruck on Earth: What it was like | 2022-07-09T12:05:34Z | www.freep.com | This Michigan dealer says he’s got first Cadillac Lyriq in the world | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/09/michigan-dealer-says-hes-got-first-cadillac-lyriq-world/10009066002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/09/michigan-dealer-says-hes-got-first-cadillac-lyriq-world/10009066002/ |
NBA Summer League: Detroit Pistons (1-0) vs. Washington Wizards (0-0)
Game notes: The Pistons won their opener in NBA Summer League on Thursday, defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 81-78. Rookie first-round pick Jaden Ivey had a team-high 20 points and fellow rookie first-rounder Jalen Duren added nine points and two blocks. ... The Wizards are playing their first game of the summer, so this will be the debut of Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis, the No. 10 pick of the 2022 draft.
LOOKING AHEAD:Pistons set up to strike in 2023 NBA free agency with loads of cap space
OMARI SANKOFA II:Jaden Ivey's NBA Summer League debut shows Pistons he was worth the wait | 2022-07-09T12:06:04Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Pistons' NBA Summer League game vs. Wizards: Time, TV channel | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/09/detroit-pistons-nba-summer-league-game-washington-wizards-time-tv-channel/10016609002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/09/detroit-pistons-nba-summer-league-game-washington-wizards-time-tv-channel/10016609002/ |
CHICAGO — Three straight balls put Gavin Sheets in a hitter's count in the bottom of the first inning. He received the green light to swing and hammered Detroit Tigers rookie right-hander Garrett Hill's fourth pitch of the at-bat for a three-run home run.
Those runs were more than enough for the Chicago White Sox. Still, the reigning American League Central champions tacked on three more runs in the second inning before adding two runs in the sixth.
The Tigers' winning streak was snapped at six games as they lost, 8-0, to the White Sox in the third of four games at Guaranteed Rate Field. Detroit dropped to 36-48 overall but has a 12-8 record since June 18.
Position player Kody Clemens pitched a perfect eighth.
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Making his second MLB start, Hill needed 56 pitches to complete the first six outs: 35 pitches in the three-run first inning and 21 pitches in the three-run second. He settled down and kept the White Sox from scoring in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
His opposition, 36-year-old right-hander Johnny Cueto, dominated the Tigers across eight scoreless innings. Cueto, who signed a minor-league contract in April, gave up five hits and struck out five batters without issuing a walk.
Cueto tossed 66 of 101 pitches for strikes.
The first four hits against Cueto were singles: Victor Reyes (first inning), Jonathan Schoop (second inning), Tucker Barnhart (third inning) and Jeimer Candelario (fifth inning). Spencer Torkelson doubled with two outs in the eighth.
Cueto — an All-Star in 2014 and 2016 — retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced.
Entering Saturday's game, Cueto had a 3.30 ERA in his first season with the White Sox. After ripping apart the Tigers, he lowered the mark to 2.91 though 11 games (10 starts) in 2022.
Hill allowed six runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout, throwing 64 of 97 pitches for strikes. After Yoan Moncada's walk in the third inning, the 26-year-old retired nine straight to end his outing.
Sox sock 'em early
In the first inning, Hill put two runners on with two outs.
Sheets rewarded Chicago's offense with a three-run home run on a sinker inside the strike zone in a three-ball count. Andrew Vaughn (double) and Luis Robert (walk) also scored for a 3-0 advantage.
The White Sox weren't done.
The first and second innings required mound visits from pitching coach Chris Fetter. Both visits sparked the final out in each inning. In the second, Hill recorded the first two outs on eight pitches before falling apart against the next four batters.
Tim Anderson doubled, Vaughn was hit by a pitch, Robert ripped an RBI single and Jose Abreu doubled on a first-pitch sinker to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. The double from Abreu cleared the bases and drove in two runs. The ball traveled over Willi Castro's head after the right fielder took a bad route.
Hill started the third by walking Yoan Moncada on eight pitches, but he retired the next three opponents. He threw 24 pitches to four batters in the third, six pitches to three batters in the fourth and 11 pitches to three batters in the fifth.
For his 97 pitches, Hill fired 49 sinkers, 16 changeups, 16 cutters, 14 curveballs and two four-seam fastballs. He recorded six swings and misses — two sinkers, one cutter, one curveball and two four-seamers — along with 13 called strikes.
A couple more runs
The White Sox added two runs in the sixth inning off right-handed reliever Will Vest.
Anderson delivered a one-out RBI single into center field, and Chicago's other run scored on a wild pitch for an 8-0 margin. Vest allowed two runs on three hits with three strikeouts.
Right-hander Jason Foley pitched a scoreless seventh inning. | 2022-07-09T21:16:59Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers blanked by Chicago White Sox, 8-0 | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/09/detroit-tigers-score-chicago-white-sox-johnny-cueto/10021167002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/09/detroit-tigers-score-chicago-white-sox-johnny-cueto/10021167002/ |
LAS VEGAS — The Detroit Pistons improved to 2-0 in Las Vegas Summer League play following Saturday's 105-99 victory against the Washington Wizards. But it wasn't a great day for the franchise, thanks to injuries.
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FOR OPENERS:Pistons' rookies justify buzz in Summer League debut with tantalizing performances | 2022-07-10T01:55:06Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Pistons top Wizards, 105-99, in Summer League play | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/09/detroit-pistons-score-washington-wizards-jaden-ivey-saben-lee/10022621002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/09/detroit-pistons-score-washington-wizards-jaden-ivey-saben-lee/10022621002/ |
If we do not contain this outbreak, the persistence of monkeypox among gay, bisexual and transgender people is likely. That is, it will dig its roots into these communities, making this a disease LGBTQ communities will have to live with for a long time.
More:2nd Michigan case of monkeypox identified in person from city of Detroit | 2022-07-10T12:46:53Z | www.freep.com | Sluggish monkeypox response would lead to prolonged LGBTQ suffering | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/10/monkeypox-response-vaccine-lgbtq/10018624002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/10/monkeypox-response-vaccine-lgbtq/10018624002/ |
The federal government has charged a Detroit man with illegally buying the gun for a 19-year-old who authorities say fatally shot Detroit police officer Loren Courts last week, allegedly telling the teen: “Don’t do nothing f------ stupid because my name is on (the gun)."
These allegations were detailed in a criminal complaint filed Sunday in U.S. District Court , where 26-year-old Sheldon Avery Thomas is charged with lying about a gun purchase he made in June, pretending he was buying it for himself but then handing it over to another man outside a White Castle hamburger joint.
Authorities say that man was Ehmani Davis, the 19-year-old accused of killing officer Courts, and then winding up dead himself after responding officers shot and killed him at the scene.
Davis allegedly got the gun one month earlier from Thomas, who made a virtual appearance in federal court Sunday and was charged with making false statements during the purchase of a firearm, a federal crime. He was ordered temporarily detained pending a detention hearing on Tuesday.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court, following the July 6 killing of Courts near Joy Road and Marlow Street, federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency conducted a trace on the weapon that was used in the killing — a Romarm/Cigir, Draco, 7.62 caliber pistol.
They learned that it was purchased from the Action Impact gun shop in Eastpointe on June 7, one month before the officer's death, the complaint states. A review of records and surveillance video from that day shows that Thomas purchased the gun and later met with Davis in a nearby parking lot.
But it wasn't Thomas's first time in the gun shop, they allege.
According to the criminal complaint, Thomas had initially tried to buy a gun from the same shop on May 29.
"However, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) provided a 'delayed' response, which prevented Thomas from obtaining the firearm," the complaint states.
Federal agents also reviewed surveillance video from Action Impact that captured Thomas trying to buy the gun on May 29. Footage showed Thomas and Davis walking into the store at approximately the same time, with the two remaining close together while Thomas shopped for firearms and completed the firearm transaction paperwork, court records state.
ATF agents also reviewed video surveillance from the same store on June 7, records state, as well as paperwork that Thomas filled out when he bought the Draco pistol and indicated that "he was the actual buyer of the firearm."
"Thomas signed his name certifying his answers were true, correct, and complete ... (and) signed the form acknowledging that providing any false statement on the form was punishable as a felony under federal law," the complaint states.
That same day, surveillance video from neighboring buildings showed Thomas carry the pistol and meet with an individual that appeared to be Davis in the parking lot of a White Castle in Eastpointe, the complaint states.
'Loyal Customer'
The investigation would eventually lead federal agents to Thomas's home.
On Saturday, ATF agents obtained a federal search warrant and raided Thomas's home in Detroit that same day, recovering the following items:
A Draco pistol sales record for Sheldon Avery Thomas, bearing serial number 21DG-3219.
Receipts from Action Impact for a “Century Arms Draco”, containing serial number “21DG3219”, and two boxes of ammunition.
The bottom of the Action Impact receipt contained a section that stated, “Loyal Customer: SHELDON THOMAS."
According to the complaint, Thomas agreed to speak with agents that day after being read his Miranda rights, and admitted to purchasing a Draco firearm for his friend “Monie," to traveling to action Impact on two separate days, and that his background check was delayed — which caused him to return on a different day to buy the pistol.
Agents showed Thomas a photograph of Davis.
Thomas positively identified him as the man he knew as "Monie."
Thomas said that Davis game him $50 to buy him the pistol, that the two met after he made the purchase and walked to a nearby gas station.
Thomas also told the agents that he didn't have a car, and that Davis provided him with a ride because, as Thomas allegedly put it: “You can’t get a Lyft with a full on Draco”.
According to the complaint, after giving Davis the gun, Thomas recalled telling him: “Don’t do nothing f------ stupid because my name is on it (the gun)."
'I still got that cheese for u'
Federal agents also reviewed text messages between Thomas and Davis and observed the following messages from June 2:
DAVIS: “Gang call up there today I still got that cheese for u”
THOMAS: “Give me that number again.”
Davis provided a number. It was for Action Impact.
THOMAS: “They said til the 7th”.
DAVIS: “Damn bet it up gang”.
On June 07, Davis and Thomas exchanged the following text messages:
DAVIS: “Yo”
THOMAS: “I’m ready”
DAVIS: “Where you at ?”
Thomas replied with an address, then later that day sent the following message:
“I’m at the bustop (sic) right by White Castle”.
'Lying and buying'
Under federal law, lying about buying a gun for someone else carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine.
“The tragic death of Officer Courts is one more terrible example of what happens when guns are supplied to those who are prohibited from possessing them," U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison stated in announcing the federal charges. "This case should serve as a warning to those thinking about straw purchasing firearms — you will face federal charges.”
Added Detroit's ATF chief Paul Vanderplow: “Straw purchases — 'lying and buying' — is not a victimless crime. The men and women at the AFT will find and remove those individuals from the community who enable violent criminals terrorizing our State ... As promised, commit crimes with firearms, and find out the ATF will be at your door.””
An attorney for Thomas could not be immediately reached for comment. | 2022-07-10T22:11:50Z | www.freep.com | Feds charge Detroit man with illegally buying gun used in cop killing | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/10/ehmani-davis-detroit-illegal-gun-killing-officer-loren-courts/10025107002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/10/ehmani-davis-detroit-illegal-gun-killing-officer-loren-courts/10025107002/ |
A group of Dearborn educators has begun a two-month-long summer program for parents and their children, aimed at getting children away from their screens and parents more engaged in their child's life.
The first session on Tuesday at Hemlock Park in Dearborn kicked off with a discussion conducted in Arabic for moms on the dangers of too much screen time.
Their children sat several feet away, enjoying storytime and later a short run across the park, led by Ammerah Saidi, a teacher at Salina Intermediate in Dearborn and one of the organizers of the initiative. Faizah Nasser, a social worker with Crestwood schools in Dearborn Heights, is also organizing.
The program is open to all, but targeted specifically at parents in the Yemeni community. About 14% of people in Dearborn are of Yemeni descent, according to 2019 census data.
Saidi said she hopes this will encourage parents to engage more with their children during the week, and lead to less screen time. More and more children seem glued to their devices and less engaged with school, Saidi said.
"I've told parents, I cannot compete with what a phone can give them," she said. "I'm never going to be as entertaining as all the media on Twitch and Netflix."
On Tuesday, the two organizers and handful of volunteers covered picnic tables with games to help young children improve motor skills as well as board games, books and bowls of clementines.
The activities to improve motor skills are particularly important, educators said, because they see some kindergartners struggle to properly hold pencils or scissors, because their hands are used to holding only devices.
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About a dozen parents and children attended Tuesday.
Samia Saleh, an early childhood educator in Dearborn, talked with parents about the need to limit screen time and the importance of fostering independence and giving children choices as they grow up. After Saleh's discussion, parents sidled up to their children, laughing over games of Connect Four and Chutes and Ladders.
Saidi said she wants to engage the community to approach parenting as a village, together, instead of through a disconnected way online.
"It used to be what held us together as a Yemeni community," Saidi said.
Saidi and Nasser's program for families will run every Tuesday and Thursday through July and August. On Tuesdays, they meet at Hemlock Park at 6:30 p.m. On Thursdays, they meet next to the community center behind Salina Intermediate School at 6:30 p.m. | 2022-07-11T11:53:14Z | www.freep.com | Hemlock Park summer program hopes to engage Dearborn kids and parents | https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2022/07/11/hemlock-park-summer-program-dearborn/10007046002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2022/07/11/hemlock-park-summer-program-dearborn/10007046002/ |
When: Game 1 — 2:10 p.m; Game 2 — 8:10 p.m.
Starting pitchers: Game 1: Tigers RHP Michael Pineda (2-3, 3.62 ERA) vs. Royals RHP Brad Keller (4-9, 4.37); Game 2: Tigers RHP Alex Faedo (1-4, 5.02) vs. Royals LHP Daniel Lynch (3-7, 4.95).
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Game notes: Chicago Cubs legend (and Baseball Hall of Famer) Ernie Banks is famous for coining the phrase, "Let's play two!" and for the second straight week, the Detroit Tigers will do just that against an American League Central opponent. Last week, it was the Cleveland Guardians at home and this week they'll begin a series with the Kansas City Royals on the road.
Michael Pineda, the Tigers' starter in Game 1 will look to reach .500 this season and make amends for the rough outing he had against the Royals in his last outing. Going five innings, he gave up seven hits and all three runs in a 3-1 loss on July 1. While the two AL Central cellar dwellers may not play any meaningful ball before the All-Star break, the chances of Javier Baez linking up with his "best friend" Royals reliever Amir Garrett should be worth a look. | 2022-07-11T11:53:57Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals: TV, radio info for doubleheader | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/11/detroit-tigers-vs-kansas-city-royals-tv-radio-game-info/10025931002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/11/detroit-tigers-vs-kansas-city-royals-tv-radio-game-info/10025931002/ |
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Monday's announcement follows the June release of Eminem's collaboration with Snoop Dogg, "From the D 2 the LBC," which included a video partially shot in Detroit. | 2022-07-11T17:40:59Z | www.freep.com | Eminem reveals greatest hits album on the way as 'Curtain Call 2' set | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/11/eminem-curtain-call-2-release-date-announced/10029680002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/11/eminem-curtain-call-2-release-date-announced/10029680002/ |
Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency warned claimants Monday to be on the look out for text messages that claim to be from the agency that are aimed at trying to steal money and personal information.
The text messages, which come from a phone number with a "210" area code, say in part: "MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: Your back payment deposit of $2,800 is now pending on your profile." It then instructs the recipient to click on a link to receive payment.
The link then takes the recipient to a fake UIA website.
The phishing scam — a type of scam designed to trick consumers into revealing personal information by pretending to be reputable a company or entity — comes as many claimants were told by the agency that they were overpaid benefits in the pandemic, and are now waiting on a waiver and potentially a refund in they started paying back the balance.
The agency said it doesn't contact claimants through text messages. It uses claimants' Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) online unemployment accounts, letters sent via mail and phone calls to contact claimants.
The agency said consumers who receive this text should not click on the link, and instead report the text as junk or spam and delete the text.
The scam also comes as the agency deals with a judge's order that the agency to halt collection activities for certain unemployment insurance claimants who were told they were overpaid benefits during the pandemic. Several claimants sued to stop collections until overpayments were verified.
In response to questions from the Detroit Free Press asking whether the agency had paused collection activities for any claimants after the June order, Nick Assendelft, a spokesperson for the agency, said Monday that while he is unable to answer questions related to ongoing litigation, the agency will continue to review rulings made in this case and its impact on claimants.
In response to questions on the status of waivers for claimants who were told they were overpaid benefits in the pandemic, he said the agency is continuing to work on "identifying claimants who may be eligible for overpayment waivers based on providing gross earnings versus net earnings when applying for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance." The agency first said in May that it was working on identifying these claimants who were potentially eligible for a waiver. | 2022-07-11T17:41:05Z | www.freep.com | Michigan unemployment agency warns consumers of text phishing scam | https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2022/07/11/text-phishing-scam-michigan-unemployment-agency/10028506002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2022/07/11/text-phishing-scam-michigan-unemployment-agency/10028506002/ |
Ford spokeswoman Cathie Hargett told the Free Press on Monday, "We haven’t yet been served with the suit so it’s difficult to comment."
The lawsuit, filed July 1 in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California, raises questions about "a uniformly designed defective high voltage battery main contactor that could overheat, thereby immobilizing the vehicle or making it lose power during operation. The contactors on these vehicles are prone to fail during ordinary and foreseeable driving situations."
The lawsuit says, "Ford has actual knowledge that, because of the way in which the battery contactors were designed and integrated into the Defective Vehicles, the contactor switch could suddenly fail during normal operation, cutting off engine power and certain electrical systems in the cars, which in turn, disables key vehicle components, safety features or other vehicle functions, leaving occupants vulnerable to crashes, serious injuries, and death."
Ford has said it is unaware of any injuries or deaths related to the problem.
The lawsuit represents owners and lessees of vehicles built between May 2020 and May 2022, specifically:
Benjamin Kegele of Elk Grove, California, owner of a 2021 Mach-E.
Thomas Dorobiala of Murrieta, California, owner of a 2022 Mach-E.
Spenser Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, owner of a 2022 Mach-E.
The lawsuit says these customers were informed of the recall but their Ford dealers have yet to correct the problem and "it is not clear" Ford has a "true solution to the battery/overheating issue."
'Deceptive'
The lawsuit notes that Ford should have disclosed to the plaintiffs and its other customers the defects at the time of purchase or lease over the past two years, because they may have reconsidered buying the product or paying as much as they did.
"Ford was provided notice of these issues and defects by numerous complaints filed against it, as well as its own internal knowledge derived from testing and internal expert analysis," the lawsuit says.
"Ford's conduct and deceptive omission were intended to induce" customers "to believe the defective vehicles were safe, adequately designed, and adequately manufactured," the lawsuit says.
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A 2022 Mach-E starts at about $44,000.
The lawsuit asks Ford to explain how an over-the-air software update fixes a hardware mechanical failure with the connectors.
"That doesn't make sense to me," Desai told the Free Press. "I'm afraid there's something else going on here. Does Ford have the connectors? Can they not get them? Are they too expensive? Why were smaller ones put in? Why did they make this mistake?"
Ford spokesman Said Deep told the Free Press on Monday, "The software update is meant to protect the contactors. If any customers experience this issue, the hardware replacement is covered under warranty."
This situation is not like a broken tailight or rubber falling off a doorjamb, Desai said. "Those are things that happen all the time with recalls. We're talking about 50,000 cars that can just turn off unexpectedly. At that point, it's time for a lawsuit."
Ford has not advised consumers to stop driving the vehicle.
286 warranty claims
Between July 13, 2021, and May 31, 2022, Ford reported to federal regulators the company saw 286 customer warranty claims filed in North America related to an open or welded contactor. Ford wrote that it was not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this condition.
Then, in June, the automaker issued a recall affecting 48,924 or 100% of the 2021-22 Mach-E vehicles built during a two-year time period that could lose power while driving or not start. The action also included a dealer hold on any vehicles not yet delivered to customers.
Faulty battery
Ford filed documents with the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration identifying the problem as related to a battery part overheating. Deep told the Free Press at the time that the company planned to do an over-the-air update as soon as this month.
Such action is similar to over-the-air technology updates done on mobile phones now.
Ford wrote in its documents to federal regulators:
"Direct Current (“DC”) fast charging and repeated wide open pedal events can cause the high voltage battery main contactors to overheat. Overheating may lead to arcing and deformation of the electrical contact surfaces, which can result in a contactor that remains open or a contactor that welds closed.
"The recalled Secondary On-Board Diagnostic Control Module and the Battery Energy Control Module software were introduced into production on 05/27/2020 and was taken out of production on 05/24/2022."
These tens of thousands of vehicles do not operate as advertised, the lawsuit says.
"If Ford is simply cutting power through the 'over the air' software update, recharge times will be much slower and acceleration times will be longer," the lawsuit says.
Customers suing want their vehicles fully repaired, their economic value restored and damages to compensate them for the diminished value as a result of the defect and Ford's "wrongful conduct" related to the defect, the lawsuit says.
The firm is seeking to have the case certified as a class action, estimating the total value at $5 million for customers, not including interest or fees. Desai said a number of additional Mach-E owners have contacted him since the filing. | 2022-07-11T17:41:11Z | www.freep.com | 2021-22 Mustang Mach-E owners sue Ford in federal court over safety | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/07/11/2021-22-mustang-mach-e-recall-power/10027161002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/07/11/2021-22-mustang-mach-e-recall-power/10027161002/ |
The group behind the successful 2018 ballot proposal that created no-excuse absentee voting and same-day registration in Michigan hopes voters will have a chance to approve other changes this fall to how elections are run in the state, such as allowing early voting in the state.
Khalilah Spencer, president of Promote the Vote, said that the group turned in nearly 670,000 voter signatures — significantly more than the roughly 425,000 required — ahead of the deadline Monday to qualify for the November ballot. Speaking at a news briefing Monday outside the Bureau of Elections' office where organizers dropped off petitions, Spencer heralded the amendment as a way to support absentee voting in the state by requiring drop boxes and prepaid postage and preventing partisan meddling in elections.
Under the Promote the Vote 2022 amendment, election officials would be required to offer nine days of early voting ahead of an election. Twenty states already currently offer early voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Michigan election law does not currently allow early voting. But the law currently requires election officials to issue and accept absentee ballots in at least one location during regularly scheduled business hours and for at least eight hours during the Saturday and/or Sunday before an election.
The amendment would preempt legislation previously approved by Republican lawmakers but vetoed by the governor to enact strict voter ID requirements and ban donations to election offices by codifying existing voter verification practices and allowing election officials to accept private donations.
More:Michigan Republicans seeking reelection see wave of primary challengers
Yvonne White, the president of the Michigan State Conference of the NAACP, said that the amendment comes as voters across the country and in Michigan face "egregious attacks" on their voting rights.
"Regardless of what you look like or where you live, everyone will have access to the ballot box," she said at the news briefing.
The Promote the Vote 2022 amendment would give voters a right to have an absentee ballot sent to them ahead of every election by filling out an absentee ballot application to cover all future elections.
The amendment also would require state-funded prepaid postage for absentee ballot applications and ballots, a ballot tracking system and secure drop boxes in every municipality voters can access 24 hours a day leading up to an election. | 2022-07-11T17:41:17Z | www.freep.com | Promote the Vote wants voters to change Michigan elections | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2022/07/11/promote-vote-michigan-elections-ballot/10029753002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2022/07/11/promote-vote-michigan-elections-ballot/10029753002/ |
The Michigan State football fan experience will be improved this fall.
MSU announced Monday that tailgating hours will be extended and clear bags will be allowed inside Spartan Stadium for all home football games beginning this fall.
"We are excited to host our loyal, passionate fans once again for an exciting home schedule at Spartan Stadium," said MSU Athletic Director Alan Haller in the announcement. "These are two steps in our unwavering commitment to improve the gameday fan experience."
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The new tailgating hours will begin at 7 a.m. for games that kickoff between noon and 4 p.m. Before, lots opened at 7 a.m. for noon kickoffs and nine a.m. for kickoffs that were at 3:30 or 4 p.m.
Lots will now open at 11 a.m. for night games (7 p.m. or 8 p.m. kickoffs) where in previous years they did not open until 1 p.m. The release says this only applies to games on Saturdays, which excludes the Friday, Sept. 3 season opener against Western Michigan.
This comes on the heels of the introductions of House Bill 6289 and Senate Bill 1125, bi-partisan bills that would allow alcohol sales at college sporting events in Michigan.
Of the 14 teams currently in the Big Ten, eight already allow alcohol sales inside the stadium. The Free Press reached out to Haller for comment on the announcement of these bills, but the request was not returned.
Fans will also be allowed to bring clear bags into Spartan Stadium — previously no bags were allowed. The following are the requirements for the bag
Clear plastic, vinyl or PVC that is 12" x 6" x 12" or smaller
A one-gallon clear freezer bag (ziploc or similar)
A small "clutch bag", camera or binocular cases, with or without a strap, that does not exceed 4.5" by 6.5"
The release goes onto say that there can be exceptions "for medically necessary, childcare or dietary items after proper inspection".
Bags that meet the requirements will be available to purchase at a number of 'Sparty's Locker Room' locations surrounding Spartan Stadium. | 2022-07-11T17:49:35Z | www.freep.com | Tailgating hours to be extended for home MSU football games this fall. | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2022/07/11/michigan-state-football-spartan-stadium-tailgating-clear-bags/10029925002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2022/07/11/michigan-state-football-spartan-stadium-tailgating-clear-bags/10029925002/ |
Stay indoors Monday if you have any trouble breathing. Michigan health officials are warning of an "Ozone Action Day," meaning high levels of pollutants are in the air and metro Detroiters should avoid activities that could make the air even worse.
That gives folks an excuse not to mow the lawn, fire up the grill or drive to the post office.
Ozone is a man-made form of oxygen. When hot summer temperatures combine with pollutants, high levels of ozone accumulate on the ground level. The gas is highly reactive, which can be problematic for sensitive groups on days where levels are higher than usual.
The first ozone alert of 2022 was on June 14. Last year, there were five ozone action days total.
The day of environmental action is in effect in St. Clair, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Wayne, Lenawee and Monroe County.
The high ozone levels cause harmful health effects for those with respiratory issues. It is highly encouraged for children, elderly and individuals with respiratory diseases to remain indoors.
Here are ways to help combat high-level ozone days:
Drive less: Bike, walk, or use public transport
Combine trips: Visit the grocery store on your way home from work, instead of making two separate trips
Refill your fuel tank after sunset
Avoid the idle: Turn off your engine
Use water based paints
Reduce electricity use: Turn off lights when not in use
More:Extended tailgating, clear bags now allowed at MSU home football games this fall
A collective effort to lower emissions on these action days — and every other day — could reduce the concentration of ozone, making it possible to spend the rest of the summer breathing in the fresh air. | 2022-07-11T20:08:39Z | www.freep.com | Ozone Action Day on July 11 warns of poor air quality | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/11/ozone-action-day-july-11-air-quality/10029832002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/11/ozone-action-day-july-11-air-quality/10029832002/ |
Aretha Franklin’s longstanding $7.8 million debt to the IRS has been paid in full, her estate says in a new court filing.
It could open the door for Franklin’s four sons to finally take the driver’s seat in her post-death affairs and fully benefit from revenues flowing into her estate — which would mean millions of dollars at last getting into their hands.
The late Queen of Soul’s tax burden had been an immovable hurdle as her heirs sorted out other estate matters — sometimes combatively — in Oakland County Probate Court following her 2018 death.
Related: Draft of 4th Aretha Franklin will emerges, two years after handwritten wills discovered
More: Aretha Franklin dies at 76: Detroit star transformed American music
As the mightiest creditor in the picture, the IRS held sway, and its debt demands prevented the sons from receiving money, even while the late star’s music and movie projects generated big revenue in her name.
The remaining tax liability was paid off June 17 with delivery of a cashier’s check to the IRS, according to the new court petition filed by attorney Reginald Turner, personal representative for the estate. Turner, a member of the Detroit firm Clark Hill, is president of the American Bar Association.
The IRS said Monday it cannot comment on individual tax matters, citing federal privacy laws.
Related: Fact-checking 'Respect': Aretha Franklin's clashes, stage mishaps, song choices and more
More: As Aretha Franklin biopic arrives, cast and filmmakers say 'Respect' came with sense of duty
The federal tax agency staked its claim after the singer’s death, contending that nearly $8 million in unpaid taxes, penalties and interest had piled up during the previous seven years.
The estate at last struck a deal with the IRS in April 2021, mapping out an accelerated payoff schedule that also set up limited but regular payments to Franklin’s sons.
For Franklin’s estate, a fast payoff was crucial: So long as the tax debt sat there, interest and penalties would continue to pile up.
The IRS deal earmarked 45% of incoming Aretha Franklin revenue to pay down the standing tax balance. Another 40% was directed to an escrow account to handle taxes on newly generated income.
With the tax debt now purportedly off its back, the estate argues that most of the incoming cash should get distributed equally among the four sons each month. From that point, income tax obligations would be on each individual.
Probate Judge Jennifer Callaghan would have to greenlight the request.
In the meantime, there’s still the matter of multiple wills apparently left by Franklin, including three handwritten documents discovered in her home in 2019.
A fourth will draft abruptly turned up last year — this one a typed document prepared by a Troy law firm in 2017 but left unsigned by the star.
The documents contain conflicting instructions about Franklin’s wishes for her estate, including which heirs were to get what, and their emergence exacerbated tensions among sons Clarence, Edward, Teddy and Kecalf. A trial to clear up the situation was planned for 2020 but delayed amid the pandemic. | 2022-07-11T21:26:59Z | www.freep.com | Aretha Franklin's $8M tax debt paid, estate says; sons can take reins | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/11/aretha-franklins-8-million-tax-debt-paid-estate/10029299002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/11/aretha-franklins-8-million-tax-debt-paid-estate/10029299002/ |
Related:Weekend media event in Midtown is all about community, social justice
As it had in the decades prior, AMC 2022 carved a prominent space for culinary arts. Virtual presentations provided opportunities for participants to learn from specialists in farming and food access in urban environments like Detroit; while film screenings on food sovereignty and a guided herb identification stroll through the paths of Belle Isle offered the chance to engage with local farmers, foragers and food activists.
With health, safety and accessibility in mind, AMC 2022 organizers reimagined ways to contextualize the role food plays in social justice work. In previous years, in-person dinners seating 150-200 attendees provided a space for what AMC Culinary Producer Ora Wise calls “radical hospitality,” which she defines as a practice of caring for a diner’s needs, desires and pleasures outside of a transactional context.
“When I talk about radical hospitality,” Wise ssaid, “it's a focus on accessibility, generosity, sensuality and beauty, grounded in the belief that these experiences and elements of life should not be exclusionary or considered superfluous.”
In 2018, Wise and conference organizers innovated Dream Café, a temporary restaurant that transformed Midtown landmark Cass Café into an eatery featuring Black-owned, Detroit-based food businesses, meals by a diverse group of chefs and ingredients sourced from farms helmed by people of color. The activation presented diners a living, breathing model of an eatery as a locale for social change.
Related:Temporary Dream Cafe in Detroit brings social justice to the table
Related:Cass Cafe, a Midtown hot spot restaurant for Detroit artists, to close for good
This year, in place of in-person, food-centered gatherings, Wise and the AMC introduced a digital zine as an extension of the culinary conversations being facilitated at the conference. Recipes for Radical Hospitality — a collaboration between AMC and Whetstone Magazine, an indie publication covering global foodways, culture and culinary anthropology — features an anthology of recipes and personal stories from 15 culinarians. Among food industry notables from across the country like Puerto Rico-based food writer and forthcoming author Alicia Kennedy and artist and cultural preservationist Gabrielle E. W. Carter, are three Southeast Michiganders at the forefront of food, farming and food sovereignty in the Detroit area.
“Radical hospitality feels like a more comprehensive framework because it acknowledges that hospitality is about behaviors and practices and ways of relating to food and to each other through and around food,” Wise said.
James Beard Award semifinalist and owner of Ann Arbor’s Miss Kim, Ji Hye Kim shares the recipe for the briny Kimjang kimchi she grew up on and the joyous memory of the women who made it. Malik Kenyatta Yakini, co-founder and executive director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and D-Town Farm on Detroit’s west side, ruminates on the ways global capitalism shows up in a seemingly simple pleasure like a cup of hot cocoa. Tlingit food activist, chef and urban farmer Kirsten Kirby-Shoote offers a thought-provoking interpretation of the impact of the Indian Removal Act and the importance of Indigenous food sovereignty.
More:Here are the metro Detroit restaurants and chefs semifinalists for James Beard Awards
“Choosing the Detroit voices was a very organic process,” said Wise, who curated the contributors for the Recipes for Radical Hospitality zine. “It's the same way I chose everyone, which was: Who do I feel has an approach to working with food that is contributing to culture and power-shifting and taking care of their communities in inspiring ways? Ji Hye, Malik and Kirsten are coming from three really important communities and cultural backgrounds and organizing legacies within the Detroit area.”
Wise said she deferred to the expertise of Whetstone Magazine founder and host of the Netflix hit food series “High on the Hog” Stephen Satterfield and his team for the production of Recipes for Radical Hospitality. She also sees the partnership as yet another model for supporting a multiracial perspective.
“Stephen and I share a commitment to the collective come-up,” she said, “so that’s what this was about. He trusted who I would curate from a content point of view and I trusted the quality of work that his team would do. It was an act of solidarity and friendship and a kind of horizontal mentorship, which I really appreciated.”
In a moment of social and political unrest, Wise asserts the importance of food as a form of activism. “Sometimes, it can feel like it’s not enough to be creating these nourishing and lovely experiences for people around food while we are literally being stripped of our rights,” she said. “But the more I think about it, the more I feel really resolute. Yes, I am working in food because I believe that we need this embodiment and care and love and beauty, but I am also working in food because it is strategic. Food is at the intersection of all the most destructive and exploitative systems governing our lives and it is also such a powerful and central tool for resistance and building sovereignty.”
Though the intention is to return to in-person gatherings centered on meals prepared by local chefs and growers, Wise said Recipes for Radical Hospitality may remain a part of the culinary framework for the next AMC and beyond as a resource for both contributors and participants alike. The team is also in talks about developing a print version of the publication over the next few months. In the meantime, digital downloads are now available to all interested in cooking — and eating — radically.
Recipes for Radical Hospitality, sliding scale $5-$15. store.alliedmedia.org | 2022-07-12T00:34:28Z | www.freep.com | Allied Media Conference taps Detroit food industry insiders for zine | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/11/allied-media-conference-detroit-food-industry-insiders-zine/10019223002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/11/allied-media-conference-detroit-food-industry-insiders-zine/10019223002/ |
Detroit homeowners who sued the city over delayed property tax appeal notices will head back to court after the dismissal of their lawsuit was reversed in a ruling Monday.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit overturned a lower federal court's decision from last year that threw out the class-action lawsuit over the city's delayed delivery of more than 260,000 residential property tax notices in 2017.
The notices inform residents of their property assessments — the values on which their tax bills are based — and how to appeal them. Detroit's overassessment of homes has been documented by researchers for years but city officials argue they have corrected the problem.
The homeowners who sued said their due process rights were violated because of the late delivery and that the city didn't do enough to communicate to residents that they later extended the deadline. The notices were mailed Feb. 14, noting that the appeals deadline was four days later on Feb. 18, according to court .
More:Buttigieg: White House will continue to push for gas-tax holiday to relieve fuel costs
The city extended the deadline to Feb. 28, publicized through public announcements and various news outlets. But the city did not do another mass mailing to homeowners of the new deadline.
"Detroit did not take reasonable steps to ensure this information would reach individual taxpayers," according to Monday's ruling written by Appeals Judge Julia Smith Gibbons.
The homeowners are asking to be paid damages of "an amount to be determined by trial" and the chance to appeal their 2017 assessments retroactively, among other demands, according to the lawsuit.
Last year, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Edmunds dismissed the case, in part, because she said the federal court lacked jurisdiction within state tax systems and that the city extended the deadline.
The lawsuit, filed by the Chicago law firm Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum, also named Mayor Mike Duggan, Deputy CFO/Assessor Alvin Horhn, Wayne County and state tax officials as defendants.
Detroit officials said they will continue to fight the case.
"We are disappointed in the ruling by the court of appeals and plan to vigorously defend our position in District Court," deputy corporation counsel Chuck Raimi said in written statement. | 2022-07-12T10:38:03Z | www.freep.com | Detroit property tax lawsuit revived by appeals court | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/12/detroit-property-tax-lawsuit-appeal-reversed/10033814002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/12/detroit-property-tax-lawsuit-appeal-reversed/10033814002/ |
Investigation finds Lucido made sexual statements and used staff for personal purposes
An independent workplace investigation into Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido concluded that he made inappropriate statements containing sexual comments and/or sexual innuendo and that he used county personnel and other resources for personal and some campaign-type activities.
A nine-page memorandum, produced after a months-long investigation by Butzel Long law firm of workplace complaints, indicated 16 current and former employees of the prosecutor's office were interviewed.
The investigator tried to interview Lucido, but through his legal counsel, he "refused to appear for an investigatory interview," according to the memorandum dated Friday.
"This so called 'report' is nothing more than a collection of unchallenged complaints," said Cameron Evans, Lucido's attorney. "These sorts of complaints have always, and should have, followed the grievance process under union contracts. That would have complied with essential due process, including the opportunity of the accused to confront his accusor."
Evans said County Executive Mark Hackel, with whom Lucido has been in a long-simmering rift about his budget, commissioned the law firm to "seek out complaints and draw conclusions and recommendations against an elected official he clearly dislikes." He said the executive doesn't have the authority to hire an outside law firm to investigate another countywide elected official.
Lucido told the Free Press "this is retaliatory."
More:Macomb prosecutor peppered with questions about abortion at briefing on unrelated lawsuit
The memorandum comes two years after an internal investigation found that Lucido, then a state senator, engaged in inappropriate workplace behavior. After that investigation, he said he never sexually harassed anyone.
It was dated the same day Lucido said members of his staff were "devastated" in their belief that the fatal shooting of a Detroit police officer might have been averted if his office had more staff to help with a current case that might have put the suspect behind bars earlier.
And just a week earlier, the ex-Macomb County prosecutor reported to federal prison to serve a sentence on a kickback scheme involving his campaign fund while he awaits trial for allegedly embezzling money from his former office's drug and forfeiture funds.
The memorandum about Lucido includes complaints, findings and recommendations that Lucido be provided training concerning the Elliott-Larson Civil Rights Act and applicable county policies. If he doesn't agree to undergo training and modify his behavior, the investigator recommended the county "engage legal counsel for possible legal action to force Prosecutor Lucido to comply" with applicable law and county employment policies.
It recommends that the county refer the campaign-type allegations to the Michigan Secretary of State pursuant to the state's campaign finance act and to the county's ethics board for the use of county personnel and resources for personal purposes.
Deputy County Executive Andrew McKinnon, who was the county's human resources director before he was promoted, said they are reviewing the investigation and determining what the next steps will be, including the recommendations from Butzel Long.
More:Sen. Peter Lucido changes story on sexist remark, now says he was misquoted
More:Sen. Peter Lucido: 'I did not sexually harass anyone'
McKinnon said if this was an department director, the person would have mandated training and "significant discipline." County Corporation Counsel John Schapka said "if this investigation scrutinized my workplace conduct and reached these findings of fact, I would have been fired by now."
Lucido is a countywide elected official.
"What we would like is for him to address his behavior, that's our intent," McKinnon said, adding that they would like Lucido to work in a way that respects everyone in his office "and that's not what we saw in these reports."
"This falls far below our expectations with treating staff with dignity and respect," he said. "That's something we're not OK with."
According to the memorandum, nine people reported Lucido treating female administrative staff in an offensive manner and less favorably than male staff. His conduct toward female staff was described as "rude," "curt," "unprofessional" and "brutal," it stated.
Two people reported that on Valentine's Day Lucido said "that he would 'like some kisses from his ladies,'” according to the memorandum. It stated another person reported that after a newspaper article was published about a photo of him at a fundraiser touching a woman on her backsideLucido said: "Where was I supposed to put my hand, she has a big ass."
It said two people reported that he once referred to a female employee as "Double-D." One person reported being offended by his statement because the person thought he was referencing the female employee's breasts. However, that female employee said she was not offended and did not think he was referencing her breasts.
Another person said that Lucido once told a former female employee that he liked her shoes and she was "kicking up some smoke" and that he asked her to wear the shoes again before her last day of work, according to the memorandum.
Two people said that when an assistant prosecutor volunteered to a district court role, Lucido asked if she could still fit into her court clothes, according to the memorandum.
It stated that a female said she was hugged without consent by Lucido's chief assistant when she was called into a meeting with him and Lucido in March. Lucido reportedly came very close to her and "asked how close someone had to be in order to get a reaction," the memo stated. Lucido said he was talking about a specific case and "he was demonstrating his point by getting uncomfortably close to her."
Lucido reportedly kept using the phrase "agent provacateur" and was told by his chief assistant to stop and that when he typed the phrase into an internet search engine, it returned results for a lingerie website. Lucido then reportedly said the person "would probably have her husband go to the website and have things boxed up for her," according to the memorandum.
Four people also reported Lucido used or was suspected of using county personnel and resources to conduct campaign-related and other personal activities. They reported the following, per the memorandum:
Using county employees to reveiw local newspapers and clip articles to identify potential recipients of campaign-style notes referred to as "Happy Notes" and "Tributes"
Using county employees to draft these notes and to prepare certificates congratulating local high school seniors on their graduations
Using county resources, including postage, to mail the notes and certificates
Using county personnel and resources to work on campaign issues, such as water bottles and press releases and printing off campaign invoices
Using county personnel and resources to work on non-prosecutor office business, such as trustee documents and/or obtaining access for Lucido as trustee to a trust.
A former chief of staff sent an email to certain county employees in the prosecutor's office requesting their personal email addresses so communications were not available on county email servers
The report states Lucido also used race as a factor to determine which assistant prosecutor he would assign to the warrant division and that he made inappropriate comments regarding a candidate for assistant prosecutor after interviewing him.
It also states Lucido subjected several assistant prosecutors to increased scrutiny and may have targeted one, although his motive for doing so is unknown because Lucido was not interviewed. | 2022-07-12T10:38:09Z | www.freep.com | Investigation: Macomb prosecutor made sexual statements, used staff | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/07/12/lucido-investigation-macomb/10033559002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/07/12/lucido-investigation-macomb/10033559002/ |
Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals: TV, radio, game info for Tuesday night at The K
Where: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Starting pitchers: Tigers RHP Beau Brieske (2-6, 4.16 ERA) vs. Royals LHP Kris Bubic (1-6, 6.48 ERA).
Game notes: For the third time in two days, the Kansas City Royals face the Detroit Tigers at "The K" in Kansas City. So far, "The K" has been "The L" for the Tigers who are looking to avoid a second-straight series loss against an AL Central opponent.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT:Tigers piled upon early in Game 2, swept in doubleheader by Royals, losing, 7-3
WELCOME BACK:Tigers call back Akil Baddoo to big leagues: 'We need guys that are playing good'
Beau Brieske will look to stop the Royals from sliding the Tigers further and further towards the bottom of the AL Central cellar. In Brieske's last outing, he went 6⅓ innings allowing two hits and striking out four batters in a 6-2 victory over the White Sox. | 2022-07-12T10:38:39Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals: TV, radio, game info | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/12/detroit-tigers-vs-kansas-city-royals-tv-radio-game-info/10031610002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/12/detroit-tigers-vs-kansas-city-royals-tv-radio-game-info/10031610002/ |
NBA Summer League: Detroit Pistons (2-0) vs. Indiana Pacers (1-1)
Game notes: It's unlikely the Pistons will play rookie Jaden Ivey after he suffered an ankle injury of Saturday's win over Washington. The No. 5 pick in last month's draft is averaging 15.0 points out in the desert. The Pistons passed on Benn Mathurin to take Ivey. The Pacers rookie is averaging 19.0 points game.
[ Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart show in Summer League they can thrive ] | 2022-07-12T10:38:45Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Pistons Summer League vs. Indiana Pacers: Time, TV, etc. | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/12/detroit-pistons-summer-league-game-score-indiana-pacers-live-updates/10035029002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/12/detroit-pistons-summer-league-game-score-indiana-pacers-live-updates/10035029002/ |
The Amazon shopping season — known as Amazon Prime Day -— is upon us. And it's time to fend off more rounds of Amazon-related scams.
Amazon is a favorite for scammers throughout the year. Nearly one out of five people who reported a business impersonation scam said the scammer pretended to be from Amazon, according to the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel Network data from July 2021 through June.
During the past year, 65,976 people reported being targeted by Amazon impersonators, and 5,411 people said they lost money, according to new data from the FTC.
Reported losses totaled more than $36 million, based on the FTC data. The median loss in this group — meaning half lost more and half lost less — during this time was $1,050.
It's a ton of money to lose especially as consumers cope with skyrocketing prices on everything from groceries to gas.
Amazon Prime Day runs Tuesday and Wednesday but the sales trigger plenty of online bargain hunting in July, usually a dead zone for shoppers. And you can bet the scammers will be playing the odds that they can trick online shoppers once again.
In the first few days of July, Amazon-related phishing attacks increased by as much as 37% compared with the daily average in June, according to the cybersecurity firm Check Point Research's figures.
"Amazon is very popular and millions of households use it for a variety of things. They use it for their TV with Amazon Prime. They use it to get things delivered. A lot of us during the pandemic had Amazon boxes being shipped every day," said Amy Nofziger, director of victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
She noted that the fraud network heard from 16 victims in just two days last week about Amazon-related scams of many different forms, including one that claimed $499 has been charged to a consumer's account for a purchase the person didn't make.
A notice of a shockingly large purchase is just a ploy by scammers to get you to download apps like AnyDesk or TeamViewer to give the scammers access to your phone or personal computer as a way to steal data, access codes and even money.
Scammers love to impersonate a brand that is well-known and has credibility, including government agencies.
Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency, for example, warned Monday that crooks are sending text messages from a "210" area code, claiming that "your back payment deposit of $2,800 is now pending on your profile." The real agency doesn't contact people via text message.
Simple tip: Don't buy gift cards or Bitcoin for strangers, allow access to your computer or device or hand over ID information to strangers, no matter how convincing the pitch.
Tips to protect yourself shopping online apply, too: Use a credit card for better protection, be careful to make sure you're not shopping on a fake website, and watch out for deals that look too good to be true, which can be a sign that you're dealing with a scammer.
Here's a run down of Amazon scams:
Watch out for Amazon TV scams
John Anter, who lives in Port Huron, ended up losing about $400 in a scam that started out with someone impersonating an Amazon employee. He could have lost another $550 in the same scam but got few breaks from the bank.
Anter didn't get a phone call or a text from someone saying they were from Amazon.
Instead, Anter was trying to sign on to Amazon Prime on his TV and he had to log in by using his smartphone.
"I've done it before; never had a problem," said Anter, a Chrysler retiree who worked in national parts distribution in Center Line.
This time, though, a problem cropped up and a phone number for customer support popped up on his phone. He called it, which proved to be Mistake No. 1.
The man on the line, who had a foreign accent, told Anter the reason he couldn't sign in was that he needed to upgrade his Amazon account and there was a $50 charge for Amazon Digital, a fee the man told Anter not to worry about because it would be refunded.
The man sounded helpful, telling Anter that he enjoyed talking with him.
Anter upgraded for $50 using his debit card.
Then there was a $100 fee, which again the man said don't worry because it would be refunded. Anter used his debit card again to send the $100.
"One thing led to another and the next thing I know he's having me transfer money through Zelle on my Chase account," he said.
"It was $400."
"My wife kept saying 'Hang up, John, hang up.' "
He didn't hang up because he told her he was talking to Amazon.
He sent the $400 via Zelle to a woman's name that was given to him.
Then, the scammer wanted another $400 to be transferred to another person's name. But he said the bank stopped that $400 transfer because they spotted unusual activity.
He was able to get the first $150 back after calling Chase and disputing the debit card payments. But the bank told him that he OK'd the immediate cash transfer through Zelle and the $400 was not replaced.
"I said 'Well, I guess I learned a lesson here,' " said Anter, who is 84 and prides himself on never having been scammed in the past.
Anter said he'd warn other consumers to hang up when anyone claiming to be from Amazon asks for money for upgrades and claims the money will be somehow refunded.
"I should have known right then," he said. "I should have known; why do they need that first $50 thing?"
"And then another $100?"
Don't call just any phone number
If something's gone wrong with your Amazon delivery, you could be tempted to search online for a phone number for customer service. But con artists promote fake customer support numbers online for Amazon and other big names.
Nofziger said crooks have been known to list fake phone numbers and pretend to be from Amazon when posting on chat rooms, such as Reddit or the Ripoff Report. But if you call that number for help, you're calling the scammers, not Amazon.
More:Baby formula, CBD gummies, calls from Amazon — all potential scams
More:Survey scams offer free items, hide behind big names: The No. 1 red flag
The Better Business Bureau serving eastern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula received about six complaints about Amazon related scams in the past two months. Some consumers received fake text messages that supposedly were from Amazon.
But most of the consumers were concerned that they had reached a scammer after trying to reach Amazon Customer Support Service by Googling for a phone number.
Ashley Gibbard, marketing manager at the Better Business Bureau office in Southfield, said consumers should never just Google for a customer service number — the scams are that prevalent.
"If you need to contact Amazon customer support, we suggest going directly to the company website and going to the customer support link and following the prompts there," Gibbard said.
If you end up at the wrong customer support line, con artists might suggest fixing a problem by setting "a dummy account" with a money transfer app and tricking you into sending money to that account. Do not give remote access to bank accounts, provide account log in information, transfer money to strangers via Zelle or other apps.
Your account isn't frozen
Amazon warns online that scammers reach out by text or call and claim to be from "Amazon Customer Service." They'll tell you that that your account is frozen. The scammers then say you must purchase Amazon gift cards or other gift cards and give the codes over the phone to fix the problem.
Or the crooks will ask for your Amazon password, Social Security number or banking information. Hang up — or ignore any similar texts or emails.
If Amazon sends you an email, typically all you need to do is go to your Amazon account to verify the issue. You don't click on links or open attachments.
Don't answer texts from Amazon
A fake text could claim that an Amazon order was canceled because of payment problems.
The scammers want you to open an attachment or click on a link, which if opened can lead to malware being installed on your device.
If you're in a hurry or you trust a voice of authority, you might be more vulnerable. Listen to your inner voice that tells you that something sounds suspicious. Nofziger recommends pausing and even reaching out to someone else such as the AARP fraud network at 877-908-3360 to talk with someone before being pressured to give ID information or money.
That $500 gift card is fake
Amazon and other retailers aren't giving away big dollars if you take a survey to improve customer service.
"Does Amazon really need to be giving $500 away for your opinion?" Nofziger said. "Amazon is doing a pretty good job. They don't need to buy your opinon for $500 via a survey that comes in unsolicited."
She said consumers might expect something closer to a $5 credit on a next purchase or a $5 rebate for some of these surveys, if any money is given.
Amazon said online that it occasionally asks customers to take surveys conducted by a third party and sometimes will offer an online gift card that often is sent to the same email address within two weeks.
But the company warns its surveys don't ask customers to provide any sensitive account information, passwords, or Social Security numbers.
Consumers can file complaints about such scam related efforts with Amazon at stop-spoofing@amazon.com. | 2022-07-12T11:47:18Z | www.freep.com | Amazon scams heat up along with shopping for Prime Day deals | https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2022/07/12/amazon-scams-prime-day-deals/10011793002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2022/07/12/amazon-scams-prime-day-deals/10011793002/ |
General Motors' most affordable and accessible electric vehicle — the Chevrolet Bolt — will disappear from the lineup to make way for more EVs on the automaker's Ultium platform.
The Bolt and Bolt EUV, an SUV styling of the car, are on the automaker's BEV2 platform, which stands for battery electric vehicle.
But GM's upcoming EVs will all be on its proprietary Ultium battery propulsion platform, raising the question how much longer the Bolt will be relevant to Chevrolet's lineup.
"Will Bolt be in our portfolio 'x' numbers of years from now? No, it won’t," Steve Majoros, Chevy's vice president of marketing, told the Free Press on Monday. "It’s a great product right now. It will be with us for some time. But as we scale and ramp volume here, portfolio’s change."
GM has said it will add at least four new EVs to Chevrolet in the next few years: The 2024 Silverado EV, 2024 Blazer EV, an Equinox EV and an electrified Corvette. Cadillac is rolling out the 2023 Lyriq SUV now, GMC has the 2022 Hummer pickup out and Buick will also get an EV in the next few years. GM intends for all its vehicles across its four brands to be electric by 2035.
This would not be the first time Chevrolet bumps a vehicle to make room for another. In 2019 Chevrolet retired the hybrid Volt to make way for the all-electric Bolt, which gets about 250 miles on a single charge.
“We’re in the pioneering stages of EV technology,” said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. “We will see a lot of new product coming to the market and we may see some product go. BMW eliminated a lot of its early EVs.”
Krebs said there remains the possibility of GM keeping the Bolt name to use on a new EV, "if they feel it has value."
GM revealed the Bolt as a concept car in January 2015 and started producing them in 2016. Since then, it has sold more than 140,000.
But it hit a snag last year when GM had to recall all 2017-22 model year Bolts due to defective batteries that posed a potential fire risk. GM stopped building new Bolts late last year to work with its battery maker LG Energy Solution on fixing the batteries in that recall.
With a battery fix under way, Chevrolet restarted production in April at Orion Assembly plant. It is working to bring production back up with a goal this year of surpassing the Bolt's annual sales record of 24,000. In the second quarter, GM sold 6,945 Bolt EVs and EUVs, down 38.3% from the year-ago period.
But Majoros said Chevrolet has pent-up demand for the Bolt. Last month, GM said it will be cutting the price for the 2023 Bolt and Bolt EUV by about $6,000. The 2023 model year Bolt EV will start at $26,595. The 2023 Bolt EUV will start at $28,195. Both prices include the delivery fee.
The price reduction is to ensure the Bolt EV/EUV are competitive in the marketplace by making affordability a priority, GM has said.
Jesse Toprak, chief analyst at Autonomy, an EV subscription company, said GM's decision to lower the price of the Bolt will make it the cheapest EV available and potentially bring in new customers.
Majoros said even when the Bolt eventually fades from the lineup, it offers value now.
“Products come and go all the time," Majoros said. "It’s what right for the customer at this time if you want to get into an EV that has an attractive price point, great styling, great technology, phenomenal range" and free home installation of chargers.
More:Frustrated Chevy Bolt owners want their money back after massive recall | 2022-07-12T11:47:24Z | www.freep.com | Chevrolet Bolt EV to disappear from lineup as new technology rolls out | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/12/chevrolet-bolt-ev-gm-lineup/10031499002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/12/chevrolet-bolt-ev-gm-lineup/10031499002/ |
After the longest Michigan break of his career, Bruce Springsteen is headed back to Detroit.
Springsteen and the E Street Band will play Little Caesars Arena on March 29, part of a 31-show U.S. tour that will kick off Feb. 1 in Tampa, Florida and finish with an April 14 New Jersey homecoming. Details were announced Tuesday morning.
Tickets for the Little Caesars Arena stop will go on sale at 10 a.m. July 27. Springsteen is using Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system, which is intended to thwart ticket brokers and requires buyers to sign up in advance. Registration is available now at verifiedfan.ticketmaster.com/springsteen.
Related: Eric Clapton to play Detroit's Little Caesars Arena in September on 5-city arena run
More: Anita Baker books homecoming at Little Caesars Arena — first major Detroit show since 1995
Any tickets remaining after the Verified Fan onsale would become available to the general public at 3 p.m. July 27.
Springsteen revealed his U.S. touring aims in May, when he also announced a run of 2023 European dates. Ticket sales for those overseas shows topped 1 million within a couple of weeks.
Springsteen’s last metro Detroit visit was in April 2016, when he played the Palace of Auburn Hills on the River Tour. The seven-year gap is the Boss’s longest break between Michigan shows since his touring career began in the early '70s.
Related: Post Malone books October stop at Little Caesars Arena as Twelve Carat Tour hits
More: Lizzo to play Little Caesars Arena Oct. 6 in biggest Detroit homecoming show of career
More: Kendrick Lamar to play Little Caesars Arena as part of global Big Steppers Tour | 2022-07-12T14:54:19Z | www.freep.com | Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band headed to Detroit in 2023 | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/12/bruce-springsteen-e-street-band-little-caesars-arena-detroit-tickets/10035739002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/12/bruce-springsteen-e-street-band-little-caesars-arena-detroit-tickets/10035739002/ |
A tornado touched down near Lake Fenton and Holly late Monday evening, doing some damage to trees a few homes, a pergola, and a barn.
It touched down about 11:33 p.m. and lasted for about nine minutes.
Lloyd Carr may have never joined Michigan football without Gary Moeller
Monday's tornado, the weather service said, cut a 40-yead swath about 7.5 miles long, from the shoreline of eastern Lake Fenton to about three miles from Holly and just west of Interstate 75, before it lifted up.
Destruction included roof and dormer damage to a home on Pine Street near Lake Fenton, downed trees and limbs, and the loss of vinyl siding, metal roofing to a barn and a backyard pergola. | 2022-07-12T21:08:04Z | www.freep.com | Tornado confirmed in Michigan, damages trees, homes | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/12/tornado-confirmed-michigan-damage/10041359002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/12/tornado-confirmed-michigan-damage/10041359002/ |
Dog rescued by park rangers after falling off cliff at Pictured Rocks
Leo is one lucky dog.
Leo, a 4-year-old cocker spaniel-poodle mix, jumped over a railing at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising and fell 25-30 feet to a ledge below, but managed to survive until rescuers came to his aid.
The incident happened last Friday.
The dog had been leashed but slipped out of his collar and fell from the Miners Castle rock formation, according to the U.S. National Parks news release.
Park rangers were alerted to the situation when they heard a child scream. When they ran to the lower platform to investigate, they could see the dog moving around and limping on the ledge.
His family, who was visiting from Wisconsin, encouraged Leo to stay put while additional help was called.
Superior High Angle Rescue Professionals (SHARP) team member John Miller was brought in to help. Miller was lowered to the ledge using rope, but Leo wouldn’t come to him initially.
It took 25 minutes of coaxing and offering dog food like bread and Goldfish crackers for Leo to come to Miller and Chief Ranger Joe Hughes.
Miller created a makeshift harness to fit the dog, and the team was able to lift him back to the overhead platform where his family was waiting for him.
Though Leo's story had a happy ending, the risk was imminent. Just last year, a visitor died after falling from Miners Castle, according to WNMU.
More: Ultimate Michigan bucket list: 31 things you didn't know you must do
“The park's shoreline can be very unforgiving from the cold water to the sheer cliffs and drop offs,” Hughes said. “By partnering with the highly trained mountaineering guides on SHARP, we are able to safely effect these types of high angle rescues here at the park.” | 2022-07-12T22:30:38Z | www.freep.com | Dog rescued after falling off cliff at Pictured Rocks in Michigan | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/12/dog-rescued-pictured-rocks-michigan/10042495002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/12/dog-rescued-pictured-rocks-michigan/10042495002/ |
What began as three unhappy owners of 2021 Ford Expedition and 2021 Lincoln Navigator vehicles has ballooned to 22 plaintiffs including one from the automaker's home state of Michigan in a lawsuit filed this month against Ford Motor Co.
The Seattle-based Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro law firm amended the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan to add 19 plaintiffs to the original three and also respond to Ford's expanded recall.
Ford has said it is not aware of injuries related to the problem.
The latest filing includes photos and video of a fire provided by Paul Rich of Canby, Oregon, who purchased a 2021 Ford Expedition XLT in March 2022 and says it caught fire while parked in front of his home in June. The vehicle was built in December 2021, falling outside the original or expanded recall dates. .
The amended lawsuit says Rich never received a recall notice or warning from Ford, apparently because Ford has yet to expand the safety recall regarding the spontaneous fire defect to include 2021 models, like his, that were built in December of that year.
And it still isn't covered by the expanded recall.
Vehicles in question were built between July 27, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021. The original recall covered vehicles built between Dec. 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021.
Fortunately, a passerby saw the fire and called the local fire department, which extinguished the blaze before it spread to Rich’s home. The pictures taken immediately after the fire show where the fire burned the battery junction box and spread to the car’s exterior.
Ford spokesman Said Deep declined to comment to the Free Press on pending litigation Tuesday, citing company policy.
“While it is positive news that Ford believes it has found its manufacturing defect that is behind at least 21 dangerous spontaneous fires in its luxury vehicles, at the same time, Ford has now admitted that this defect affects at least 66,000 vehicles still covered under warranty,” Steve Berman, Hagens Berman co-founder and managing partner, said in a news release Tuesday. “Ford claims to have designed a fix, yet admits it only has parts for a small subset of the affected vehicles, and the timeline Ford presents is at best several months in the future for most vehicles to be repaired.”
He added, “Ford has also failed to provide any substitute vehicles or compensation for those who choose not to assume the risk of fire to continue using their vehicle."
Ford has acknowledged that fires are caused by a manufacturing defect in a battery junction box, and has advised customers to park away from structures while waiting for the part, the law firm noted.
What is safe?
“Ford’s investigation of this defect appears inadequate," he said, noting customers have paid more than $50,000 for these SUVs.
“While they wait for Ford to actually install a fix, affected owners are stuck with expensive vehicles that they can only use if they assume a risk of fire, and can’t park at their homes or work or near anything flammable,” Berman said.
The lawsuit began with these 2021 model owners and lessees:
Jessica Stahlman of Mount Dora, Florida (Expedition)
Jeremy Sessler of Seaford, New York (Navigator)
Ronald "RJ" Smith of Raleigh, North Carolina (Navigator)
The amended lawsuit now includes Michael Mehling of Rockford, Michigan, an Expedition owner, as well as:
Julie Huntley of Texarkana, Arkansas (Expedition)
Lewis Hampton of El Dorado Hills, California (Expedition)
Jeff Swanson of Berthoud, Colorado (Navigator)
Scott Barber of Bozrah, Connecticut (Expedition)
Anthony Caito of Naples, Florida (Expedition)
Miranda Hanley of Stone Mountain, Georgia (Expedition)
William A. Head III of Bremen, Georgia (Expedition)
Clifford "Greg” Mason of Decatur, Illinois (Navigator)
Richard Rezko of Westmont, Illinois (Expedition)
Kathleen Holm of Big Fork, Montana (Expedition)
Kelly Ernest of Belgrade, Montana (Expedition)
Nancy Mammel of Santa Fe, New Mexico (Navigator)
Kuya Machanja of Powell, Ohio (Expedition)
Lisa Kuhn of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (Expedition)
Amber Sulligan of Broomall, Pennsylvania (Expedition)
Jorge Romo of The Woodlands, Texas (Navigator)
Manuel Amores of Spring, Texas (Expedition)
Ford CEO Jim Farley has said consistently since taking the helm in October 2020 that product quality and reducing recall and warranty costs were top priorities. He hired quality czar Josh Halliburton earlier this year. | 2022-07-12T22:30:50Z | www.freep.com | Lawsuit over fire defect in 2021 Expedition, Lincoln Navigator expands | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/07/12/ford-defective-expedition-lincoln-navigator-lawsuit/10041551002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/07/12/ford-defective-expedition-lincoln-navigator-lawsuit/10041551002/ |
Catcher MJ Melendez's throw to the hot corner ended up in left field, gifting Cabrera with a stolen base. After seeing the ball rolling in the outfield, the 20-year MLB veteran took off for home and easily scored in the Detroit Tigers' four-run seventh inning.
HE'S BACK:Akil Baddoo is determined to focus on 'playing my game'
Before Cabrera's steal-and-score for a 5-3 advantage, the Tigers broke a three-all tie with Javier Báez double to kickstart the seventh inning. He scored on Bobby Witt Jr.'s fielding error, which let the speedy Cabrera reach safely.
MISSING SOMEBODY?:Another setback for Austin Meadows, who won't join Tigers until after All-Star break
Detroit finished 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position but recorded 11 hits and three walks.
On Isbel's single, the ball went underneath Báez's glove and traveled into center field. The next batter, Emmanuel Rivera, grounded into an inning-ending double play that was started by Castro, the third baseman.
Brieske allowed three runs on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts in six innings, firing 51 of 79 pitches for strikes while recording seven swings and misses and nine called strikes. His six quality starts are tied with Joe Ryan (Minnesota Twins) and George Kirby (Seattle Mariners) for the lead among MLB rookies.
The Royals scored one run in the first inning and two more in the second. On Brieske's first pitch of the game, a four-seam fastball, Melendez ripped the ball to the right-center gap with a 106.7 mph exit velocity for a leadoff triple.
An ensuing one-out single from Andrew Benintendi put the Royals up 1-0. Kansas City took at 3-2 lead on back-to-back doubles from Isbel and Rivera in the second inning, after Edward Olivares walked to first base due to a hit-by-pitch.
Three straight singles — Schoop, Torkelson and Akil Baddoo — helped produce the team's first run, with Schoop's single extending his hitting streak to 10 games.
The RBI single earned Baddoo non-verbal praise from manager A.J. Hinch, who pointed at the 23-year-old from the dugout. After the third single, Riley Greene grounded into a double play, allowing Torkelson to from third base and put the Tigers ahead 2-1.
The Tigers manufactured their third run in the fifth inning, tying the game at three runs apiece. Báez opened the frame with a double, and Robbie Grossman advanced him to third base with a flyout to right field. | 2022-07-13T04:00:59Z | www.freep.com | Miguel Cabrera leads Detroit Tigers to 7-5 win over Royals | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/12/detroit-tigers-game-recap-kansas-city-royals-miguel-cabrera/10044403002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/12/detroit-tigers-game-recap-kansas-city-royals-miguel-cabrera/10044403002/ |
Detroit Tigers game score vs. Kansas City Royals: TV, time, probable pitchers
First-pitch forecast: Low-90s, mostly clear.
Probable pitchers: Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal (6-7, 3.99 ERA) vs Royals RHP Brady Singer (3-3, 4.25 ERA).
ABOUT LAST NIGHT:Miguel Cabrera steals base in 7-5 win over Royals to snap four-game skid
Game notes: The Tigers finish their four-game set behind Tarik Skubal, who looked like an All-Star two months in, but has cooled considerably since the beginning of June. He had a5.85 ERA across six starts last month. He struggled again vs. these Royals to start the season but bounced back with a two-run, seven-strikeout performance vs. the Chicago White Sox. The hard throwing lefty was much better against the Royals in May, going 5 2/3 innings allowing one run, which was unearned, and striking out seven.
Singer has started eight times vs. the Tigers (only the Minnesota Twins, nine starts, have seen him more) and fared well. He's 4-0 with a 2.98 ERA and his 9.6 strikeouts per nine are higher than his career average (8.9). But with Singer on the mound, it's all the more likely that recently called-up Akil Baddoo will be in the lineup — the outfielder has hit .571 with three RBIs in seven at-bats against Singer. Robbie Grossman, on the other hand, is hitless in 10 ABs, yet has an RBI, against the 6-foot-5 right-hander. Harold Castro is hitting .462 in 13 such ABs; that number isn't as lucky for Willi Castro (.231 with a home run) and Jeimer Candelario (.231), who have a baker's dozen's worth of at-bats against Singer. | 2022-07-13T10:05:56Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers game score vs. Kansas City Royals: TV, time | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/13/detroit-tigers-game-score-kansas-city-royals-updates/10041005002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/13/detroit-tigers-game-score-kansas-city-royals-updates/10041005002/ |
More:Michigan babies, preschoolers getting first dose of COVID-19 vaccine
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Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state's chief medical officer, didn't go so far as to say the Michigan has entered another coronavirus surge just yet.
"We are still looking fairly good with most of our regions in green," Bagdasarian told the Free Press Tuesday. "Now do I think we will we'll stay that way? Probably not. We have to be prepared for cases to go up. We know that BA.4 and BA.5 are spreading throughout the country and in our in our region as well."
More:After losing parents to COVID, ex-Detroit Pershing star Justin Tillman's sights are on NBA
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"The data on this is very clear is if you're over 50 that extra booster dramatically lowers your risk of getting into the hospital, going to the ICU (intensive-care unit) and dying," Jha said. "And there are very few things we do in medicine that have the kind of benefit that we see from that extra shot.
"Let me be clear: If you get vaccinated today, you're not going to be ineligible to get the variant-specific vaccine as we get into the later part of fall and winter. So this is not a trade off. We've got plenty. This is a great way to protect yourself."
But if you're going to a big concert where people are close together, even if it's outside,
it probably makes sense to wear a mask," he said.
More:Free COVID-19 tests available to Michiganders in at-risk communities: How to get them | 2022-07-13T11:06:47Z | www.freep.com | COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations up as BA.5 drives Michigan spike | https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/07/13/covid-19-cases-hospitalizations-up-ba-5/10034117002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/07/13/covid-19-cases-hospitalizations-up-ba-5/10034117002/ |
Christina Hall Eric D. Lawrence
SMART is taking another shot at getting a millage proposal on Macomb County ballots in November with a revised proposal after the first one failed when it didn't get enough votes by county commissioners.
The revised proposal from the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation calls for a 0.95 millage rate, a reduction from the previously suggested 0.9615 millage rate, and a term of five years instead of four years (2022 through 2026).
If approved by Macomb County voters, the millage would raise about $31.1 million in the first year, according to information in a committee meeting packet Wednesday for county commissioners.
First, the proposal has to get seven affirmative votes from the committee Wednesday, then another seven affirmative votes by the full county board Thursday for the language to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.
More:Questions swirl around SMART bus millage renewal in Macomb County despite board vote
Macomb County voters have approved a millage to support SMART since 1995, though the last approval of 1 mill squeaked by in 2018 with just 39 votes out of almost 155,000 cast.
Even if a proposal makes its way to ballots countywide in Macomb, there are questions about whether voters there will pass it.
Last month, language for a renewal ballot proposal appeared to pass in a 6-5 commission vote. But the county's top attorney and clerk said it didn't because a majority of commissioners, not just those present at the meeting, would have needed to vote in favor.
Two commissioners — Democrats Mai Xiong of Warren and Antoinette Wallace of Mount Clemens — were absent from the June meeting and did not vote.
Xiong said in a recent Facebook post that she plans to vote yes to place the proposal on the ballot. Last month, she said she attended the senior executives in state and local government certificate program at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, near Boston, where she inexpensively rode the subway. She said she did not have time to return for the prior board vote.
In her post, Xiong said she supports public transportation and as a college student took the SMART bus from Warren to downtown Detroit and back every day. She said that she believes voters should decide if a millage rate should be considered for SMART.
The county board has until Aug. 16 to approve language for the November ballot.
While SMART is proposing a slightly smaller millage than before, it will "look for improved efficiencies and productivity within the current system of services in order to adjust for the shortfall," spokesperson Beth Gibbons told the Free Press in an email Tuesday.
She said the suggested length of the proposed millage expanding from four years to five years "will allow for a one-year overlap of funding between millage votes."
SMART General Manager Dwight Ferrell told the Free Press in a statement after last month's vote that it was SMART's objective to work with the county board "and ensure the voters of Macomb County can have their voice heard on the future of transit.”
More:SMART bus system leader pledges new direction; millage renewal to be sought in November
County Board Chairman Don Brown said he is expecting all of the commissioners to attend both meetings this week. He said he was not surprised SMART came back with another proposal.
County Corporation Counsel John Schapka said under their board rules, the commissioners have the authority to consider an issue based on significant new information that was unknown to them when they took the other vote in June. That would be the new millage amount and new length of time for the millage.
SMART has not yet approached transportation officials in Wayne and Oakland counties about a millage. Unlike Macomb County, those counties have transportation authorities. Gibbons said those authorities are responsible for getting the millage placed on the ballot in communities in those counties.
Macomb County is the only county in metro Detroit that is “all in” on the SMART millage, and the recent split board vote highlights the challenges facing SMART in a region where the very concept of public transportation has become controversial, perhaps more so than in any other comparable metropolitan area in the country.
SMART provides bus and transportation services in communities in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties and operates the limited-stop, express FAST buses seen on Woodward, Gratiot and Michigan avenues that travel into and out of the heart of Detroit. The Detroit Department of Transportation provides transportation services in the city of Detroit.
SMART also coordinates with other transit services in the region, such as Richmond/Lenox Emergency Medical Services.
The EMS provides shuttle services for residents in 10 communities, including New Baltimore, New Haven and Macomb and Chesterfield townships. Macomb Township trustees, during a board meeting in June, voted to continue the township's transit service arrangement with Richmond/Lenox EMS.
The township earlier this year passed a resolution asking the county to provide individual communities with a SMART opt-out option. Township Treasurer Leon Drolet, a longtime critic of regional transit efforts, was among those who questioned the value of SMART service to the community. The resolution noted that township taxpayers paid more than $3.8 million in property taxes to SMART in 2021.
EMS Chief Jeff White said the arrangement with Macomb Township allows SMART to direct what are known as community and municipal credits toward local transit service.
The deal agreed to in June means about $224,000 from SMART, which is supported by the countywide millage that township property taxes help cover. It will pay for shuttle services this fiscal year for Macomb Township residents from their homes and back to medical appointments, jobs, grocery shopping and even Detroit Metro Airport. The shuttles don't charge users a fee, although users must live in the 10 communities.
More:Some people think of cheese when they think of southeast Michigan's public transportation
White noted that the airport shuttle is popular with those who have used it.
"People who use it once use it again,” White said, noting the benefits of not having to pay for parking at the airport. The airport shuttle does not operate around the clock, but it does include early-morning and late-night runs to accommodate a wider range of flight schedules, White said.
Shuttle users for all services are asked to schedule rides three days in advance at 844-666-5652 because of the demand.
White said the EMS shuttles currently operate with 11 vehicles total, about eight each day, and 15 drivers, but the organization is planning to add a bus for same-day service as early as mid-August.
More:SMART bus service's next leader ran Cincinnati's transit system
The shuttle service handles about 25,000 rides per year for all of the communities and is expected to provide about 6,000 rides for Macomb Township residents this year, White said.
He said the EMS also has provided other kinds of services when called upon. During a 90-day period in the winter and spring of 2021, the service provided transportation to accommodate 16,000 COVID-19 vaccinations for those who needed them, White said.
He said the SMART does more than provide the funding credits to the EMS, it also provides the vehicles. He said that even if communities want to pursue other options for transit service at this time, doing so would be a challenge because acquiring vehicles could take years.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter. Contact Eric D. Lawrence: ericlawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. | 2022-07-13T11:07:05Z | www.freep.com | Here is SMART's revised millage proposal for Macomb County ballot | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/07/13/here-smarts-revised-millage-proposal-macomb-county-ballot/10039006002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/07/13/here-smarts-revised-millage-proposal-macomb-county-ballot/10039006002/ |
It took 20 years, but a Genesee County lottery club finally hit it big.
The Lunch Bunch Crew lottery club members, who have purchased tickets together for 20 years, recently won a Lotto 47 jackpot worth $1.85 million, according to the Michigan Lottery.
Their ticket matched the numbers drawn June 18 — 2-4-6-17-31-36. The club members purchased the ticket at Tom's Market located at 465 South St. in Ortonville and chose to remain anonymous.
"A co-worker and I started a Lottery club about 20 years ago," the club’s representative told the Michigan Lottery. "There are currently five of us in the club and we take turns purchasing a ticket each week.
"One day at work, a few of us saw an article about a winning Lotto 47 ticket that was sold in Ortonville and remembered we had never checked our ticket. We texted the club member who had purchased it asking where she purchased the ticket and if she had checked it yet. When we got a reply from her saying she had not checked it, but purchased it at Tom’s Market, we knew right away. We started jumping and shouting with joy!”
The group recently claimed its prize and opted to receive a lump-sum payment of about $1.2 million instead of annuity payments for the full amount.
"We are still in shock! Winning is life-changing for all of us," a club member said. | 2022-07-13T13:17:17Z | www.freep.com | Genesee County lottery club wins Lotto 47 jackpot | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/13/michigan-lottery-lotto-47-winning-numbers-genesee-county/10046077002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/13/michigan-lottery-lotto-47-winning-numbers-genesee-county/10046077002/ |
Opinion: We still need to protect youngest kids from COVID-19
Gurbaksh Esch
As I sat in the vaccine clinic last year, rolling up my sleeve, I felt a small pop in my belly: a tiny movement from my baby. That little kick reminded me why getting my COVID-19 vaccine was so very important. I was protecting both of us against COVID-19 and the associated complications, which include preterm delivery and severe maternal illness and increased risk of death. I was also giving him antibodies, or immune-fighter cells, that would help him as a newborn and an infant, for up to six months.
Now that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have approved COVID-19 vaccinations for our littlest ones — ages 6 months to under 5 years — I have yet another opportunity to protect him.
As a pediatrician and a mother, I urge every family with a young child to also take advantage of this safe and effective vaccine.
More:Michigan reports 16,681 COVID-19 cases, 160 deaths over the past week
There are many reasons why I am opting to vaccinate my now 1-year-old son against COVID-19. I think of Mary, the 6-year-old that presented to our Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with heart failure. Her mom told me how she loved to run around in the sprinklers in the summertime and she wondered if she would ever be able to do that again. Mary had multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C as it is commonly known, a condition that can happen in children after having a COVID-19 infection. She needed medications to help keep her blood pressure normal and her heart working. Mary ultimately survived but had long-term consequences from MIS-C and COVID-19.
I also think of Finn, the f4-year-old that came into the emergency room with an asthma attack because of a COVID-19 infection. He was struggling to breathe and ultimately needed a tube down his throat and a ventilator, a machine to help breathe for him. I watched the machine help his chest rise and fall, his small figure looking so helpless. His dad never left his side, holding his little hand, day and night. Finn also recovered, though his dad told me about six months later that he still gets winded and tired quicker than his friends when he plays outside.
Stories like these are strong reminders that COVID-19 can unleash serious harm on the health of young kids, which is not captured in many of the statistics we see about case counts and deaths.
As someone who received the vaccine while pregnant and participated in a study to follow outcomes of pregnancy and infancy after COVID-19 vaccination, I believe that data and outcomes are important to make an informed decision. Millions of children have been vaccinated, and the safety data is very reassuring. I urge families to reach out to their pediatrician and consult trusted messengers, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to learn more about the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccination.
As pediatricians, we will continue to encourage parents to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 and provide trusted resources to improve education surrounding these vaccines. However, we cannot do it alone. To ensure families can access this lifesaving vaccine, our state government must provide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines across Michigan and understand barriers to vaccination so that we, as health care workers, public health providers, parents, and advocates of child health, can eliminate those barriers.
Community leaders, too, can help by sharing their stories, encourage COVID-19 vaccination for children 6 months and older, and partnering with local health departments in order to provide improved access and a trusted community presence.
Now that the safe, effective, and lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine is available to one of our most vulnerable populations — infants and children — it is time to protect our future.
Gurbaksh Esch is a pediatrician and Alice Hamilton Scholar in Flint with the Pediatric Public Health Initiative at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. | 2022-07-13T13:17:23Z | www.freep.com | Opinion: Why parents need to vaccinate young children against COVID-19 | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/13/covid-vaccinations-young-children-pediatrician-recommendation/10033232002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/13/covid-vaccinations-young-children-pediatrician-recommendation/10033232002/ |
Correction: The story has been updated to correctly reflect Dylan Larkin's history at the event.
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However, the July 26 event will feature Lions Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson, for the first time, and Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin, who appeared in 2019. | 2022-07-13T16:37:08Z | www.freep.com | Calvin Johnson, Dylan Larkin join Area 313 Celebrity Scramble | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/golf/2022/07/13/calvin-johnson-dylan-larkin-rocket-mortgage-classic-tom-izzo-barry-sanders/10046830002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/golf/2022/07/13/calvin-johnson-dylan-larkin-rocket-mortgage-classic-tom-izzo-barry-sanders/10046830002/ |
Steve Yzerman shored up the Detroit Red Wings' defense by adding Olli Määttä on opening day of NHL free agency.
Yzerman's first deal was to bring in forward Andrew Copp, who projects to fill the need as second-line center.
Maatta got one year at $2.25 million. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder has 136 points and a plus-70 rating in 534 games.
Maatta, 27, projects to add depth down the left-side defense. The Wings had spots to fill with the departures of veterans Danny DeKeyser and Marc Staal. | 2022-07-13T17:16:26Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Red Wings sign free agent defenseman Olli Määttä | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2022/07/13/detroit-red-wings-sign-free-agent-defenseman-olli-maatta/10049317002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2022/07/13/detroit-red-wings-sign-free-agent-defenseman-olli-maatta/10049317002/ |
The accused ringleader is facing a retrial, and argues jurors needs to hear what Big Dan said to him and others in text messages and in person so they can understand what he claims really happened — that Big Dan and the FBI ran the whole show and concocted the kidnapping plan.
He was referring to Fox.
In a late Tuesday court filing, Fox's lawyer filed multiple motions and exhibits urging the judge to allow him to make arguments that were off limits in the first trial, in which four men were accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer out of anger over her COVID-19 orders. Two others pleaded guilty early on and testified against the four at trial.
"The FBI should not be permitted to hire civilians to do what they cannot do and then be permitted to exclude it from scrutiny in a courtroom by calling it 'hearsay,' " Gibbons argues in his court filing. "The Government should not to be able to hide the work of its informants behind the rules of evidence, whether that work be "good" or "bad". The public and the charged defendant have an interest in transparency."
Fox's lawyer did not identify which text messages or statements from Big Dan to Fox he wants admitted — only that he wants to use them. But he did cite some text messages that he wants to show between Big Dan and his FBI handler Jayson Chambers. The two exchanged 3,236 messages over a nearly seven-month period in 2020 — or an average about 16 messages a day.
The government opted not to use Chambers as a witness at trial. Chambers was among four rogue actors in the Whitmer investigation who were kicked off the case over misdeeds that the defense hoped to use to derail the government's case
Big Dan took the stand, though the defense was limited as to what it could present to the jury about the informant.
During trial, the jury got to see some texts sent from the FBI agent to Big Dan - but Big Dan's responding texts were regarded as inadmissible hearsay.
Prosecutors argued throughout trial that Fox and his cohorts were armed, ready and willing to carry out a kidnapping of the governor, and that they did more than just talk about it - as the defense had claimed. The government argued that the defendants took actual steps to make it happen, including casing Whitmer's home, drawing up maps, building and testing explosives, and buying night vision goggles. | 2022-07-13T19:05:26Z | www.freep.com | Whitmer kidnap suspect Adam Fox wants text messages in retrial | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/13/whitmer-kidnap-suspect-adam-fox-retrial-text-messages-big-dan/10045494002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/13/whitmer-kidnap-suspect-adam-fox-retrial-text-messages-big-dan/10045494002/ |
The Colleyville, Texas native, standing 6 feet 4½ inchesand 260 pounds, is ranked the No. 19 defensive line prospect nationally by the 247Sports Composite. He is also ranked the No. 21 player in Texas and the No. 125 overall player nationally.
BOOK IT:Celebrate Michigan's national title 25 years later with this new Free Press book!
A dominant force for Covenant Christian Academy, Etta had 124 tackles — 40½ for loss — 22½ sacks and 31 quarterback hurries as a junior, according to MaxPreps. He chose U-M over Michigan State, Stanford, Alabama and Utah among others, boasting 30 total offers.
The Wolverines also added four-star Philadelphia linebacker Semaj Bridgeman to their defensive haul on July 1. | 2022-07-13T19:05:32Z | www.freep.com | Michigan football recruiting: 4-star DL Enow Etta commits | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/07/13/michigan-football-recruiting-commitment-2023-enow-etta/10050190002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/07/13/michigan-football-recruiting-commitment-2023-enow-etta/10050190002/ |
General manager Steve Yzerman added left wing Dominik Kubalik to the Detroit Red Wings' free agency haul.
Kubalik received a two-year, $5 million deal, which works out to a $2.5 million annual salary cap hit.
Kubalik (6 feet 2, 179 pounds) posted 30 goals as a rookie with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019-20, and has 62 goals and 116 points in 202 games.
He's the second forward signed by Yzerman on the first day of free agency, joining center Andrew Copp. Yzerman also signed defensemen Ben Chiarot and Olli Määttä.
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Steve Yzerman stocks up on defense, signs Ben Chiarot
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Kubalik, 26, fits in with the age group of the "older" core pieces of the rebuild — Dylan Larkin, Tyler Bertuzzi and Jakub Vrana. Kubalik didn't match his rookie output in his second and third seasons, but he still posted in the 15-goal range.
It's a fairly low-risk signing, giving the Wings a potential scorer without committing much in the way of length.
MORE UPDATES:NHL free agency moves for Wings, around the league | 2022-07-13T19:48:28Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Red Wings sign free agent forward Dominik Kubalik | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2022/07/13/detroit-red-wings-free-agent-forward-dominik-kubalik/10051508002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2022/07/13/detroit-red-wings-free-agent-forward-dominik-kubalik/10051508002/ |
The program offers additional savings on grocery delivery, fuel and groceries.
"We are excited to have Boost here in Michigan to provide ... convenience for our customers no matter how they choose to shop with us," Rachel Hurst, corporate affairs manager for the Kroger Co. of Michigan, said in a statement.
One of the biggest bonuses for customers who sign up for Boost is that they earn two times the fuel points for every $1 spent at Kroger, with fuel discounts adding up to $1 per gallon of gas. Kroger estimates Boost customers can save more than $1,000 a year on fuel and grocery delivery.
“As customers continue to evolve how they shop and eat, this expansion of our loyalty program offers more personalized value in groceries and fuel, alongside easier access to convenient shopping solutions, such as delivery,” said Yael Cosset, Kroger senior vice president and chief information officer, in a news release.
Both membership tiers earn two times Kroger fuel points for $1 spent on most purchases. The Kroger Plus loyalty program, which is free for customers, earns one fuel point for every dollar spent.
"From time to time, our Boost membership customers will receive additional exclusive offers that will require digital coupon downloads that will provide added savings," Hurst said. | 2022-07-13T20:58:00Z | www.freep.com | Kroger Boost membership includes delivery, gas savings: What to know | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/13/kroger-boost-program-savings/10050084002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/13/kroger-boost-program-savings/10050084002/ |
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the third inning, Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal fired the fastest pitch of his MLB career. He unleashed a 99.8 mph two-seam fastball on the outside edge of the strike zone against MJ Melendez.
The result: A strikeout looking for the third out.
The fourth inning wasn't as kind to Skubal, as the Kansas City Royals recorded several weak hits and took advantage of defensive mistakes to score four runs. The Tigers lost, 5-2, in Wednesday's series finale at Kauffman Stadium.
The Tigers (37-52) were on the losing end in three of four games in the series, including getting swept in Monday's doubleheader.
Six straight batters reached safely with Skubal on the mound and one out in the fourth inning, but only one of those players — Emmanuel Rivera's 306-foot RBI double — hit the ball beyond 70 feet.
Most plays should have been easy outs, based on Statcast's expected batting average: Andrew Benintendi (single, .220 xBA), Hunter Dozier (single, .140 xBA), Rivera (double, .380 xBA), Vinnie Pasquantino (fielder's choice, .150 xBA), Edward Olivers (fielding error, .440 xBA) and Kyle Isbel (single, .140 xBA).
Among the defensive miscues, the most costly was second baseman Jonathan Schoop's fielding error with the bases loaded. Had Schoop fielded the ball cleanly, he would have turned an inning-ending double play.
Instead, the ball skipped past Schoop — the best defensive infielder in baseball this season — and the Royals turned a tie game into a 3-1 advantage. Two batters later, Nicky Lopez's sacrifice fly made it 4-1.
Schoop has three errors this season, but he is worth plus-seven defensive runs saved and plus-21 outs above average.
Skubal allowed five runs (four earned runs) on eight hits, throwing 70 of 94 pitches for strikes. He struck out five batters and didn't conceded a walk, his first outing without a walk since June 7.
Offense comes up empty
The Tigers had enough opportunities to win.
Detroit's offense drove in two runs despite eight hits and six walks, finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and, once again, failed to produce game-changing hits. Akil Baddoo struck out swinging on a full-count slider to leave the bases juiced in the sixth.
It was Royals starter Brady Singer's final pitch.
In the first, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to Riley Greene (single), Victor Reyes (double) and Javier Báez (walk). They had one run to show on Harold Castro's sacrifice fly. His sac fly was sandwiched between outs from Schoop and Jeimer Candelario.
In the fourth, Schoop and Castro opened the frame with back-to-back singles, but the next three batters — Candelario, Spencer Torkelson and Baddoo — were set down.
Two innings later, in the sixth, Báez (single), Castro (walk) and Candelario (walk) loaded the bases against Singer with one out. Finally, the Tigers seemed lined up for a breakthrough.
But Singer, a right-hander, produced back-to-back strikeouts to conclude his outing. Torkelson, a right-handed hitter, chased a down-and-away slider, and Baddoo, a lefty hitter, whiffed at a down-and-in slider.
Singer allowed one run on seven hits and five walks with six strikeouts in six innings. The 25-year-old threw 61 of 105 pitches for strikes. He racked up 10 swings and misses, including seven with his slider.
In the seventh, Báez's RBI double cut the Tigers' deficit to 5-2.
He was stranded at second base.
For most of his outing, Skubal dominated the Royals and recorded 10 outs against the first 11 batters he faced. He retired three in a row in a 10-pitch second inning and three in a row in an 11-pitch third.
A combination of bad luck and Schoop's error ruined an otherwise dominant outing.
The third at-bat in the third inning was the most impressive, as Skubal reached back to hit 99 mph, 98.5 mph and 99.8 mph on the radar gun. Since 2015, the 99.8 mph two-seam fastball is tied with Justin Verlander for the fastest pitch thrown by a Tigers starting pitcher.
After four runs in Skubal's 26-pitch fourth inning, the Royals their final run in the fifth for a 5-1 lead on Dozier's RBI triple.
Right-hander Drew Carlton pitched the seventh and eighth innings. | 2022-07-13T21:19:38Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers melt away in fourth inning, lose to Royals, 5-2 | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/13/detroit-tigers-game-recap-kansas-city-royals/10050674002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/13/detroit-tigers-game-recap-kansas-city-royals/10050674002/ |
UAW members at four Michigan plants have a new national contract with General Motors' Subsystems Manufacturing LLC employees.
On Wednesday the 600 subsystems employees ratified the contract by a 96% “yes” vote. In it, they will get a pay raise, a $7,000 ratification bonus and other new benefits such as new dental and vision coverage as well as a new profit sharing plan.
Orion Assembly plant in Orion Township, represented by Local 5960, which makes the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV and will build the 2024 Silverado EV.
The subsystem employees have a different contract than that of the 48,000 GM hourly workers in the U.S. that went on strike in 2019.
But a strike by subsystem workers could have brought production of GM's most profitable vehicles to a standstill within hours because the workers sort all the parts that come into to the plants. Then they deliver those parts to the assembly line to keep production humming.
UAW Vice President for the GM Department Terry Dittes said: We started with solidarity and that is how we crossed the finish line — united as one."
The new contract expires in September 2023. Under the new contract, a new hire would start at $18.50 an hour and after about eight months could work up to $22 or $24 an hour depending on the job. The team leader jobs start at $19.50 and now can rise to $23 to $25 an hour.
The contract also said staring May 15, 2023, eligible employees will get a 6% lump sum Performance Bonus Payment based on qualified earnings. Another gain was an increase in retirement contribution from 4% to 5%.
Among many other gains in the contract, GM agreed to give consideration to certain qualified subsystem employees who apply for a GM production job opening ahead of external candidates. | 2022-07-13T22:42:25Z | www.freep.com | GM subsystem workers at 4 Michigan plants ratify a new contract | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/13/gm-subsystem-workers-4-michigan-plants-ratify-new-contract/10052983002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/13/gm-subsystem-workers-4-michigan-plants-ratify-new-contract/10052983002/ |
• Guest: Kaleena Kniess, Michigan State student, former MSU rower
On this episode: This week, Shawn and Andrew (filling in for Carlos) welcome Michigan State student Kaleena Kniess, formerly of the MSU women's rowing team, for a different look at how the big changes in college athletics affect those not in the spotlight. Then, they address whether it's a good idea for colleges to sell beer at football and basketball games. | 2022-07-14T12:41:00Z | www.freep.com | 'Carlos & Shawn': MSU student-athlete describes Big Ten expansion | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/07/14/carlos-shawn-podcast-big-ten-expansion-michigan-state-student-athletes/10055168002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/07/14/carlos-shawn-podcast-big-ten-expansion-michigan-state-student-athletes/10055168002/ |
Ex-Madison Heights school board president Al Morrison indicted on federal bribery charges
M.L. Elrick
Nearly five years to the day after denying at a Madison Heights school board meeting that he had any financial ties to a district contractor, Al Morrison was charged with taking more than $500,000 in bribes from the contractor.
Morrison, who was then the president of the Madison District Public Schools, had been on the take for nearly two years when, on July 12, 2017, a board member questioned why he approved so much work for a Troy company, according to a federal grand jury indictment issued Wednesday.
"Do you have any ties to Emergency Restoration?" a board member asked Morrison, according to a transcript of the school board meeting cited in the indictment.
"None whatsoever," Morrison replied.
"You don't receive any money from them whatsoever?" the board member continued.
"No money from them whatsoever," Morrison replied.
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Federal prosecutors say Morrison created a company called Comfort Consulting that received $561,667 from John David, a long-time friend of Morrison's who owned a Troy company known as Emergency Restoration and Emergency Reconstruction. David's company received no-bid repair and maintenance work from the school district at Morrison's direction.
Morrison also was charged with income tax evasion for failing to report the allegedly ill gotten gains. The grand jury also charged David with multiple counts of bribery.
Morrison's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday.
David said: "I don't know anything about this." He referred questions to his attorney.
M.L. Elrick is a Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and host of the ML's Soul of Detroit podcast. Contact him at mlelrick@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter at @elrick, Facebook at ML Elrick and Instagram at ml_elrick. Become a subscriber. | 2022-07-14T17:02:02Z | www.freep.com | Ex-Madison Heights school board president Al Morrison charged | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2022/07/14/madison-heights-school-board-president-charged-bribery/10057948002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2022/07/14/madison-heights-school-board-president-charged-bribery/10057948002/ |
3 days after strike, SKLD Bloomfield Hills nursing home workers file to unionize
Workers at an Oakland County nursing home formally filed to unionize Thursday — three days after they walked off the job in a single-day strike over staffing, resources and unfair labor practices.
The workers at SKLD nursing home in Bloomfield Hills aim to join SEIU Healthcare Michigan, the state's largest health care union.
"We took this step to join together in a union because we care deeply about our patients and residents," said LaVelle Lyght Sr., a licensed nurse practitioner at SKLD Bloomfield Hills, in a statement. We want to ensure they get the high-quality care they deserve,"
More:Bloomfield Hills nursing home workers go on one-day strike
"Being able to bring our workplace challenges to the table and having our voices truly heard and respected by management will make such a difference in our day-to-day lives. We’re standing together because our strength is in our numbers, and we need to see immediate change."
The SKLD Bloomfield Hills facility has between 60 and 80 workers who cared for 140 patients as of June 15, according to a document on the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs website.
Workers said they faced retaliation and union-busting tactics from management, including intimidation, interrogation and unreasonable disciplining.
Henry Boutros, vice president of Illuminate-HC, which operates SKLD Bloomfield Hills, said in a statement to the Free Press on Monday that the company is grateful to the workers and looks forward to "continuing open conversations on how to enhance their day-to-day experience at Bloomfield Hills."
More:Michigan Medicine nurses rally for new contract, say mandatory overtime needs to end
The statement later added that the company remains "confident that we can meet any need or request coming from our frontline heroes though open, direct communication."
Free Press staff writer Christina Hall contributed to this story. | 2022-07-14T17:02:08Z | www.freep.com | SKLD Bloomfield Hills nursing home workers formally file to unionize | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/14/skld-bloomfield-hills-nursing-home-workers-file-unionize/10057720002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/14/skld-bloomfield-hills-nursing-home-workers-file-unionize/10057720002/ |
GM, partners to build 2,000 EV chargers at nearly 500 Pilot Flying J travel centers
Administration officials now say the infrastructure law will help "pave" the way for up to 500,000 charging outlets by 2030. That's different than charging stations, which could have several outlets. They say private investments could help fill the gap. Currently there are nearly 124,000 public EV outlets in the U.S. at more than 49,000 stations. | 2022-07-14T17:14:53Z | www.freep.com | GM, partners to build 2,000 EV chargers at nearly 500 Pilot Flying J's | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/14/gm-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-pilot-travel-centers-ev-go/10058051002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/14/gm-electric-vehicle-charging-stations-pilot-travel-centers-ev-go/10058051002/ |
Dana Afana
Detroit's Inspector General debarred three environmental companies from working with the city after a years-long investigation into improper business practices.
Warren-based BBEK Environmental, an abatement company, along with its owner Kevin Woods, is prohibited from working with the City of Detroit until 2039. Green Way Environmental and HC Consultants, which helped BBEK with air monitoring, are also prohibited until 2039. The effective date stems back to Aug. 5, 2019, when the three companies were suspended from doing work in the city while the office investigated their ownership ties.
More:Three companies suspended from Detroit's demolition program
The three companies were subcontracted for asbestos abatement services for the Detroit Land Bank Authority and City of Detroit. The inspector general received a complaint from the Detroit Land Bank in July 2019 that BBEK was not in compliance with demolition agreements and other contracts. Officials at the Land Bank questioned the relationships among the three companies and said the post-abatement air monitoring was to be completed by an independent third-party contractor.
During the investigation, Detroit's inspector general found records that suggested the companies and owners "engaged in improper and possible criminal activity" that violated the Asbestos Abatement Contractors Licensing Act, the office said. The inspector general's office referred the issue to the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program and issued interim suspensions.
Because the matter was referred, and underwent a criminal investigation through the Michigan Attorney General's Office, the inspector general had to pause from debarring the companies until that investigation was completed.
Woods was arraigned last year on multiple felony charges. Attorney General Dana Nessel in April announced that Woods pleaded guilty to one count of false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000, a five-year felony, under the Asbestos Abatement Contractors Licensing Act.
He was accused of "misrepresenting project costs to avoid paying more money to the state, bribing a contractor to secure work for his company and violating state laws that require post-abatement air monitoring to be done by an independent entity," according to a news release from the attorney general.
In June, Woods was sentenced to two years of probation, restitution for underreported fees for the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and 100 community service, according to the inspector general's debarment report.
The inspector general's report found that Green Way was not a neutral party to BBEK, which violated the Asbestos Contractors Licensing Act. The Act requires an abatement company to hire a third party to conduct monitoring. Once Woods was aware that their relationship was being investigated, he "created a fraudulent lease agreement between the two companies" where Woods attempted to conceal the relationship between BBEK and Green Way by laundering money between accounts to convince others that Green Way was paying BBEK rent and fees for the use of BBEK employees, according to the report.
It was found that Woods laundered money between his BBEK, personal and Green Way Flagstar bank accounts to conceal his activities, the report says.
The report also states that Harvey's HC Consulting, which was used as a third-party air monitor, was also not a neutral party independent of BBEK Environmental. Harvey was a silent investor in BBEK, which Woods founded in 2014, the year HC Consulting formed, and he had oversight of BBEK's finances the entire time his company acted as the air monitor, the report says.
“Mr. Woods defrauded the Blight Elimination Program and put residents of Michigan at risk by violating asbestos abatement air monitoring regulations," said Melissa Bruce, acting special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, in a news release.
Greenway Environmental owner William Scully and HC Consultants owner James Harvey will be disbarred until 2024, according to the inspector general's report.
“Conducting business with the City of Detroit can be lucrative for the contractors, but the contractors must understand that the agreed upon engagement is for the benefit of the public. They must understand that we trusted them to abide by the law and to the terms of the contract. As such, we will hold them accountable if they violate that trust. This is how we ensure honesty and integrity in our government," Inspector General Ellen Ha said in a statement.
More:Suspended Detroit demolition contractor seeks hearing amid investigation
Ha's office is also investigating a recently suspended demolition contractor for questionable business practices in the city.
Inner City Contracting, which has been awarded more than $10 million in demolition contracts, is seeking an internal hearing this month with the inspector general to point out possible inaccuracies of an ongoing investigation claiming questionable business conduct.
The inspector general alleges that the company submitted fraudulent documentation to the city that requires a company to have an office in Detroit that functions as an administrative center where top management staff perform at least 51% of functions. This resulted in the contractor being awarded Detroit Based Business, Detroit Small Business, and Detroit Headquartered Business certifications. The city gives preference to local bidders for demolition contracts and officials could not verify Inner City's certifications.
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact Dana: dafana@freepress.com or 313-635-3491. Follow her on Twitter: @DanaAfana. | 2022-07-14T20:52:15Z | www.freep.com | Detroit bans BBEK Environmental, associated companies from city work | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/14/detroit-bbek-environmental-ban/10057347002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/14/detroit-bbek-environmental-ban/10057347002/ |
With more warm weather ahead, a number of outdoor celebrations of cultural heritage, art and agriculture are set to take place this weekend.
Here are a few ideas for you and your family to consider for the weekend of July 15-17.
Blake’s Lavender Market: Celebrate all things lavender, from gardening tips, health benefits, lavender-infused food and beverages, DIY workshops, children’s activities, train rides to the lavender field and more than 200 artisans and vendors.
Blake’s Hard Cider Co. and Blake’s Brewing Co. will also feature their limited, seasonal lavender infused hard cider and beer.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday at Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill, 17985 Armada Center in Armada. $12 per person; children 12 and younger admitted free.
Berkley Street Art Fest: The streets of downtown Berkley will be transformed when professional and amateur street artists come together to create colorful street art.
The day also includes the Shop for Good Village, a curated collection of handmade products with a primary focus on “doing good.” Categories include ethically produced, handmade products, goods benefiting local at-risk populations, recycled/upcycled products and vegan or organic handmade products.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in an interactive mural experience with professional visual artist Daniel Cascardo as he creates a black and white, abstract mural and then invites others to add color, patterns, shapes and other visual elements to the piece.
There will also be an art area for kids with a bounce house, the unveiling of a new downtown Berkley mural at Nova Chiropractic, sidewalk sale from local businesses, food and more. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday on Coolidge between Catalpa and Beverly in Berkley.
Festa Italiana: This three-day event will celebrate Italian heritage with live entertainment, Italian wines, food, beer, fireworks and a family-fun zone featuring a bounce house, zip line, rock-climbing wall and more.
Headlining acts include: The Bronx Wanderers, Ray Massa’s EuroRhythms and The Sicilian Tenors.
6-11 p.m. Friday, 12-11 p.m. Saturday and 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday at Freedom Hill County Park and the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre, 14900 Metro Parkway in Sterling Heights. Free to attend. $10 parking.
39th Annual African World Festival: Detroit’s largest celebration of the African diaspora returns to Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit Friday-Sunday after several years. The festival includes local and international performances that include music artists, African drum and dance acts, food, art vendors, kid-friendly activities, information booths on vital community resources and more.
Headliners include: Mama Sol, Lizz Wright, The Legendary Wailers, Seun Kuti, and We Are Scorpio featuring Jessica Care Moore and Steffanie Christi’an.
Single day tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for youth; children 3 and younger are free. Attendance is free all weekend for Wright Museum members.
Michigan Medieval Faire: Stroll through an outdoor medieval adventure as you are entertained by ogres, dancers, bubble fairies, musicians, jesters, magicians, fire breathers, a royal court and a host of other performers and entertainers, all set to the backdrop of a castle.
Entertainment will also include two knights in full armor charging and attempting to unhorse each other, a walk through a Dragon’s Den with life-like, mythical dragons and other activities for the entire family.
Bands playing Celtic music will include: Wakefire, Roane, Black Murray, Lads of the Lash, Ironwood, to name a few.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday & Sunday and July 23-24 at Canterbury Village, 2359 Joslyn Court in Lake Orion. $14.99 per person; Military, veterans and children under 2 admitted free. $5 parking.
Bonus event: Detroit Festival of Books: Book enthusiasts can shop from more than 60 vendors who will have a variety of books for purchase at this 5th annual event. Buyers can expect all genres, ranging from rare, antiquarian, new, unusual, kids and comic books. There will also be vinyl LP records, creative activities, food and music.
Guests can also see a live performance from street performer Deon Forrest, who has been featured on the Jimmy Kimmel Show.
10 a.m.- 4 p.m. Sunday at Eastern Market Shed 5, 2934 Russell in Detroit. Free admission. | 2022-07-14T21:49:05Z | www.freep.com | Things to do in metro Detroit: Lavender books and ethnic festivals | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/07/14/things-to-do-metro-detroit-lavender-books-ethnic-festivals/10047122002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/07/14/things-to-do-metro-detroit-lavender-books-ethnic-festivals/10047122002/ |
With all of their core young players on the bench, it appeared the Detroit Pistons were heading toward a blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Las Vegas Summer League play Thursday. But a second-half rally made things interesting.
Detroit fell to the Cavaliers, 82-79, but outscored them 53-37 in the second half to wipe out a 23-point deficit. A layup by Stanley Umude with 58.8 seconds left gave the Pistons a 77-76 lead, but the Cavaliers hit six free throws down the stretch to hang onto the win.
Jules Bernard led the Pistons with 14 points, Braxton Key tallied 13 points and Balsa Koprivica finished with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds). The Pistons trailed by 22 at halftime and shot just 29.4% in the first half.
GAME 3:Pistons, without Ivey and others, fall to Pacers in Summer League, 101-87
LESSONS TO LEARN:Pistons' big men of the future getting taught by coaching hopeful Jason Maxiell
Pistons shut down Duren, provide Ivey update
After starting Detroit's first three Summer League games, Jalen Duren was held out Thursday to rest. He joined Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, Isaiah Livers and Isaiah Stewart in street clothes on Detroit's bench. Only Cunningham didn't appear in at least one Summer League game.
Ivey only appeared in five quarters after tweaking his ankle against the Washington Wizards on Saturday, but coach Dwane Casey revealed during Thursday's NBATV broadcast that Ivey, the No. 5 overall pick in this year's draft, was sitting out as a precaution.
"Both young men, he and Jalen, both of them could probably play if we wanted them to," Casey said." We want them to have the rest of the summer to continue to work and get the work in and not hurt it any further. He’s OK, just a good turned ankle and he bounced back. He wanted to play but the medical staff held him out."
Casey had high praise for Duren, the No. 13 overall pick, comparing him to six-time All-Star Shawn Kemp again.
"He reminds me so much of Shawn Kemp. Raw, athletic, doesn't know how good he can be," Casey said. "That's who he reminds me of with his athleticism, and just 18 years old."
With Duren out, Koprivica steps up
Minutes were hard to come by for Koprivica during Detroit's first three games. The Pistons' final second-round pick in 2021 (No. 57 overall() played about 16 minutes total against the Portland Trail Blazers and Indiana Pacers, and didn't appear in Saturday's win over the Wizards. But with Duren on the bench, Koprivica entered the starting lineup and capitalized.
Koprivica scored Detroit's first six points, all on dunks The Pistons struggled to score early on, but Koprivica (eight points, 4-for-4 shooting) and Justin Turner (six points, 3-for-4) were bright spots in the first half. The rest of the team tallied nine points on 3-for-26 shooting before halftime. | 2022-07-14T23:55:25Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Pistons rally, but lose to Cavaliers, 82-76, in Summer League | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/14/detroit-pistons-score-cleveland-cavaliers-summer-league/10064106002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/14/detroit-pistons-score-cleveland-cavaliers-summer-league/10064106002/ |
Merritt Sellers and her father plan to sail together from Port Huron to Mackinac Island, through crashing waves and at least one night, after the starting gun fires Saturday.
That means Merritt, at age 14, will navigate their 36-foot boat alone when Scott Sellers goes down below to briefly nap. It's essential to rest when racing around the clock on a 204 nautical mile journey. She'll use a flashlight at night to watch little telltales on the sail to track wind shifts and harness the gusts.
"I've been working a very, very long time working up to this," Merritt Sellers told the Free Press. "When I was real little, my dad was always, like, 'Someday we could do the Mackinac race together.' Now it's really happening. I'm a little nervous."
She grew up sailing with her father and grandfather, starting at age 7. Merritt and her family live in Larkspur, California with a summer home in Harbor Springs. Their boat "nosurprise" won its class and overall race in the Chicago to Mackinac race last year with a crew of eight. It was Merritt's first Mackinac.
Sailing with just two people, called double-handed, requires special skill and courage.
"When you watch the sunrise, it's so beautiful," said Merritt, an acrylic painter who begins San Domenico High School in San Anselmo, California in the fall.
"I am someone who does function better on a little bit more sleep. That’s definitely going to be more of a challenge," Merritt said. "I’ve been working out and doing CrossFit a couple days a week preparing for this. We bench press, dead lift, row. Everything."
The Bayview Mackinac Race, which begins in Port Huron on Lake Huron, will offer a Shore Course and a Cove Island Course, which is even longer at 280 nautical miles.
Merritt and Scott Sellers will sail the Shore Course.
"Merritt will be on deck alone for a few hours of the race when I'm down below resting," Scott Sellers said. "I will let Merritt sleep in 3-hour increments when conditions allow. If we are doing a sail change maneuver, I will wake her."
Race competition was crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, reducing entries to just 81 boats in 2020 and 172 in 2021. Entries reached 180 boats this year but, as is typical, a few boats have withdrawn. Now it's at 173 boats, Bayview told the Free Press. The race has restored the course to include Canadian waters, which were temporarily off limits because of pandemic-related restrictions, as well as Canadian sailors.
"We're thrilled to have Canadian sailors back with us," said Chris Clark, chairman of the 2022 Bayview Mackinac Race organized by the Bayview Yacht Club. "And for us to be able to use all of Lake Huron. Remember, we only own half of it."
The Shore Course hugs the Michigan shoreline, while the approximately 280-nautical mile Cove Island Course takes boats up near Tobermory in Ontario and the entrance to the Georgian Bay.
The Shore Course is all about finding wind at night, Clark said. The longer course typically adds a lot of into-the-wind racing
Boats are registered from throughout North America.
Fast Tango
Kellen McGee, 33, of Lisle, Ill., is a graduate student in accelerator physics at Michigan State University who will crew on the legendary "Fast Tango" skippered by Tim Prophit, 63, a cannabis marketing consultant from St. Clair Shores.
McGee works the foredeck, meaning she's in charge of the very front of the North American 40 sailboat, setting up, launching, and taking down sails. She has raced from Port Huron to the island 10 times.
"The thing about Mackinac racing, and sailboat racing in general, is that you find perfect moments of tranquility interspersed with sheer panic. By time you get bored with one, the other starts occurring," McGee said.
Extreme creativity is often required, she said, noting how friends on the Jenneau 49 "Hyperborea" once tore a sail in a 50 mile per hour gust and they ended up Gorilla taping along the tear, drilling holes in the taped sail and zip-tying the holes to stitch it up again in a MacGyver move that saved the day.
"They were not going to drop out of the Mackinac race," McGee said laughing, and crediting skipper Marc Uhrich of North Jackson, Ohio.
She's racing the Cove Island Course.
Kevin Brown, a construction project manager from Toronto, has raced Port Huron to Mackinac but this year he's taking his own boat, the Farr 30 "Notorious," for the first time.
"I have the added responsibilities of an owner where previously I have been in the role of tactician, helmsman and watch captain," Brown said.
"We're sailing with six people," he said. "Boat weight is sensitive. Every pound counts. The weight and complication of normal cooking is a compromise to our performance so we go with premade meals and freeze dried main courses."
More:She drives 700 miles to feed Mackinac racers — but past tragedy still haunts her
More:Prestigious Detroit sailing club gets first female commodore in 100-year history
More:Detroit area couple skipped wedding, bought a huge boat to live the dream
His crew, all Canadian, includes an accountant, an aerospace engineer, a lawyer and a police officer.
"The Mackinac race is considered the crown jewel of the Great Lakes," Brown said. "If you want to win a distance race and really prove something, it will be the Mackinac."
The challenge of this Cove Island Course? Changeable weather conditions in open water that stays colder and tends to generate squalls and larger wave action than most races, he said.
Damn Yankee
Theodore Johnson, 63, of Buffalo, New York has sailed the Mackinac race many times but this is the first on his new boat "Damn Yankee," a Farr 60. He'll tackle the Cove Island Course with 15 crew members.
"I haven't bought any sails so this is very old inventory," Johnson said. "We're going to go out and have a lot of fun. It's all about the journey, right?"
Still, preparation has been especially important to Johnson.
"People can die out there," he said. "My biggest fear is losing someone overboard."
In 2011, during the Chicago to Mackinac race, two experienced sailors died when sudden winds flipped their boat in Lake Michigan, according to the Chicago Tribune. In 2018, also racing from Chicago, a sailor died after going overboard in high winds and 6 foot waves, prompting safety regulation changes by the Chicago Yacht Club, according to CBS Chicago.
A few wives of crew members won't let sailors compete the Mackinac race, fearing for their lives, Johnson said. "When you get to the other end, it’s a rite of passage."
With plans to race both Bayview Mackinac and then Chicago to Mackinac the following week, Johnson has spent days safety training.
"We go through every man overboard scenario. We get somebody to jump in the water and go get them. We talked about spotting, throwing smoke flares, how to call mayday, how to find somebody who’s gone overboard in the dark, how to inflate your vest manually," he said.
nosurprise
Scott Sellers and his daughter have trained extensively on their J/111, too.
He grew up in Birmingham and began racing Mackinac at age 14 with his father — Bob Sellers, who owned the Pontiac Buick General Motors dealership in Farmington Hills before selling it, moving to Florida and retiring from racing.
"You have an adrenaline experience when you're competing non-stop for two days," said Scott Sellers, 50, a private equity manager.
"But safety comes first. It's dangerous if you don't follow proper safety processes," he said. "You can hurt yourself on the boat if you don't wrap the sheet (sail) around the winch the right way. The Great Lakes are known for having storms, and you need enough discipline to handle adversity."
When he's below deck, his daughter will be tethered to the boat. Sailing double-handed, which means only two people on the boat, requires a harness and life jacket and strapping into the boat the whole time — so if a sailor falls overboard they don't get separated from the boat in the middle of nowhere.
"We practice man-overboard drills," Scott Sellers said. "If I fall overboard and Merritt has the spinnaker (sail) up, she has to take it down herself and has to come back and find me."
Merritt Sellers just finished racing in a junior national championship sailing regatta and finished seventh in her division in Long Beach, California. She admires Dawn Riley, a trail-blazing athlete from Michigan featured in the documentary film, "Maiden."
Merritt Sellers hopes to become a professional sailor. Life on the water defines her.
"It's an amazing sport, an ancient sport," she said. "You can never stop learning. It’s something I can do my entire life. When I’m on the water, sailing, going fast, it’s the best feeling in the world."
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at313-618-1034 orphoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid. Sign up for our autos newsletter. | 2022-07-15T11:56:33Z | www.freep.com | Port Huron to Mackinac race 2022: Teen will navigate boat alone | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/15/port-huron-mackinac-race-2022-merritt-sellers/10044023002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/15/port-huron-mackinac-race-2022-merritt-sellers/10044023002/ |
Old Mexico Restaurant, a longtime fixture on Five Mile Road in Livonia serving up classic Mexican food, is permanently closing.
The last day for serving customers will be Sunday, said Nick Preece, an employee who answered the phone on Thursday.
The lease is up on the building and the owners are ready to retire and relax, Preece said. Old Mexico's current owner, Sandy Longsdorf, could not be reached for comment.
Customers posted on Old Mexico's Facebook page how much they like the place, how they are sad that it's closing and how it will be missed. Many customers also posted about stopping in to dine for one last time at Old Mexico. Preece confirmed that the restaurant has been swamped since people found out that it was closing.
On several online review sites, recent Old Mexico reviews have been mostly favorable. Some lauded the spot for its quality and consistent food. Reviewers also praised Old Mexico for its reasonable prices including a good-priced luncheon menu and generous portions.
One of Old Mexico's most popular dishes is the Bob Talbert Quesadilla. Bob Talbert, who died in 1999, was a longtime Detroit Free Press columnist.
Preece described the popular menu item as a shredded chicken and red sauce quesadilla with spinach and melted Muenster cheese.
"It's one of the most ordered quesadillas and a very loved dish," Preece said.
The restaurant has been around for about 45 years and owned by Longsdorf for the last 20 years.
Previous owners of Old Mexico Livonia were Vicki and Ramon Castaneda who also had an Old Mexico location in West Bloomfield. The original Old Mexico location was in Detroit’s Old Redford area and the Livonia locations opened in the early 80s. The Castanedas, according to their son, Tim Castaneda, still own the Livonia building.
It was Tim Castaneda who put the Bob Talbert Quesadilla on the menu when the West Bloomfield location in the late 80s.
"I used to make quesadilla specials every week in West Bloomfield and the week I made the spinach and chicken, Bob Talbert came in and had it," Castaneda said.
In a 1997 column, Talbert described the quesadilla as "large grilled flour tortilla filled with chicken, spinach and cheese ... it's served with guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream instead of rice and beans."
He also praised Old Mexico's ranchero sauce.
Old Mexico Restaurant, 28407 Five Mile Road, Livonia, will serve its last customers on Sunday and close at 8 p.m. | 2022-07-15T11:56:45Z | www.freep.com | Old Mexico restaurant in Livonia to permanently close | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/15/old-mexico-livonia-eatery-permanently-close/10059584002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/15/old-mexico-livonia-eatery-permanently-close/10059584002/ |
Ford issues second fire-related recall, this time for hybrid Escape, Maverick, Corsair
Ford Motor Co. has issued a second fire-related recall within two months, this time for an engine cooling problem with the Ford Escape, Lincoln Corsair and Ford Maverick pickup — affecting 100,689 hybrid vehicle customers.
While fires have been reported, there have been no reports of accident or injury, Ford said in its filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Specifically, the Dearborn automaker identified concerns with the 2020-2022 Escape, 2021-2022 Lincoln Corsair, and 2022 Maverick vehicles equipped with a 2.5L hybrid electric vehicle engine or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle engine.
The hybrid combines gasoline engines with electric batteries to increase fuel efficiency.
As of June 22, Ford had identified 23 warranty and field reports globally of under hood fire or smoke after a suspected block or oil pan breach, Ford said in its filing.
Of the incidents from April 5, 2021 through May 19, 2022, nine were described as under hood or vehicle fires, six were "localized under hood melting," seven were under hood smoke, and one failed to provide enough detail to characterize, Ford said.
The defective vehicles were built between Jan. 19, 2019, and June 13, 2022, according to the regulatory filing.
Ford CEO Jim Farley, who took the helm as CEO from Jim Hackett in October 2020, said publicly that quality control and recall reduction was a top priority. He has hired a quality czar to review all protocols in an attempt to reduce billions of dollars in recall and warranty costs.
If there's smoke
Yet the automaker has been plagued with recalls in recent months of new and old vehicles, including both the Ford Bronco for engine failure and Ford Mustang Mach-E in June.
Now Ford is advising owners of the hybrid Maverick, Escape and Lincoln Corsair to park their vehicles "and shut off the engine as quickly as possible" if they hear unexpected engine noises, notice a reduction in vehicle power, or see smoke," the company said in its regulatory filing.
"In the event of an engine failure, significant quantities of engine oil and/or fuel vapor may be released" under the hood and may accumulate near ignition sources, such as hot engine or exhaust components, "resulting in potential under hood fire, localized melting of components, or smoke," Ford wrote.
"Engine failure is expected to produce loud noises (example: metal-to-metal clank) audible to the vehicle’s occupants. An engine failure will also result in a reduction in engine torque," Ford said.
Ford will mail recall letters to customers the week of August 8.
Delivery hold
Ford dealers have been asked to delay delivery of these vehicles to customers until they're repaired.
These are the build dates of the vehicles in question:
Corsair, Oct. 24, 2019, through June 13, 2022
Escape, Jan. 9, 2019, through June 13, 2022
Maverick, Feb. 3, 2021 through June 8, 2022
The Corsair and Escape are built at the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky. The Maverick is built at the Hermosillo Stamping Plant in Mexico.
Rental vehicles for customers affected are not approved for this program.
More:I drove a 2022 Ford Maverick pickup for a week — and had insane gas mileage
Ford spokesman Said Deep told the Free Press Friday that the company is aware the recalls cause inconvenience and concern.
"We will always take any action required to ensure their safety and improve quality and customer satisfaction," he said. "We are absolutely committed to launching products with top quality and addressing issues when we see them."
Meanwhile, the Maverick pickup has made headlines for its affordability at just under $20,000. Ford had to shut down orders temporarily to fill demand. Immediate popularity of the award-winning vehicle stunned the automaker.
Second fire risk recall
Unlike the fire-related recall involving the 2021 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, these owners have not been asked to park their vehicles away from structures because of a spontaneous combustion risk.
That situation, which involves at least 66,000 vehicles, has resulted in a lawsuit filed this month involving 22 plaintiffs. Paul Rich of Canby, Oregon, purchased a 2021 Expedition in March 2022 and it caught fire while parked in his driveway in June.
More:Ford finds fix for under-hood fires, expands recall on 2021 Expedition, Lincoln Navigator | 2022-07-15T14:28:49Z | www.freep.com | Ford issues recall on hybrid Escape, Maverick, Corsair after fires | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/07/15/ford-recall-hybrid-escape-maverick-corsair-fires/10066508002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/07/15/ford-recall-hybrid-escape-maverick-corsair-fires/10066508002/ |
CLEVELAND — Rookie Riley Greene ignited the offense and right-hander Drew Hutchison answered a rough start with five innings, but the Detroit Tigers lost for the seventh time in the past eight games.
This time, one relief pitcher didn't get the job done.
The Tigers lost to the Cleveland Guardians, 6-5, in the second of four games at Progressive Field heading into the All-Star break. Right-handed reliever Michael Fulmer gave up two runs on two hits and two walks (one intentional walk) in the seventh inning to flip a 5-4 lead into a 6-5 deficit.
"They did a better job of winning the at-bats," manager A.J. Hinch said. "They came through with the big hit on a backup slider that didn't get executed with two strikes. We'll get back at it tomorrow, but it's a tough loss."
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Greene, in the 26th game of his MLB career, finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two extra-base hits. Harold Castro, starting at first base over rookie Spencer Torkelson, went 3-for-4 with one RBI.
"I'm always going to be in attack mode," Greene said. "If he's going to throw a first-pitch fastball, I'm going to swing at it. If I swing at it, and it's a curveball in the dirt, I'm just sticking to my approach and sticking to my plan."
Jonathan Schoop's 0-for-4 night ended his hitting streak at 12 games.
The Tigers (37-54) were positioned for a victory, but only if Hinch's most reliable bullpen arms navigated the final four innings. Left-hander Andrew Chafin took care of business in the sixth.
Ahead 5-4, there was no room for error.
But mistakes were made.
In the seventh, Fulmer got ahead 0-2 in the count against Myles Straw before spraying four consecutive pitches for a walk, and Steven Kwan followed with a double in a two-strike count.
The Guardians had two runners in scoring position with nobody out. Fulmer struck out Amed Rosario, then Hinch intentionally walked Jose Ramirez to load the bases. It was Hinch's second intentional walk in as many games.
The next batter, Josh Naylor, hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Andres Gimenez followed up with a bloop single into left field — hit with a 66.7 mph exit velocity — to put the Guardians ahead 6-5.
"Those are tough when you get guys on base without having to put the ball in play," Hinch said. "Anytime you get Straw on base in front of the top of the order, and then all of a sudden you got to navigate through the middle, sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don't."
Right-handed Alex Lange entered and needed one pitch, a sinker to Owen Miller, to complete the seventh inning. He returned for the eighth inning and retired three of four batters.
After losing the lead, the Tigers failed to get a runner on base in the eighth against right-handed reliever Eli Morgan. In the ninth, right-hander Trevor Stephan sent down three in a row.
Entering Friday, left-handed hitters had a .333 batting average against Stephan. He sent down three lefties to end the game, though: Robbie Grossman, pinch-hitter Akil Baddoo and Greene.
The offense finally clicked in the fourth inning, courtesy of Greene. The 21-year-old bounced back from an 0-for-4, four-strikeout performance Thursday by blasting the Tigers onto the scoreboard.
Greene tagged a first-pitch fastball at the top of the strike zone from right-hander Zach Plesac for a 386-foot solo home run to right-center field, hit with a 106.9 mph exit velocity.
"See ball, hit ball there," Greene said.
In his first at-bat, Greene connected with another first-pitch fastball, producing a 104.3 mph exit velocity, but flied out. In his second at-bat, more hard contact helped deliver the second homer of his MLB career.
"Getting to two strikes yesterday didn't do us a lot of favors," Hinch said. "I liked the approach if we take a good 'A' swing on the right pitch. ... You're not going to pick perfect pitches all the time, but if it's a good pitch, we got to be ready to hit."
The Tigers' offense kept rolling in the fourth inning, as Javier Báez reached on a fielding error by Ramirez, the third baseman.
With one out, four straight batters reached safely: Harold Castro (RBI double), Willi Castro (RBI single), Schoop (fielder's choice) and Grossman (single). The pair of RBI hits tied the game, 3-3. On Schoop's fielder's choice, Plesac fielding a comebacker and tried to start a double play, but Rosario — the shortstop — failed to cover second base.
After Grossman's single, the Tigers had the bases loaded for their young star.
Greene delivered by ripping a two-run double into the right-field corner and putting the Tigers ahead 5-3. Plesac threw Greene back-to-back changeups in the same spot, and he didn't miss the second off-speed offering. This time, it was a 108.4 mph exit velocity.
"He got a swing and miss on a changeup, and then he threw it again," Greene said. "I stayed back just a little longer and hit it."
The Tigers sent nine players to the plate in the fourth and chased Plesac. He allowed five runs (two earned runs) on six hits with three strikeouts, without issuing a walk.
To end the fourth, Victor Reyes popped out in foul territory to catcher Austin Hedges against right-handed reliever Enyel De Los Santos.
As Hedges caught the ball, his foot was on the top step of stairs into the Guardians' dugout. A player cannot step into out-of-play territory to make a catch, which appeared to be what Hinch was arguing with the umpires between innings.
That type of play isn't reviewable, however.
"In the spirit of trying to get it right, I don't know why it's not a reviewable play when we're talking about ground rules," Hinch said. "It would have been nice to get another swing at it. I don't know what would've happened."
Hutchison hit early
Hutchison — in his fifth start this season — struggled early against the contact-heavy Guardians but didn't take long to find comfort. He provided the Tigers with five innings.
Three of the four runs off him came in a 31-pitch first inning.
The first three batters reached safely: Kwan (six-pitch walk), Rosario (single) and Ramirez (RBI single). Josh Naylor put the Guardians ahead 2-0 with an RBI groundout. Miller added another run, making it 3-0, with a two-out triple on Hutchison's changeup.
"My command on everything was off in the first," Hutchison said. "The slider definitely was falling behind hitters. I was able to get the strikeout with a couple good changeups, and then a threw a bad one that got hit. I was trying to get through that just giving up two, but I ended up giving up three."
Moving forward, Hutchison was rock solid and backed his offense by keeping Cleveland's offense to a minimum.
An RBI single from Hedges in the fourth inning, cutting the Guardians' deficit to 5-4, was the final run off Hutchison. To start that frame, Gimenez singled and Miller drew a four-pitch walk.
"I thought I did a good job battling," Hutchison said.
Hutchison allowed four runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts, throwing 49 of 86 pitches for strikes. He threw 39 four-seam fastballs (45%), 24 sliders (28%), 15 changeups (17%) and eight two-seam fastballs (9%).
His changeup earned three of his five swings and misses. | 2022-07-16T03:17:48Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers' offense wakes up in 6-5 loss to Cleveland Guardians | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/15/detroit-tigers-score-cleveland-guardians-riley-greene/10074983002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/15/detroit-tigers-score-cleveland-guardians-riley-greene/10074983002/ |
First-pitch forecast: High-70s, mostly cloudy.
Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Michael Pineda (2-4, 3.58 ERA) vs Guardians RHP Cal Quantrill (5-5, 3.99 ERA).
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Game notes: Pineda saw Cleveland earlier this month, picking up the win and sealing a sweep by allowing two runs, five hits and striking out two over five innings. This will be his fourth start of the month, all against American League Central foes (two starts vs. the Kansas City Royals as well).
Quantrill had a role in the Tigers' sweep the first week of July, ceding six runs (three earned) in four innings on July 5. He didn't do much better against another division rival — the Chicago White Sox — last time out, giving up four runs and eight hits in six innings. But his final start of June, also against an AL Central team, was a eight-inning, three-run no-decision vs. the Minnesota Twins. He's 1-2 with a 3.54 ERA over 20⅓ innings ( three starts) vs. the Tigers.
Detroit and Cleveland end the series with a 1:40 p.m. first pitch Sunday. Then the Tigers are off (except for All-Star Game-bound Gregory Soto and Miguel Cabrera) until Thursday, when they finish making up their postponed April series with a doubleheader against the Oakland A's. | 2022-07-16T09:53:17Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers game vs. Cleveland Guardians: TV, time info | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/16/detroit-tigers-game-score-cleveland-guardians/10072700002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/16/detroit-tigers-game-score-cleveland-guardians/10072700002/ |
The last chance to watch Detroit Pistons 2022 Summer League action is Saturday night.
There won't be headliners such as Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, Paolo Banchero or Cade Cunningham, but several youngsters will be playing Saturday to solidify their roles for the Pistons and Orlando Magic.
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In their last preseason game, the Pistons fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers but got a double-double from Balsa Koprivica. The Magic on Thursday lost to the New York Knicks, but Tommy Kuhse, a former St. Mary's guard, had 25 points as Orlando — like Detroit — sat most of the rookies and second-year players expected to have a role on the NBA squad this season.
The Pistons' preseason and regular-season schedule should be released over the next several weeks. Until then, fans will have to wait to see the Pistons in action again.
[ Here's how you can gain access to our most exclusive Pistons, Tigers, Lions and Wings content as well as our top-tier college coverage. ]
Summer League: Detroit Pistons vs. Orlando Magic | 2022-07-16T09:53:23Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Pistons game vs. Magic: TV, time for Summer League | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/16/detroit-pistons-game-score-orlando-magic-summer-league-updates/10069787002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/07/16/detroit-pistons-game-score-orlando-magic-summer-league-updates/10069787002/ |
Nurses and others gathered in Ann Arbor Saturday to rally in support of a new contract for nurses at Michigan Medicine in addition to safer working conditions at the health system.
Donned in red and carrying handmade signs, about 1,000 off-duty nurses and their supporters gathered in Fuller Park and marched around the hospital, chanting for a fair contract for nurses, who've been working without one since July 1.
The 6,200 members of the Michigan Nurses Association-University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council have been working without a contract since July 1 and are seeking a pact that ensures the health and safety of patients and nurses.
Speakers including state Rep. Felicia Brabec, D-Pittsfield, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn, and nurses union leadership described key issues, sunderstaffing and mandatory overtime, that create hazardous working conditions for nurses and jeopardize patient care.
"Since the pandemic began, it's the nurses that are on the front lines," Dingell said. "People don't understand what it's been like for (nurses) on the front lines, helping so many people."
Said Anne Jackson, a registered nurse: “It started getting really severe in July 2020 when (Michigan Medicine) did their cuts.
“They laid off 788 very important support staff. Well, their jobs didn’t go away — they just got given to the nurses.”
In a statement released Saturday morning, Michigan Medicine said it is continuing to work with the nurses union to forge a new labor agreement.
“Because we deeply value our nurses, we’ve put together a generous package that recognizes the value they bring to our patients and our organization,” Michigan Medicine said in the statement.
Compared to the national average vacancy of 17%, Michigan Medicine’s vacancy rate is 5%, according to the statement.
According to an association news release, nurses are seeking to end unsafe mandatory overtime, acquire fair compensation that retains nurses and outpaces inflation and end understaffing through safe and contractually enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios.
“I want Michigan Medicine to give us appropriate staffing, safe staffing, so we can provide safe patient care”, said Renee Curtis, a registered nurse and president of the nurses union. “That’s what we deserve and our patients deserve.”
Contact Navya Gupta at ngupta@freepress.com. | 2022-07-16T22:46:54Z | www.freep.com | Michigan Medicine nurses rally for fair contract in Ann Arbor | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/16/michigan-medicine-nurses-rally-fair-contract-ann-arbor/10069838002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/16/michigan-medicine-nurses-rally-fair-contract-ann-arbor/10069838002/ |
Jose Ramirez hammers Detroit Tigers, Michael Pineda in 10-0 rout by Cleveland Guardians
In the first inning, Cleveland Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez launched a mammoth three-run home run on a middle-middle 89.5 mph fastball from Detroit Tigers right-hander Michael Pineda.
The Tigers were waxed by the Guardians, 10-0, in the third of four games at Progressive Field before the All-Star break. The Guardians scored eight runs across two innings against Pineda in the worst start of his nine-year MLB career.
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Meanwhile, the Tigers (37-55) mustered just five hits, three walks and nine strikeouts. Position player Harold Castro pitched a one-hit scoreless eighth on 10 pitches.
Owen Miller singled off Castro's 51.1 mph eephus.
The Tigers — losers in eight of their past nine games — allowed at least 10 runs for the fifth time and were shut out for the 13th time this season. They have scored five runs in three games combined against Cleveland, all in a 6-5 loss Friday.
Guardians right-hander Cal Quantrill fired six scoreless innings on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Two relievers picked up where Quantrill left off, retiring six batters in a row with four strikeouts in the seventh and eighth innings.
In the ninth, Harold Castro drew a one-out against left-handed reliever Tanner Tully but was thrown out at home plate by center fielder Myles Straw while trying to score on Eric Haase's ensuing double.
Jonathan Schoop struck out swinging to end the game.
The Tigers loaded the bases in the first inning on singles from rookie Riley Greene and Harold Castro and a two-out walk from Haase. But Schoop grounded into an inning-ending forceout to strand the runners.
After that, the Tigers failed to advance another runner into scoring position until Haase's double in the ninth.
Haase opened the fourth inning with a single, but Schoop grounded into a double play. After Robbie Grossman worked a six-pitch walk, rookie Spencer Torkelson chased a changeup in the dirt for a swinging strikeout.
Torkelson, batting .197 in 83 games, went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Greene finished 1-for-4 with three strikeouts. Haase reached base three times with a single, double and walk.
Pineda pounded
The first three batters were successful against Pineda: Steven Kwan (single), Amed Rosario (single) and Ramirez (three-run home run). The Guardians never looked back, and although Pineda retired the next three batters to end the inning, he surrendered five more runs in the second.
Just as in the first frame, the first three batters in the second reached safely.
Those five runs, for an 8-0 lead, were courtesy of Myles Straw's RBI double, Rosario's two-RBI double and Ramirez's second homer of the game. This time, he hammered Pineda's changeup for a two-run blast.
Ramirez, who has 19 home runs this season, finished 2-for-4 with two homers and five RBIs.
Pineda allowed eight runs on nine hits over two innings, throwing 37 of 47 pitches for strikes. He did not allow a walk and struck out one batter. The Guardians entered Saturday with the highest contact rate (80.8%) in MLB this season.
Angel in the afternoon
Right-handed reliever Angel De Jesus, in his second MLB outing and first since being recalled from Triple-A Toledo, delivered a scoreless third inning but was tagged for two runs with two outs in the fourth.
Josh Naylor crushed a solo home run for a 9-0 lead. After Naylor went yard, De Jesus hit Andres Gimenez and then allowed back-to-back singles to Franmil Reyes and Nolan Jones.
The single from Jones put the Guardians ahead 10-0.
Right-handers Will Vest, Joe Jiménez and Jason Foley recorded 10 outs in a row, with Vest getting the final out of the fourth following De Jesus, before Harold Castro handled the eighth.
The Tigers have a bullpen-only game in Sunday's series finale. | 2022-07-16T23:17:40Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers gored, 10-0, by Cleveland Guardians, Jose Ramirez | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/16/detroit-tigers-score-cleveland-guardians-jose-ramirez/10079041002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/16/detroit-tigers-score-cleveland-guardians-jose-ramirez/10079041002/ |
Plane crash in west Michigan kills pilot, passenger
SHELBY, Mich. — A small plane crashed in western Michigan, killing the pilot and another man who were the aircraft's only occupants, police said Saturday.
The single-engine plane crashed about 6 p.m. Friday in Oceana County's Shelby Township, killing pilot Raymond Gundy, 56, of Muskegon County, and his passenger, Troy Caris, 48, of Holton, Michigan State Police said.
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More:Howell teen Bryson Vines has been paying tribute to Elvis since he was 7 | 2022-07-17T18:37:46Z | www.freep.com | Plane crash in west Michigan kills pilot, passenger | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/17/pilot-passenger-dead-west-michigan-plane-crash/10081002002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/17/pilot-passenger-dead-west-michigan-plane-crash/10081002002/ |
A 14-year-old girl sailing her first Bayview Mackinac Race with her father won the race Sunday night after 33 hours of non-stop work.
"Congratulations! I'm very impressed. So's the world," yelled Janet Bradley, 63, a real estate agent from Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, who has raced to Mackinac six times.
"I sat there, trimming the sail, eating Sun Chips, and thinking about how much I wanted to go to bed," Merritt said afterward..
.A sailboat that typically raced with eight sailors had only two aboard.
Merritt was exhausted after the race, trying to process the moment, nibbling on Milano mint cookies. The pair had survived on cold pizza and freeze dried food — pad Thai for her and chicken risotto for him. But they were both so happy.
"I'm at a point as a sailor where I'm able to do this. It feels pretty cool," Merritt said. ""Everything was pretty mellow and manageable."
In past years, storms have created violent conditions, damaging boats and landing sailors in the hospital. This year, the whole experience was picture perfect.
This year, 172 sailboats ended up racing, Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit confirmed Monday. The highly competitive Class J Double-Handed category with just two sailors aboard had seven boats, including "nosurprise."
"I learned I can do this," Merritt Sellers said. "I thought, 'Why did my dad choose me?' ... Because he loves me.'"
Merritt and Scott Sellers, a managing director at a private equity firm, slept on their boat Sunday night with plans to catch an early ferry off the island and head home to Harbor Springs to sleep in their beds. Then they plan to return to the island for the awards ceremony Tuesday at Mission Point resort. | 2022-07-18T14:11:22Z | www.freep.com | Bayview to Mackinac race 2022: Girl drives boat alone at night to win | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/18/bayview-mackinac-race-2022-merritt-sellers/10084002002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/18/bayview-mackinac-race-2022-merritt-sellers/10084002002/ |
"I'M THE BEST PLAYER IN THE STATE":Michigan football commit, West Bloomfield WR Semaj Morgan: The closer on recruiting trail?
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Here is a list of the national awards and when they release their preseason honorees:
Tuesday: Davey O’Brien Award (top quarterback).
Wednesday: Doak Walker Award (top running back).
Thursday: Biletnikoff Award (top wide receiver).
Friday: John Mackey Award (top tight end) and Rimington Trophy (top center).
July 25: Butkus Award (top linebacker) and Jim Thorpe Award (top defensive back).
July 26: Bronco Nagurski Trophy (top defensive player) and Outland Trophy (top interior lineman, offense or defense).
July 27: Lou Groza Award (top kicker) and Ray Guy Award (top punter).
July 28: Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player) and Wuerffel Trophy (top leader).
July 29: Walter Camp Award (player of the year).
Aug. 1: Bednarik Award (top defensive player). | 2022-07-18T16:08:39Z | www.freep.com | Michigan State, Michigan football represented on Maxwell Award list | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/07/18/payton-thorne-jayden-reed-blake-corum-maxwell-award-watch-list/10086101002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/07/18/payton-thorne-jayden-reed-blake-corum-maxwell-award-watch-list/10086101002/ |
The new all-electric 2024 Chevrolet Blazer revealed Monday night will come in variations and price points designed to appeal to everyone from daily drivers to the police, Chevrolet executives said.
General Motors will start production of the midsize SUV next year. It will be the second all-new EV to enter Chevrolet's lineup after the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV, but those eventually will fade away to be replaced by newer EVs on GM's Ultium propulsion system.
The Blazer EV is one of those new electrified vehicles coming in the next few years. Earlier this year, GM introduced the 2024 Silverado EV light-duty pickup, which is expected to start at $39,900 when it comes to market next year. In September, GM will unveil the Equinox EV SUV, expected to start at $30,000 when it comes to market in the fall of 2023. GM said it will bring an electrified version of the Corvette out next year.
More:GM Silverado EV, Ford Lightning buyers might toss brand loyalty to get electric pickup
But the Blazer is being touted as a sports performance EV. Its base trim level will start at $44,995, pushing it up-market from where its gasoline-powered counterpart starts now at $34,800. But with 557 horsepower and 648 pound-feet of torque in the SS version, the Blazer is marketed as a top-performance car that can go 0-60 mph in under four seconds.
"I don't know that we see one shining star," Scott Bell, vice president of Global Chevrolet, told the Detroit Free Press in reference to the new EVs coming to the lineup. "Certainly Equinox will have a price, this (Blazer) will have capability and performance. The Silverado has a whole different set. We're optimistic in all and we're ramping up to be a competitor in all segments and in volume."
Price and range
The Blazer EV scheduled to be shown to the world Monday is the SS all-wheel drive performance version in Adrenaline Red. It is the top of the line of four trim levels that Chevrolet will offer.
The Blazer EV uses GM's proprietary Ultium propulsion system with three battery pack sizes.
"With the largest battery pack, we set the wheelbase so that we're going to have the longest wheelbase in the segment. We have great track width and a low center of gravity," said Doug Houlihan, executive chief engineer. "And we've got a flat, low floor" for a smooth ride.
Here are the Blazer EV trim levels with prices and range on a full charge:
1LT: Starts at $44,955. Gets 247 miles of range.
RS: Starts at $51,995. Gets 320 miles of range.
SS: Starts at $65,995. Gets 298 miles of range.
The vehicles have 11.5 kilowatt level 2 (AC) charging and standard DC public fast-charging capability of up to 190 kilowatts, depending on the model. The fast charging can produce 78 miles of range in 10 minutes, Houlihan said.
The LT and 2LT use 19-inch wheels, the RS uses 21-inch wheels and the SS has 22-inch wheels. The SS version will have the "WOW" mode, which stands for "wide open watts," for maximum power, Houlihan said. It releases more energy for extra speed.
The base LT is front-wheel drive, the 2LT is FWD or AWD. The RS is rear-wheel drive and AWD. The SS is performance AWD with GM's hands-free driving Super Cruise standard on it.
The vehicles will start production in summer 2023 with the trims rolling out "in waves," Houlihan said. The Blazer EV will be made alongside the gasoline version at GM's Ramos Arizpe Assembly plant in Mexico.
Bell said the gasoline versions of Blazer, Silverado and the others will remain in the marketplace and overlap with the EV offerings because Chevrolet, as a mainstream brand, has to offer both to meet a widespread customer base.
GM has not confirmed whether other EV variants will roll down the assembly line at the plants that currently make internal combustion versions. For example, GM will build the Silverado and GMC Sierra EVs at Orion Assembly in Orion Township and Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck.
But GM makes the internal combustion light-duty pickups at Fort Wayne Assembly in Indiana and Oshawa Assembly in Canada and no decision has been announced yet as to what those plants will build as GM segues to an all-electric vehicle line up by 2035.
GM makes its heavy duty full-size pickups at Flint Assembly. Bell stopped short of saying where GM will make the electric heavy-duty pickups, saying Chevrolet has not discussed it at this point.
Bell also declined to say where an electric Equinox will be assembled. The internal combustion Equinox is made in Canada and Mexico.
“The intent by 2035 is everything will be gone from an internal combustion engine perspective and we plan to leverage our capacity as best we can and leverage that capacity for the EV space," Bell said. "But we’ve got to be in a position to play in both camps and keep those plants doing what they’re doing and have the ability to transition. At this point, it’s got to play out a little better."
Police vehicle to take on Mach-E
Chevrolet wants the various trims and configurations of the Blazer EV to appeal to customers from retail to fleet, even the police.
Houlihan said Chevrolet will do a Blazer EV police pursuit vehicle in RWD and AWD.
"We've been working with them ahead of time to modify the interior to meet the needs of their safety equipment," Houlihan said.
For many years, Chevrolet has made Tahoe police vehicles, which are lucrative. In the first quarter, GM reported sales of Tahoe police vehicles to government customers increased 243% over the same period a year earlier. Bell said police have long wanted something electric.
"It's gonna be good. We don't have orders yet, but it's going to be good," Bell said of the Blazer EV police vehicle. "It's highly sought after in this space, an EV."
Its main competitor will be the Mustang Mach-E SUV. In September, the 2021 Mach-E became the first all-electric vehicle to pass Michigan State Police testing for acceleration, top speed, braking and high-speed pursuit and emergency response handling.
The Mach-E GT can go 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds.
In December, New York City spent $11.5 million to buy 184 Mach-E SUVs for law enforcement and emergency response workers. The vehicles cost about $62,500 each because of the significant retrofitting police require for safety and equipment.
No more tax credits
GM currently does not have any eligible EV tax credits. The current $7,500 federal tax credit on EV purchases phases out after any automaker hits 200,000 vehicles sold. GM hit its cap by April 2019. Tesla has also reached its cap.
Bell said the Blazer EV is priced at the "core" of the average transaction prices in the segment. Still, to incentivize a purchase, GM will offer payment toward home charger installation on the Blazer EV. GM started offering the home install on the 2022 Bolts, which covers up to $1,000 for the install and $250 for permits.
"The home install program has been a phenomenal program," said Steve Majoros, Chevy's vice president of marketing. "It goes to the barriers of EV adoption. We're going to continue that with our EV products because the statement we want to make is that Chevrolet is here to make your EV journey much easier."
Chevrolet will market the EVs similar to how it advertises gasoline versions so as to "normalize" EVs as more people show interest in them, Majoros said.
"EV, as a percent of market, is now about 5% across the industry so the EV percent is growing," Majoros said. "But what we really see is, the percent of EV consideration is skyrocketing. So the days of having to convince people to entertain this new technology ... they're getting close to over. The barrier now is who can capitalize on that demand." | 2022-07-19T03:52:53Z | www.freep.com | 2024 Chevy Blazer EV revealed: Mid-size SUV starts at $44,995 | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/19/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-suv-price/10039919002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/19/2024-chevy-blazer-ev-suv-price/10039919002/ |
Drs. Halley Crissman and Lauren Owens
It's been less than a month since Roe fell, and as board-certified obstetrician-gynecologists, we are already seeing the fallout from abortion restrictions both in neighboring states and states far away.
We've cared for patients with planned pregnancies with serious fetal complications who have flown to Michigan from Texas, unable to get the compassionate care they needed in their home state.
We've seen non-pregnant people with arthritis denied their medications by pharmacists who feared dispensing medicines that could negatively impact a pregnancy in a post-Roe world.
We’ve cared for people with life-threatening cesarean scar ectopic pregnancies whose doctors in states with abortion bans feared that providing standard medical care would land them in jail.
More:Opinion: Corporate America speaks up on LGBT rights, anti-racism — but not abortion rights
We’ve watched people with infertility suffer as doctors struggle to provide IVF and infertility care, shackled by the ripple effects of abortion bans.
And we’ve watched in horror as extremists attacked a fellow OBGYN providing compassionate, medically and legally appropriate care to a young rape survivor fleeing the Ohio abortion ban.
Anti-abortion extremists are using far-fetched hypotheticals to scare people into thinking the Reproductive Freedom for All initiative is extreme or dangerous. In fact, the scary reality is the impact of abortion bans. For Michiganders, that reality is on our doorstep.
This past week, with the submission of more than 750,000 signatures in support of the Reproductive Freedom for All ballot initiative, Michigan moved one step closer to ensuring Michiganders won’t be forced to flee the state to access comprehensive, safe, medical care.
This initiative would reinstate and codify the rights recently stripped away by the overturn of Roe vs Wade. If it weren’t for the current injunction on Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban, Michiganders would find themselves traveling to surrounding states like Illinois and Minnesota right now to access abortion care.
One in four Michiganders who can become pregnant will have an abortion in their lifetime. Abortion care is safe, and it’s something Michiganders should be able to access without medically unnecessary political interference.
More:Opinion: In Republican congressional primaries, be careful what you wish for
With the Reproductive Freedom amendment filling the void left by Roe, a mother of four in Alpena, working two jobs to build a better life for her children, could get a medication abortion at six weeks of pregnancy without using all her savings to pay for childcare and out-of-state travel. More than 90% of abortion care is in situations like this — early in the first trimester of pregnancy.
More rarely abortion care is provided near the mid-point of pregnancy, often in incredibly difficult situations. Under Roe and with the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment, a daughter in Grand Rapids whose water breaks at 20 weeks of pregnancy wouldn't be forced to wait for a life-threatening infection in her uterus to receive life-saving abortion care. In states with abortion bans, some patients in her situation are not receiving appropriate, life-saving abortion care until their situation becomes dire.
A family from Flint with a desired pregnancy who receives a diagnosis of devastating fetal anomalies at their routine mid-pregnancy ultrasound and feels abortion care is the most compassionate decision could get care in their home state — close to their family and church.
A doctor in Marquette caring for a patient with an ectopic pregnancy could focus on caring for the patient in front of her, rather than fearing felony charges for providing medical care.
More:Opinion: Proposed reproductive freedom initiative goes too far
More:Opinion: She had abortion in Detroit warehouse. It inspired 50 years of service.
This is care that the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment would protect in the state of Michigan: safe, compassionate, evidence-based healthcare.
Abortion care is safe, common, and recognized as critical healthcare by all major medical societies including the American Medical Association and the World Health Organization. Nonpartisan healthcare organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians and the Michigan Nurses Association have endorsed the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment.
Words matter. Misinformation and fearmongering must not keep our friends, neighbors, and loved ones from accessing healthcare. There is a real and dangerous future lurking on our doorstep — a Michigan without Roe and with a revived 1931 abortion ban — a Michigan without the protections of the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment. We don't need to imagine what that Michigan might look like, because it's a reality today in states with abortion bans where people are forced to flee their home states for healthcare. This doesn't have to be the future for Michigan; we can protect healthcare access by voting for the Reproductive Freedom for All ballot initiative.
A Michigan with the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment is a Michigan with the protections of Roe restored — a Michigan where people can get safe, comprehensive healthcare, and where doctors like us can practice evidence-based medicine without criminalization.
Halley Crissman, MD, MPH, FACOG and Lauren Owens, MD, MPH, FACOG, are the advocacy co-chairs for the Michigan Section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. | 2022-07-19T13:57:01Z | www.freep.com | Opinion: Doctors fear post-Roe Michigan without abortion care | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/19/roe-michigan-abortion/10085681002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/19/roe-michigan-abortion/10085681002/ |
The Great Lakes Water Authority announced Tuesday that they've denied about 24,000 claims from victims of last year's extensive summer flooding after a probe found that heavy rainfall was the primary cause.
Widespread basement backups and surface flooding in roadways in June 2021 was "inevitable," according to investigators who reported their findings at a GLWA Board of Directors meeting last month. But the experts also acknowledged damage was "likely exacerbated" by electrical problems at two east-side pumping stations that reduced the ability to pump wastewater by more than a quarter. Read the report online here.
Under Michigan law, the city or GLWA can be held responsible only if there was a defect — one it knew about or should have known about — that it didn't fix and was 50% or more at fault for the flooding.
Between 6 to 8 inches of rain fell over a 24-hour period across the area on June 25-26, 2021.
“We understand the difficult situations homeowners and businesses face when flooding occurs,” Suzanne Coffey, GLWA’s chief executive officer, said in a press release sent Tuesday. “We are experiencing increased frequency and intensity of storms hitting our region. This is why it’s critical to focus on building resiliency in the regional system."
The GLWA denials include claims from July 16 flooding. It wasn't as extensive as the June backups, but still damaged hundreds of properties primarily in Detroit, Dearborn and eastern suburbs.
The June storm resulted in a four-county federal disaster declaration, more than 67,000 damage claims filed with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and about a dozen lawsuits against GLWA and others.
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department said in a statement Tuesday that they haven't made a final decision on claims yet. But officials have already predicted most of the 29,000 claims from the June and July flooding will be denied.
Read more: What caused last summer's massive floods? Probe of regional water authority released
Read more: Investigators pushed for basement flooding text alerts. But Detroiters never got them. | 2022-07-19T15:50:04Z | www.freep.com | Great Lakes Water Authority denies 24,000 flooding claims from 2021 | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/19/great-lakes-water-authority-rejects-claims-flooding-2021/10095059002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/19/great-lakes-water-authority-rejects-claims-flooding-2021/10095059002/ |
Organizers of a proposal to lower the maximum allowable interest rate charged on payday loans in Michigan appeared to fall short of collecting the signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot, according to a recently released report from the state's Bureau of Elections.
The report from the bureau's staff recommended that the State Board of Canvassers decline to place the Michiganders for Lending proposal on the ballot for a vote this fall.
Bureau of Elections staff carried out a review of a random sample of roughly 392,000 signatures filed by Michiganders for Fair Lending last month. Based on the review, staff estimated that the petition contained only 274,668 valid signatures, 72,513 short of the number needed to qualify for the ballot.
The signatures were disqualified based on mostly clerical errors, like missing information on the circulator certificate or failing to identify whether the circulator was paid, according to the Bureau of Elections report.
A spokesperson for the group expressed disappointment with the report's findings, calling it a "tough year" for petition drives in the state.
"Despite this disappointment, the coalition for fair lending remains motivated and dedicated to payday lending reform," said Josh Hovey in a statement. "Moving forward, we will be urging our stakeholders to hold local candidates accountable by urging them to support payday loan reform as part of their campaign platforms. We will also be working as a coalition to push forward reform in the legislature to ensure predatory lenders stop taking advantage of hardworking Michiganders."
In addition to the proposed interest rate cap for payday loans of 36% of the annual percentage rate, the Michiganders for Fair Lending proposal would have voided transactions above that rate, required a consumer warning spelling out the maximum allowable rate and empowered the Attorney General's Office to prosecute those who charged above it.
Surrounded by boxes of signed petitions submitted ahead of the filing deadline, Michiganders for Fair Lending's treasurer Dallas Lenear touted the proposal as providing relief for low-income Michigan residents.
In most Michigan counties there are more payday loan stores than McDonald's and they are disproportionately located in low-income and rural communities where residents struggle to afford the high interest rates currently charged, he said.
The group was the only one that met the deadline to submit a proposal to change state law in time to make the ballot this November.
Bureau of Elections' staff has not yet published its review of the signatures filed to put two constitutional amendments on the ballot this fall. Reproductive Freedom for All would enshrine abortion rights in Michigan's constitution while Promote the Vote proposes measures to bolster absentee voting among other changes. Both groups filed signatures last week ahead of the filing deadline.
The Board of State Canvassers is next scheduled to meet July 21, according to a list of 2022 meeting dates on its website. | 2022-07-19T19:31:53Z | www.freep.com | Review: Payday lending proposal shouldn't make Michigan ballot | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2022/07/19/payday-lending-michigan-ballot/10097641002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2022/07/19/payday-lending-michigan-ballot/10097641002/ |
Red Hook coffee shop's Greenway location closed after car plows through store front
The Red Hook coffee shop's Greenway location in Detroit suffered extensive damage and closed Thursday afternoon when a car plowed through the front of the shop.
The Red Hook Greenway was about a month shy of celebrating its one-year anniversary. The coffee shop is known for its full coffee and espresso bar that also served pastries from its bakery in Ferndale.
All people involved, including staff and the driver of the car, are OK, according to a post on the Red Hook Greenway Facebook page. But plans are to rebuild, owner Sandi Heaselgrave told the Free Press by phone Tuesday morning.
"Our first concern was the safety of the staff," Heaselgrave said. "Luckily, there is a lull at that time and there were no customers in the place at the time, just the two baristas."
Heaselgrave said she got the call from the building manager minutes after the accident. "I got on the phone to make sure no one wasn't injured," she said. "They saw a person coming in and they narrowly escaped."
Both baristas received treatment for glass cuts and minor injuries and were released.
More:New sandwich shop Breadless is unlike any eatery in Detroit
The inside coffee and kitchen area are destroyed, according to a Red Hook Facebook post. The car, Heaselgrave said, sliced through the middle of the storefront, tearing through the coffee bar and kitchen equipment.
"That was the damage," she said. "The customer seating on the left side of the shop and the wine shop to the right are completely intact. There's also water damage from the machines."
The coffee shop is on Jefferson along Detroit's Greenway. It's one of three Red Hook locations; the others are in Ferndale and in Detroit's West Village.
Red Hook thanked customers for an "outpouring of love and support."
"The hope is to be back open in a few months," Heaselgrave said. "We are lucky that there is not as much of an equipment shortage as there was this time last year."
Red Hook's staff — about seven workers total, including a manager — is on temporary unemployment. Some, Heaselgrave said, will work at Red Hook's two other shops.
Red Hook began 11 years ago in Ferndale, where Heaselgrave and her husband, Andrew, moved back to Michigan after 13 years in New York.
Red Hook originally shared space with Pinwheel Bakery in Ferndale for about five years before it bought the bakery. About six years ago, the West Village location on Agnes Street opened.
Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Heaselgraves signed on for the Greenway location, which took a year to build.
"Hopefully, we will be open as soon as possible and starting again," Heaselgrave said. | 2022-07-19T21:03:04Z | www.freep.com | Red Hook closed after car crashes through coffee shop | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/19/red-hook-coffee-car-crash-greenway-detroit-michigan/10099989002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/19/red-hook-coffee-car-crash-greenway-detroit-michigan/10099989002/ |
A new pizza joint with a mission to "keep pizza weird" is now open in Detroit's Greektown district.
Pizza Cat Max opened Monday in the space formerly occupied by Ready Player One, an arcade and bar. Many of the pizzas on the menu strike you with catchy names, with a grocery list of toppings to choose from.
"It's food that you can get at other places, but hard to get in a pizza form," co-owner Matt Wojtowicz said.
For example, there is a pizza called "Dave's Spicy Reuben" with all the toppings and flavors of a Reuben sandwich, including corned beef, kraut and Thousand Island sauce. Another includes a barbecue-style pizza topped with beef brisket and pickles. In a nod to Detroit's coney dog, Pizza Cat Max's rendition is vegetarian with Carolina BBQ, mustard, Soyrizo (vegan chorizo), Grippos, its six-cheese blend and white onion.
Do you love Flaming Hot Cheetos? There's the "Flaming Hot Cheese" pizza with Flaming Hot Cheetos as an ingredient. The "Fetaterranean" — topped with garlic parmesan sauce, chicken, Mediterranean herbs, feta and pizza cheese and kalamata and green olives — is one of Pizza Cat's best sellers.
"It's a word (Fetaterranean) we invented and, originally, it was a vegetarian pizza," Wojtowicz said. "We added chicken and it became a top seller."
More than 30 styles of pizza are offered. You also can build your own with toppings that include brisket, corned beef or Soyrizo, a vegan chorizo. A whole host of vegetables from artichokes to roasted red pepper, olives and pickles are available as toppings as well. For cheese, you can choose a Cheddar blend, pizza cheese, feta, ricotta or vegan Daiya cheese.
You can choose from more than 20 sauces. including traditional pizza sauce, sweet and spicy barbecue, spicy ranch and a spicy blend of teriyaki and sriracha. Specialty sauces include its Frank's Red Hot sauce, a housemade hot sauce called "Diablo Gato," garlic parmesan and zesty garlic. There's also vegan marinara and Thousand Island.
Pizza sizes include 9-inch, which Wojtowicz says feeds 1 person, and 12-inch, enough for two. Pizza Cat Max is also known for its pizzas with edge-to-edge cheese, sauce and ingredients.
Gluten-free and keto pizzas, chicken wings and steamed bagel sandwiches are also on the menu.
Pizza Cat opened its first location, a carry-out-only spot, in 2017 in Toledo, Ohio.
"Pizza Cat was created to embrace unique, wacky, fun, colorful, local, and of course his totally weird qualities," according to its website. "In 2017, our founder said, why wait for someone else to embrace a wonderfully wacky diverse pizza menu? Why not take the leap and embrace it myself? "
Wojtowicz adds: "The 'Max' version is full sit-down, dine-in experience, some games and entertainment at night." There's also a full bar.
Pizza Cat Max has a $10 dine-in-only lunch special that includes a small 9-inch pizza with a drink, available 10 a.m.-4 pm. Monday through Friday.
Hours are 10 a.m.-midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 10 a.m.-2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit pizzacat.com. | 2022-07-20T20:35:56Z | www.freep.com | Pizza Cat Max opens in Detroit, looks to 'keep pizza weird' | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/20/pizza-cat-max-detroit-michigan/10098444002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/20/pizza-cat-max-detroit-michigan/10098444002/ |
Stellantis is planning indefinite layoffs beginning next week at its Warren Stamping Plant.
The company did not disclose the number of workers who will be affected, but a letter from local union leadership to members posted on Facebook listed it as 40 (28 production workers and 12 skilled trades). Messages seeking comment were sent to the leaders of the three UAW locals listed at the plant.
The company provided few details, using similar language about the reason for the layoffs as it has in recent announcements elsewhere, such as at Sterling Stamping Plant in June.
"In order to operate the plant in a more sustainable manner, Stellantis confirms that there will be indefinite layoffs at the Warren Stamping Plant in Warren, Michigan, effective July 25. The company will make every effort to place the laid off hourly employees into open full-time positions as they become available based on seniority," according to a statement provided Wednesday by Stellantis spokeswoman Ann Marie Fortunate.
More:Stellantis makes leadership change after unflattering report on supplier relations
The plant on Mound Road employed 1,486 people — 1,311 hourly and 175 salaried — as of June, according to a plant fact sheet posted on the company's website.
Warren Stamping produces stampings and assemblies, including hoods, roofs, liftgates, fenders and floor pans, for the Dodge Durango, Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager, Chrysler Grand Caravan in Canada, Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee and Ram light and heavy duty trucks, according to the fact sheet.
While the specific reason for the Warren Stamping layoffs wasn't made clear, the company has recently referenced wider industry issues.
In response to a Free Press question earlier this month about scheduled summer plant shutdowns and the chip shortage, the company noted its efforts to mitigate manufacturing impacts of the "various supply chain issues facing our industry." In that note, the company said that "as the situation continues to be very fluid, we are making production adjustments as necessary to minimize additional production impact." | 2022-07-21T00:56:32Z | www.freep.com | Stellantis plans indefinite layoffs at Warren Stamping Plant | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2022/07/20/stellantis-layoffs-warren-stamping-plant/10110806002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2022/07/20/stellantis-layoffs-warren-stamping-plant/10110806002/ |
Four of the five Republican candidates for governor sharpened their attacks on each other during a one-hour debate at Oakland University Wednesday night, with less than two weeks to go before the Aug. 2 primary.
Ottawa County real estate broker Ryan Kelley went after Oakland County businessman Kevin Rinke over decades-old lawsuits in which employees of Rinke's former car dealerships alleged he was a sexual harasser who used racist remarks.
And Kalamazoo chiropractor Garrett Soldano, along with Rinke, went after Norton Shores businesswoman and former conservative TV commentator Tudor Dixon over her ties to the Michigan "establishment" and the billionaire DeVos family of west Michigan — major funders of the state's conservative causes.
Dixon fired back, noting that both Rinke and Soldano attended a meeting she also attended at which she said they sought endorsements from Betsy DeVos, who was Education Secretary in the cabinet of former President Trump, and her husband Dick DeVos, who was the Republican candidate for Michigan governor in 2006.
Both Rinke and Soldano were "looking for support from the same people that now they're so angry about," said Dixon, who is endorsed by both the DeVos family and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake. "Sounds like sour grapes."
Rinke, a millionaire who is self-funding his campaign, denied he attended the meeting Dixon referenced to seek support from the DeVos family.
"The DeVos family owns you," Rinke told Dixon. "You're our (the Republican Party's) version of (Michigan Gov.) Gretchen Whitmer. "You'll do anything and say anything to get elected."
Soldano also denied he was at the meeting to seek a DeVos endorsement, saying Dixon had referenced a restaurant association meeting he attended at which members of the DeVos family were present.
More:New budget signed by Gov. Whitmer adds hundreds of state employees
"My definition of establishment is your entire campaign," said Soldano, who also criticized Shirkey, saying he agreed to hold a legislative hearing on "red flag" measures to help remove firearms from the mentally ill — laws that Soldano says are a violation of the Second Amendment.
Betsy DeVos quit Trump's cabinet the day after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, and later confirmed she was among the Trump cabinet members who discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove the former president from office,if deemed by his cabinet to be unable to discharge his duties.
Kelley, who has pleaded not guilty to federal misdemeanor charges arising from his presence at the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, said that if Rinke was to win the Aug. 2 primary, Whitmer would be able to destroy him because of two lawsuits that were brought against Rinke in the early 1990s.
Rinke was sued twice by former car dealership employees in 1992, with one suit alleging Rinke made racist remarks to a Black man and the other alleging sexist remarks and harassing behavior by him toward a woman. Both suits were dismissed, the second one after a monetary payment.
"You settled those cases," instead of "fighting them to clear your name," Kelley told Rinke.
Rinke denies wrongdoing in either case and earlier told the Free Press the complaints represent a tiny percentage of the hundreds, if not thousands, of workers he has employed. He said a "nominal" payment was made in the sexual discrimination suit to end distractions.
"I fought the lawsuit because it wasn't true," Rinke told Kelley. "The people who sued me got nothing," but attorneys got paid, he said.
The fifth candidate, Farmington Hills retired pastor Ralph Rebandt, sought to portray himself as a peacemaker and unifier.
The infighting among the other candidates shows "why I need to be governor," Rebandt said. As a pastor, he's "dealt with situations like this ... where people are at each other's throats," he said, and one of his goals is party unity.
The sharp jabs in Wednesday's debate, which was organized by Scripps Broadcasting and the Michigan Republican Party and broadcast live on TV stations around the state, obscured the fact that all five candidates generally agree on most significant issues they were questioned about, including support of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down abortion rights.
They also generally agreed that:
Guns don't kill; people do.
Critical race theory is being taught in Michigan's K-12 schools, regardless of what school officials say.
Regulations are bad, and excessive in Michigan.
Taxes should be massively cut, but spending should be increased on mental health services and improving drinking water quality.
Kelley qualified his support for more funding for mental health services, as Rebandt has, saying the state should lean more on faith-based organizations to provide such services more successfully at lower cost. | 2022-07-21T02:49:32Z | www.freep.com | GOP candidates for governor come out swinging at Oakland U debate | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/07/20/debate-michigan-republican-candidates-governor-oakland-university/10112343002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/07/20/debate-michigan-republican-candidates-governor-oakland-university/10112343002/ |
A number of outdoor art festivals are planned all over metro Detroit this weekend, along with a major music festival, an aquarium celebration and theater performances of both classic and original pieces.
Here are a few ideas for you and your family to consider for the weekend of July 22.
Ann Arbor Art Fair: The largest juried art fair in the nation will transform downtown Ann Arbor into an outdoor gallery that will span nearly 30 blocks. This three-day event will have international art exhibits, a local business showcase, nearly 1,000 artists and live music. The art fair is comprised of three independently juried, nonprofit art fairs that run consecutively, the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the original; the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair and the Ann Arbor State Street Art Fair.
Local musical talent will perform on three stages and interactive activities including Mr. B and his Boogie Woogie Piano and Chalk the Walk with David Zinn will add to the artsy atmosphere.
10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Saturday
Hastings Street: Plowshares Theatre Company, a professional African American Theatre, presents the premiere of an original jazz musical about Detroit’s Black Bottom community, where thousands of African American residents and business owners were displaced to build what is known today as I-375.
7:30 p.m. July 21-31 at The Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, 350 Madison Ave. in Detroit. Tickets start at $29.
Pontiac Arts Crawl: This third annual event will feature more than 40 artists, 30 entertainers and more than 35 vendors and food trucks as the community celebrate arts and culture with local art, live painting, music and more.
3-10 p.m. Friday, downtown Pontiac.
Stony Creek Metropark Art Fair: This art fair returns to a natural lakeside setting with more than 80 artists showcasing works loosely themed “Flora and Fauna” in keeping with the natural setting.
Paintings, prints, sculptures and pieces for home and garden including ceramics, glass and wearable art like jewelry, fiber and accessories will be on display. There will be food trucks, music and interactive art activities from the Anton Art Center.
10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday at Stony Creek Metropark, 4300 Main Park Drive at Baypoint Beach in Shelby Township. Free admission and parking. A daily or annual Metropark pass is required to enter the park.
Art In the Garden Exhibition: Nine Detroit women will exhibit and sell their artwork at this community event on three vacant lots that’s been transformed into a garden named Griffin Gardens.
4-8 p.m. Saturday July 23 at 19400 Bentler in Detroit. Free.
Community Fun Day @ Belle Isle Aquarium: The Belle Isle Conservancy and Detroit Parks Coalition will host a day of activities, art, music, dance, storytelling, food trucks and more.
Noon - 4 p.m. Sunday at Belle Isle Aquarium, 900 Inselruhe, Belle Isle State Park in Detroit.
Michigan Shakespeare Festival: For the first in time in its 27-year history, the Michigan Shakespeare Festival will be performing its entire run at The Village Theatre of Cherry Hill, 50400 Cherry Hill in Canton.
The three main stage shows will be ‘Henry V,’ featuring Ann Arbor native and festival favorite Sam Hubbard as the king, ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor,’ directed by the award-winning Robert Kauzlaric, and ‘Charley’s Aunt’ by Brandon Thomas featuring Edmund Alyn Jones.
The festival began Tuesday and runs through Aug. 21. Ticket information at cantonvillagetheater.org.
Plein Air Paint Out & Exhibition: Watch artists paint outdoors at scenic locations in Northville.
6 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Details at northvillearthouse.org/exhibitions/plein-air/. The works created this weekend will then be open for viewing and purchases July 30-Aug. 20 at the Northville Art House, 215 W. Cady in Northville.
30th Annual Concert of Colors: This celebration of global music, food and film, also offering children’s activities and conversations on culture and race, began last weekend and continues through Monday in Midtown Detroit on the lawn of the Detroit Institute of Arts and surrounding streets.
Details at concertofcolors.com. Free admission.
Related: Concert of Colors live again in Detroit: Fest to include Iggy Pop tribute, Ukraine band
3rd Annual Vegan Fest: Vendors will offer food, products and information on a plant-based diets and lifestyles. There'll be tastings, demonstrations and live music.
Noon-6 p.m. Saturday at Detroit Abloom, 248 Manistique St. in Detroit. | 2022-07-21T11:53:22Z | www.freep.com | 10 things to do in metro Detroit: Art fairs, aquarium and vegan fest | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/07/21/10-things-do-metro-detroit-art-fairs-aquarium-and-vegan-fest/10098703002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/07/21/10-things-do-metro-detroit-art-fairs-aquarium-and-vegan-fest/10098703002/ |
Craft beer fans, rejoice! For the first time in three years, the Michigan Brewers Guild will host its popular Summer Beer Festival on Friday and Saturday at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti.
The two-day outdoor event — which annually hosts many of Michigan's most popular breweries slinging samples of hundreds of unique, locally made craft beers — was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year, its 23rd iteration, it's back in full force, with at least 111 Michigan breweries planning to attend. That includes major players such as Bell's Brewery, Founders Brewing Co., New Holland Brewing Co. and Short's Brewing Co. But Michigan Brewers Guild festivals also present opportunities for smaller breweries across the state to reach out to new potential customers, providing 3-ounce samples of their brews at the cost of a single token.
If you plan to go to the Summer Beer Festival, every tent is likely to have something you'll love. But from looking at the current beer list, here are 10 brewery tents you may want to make a point to stop by.
Barrel + Beam (Marquette)
If you're big into barrel-aged farmhouse ales, Barrel + Beam is right up there with Jolly Pumpkin, making some of the best such beers in the state. One of them, the Viticulture No. 2, was a top beer I tasted last year. Though you won't find that at Summer Beer Fest, you'll find others such as the Petit Belgian pale ale and the Sahti farmhouse ale.
Burzurk Brewing Co. (Grand Haven)
Grand Haven already had Odd Side Ales and Grand Armory Brewing Co. in its downtown when Burzurk opened just a couple of years ago a few blocks away. Yet during a recent visit to the Lake Michigan destination, Burzurk stood ou, not only for its Caribbean and reggae vibes but also for its beer. Try its El Jefe hefeweizen or Horchata Blonde.
Cheboygan Brewing Company (Cheboygan)
Most beer drinkers know Cheboygan for its flagship Blood Honey Orange, but its Blueberry Cream Ale, brewed with lactose sugar and fermented over blueberries, is light-bodied and refreshing, perfect for hot, sunny days. The Blackberry Blonde and 5 Mile IPA will also be available.
More:Ex-brewery owner launches 'FÜL' craft energy drinks, nonalcoholic beers
Stroh's:The iconic Detroit beer, goes throwback, back on draft for first time in decades
Fillmore 13 Brewery (Pontiac)
Fillmore 13 produces a wide range of beers across many different styles, but this weekend you may want to try the Tiki Kon Tiki, a lager brewed with coconut, pineapple and Key lime. There's also its award-winning Old Town Altbier, if you're into darker lagers.
HOMES Brewery (Ann Arbor)
If you haven't tried the Smooj hard seltzer smoothies yet, here's your chance; they are juicy, fruitful and delicious, and HOMES plans to serve up the Prickly Pear Pina Colada version at the festival, along with an "other" flavor. Maybe a surprise is in store?
North Center Brewing (Northville)
During last year's Fall Beer Festival, I stopped by the North Center beer tent to try a couple of its beers, only to find they'd already run out. It appears I'm not the only one to figure out North Center serves good beer. Its Pain Killer Belgian Tripel is outstanding, though the Bruiseberry Kettle Sour and Praise the Sun Saison also could be worth trying this weekend.
Schaendorf Brewing Co. (Allegan)
Schaendorf's Ryetail rye IPA just won a silver medal at the 2022 World Beer Cup. But its Boss Katana is also a well-regarded New England IPA and there will be multiple lagers on tap as well from the brewery out of downtown Allegan, south of Grand Rapids.
Tri-City Brewing Co. (Bay City)
Tri-City — named after the tri-city area of Bay City, Midland and Saginaw — will have a wide variety of German- and Belgian-inspired brews on hand, including the Cherry Torchon Belgian pale, Dark Eagle dunkelweizen, Orange Creamsicle blonde ale and Raspberry Wit.
Unexpected Craft Brewing Company (Oak Park)
Ed Stencel, who previously ran River Rouge Brewing Company in Royal Oak, has now set up shop in Oak Park, but still makes the tasty beers you've come to love at River Rouge. The Mango Pils and Coconut Kolsch will be especially refreshing this time of year, but the classic Peanut Butter Stencel Stout is a must-try if Reese's is your favorite candy (as it is for me).
Unity Vibration (Ypsilanti)
If you've never tried kombucha beer, here's your chance; Unity Vibration will have Bourbon Peach, Kombucha Pale Ale, Tart Raspberry and Funky Ginger on tap, as well as a few low-ABV teas such as Strawberry Rhubarb.
23rd Annual Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival
More than 100 Michigan breweries plan to offer 700+ unique, locally made craft beers spanning dozens of different styles. (Some also will offer hard seltzers.) Each ticket comes with 15 tokens for 3-ounce beer samples; you can purchase more tokens inside the event. Food will be available for purchase. Live music from several local bands.
5-9 p.m. Fri., 1-6 p.m. Sat.
Riverside Park, Ypsilanti
Friday: $50 in advance, $60 day of and at the gate. Saturday: $55, $65.
mibeer.com. | 2022-07-21T11:53:28Z | www.freep.com | Michigan Summer Beer Festival 2022: 10 breweries to try | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/nightlife/2022/07/21/michigan-summer-beer-festival-2022-10-breweries-try/10085113002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/nightlife/2022/07/21/michigan-summer-beer-festival-2022-10-breweries-try/10085113002/ |
NHTSA questions GM on confidential agreements with some Lyriq customers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is in talks with General Motors over concerns it has with GM's new program requiring some customers to sign a confidential agreement when they bought or leased a 2023 Cadillac Lyriq all-electric SUV.
GM is in the midst of launching the Lyriq, an EV that is crucial to Cadillac's future success as the brand transitions to all-electric by 2030.
As the Free Press first reported last week, to help ensure the Lyriq launch is flawless and any kinks are addressed quickly, Cadillac offered about 20 select customers in metro Detroit, New York and Los Angeles a $5,500 discount on a Lyriq in exchange for them signing the confidential agreements. The customers also agreed to let GM track how they use their Lyriq.
This program is a first. No other automaker has recruited customers to do initial studies on a vehicle rather than what is usually done: Employees drive company-owned pre-production vehicles and report any issues.
GM will use "a variety of ways to gather information from the customers," including direct phone calls, dealer contacts and a dedicated EV concierge team. Albano did not provide specifics, including how long the NDA agreement lasts, what the penalty is for violating it and whether GM will monitor vehicle software to gather data.
GM spokesman Dan Flores said NHTSA does not need to be concerned and, "we have advised them of this fact."
To be sure that's understood by participants, GM will be sending a written communication, Flores said, to make it clear that they are not prohibited from reporting any concern to NHTSA or any other entity. He did not know the timing for when drivers would be notified.
GM said Wednesday it believed it had cleared up the matter with NHTSA, but when the Free Press asked NHTSA for clarity, the agency maintained that it was still in conversations with the automaker..
The Lyriq is being built in Spring Hill Assembly plant in Tennessee. Cadillac opened the order banks for the Lyriq on May 19, but in two hours it stopped taking orders, saying it sold out. GM will not quantify what sold out means, but GM has told suppliers to prepare to produce 25,000 Lyriqs this year.
In this situation, neither NHTSA's concerns nor GM's response surprises Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and a lawyer who's followed this program.
But regulators don't want consumers to be discouraged by language in any agreement that might prevent them from "exercising their right to talk you," he said. "You can't assume that a consumer is a lawyer and knows there's an exception to an NDA." | 2022-07-21T14:07:32Z | www.freep.com | NHTSA questions GM on NDA it asked some Lyriq EV customers to sign | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/21/nhtsa-gm-nda-lyriq-customers-sign/10109218002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/21/nhtsa-gm-nda-lyriq-customers-sign/10109218002/ |
Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency announced Thursday that it has sent out another round of waivers to claimants as it identifies those who were deemed eligible and received benefits in the pandemic but were later told they were overpaid and told to pay the money back.
In a news release, the agency said it sent out 7,300 waivers for overpayments related to state and federal COVID-19 claims, for a total of $53.2 million, or about $7,288 per claim. The UIA also said it will refund $2.4 million to claimants who were repaying benefits or will apply those payments toward overpayments not covered by the waivers.
UIA Director Julia Dale said in the news release that the waivers should provide "fresh hope" for Michigan residents who faced paying back benefits. Dale pointed to "frequently shifting federal and state program rules" as to why claimants were told they were overpaid.
Dale added that the agency still has more work to do in providing financial relief to claimants.
Over the last three months, the agency has waived a total of $484.2 million in overpayments from 62,300 claims. It's unknown how many claimants are eligible for waivers.
This current group of 7,300 waivers applies to state and federal benefits that claimants received between March 15, 2020, and May 30, 2021, under a state jobless claim, extended benefits or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC).
Claimants receiving this group of waivers were sent a message through their Michigan Web Account Manager (MiWAM) online unemployment accounts, the agency said. Letters will also be mailed to claimants to confirm the MiWAM notification.
In May, after the Detroit Free Press brought to light that certain people who received Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits recipients were accused of misreporting their income and were asked to repay the excess benefits they had received, the agency said this group would be next to be assessed for waivers.
Nick Assendelft, a spokesperson for the agency, said in an email last week that the agency is continuing to work on identifying claimants who may be eligible for overpayment waivers based on providing gross earnings versus net earnings when applying for PUA benefits.
The UIA said it has refunded $11 million to claimants who had paid, or started to pay back, benefits.
Since July 2021, the agency said it has waived more than $4.35 billion in overpayments related to federal pandemic jobless benefits programs for more than 407,300 claims. | 2022-07-21T18:15:27Z | www.freep.com | Michigan's Unemployment Insurance Agency issues 7,300 waivers | https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2022/07/21/michigan-unemployment-insurance-agency-waivers/10116366002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2022/07/21/michigan-unemployment-insurance-agency-waivers/10116366002/ |
Flint water civil case goes to jurors, after acrimony erupts during closing arguments
After a civil trial that lasted nearly five months, jurors began deliberating Thursday whether two consulting firms committed professional negligence in connection with the lead poisoning of Flint's drinking water.
U.S. District Judge Judith Levy sent the case to the jury of three men and five women, but not before acrimony erupted in her Ann Arbor courtroom during the second and final day of closing arguments.
Four plaintiffs who were children when the lead poisoning began in 2014 are suing two sets of companies who were hired by Flint for their water expertise before or during the Flint water crisis. Those defendants are Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam (LAN) and its parent company, Leo A. Daly Co., and a second company, Veolia Water North America Operating Services.
The plaintiffs allege both companies knew the water was not safe to drink but they either said nothing or falsely told city residents the water was safe. The companies say the tragedy was the result of bad decisions and mistakes made by state and local politicians and bureaucrats — not them.
Wayne Brian Mason, the Dallas attorney representing LAN, delivered a closing argument Thursday that outraged New York City attorney Corey Stern, who represents the plaintiffs. Levy said Mason appeared to violate court rules related to civility by criticizing Stern and his co-counsel, Moshe Maimon, also of New York.
Mason referred to the plaintiffs' lawyers as "tricksters," said their case amounted to "fluff and puff, mirrors and magic wands," and that they participated in an "orchestrated scam" with an expert witness who Mason described as a "reliable mouthpiece who has worked for these lawyers in many other cases." He also said — inaccurately, Levy said when she admonished him — that the plaintiffs "took a run" at suing LAN after earlier suing a number of other defendants and described the plaintiffs' attorneys as giving one another "high fives" over the lawsuit.
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Stern called on Levy to issue corrective instructions to jurors and to strike from the record every reference Mason made to opposing lawyers in the case.
"In 20 years I have never ... had an opposing counsel stand up at a lectern ... and so personally attack the lawyers," Stern told Levy, outside the presence of the jurors, after Mason completed his nearly two-hour closing argument.
"With just reckless abandon to make this case about the lawyers ... violates so many canons of ethics."
Mason told the judge he did not believe he said anything improper and Levy did not go as far as Stern requested in making a corrective instruction to the jurors.
She told them that they should disregard any personal accusations Mason made about Stern and Maimon, as well as anything Mason said about their motives for suing LAN. She also reminded them that lawyers' arguments are not evidence.
Stern responded to a couple of the comment in his rebuttal presentation to jurors.
"Lawyers who represent brain-damaged kids don't high-five each other when they win," Stern told jurors.
Mason told jurors that the principal LAN official who performed work in connection with the Flint Water Treatment Plant, Warren Green, believed that there would be a 60 to 90-day test run of the water plant before it started distributing drinking water from the Flint River to city residents. Green was never informed ahead of time that state and local officials decided to put the plant online without performing the test run, Mason said.
In his rebuttal argument, Stern said Green's reported insistence on the test run was never put in writing. But if Green made the recommendation, he had to have known the test run was never performed, Stern said.
On Wednesday, VNA attorney Daniel Stein of New York City delivered his closing argument for that defendant.
The trial began with 10 jurors, but two dropped out before the case was finished.
The trial is known as a "bellwether trial" because its outcome could significantly affect how the claims of other plaintiffs against the companies will be resolved.
Levy has already approved a $626.25-million partial settlement, for tens of thousands of Flint plaintiffs, for claims against the state, the city, McLaren Hospitals, and Rowe Professional Services Co., which did engineering work for the city. LAN and Veolia were not part of that historic settlement. | 2022-07-21T19:16:19Z | www.freep.com | Flint water case goes to jurors after five-month trial | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2022/07/21/jurors-get-flint-water-civil-case-veolia-lan/10116819002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2022/07/21/jurors-get-flint-water-civil-case-veolia-lan/10116819002/ |
Perhaps all Tarik Skubal needed was a reset.
Skubal, who was dominant in his first 11 starts this season before struggling in seven starts before the All-Star break, was at his best again on Thursday in the Detroit Tigers' first game back.
The lefty went six innings, allowing just one run (unearned) on two hits and two walks while striking out nine; his performance propelled the Tigers (38-55) to a 7-2 win in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics.
For a while, it looked as if a very good day might be a historic one.
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Skubal retired the first 11 batters he faced — six via strikeout — before Sean Murphy worked a 10-pitch walk.
Skubal then struck out Chad Pinder, ending the inning without having allowed a hit through four innings.
That changed in the bottom of the fifth when Seth Brown sent a high pop-up to the left side of the infield.
Jeimer Candelario attempted to shade his eyes, but lost the ball in the sky; it dropped next to him, resulting in an infield double.
Eric Haase gave up a passed ball in the ensuing at bat, allowing Brown to get to third, and Stephen Piscotty scored him on a sacrifice fly.
Skubal induced 17 swings and misses on the day — six on his slider, five on the fastball and three each on his sinker and changeup — as he went at least six innings for the third straight start.
What little contact the A's made wasn't hard, with an average exit velocity of just 86.4 mph.
Thursday was Skubal's first start without an earned run allowed since June 1.
Grossman does the heavy lifting
By the time Skubal left the game, the Tigers already had a decent lead, thanks in large part to former Oakland outfielder Robbie Grossman.
It started in the third, when Jeimer Candelario led off with a single, followed by a two-out single from Javier Báez. Grossman then sent a 1-0 pitch just short of the wall in left, for a two-run double.
The Tigers put together another two-out push in the fifth. Riley Greene singled up the middle and Báez reached on an error by Sheldon Neuse, bringing Grossman up again.
This time, he sent a looper to center that dropped in front of a diving Skye Bolt, putting the Tigers up, 3-0.
Candelario added to the total with a leadoff home run to right-center in the seventh, extending the lead to 4-1.
But Alex Lange gae the run back in the bottom of the inning, on a leadoff home run by Brown on an 0-2 pitch.
Lange then issued a four-pitch walk to Piscotty. After a wild pitch and a single by Vimael Machin, the A's had runners on the corners with one out, prompting a mound visit by pitching coach Chris Fetter.
Lange then struck out Nick Allen looking on a curve before getting Bolt to swing through the same pitch and escape the inning.
Late-game insurance
In the end, the Tigers poured it on.
Haase led off the eighth inning with a walk, bringing up Jonathan Schoop, who ripped a double down the left-field line to put the Tigers up 5-2.
Michael Fulmer pitched a scoreless eighth, allowing only a two-out single, and the Tigers opened up the lead in the ninth. Recently recalled Zach Short led off with a walk and a steal, followed by an RBI single from Greene on a full-count slider up the middle.
Báez then reached on an error for the second time, followed by a Grossman walk to load the bases; Schoop then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.
Jason Foley threw a perfect ninth, with two strikeouts, to end the game. | 2022-07-22T00:24:56Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers open 2nd half with Tarik Skubal gem in 7-2 win over A's | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/21/detroit-tigers-score-oakland-athletics-tarik-skubal-robbie-grossman/10120966002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/21/detroit-tigers-score-oakland-athletics-tarik-skubal-robbie-grossman/10120966002/ |
A great vehicle can change how people see a brand.
That, in a sentence, is the reason Cadillac created the extraordinary Celestiq, a show car GM Design unveiled on Instagram Friday morning.
Built by hand and tailored like an exquisite suit, the electric Celestiq will be more like a Rolls-Royce than anything Cadillac’s sold since 1957, when the brand really was considered “the standard of the world,” its motto declared it to be.
Cadillac hopes to return to that status with the family of electric vehicles it’s launching now. The long, low Lyriq SUV that just went on sale is first. Priced starting at $62,990, the Lyriq aspires to beat Audi, Lexus, Mercedes and Tesla in the class of popular midsize luxury SUVs.
The Celestiq has grander ambitions.
It exists to be a car people dream about, the screen saver on a generation’s smart phones. Ordering a Celestiq will be like having an architect design your home. The owner will specify every fitting and material. Like a Rolls-Royce, no two Celestiqs will be alike.
Remove the words “Off the rack” from your vocabulary.
The last car Cadillac built this way was the 1957 Eldorado Brougham. Just 400 were built, and prices started at $13,074 — at a time when a hand-built Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith cost about $9,000, according to Hagerty. The Eldorado Brougham had a stainless steel roof – brushed and polished to gleam in the sun, not painted, of course — suicide doors, quad headlights, 44 combinations of trim and leather and the era’s latest technology: automatic high beams, cruise control, memory seats, and the latest thing in connectivity, a transistor radio.
It was the standard of the world.
Your move, Celestiq
Cadillac’s come a long way since then, mostly downhill. The Celestiq was conceived to reverse that slide.
I got my first look at a Celestiq a couple of years ago, in a secret room at GM Design at the company’s tech center in Warren, Michigan. I circled the big car, wide-eyed. It wasn’t just better than anything Cadillac had made in my lifetime, it was better than anything Cadillac had been allowed to think about making, a modern version of the cars in midcentury photos of royalty and legendary movie stars.
The Celestiq "show car" revealed Friday is a near double for what I saw that day.
It’s also very much like the production Celestiq expected to go on sale in late 2023, rolling out of a new hand-assembly shop a few hundred yards from the room where I got my preview.
Prices will start around $300,000 and go as high as the buyer’s imagination. Cadillac will build maybe one car a day, each made to order.
The Celestiq is intended to be a unique combination of technology and craftsmanship. It will use GM’s Ultium battery and electric motor system. Performance figures to come, but luxury startup Lucid put a stake in the ground with the beautiful Air EV sedan, which can go 512 miles on a charge, hits 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds and costs $169,000.
Your move, Celestiq.
Key features, big questions
Here’s what we know or expect about the Celestiq’s features and technology:
The interior is roomy, with what appears to be easy entry and egress.
The show car has four seats, with rear accommodations like a private jet.
The instruments and controls will be housed in a 55-inch LED screen stretching virtually the width of the dashboard.
Privacy-screened "digital blinds" will let front passengers watch video without distracting the driver.
Expect seat-specific audio, too.
Rear occupants will have their own screens for audio, video and more.
Its Smart Glass roof will has four zones that can be configured to allow different levels of light and visibility for each occupant.
Ultra Cruise will allow hands-free driving on virtually every foot of paved road in the U.S. and Canada.
Not all those features are expected to be available when Celestiq sales begin.
The Celestiq bears a strong resemblance to the Lyriq SUV, particularly its elaborately lit grille panel. The interior also shares design touches with the Lyriq, including ambient light that shines through wood trim on the doors and its high-resolution LED instruments and controls.
The Celestiq’s long nose and short rear end are reminiscent of Cadillac’s massively powerful custom-made 1930s V16 sedans. All-wheel drive will be available.
In addition to evoking the Eldorado Brougham’s exclusivity and V16 power, the Celestiq’s design was influenced by mid-century modern architecture, including buildings Eero Saarinen created at the tech center in War, where the car was designed, engineered and will be built in a new $81 million facility.
Assuming Cadillac nails the Celestiq’s drivetrain and advanced features, big questions include:
Do the materials and execution of its interior live up to Cadillac's aspirations?
Do ultra-luxury buyers still desire sedans, or will the ascendance of SUVs make the Celestiq seem out of touch?
Will resemblance to Lyriq benefit both cars, or dilute the Celestiq’s impact?
Will Mercedes, Rolls, Bentley, Lucid, Tesla or even Apple make a technical or design leap that steals the limelight before the Celestiq hits the road? | 2022-07-22T14:10:47Z | www.freep.com | Cadillac tackles Rolls-Royce with $300k handmade Celestiq ultra-EV | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2022/07/22/cadillac-tackles-rolls-royce-300-k-handmade-celestiq-ultra-ev/10121867002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2022/07/22/cadillac-tackles-rolls-royce-300-k-handmade-celestiq-ultra-ev/10121867002/ |
Erwin Orchards and Cider Mill announced the operation has harvested its last crop, according to a message posted July 14 on its website.
Owners Bill and Linda Erwin and the Emery family, partners in the business for 40 years, are retiring, the post read.
"Speaking for my husband, Bill Erwin and myself ... the reality is bittersweet," Linda Erwin wrote in the post.
The Erwins were the fourth generation to run the South Lyon farm and orchard that's been in operation for more than 102 years, the post said.
Developer Lombardo Homes bought the entire orchard property from the Erwins, according to Greg Windingland, special projects manager for Lombardo Companies.
Windingland confirmed Lombardo Homes has a purchase agreement for the orchard-related property of Orchard Crossing with Blake's Orchard and Cider Mill.
"The Erwins and Emerys are happy that a good portion of their land will still be farmed," Linda Erwin said when reached by phone on Thursday.
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The development is known as Orchard Crossing. For several years the property has gone through potential development proposals presented to South Lyon Township. The Orchard Crossing plan from Lombardo Homes was brought to the township in April 2021, according to Hometown Life.
Aside from the orchard and cider mill, family homes are also include in the plan for the property.
"There are 121 single-family homes on the south side of Silver Lake Road and at the west end of the property," Windingland said. "There (are) going to be 40 duplex units in the northwest corner of Kent Lake and Silver Lake Road: everything else is part of the orchard operation."
The orchard operations will become Blake's Orchard and Cider Mill of South Lyon, confirmed Andrew Blake, president of the Armada-based family-owned business.
"We are hoping that from an experience standpoint, not a whole lot will change," Blake said. "But we do hope to infuse a few new additions this year by having beer and cider tents and live music. We will serve products that we make back in Armada and bring additional food offerings we make in Armada."
Moving forward is getting to know the community and the apple crop, Blake said.
"Our job is to be a good steward and take care of the apple crop this year, serve our customers and get to know the community," Blake said.
Blake's Orchard and Cider Mill South Lyon is planning an Aug. 19 opening. Blake said plans include doing a pop-up tasting room with outdoor seating. Blake said the South Lyon orchard consists of more than 140 acres of apples. Blake's operates three locations and a hard cider facility in the Armada area. | 2022-07-22T14:10:59Z | www.freep.com | Erwin Orchards owners post message to customers as Blake's takes over | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2022/07/22/erwin-orchards-cider-mill-south-lyon-blakes/10121629002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2022/07/22/erwin-orchards-cider-mill-south-lyon-blakes/10121629002/ |
A Pontiac liquor shop cashier gave a Detroit man quite the shock when they checked his Michigan Lottery instant ticket, according to the Michigan Lottery.
The 25-year-old man purchased a Triple Million instant ticket at the Corner Liquor Shoppe at 334 West Kennett Road and later returned to have a cashier check it because he thought it was a winner.
That's when the cashier told him he'd won a much bigger prize than he was expecting.
"I play instant games all the time,” the player told the Michigan Lottery. "I scratched my Triple Million ticket and thought I’d won $1,000. I took the ticket back to the store I’d bought it at and had them check it. When the cashier told me it was a $1 million winner, I just stared in shock at my friend who was with me. I don’t have the words to describe the feeling that came over me!"
The man, who chose to remain anonymous, recently claimed his prize and opted to receive a one-time lump payment of about $693,000 instead of 30 annuity payments for the full amount.
He plans to use the money to purchase a home. | 2022-07-22T18:01:30Z | www.freep.com | Michigan Lottery: Detroit man buys Triple Million ticket worth $1M | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/22/michigan-lottery-winning-ticket-pontiac-detroit-triple-million/10126129002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/07/22/michigan-lottery-winning-ticket-pontiac-detroit-triple-million/10126129002/ |
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other members of the so-called Squad of progressive congresswomen have scheduled a rally in Detroit this Sunday, just nine days ahead of Michigan's Aug. 2 primary election.
The group of like-minded Democratic congresswomen, which includes U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, are holding the event at 3 p.m. at Cass Technical High School in Detroit.
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A news release announcing the event said it is intended to be "part of their ongoing efforts to grow the broader progressive movement." Tlaib faces a Democratic primary on Aug. 2 with a field of opponents that includes Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, Lathrup Village Mayor Kelly Garrett and former state Rep. Shanelle Jackson of Detroit.
The rally will also include performances from local artists, according to the release. | 2022-07-22T18:01:31Z | www.freep.com | AOC, Tlaib, Omar, Pressley to hold rally in Detroit | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/07/22/aoc-tlaib-omar-pressley-squad-detroit-rally/10126502002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/07/22/aoc-tlaib-omar-pressley-squad-detroit-rally/10126502002/ |
Former presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will hold a get-out-the-vote rally on behalf of U.S. Reps. Andy Levin and Rashida Tlaib next Friday in Pontiac, four days ahead of the Aug. 2 primary.
Levin's campaign announced the event, which will be held at 6 p.m. outside the Flagstar Strand Theater on Saginaw Street.
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Both Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, and Tlaib, D-Detroit, are members of the Democratic caucus' progressive wing and face primary challenges. Tlaib is facing Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, Lathrup Village Mayor Kelly Garrett and former state Rep. Shanelle Jackson of Detroit but is widely expected to win, having an advantage in campaign cash and name recognition.
Levin, meanwhile, is in a tough race in a newly drawn 11th District that includes Pontiac against another Democratic incumbent, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Waterford. Sanders has endorsed both Levin and Tlaib.
Tlaib is also part of a rally in Detroit this Sunday with Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. | 2022-07-22T18:14:20Z | www.freep.com | Bernie Sanders to stump in Pontiac for Levin, Tlaib | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/07/22/bernie-sanders-pontiac-levin-tlaib/10128070002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/07/22/bernie-sanders-pontiac-levin-tlaib/10128070002/ |
Count the good folks at EA Sports among the skeptics of the 2022 Detroit Lions' talent — especially at quarterback.
Jared Goff is one of the lowest-rated starting quarterbacks, and just two Lions recieved an 81 overall rating or better.
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The Lions appear to have gotten better across the board but are outside of most playoff projections.
Let's see how they stack up on Madden, which assigns all 2,000-plus NFL players a rating based on dozens of individual categories including (but not limited to) speed, strength, catching ability, throwing power, ball-carrier vision, tackling, run blocking, pass blocking, awareness and toughness:
Goff, who completed 67.2% of his pass attempts in 2021 while throwing for 3,245 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 14 games, is among the lowest-rated veteran starting QBs in the game. He was averse to risks — and big plays — often opting to check the ball down (6.6 yards per attempt) instead of pushing it downfield to a shaky set of wideouts.
With a 72 overall, only Davis Mills (Houston Texans), Mitchell Trubisky (Pittsburgh Steelers), Marcus Mariota (Atlanta Falcons) and Daniel Jones (New York Giants) are worse, in Madden's analysis, among projected starters. Second-year QB Trey Lance, set to take the reins for Jimmy Garoppolo in San Francisco, is also a 72.
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It could be worse, though. Goff could be rated as low as the top QB in the 2022 draft, Kenny Pickett, who was awarded a 68 after being drafted in the first round (No. 20 overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers. That's a far cry from the 78 for top 2021 QB, and top pick overall, Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence (down to a 76 this year).
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While the Goff questions are valid, is it fair to place him behind Lawrence or Chicago's Justin Fields, who are talented but only flashed occasional signs of being plus passers? What about Baker Mayfield, the Cleveland-turned-Carolina QB who had a better supporting cast in 2021, but had a lower QB rating, worse interception percentage and fewer total yards while playing nearly as much as Goff?
Last year, the Lions as a team were a 74 overall — one of the lowest ratings in the NFC — and this year doesn't figure to be much better.
Running back D'Andre Swift, offensive tackle Taylor Decker and offensive tackle Penei Sewell are all rated at 80, with Decker and Swift rising two points this year. That gives the Lions just five players at 80 or higher and none in the 90s. (The rival Chicago Bears aren't much better with six players rated 80 or better and linebacker Roquan Smith's 89 topping the team). That's bad, but not as bad as the Houston Texans, with just three players at 80 or higher.
No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker (Jaguars) is a 76 and No. 4 pick Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, a Detroit native with the New York Jets, is also a 78 (tied with Williams and Jordan Davis, the No. 13 pick by the Philadelphia Eagles, for the best rookie).
For more about the ratings, tune into ESPN's reveal show Saturday night at 9 p.m. or pick up (err, download) a copy when the game is released Aug. 19. | 2022-07-22T23:05:40Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Lions, Jared Goff get no love in Madden 2023 ratings | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/07/22/detroit-lions-jared-goff-madden-nfl-2023-tj-hockenson/10130145002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/07/22/detroit-lions-jared-goff-madden-nfl-2023-tj-hockenson/10130145002/ |
The Michigan Supreme Court will not take up Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel's appeal of a lower court decision favoring the county prosecutor in a claim that Hackel withheld money for four positions in the prosecutor's office.
Prosecutor Peter Lucido indicated he wasted no time after the court's order Friday and requested the four jobs be posted.
The lawsuit and ongoing budget dispute have spilled over into other news involving the prosecutor's office recently.
“This is a victory for Macomb County taxpayers and provides clarity going forward,” Lucido said in a news release. "Now that this matter is resolved, I truly hope we can meet with the County Executive to productively work together on behalf of all Macomb County residents.”
The four positions are a part-time file clerk, a part-time intern coordinator, a full-time executive administrative assistant and a full-time communications director. Lucido said the total cost of the positions is about $300,000.
County Corporation Counsel John Schapka said the county "will now consider the appropriate course of action to take going forward."
“How spending nearly $300,000 of public funds for four unnecessary administrative positions constitutes a victory for taxpayers is baffling,” he said.
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Lucido filed a lawsuit in January in the Court of Appeals saying Hackel failed to enforce the 2022 budget, approved by county commissioners, which appropriated funds for the positions.
A Court of Appeals panel said Hackel "exceeded the scope" of his authority to impound funds to achieve economic efficiencies. It granted Lucido's request for a declaratory judgment and directed Hackel to "either disburse those funds to plaintiff or seek an amendment of the appropriations ordinance from the board."
Hackel and the county filed an application for leave to appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court, arguing the Court of Appeals decision will "have far-reaching implications and, if not reversed, will throw open the doors of the Court of Appeals to settle budget disputes raised in any and every county by nearly any and every county official."
It added the "result of the Court of Appeals’ holding will be competing budget proposals presented by each Macomb County countywide elected official — a return to the political horse trading that the Macomb County charter sought to remedy."
The Michigan Supreme Court denied the application for leave to appeal the March 31 judgment of the Court of Appeals "because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court."
Michigan Supreme Court Justice David Viviano, who once served as a circuit judge in Macomb County, concurred, saying he believed the Court of Appeals reached "the correct result."
But, he wrote separately, saying, "this result is not intuitive in some respects and the statutory language at issue might benefit from being revisited by the Legislature." The question, he said, centers around the phrase "elected official who heads a branch of county government."
Board Chairman Don Brown said in a statement the order "is an important final decision to require County Executive Hackel to adhere to the budgetary and appropriation process outlined in the County's Charter."
He said the board "welcomes the Courts' conclusive rulings that County Executive Hackel violated the Charter when he unilaterally withheld funds duly appropriated by the Board of Commissioners to the Prosecutor's Office."
Brown said the courts recognized Hackel's actions "illegally infringed" on the board's powers and obligations under the county charter "and that the Board of Commissioners possess the authority to adopt a budget that differs from the County Executive's proposed budget."
"The Courts also made clear that the County Executive cannot frustrate the stated purpose of the Board of Commissioners' appropriations through unlawful impoundments (withholding appropriated funds)," he said.
The long-simmering budget dispute and questions about staffing have been mentioned by Lucido several times recently.
He said members of his staff were "devastated" in their belief that the fatal shooting of Detroit Police Officer Loren Courts on July 6 in Detroit might have been averted if his office had more staff to help with a current case that might have put the suspect behind bars earlier.
And last week, Lucido called an independent investigation into workplace complaints involving him "retaliatory."
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The monthslong investigation concluded he made inappropriate statements containing sexual comments and/or sexual innuendo and that he used county personnel and other resources for personal and some campaign-type activities.
A memorandum from the investigator with Butzel Long law firm included complaints, findings and recommendations that Lucido be provided training concerning the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and applicable county policies among other suggestions.
Schapka said Friday that county officials are still considering their next steps "given the very unique position occupied by an elected official who is not subject to discipline or termination by the county. Elected officials answer only to the voters and even then only once every four years.” | 2022-07-23T11:20:33Z | www.freep.com | Michigan Supreme Court won't hear dispute between Hackel, Lucido | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/07/23/michigan-supreme-court-wont-hear-dispute-between-hackel-lucido/10128740002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/07/23/michigan-supreme-court-wont-hear-dispute-between-hackel-lucido/10128740002/ |
None of this precludes the possibility that one of those five will nevertheless become governor next Jan. 1. We live in strange times, and there is no telling what a polarized electorate beset by a lingering pandemic, an incipient recession, and a paranoiac disinformation campaign led by former President Donald Trump will do in November, when the winner of the forthcoming GOP primary winner will presumably be on the ballot.
For reasons articulated below, we believe KEVIN RINKE is the least dangerous choice for Republican voters with no good options in the next month's primary.
A history of pragmatism
Let's concede, in the interests of candor, that the odds that the Free Press Editorial Board will endorse the GOP primary winner in a general election faceoff with incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are vanishingly slim.
But that is not because we are in the bag for whomever Democrats care to nominate, as those with short memories sometimes allege.
Indeed, our editorial board has endorsed the Republican nominee for governor in three of the last six election cycles:
• John Engler, with whom we had many serious policy differences throughout his 12-year gubernatorial tenure, won our support for a third term in 1998, when the winner of the Democratic primary was Geoffrey Fieger. Fieger is a celebrated trial lawyer who championed many policy positions we supported, but we (and the vast majority of Michigan voters) recognized him as singularly unqualified to oversee Michigan’s executive branch.
• In 2010, as Michigan struggled to emerge from the global economic collapse of 2008, the Free Press Editorial Board chose Republican businessman Rick Snyder over Democratic Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero. Four years later, we endorsed Snyder for re-election over his Democratic opponent, former Congressman Mark Schauer, who failed to articulate a coherent vision for our state.
Four years ago, we endorsed Democrat Gretchen Whitmer in her successful bid to succeed Snyder, and we believe she has done a creditable job leading Michigan in the face of a Republican-led Legislature that churlishly fought the public health precautions she imposed to blunt the pandemic. More recently, she has led the campaign to protect women from an archaic and dangerous abortion ban revived by the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Even so, Michigan voters would benefit if Republicans nominated an experienced and credible candidate to challenge Whitmer’s bid for re-election.
That, alas, is not in the cards this year.
Touting their inexperience
Both parties have fumbled statewide elections before (See Fieger campaign referenced above), but it is hard to recall when either has presented options as unpalatable as those confronting Republican voters in this year’s gubernatorial primary.
Not one of the five GOP contenders has ever held elective office on the local, state or federal level. Each argues that voters should regard his or her dearth of political experience as an asset in a state where all elected officials are suspect.
Rinke, a 61-year-old Bloomfield Hills resident who acquired his wealth by expanding and then selling his family’s auto dealership empire, contends that his experience overseeing a variety of regulated businesses has made him savvy in the ways of state government.
Chiropractor Garrett Soldano, 43, concedes he had little interest in politics before the pandemic, but says that his seminal role in a grassroots campaign to protest vaccine mandates and pandemic quarantines proves that he has what it takes to be governor.
Ralph Rebandt, 64, is an evangelical preacher who wants to mandate a Bible-based curriculum in Michigan classrooms, if only conservative Supreme Court justices will eviscerate the Constitution's inconvenient prohibition of government-imposed religion.
Tudor Dixon, 44, and Ryan Kelly, 40, share backgrounds in entertainment, a determination to criminalize abortion without exceptions, and an appetite for outlandish conspiracy theories popular with their party's lunatic fringe.
We believe inexperience is as problematic for politicians as it is for auto mechanics, air traffic controllers and heart surgeons. In politics no less than other fields, fortune favors job applicants who have demonstrated an aptitude for the work they aspire to do. The fact that nobody on the GOP gubernatorial ballot has ever presided over a school board meeting, introduced a piece of legislation, or mounted a winning campaign for town council hardly recommends them for the highest political office in the state.
Bewitched by 45
But inexperience is just this under-powered field's most conspicuous shortcoming.
Four of the five candidates persist in flogging Donald Trump’s conclusively debunked claim that his opponent stole the 2020 presidential election.
Ryan Kelley, who faces trial later this year on misdemeanor charges stemming from his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, wants the results of Michigan's 2020 election “decertified.” Another candidate, Garrett Soldano, proposes “a forensic audit” of Michigan ballot records to investigate Trump’s unfounded allegations that Biden's 150,000 vote victory in our state was counterfeit.
Despite the parade of senior Trump Administration officials who have testified under oath that Trump's stolen election allegations were unfounded, Rinke is the only GOP primary candidate to reject them. In an interview with the Free Press Editorial Board, he said he had discovered "no evidence" that Biden's victory was fraudulent.
Rinke is either too crafty or too craven to join the minority of principled Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and Michigan Congressman Peter Meijer, who have rejected Trump's leadership. He seems eager to see his party's infatuation with Trump subside, but, in the meantime, he's resigned to letting the fever run its course. He says he hasn't decided whether he'll support the former president if he seeks the party's presidential nod in 2024, but quickly adds that he'll vote for Trump if he's the Republican nominee.
Though unapologetically in favor of banning abortion, Rinke is also the only Republican gubernatorial hopeful who would make an exception for victims of rape and incest, a stance he says conforms with those of Trump and the late Ronald Reagan. He bridles when reporters ask him whether he favors greater government regulation of birth control, asserting that no serious Republican supports such an intrusion.
In many respects, Rinke sounds like a throwback to the starve-the-government fiscal conservatism of Reagan and Newt Gingrich. His enthusiasm for slashing taxes and eliminating regulations should appeal to traditional Republicans — especially the affluent ones who would profit most handsomely from his proposal to eliminate Michigan's income tax.
A family earning $60,000 would save $2,338 a year if legislators agreed to scrap the income tax; a family earning $1 million would save more than $42,000. Rinke nevertheless scoffed at our suggestion that ending the income tax would disproportionately benefit the state's wealthiest residents: "They pay most of the taxes," he said.
We'll be alarmed if Rinke's proposal turns out to be more than a bumper sticker slogan. But since he won't identify a single government service he'd cut to compensate for the $12 billion hole his tax-cutting scheme would blow in Michigan's annual budget, we're inclined to take it no more seriously than any other unfunded spending proposal.
We're skeptical of Rinke's confidence that his successful private business ventures guarantee he'll be equally successful running a state whose taxing and spending authority rests with an independent Legislature. We've heard other entrepreneurs make the same claim — Rick Snyder is the most recent example — only to find themselves hamstrung by the realities of democratic government.
That said, Rinke's experience overseeing mid-sized corporations dwarfs anything his Republican rivals bring to the table.
If we were more reckless, we might encourage Democratic and independent voters to sabotage the GOP primary by voting for a fringe gubernatorial candidate more repellent than Rinke. That's Machiavellian strategy mischievous Democrats have prescribed in other states where election-deniers and anti-vaccine extremists are contending in Republican primaries for important statewide offices.
But that would be a dangerous gamble in a state that has a history of swinging unpredictably between the two parties. So we warily recommend Kevin Rinke as the Republican gubernatorial hopeful least likely to lead his party even deeper into the authoritarian abyss its most extreme elements want to plumb. | 2022-07-23T11:20:39Z | www.freep.com | Endorsement: In a pitiful GOP field, Free Press recommends Kevin Rinke | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/23/endorsement-free-press-kevin-rinke-republican-primary-governor/10125479002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/07/23/endorsement-free-press-kevin-rinke-republican-primary-governor/10125479002/ |
Not so long ago, odds seemed slim we’d ever see Anita Baker back on a Detroit stage.
The homegrown singer stopped touring in 2013, announced her retirement four years later, then staged a series of farewell dates before the pandemic hit. Until Friday night came along, Baker hadn’t played here in more than a decade.
So her visit to Little Caesars Arena, where she performed Friday for an enthralled, sellout audience hanging on every syllable, was like a bonus cherry-on-top in the singer’s celebrated career. And it helped make history right.
In a 90-minute show filled with her signature jazzy-R&B hits, Baker turned things intimate in the big arena while showing that her instantly identifiable voice remains potent.
It was a classy affair with moments of magic, even if things got halting and clunky between songs — an odd note of uncertainty from an artist whose musical abilities are clearly intact.
This show came in hot: Tickets sold out in in less than an hour last month, and the energy inside LCA Friday was crackling with the feel of a big-time event, complete with pyrotechnics and a closing blast of confetti.
Some of these local fans have been devoted to Baker since her '70s days with the Detroit band Chapter 8. And based on a show of hands solicited by the singer during the show, the crowd included a fair number of folks who’d traveled across the country for the occasion.
Taking the stage in a sequined jumpsuit and golden shawl, Baker was briefly teary-eyed as she greeted the crowd, mouthing “thank you” as she absorbed the scene. She seemed caught up in giddiness for her opening number, “Same Ole Love (365 Days a Year),” punching the air and peppering the song with excited “oowww’s!”
Backed by a tuxedoed seven-piece band and three backing singers, Baker frontloaded the set with six songs from her 1986 breakout album “Rapture” — a rollcall of hits that had the LCA crowd singing along in full voice.
Baker was settling into her comfort zone and smiling wide by the time she got to career staples such as “Sweet Love,” “Been So Long” and “Caught Up in the Rapture.” They were among show highlights that included a shimmering “Angel,” a special moment plucked from her early solo days; an emotional “Fairy Tales” late in the set; and “Lead Me into Love,” where Baker made soft-lit sounds blossom into a musical crescendo with her backing vocalists.
More:Anita Baker, Roger Waters, Concert of Colors, Faster Horses lead busy concert weekend
More:Elton John wraps up his Detroit career with a final goodbye for 40,000 at Comerica Park
Even with her abundant vocal skills and wide range, Baker has never been one to grandstand as a singer, instead relying on the warmth and richness of her tone to sell a song with nuance. That doesn’t mean she’s incapable of vocal fireworks on demand, and she was happy to ignite them Friday when needed to drive home numbers like “No One in the World.”
Not every 64-year-old singer holds up as well as Baker has managed. She sounded strong at LCA, whether climbing up the scale or nestling into her lower register in her trademark move. She scatted and improvised — even turning her stage chatter into melodies on the spot.
Friday’s show was best when Baker zeroed in on her music. The stretches between songs could have used tightening: Too often, the pace felt tentative and rambling, as if Baker was self-conscious in her big moment.
She made a running joke out of her age: “I’m too old for this,” she said at one point, later declaring it was “almost time for night-night.” But given the polish of her vocal performance, the excuses weren’t necessary. If Baker was nervous during her hometown return, she needn’t have been.
Still, it brought a kind of authentic, organic edge to the otherwise elegant proceedings, and Friday felt like a grassroots Detroit celebration of a well-loved native daughter.
After paying tribute to early collaborators such as producer Michael Powell and late drummer Ricky Lawson, Baker thanked the audience for “keeping these Detroit compositions alive.”
“People think there’s some big machine behind me,” she said. “And it’s you.”
Baker, who moved out west some years back, recounted arriving in the city Thursday and driving downtown when she spotted “The Spirit of Detroit” statue. She said she felt compelled to get out of her vehicle: “It felt like home to me.”
So it was probably no accident that “You Bring Me Joy” was placed as the last song of the night. Sweet and yearning, followed by the celebratory confetti, it was Anita Baker’s closing thank-you to a hometown crowd that was very happy to love her back. | 2022-07-23T12:25:39Z | www.freep.com | Anita Baker gives sweet love at LCA in long-awaited Detroit homecoming | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/23/anita-baker-detroit-little-caesars-arena-concert-review/10131181002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/23/anita-baker-detroit-little-caesars-arena-concert-review/10131181002/ |
Detroit Tigers right-hander Michael Pineda left Saturday's start with right tricep tightness.
The 33-year-old completed three innings on 55 pitches against the Minnesota Twins, but while the Tigers were batting in the bottom of the third, left-handed reliever Tyler Alexander began warming up in the bullpen.
Alexander replaced Pineda for the fourth inning, allowing one hit over his first two innings of work.
COMING BACK:Eduardo Rodriguez and Tigers connect after 1 awkward month of silence
LONG GONE:Tigers' Alex Faedo (hip), Kyle Funkhouser (shoulder) to miss rest of 2022 season
With Pineda injured, the Tigers have two healthy starting pitchers on the 26-man roster: Tarik Skubal and Drew Hutchison. Rony García is scheduled to be activated from the injured list and start Sunday's game against the Twins.
Earlier this season, Pineda exited his May 14 start against the Baltimore Orioles with a fractured right middle finger. The nine-year MLB veteran was placed on the injured list May 15 and didn't return to the Tigers until July 1.
On Saturday, Pineda needed 30 pitches to complete the first inning. The first three batters reached safely with singles: Luis Arraez, Carlos Correa and Jorge Polanco. Max Kepler's sacrifice fly put the Twins ahead, 1-0.
In the second, Pineda threw 12 pitches and recorded two strikeouts. He retired three of four batters in a 13-pitch third, as Carlos Correa cranked his 88.7 mph four-seam fastball into the visitor's bullpen in left-center field.
Pineda allowed two runs on four hits.
He struck out three batters and did not allow a walk.
Entering Saturday, Pineda had a 5.22 ERA with six walks and 20 strikeouts over 39⅔ innings across nine starts. He allowed eight runs across two innings in his July 16 start against the Cleveland Guardians, the Tigers' final game before the All-Star break. | 2022-07-24T01:05:56Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers' Michael Pineda leaves game with right tricep tightness | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/23/detroit-tigers-michael-pineda-right-tricep-tightness/10136919002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/23/detroit-tigers-michael-pineda-right-tricep-tightness/10136919002/ |
Much as they did the entire first half, the Detroit Tigers are stumbling early in the second half of the season.
A three-run eighth-inning rally wasn't nearly enough for a comeback.
The Tigers — playing their first home game since July 6 — lost 8-4 to the Minnesota Twins in Saturday's series opener in front of 34,205 fans at Comerica Park. The offense scored three runs in the eighth, but the defense was responsible for four crucial mistakes, including two errors, in the seventh and eighth innings to spoil any chance of winning.
INJURY TO INSULT:Tigers pitcher Michael Pineda leaves game with right tricep tightness
HELLO AGAIN:Eduardo Rodriguez and Tigers connect after 1 awkward month of silence
GOODBYE AGAIN:Tigers' Alex Faedo (hip), Kyle Funkhouser (shoulder) to miss rest of 2022 season
The first run for the Tigers (38-57) came in the sixth inning, when rookie Riley Greene injected life into the unproductive offense with a leadoff triple to the gap in right-center field off right-handed starter Joe Ryan.
Javier Báez, who finished 1-for-2 with two walks and a strikeout, capitalized by shooting a two-strike fastball into right field for an RBI single.
The next three batters — Robbie Grossman (flyout on 3-0 fastball), Miguel Cabrera (strikeout on three pitches) and Harold Castro (flyout) — stranded Báez at first base.
Before Castro stepped to the plate, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli replaced Ryan with right-handed reliever Emilio Pagan.
Ryan, lowering his ERA to 2.89 through 15 starts in his second MLB season, allowed one run on four hits and one walk with seven strikeouts over 5⅔ innings. The 26-year-old recorded 10 swings and misses, including five with his slider.
The Tigers scored their second, third and fourth runs in the eighth inning, thanks to two-out RBI singles from Cabrera and Castro off left-handed reliever Jovani Moran. Right-hander Trevor Megill replaced Morgan, and a wild pitch scored pinch-runner Zack Short.
Detroit's offense, which averages 3.15 runs per game, recorded six hits and four walks with seven strikeouts against six pitchers.
E-z riders
The Tigers failed to build on the second triple of Greene's career.
Instead, the team squandered the momentum with poor defense from third baseman Jeimer Candelario in the seventh inning. Alex Kirilloff, facing left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin, opened the frame with a single.
On the next two plays, Candelario botched the ball while trying to field it.
A grounder from Jose Miranda deflected off Candelario's glove — in front of a ranging Báez — and skipped into the outfield for a single; that was followed by a grounder from Kyle Garlick which bounced off his glove for a fielding error. Those mistakes loaded the bases with nobody out.
Gio Urshela's ensuing sacrifice fly put the Twins ahead 3-1.
Right-hander Joe Jiménez replaced Chafin and recorded the second out. He should have escaped without further damage, but left fielder Akil Baddoo dropped the ball in foul territory while attempting a sliding catch.
Two pitches later, Luis Arraez delivered a two-run single into right field for a 5-1 lead. Carlos Correa nearly hammered a two-run homer, but Baddoo timed his jump perfectly and robbed him of his second long ball of the game.
Short run for "Big Mike"
After three innings, right-hander Michael Pineda left his start due to right tricep tightness.
The 33-year-old didn't concede a walk but allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts. He needed 30 of his 55 pitches to complete the first inning, as the first three batters reached safely with singles.
A sacrifice fly from Max Kepler put the Twins up 1-0.
In the second inning, Pineda threw 12 pitches and recorded two strikeouts. He retired three of four batters in a 13-pitch third, but with one out, Minnesota scored its second run. Correa cranked a 88.7 mph four-seam fastball into the visitor's bullpen in left-center field for a 426-foot solo home run.
Trailing 5-1, right-hander Will Vest — in his first game back from the paternity list — took over for the eighth inning. The first three batters reached safely on a walk and two singles.
The Tigers made another defensive miscue, this time with the bases loaded and one out, as second baseman Jonathan Schoop fielded a weak grounder from Gilberto Celestino. Schoop threw home to catcher Tucker Barnhart, but the two-time Gold Glove winner dropped the ball for an error and a 6-1 Twins lead.
The Twins plated two more runs on an RBI single from Urshela (over a leaping Báez) and an RBI fielder's choice from Gary Sanchez before Vest ended the inning. Two of the three runs in the eighth were unearned runs.
Right-hander Jason Foley pitched a scoreless ninth. | 2022-07-24T01:49:23Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers drop second straight, 8-4, to Minnesota Twins | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/23/detroit-tigers-score-minnesota-twins-joe-ryan/10136735002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/23/detroit-tigers-score-minnesota-twins-joe-ryan/10136735002/ |
Otus Supply in Ferndale has launched a new brunch menu, according to co-owner Michael Bloom.
On the menu are specialties such as Big City Benny featuring two poached eggs on sourdough with champagne hollandaise. Bubble waffles, hotcakes and French toast are served in a variety of styles. Also on the menu are classic buttermilk hotcakes, omelets, eggs any style and house-made biscuits and sausage. There are tacos, breakfast bowls and vegetarian selections.
Brunch is served 9 a.m. -2 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Otus Supply is at 345 E. Nine Mile.
Pinky's Rooftop in Royal Oak has a new weekend brunch menu. It includes pancakes, overnight oats with maple vanilla berry compote, avocado toast with pickled carrots, and biscuits and gravy. There's also a Bloody Mary and mimosa bar.
The restaurant's full menu is also available during brunch, which is served 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Pinky's Rooftop is at 100 S. Main St.
Festivals showcase seafood, tacos
A big seafood event is coming to the Music Hall Amphitheater in downtown Detroit.
The Detroit Seafood Festival, which is set for July 30-31, will feature a seafood boil meal that includes half a pound of snow crab, two servings of corn on the cob, half a pound of potatoes, chicken andouille sausage, two boiled eggs, Cajun butter and lemon. You can add shrimp, crawfish, lobster tail, mussels and other items at an additional cost.
Tickets are $49 and must be bought in advance. The event will include a cash bar, DJs and games. Sessions are noon-4 p.m. and 6-10 p.m. each day. For tickets, go to detroitseafoodfestival.com.
Also next weekend, Taco Showdown is happening 2-5 p.m. July 31 in Shed 5 at Detroit's Eastern Market.
The event will feature tacos and salsa from more than a dozen taquerias in Michigan, along with Mexican wrestlers, a cash bar and games. VIP tickets ($35 plus a handling fee) provide guests early access beginning at noon. General admission ($25 plus handling fee) starts at 2 p.m. All tickets include three complimentary tacos and five margarita samples. For tickets, go to tacoshowdown.com.
Dairy Queen again aids children
Dairy Queens in southeast Michigan will be raising funds to benefit children and families on Thursday. For every Blizzard treat sold that day, $1 will be donated to Beaumont's Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Since 2003, more than $973,000 has been donated by Dairy Queen to benefit pediatric programs at Beaumont Children's.
Celebrations of lasagna, chicken wings
Friday is National Lasagna Day is Friday, and Carrabba’s Italian Grill is honoring the dish by donating to the nonprofit Lasagna Love, a group that delivers lasagna to people in need. Carrabba's will be donating about 2,000 lasagnas and will also donate 10% of all lasagna entree sales to Lasagna Love. Restaurant guests can take part this week by including donations with their meals.
Meanwhile, National Chicken Wing Day is Friday, and Detroit Wing Company is celebrating with free wings. All 22 locations will be giving away a six-piece order of boneless wings with the purchase of a 10-wing meal or larger. The chain's newest location opened July 18 in Lansing. On Saturday, the Lansing location will celebrate its grand opening with 40% off boneless wings all day.
Petoskey native pairs recipes, crafts
Lifestyle guru Maria Provenzano believes in all things homemade and also believes that "everyday moments are worth celebrating," even the little ones.
In her new book "Everyday Celebrations from Scratch" (Harper Horizon, $29.99), you'll find page after glossy page of ideas for those celebrations. In five themed chapters, Provenzano provides ideas and recipes for celebrating friendship, children's sports and even weeknight family meals.
Chapters are filled with crafty ideas from how to make your own pasta to making your own wine tags for wine glasses and homemade candy sprinkles. Provenzano shares recipes (with step-by-step instructions), techniques and inspiration for a wide range of celebrations or occasions.
Provenzano now lives in Los Angeles but grew up in Petoskey and still spends summers in northern Michigan. She has appeared on the Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family." Her website is fromscratchwithmaria.com. | 2022-07-24T12:15:14Z | www.freep.com | Otus Supply and Pinky's launch weekend brunch menus | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/24/otus-supply-and-pinkys-launch-weekend-brunch-menus/10116928002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/07/24/otus-supply-and-pinkys-launch-weekend-brunch-menus/10116928002/ |
Detroit Tigers right-hander Rony García waved his arms at the dugout following the 62nd pitch of his first start since June 29.
He couldn't throw another pitch.
Athletic trainer Doug Teter emerged on the field with two outs in the third inning. Moments later, García left Sunday's game with right shoulder soreness. The 24-year-old allowed three runs on two hits and three hit batters.
STARTING AGAIN:Tigers' Tyler Alexander enters rotation as Michael Pineda lands on injured list
LIVE UPDATES:Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins on Sunday
OUT FOR THE YEAR:Tigers' Alex Faedo (hip), Kyle Funkhouser (shoulder) to miss rest of 2022
In Saturday's loss, right-hander Michael Pineda exited his start after the third inning due to pain around his throwing elbow. Before Sunday's game, Pineda was placed on the 15-day injured list with right tricep tightness.
After García's injury, there are three healthy starters on the active roster: Tarik Skubal, Drew Hutchison and Tyler Alexander. The Tigers added Alexander, who began the year in the rotation before becoming a multi-inning reliever after an IL stint of his own, to the rotation as Pineda's replacement for Thursday's game in Toronto.
The Tigers activated García from the injured list Sunday.
He hadn't pitched since June 29 against the San Francisco Giants, spent three weeks on the injured list with right shoulder soreness and never completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Toledo.
García was supposed to pitch for the Mud Hens on July 17, but the game was suspended in the top of the first inning due to the weather. Then, the Tigers planned for García to rehab with Toledo this weekend.
But that rehab outing didn't happen, either.
The Tigers needed García to start Sunday to fill injured starter Beau Brieske's spot in the rotation.
Facing the Twins, García's four-seam fastball averaged 90.4 mph, a 2.6 mph decrease from his average fastball velocity this season. The average velocities on his sinker, curveball and changeup were significantly slower, too.
Entering Sunday, García posted a 4.28 ERA with 13 walks and 48 strikeouts across 48⅓ innings in 15 games (seven starts) this season. Detroit acquired him in the 2019 Rule 5 draft from the New York Yankees. | 2022-07-24T20:22:04Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers' Rony García leaves game with right shoulder soreness | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/24/detroit-tigers-rony-garcia-right-shoulder-soreness/10139666002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/24/detroit-tigers-rony-garcia-right-shoulder-soreness/10139666002/ |
Wyatt Worthington II won the 2022 The John Shippen National Invitational at Detroit Golf Club on Sunday, securing a 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic exemption with a two-round score of 6-under-par 138.
The PGA Tour's Rocket Mortgage Classic will contest its fourth tournament at Detroit Golf Club, Thursday-Sunday, and 152 of the 156 spots in the field have been taken. The final four entries will be handed out during Monday's qualifier at The Orchards in Washington Township.
Worthington, 35, rebounded from a subpar four-bogey Saturday outing of 1-over-par 73 to shoot a 7-under 65 on Sunday on the soggy and windy Donald Ross-designed course. The Reynoldsburg, Ohio, native narrowly edged Michael Herrera, who finished second after missing a birdie putt to tie on hole No. 18.
Worthington, a PGA Club Professional and teacher at the Golf Depot in Gahanna, Ohio, had eight birdies and one bogey in his final round, and birdied the par-4 16th and par-5 17th to take the lead.
He has qualified to play in two majors in his career, the 2016 and 2022 PGA Championships, missing the cut both times.
Tim O'Neal, the 2021 The John Shippen winner, shot 66 in his final round and tied Aaron Beverly for third at 4 under. Flint native Willie Mack III finished three shots behind Worthington in a five-way tie for fifth along with Ann Arbor native Marcus Byrd, Michigan State golfer Troy Taylor II and Detroit native and Wayne State graduate Joe Hooks.
• Final leaderboard
The other contender with Michigan ties, Eastern Michigan golfer Marcus Smith, finished tied for 18th with Chase Johnson, who plummeted down the leaderboard by shooting 7-over 79, after beginning Sunday with a share of the lead at 4 under par. Howard golfer Everett Whiten Jr., who shared the lead with Johnson after Round 1, finished tied for 13th. Twenty-two players teed it up.
THE FIELD: 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club
TOP NOTCH:Michigan is a top 10 state for private golf courses. Here are the 15 best
Worthington will now compete against PGA Tour stars like World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay, No. 13 Will Zalatoris and No. 17 Tony Finau in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The John Shippen creates opportunities in golf for Black men and women, and works to ensure the story of John Shippen Jr. — the first American-born golf professional and the country's first Black golf professional — is told. There are currently four Black PGA Tour players and one Black LPGA Tour player, and of the 28,343 PGA of America professionals, 194 — or less than 1% — identify as Black. | 2022-07-24T22:10:45Z | www.freep.com | Wyatt Worthington II wins 2022 The John Shippen Invitational | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/golf/2022/07/24/john-shippen-invitational-rocket-mortgage-classic-wyatt-worthington-golf-detroit/10139944002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/golf/2022/07/24/john-shippen-invitational-rocket-mortgage-classic-wyatt-worthington-golf-detroit/10139944002/ |
The Macomb County Sheriff reported a plane crash in Ray Township this afternoon.
According a 3:51 p.m. tweet from the Macomb Sheriff's Twitter account, the plane attempted to take off before crashing from around 75 feet off the ground. The tweet also reported 3 passengers were taken to the hospital with severe injuries and burns. A dog is currently missing. No description of the dog is currently available.
A spokesperson for the Macomb County Sheriff said the department was not expecting any updates until tomorrow morning.
More:Plane crash in west Michigan kills pilot, passenger
More:A Delta flight from London to Detroit had no passengers but 1,000 bags. Here's why | 2022-07-25T01:31:02Z | www.freep.com | macomb county plane crash 3 injured dog missing | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/24/macomb-county-plane-crash-3-injured-dog-missing/10141034002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/24/macomb-county-plane-crash-3-injured-dog-missing/10141034002/ |
Detroit Tigers game score vs. San Diego Padres: TV, radio, game info for series opener
Starting pitchers: Tigers RHP Drew Hutchison (1-4, 4.46 ERA) vs. Padres LHP Sean Manaea (5-4, 4.11 ERA) .
ANOTHER ARM INTO THE ROTATION:Detroit Tigers' Tyler Alexander enters rotation as Michael Pineda lands on injured list
LOOKING BACK TO YESTERDAY:Detroit Tigers get familiar mix in 9-1 loss to Twins: hurt pitcher, snoozing bats
Game notes: The Tigers take on the National League to start the week as they host the San Diego Padres at Comerica Park. In the first game of the series, the Padres will trot out a familiar face to the Tigers. Former Athletics hurler Sean Manaea takes the mound as a member of the Padres.
Over his career, Manaea has a record of 3-1 against Detroit with an ERA of 2.88; he's on a three-game winning streak vs. the Tigers. On the bump for the Tigers is Drew Hutchison, looking to pick up win No. 2 this season. Having taken on a starter role over the past two months, Hutchison is 1-1 in five outings, with his lone win coming against the Cleveland Guardians on July 5.
HOW TORK CAN GET BACK TO THE D:How Spencer Torkelson is trying to put the pieces together and return to Detroit Tigers
The Tigers offense enters Monday night's game struggling, continuing an ongoing theme this season. A total of 10 runners were left on base in the two-game sojourn vs. the Twins; Sunday's 9-1 loss saw the Tigers collect just three hits, two coming from catcher Eric Haase, who also had the team's lone RBI. | 2022-07-25T10:50:49Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Tigers game score vs. Padres: TV, radio, game info for opener | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/25/detroit-tigers-game-score-san-diego-padres-tv-radio-game-info/10139945002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/07/25/detroit-tigers-game-score-san-diego-padres-tv-radio-game-info/10139945002/ |
I don’t think about my father enough. It’s not by choice, believe me. He has just been gone so long.
Almost 30 years — the kind of mind-bender that sits in the space between consciousness and sub-consciousness. Sometimes it's a dull ache, but more often like the first days of a changing season, when you recognize the smell and feel and look of cooler air and emerging reds, but your memory remains attached to heat and greens.
Loss can be disorienting like that. Mostly, you move forward. The sound of their voice fades. The stories fade, too.
I thought about this when Tiger Woods walked over the Swilcan Bridge at St. Andrews a week ago Friday, tipping his cap to acknowledge the crowd and the reality that he probably wouldn’t play there again in a British Open.
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Not because my dad loved Woods; he died before the golf icon hit the tour. Not even because my dad loved golf and possessed a low-key liquid swing.
But because it doesn’t seem like that long ago when Woods won the 1997 Masters at 21. And yet there he was on the bridge, a quarter-century later, face weathered, waving a ceremonial goodbye.
No other sport stretches then shrinks time like golf. If so inclined, and if the knees and hips hold up, one can play almost an entire lifetime. Its most accomplished practitioners secure trophies decades apart, as Woods did. It makes for great stories, as life does.
This week, some of the best golfers in the world will tee off at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club. They’ll have stories. So will those that follow them outside the yellow ropes.
Maybe someone will be there without their father for the first time. Maybe they’ll run into someone that knew him. And they’ll learn.
I don’t remember the last time I learned something about my father. Or heard a tale. Or talked to someone who knew him, beyond a handful of my immediate family.
Until Mike Douglass began a sentence this way last week:
“The last time I saw your father, he walked into my office at school with a big grin on his face …"
The rest of the sentence is fuzzy. It was the late '80s. Or maybe early '90s. Douglas, whom I called “Uncle” as a kid, was a school principal in Indiana. My dad was selling school portraits while living in Illinois. He showed up unannounced, like Santa in the spring.
The details mattered, but they didn’t. Douglass just wanted to tell me what my father had meant to him. So did his wife, Sue. She began to share stories as well, about my father, about my mother — she'd roomed with her at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in the early '60s — about the trips she and Mike had taken to see my parents, wherever they were.
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Brooks AFB in San Antonio. Hahn AFB in Germany.
Most of us don’t write our own history. We carry it around in our head. It gets cloudy. And while I remember each of those stops, there’s nothing like learning your own history from someone who remembers it more clearly than you.
And, so, when the Douglasses reached out a month ago to ask if they could drive up from their summer place in Indiana for lunch, I couldn’t wait, because I knew — well, I hoped — they'd be bringing more memories with them.
After the initial jolt of hearing Mike say, “The last time I saw your father …,” I settled in and shared some of my memories, too. Eventually, the conversation turned to golf.
My father struggled after he left the military and didn’t always have the time or money to play as much as he wanted to. He’d grown up around the game in Texas, where his father took him out on muni courses in San Antonio.
My grandfather was a scratch player. My pop might have been, too, had he had the time.
Unfortunately, that swing went to my brother, Kevin — who is trying to pass it along to his son, Matthew — and (thank goodness) to my boys, Jake and Sam. The four of them play a handful of times a summer. When they do, I imagine my sons are out there with my father — my brother has much of his look and personality.
My brother and sons had joined me to meet the Douglasses for lunch, along with their daughter, Amy Douglass Crabb, and her husband, Mark Crabb, who, as it happened, played golf at Purdue in the 80s.
The final round of the British Open was playing out as we ate, and everyone kept checking their phones to follow along. Between talk of Woods’ farewell and Rory Mcllroy’s missed opportunity and the putting of eventual champ Cameron Smith, I heard tales of my mom and dad.
Golf can be like that, too.
I sometimes wonder ... if my pop hadn’t been taken down by a brain tumor all those years ago, would I have fought harder to fix the shanks that chased me away from golf for good by the time I was 30? As much as I love it when my sons play with my brother and nephew, I still miss the feel of hitting the sweet spot with a 2 iron, and the chatter in the fairway from tee to green.
For now, though, I’m content to live their outings through their tales when they return — the good-natured trash talk, their three-putts and slices, their approach shots that nestle near the cup after carving a perfect parabola through the thick, Michigan air.
The Douglasses gave me a similar gift last week when we all sat around a table to eat and reconnect and share stories.
“Life is short,” Amy reminded me as we said goodbye.
It’s even shorter when memories aren’t replenished. | 2022-07-25T11:00:26Z | www.freep.com | Tiger Woods' timelessness elicits thoughts of fathers and sons | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2022/07/25/tiger-woods-st-andrews-goodbye-wave-crowd-18th-hole-british-open/10135903002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/shawn-windsor/2022/07/25/tiger-woods-st-andrews-goodbye-wave-crowd-18th-hole-british-open/10135903002/ |
The site is free to use and is similar to other virtual shopping sites GM has launched in recent years such as Cadillac Live, launched in 2019. It is a virtual showroom where a product specialist gives a consumer a personalized tour of Cadillac cars.
More:GM reinventing Cadillac brand with new financing arm
Last year, GM launched Chevy MyWay as a sort of virtual auto show after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled many live auto shows where customers could casually view cars and ask questions about them.
“We’re selling the EV experience, rather than specific EVs," said Hassani.
GM has also launched the Ultium Charge 360 network last year to help EV drivers find access to some 60,000 charging stations in the U.S. and Canada. GM is investing $750 million in the charging infrastructure through Ultium Charge 360.
"We're making it easier to learn about the EV experience," Hassani said.
Earlier this month, GM announced that it was partnering with Pilot Travel Centers and EVgo to build 2,000 charging stalls at "up to" 500 Pilot Flying J sites across the nation. It is also working EVgo to install 3,250 additional fast chargers throughout U.S. cities by 2025.
“GM wants to be the company that puts everyone in an EV, and we understand that vehicles are only part of the equation, Hassani said. | 2022-07-25T13:59:00Z | www.freep.com | GM's new website, EV Live, is latest weapon to get everybody in an EV | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/25/evlive-gm-electric-website/10142003002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/07/25/evlive-gm-electric-website/10142003002/ |
In a landmark year for Pine Knob Music Theatre, Stevie Nicks just helped the amphitheater notch a fitting milestone.
Nicks will play the Clarkston venue on Sept. 13, part of a run of shows unveiled Monday by Live Nation.
The booking means Pine Knob now has 50 shows for its 50th anniversary season, which kicked off in May and will run through early October.
It’s uncommon for Pine Knob to get a scheduling addition this far into the summer season, but Nicks’ September date is part of a just-announced tour leg that will include several festival appearances and amphitheater shows, including a big night at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl.
It follows a run of spring shows that included a fest-closing set last month at Bonnaroo, where Nicks became the first female headliner in the event’s two-decade history, playing a set of Fleetwood Mac classics and solo fare.
Tickets for Nicks’ Pine Knob concert will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday via livenation.com. | 2022-07-25T14:29:35Z | www.freep.com | Stevie Nicks books Pine Knob concert for Sept. 13 | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/25/stevie-nicks-tour-pine-knob-september-tickets/10142255002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/07/25/stevie-nicks-tour-pine-knob-september-tickets/10142255002/ |
High winds and stormy weather on Lake Michigan ripped sails worth thousands of dollars and broke equipment but failed to prevent Scott Sellers, his 18-year-old daughter Hannah and their eight-person team of sailors from winning first-in-class during the race from Chicago to Mackinac.
"I have never seen a weather radar covering this expanse of thunderstorms," Scott Sellers told the Free Press on Monday morning. "It was nonstop for seven to eight hours."
This was his second win for his boat "nosurprise" in back-to-back races to Mackinac Island in two weeks. Scott Sellers, a private equity manager from Larkspur, California, with a summer home in Harbor Springs, Michigan, won first-in-class a week ago in a double-handed race with only his 14-year-old daughter Merritt.
Sellers raced 204 nautical miles (235 land miles) from Port Huron last weekend and 289 nautical miles (333 land miles) from Chicago this weekend.
No stopping. Little rest. Sailing by moonlight in crashing waves.
"It was a pretty knarly race — pouring rain and thunderstorms and lightning for hours. It was one of the most intense storms I've ever seen. It felt really exciting to race through that," Hannah Sellers told the Free Press. "Then a tough finish for seven hours upwind with intense waves and a cold front. It was pretty chilly on the boat."
Hannah Sellers, who just graduated from Redwood High School in Larkspur,plans to sail for Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in the fall. She learned the sport through classes at the Little Traverse Sailors program in Little Traverse Yacht Club in Harbor Springs starting at age 7.
This was her first race from Chicago, having sailed twice in the annual Bayview Mackinac race from Port Huron. Hannah's primary role, she said, was trimming the main sail to harness the wind. Hannah, the eldest of three sisters who sail, took the first ferry off Mackinac Island to get back to Harbor Springs.
"I'm 48 hours-plus without sleep," she said.
Unknown Lady
Sailors who raced back-to-back said the two races were polar opposites.
The Port Huron to Mackinac this year was "like playing chess versus taming a wild Mustang," said sailor Kellen McGee, 33, of Lisle, Illinois, a graduate student in accelerator physics at Michigan State University. "With chess, every move matters. With a wild Mustang, You're just glad to be still alive and going generally in the right direction."
She won first-in-class on "Fast Tango" racing a week ago, and called that race the "hardest easiest race" because wind was so light and elusive.
This week, she placed fifth on "Unknown Lady-NAI," a Sydney 41 with 11 sailors from four states including Brad Mousseau of Utica, Michigan, and Kathryn Doherty of Troy, Michigan.
Race conditions were brutal but no serious injuries were reported, said Laura Muma, race communications director for the 113th Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac presented by Wintrust.
Ripped sails
Sailors encountered what Chris Bedford, the race weather forecaster, described as a mesoscale convective system — a large mass of thunderstorms, which moved across Lake Michigan from the Wisconsin shore, Muma wrote in a news release Sunday.
“But what made last night extra unique, is it that the first mass was then followed by another one. ... From preliminary reports, it appears the first round was probably most impactful with strongest wind gusts between 45 to 55 knots," Muma wrote.
An unusual year
While a handful of boats always retire from the race, this year was different. Early Monday, Chicago Yacht Club race chairman Sam Veilleux said 27 boats of 244 registered had officially pulled out and he figured some hadn't yet reported.
"Watching what happened across the lake Saturday evening, most of the majority of the fleet was hit by repeated severe thunderstorms through the night," he told the Free Press. "If you can imagine being outside in the thunderstorm, and it may go from no wind to like sticking your head out of the window at highway speeds, with lightning and drenching rain."
While seeing boats drop out is disappointing, Veilleux told the Free Press, "we have to remember the most important thing is to make it to the island in one piece ... so they can live to race with us next year."
Veilleux, 42, a software customer engineer from Chicago, won his class on "Dakota," a Beneteau 47.7 that raced with 10 Illinois sailors and Michael Woodworth of Holland, Michigan, in 41 hours, 34 minutes.
Rocky Levy, owner of a sustainable furniture company in Highland Park, Illinois, and also a crew member on "Dakota," tweeted early Sunday, "We’ve had 50-knot winds knock us down and a bunch of things broke, but not our spirits! Almost there!”
'Spider lightning'
Tim Prophit, 63, a cannabis marketing consultant from St. Clair Shores and past commodore of Bayview Yacht Club, has earned a reputation over the years as a fearless competitor. He said this race was insane.
"It was hours and hours and hours and hours of lightning," Prophit told the Free Press on Monday after tying up "Fast Tango," a North American 40 in the harbor at Mackinac Island.
"It was explosions in the clouds, lightning strikes on the water, spider lightning," he said.
A year ago, his boat was hit by lightning and he almost missed the race. This year, Prophit docked his boat along the wall near the entrance of the Chicago Yacht Club, a "lucky spot" that brought Fast Tango a previous win.
On Friday night, hours before Fast Tango was to begin the race, the sleeping crew heard a BOOM! when lightning struck a tree not 12 feet from the boat.
Profanity-laced events
"During the race, this lightning wasn't like a typical summer squall. It went on for hours," Prophit said. "At one point, I was holding onto the backstay on the boat, it's metal, and I got (expletive) zapped. It must have been electricity from a strike on the water close to the boat. It happened in a nanosecond. I saw my (right) hand light up (on Saturday night). It hurt like hell. Everything went white and then black. My heart rate was elevated. I went down below and chilled out and went back to racing."
He added, "Some vertical strikes to the water lasted so long it was like it was liquid lightning being poured from the clouds."
Prophit gave a shoutout to competitors who beat him: "Dark Star," a Hobie 33 based at the San Francisco Yacht Club, won with five sailors including Scott Petritz of East Lansing, Michigan. "Legacy," a J88 boat based at Crescent Sail Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, placed second with five sailors including Scott and Katherine Sorbie of Clinton Township, Michigan.
Pancakes to celebrate
Prophit talked to Scott Sellers at The Pancake House on Mackinac Island.
"Back-to-back wins is always impressive," Prophit said. "It was tough out there. It was fun, but challenging."
He noted that Sellers, 50, raced with legend Dave Irish for years, and in some ways, is carrying on his legacy of victory. "And that's cool." | 2022-07-25T16:47:52Z | www.freep.com | Chicago to Mackinac race: Dad-daughter sailing team win despite storms | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/25/chicago-mackinac-race-scott-sellers-storms/10142075002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/07/25/chicago-mackinac-race-scott-sellers-storms/10142075002/ |
A most sensible affiliation will continue for at least another five years.
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Usually it's players that between the Wings and Griffins, but when then-Wings coach Jeff Blashill was in COVID-19 protocol last December, Griffins head coach Ben Simon filled in behind Detroit's bench.
The trip between Detroit and Grand Rapids can be done in a little more than two hours, weather and construction permitting. Compare that to when the Wings' AHL affiliate were the Adirondack Red Wings, located in Glen Falls, N.Y., which was a nine-hour drive, or required a trip to the airport. At the start of the 1988-89 season, Bob Probert and Petr Klima were suspended for missing a scheduled flight to New York to join the farm club, where they'd been demoted for separate violations of team rules (Probert overslept and missed a team flight from Detroit to Chicago; Klima overslept and was an hour late for a practice.) | 2022-07-25T16:47:58Z | www.freep.com | Detroit Red Wings extend affiliation with Grand Rapids Griffins | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2022/07/25/detroit-red-wings-affiliation-grand-rapids-griffins/10144194002/ | https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2022/07/25/detroit-red-wings-affiliation-grand-rapids-griffins/10144194002/ |
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