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RAPID CITY - Samuel Daniel Cerkoney, 55, went to see the angels and be with his much-missed son, Marshall Sudlow. He suddenly passed away from heart failure a day short of his 56th birthday at Monument Health Hospital, Rapid City, SD.
Sammy was born in Deadwood August 7, 1966, to Sam and Rose (Kanski) Cerkoney. He grew up in Lead, SD, and was educated and graduated from Lead High School. Growing up he held several jobs in the Lead area. He went on to be a Miner, and follow in his father's footsteps. He always said about being a miner, "If it's good enough for my dad it's good enough for me." Sam worked for Wharf Resources for 25+ years. His fellow co-workers always looked up to him because he set the standards for being the perfect Sr. Crusher operator. Sometimes they would call him the ticking time bomb. If someone did something that did not go right, his favorite word was calling them a monkey. If you heard him say Clown - you knew it was time to run!
Growing up Sam and Rose had their hands full with their young adventurous son Sammy. His favorite past times were hunting and fishing. Way too many stories to list. But if you were a friend of Sam's, you all have those awesome memories tucked away in your heart.
Sam and Sherry Solberg, the love of his life got together in August 2013. They purchased a home in Sturgis and have lived there since. Sam had one son, Marshall Sudlow. Marshall passed away in 2018 due to a fall. Sam loved his "Daddy's Boy" and really never got over losing him. To sum it up there is so much to say but each and every one of us has our memories and will hold on to them forever.
Sammy's best friend was his little brother, Jody. You did not mess with Jody, and Jody was the same: you didn't mess with Sam. And when there was trouble with both boys, their older sister Daphne would be right there to fix it! The love of these siblings was so deep. Sam and Jody's love for each other was the deepest love I have ever seen. Their friendship was forever unbreakable.
Sam was preceded in death by his parents, Sam and Rose Cerkoney; and his son, Marshall Sudlow. He is survived by his fiancée, Sherry Solberg and her son, Bradley Solberg; brother, Jody (Sheila) Cerkoney; Jody's daughter, Hanah Cerkoney; and Sheila's children, Chandler Schneider and Presley Schneider; Bonnie Wolfgram (Sherry and Sheila's mom); sister, Daphne Calhoun and her children, Pam, Sue, Eric, and Angel; his sister, Gwen Scott and her children, Glenn, Michael, Bryan, and Katie. He is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins and great friends.
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2022-08-12T05:49:52Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Samuel Daniel Cerkoney | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/samuel-daniel-cerkoney/article_baf7b487-9eba-57fe-9e5e-c488109231a6.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/samuel-daniel-cerkoney/article_baf7b487-9eba-57fe-9e5e-c488109231a6.html
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HERMOSA - Steven Leroy Hammer, 64, of Hermosa, SD died on Sunday, August 7, 2022 at home.
Steve was born on November 5, 1957, in Hot Springs, SD, to Marvin and Donna (Larson) Hammer. He was the oldest of four siblings including Deb, Robert, and Jeannette. Steve grew up in Custer, SD and graduated from Custer High School in 1976.
Steve was well known for his hard-work ethic. He started his first job when he was 14 years old at the Chief Steak House where he earned money to buy his first bike. While in high school he enjoyed working around the residents of Colonial Manor, one resident in particular became a very special friend. After high school, he worked at the Silica Sand Company in Edgemont, Homestake Mine in Lead, and for the Black Hills Packing Plant in Rapid City. Steve worked endlessly, and in 2003 proudly established his business StonePro, which specialized in custom granite. He began his career in granite working for Rausch Granite and Monument before starting StonePro. Steve's excellent quality of work was well known and he took great pride in the way he completed jobs.
Steve married Karen (Ellerton) Hammer on June 24, 1978 in Custer. They were blessed to have 44 years of marriage. After their marriage they moved to Spring Creek before settling in Hermosa where Karen taught school. In 1982, they welcomed their daughter, Amber Jean. Four years later, in 1987, their son Justin Claire joined the family. Steve enjoyed many things. He loved meeting people and had many special relationships with friends. Steve coached basketball at Hermosa Elementary and then coached Justin's baseball teams in Hermosa. He greatly enjoyed spending time with all the kids he coached. He was also an avid Denver Broncos fan and loved taking trips to Denver to attend Bronco games with Karen.
He most enjoyed spending time in the Black Hills, especially the Limestone area, with his family. Steve loved to hunt, fish, camp, and ride the 4-wheeler. He enjoyed taking drives with Karen. He spent countless hours searching for the perfect hunting spots and looking for antlers in the spring. He shared his passion for hunting with Justin, many friends, and cousins. He always had a smile on his face while taking Amber and his grandchildren out on the 4-wheeler and on drives.
Steve is survived by his parents Marvin and Donna Hammer; his wife, Karen; son Justin (Katie) Hammer; daughter Amber Hageman; his four grandchildren Kaiden and Haven Hageman, and Nolan and Brooke Hammer; his siblings, Debra Jensen, Robert (Gloria) Hammer, and Jeannette (Ernest) Pacheco; his in-laws, Pam (Gary) Lipp, Terry (Vera) Ellerton; his nieces, Belinda Brown, Amy McVeigh, and Amanda Lustig; his nephews, Ryan Pacheco, Aaron Hammer, Travis Lipp, Casey Ellerton, Brian Ellerton, and Andy Lipp; and numerous cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends. He is preceded in death by his grandparents Joe and Irene Hammer, Don Larson and Myra Larson; his mother and father-in-law Claire and Florence Ellerton; his special great-aunt and uncle Bood and Babe O'Connell; his brother-in-law Curtis Jensen; and other aunts and uncles.
A service will be held Tuesday, August 16th at 10 am at Custer Lutheran Fellowship in Custer, SD. Memorial donations may be made to benefit the Front Porch Coalition (www.frontporchcoalition.org) or SD Youth Hunting Adventures (www.sdyouthhunt.com).
Justin Claire
Custer High School
Florence Ellerton
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2022-08-12T05:50:04Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Steven Leroy Hammer | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/steven-leroy-hammer/article_dec3b74c-97fd-5d9b-95d5-169ecc96da99.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/steven-leroy-hammer/article_dec3b74c-97fd-5d9b-95d5-169ecc96da99.html
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Classified information must be protected
My daughter works in a highly classified field for The United States Air Force. She's so reticent about what she does that I had to consult Wikipedia to have any idea how she spends her day.
Now picture this scenario; She decides to take some classified documents home, and makes no secret of this action. How much time would you predict would pass before people with guns would be at her door? (Hint: The over/under bet is about 32 minutes.)
And if I ever wanted to contact her again, I'd need the mailing address for the prison in Colorado where they stash traitors who have done damage to the country they swore to protect. Yet if we wait several years to search the residence of an ex-president for classified documents it qualifies as a witch-hunt? Oh, I forgot. The rules are different for the elite than for Staff Sergeants.
Hank Lord, Rapid City
Trump being held accountable
So, the Trump Republicans are upset that the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago for missing national security documents that Trump kept after he left office, which was against the law.
Come on, people, Trump is a crook, a liar and a fraud.
You should not be surprised that he is being held to account under federal law. As you know, this isn’t the end of his legal troubles. It seems clear from the evidence presented that Trump is guilty of sedition, that is, trying to overthrow the constitutionally-mandated rule of law in the United States.
The Trump Republicans are now threatening rebellion over the legal FBI search. Somehow, these Trumpites have convinced themselves that they are in the majority. Well, they aren’t. The majority haven’t bothered to contest each stupid thing that the Trumpites say or do because they have a living to make and better things to do. But this silence should not be confused with agreement. If the Trumpites would, indeed, try to foment a rebellion, they would find themselves rapidly placed in federal jail along with Trump and the erected scaffold in front of the prison.
The final thing that needs to be said about this whole Trump movement is summed up in the phrase that the Trumpites have so enthusiastically pushed. Of course, it is altered, slightly. “Let’s go, Donald.”
Reed Richards, Spearfish
Defense is not discretionary
Is it not true that the U.S. saved the beacon of both Russia and China during World War II. Our media should remind their leadership about this every other day, while telling them to get out of Ukraine and stop threatening Taiwan.
And in the off days the TV media could show pictures of the two towers in New York burning, reminding our citizens and Congress that defense is not discretionary.
James A. Schmitendorf, Rapid City
Not one peep
Not one peep of outrage from any of our three federal officials! Granted, Senator Thune finally asked the FBI to ‘explain their actions’, but that is a milquetoast question not matching the national outrage for the FBI’s actions.
For the first time in history, the sanctity of a former president’s home is violated by a once-respected law enforcement agency. People who understand and value our freedoms are rightly upset and are speaking and acting out...while we still can!
Pundits talk about the Republican party imploding because one Republican ‘branch’ fights another with regularity. By their silence and in my opinion, political cowardice, Rounds and Johnson show that they support these actions.
Kudos to Governor Noem for having the balls to make a public stand in defense of the strongest president we have had in decades. While I am critical of her for some of her political and ethical actions, I do respect her for this action.
The question that has been asked is, “if they can do this to a past president, what can they do to us?”.
For Brian Bengs for Senate
It’s up to us South Dakotans! The Republican party has gone to the extreme right and is the biggest threat. They are taking away our individual freedoms and nearly destroyed our democracy. The right to determine what a woman (and a man) can do with their bodies in terms of family planning and reproductive rights. The right to choose the method of birth control that is the most medically appropriate. The right to appropriate medical treatment which may include drugs or procedures that are either currently banned under South Dakota’s archaic abortion law or could be as soon as the next legislative session. The right to marry the person you love.
In November, I am voting for Brian Bengs. Brian Bengs is running for U.S. Senate to give a voice for working class South Dakotans who have been forgotten for far too long. Brian is a 26 year veteran of both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force. While in the Air Force he served in the JAG Corps. While in the armed services, Brian fought to root out corruption as a Federal Ethics Advisor, ensuring our government was as ethical as possible. I encourage you to vote Bengs!
Gary Snow, Brookings
How not to talk about mental health
Recently, Governor Kristi Noem gave politicians everywhere a master class on how not to talk about mental illness. Her assertion that mental illness and suicide rates in South Dakota are dropping because “people are happy, and they’re happy because they’re free” is mind-bogglingly inaccurate.
Everyone who has every taken or even been in the vicinity of a Psych 101 class knows that the root causes of mental illness are not well understood, but there is (among other things) a clear genetic link.
What is well understood is that happy thoughts, individual will power, and political policy are not effective tools to combat mental illness or suicide.
What is also well understood is that flippant comments like Noem’s do contribute to the shame and stigma of having a mental illness, and form another barrier for people to overcome when seeking care. Good leadership involves showing compassion and support for all constituents, even those who continue to suffer in spite of being deemed “happy and free” by a Governor.
Amanda Meredith-Dunlop, Rapid City
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2022-08-12T11:19:47Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Letters to the editor, August 12, 2022 | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-august-12-2022/article_536508dd-b30f-5a4e-a396-2bccc9a134d2.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor-august-12-2022/article_536508dd-b30f-5a4e-a396-2bccc9a134d2.html
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Storming President Trump's residence and passing a $700 billion spending bill during a recession show me the Democrats are not at all concerned about the 2022 elections. Previous success has shown them an alternate pathway to victory.
FYI Governor Noem, we are a “nation of laws, not of men” (John Adams) and the FBI conducting a search of Mar-a-Largo is an example of the DOJ following the law.
It is important to remember that the FBI raid on Trump's property was conducted by an agency headed by a Trump appointee on a warrant signed by a Trump-appointed judge.
Secretly, there's probably as many Republicans who don't want Trump to run in 2024 as there are Democrats.
Kudos to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. With above average temperatures and below average rainfall their management of Pactola Lake has kept the reservoir storage above 95% full! Thank you U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The news said gas is now below $4 a gallon. Well, in Rapid City it is still above $4. I wonder if it will go down after the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and of course we have next the Central States Fair.
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2022-08-12T13:30:33Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Your Two Cents for Aug. 12 | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/your-two-cents-for-aug-12/article_1906ca5a-a95a-5b97-ab01-354194e5bbbc.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/your-two-cents-for-aug-12/article_1906ca5a-a95a-5b97-ab01-354194e5bbbc.html
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Last week, Rep. Trish Ladner (District 30) asked Rapid City Journal readers to “follow the money” on Constitutional Amendment D, a ballot measure to expand Medicaid in South Dakota. This is an important issue for voters heading into the voting booth this November.
The coalition supporting expansion of Medicaid consists of well-respected organizations and non-profits that represent cancer survivors, patient advocates, nurses, health care providers, ranchers, faith leaders, educators, and more. For a list of supporters, visit southdakotansdecide.org/endorsements.
As for following the money, let’s address Rep. Ladner’s concerns as it relates to the long-term costs of Medicaid expansion. Right now, our tax dollars are going to states like California and New York to pay for their health care. Tax dollars that would return to South Dakota if we pass Amendment D in November. If Amendment D passes, over 1.3 billion tax dollars would return to the state for the first five years for us to invest in our state budget, create jobs, and support our rural communities.
It is time South Dakota got its fair share.
Thirty-eight other states have already expanded Medicaid and we can assess what is working in those states. In Iowa, Medicaid expansion was estimated to have created between 2,100 and 2,400 new jobs. Similarly, in Montana, Medicaid expansion was found to have supported 6,000 jobs that contributed to $350 million in personal income growth. And in North Dakota, over $540 million in economic impact that goes toward employing individuals in local community health care facilities.
According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Many expansion states have found that savings and new revenue due to Medicaid expansion outweigh the state’s share of the cost of new Medicaid enrollees. Expanding Medicaid eligibility would thus provide substantial health and economic benefits at little or no cost to state governments.”
More than numbers, the biggest impact is Medicaid expansion saves lives. Individuals lacking health insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screenings and are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at later stages when the disease has a poorer prognosis and is more expensive to treat.
Here in South Dakota, passing Amendment D would close the health care “coverage gap” for over 42,000 hardworking South Dakotans who still cannot afford access to health care. For those individuals falling into the coverage gap, they earn too little to qualify for financial assistance to afford health care coverage and earn too much to qualify for the state’s current Medicaid program. Most workers in the coverage gap are employed in agriculture, construction, hospitality, or retail industries. And in some cases, they are caretakers to family members with cancer or other chronic diseases.
If you would like to learn more about Amendment D and the benefits of Medicaid expansion, I invite you to an event at the Journey Museum in Rapid City on Tuesday evening, August 16.
The free public event, hosted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, will feature a short film that showcases three stories of hardworking South Dakotans who have experienced tremendous barriers to accessing health care coverage.
Matthew McLarty is the South Dakota Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
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2022-08-12T13:30:46Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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McLARTY: South Dakota should get its fair share | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/mclarty-south-dakota-should-get-its-fair-share/article_67fb9ec4-ad87-59cc-b8bd-8f00ab32caa2.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/mclarty-south-dakota-should-get-its-fair-share/article_67fb9ec4-ad87-59cc-b8bd-8f00ab32caa2.html
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Harding County/Bison aims for deep playoff run with healthy quarterback
Harding County head coach Jay Wammen talks to his team between quarters during the semifinals of the Class 9B State Tournament on Nov. 9, 2019.
When the 2022 regular season kicks off for Harding County/Bison next week, the Ranchers will have a plethora of experience, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
The Ranchers finished its 2022 campaign with a 6-4 record and a victory in the first round of the Class 9A playoffs, but fell short in its matchup with Faulkton in the quarterfinals.
They look to go much further this season, thanks to five returning starters on offense.
“We return a lot of players from last year’s team,” head coach Jay Wammen said. “A lot of skill players are back in this senior class and a lot of them have been starting since they were sophomores. They have a lot of experience and we are working hard on offense and defense, and we are going to hit the ground running.”
One of the returning seniors is dual threat quarterback Kelby Hett, who hasn’t been able to finish the last two seasons due to injury. Wammen believes the team’s chances of succeeding increase substantially with the return of his senior quarterback, and keeping Hett healthy is a big part of that success.
“One of our goals is to keep our quarterback healthy. He’s going to be a senior, but unfortunately his last two seasons have ended due to injury and that really hurt our team’s chances.”
But for the Ranchers and Wammen, the responsibility will not fall solely on the senior quarterback, as Harding County/Bison returns a pair of All-State selections.
Kelby Hett’s brother, Keegan Hett, returns at wide receiver, while the line is bolstered by left guard Grey Gilbert.
Ultimately, though, Wammen acknowledges that games aren’t won solely on the offensive end, and looks for the defense to step up as well.
“On paper, I really like how our team stacks up,” he said. “Thing is, I feel like we have to be more physical at the point, be tougher and we have to have a see-ball-get-ball mentality. Hopefully another year of experience makes us a little better defensively.”
The Ranchers will open the season at New Underwood on Aug. 18 in a rematch of the opening round of the 2021 playoffs.
With the season opening a week from Thursday, Wammen has worked hard to instill a few more team goals, not specifically tailored to offense or defense.
“We have three team goals heading into the season, starting with a team first mentality,” he said. Whatever each individual can do can add to what we do as a team. Second, no excuses. Whatever happens during the game, during the play or at practice, you have to have that next play mentality and own up to your mistakes. Third is we have to be all in. Everything you do, give your all because the best professionals take all of the small stuff seriously. If we want to get to where we want to be, we have to take it all seriously.”
Harding County/Bison 2022 Season Schedule (Home games played at Ab Penn Field in Buffalo)
Thu, Aug. 18 - at New Underwood
Fri, Aug. 26 - at Kadoka Area
Fri, Sept. 2 - vs. Faith
Fri, Sept. 9 - vs. Lemmon/McIntosh
Fri, Sept. 16 - vs. Newell*
Fri, Oct. 7 - vs. Timber Lake*
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2022-08-12T15:32:13Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Harding County/Bison aims for deep playoff run with healthy quarterback | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/harding-county-bison-aims-for-deep-playoff-run-with-healthy-quarterback/article_ff1238f2-d16c-5c94-8c5d-87ea28f38f91.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/harding-county-bison-aims-for-deep-playoff-run-with-healthy-quarterback/article_ff1238f2-d16c-5c94-8c5d-87ea28f38f91.html
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Justin Walker readying Belle Fourche in his 1st season as head coach
First-year Belle Fourche head coach Justin Walker teaches blocking technique to his Bronc lineman during practice Wednesday morning.
BELLE FOURCHE — Justin Walker officially moved to Belle Fourche less than three weeks before the Broncs stepped onto the field for the first practice of fall camp.
Prior to accepting his role as head coach of the Belle Fourche football program, he served as an assistant coach in Montana but possessed a desire to relocate to the Black Hills.
Walker applied for a job as the head wrestling coach of the Broncs earlier this summer but there wasn’t a teaching position available at the school. That changed when the football job opened up.
“It was a late process,” Walker told the Journal on Tuesday. “I was actually on staff at one of the bigger schools in Montana and was in camp coaching them all summer.
“All of the sudden when June rolled around they had a teaching and coaching job open,” he continued. “So I applied and we got it done. We moved here a couple of weeks ago and we’re rolling.”
Belle Fourche quarterback Nolan Wahlfeldt fires a pass during the Broncs' Wednesday morning practice.
In college, Walker played linebacker at Black Hills State for one season under former Yellow Jackets head coach and current Chadron State head coach Jay Long.
After his freshman year, Walker transferred to the University of Montana Western, but always desired to return to the Black Hills.
“I really like the community here,” Walker said. “The best part is getting to know the kids, their family and the history. I’ve been in multiple states at multiple schools and everybody has their own story, but there is something special to Belle Fourche and the Black Hills.”
The summer proved a whirlwind for Walker as he began the process of relocating, especially considering summer workouts were already in full swing. Thankfully, the Broncs’ assistant coaches held down the fort until their new boss made his way to the Center of the Nation.
“A bonus for me not being here was that we had a full group in the weight room,” Walker said. “The first meeting I had with our coaching staff, they pulled out a spreadsheet and said, this is who’s been at workouts, this is who hasn’t, these are the numbers and this is where we’re at. They were just rolling and moving ahead even without me being here.”
For the players at Belle Fourche, the process of transitioning from former coach Scott Slotten to Walker proved difficult, particularly due to the timing.
“It was really stressful going into senior year with a new coach,” senior Devin Nowowiejski said. “But coach Walker is very confident and has everything organized, so it honestly hasn’t been as bad as people may think.”
Belle Fourche football first-year head coach Justin Walker
Walker is familiar with coaching turnover. He played for three different head coaches and a host of coordinators in college. Throughout all of that turnover, however, Walker grew a desire to coach and learned the tools necessary to be successful.
One of his coaches at Montana Western, Ryan Norris, ran his program with a series of checklists that spanned the entire season. When Walker started coaching he created his own checklist that starts with Day 1 and goes all the way through the final weekend of the regular season.
“I grew up in a military family and you plan, plan, plan some more and when you are tired you plan a little more,” he said. “Every bit of our practices and installs are planned out to a precise step. When I get done with every practice I go to my checklist.”
The Broncs finished last season 3-6 overall and 2-3 in Class 11A. This season they return a host of seniors and an experienced group of skill position players.
“I’m really lucky that our older kids and skill position players are gifted physically,” Walker said. “I was not gifted genetically and had to work really hard. I told our kids that they are the type of players who walk into a meeting and football coaches drool.”
On the offensive and defensive line, he said the Broncs are undersized but athletic enough to get the job done.
Offensively, Belle Fourche is transitioning from a traditional Power-I scheme to more of a spread look. Nowowiejski will play a big role at running back in the coming year.
Defensively, the Broncs will also rely on a strong core of linebackers and defensive backs behind an athletic group on the d-line.
The No. 1 priority for Walker ahead of the Broncs' first game at Douglas on Aug. 26 is to limit mistakes and maximize efficiency.
“We don't want to have any mistakes,” Walker said. “The biggest thing in high school football is that people align wrong, have bad technique and don’t do things that are simple. As a coach we don’t want to complicate things.”
Belle Fourche 2022 Season Schedule
Fri, Aug. 26 – at Douglas
Fri, Sept. 2 – vs. Dell Rapids*
Sat, Sept. 10 – at St. Thomas More
Fri, Sept. 16 – at Chamberlin*
Fri, Sept. 23 – vs. Spearfish
Fri, Sept. 30 – at Lakota Tech*
Fri, Oct. 7 – at Sturgis Brown
Fri, Oct. 14 – vs. Sioux Falls Christian*
Thurs, Oct. 20 – vs. Vermillion*
*Class 11A game
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2022-08-12T15:32:14Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Justin Walker readying Belle Fourche in his 1st season as head coach | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/justin-walker-readying-belle-fourche-in-his-1st-season-as-head-coach/article_5a40a428-dc3e-53b6-af72-d3a736c71bd9.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/justin-walker-readying-belle-fourche-in-his-1st-season-as-head-coach/article_5a40a428-dc3e-53b6-af72-d3a736c71bd9.html
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Aesop once said, “We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction”. Unknown to many, there is a silent struggle being waged in nearly every small and medium local community across this great land. It is a struggle many Americans don't even realize is being waged. It is a struggle that will forever change the rural landscape of America. Make no mistake; this is a life and death struggle with dire consequences for our local communities.
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2022-08-12T17:30:14Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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NEWBY: Be afraid, be very afraid | Opinion | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/newby-be-afraid-be-very-afraid/article_3e071c91-0432-51c7-acef-bebdf3ffea7d.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/newby-be-afraid-be-very-afraid/article_3e071c91-0432-51c7-acef-bebdf3ffea7d.html
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Richard Marchisotto
Tickets are on sale now for “Theresa Caputo Live! The Experience,” coming to The Monument on Sept. 24. Caputo, known as The Long Island Medium, is celebrating her 10th anniversary of being on tour with her acclaimed live show. Go to themonument.live/events/detail/theresacaputo22 to purchase tickets.
“Theresa Caputo Live! The Experience,” has attracted fans nationwide because the show offers a rare opportunity for Caputo to engage face-to-face with people and allow them to connect with their loved ones, bringing closure.
After 14 seasons of “Long Island Medium” on TLC and last year’s “Long Island Medium: There In Spirit,” on the Discovery+ channel, Caputo now hosts a weekly podcast titled “Hey Spirit!” The podcast allows her to engage with her followers from around the world. Caputo conducts Q&As with her listeners and shares feel-good tips from her everyday life.
Caputo is the author of four New York Times best-selling books. She has been a practicing medium for more than 20 years.
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2022-08-12T19:20:29Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Tickets on sale for Long Island Medium live show | Entertainment | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/tickets-on-sale-for-long-island-medium-live-show/article_54ed870e-92ba-5277-9dbc-7f66dfa513be.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/entertainment/tickets-on-sale-for-long-island-medium-live-show/article_54ed870e-92ba-5277-9dbc-7f66dfa513be.html
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Interstate 90 exit 37 construction project to continue near Sturgis
The South Dakota Department of Transportation said Friday the second phase of a four-phase project to reconstruct the exit 37 interchange on Interstate 90, near Sturgis, will begin Monday.
The project includes the reconstruction of the exit 37 interchange, eastbound grading on I-90, paving from west of exit 37 to the Tilford Port of Entry, drainage structure extensions, installation of pipe culverts, installation of a commercial vehicle electronic screening system and the construction of a new port of entry building.
Phase 2 will require the closing of both the eastbound and westbound passing lanes on I-90 between exit 34 and exit 44 beginning on Monday. On Aug. 20, traffic will be switched into a two-way configuration in the eastbound lanes of I-90 between exit 34 and exit 44 while work progresses in the westbound lanes of I-90. Additionally, the westbound on-ramp at exit 40 will be closed with traffic detoured to exit 44 to gain access to westbound I-90.
Phase 2 will include work in the westbound lanes and median of I-90 to replace drainage culverts, extend box culverts, installation of the commercial vehicle screening system, construction of the exit 37 westbound on and off ramps, continue with the construction of the new exit 37 overpass bridge (Pleasant Valley Road), demolition of the existing port of entry building, and begin construction of the new building.
The phase construction is scheduled for completion by Nov. 18.
Phase 2 will also require the closure of the eastbound and westbound rest area south of Tilford. The closure of the rest areas will occur on Monday.
The prime contractor on the $35 million project is Complete Concrete, Inc. of Rapid City. The project is scheduled for completion by Oct. 27, 2023.
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2022-08-12T21:04:49Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Interstate 90 exit 37 construction project to continue near Sturgis | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/interstate-90-exit-37-construction-project-to-continue-near-sturgis/article_35c6ccfb-29a8-5f7a-94b4-2516c4d788a1.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/interstate-90-exit-37-construction-project-to-continue-near-sturgis/article_35c6ccfb-29a8-5f7a-94b4-2516c4d788a1.html
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New equipment will allow people of all abilities to play music
Black Hills Works has received a grant for $8,629 that will be used to purchase a SoundBeam 6 music system. The system will provide adults Black Hills Works supports with an accessible, easy-to-use way to play, perform, compose and experiment with music. The SoundBeam 6 system will become part of the day services educational programming at Black Hills Works.
Black Hills Works assists more than 600 adults in Rapid City who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The SoundBeam 6 system uses ultrasonic sensors to detect large or small movements and translates the movements into sounds. Even movement as small as an eye blinking can be detected and transformed into music. This innovative, touch-free device allows anyone, regardless of their impairments or disability, to play music.
"Making music has so many positive emotional and behavioral benefits (and helps create social connections as well),” said Amy Speidel, who oversees day services educational programming. “The SoundBeam 6 will let the people we support make music individually or as a small group. We're looking forward to many years of learning and enjoyment with this system."
The grant for the SoundBeam6 was provided by the private, nonprofit Larson Family Foundation. The foundation’s grants are awarded to help improve the quality of life for all South Dakotans.
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2022-08-13T00:32:43Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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New equipment will allow people of all abilities to play music | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/new-equipment-will-allow-people-of-all-abilities-to-play-music/article_ed8f8210-0de2-52a4-8736-9f193bed863c.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/new-equipment-will-allow-people-of-all-abilities-to-play-music/article_ed8f8210-0de2-52a4-8736-9f193bed863c.html
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Central girls edged out by Watertown in season opener; Cobbler boys fall short against Arrows
Rapid City Central's five-player wall jumps up and down in front of Watertown's Regan Campbell as she strikes a perfect free kick to give the Arrows a first half lead at Sioux Park Friday night.
Watertown’s Reagan Campbell perfectly executed two free kicks from just beyond the penalty area to give her team all it needed to defeat Rapid City Central 2-1 in its season opener on Friday evening at Sioux Park.
The Cobblers hung tight in the first contest of the season, particularly in the second half, despite replacing nine of 11 starters off of last year’s team.
Head coach Mark Morgan said he was disappointed to start the season on a losing note but not disappointed in the overall effort of his young team.
“We lost 14 seniors and only brought one up, so we essentially have a new team,” Morgan said. “We’re young but there is a lot of talent on this team, and more importantly a lot of grit. It’s tough to lose in your first match but it gives us a good look at what we need to improve.”
Both teams started slow and neither recorded a shot on goal until the Arrows benefitted from Campbell’s first free kick in the 31st minute.
From just beyond the penalty arch the senior pushed the ball over the Cobblers’ wall and just beyond the reach of Central goalie Mohrgyn Brug to give Watertown a 1-0 lead with 9 minutes and 38 seconds left in the first half.
“We were slow in the first half,” Morgan said. “Our first half was kind of a bust. I’d like to see two good halves because we kind of gave them the entire first half.”
The Cobblers responded in the second half on a set-piece goal of their own from 25 yards out in the 57th minute.
Kaysie Dahl recorded the equalizer on a well-struck ball that bounced off the chest of Watertown keeper Katelyn Hanson and into the net to tie the contest at 1-1 with 23:42 remaining in the contest.
Rapid City Central junior midfielder Kaysie Dahl is pushed off the ball in the first half of the Cobblers' loss to Watertown at Sioux Park Friday night.
Campbell and Watertown broke the tie in the 64th minute, in the same manner as the team’s first goal. The senior captain placed a free kick above the reach of Brug to give the Arrows a 2-1 lead with 16:26 to play, which ultimately proved the difference in the game.
“I don’t really agree with where the second ball was placed, but it is what it is and you can’t go back and change it,” Morgan said. “Those were really good balls and so was the one we had on a set piece. We wasted some opportunities on set pieces, to be honest, but that’s just inexperience.”
Central returns to action at 11 a.m. Saturday against Brookings at Sioux Park on the north grass field.
“We have to come out working a little harder and playing smarter but we’re still trying to make sure everybody is in the right place,” Morgan said. “We’re sorting everything out and I think we’re close.”
Watertown boys downs Central in season opener
Senior midfielder Caleb Hower (20) fires a shot on a volley in the box during the first half of Friday night's loss to Watertown on the grass field at Sioux Park.
The Rapid City Central boys dropped a 3-1 decision to Watertown on Friday afternoon at Sioux Park to open the 2022 season.
The Cobblers possessed the ball well, particularly in the second half, but struggled to convert on the opportunities.
“We need to be more creative and see the opportunities to find the third guy not the first guy,” Central head coach Joe Sabrowski said. “We have to find the second and third guys, which requires creativity and vision.”
Central recorded seven shots on goal compared to four shots on goal by Watertown. The Cobblers also out-possessed the Arrows 63% to 37%.
The Arrows struck first on a goal by Tommy Foley in the fifth minute. The junior used his speed to split a pair of Central defenders and placed the ball in the top right corner of the goal to give Watertown a 1-0 lead with 34 minutes and 21 seconds left in the first half.
“In the middle of the field we played really well,” Sabrowski said. “We have to defend better against a speedy striker. He had a lot of pace and we weren’t prepared for that.”
Central evened the score in the 16th minute with a penalty kick goal by Riley Roe. The Cobblers went to the penalty when Giffith Houchin was fouled at the edge of the box and Roe placed the ball in the bottom right corner to tie the game at 1-1 with 23:25 left in the opening half.
Rapid City Central senior midfielder Riley Roe places a penalty kick into the lower right corner of the net to tie the game with Watertown in the first half of Friday night's loss on the grass field at Sioux Park.
Watertown jumped in front 2-1 in the 28th minute on a rebound goal by Mason Anderson. The Arrows took three shots in a matter of seconds before Anderson’s rebound gave his team the lead with 12:36 to play in the opening half.
The Arrows extended their lead to 3-1 with a penalty kick goal by Jaxon Fiechtner in the 54th minute. A penalty in the box gave Watertown the opportunity and the senior buried the ball in the bottom right corner with 26:32 to play.
The Arrows dropped back on with a defense-first strategy to close out the game and secure the victory.
“We possessed well but they gave us time and space in the second half to run out the clock,” Sabrowski said. “We needed more energy and urgency in the end. I felt like we were more fit than them but we were giving away easy balls.”
Central returns to action at 9 a.m. Saturday against Brookings in the stadium at Sioux Park.
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2022-08-13T05:24:20Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Central girls edged out by Watertown in season opener; Cobbler boys fall short against Arrows | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/central-girls-edged-out-by-watertown-in-season-opener-cobbler-boys-fall-short-against-arrows/article_827e8ae2-8cd6-5810-9b1f-89e78fb1d0c0.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/central-girls-edged-out-by-watertown-in-season-opener-cobbler-boys-fall-short-against-arrows/article_827e8ae2-8cd6-5810-9b1f-89e78fb1d0c0.html
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RAPID CITY - Elisabeth Wilczynski peacefully passed from this earth to her heavenly home on August 10, 2022, at the age of 93 with her daughter by her side.
She was born February 7, 1929 in Germany and came to America with her husband and three young boys searching for a better life.
She is survived by daughter, Marianne; sons, Richard (Barb) Wilczynski, and Bogdan Wilczynski; daughter in-laws, Cheryl Schmidt, and Sandy Wilczynski; as well as numerous grandchildren.
Her faith and her love for the Lord sustained her throughout her life.
Elisabeth is preceded in death by her husband Francis, daughter Brigitta, and son Gunther Wilczynski.
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2022-08-13T05:24:39Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Elisabeth Wilczynski | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/elisabeth-wilczynski/article_bea1aa8c-a50b-532f-bcb7-dc280031b765.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/elisabeth-wilczynski/article_bea1aa8c-a50b-532f-bcb7-dc280031b765.html
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Maysel Christine (Iverson) Penticoff
CASPER - Maysel Christine (Iversen) Penticoff, 94, died July 26, 2022, in Casper, Wyoming, at Wyoming Medical Center. She was born October 8, 1927, to Kruse and Mabel (Atkinson) Iversen in Murdo, South Dakota, and grew up on her parents' ranch northeast of Murdo. Maysel attended school in Murdo and graduated from Murdo High School in 1945. Following high school, she earned a degree in bookkeeping from the National College of Business in Rapid City. She married Lewis Marvin Penticoff November 16, 1946, at the Methodist parsonage in Murdo. They began their marriage in Rapid City, where Maysel worked for the Tri-State Milling Company and Marvin worked at McMahon Milling Company. They later farmed north of New Underwood before moving back to Rapid City in 1959, where Maysel worked for Wamsley's Decorating and Marvin drove for Barber Transportation. Marvin retired in 1987 and they then spent winters in Apache Junction, Arizona. After Marvin's death January 9, 1996, Maysel continued to winter in Apache Junction and spent time visiting all her family and friends. She is survived by seven children, 14 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 8 great-great-grandchildren.
Visitation is 5-7 p.m. on Monday, August 15th with the service at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 16th at Osheim & Schmidt Funeral Home, 2700 Jackson Blvd. Interment will be at noon at the Black Hills National Cemetery, followed by a reception at Hills View E-Free Church, 13776 Sturgis Road, Piedmont, South Dakota. Memorials may be given to the charity of the donor's choice.
Please visit the online guestbook for Maysel at www.OsheimSchmidt.com.
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2022-08-13T05:24:58Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Maysel Christine (Iverson) Penticoff | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/maysel-christine-iverson-penticoff/article_fe279639-884a-5052-a0c4-90b9cb6184cb.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/maysel-christine-iverson-penticoff/article_fe279639-884a-5052-a0c4-90b9cb6184cb.html
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Stevens boys survive Brookings on Ty Gagne’s late goal; Raider girls blank Bobcats behind Breanna Reagan’s hat trick
Stevens defender Ty Gagne, 6, dribbles the ball on Friday at Sioux Park in Rapid City. Gagne scored the game-winning goal, solidifying the score at 2-1.
Out of a scrum in the box, Ty Gagne got a foot on the ball.
With the Rapid City Stevens boys soccer team searching for a go-ahead goal in the final minute of their regular season opener against Brookings on Friday, a bouncing ball in the box off a corner kick found its way to the senior defender, who fought through heavy contact and put a shot on net, past the outstretched arms of the Bobcats keeper for a goal with 27 seconds left.
“I didn’t see a whole lot, got pushed around a lot,” Gagne said, “I saw the ball and I saw a gap, so I tried to swing for it.”
The Raiders then held their opponents at bay in the final moments to pull off a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at Sioux Park.
“Yeah, that was a surprise, and I’m not as surprised about Brookings’ play as our play,” Stevens head coach Jeff Fierro said. “It was slower than I thought it was going to be. We weren’t anticipating, we were more responding to things, we were giving them too much space to do what they do.”
Stevens, ranked No. 3 in the South Dakota High School Soccer Coaches Association preseason poll, were without star forward Zack Williams, who is in concussion protocol following a non-soccer related injury and is considered day-to-day.
“We didn’t make too many adjustments, tactically,” Fierro said. We still played the way we would, we just had other people doing Zack’s job.”
The Raiders (1-0-0), who reached the semifinals of the Class AA State Tournament last year, were forced to play with a deficit less than four minutes into the contest when Junior Eberline beat the Stevens keeper right with a goal to give the Bobcats (0-1-0) a 1-0 lead.
Stevens put eight shots on target in the first half but couldn’t get one to fall. Ryan Gaughan finally broke the deadlock only 50 seconds into the second half when he grabbed possession of the ball at midfield and sprinted up the field before deking a defender in the box and releasing a shot that found the back of the net for the game-tying goal to make it 1-1.
“I think we just had to speed up our speed of play,” Gagne. “We started out really sluggish, but then toward the end we cleaned up the middle a lot and started winning a lot more 50-50 balls.”
The Raiders picked up three corner kicks in the second half but couldn’t take advantage. Zander Freeland nearly broke the tie with a shot from outside the box in the 61st minute, but the attempt bounced off the left post, and Sam Tschetter had a chance as well in the 75th minute, but his shot sailed just wide.
Gagne finally came through in the closing half-minute. Brookings had a final chance to level the game with a long-distance free kick in the waning seconds but the attempt went wide and Stevens goalie Shawn Bauer safely corralled the ball.
“We knew we were going to keep going at it until the last second ticked off the clock, and that’s exactly what they did and that’s exactly what I’d expect of them,” Fierro said. “They understood the urgency of the moment.”
Stevens returns to action Saturday morning against Watertown at Sioux Park.
Breanna Reagan tallies hat trick as Raider girls blank Bobcats in opener
Stevens forward Breanna Reagan, 28, dribbles the ball as Brookings defender Vanessa An, 44, pursues her on Friday at Sioux Park in Rapid City. Reagan scored 3 out of the team's 6 total goals, helping win the match 6-0.
It took Breanna Reagan all of 54 seconds to get her team’s hopes of back-to-back state championship game berths off and running.
The sophomore striker picked up where she left off last season, finishing with a hat trick as the Rapid City Stevens girls soccer team cruised past Brookings 6-0 in its season opener at Sioux Park.
“Because we graduated so many seniors and we’ve got a whole group that doesn’t have a ton of game time at varsity level, you’re always wondering what’s going to come out,” Raiders head coach Luis Usera said. “And who else would start us out other than the person who really helped us through the year last year.”
Reagan, last year’s Rapid City Journal Best of the West Player of the Year, was one of four different goal-scorers for Stevens (1-0-0), which is ranked No. 3 in the South Dakota High School Soccer Coaches Association preseason poll.
“I thought, across the board against Brookings, we played a much better game than I was expecting, so I was quite pleased,” Usera said. “I think it gets them to start believing that what we’re doing has potential, rather than second guessing it because it’s all new to them. It was a good start, and we finished strong.”
Reagan’s first goal came off a corner kick to give the Raiders a quick lead. Then in the fourth minute, she fed a pass to sister Trinity Reagan, who directed a shot to the bottom-left corner of the net and scored from outside the box.
Addie Hofer made it 3-0 in the 18th minute when she unleashed a shot 40 yards out and found the back of the net.
Breanna Reagan tallied her second goal of the half in the 34th minute after colliding with a Bobcats player on a header at midfield. Holding her head following the contact, she was fed a pass in the box and chipped a shot that landed in the net. She left the field for treatment and was out the rest of the first half but returned for the second.
Her contributions weren’t done yet, however. In the 57th minute she drew a foul in the box and Ella Lantz took the penalty kick, drilling a goal at the bottom-left corner of the net. Breanna Reagan then earned her hat trick in the 75th minute, putting away a beautifully-fed crossing pass from Lantz.
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2022-08-13T07:02:26Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Stevens boys survive Brookings on Ty Gagne’s late goal; Raider girls blank Bobcats behind Breanna Reagan’s hat trick | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/stevens-boys-survive-brookings-on-ty-gagne-s-late-goal-raider-girls-blank-bobcats-behind/article_bc080dfd-6a7e-5c04-a048-400a6c1b09dd.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/stevens-boys-survive-brookings-on-ty-gagne-s-late-goal-raider-girls-blank-bobcats-behind/article_bc080dfd-6a7e-5c04-a048-400a6c1b09dd.html
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United Way seeks projects, volunteers for Month of Caring
Volunteers from Lynn Jackson Shultz & Lebrun weeded a lawn at a Rapid City residence as part of the United Way of the Black Hills 2021 Month of Caring.
United Way of the Black Hills is looking for more projects — especially in the Northern and Southern Hills — and volunteers for the 2022 Month of Caring.
The annual Month of Caring, which starts Sept. 1, mobilizes volunteer teams to tackle projects such as painting, landscaping, sorting donated food and more. The projects benefit the elderly, veterans and nonprofit organizations in communities throughout the Black Hills.
Volunteer teams and those who need assistance with projects are encouraged to contact United Way of the Black Hills by Aug. 19 so the United Way staff has time to coordinate and assign teams and projects, according to Executive Director Jamie Toennies.
“We’ve got teams signing up and we’ve got projects coming in. We do need a handful of more projects. We’re trying to get the word out that if people have potential projects to reach out,” Toennies said.
“We’re always looking for projects that a team of (about) eight individuals can get done in an afternoon,” she said. “This is for the Black Hills as a whole, so we’re looking for projects all over.”
Projects cannot involve construction, electrical repairs or other work that requires licensed professionals.
In the Northern and Southern Hills, there are more volunteers than projects registered for the Month of Caring. Individuals or nonprofits who have possible projects, who want to volunteer, or who want to attend the Month of Caring kickoff luncheon should contact Rosellen Reese at 605-343-5872 or go to unitedwayblackhills.org/month-caring.
As of Friday, 69 teams and 64 projects were registered for Month of Caring, Toennies said.
The Month of Caring begins with a kick-off luncheon at 11 a.m. Sept. 1 at The Monument, and Month of Caring continues through Sept. 30.
In 2021, 620 volunteers participated in the Month of Caring and completed 79 projects, which had a total economic impact of $70,779 in the Black Hills.
United Way of the Black Hills expanded its former Day of Caring into a Month of Caring, which has been a benefit as businesses coped with challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and staffing issues.
“We don’t have as many teams as we have in the past, but at the same time everybody loves the Month of Caring because it gives them flexibility so they can make it work even with (being) short staffed,” Toennies said. “Last year, I heard how many teams were able to take on a couple of projects as a result of Month of Caring.”
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2022-08-13T13:02:38Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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United Way seeks projects, volunteers for Month of Caring | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/united-way-seeks-projects-volunteers-for-month-of-caring/article_af8ff9fc-6e95-58ec-9f41-1fbfb5ca45f0.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/united-way-seeks-projects-volunteers-for-month-of-caring/article_af8ff9fc-6e95-58ec-9f41-1fbfb5ca45f0.html
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I’m not exactly sure why anyone would think that gas dropping below $4 a gallon is something to celebrate. Does that suggest that the days of $2.25 a gallon are a thing of the past (at least under the current administration)?
So if Joe Biden was responsible for the high gas prices, I guess he deserves the credit for their 20% decline.
Donald Trump was right. Innocent people don't plead the Fifth.
If you believe Joe Biden's claim that there was "zero inflation" for July 2022, I'd like to sell you some "beachfront" property in the Badlands of South Dakota.
Actually, we are witnessing the investigation of and hopefully the prosecution and conviction of the most corrupt administration in history. And if you are having to prepare for an IRS audit, most likely there is a reason for it.
Donald Trump did not have my vote before last Monday. He sure does now.
Over the past couple of weeks Biden has had a superb winning streak from which we Americans will greatly benefit. It's refreshing to have a professional adult back in the White House.
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2022-08-13T13:02:44Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Your Two Cents for Aug. 13 | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/your-two-cents-for-aug-13/article_f2a878f2-ea32-50d1-9238-2b37d1009680.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/your-two-cents-for-aug-13/article_f2a878f2-ea32-50d1-9238-2b37d1009680.html
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White River aims to be more competitive in Spencer Blom's 2nd season
White River's Dylan Marshall (5) makes a one-handed catch during an Aug. 20, 2021 game against New Underwood in New Underwood.
The 2021 campaign was a tough one to say the least for the White River football team and first year head coach Spencer Blom.
With a small team and a lack of experience, the Tigers finished the season 1-7 overall and missed the playoffs.
White River opens the 2022 season with 14 total players, eight of which will be returning from last season. With six new players, including freshmen, Blom knows it will be another tough season, but still believes they can compete.
“It is kind of hard to tell going into the practice when we don’t have a lot of guys who are committed to football,” Blom said. “So we didn’t know who we’d have. It was hard to tell what my expectations were going to be. We have a lot of tough games on our schedule. With the 14 kids we have right now, I can only really feel comfortable playing nine of them. We are not deep. But we have some games we can compete in, even with our low numbers.”
One of the bright spots on the roster will be Gavin Folkers, who will be returning at quarterback and defensive end for the Tigers this season.
Folkers has overcome lack of play time as a freshman, as well as a catastrophic injury and Blom appreciates the leadership role he has displayed as well.
“We have a senior, Gavin Folkers, who was a captain for us last year and the only reason he didn’t have a lot of experience was because he didn’t get much playing time as a freshman and then tore his ACL as a sophomore,” he said. “He is a great leader and a great captain for us. He really encourages these guys during practice and gets them to work hard.”
While the team had a less-than-ideal season, Blom also takes some of the blame and knows he needs to improve for the team to be successful.
“We need to continue to learn as coaches and we need to get better,” Blom said. “We won’t be a good team unless the coaching staff knows what we are doing. We continue to grow every day and we definitely aren’t perfect. We are just looking to compete and get better.”
Ultimately, with improvement from the coaches and the players, Blom just wants the team to compete to the best of their abilities and improve with that added season of experience.
“We just want to compete in each game to the best of our ability,” he added. “A lot of our issues were due to inexperience on my end as well. Our expectations are to compete at a higher level and be tougher mentally.
White River will open the season when it hits the road Thursday to square off with Kadoka Area.
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2022-08-13T15:03:59Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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White River aims to be more competitive in Spencer Blom's 2nd season | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/white-river-aims-to-be-more-competitive-in-spencer-bloms-2nd-season/article_4d5c14b3-7d76-592c-9fbf-d05adf0a01e6.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/white-river-aims-to-be-more-competitive-in-spencer-bloms-2nd-season/article_4d5c14b3-7d76-592c-9fbf-d05adf0a01e6.html
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Usually, it's even harder for those who have to be around the dumb people. Fortunately, I am only temporarily dumb.
There has rarely been better evidence of that than Thursday afternoon. I was able to meet a new reporter who has joined our company's investigative reporting team. Like few hundred thousand others, she was in Sturgis for the Rally.
Knowing that she was a reporter and knowing the Rally is a huge news story, I just assumed she was here to cover it as a freelancer. Journalists don't often do things just for fun. Usually, we do the things you do for fun as part of our jobs.
Look, covering a huge concert or a state championship game isn't like digging a ditch on a hot summer's day. But when the concert is over and you go home, we're just starting to work processing photos or writing stories.
Some of us do the pictures. Others do the 1,000 words.
That's what I assumed our new friend was here to do. She also talked about how she had been all over the Black Hills for events this week. You know who else has been at events all week? My entire staff of reporters. Again, I assumed she was covering events.
When she came into my office, she brought two friends. Both introduced themselves and we had a fun conversation.
One of her friends was a black man with a commanding figure who knew a ton about football - especially Texas high school and college football. After all, he was from Beaumont, Texas.
"Friday Night Lights" is fiction. But trust me when I tell you everyone who ever played or covered football in the south has stories that are similar to those fictional stories in the scripts.
This affable friend of our new reporter told some stories and talked about how the new world of Name Image and Likeness contracts will affect college sports. There is no way those big checks won't change the game. But the old system of the coaches making millions and leaving anytime they chose to and the kids being stuck to a commitment with only a scholarship as compensation certainly wasn't fair. The athletes did all the work and took all the risks and the schools and coaches cashed all the checks.
There was no fairness in that.
We had a good time talking about sports. He was just a genuinely great person.
Then he mentioned he had been at an event where Kevin Sorbo was signing autographs. My brain missed the point again. I wondered why he cared about Kevin Sorbo's autograph? I guess we all like different things.
As he began to leave my office when I had to head out to an appointment, the puzzle pieces in my brain finally came to rest in a complete picture.
I knew that name. Earl Dotson. I know that name.
Earl Dotson has been sitting in my office talking about sports for half an hour. The Packers legend who blocked for Brett Favre and won a Super Bowl took time out of his busy schedule of meet-and-greets and events to chat with us about sports.
I finally was smart enough to ask for a photo and he was kind enough to take the time for one.
In my defense, I was meeting a new colleague and not a Super Bowl winner. He didn't act like he thought he was a big deal. He's just a great guy with an easy smile and a ton of sports knowledge.
I worried about NIL deals because of how they will affect the Oklahoma Sooners' chances to win NCAA championships. He thinks about them because if that program had been in place when he was in college, he would have been rich long before he played for the Packers.
We're coming at this problem from different perspectives. When he played, if you took a free meal at McDonalds, your team could miss bowl games for a couple of years. Now kids are getting seven-figure deals before winning a game.
Can you imagine if I hadn't figured out who I had been talking to? He would have just been another nice guy I talked sports with. That's really who he is. He's just a nice guy with a couple of huge rings he earned in the trenches of the National Football League's biggest game.
Dotson will sign thousands of autographs and take hundreds of photos with fans as he does regularly during the Rally.
I know I enjoyed our conversation. It's probably better that I didn't know who he was.
I would never have told a Super Bowl winner what I thought as just another fan about the sport he reached the pinnacle of. But I had a great time swapping stories and ideas with my new friend Earl. Maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere. Maybe it's just a funny story.
Either way, it wasn't a bad Thursday at work.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors are spending a pretty penny to visit the Black Hills this week for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. My friend T…
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2022-08-13T17:00:33Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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BUSH: Not just another Thursday in the office | Columnists | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/columnists/bush-not-just-another-thursday-in-the-office/article_d6c9cad7-6226-5fdc-aeb6-49a8b67cbae3.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/opinion/columnists/bush-not-just-another-thursday-in-the-office/article_d6c9cad7-6226-5fdc-aeb6-49a8b67cbae3.html
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Whether it was their first trip or their "like 100th," from 11-month-olds to wiser friends, here's who was at the 82nd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
How many rallies have you attended previously? It's my 28th year (Robert) and my 25th (Leslie).
Favorite thing about the rally? We love to ride, the people, the bikes. We ride from Chicago, it's 1,000 miles. We make friends here. The best thing is our old friends come from different times (in our lives) and we meet at the same time.
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2022-08-15T18:16:41Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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SNAPSHOTS: Who was at the 82nd Sturgis Motorcycle Rally? | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/snapshots-who-was-at-the-82nd-sturgis-motorcycle-rally/article_513fd20b-79d4-5fbd-b266-d5b1063f8f7d.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/snapshots-who-was-at-the-82nd-sturgis-motorcycle-rally/article_513fd20b-79d4-5fbd-b266-d5b1063f8f7d.html
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South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gives the State of the State address on Jan. 11 at the South Dakota State Capitol in Pierre.
Erin Woodiel, The Argus Leader via AP
The 15-member standards workgroup, selected partially by the governor, included Noem's chief of staff, two Republican lawmakers and the director of the South Dakota Catholic Conference, but just three educators certified by the Department of Education. The group's work was facilitated by William Morrisey, a former professor at Hillsdale College — a conservative institution in Michigan.
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2022-08-15T23:08:31Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Gov. Noem releases social study standards burnishing US history | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/gov-noem-releases-social-study-standards-burnishing-us-history/article_72e2b255-5005-5f7f-8719-bff4875ffa60.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/gov-noem-releases-social-study-standards-burnishing-us-history/article_72e2b255-5005-5f7f-8719-bff4875ffa60.html
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Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin, right, speaks during a 2021 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally news briefing. In the background is Sturgis Police Chief Geody VanDewater. Merwin worked his final rally as sheriff in 2022 and will leave office in January 2023 after 32 years.
“You know, it’s the 82nd (rally), and I’ve worked 40 of the 82,” he said.
But, that long run is coming to an end as Merwin, 63, prepares to hang up his badge after 32 years as sheriff.
He lost his bid for re-election in the June primary to current state Department of Criminal Investigation officer Pat West, who will take over in January.
In a pensive recollection during the final news briefing of rally week last Friday, Merwin told reporters of his first rally, in 1982 as a part-time officer with the Sturgis Police Dept.
In those days, the city sold camping spots to rally-goers in the city park, now the city soccer fields along Highway 34 on the northeast edge of town.
During rally week, the city park campground became notorious for a raucous atmosphere, putting it lightly.
By the late 1980s, wild parties, fights and debauchery were the norm, making the park a nightmare for police and other city employees.
“Back in the 80’s you didn’t go into campgrounds. You just didn’t,” Merwin said. "You’d get rocked and your cars would come out with broken windows."
In 1989, the city held a special election, which essentially became a referendum on the future of the rally. Voters chose to close the city park and allow private landowners to develop campgrounds for rally visitors.
Private campgrounds on the outskirts or a few miles out of town, including the Buffalo Chip, Glencoe, and Hog Heaven to name a few, sprang up to host bikers.
Merwin hired on full-time with Sturgis Police in 1984 and served until 1990 when he ran for sheriff, defeating incumbent Floyd Cleland.
Even today Merwin still admits to getting nervous when he or his deputies are dispatched to outlying campgrounds, “because of that what-if,” he said
"Those times have changed,” he said. “You go into a campground now, it’s like a city. Everybody helps out. Their security leads us in. It’s just evolved and become a nice event."
Another highlight, Merwin said, is the good relations the sheriff’s office maintains with other law enforcement agencies, as well as with deputies and staff which have come from far and wide to help out during the rally.
“I got along good with (retired Sturgis Police Chief) Jim Bush and I’ve gotten along with (current chief) Geody (VanDewater),” he said.
“People come together from all over the United States throughout the years to work here and they’ve always gotten along. We’ve had a bump here and there and even the bumps we got through. Life goes on,” he said.
But even with the rally generally running smoothly, there is always the potential of not just a possible, but a likely incident.
“It’s not 'if' but 'when,' usually,” he said. “Every day you come to work and the pressure for us is to anticipate what could happen. And every day when it doesn’t happen, it’s kind of a ‘whew.'"
Merwin said in his early days, the rally drew about 30,000 visitors, with 35,000 considered a large event. Now the norm is 300- to 400-thousand visitors.
“It’s probably the only rally in the country that pulls the crowd from all over the world. Every other rally will pull crowds from areas, but Sturgis pulls from all around the world and they do a great job of it,” he said.
Merwin said few cities the size of Sturgis, population 7,000, can pull off an event the magnitude of the rally.
“We don’t have meetings every month year-round to decide about the rally. The last couple months we have meetings. That’s good. I think we’ve got it down,” he said.
The city has even turned the rally into a profit-generator, Merwin notes.
Last year, City Manager Daniel Ainslie reported a net profit of $1.1 million, with the state Department of Revenue reporting $1.75 million in tax revenue. Nearly $100,000 in proceeds from scheduled events, matched by other donations, went to local charities.
This year’s final revenue and attendance, expected to be lower than last year, will be tabulated and announced at a rally summit set for early October.
“In ’82, I remember how much it cost the city,” Merwin said.
“The county wasn’t that much of a player in it. We ran the jail. The county didn’t do a lot. We didn’t have big campgrounds and concerts like we got today,” he said.
Merwin described working his final rally as “bittersweet."
He’s sorry it’s over, but he is ready to move on. He made no mention of his plans once he leaves office in January.
“Yeah, I’m kind of looking forward to not doing it anymore,” he said. “I’ve had enough.”
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2022-08-15T23:08:43Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Longtime Meade County sheriff reflects on his final rally | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/longtime-meade-county-sheriff-reflects-on-his-final-rally/article_55569035-588e-5948-8d6e-af8b94b06a2e.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/longtime-meade-county-sheriff-reflects-on-his-final-rally/article_55569035-588e-5948-8d6e-af8b94b06a2e.html
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SD Mines picked 6th, BHSU 7th, in preseason football poll
South Dakota Mines cornerback Kendahl Johnson lines up for play against Colorado Mesa on Nov. 13, 2021 at O'Harra Stadium.
South Dakota School of Mines was picked to finish sixth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in the 2022 preseason football poll, released Monday, while Black Hills State was tabbed to finish seventh.
The Hardrockers went 6-5 overall and 4-5 in conference action last year, placing sixth in the standings and failing to make the playoffs. The Yellowjackets went 4-7 overall and 2-7 in the RMAC, dropping their final six games.
Chadron State was picked to finish fifth.
2022 RMAC Football Preseason Poll (First-place votes)
2. CSU Pueblo (1) 70
3. Western Colorado 66
4. Colorado Mesa 53
5. Chadron State 47
6. South Dakota Mines 40
8. New Mexico Highlands 25
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2022-08-15T23:08:56Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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SD Mines picked 6th, BHSU 7th, in preseason football poll | News | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/sd-mines-picked-6th-bhsu-7th-in-preseason-football-poll/article_eb495f8a-9c78-59a8-9141-533c8cde9d0f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/sd-mines-picked-6th-bhsu-7th-in-preseason-football-poll/article_eb495f8a-9c78-59a8-9141-533c8cde9d0f.html
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Summer Nights to host Military Appreciation Night Thursday
People gather for the first day of the new Summer Nights season June 2 in downtown Rapid City.
Summer Nights will host Military Appreciation Night from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 18 in downtown Rapid City to honor active-duty service men and women and veterans.
Mighty Big Jim will play rock music on the Pepsi stage.
Service men and women from Ellsworth Air Force Base, the South Dakota National Guard and numerous veteran service organizations will attend. All tips collected at the beverage stations will be donated to Folds of Honor South Dakota, a nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military members who have died or have become while serving in the United States Armed Forces.
The Summer Nights events would not be possible without the volunteer contributions of military personnel from Ellsworth Air Force Base. Each week, more than 30 Air Force volunteers donate their time to set up and tear down the event.
“We are very grateful for the tireless contributions of these volunteer groups,” said Judd Nielsen, president of the Summer Nights Board of Directors. “It takes nearly 100 volunteers to transform the busy downtown streets into the Summer Nights event every week, and we would not be able to do it without the help from the Ellsworth volunteers.”
Booth space is limited for this event. Contact RCSummerNights@gmail.com for more information.
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2022-08-16T01:16:11Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Summer Nights to host Military Appreciation Night Thursday | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/summer-nights-to-host-military-appreciation-night-thursday/article_75b29fb7-c965-5740-9fd8-25b255108ab2.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/summer-nights-to-host-military-appreciation-night-thursday/article_75b29fb7-c965-5740-9fd8-25b255108ab2.html
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Thune says Mar-a-Lago search done 'by the book'
NEW UNDERWOOD — U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Monday the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago was done "by the book."
One participant accused Democrats of “continuing communistic and dictatoral-style of abuses of power directed at conservatives,” saying the government has been weaponized, and that there is a “shocking lack out outrage” from Senate leadership.
Thune answered that the current Democratic party “certainly is a different party — it’s a much father left party,” he said, anchored in the view of people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
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2022-08-16T01:16:17Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Thune says Mar-a-Lago search done 'by the book' | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/thune-says-mar-a-lago-search-done-by-the-book/article_4cd28dd9-ccb5-5cb1-bcd7-5c4668e9f237.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/thune-says-mar-a-lago-search-done-by-the-book/article_4cd28dd9-ccb5-5cb1-bcd7-5c4668e9f237.html
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Wages, benefits claim most of city budget increase
Mayor Steve Allender
Mayor Steve Allender is proposing a 13.5% overall budget increase to Rapid City’s 2023 fiscal year budget over 2022 Monday night.
In a special session before the Rapid City Council meeting, Allender proposed increasing the budget to $219,056,876 with the majority of increases attributed to an increase in wages, benefits and a growing community, which Allender called “growing pains” in a Thursday interview ahead of the meeting.
“There’s no doubt the city budget’s going up,” he said. “We experienced the effects of inflation just like private sector organizations, and we have to deal with reality. We also experienced the shortage of labor, increased labor costs, delay or shortage of equipment creating ongoing maintenance issues, and there’s a variety of reasons why this budget keeps going up. I consider much of this to be growing pains.”
Allender said the goal is to maintain the same service levels the city has in the past to an expanding community. He said this is not just in terms of streets and residences, but also increasing use of recreational facilities and parks, which create additional expenses.
The Enterprise Fund funds areas of Public Works like the Solid Waste Division and the water division. Allender said those divisions have budgets similar to the private sector where they project revenues based on user fees, and the budget stays within those parameters.
“Private sectors may seek a profit. What we would seek would be to break even and be financially prepared for the upcoming year in terms of equipment, purchases and any other infrastructure development that needs to take place for those operations,” Allender said.
The Monument also falls within the Enterprise Fund, which operates on revenue generated from events and receives a portion of the gross municipal receipts tax, or the BBB tax.
Allender said the General Fund — which includes the police and fire departments, Parks and Recreation, Community Development, the library, the City Attorney’s Office, Human Resources and the Finance office — will change as the fiscal year progresses. He said the General Fund is more subject to change and more subject to the local economy than the Enterprise Fund. He said the departments wait for the available revenue through taxes and user fees and then adjust budgets in accordance with that to provide services.
He said Public Works is one of the departments directly affected by growth and new demands from the building community. Allender said the department is in need of additional employees to help maintain the service level. He also said Parks and Recreation is affected by the growth, with more people using city amenities.
Allender said the total General Fund net expenses is $80,870,278. The total expenses/funding is $86,127,683 with the $5,257,405 difference in the interdepartmental charges. Allender said the notable change is how the police and fire departments are addressing homelessness.
“Having police officers and firefighters, paramedics respond to homeless calls for service is extremely expensive and creates a shortage of those resources,” he said.
In the past year, the city contracted with Journey On and Volunteers of America. In the first six months of 2022, Journey On responded to 4,325 calls for service, which creates an estimated $600,000 in savings of personnel and resources.
“Those are resources that are desperately needed in other areas,” Allender said.
He said Journey On has also saved the city on almost 1,100 ambulance runs, an estimated saving of $504,000. Combined, it’s a saving of almost $1.1 million.
“The bonus is these entities are providing a better service,” he said. “It’s better, it’s less expensive, it’s more sustainable and has a better chance of being successful. It’s too early to tell if we’re seeing any real change or any real success. Just this month we’re reporting some drops in the number of people going into the Safe Solutions, but that’s a moment in time. We certainly need more time to see if that’s a trend or a one-time look.”
Journey On is a street outreach team that co-responds to calls regarding homeless individuals in Rapid City. Volunteers of America works with the organization on case management and emergency housing.
Allender’s proposed 2023 budget calls for an increase in both the Journey On and Volunteers of America budgets. If approved by the council, Journey On would see an increase to $360,000 from its original $150,000 allocation from the General Fund, and Volunteers of America would see an increase to $150,000 from its $75,000.
Allender said he is also proposing an additional communications person and a chief of staff position for the Mayor's Office and will commit to becoming compliant with modern cybersecurity standards, which includes updating subscription licenses for city employees. He said they hope to add an analyst and technician to the IT department
The 2023 proposed budget is a 13.5% increase from 2022, which saw a 12% increase over 2021’s budget. Allender said it’s a higher rate than inflation and there’s reason to be concerned. However, he said there were decades of skimping and trying not to appear to be a spending politician which postponed some maintenance and other costs.
“We’re trying to stick with all of our purchasing schedules so that we can have reliable service for our citizens,” he said.
Allender has long supported the idea of changing the city’s budget model in relying on sales tax for some departments. He said when he started as mayor, the sales tax was about 44% of general fund revenue and now it’s about 42%.
“It’s going in the right direction,” he said. “We have to pay attention to user fees, fees for services, we have to do that because that’s responsibility. That’s a responsible way to budget.”
The council's first hearing for the budget is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Council Chambers. The council must approve two formal readings of the budget by Sept. 30.
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2022-08-16T01:16:23Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Wages, benefits claim most of city budget increase | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/wages-benefits-claim-most-of-city-budget-increase/article_b4b1967e-7885-51d0-99ca-a395bf09816f.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/wages-benefits-claim-most-of-city-budget-increase/article_b4b1967e-7885-51d0-99ca-a395bf09816f.html
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NEW UNDERWOOD — U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Monday the FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago was done "by the book," but still has questions about the rationale and facts of the action.
One participant accused Democrats of “continuing communistic and dictatorial-style of abuses of power directed at conservatives,” saying the government has been weaponized, and that there is a “shocking lack of outrage” from Senate leadership.
Thune answered that the current Democratic party “certainly is a different party — it’s a much farther left party,” he said, anchored in the view of people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
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2022-08-16T03:19:28Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Thune says Mar-a-Lago search done 'by the book,' questions rationale | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/thune-says-mar-a-lago-search-done-by-the-book-questions-rationale/article_4cd28dd9-ccb5-5cb1-bcd7-5c4668e9f237.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/thune-says-mar-a-lago-search-done-by-the-book-questions-rationale/article_4cd28dd9-ccb5-5cb1-bcd7-5c4668e9f237.html
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BOWDLE - Ann Thomsen, 57, of Bowdle died at her home Friday, August 12, 2022.
Ann's family prefers memorials to the Cystic Fibrosis Association of North Dakota, 107 W Main Ave. #150, Bismarck, ND 58501.
Ann's funeral will be livestreamed at the Lien Family Funeral Care Facebook page and be available at www.MillerLienFH.com Thursday night.
Ann Marie Gross, daughter of LaVerne "Ole" (Thommen) and Erwin "Erv" Gross, was born at Bowdle on December 9, 1964. She was raised in Bowdle and graduated from Bowdle High School, Class of 1983. She was involved in All State Chorus, played flute in the band, excelled in basketball, and acted in various plays.
Ann went on to South Dakota State University in Brookings where she earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Education and minored in Spanish. Brookings was where she met Stu and several lifelong friends.
After graduation she then spent six months doing missionary work in Oaxaca, Mexico through the Presentation Sisters. Ann married Stuart Thomsen in Rapid City, SD on July 16, 1988. The newlyweds settled in Belgrade, MT where their daughter Grace was born in 1989. In 1990, they relocated to Bowdle. Their youngest daughter, Ellen, was born in 1991. She and Stuart were active in Erv's Furniture, a business that Ann's parents founded in 1965. Stuart and Ann purchased the business from the Gross's in 1995.
Ann loved spending her days with her sisters, raising her girls, working at the store and spending time running, golfing and laughing with friends. Ann welcomed her first grandson in March of 2020 and first granddaughter in March of 2022. The joy of Ann's life was watching her daughters grow up, compete in sports, get married and have children of their own.
Ann was a faithful member of St. Augustine's Catholic Church where she sang in the choir, served on Parish Council, and was active in the Altar Society. She was active in her community where she was an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for the Bowdle Ambulance, belonged to the Bowdle American Legion Auxiliary, and was a Bowdle Library Board member. She also belonged to the Cystic Fibrosis Association of North Dakota and the South Dakota Retailers Association which recently presented the Thomsen's with a Heritage Award.
Ann is survived by Stuart, her husband of 34 years; two daughters—Grace (Luke) Johnson of Tea and Ellen (Beau) Voegeli of Rapid City; two sisters— Margaret (Bill) Bobby of Bowdle and Carmen Barbera of Aberdeen; one brother, Don (Cybelle) Gross of St. Lucia; and two grandchildren, Vincent and Sage.
She was preceded in death by her father, Erv, on January 19, 2002; her mother, Ole, on March 26, 2017; two sisters—Christy Gross and Catherine Dominicak; and an infant brother, Edward.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 AM, Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Bowdle, with Father Darin Schmidt, Celebrant. Interment follows at the Church Cemetery. Organist will be Lisa Geier and ushers will be Chad Holsworth and Norbert Thomas; Offertory gift Bearers will be Carrie Beadle and Shelly Preszler; Lector will be Pat Dewald; Placing the Pall will be Stuart, Grace, and Ellen; and Mass Servers will be Jeremiah and Isaiah Heilman.
Casketbearers will be Matthew Bobby of White Oak, NC; Samuel Bobby of Aberdeen; Jacob Bobby of Bloomfield, NE; John Bennet of Newton, IL; Matthew Preszler of Bismarck, ND; and Rylan Libsack of Livingston, MT.
Visitation commences 5:00 PM Tuesday at Lien Funeral Home with a 7:00 PM Wake Service.
Services are in care of Lien Funeral Home, Bowdle.
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2022-08-16T05:14:42Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Ann Thomsen | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/ann-thomsen/article_c578f1e7-5bbd-5466-b7f6-bb783b77972a.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/ann-thomsen/article_c578f1e7-5bbd-5466-b7f6-bb783b77972a.html
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Ardith F. Swisher
RAPID CITY - Beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Ardith F. Swisher, 91, formerly of Kadoka, joined her husband and soulmate, Lowell (L.P.) Swisher in their heavenly home on August 13.
Ardith Fischer, called Ardee by those who knew and loved her, was born on August 8, 1931, to Esther and Vernor Fischer in Wakefield, Nebraska. She grew up with an older sister, Ruth; two younger sisters, Doris and Kathy; and one younger brother, Carl. She always spoke of her childhood fondly, and described her home as one filled with lots of love and laughter. Small town Wakefield afforded Ardee memories and friendships she treasured her whole life. The daughter of a home economics teacher and grocery man/fireman, Ardee knew everyone in town and everyone knew her. She was active in school, church and social activities, and loved working at the downtown drugstore, mixing old-fashioned sodas when not "sniffing eggs" at Waldbaum Egg Factory, the foremost supplier of eggs in the U.S. during the 1940s, 50s and beyond.
It was fitting, therefore, that God would choose a small town boy from an adjoining state to become her husband and soulmate. Ardee and a friend were walking from the University of South Dakota campus to their sorority house one fall afternoon in 1953 when two handsome medical students offered them a lift. Ardee was in a rush to get ready for a date that night, so they graciously accepted. Needless to say, her date for the evening got stood up; once Lowell and Ardee's eyes met, their fates were sealed.
They were engaged by Thanksgivimg, planning a summer wedding. A month later, Ardee met L.P.'s Kadoka-area family over the Christmas holiday, and on their way back to Vermillion, the couple made the spontaneous decision to stop in Pierre and get married. They kept their elopement a secret for several months, and this romantic "leap of love" became a part of family lore forevermore. Having finished her teaching degree, Ardee taught school for three years in Omaha while L.P. finished his medical training, and it was there that their son Paul was born. "We were poor but happy," she said of those years.
From there, they boarded a ship for Germany to complete L.P.'s three-year commission as a medical officer in the U.S. Army. Daughters Ann and Beth were born there, and Ardee was thrilled to experience European culture, making both military and civilian friends, having a live-in maid who cooked, cleaned and helped with the babies, and getting to travel all over Europe.
The Swisher family returned to Kadoka in 1961, when L.P. started his medical practice, and they completed their family with the birth of their son Pete. Ardee was an integral part of L.P.'s medical practice, answering thousands of phone calls and welcoming the sick, injured and broken on her doorstep at all hours of the day and night.
A stay-at-home mom, Ardee's life was her kids and their many school, sports, music, church and social activities. She taught Sunday School and led Bible study at Concordia Lutheran Church, served on the Kadoka school board and was elected to her church's national women's organization. After moving to Rapid City, she was a longtime member of the Rapid City Concert Association, volunteered at the Stav Kirke, and was active in her circle and quilting groups at Calvary Lutheran Church. She loved downhill skiing and skied at Terry Peak well into her seventies.
Ardee was the consummate wife, mother and homemaker. She collected cookbooks and loved challenging herself with new and different recipes. She was "family famous" for her French bread, Shepherd's pie, goulash and Christmas cookies. Ardee executed large family and holiday gatherings with unmatched effortlessness and flair, and everyone looked forward to her Christmas Eve smorgasbords. "A gifted seamstress, Ardee sewed many of her own clothes and those of her kids. She also sewed doll clothes, GI Joe and Barbie outfits, and Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. Her daughters could show her elaborate prom dresses in fashion magazines and she could replicate them flawlessly. She even sewed formals for her granddaughters. Many of the costumes she sewed for school plays or Halloween costumes have made their way into her granddaughters' (and now great granddaughters') dress-up boxes.
Then along came the grandchildren—Fifteen grandchildren in the course of 16 years: Megan (Kirby) Sand, Andrew (Ronda) Simmons, Jonathan (Virginia) Swisher, Leah Dusty Bahnson) Simmons, Kaija Swisher, Laura (Brett) Manning, Brent (Terra) Swisher, Adam (Emilia) Simmons, Zachary Swisher, Annie (Kyle) Hibbs, Emily Palmer, Justine (Brock) Blankenship, Audri (Andy) Iverson, Abbie (Keaton Gruda) Palmer and Tim (Kristi) Palmer. Ardee made heirloom quilts for her grandchildren as babies and denim quilts for their high school graduations.
Each of Ardee's grandchildren enjoyed a special relationship with their "Gma," and would not accept Christmas as Christmas if it wasn't at her house. All 15 grandchildren lived nearby, and Ardee and L.P. rarely missed any of their school programs, concerts or sporting events.
Over the past 15 years, Ardee's life has been blessed with the addition of 20 great grandchildren: William Simmons, Jefferson Sand, Wyatt Simmons, Cora Sand, Bristol Simmons, Eva Swisher, Lowell Sand, Henry Swisher, Evelyn Simmons, Riann Blankenship, Lucille Swisher, Lillian Simmons, Isaac Bahson, Owen Blankenship, Addie Emery, Freddie Hibbs, Edith Iverson, Nelson Hibbs, Declan Blankenship and Hudson Swisher.
The family plans a celebration of Ardee's life at a later date.
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2022-08-16T05:14:49Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Ardith F. Swisher | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/ardith-f-swisher/article_6eab58ee-2d5a-594f-8b8c-3cdfb9eaf224.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/ardith-f-swisher/article_6eab58ee-2d5a-594f-8b8c-3cdfb9eaf224.html
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SCOTTSBLUFF - Clint Walker was born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, November 11, 1959, the youngest of five children. Scottsbluff has a strong Germanic farming community, and Clint grew up with lots of extended family, good church ties, and many neighbors and friends.
His many hobbies, from childhood, always involved bikes, cars, food, and friends, and this continued all his life. He worked various jobs in his life, starting at 14, and always enjoyed helping others.
He had a short stint in the army. He was gentle, soft spoken, and enjoyed a community that genuinely loved and cared for him. He will be greatly missed.
Clint is survived by brothers, Darell (Connie) Walker and Duane (Ada) Walker; sister, Janet Walker; sister-in-law, Zelly (Ralph Rees); nieces, Jennifer Hummelle, Angela (Doug MD) Athouse, Natalie (Jon) Murphy, Cara Diaz, Sophia (Richard) Meyer, Kyleena Diaz, Paula Diaz, and Kezia Diaz; nephews, Chad (Anne-Sophie) Walker, Andy (Emily) Walker, Shawn (Jayme) Walker, Ladd (Donna) Walker, and Trinidad (Briana) Diaz. And many gra nd-nephews, nieces, and cousins, too numerous to mention.
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2022-08-16T05:14:55Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Clinton Walker | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/clinton-walker/article_1031f92a-6f30-574f-a326-d47edb498ee4.html
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Dennis L. Larive
OMAHA, NE - Dennis L. Larive, 79, of Omaha, NE passed away peacefully on August 11, 2022, at Lakeside Hospital in Omaha surrounded by family. Dennis was born on March 9, 1943, in Hot Springs, South Dakota to LeNora (Reder) and Wesley Lee Larive. He graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1961. Dennis was united in marriage to Gloria Nies on December 11, 1965 at South Canyon Lutheran Church in Rapid City, SD. They had three children.
Dennis spent most of his career in banking, living in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming. His love of the Black Hills of South Dakota and his family's heritage in this area was a source of pride.
While living in Nebraska, he developed a deep love of Nebraska Cornhusker Football. Dennis also enjoyed playing basketball in high school, traveling, reading and spending time with his family. In retirement one of his favorite pastimes was spending time with his grandson Alex. Teaching Alex chess, participating in Nerf "wars" and going out for ice cream were some of his favorite Grandpa activities. Most importantly, Dennis was a Christian who passed along his faith to his family.
Dennis is survived by his wife, Gloria Larive; sons: Kendal (Wendy) of Kirkland, WA and Kevan (Ana) of Grimes, IA; daughter Lesley and grandson Alexander of Omaha, NE; along with sisters: Theona (Ralph) Moss of Grand Junction, CO and Colleen (George) Coates of Georgetown, TX. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Charleen.
Interment and celebration of Dennis' life will be held at Hot Springs Evergreen Cemetery in South Dakota in the fall, with details to be announced at a later date.
Memorials are suggested to support the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA). Web address: http://hearingloss.org.
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2022-08-16T05:15:07Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Dennis L. Larive | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/dennis-l-larive/article_f850d4d4-3e1d-56db-96f2-3ff085ed05ec.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/dennis-l-larive/article_f850d4d4-3e1d-56db-96f2-3ff085ed05ec.html
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Joe Marcello Saenz
RAPID CITY - Joe Marcello Saenz, 83, Rapid City, SD went home to Heavenly home on August 11, 2022. He passed away very peaceful.
Joe was born July 1, 1939 in Rapid City, SD to Marcello and Dora (Briones) Saenz. He grew up in Rapid City, SD. After high school, Joe joined the United States Navy from 1956 to 1960. Joe was a radarman on the carrier Wasp. His home port was Boston, MA. He was an Auto body painter for 35 years and worked at various Bodyshop's.
Joe married Marilyn Kay Miller on July 1, 1974 at the Chapel in The Hills, Rapid City, SD.
He loved camping, fishing and working in his yard. Joe was an avid fan of motorsport races.
Joe belonged to Paha Sapa Archery Club and was a Life member of the VFW and Foresters.
He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; son, Troy (Sabrina) Saenz, Kansas City, KS, grandson, Daniel Joseph Davis, Rapid City, SD, step-daughter, Mayra Crawford, Kansas City, KS; daughter, Michelle (Donald) Ridnour, Wellington, CO, grandson, Jesse Dale (Sarah) Ridnour, Ft. Collins, CO; brother, Rueben (Joyce) Saenz, Rapid City, SD; sister, Marcie (JD) Prickett, Eaton, CO; special niece, Rebecca (Doug) Kenoyer; great niece and nephews, Jensen, Samuel and Dawson, Box Elder, SD; special nephew, Paul (Shannon) Jensen, great-nephew and niece, Memphis and Phoenix, Sioux Falls, SD; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Marcello and Doris Saenz; brothers, Abel and Robert; and sister, Betty Saenz.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established to VFW Post 1273, Rapid City, SD.
Memorial visitation will be Wednesday, August 17, 2022 from 5:00-7:00pm at Kirk Funeral Home.
Celebration of Life Services will be Thursday, August 18, 2022 at 10:30am at Canyon Lake United Methodist Church.
Inurnment will follow at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, SD.
Family and friends may sign Joe's online guestbook at www.kirkfuneralhome.com.
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2022-08-16T05:15:26Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Joe Marcello Saenz | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/joe-marcello-saenz/article_8a75b253-e6cb-53b4-9927-d936a1f07a21.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/joe-marcello-saenz/article_8a75b253-e6cb-53b4-9927-d936a1f07a21.html
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Nadine (Kampfe) Pollard
DENVER, CO - Nadine (Kampfe) Pollard passed away June 15, 2022 in Denver, CO. She graduated from Chadron Senior High School and received her Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Chadron State College.
She was married to Randy Pollard from 1974-1983, with whom she had two children, Brandon and Ryan. Upon moving to Colorado in 1984, she lived in the north metro area and worked for staffing agencies. She spent her last years as a Paraeducator in Westminster Public Schools.
For over 35 years, Nadine taught piano and voice lessons to hundreds of students in the Denver area and was an active member of Highland Baptist Church, playing piano and singing on the worship team. Nadine enjoyed watching her sons' sporting events from kindergarten through college, biking the paths near her home in Westminster, birthday celebrations and family dinners, BBQs in the summer, and spending time with her grandchildren. She lived frugally and simply, keeping the cleanest of houses and taking pride in her beautiful yard and the soft green lawn her family ran and rolled and laughed in.
Nadine is survived by her sons: Brandon Pollard and Ryan Pollard; siblings: Paula Encinas, Ron Kampfe and Robert Kampfe; and granddaughters: Esme, Mikayla, Cate and Sienna. She was preceded in death by her parents Paul and Elinor Kampfe.
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2022-08-16T05:15:44Z
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rapidcityjournal.com
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Nadine (Kampfe) Pollard | Local | rapidcityjournal.com
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/nadine-kampfe-pollard/article_26fd538a-68fe-55d1-a610-ed001968d2f6.html
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https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/obituaries/nadine-kampfe-pollard/article_26fd538a-68fe-55d1-a610-ed001968d2f6.html
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She’s the nearly invisible woman on television.
Who is she? Someone who’s lived long enough to put things in perspective. Someone who is comfortable with herself, even if she no longer follows the trends. Someone who can handle both mansplaining and youthsplaining.
She is a major TV character who is 60 or older, a demographic that is mostly missing from the small screen.
According to this year’s Boxed In report, which focuses on the how women are doing in front of and behind the cameras, there is a disappointing connection between the ages of female characters and their pervasiveness.
For the 2021-22 season, 42% of major female characters on broadcast networks were in their 30s, while only 15% were in their 40s. A slightly smaller, yet similarly steep decline occurred with streaming platforms.
And if the age range is old enough to include fabulous actresses like Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin of Netflix’s “Grace and Frankie,” Michelle Yeoh of Paramount+’s “Star Trek: Discovery,” Jean Smart of HBO Max’s “Hacks” and Detroit’s own S. Epatha Merkerson of NBC’s “Chicago Med”? That’s where things really nose-dive.
A mere 3% of major female characters were 60 and over, both for broadcast and streaming. As the study concludes, older women “continue to be dramatically underrepresented.”
The annual Boxed In report, done by the Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film at San Diego State University, looked at one randomly selected episode of original prime-times series from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and the CW and Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+ and Peacock.
It tracked more than 3,000 characters and more than 3,800 credits to reach its conclusions, which cover a variety of areas, from historical comparisons to comparisons of race and ethnicity of major female characters to the percentages of women in jobs such as directing and writing.
As a member of the women 60 and older club, I found that 3% figure startling, particularly since, in real life, women of this age make up between about 25% of the overall U.S. female population, according to 2019 census estimates.
Older male characters, not surprisingly (but quite glaringly), are more prevalent on TV: 6% percent of major male characters are 60 and over, or twice as many as their female counterparts.
Why is there such a lack of representation of older women? Dr. Martha Lauzen, who founded the study and is a professor of film and TV at San Diego State University, said via email that it’s “due to the low numbers of women in the age category working in key behind-the-scenes roles, the belief that viewers are not interested in seeing these characters as well as the belief that characters 60 and over lead less interesting lives.”
Summed up Lauzen, “ In other words, their disappearance is due, in large part, to ageism.”
Perhaps that’s one reason why Angela Lansbury’s death earlier this month resonated so deeply with women. The 96-year-old star was a versatile performer known for her Broadway and movie roles, but it was TV that made her a pop-culture figure. As sleuthing Jessica Fletcher on the long-running CBS mystery “Murder, She Wrote,” Lansbury was virtually the only woman in her 60s and 70s who was leading the sort of prime-time drama that older men have helmed since, well, forever.
Just this year, Jeff Bridges, who’s 72, scored a critical success with FX’s “The Old Man.” Now try to imagine a hip action show about a former spy called “The Old Woman” getting a green light from a studio.
Women 60 and older don’t see themselves that much on TV in general, much less find and enjoy depictions of characters who are busy, thriving and sexually active. They may say 60 is the new 40, but it might as well be 80 by the standards of current comedy, drama and reality shows, which too often reduce older women to stereotypes or brief parts as mom and grandmothers.
So how can this picture be changed?
Through the power of the pocketbook, of course. As the Hollywood Reporter pointed out in its coverage of a Nielsen report on women 50 and up that covered January 2020 through January 2021, “usage of internet-connected devices during prime time grew 41% among women 50-64 and 51% among women 65 and older — outpacing the 21% increased usage among all women 18+.”
That adds up to significant growth potential for streaming platforms interested in courting older women — and it's a reason for broadcast networks to fight to keep the same demographic from tuning away.
Tune in to these
If, like me, you want to see more women 60 and older playing vital roles on TV, you need to watch the ones already beating the odds. The shows below offer a range of characters, some powerful, others immature, some scary, others selfless. None falls prey to old-lady cliches and all are compelling.
If only more TV programmers could understand this.
“The White Lotus.” Season two of the HBO series starts Sunday, with the first season’s standout, Jennifer Coolidge, returning as flighty, wealthy Tanya McQuoid. Coolidge is the exception to the rule that getting older decreases your acting opportunities. She’s landing better roles than ever (and, while accepting her best supporting actress Emmy this year, won over the audience with her impromptu dance when the orchestra tried to play her off with “Hit the Road Jack").
“Young Sheldon.” Meemaw is not your typical sitcom grandma. On this CBS prequel to “The Big Bang Theory,” Annie Potts plays a matriarch who drinks, dates and runs a small illegal gambling enterprise behind her laundromat. At 70, Potts brings a sexy attitude and tolerant wisdom to her character’s take on life, which is the antithesis of Sheldon’s mom’s uptight religiosity.
“The Crown.” the hugely popular Netflix docudrama returns Nov. 9 with Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II in her mid-60s and new challenges in the form of Charles and Diana’s ugly split. There has been controversy over the fact that the fifth season is arriving so soon after the death of the real monarch in September. But the broader message of Staunton, Claire Foy and Olivia Colman playing Elizabeth at various stages of Elizabeth’s life is that a woman changes over time as she faces a lifetime of joys and sorrows.
“Abbott Elementary.” In this chef’s kiss of an ensemble cast, Sheryl Lee Ralph, 65, makes the biggest impression on the ABC hit sitcom as Barbara Howard, a veteran teacher who has coped with every hurdle that the public education system possibly could throw at her. Ralph (who broke into glorious song while accepting her supporting actress Emmy this year) is the embodiment of real women with professional skills, grace and enough compassion to understand younger colleagues who think they know it all.
“The Handmaid’s Tale.” The final season of Hulu’s drama inspired by Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel continues to highlight the breakout performance of longtime character actress Ann Dowd as leading villain Aunt Lydia. Finally, Dowd's character is confronting real doubts about Gilead’s godly image, a shift that could leave her devastated.
“Blockbuster.” The new Netflix workplace comedy from creator Vanessa Ramos (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Superstore”) premieres Thursday and is set in suburban Michigan at supposedly the last Blockbuster store in America. Only this ensemble includes Olga Merediz, 66, who played Abuela Claudia of "In The Heights” on Broadway and in the movie and was the singing voice of Abuela Alma in Disney's "Encanto." As Connie Serrano, Ramos portrays an older staffer who is true to herself, even while surrounded by co-workers old enough to be her grandkids.
“9-1-1.” Angela Bassett brings strength and class to the Fox first-responder drama as police sergeant Athena Grant. Bassett’s ease at juggling being the star and an executive producer of the series with her stellar film career — she returns as the royal matriarch in the movie sequel "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — is proof that there’s nothing about being 60-plus that automatically requires any slowing down.
“The Good Fight” and “The Gilded Age.” All hail, Christine Baranski, who is fierce attorney Diane Lockhart on Paramount+’s “The Good Fight,” which ends its journey this season, and steely old-school socialite Agnes Van Rhijn on HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” which has been renewed for a second season. If Agnes were pitted against the “Downton Abbey” Dowager Countess played by Dame Maggie Smith, Vegas would give it even odds.
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2022-10-28T12:39:23Z
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www.freep.com
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Prime-time TV shows mostly ignore women 60 and older
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2022/10/28/prime-time-tv-shows-mostly-ignore-women-60-and-older/69593124007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2022/10/28/prime-time-tv-shows-mostly-ignore-women-60-and-older/69593124007/
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Flu threatens early surge. Doctors urge vaccinations now.
This year’s flu season is expected to be a doozy as the state and nation head into the first winter in two years without masks, social distancing and other COVID-19 mitigation measures, which slowed the spread of coronavirus along with influenza in 2020 and 2021.
Already, parts of the U.S. are seeing big increases in flu activity, with high levels of transmission reported in New York state, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, and the District of Columbia, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“With the COVID precautions — people wearing masks and socially distancing and not traveling as much — we basically had no flu at all” in the first two years of the pandemic, said Dr. Thomas Veverka, president of the Michigan State Medical Society and a trauma and general surgeon at MyMichigan Health in Midland.
More:Black Michiganders got 60% of monkeypox cases, only 17% of vaccines
“Part of our resistance to flu is natural immunity from getting exposed to flu. For the last two years, we have not had any exposure to flu, so we haven't had a chance to build up any natural immunity. That may make us more susceptible to the flu in this coming year.”
Warning flare from Down Under
Scientists often look to the Southern Hemisphere, which has its flu season during our summer months, for indications of what might be headed our way for the winter.
Australia reported its worst flu season in five years in 2022, with 308 flu-related deaths. The bulk of infections were caused by influenza A.
“There's an indication that we're headed for the same kind of experience,” Veverka said.
Although Michigan isn’t yet seeing the high level of flu activity affecting some parts of the country, the virus already is having an impact on the state’s hospitals, said Dr. John Dery, an emergency medicine physician at MyMichigan Health Gratiot who also serves on the board of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians.
In a single 24-hour period last week, Dery said he personally saw three cases of flu — two were identified as influenza A strains; the third was flu B.
“The emergency departments are overrun right now,” Dery said, noting that it’s not just because of people with the flu. There also has been a swell of children with respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, along with people who have COVID-19 and those who need care for other illnesses.
After more than two years of the pandemic, “now everybody and his brother is coming back,” Dery said. “Everybody is having all their surgeries that were put off for a year or two. Everybody has to have testing. So our ERs are overwhelmed with the volume of patients. We're grossly understaffed on a nationwide level with nursing and ancillary staff, and then we have a lot of people that are coming in for nasal swab testing.”
State's top doc: 'Have a plan' for flu, COVID this year
Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive, told the Free Press this week that Michiganders ought to prepare now for what’s likely to be a difficult respiratory virus season.
“Have a plan,” she said. “No. 1, we want the public to make sure that they are vaccinated and boosted. So find out: Are you eligible for one of the new COVID bivalent boosters? Have you had a flu shot this year?
“No. 2, make sure that you've got a supply of well-fitting masks at home. If you are unwell, you should stay home, but if you can't avoid being around other people and you are symptomatic, wearing a mask is one really good way to protect those around you.”
More:Am I fully vaccinated for polio? How to check your Michigan immunization record.
She also recommended stocking up on rapid, at-home coronavirus tests.
“Keeping a supply of over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at home can also allow you to at least rule out one of those viruses so you can see if you have COVID-19,” Bagdasarian said. “But I do want to preface that by saying if you test negative for COVID, that doesn't mean you can just go about your day. We really don't want people who are ill and who are symptomatic to go out into public spaces.”
How to know whether you've got influenza or COVID-19
It’s very difficult to tell the difference between COVID-19 symptoms and flu symptoms without testing, Dery said.
“They present the same: cough, congestion, upper respiratory tract symptoms, minor fevers and chills,” he said. “We're not going to know … if it's COVID or it's flu. … You have to be tested."
If your at-home rapid coronavirus test is negative, Dery said it doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t have COVID-19. It could be that you didn’t get a good enough sample on the swab to trigger a positive result. It could also be that you tested before there was high enough viral load in your nose to be detected on the test. You also might be infected with a strain of the virus that isn’t as easy for your rapid test to identify, he said.
Dery suggests making an appointment at a local pharmacy for a coronavirus PCR test, which is more likely to be accurate, along with a flu test. Other places to seek testing include an urgent care center or through your primary care physician.
“Going to the ER is not the best bet … to get those tests,” Dery said. That's because going to the hospital for COVID-19 and flu testing jams up crowded waiting rooms and keeps people who truly need emergency care from getting treatment as quickly.
Why you should seek testing
Getting tested is especially important if you are at high risk for severe disease from COVID or the flu so doctors can treat you with antiviral medications or monocolonal antibody therapy that can keep you from needing hospital care.
“We have really effective therapeutics for COVID-19,” Bagdasarian said. “We've got medications like Paxlovid and remdesivir, and we also have medications like Tamiflu for influenza.
“So talking to your doctor to find out if you are a candidate for one of those medications if you do get sick ahead of time is one way to make things a little bit smoother this respiratory season.
More:Henry Ford doctor, Trump White House tried to pressure FDA into hydroxychloroquine use
“We have to really think about this holistically. We want to keep people out of the hospital. We want to keep people from spreading disease and from having schools closed down because of outbreaks. The best way to do that is just to take all of these precautions for viral respiratory season in general.”
State goal: Administer 4 million flu shots
Th state’s goal is to immunize 4 million Michiganders against the flu this year, Veverka said. State data shows that nearly 1 million had been vaccinated against the virus as of Oct. 8, which is the most recent date for which data was available.
This year’s flu quadrivalent vaccine appears to be well-matched for the dominant strain circulating now in the U.S., the H3N2 form of influenza A. The vaccine is recommended for people ages 6 months and older. The CDC urges people ages 65 and older to ask for the high-dose version.
“Last year, there were 3.3 million vaccinated and the goal is to get 4 million this year,” Veverka said. “Hopefully, that will be the number that could keep the influenza surge down. But unfortunately, a survey of U.S. adults … (suggests) we're at some risk for not meeting those numbers.”
Veverka said he’s concerned that anti-vaccine sentiment that bubbled up around COVID-19 will affect people’s willingness to take flu vaccines, too.
“There's this vaccine hesitancy that now is leading to the resurgence of other preventable infections and diseases,” he said. “And, unfortunately, that could affect us with influenza coming up as well.”
Getting vaccinated before the end of October will ensure protection through the holiday season, which is when the spread of the virus typically ramps up.
“With all of these diseases, our goal is not necessarily to stop every single infection, but we want to save lives,” Bagdasarian said. “We want to keep health care capacity open, and we want to keep our vital infrastructure open. By using the tools, we will be able to get through this respiratory viral season.”
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2022-10-28T12:39:28Z
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www.freep.com
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Flu season in Michigan: What to know about shot, symptoms
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/10/28/flu-shot-vaccine-symptoms-michigan-rsv-covid-19/69594710007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/10/28/flu-shot-vaccine-symptoms-michigan-rsv-covid-19/69594710007/
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Welcome to the "be-careful-what-you-wish-for" election.
When Michiganders voted to create an independent redistricting commission in 2018 to set political boundary lines for congressional and state legislative offices, it was believed it would benefit Democrats in a state where they often got the most votes, and that Republican legislators had rigged the old districts to help their party.
Fast-forward to now: The new districts are drawn and it's possible Democrats, currently holding a 7-7 split with Republicans in the state's congressional delegation could end up in the minority after the Nov. 8 election. As it stands now, Republicans hold a presumptive advantage in five seats, Democrats in four seats. That leaves four seats with far closer odds (we list them below in descending order of competitiveness) to decide it.
Part of the reason the outcome is up in the air is due to the state's losing a congressional district after the 2020 Census. Another part is that, in midterm elections when Democrats are in power and inflation is high, as is the case now, Republicans are expected to have an edge nationally. And with four districts in Michigan that appear to be competitive if not outright toss-ups, it could be a good night for the GOP in the state and elsewhere.
How good, of course, remains to be seen.
Strictly speaking, it doesn't make a ton of difference across the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives whether Michigan has more Democratic or Republican members: If Republicans take control of the House — they need to pick up just five seats to do so — but Democrats take the majority in Michigan's delegation, they will still be in the minority, with less control over legislative priorities and committee memberships. (The other way around is also true if Democrats maintain control of the House, a far less likely proposition this year.) Yes, that membership can make a difference in the eventuality of an Electoral College tie in presidential years: Each state's delegation gets one vote for president to break the deadlock. But that doesn't matter this year, since, if it were to happen, it would be the next newly installed Congress to decide that in January 2025, not this one.
What's more on the line this year is whether Michigan's interests, as the majority of its voters see them, are represented in a Congress that will likely deal with inflationary pressures, immigration, debt limits, abortion rights, the Russian war in Ukraine, student loans and much more. Several current members — Reps. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield; Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township; Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, and Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph — are headed for the exits either because they're stepping down (Lawrence, Upton) or lost in-party primaries in August (Levin, Meijer).
Meanwhile, political handicappers and partisan leaders nationwide are going to be watching the key Michigan matchups very closely, knowing that they could help determine which party takes or keeps control of the U.S. House and how big a majority it has to push an agenda going into 2023.
Here's a look at all the matchups:
Marquee races
3RD DISTRICT: Of all the congressional races in Michigan this year, this may be the one that will be most closely watched, offering Democrats a rare shot at flipping a Republican seat in 2022 and testing former President Donald Trump's hold on west Michigan voters. Trump played a large role in encouraging this Grand Rapids-based district to dump Meijer (see above) in the GOP primary for John Gibbs, a former Housing and Urban Development official under Trump. The reason? Meijer voted to impeach Trump for instigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. But Gibbs, who has continued to advance false claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent, is far less well known than Meijer and this redrawn district, which now includes Muskegon and Grand Haven, is considered marginally more favorable to Democratic lawyer Hillary Scholten, who lost to Meijer in 2020. Gibbs hasn't seen near the outside help others in his party have and Scholten has raised far more money. As such, Scholten is seen by national handicappers as having the slightest of edges over Gibbs in a race that also includes Libertarian Jamie Lewis and Working Class candidate Louis Palus. But in a part of the state that has traditionally been friendly to Republicans, this race is still far from settled.
7TH DISTRICT: When the redistricting commission split Lansing and Livingston County from her home in northern Oakland County, Democratic U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin didn't hesitate: She moved from Holly to Lansing, knowing that voters in that city, East Lansing and their outlying areas have been key to her success winning a formerly Republican district that Trump won in 2016 and 2020. And while her new mid-Michigan district, the 7th, is marginally more Democratic-leaning thanks to the inclusion of more of those suburbs, Slotkin, a former intelligence officer and acting assistant secretary of defense, is still running in a district Trump lost to President Joe Biden by less than 1 percentage point. This year, she faces state Sen. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, a former Army helicopter pilot and conservative well-known in Lansing for battling with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Libertarian Leah Dailey is also on the ballot. Slotkin has proven to be a prodigious fundraiser and appears, again, ready to run ahead of her party, but this race has attracted lots of outside interest. Slotkin looks to have the edge but with polls showing top-of-the-ticket support gaining for Republicans, don't count this race as done just yet.
10TH DISTRICT: This race for a district that truly is open, with no incumbent U.S. House member living within its boundaries, represents a fascinating matchup between Republican businessman and former Army helicopter pilot John James and Democratic former prosecutor and judge, Carl Marlinga. What makes it even more fascinating is that it's taking place in a district that's largely based in Macomb County, that politically mercurial metro Detroit area that has helped decide more than its share of important races, both in state and nationally. The new district links southern Macomb County, more blue-collar and traditionally Democratic, with more Republican-leaning areas to the north. Marlinga has a long history in the county and is well-known locally but in a county that has been leaning more Republican in recent elections, most handicappers believe James, who lost close races statewide to U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, respectively, in 2018 and 2020, and has a fundraising advantage, has the edge. But James doesn't yet live in the district and there are those who believe that could hurt his chances. Others on the ballot include Libertarian Mike Saliba and Working Class candidate Andrea Kirby.
8TH DISTRICT: The counties in much of this newly drawn district in the crook of Michigan's Thump — Bay, Genesee, Saginaw — have been trending more Republican for some time and are now linked with much of Midland County, which has long been friendly territory to the GOP. As such, there is some reason to believe that U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, may be in some trouble running for his sixth two-year term. But the Kildee brand is a solid one politically speaking: His uncle, Dale, served this region for 36 years before stepping down as Dan took office in 2012. Most handicappers figure that the incumbent, with a fundraising advantage, will hold on, despite a game challenge from Paul Junge, a former Trump administration employee and former Lansing TV anchor. Junge ran two years ago and lost to Slotkin (see above) but moved into Grand Blanc to face Kildee. There's not been much polling but if it's a particularly dismal night for Democrats nationally, it might be a better-than-expected night for Junge. Other candidates include Libertarian David Canny and Working Class nominee Kathy Goodwin.
13TH DISTRICT: Few, if any, of the other congressional races across Michigan are likely to produce upsets, with incumbents expected to win pretty much all of them. There is one key exception.
State Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, is widely expected to win in the new 13th Congressional District based in Detroit and stretching Downriver, having defeated a large field that crowded into the August primary in this predominantly Democratic district after U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield, who has represented Detroit's east side, decided not to run.
That's noteworthy because Thanedar, a millionaire entrepreneur and businessman, is an Indian immigrant whose election would leave Detroit, with the largest percentage of Black residents of any big U.S. city, without a Black representative in Congress for the first time since 1955. (U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who is a Palestinian American, is expected to win reelection in the neighboring 12th District.)
In the Nov. 8 election, Thanedar faces Republican Martell Bivings, who is Black and who has worked as a liaison with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, but given the extraordinary Democratic lean in this district, Thanedar is overwhelmingly favored. Also running are U.S. Taxpayers candidate Chris Dardzinski and Working Class candidate Simone Coleman.
A quick rundown of other races
What's most interesting about the other races across Michigan — and what may be confusing to some voters — is that after redistricting, they may not see the same members of Congress on their ballots as they're used to seeing. Here's a quick look at those races and any major changes:
1ST DISTRICT: U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, is running for his fourth two-year term in a district still comprised of the Upper Peninsula and much of the northern Lower Peninsula. Given the partisan makeup of the district, Bergman has the clear edge over Democrat Dr. Bob Lorinser, a physician who lives in Marquette. Other candidates include Libertarian Andrew Gale and Working Class candidate Liz Hakola.
2ND DISTRICT: This district spreads through much of what is currently the 4th District west of Midland north through the Lower Peninsula and west to Lake Michigan as well as snaking down east of Grand Rapids, capturing parts of the current 2nd and 3rd districts. U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, is the favorite over Democratic educator Jerry Hilliard in a predominantly rural and staunchly Republican district. Libertarian candidate Nathan Hewer is also running.
4TH DISTRICT: This west Michigan district is comprised of parts of the current 2nd District west of Grand Rapids to Lake Michigan and down through what is the current 6th District. The favorite is U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland Township, who won the Republican primary handily after Upton, who also lives in the district and has been in the House since 1987, decided not to run for another term. He faces Democrat Joseph Alfonso, a Marine veteran who works for the city of Kentwood. Also running are Libertarian Lorence Wenke and U.S. Taxpayers candidate Curtis Michael Clark.
5TH DISTRICT: Comprised of much of what is now the 7th District along the state's southern border (and catching parts of the current 6th District in the southwestern corner of Michigan), U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, who is running for his eighth two-year term, is considered to have the clear edge in what is a staunchly conservative area. He faces New Buffalo lawyer Bart Goldberg, a Democrat. Also running are Libertarian Norman Peterson and U.S. Taxpayers candidate Ezra Scott.
6TH DISTRICT: This district, comprised of Washtenaw County and parts of western Wayne County and Downriver, takes up parts of the current 7th and 12th Districts. Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, who had lived with her late husband (and longtime U.S. Rep.) John Dingell in Dearborn for years, moved to Ann Arbor when Dearborn was redistricted into the new 12th District. Dingell remains the prohibitive favorite in a Democratic district against Republican Whittney Williams, of Canton, who has worked as an auto show product specialist.
9TH DISTRICT: Made up of mostly the current 10th District covering the Thumb and northern Macomb County, this new district also includes parts of northern Oakland County currently in the 8th District. U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, is running for her second term and is the favorite in a solidly Republican district against Democratic nominee Brian Jaye, a Rochester lawyer. Other candidates include Libertarian Jake Kelts and Working Class nominee Jim Walkowicz.
11TH DISTRICT: This district is now much more compact, taking up much of southeastern Oakland County. It has gone from a district traditionally held by Republicans, though that flipped in 2018, to now having a clear, if not overwhelming, Democratic edge. U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, who flipped the current 11th District from red to blue in 2018 and who defeated U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township, in a fractious primary, is the favorite. She faces Republican Mark Ambrose, also of Bloomfield Township, a veteran and financial analyst.
12TH DISTRICT: Many voters in this new district could be understandably confused come Election Day if they haven't been keeping up with all the changes. They include linking Dearborn and areas around it, which are currently represented by Dingell, with Southfield, currently represented by Lawrence, and tying that to Detroit's west side of western Wayne County communities, including Livonia. U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, although she didn't live in the district, saw her political base moved into it, found a new home in the district and is the clear favorite. She faces Republican Steven Elliott, of Southfield, a tattoo artist and laser specialist. Also on the ballot is Working Class candidate Gary Walkowicz.
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2022-10-28T12:39:55Z
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US House races in MIchigan: What you need to know
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/us-house-races-in-michigan-what-you-need-to-know/69588858007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/us-house-races-in-michigan-what-you-need-to-know/69588858007/
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Darren Nichols
For the Rev. Nick Hood III, the recently unveiled Black Bottom mural at the Wayne State Medical School brings back a flood of memories.
It's a tangible reminder of the historic neighborhood he called home.
Hood's is one of hundreds of stories behind the mural.
Black Bottom was a predominantly Black neighborhood demolished for redevelopment in the late 1950s to early 1960s, replaced with the Lafayette Park residential district and Interstate 375. It was located on Detroit's near east side, bounded by Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, the Detroit River, and the Grand Trunk railroad tracks, according to the Detroit Historical Society. Historians estimate that 100,000 people lived in the lower east side area.
Hood grew up in Black Bottom. His father was leading the Plymouth Congregational United Church when it was taken by eminent domain to build the Detroit Medical Center in 1960. Yet, they weren’t alone, as 27 other churches were taken.
The $600,000 they say Hood's church was offered by the city wasn’t enough, but church leaders found another spot in Black Bottom, and decide to relocate nearby.
“It was not enough for us to have many options,” says Hood, a former Detroit city councilman. “My father, the leaders of the church, and ultimately the church members, voted to remain in the neighborhood. We were one of three churches (along with) Bethel AME, and Friendship Baptist.
More:Black Bottom neighborhood receives long awaited state historical marker
More:How Detroit destroyed Black Bottom and built Lafayette Park: The inside story
“Every time I look at the northwest corner of the parking structure for the old Hutzel Hospital, I think to myself, that's what they took my church for. For a parking structure half the time is not filled.”
Black Bottom was a thriving community. Hastings and St. Antoine streets were the hubs of black-owned businesses, social institutions and nightclubs. Hastings Street is where Aretha Franklin's father, the Reverend C. L. Franklin, first opened New Bethel Baptist Church.
The business district was home to 10 restaurants, eight grocers, 17 doctors' offices, and several drugstores. Barthwell Drugs, owned by Black pharmacist Sidney Barthwell, had up to 17 pharmacies in Black Bottom alone.
Nationally, Detroit also was known for the music scene in nearby Paradise Valley.
“The history of Black Bottom is very important for people to understand, whether they happen to be African American, or others that live in our nation,” says Detroit historian and author Ken Coleman.
“I mean, look: Black Bottom happens because of systemic racism, at least in terms of the Black experience in that area. It happens only because of systemic racism that's carried out in the real estate industry (and) in public policy, emanating from City Hall.
More:Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood: See it then and now
“Those institutions forced them to live (in Black Bottom) because they weren't interested in, quite frankly, having Black people be part of Detroit's experience. So they're relegated to the lower east side, the Black Bottom community.”
Black Bottom became a neighborhood out of necessity. Most Black Detroiters during that time were forced to live on the lower east side, because they weren’t allowed to migrate to other parts of the city.
But Black Bottom was dismantled when the city wanted to build freeways, and took the land from the Black population.
In essence, those Black Detroiters weren’t ever given a choice as to where they could live.
More:New 'Hastings Street' musical explores Detroit's Black Bottom community
Despite all the books about Black Bottom, despite the family conversations and stories about lineage rooted in the community, the 375-foot mural is the first permanent marker of the historic neighborhood, Hood says.
The mural, which sits on the south side of Canfield Street near WSU’s North Hall, pays homage to Black Detroiters' contributions in the area of medicine.
“I've never seen it, anything like it,” says Hood, who grew up in Black Bottom. “The significance of it is going to transcend this moment.”
The mural, a joint project between the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, features nine historical figures, and one future medical student to symbolize the future. Among those honored is Ossian Sweet, who purchased a home in an all-white Detroit neighborhood that defined race relations in Detroit; Marjorie Peebles-Meyers, the first Black woman to graduate from Wayne College of Medicine; Dr. Robert Greenidge, a founder of Parkside Hospital and David and D.L. Northcross, a set of entrepreneurs who started Mercy General Hospital in 1917 and Barthwell, the pharmacist.
On the eastern end of the mural, there is a plaque that commemorates the displacement. It is built in removable panels so that even if the School of Medicine moves, it can remain.
“The mural is playing this incredible role in providing students, and future students, with strong role models who reflect the diversity of the city and the campus. It just shows you the power of art to transform a neighborhood,” says Sheryl Oring, art and art history chair at WSU. “That's one thing art also does: it draws people in, gets people to ask questions and maybe play a role in healing. There were so many difficult things in the history of Detroit and I hope that the mural can play a role in healing.”
Like many in Detroit, Black Bottom was a part of my family’s lineage. The first Black Bottom story I recall was learning my aunt, Shirley McNeil, was the first Black English teacher at the old Eastern High School. Her move to Black Bottom was not popular with my grandfather, a prominent Black minister in Dayton, Ohio, who was concerned about her living in that part of Detroit.
But it was just about a year ago that I learned a chapter was written about her in the 2020 book “Black Bottom Saints” by Alice Randall, for her work with the Youth Colossal musical revue each Father's Day, put on by Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson.
Johnson, the founder of the famous Ziggy Johnson School of Dance, was considered the pulse of Black Bottom. Johnson, a Michigan Chronicle columnist, was the master of ceremonies at the famed Flame Show Bar where he rubbed elbows with Billy Eckstine, Della Reese and Nat “King” Cole.
His dance school was also known for his exquisite Youth Colossal shows every June, a showcase of young, local talent that included appearances by The Four Tops, The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips and the Contours. Barry Gordy used his shows to showcase his up and coming artists.
That’s what this mural is all about: preserving history. In a city that’s evolving and changing daily, we must not forget the past.
With our elders leaving us ever so fast, we’re losing our connection to areas such as Black Bottom, Paradise Valley, businesses along 12th Street and other strong neighborhood hangouts, industries and homes that made Detroit so vibrant.
We must never allow our young people to forget the bridge under Belle Isle, the swim mobile, book mobile, Sanders chocolate on Woodward and the downtown trolley.
We are more than Motown and cars.
The loss of Black Bottom is tough. But so was the destruction of Black Wall St., Harlem and the hundreds of other neighborhoods and business districts, such as southwest D.C., that displaced Black families and Black-owned businesses for “urban renewal” projects across the nation.
But we must deal with that history, and honor what we lost.
The Black Bottom mural is a great start.
Darren A. Nichols is a contributing columnist at the Free Press. He can be reached at darren@dnick-media.com or his Twitter handle @dnick12.
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2022-10-28T12:40:01Z
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www.freep.com
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Opinion: Black Bottom mural celebrates Black history in Detroit
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/28/black-bottom-detroit-black-history-urban-renewal/69556670007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/28/black-bottom-detroit-black-history-urban-renewal/69556670007/
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The Detroit Tigers haven't won the World Series since 1984, with just two appearances since: 2006, in which they lost in five games to the St. Louis Cardinals, and 2012, in which they were swept by the San Francisco Giants.
With the 2022 Fall Classic starting Friday, featuring the Houston Astros representing the American League and the Philadelphia Phillies repping the NL, there are more than a few ties to the Tigers.
Start with the Phillies' front office, led by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski — who also built the Tigers' rosters for those '06 and '12 runs.
Dombrowski, a likely Baseball Hall of Famer, has guided two other franchises to the World Series (the 1997 Florida Marlins and the 2018 Boston Red Sox, both of whom won it all), for a total of four.
(Compare his Hall credentials to a pair of recent inductees: Pat Gillick led the Toronto Blue Jays and the Phillies to the World Series and won three championships and John Schuerholz took the Kansas City Royals and the Atlanta Braves to the Series and won two titles. Dombrowski, 66, has taken four and is on the doorstep of Series titles with three different franchises. He would be the first MLB exec with titles from three different franchises.)
SHUFFLING THE FRONT OFFICE:How Tigers' Scott Harris is looking outside the box
FREEP FLASHBACK:10 years ago this month, Tigers clinched a World Series berth by sweeping the Yankees
The Tigers' former general manger once looked back at the ones that got away.
"There's no question the biggest regret is that unfortunately we never won a world championship," Dombrowski told the Free Press in 2015. "I wish we would have won a World Series here. We were close a couple times, but we just didn't play well at the right time in those particular times."
Two other key participants in this year's World Series have significant ties to the Tigers: Astros right-hander Justin Verlander and Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos.
But don't forget about Rob Thomson, the Phillies' manager. The 59-year-old replaced veteran manager Joe Girardi, fired in early June after a 22-29 start to the season, on an interim basis. (The Phillies dropped Thomson's interim tag Oct. 10, agreeing to a two-year contract and making him the 55th manager in franchise history.)
The Tigers selected Thomson, born in Sarnia, Ontario, in the 32nd round of the 1985 MLB draft. He played baseball for one season at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron, before transferring to Kansas. Thomson spent four seasons in the Tigers' farm system as a catcher and third baseman, batting .225 in 216 games.
He flamed out in Class-A Lakeland in 1988.
Following Thomson's playing career, the Tigers hired him as a minor-league coach for the Lakeland Tigers in 1988 and the London Tigers in 1989. He then went to the New York Yankees in 1990 and remained in that organization until 2017. He received his first job in the big leagues as Girardi's bench coach in 2008.
Thomson joined manager Gabe Kapler with the Phillies for the 2018 season, then transitioned to Girardi and later inherited a talented Phillies roster that went 66-46 under him in the regular season and 9-2 in three rounds of the postseason.
Dombrowski — known for spending big, trading for elite talent and getting the job done with an aggressive style — inherited Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler in Philadelphia when he was hired by the Phillies in December 2020. He followed his script by signing talented hitters to complement Harper, who missed July and most of August this season with an injured thumb, and capitalizing on opportunities at the trade deadline.
One of those hitters, Castellanos, signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Phillies in March 2022. Under Dombrowski, the Tigers selected Castellanos with the No. 44 overall pick in the 2010 draft. He made his MLB debut for the Tigers in September 2013, and in July 2019, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Alex Lange and Paul Richan.
"I think that's all there is. It's the nature of the business," Castellanos said in September 2021, in the midst of a 34-homer season with the Cincinnati Reds. "Where I was in '19, they didn't feel like I was a piece they could build around. At the end of the day, all that did was put a little more gas on the fire."
Castellanos' red-hot 2021, in which he became an All-Star for the first time, led to his second big-money contract. And then he went ice cold for much of 2022.
He swung more often than anyone in baseball, struck out 130 times and hit .263 with 13 home runs in 136 regular-season games. His .694 OPS is the worst of his 10-year career, not including his 11-game stint in 2013.
Entering this season, Castellanos had played in five postseason games: three with the 2014 Tigers and two with the 2020 Reds. In 2022 alone, he has played in 11. He drove in five runs in the Phillies' NLDS win over the Atlanta Braves and secured the game-ending catch in right field in Game 5 of the NLCS to beat the San Diego Padres and advance to the World Series.
On Friday, Castellanos will step into the batter's box to face Verlander — his teammate with the Tigers from 2013-17.
An icon in Detroit, Verlander is — like Dombrowski — likely also on his way to the Hall of Fame. He turns 40 in February but is the favorite to win the AL Cy Young Award this season, which would give him three in his 17-year career.
Verlander is one of the greatest pitchers to ever take the mound for the Tigers, winning the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year Award and the 2011 AL Cy Young and MVP awards with the Tigers, while posting a 3.49 ERA across 13 seasons (2005-17). But his dominance with the Astros — winning the 2017 World Series and the 2019 AL Cy Young while posting a 2.26 ERA and 825 strikeouts in 652 innings — has everyone wondering about the logo on the hat for his Hall of Fame plaque.
The Tigers, under Dombrowski's replacement, Al Avila, traded Verlander to the Astros in August 2017 for Franklin Perez, Jake Rogers and Daz Cameron. The deal, which signified the beginning of the organization's rebuild, didn't pay off for the Tigers; that trio hasn't produced in the big leagues.
"I think the reason that we got a good trade in return is because we were prepared to keep Justin Verlander for the remainder of his contract," Avila said in September 2017. "When you have that alternative, you can stand pat and say, 'This is what we want.' ... This is an obvious rebuild move. We're trying to stock our farm system with the best prospects we can acquire and that's how we'll move forward. And once we finish this, at some point, there will be a turnaround."
Verlander, drafted No. 2 overall by the Tigers in 2004, underwent Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2021 season. He became a free agent, returned to the Astros (without an offer from the Tigers) on a one-year deal (with a 2023 player option for $25 million) and pitched the best season of his career in 2022: a 1.75 ERA with 29 walks and 185 strikeouts over 175 innings in 28 starts.
Only 10 pitchers in MLB history have won at least three Cy Youngs.
Verlander will likely become the 11th.
His Game 1 start Friday will mark Verlander's 34th game (and 33rd start) in the postseason: 16 starts with the Tigers and 17 games (16 starts) with the Astros. He has a 3.55 ERA in the playoffs but a 5.68 ERA in seven World Series starts.
This year, Verlander allowed six runs over four innings in the Astros' ALDS sweep of the Seattle Mariners and one run over six innings in the ALCS sweep of the Yankees. His start against New York featured 11 strikeouts to make him MLB's career leader in postseason strikeouts.
Another reminder of the Tigers' decade-long absence from the World Series comes from Astros rookie pitcher Hunter Brown. He grew up in metro Detroit idolizing Verlander and making trips to watch him pitch at Comerica Park. He vividly remembers the days of the last Tigers dynasty, when the Tigers rolled out a starting rotation of Verlander, Max Scherzer and David Price, with sluggers Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder mashing in the heart of the lineup.
Brown was born in Detroit, attended Lakeview High School in St. Clair Shores and pitched for Wayne State in college before being drafted in the fifth round by the Astros in 2019. His second MLB start came Sept. 13 at Comerica Park; he struck out six batters across six innings while allowing just two runs. In the postseason, he appeared twice in the ALDS and once in the ALCS without surrendering a run.
He is seeking his first World Series title at 24 years old.
The Astros' pitching staff features one more tie to the Tigers, albeit an indirect one: Lance McCullers Sr. — the father of Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. — pitched nine games for the Tigers in 1990. The Tigers traded Matt Nokes to the Yankees and received McCullers Sr. and Clay Parker in return.
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2022-10-28T12:40:43Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit Tigers' 2022 World Series ties a reminder of glory days
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/10/28/detroit-tigers-2022-world-series-ties-a-reminder-of-glory-days/69596768007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/10/28/detroit-tigers-2022-world-series-ties-a-reminder-of-glory-days/69596768007/
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A New York bank's planned acquisition deal for Troy-based Flagstar Bank has been extended yet again, now until late December.
The all-stock deal was first announced in April 2021 and expected to close before the end of last year, but encountered delays. In past earnings calls, Bancorp executives were reluctant to detail the reasons for the deal's delays.
The banks also said Friday that the deal now has the blessing of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. It is still subject to approval from the Federal Reserve Board.
If the deal happens, the Flagstar Bank brand name is expected to carrying on, and the newly combined bank would be one of the largest regional banks in the country, with more than $85 billion in assets and 395 traditional branches in nine states and over 80 loan production offices across 26 states.
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2022-10-28T15:20:48Z
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Flagstar Bank acquisition deal extended again, to Dec. 31
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2022/10/28/flagstar-bank-acquisition/69598819007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2022/10/28/flagstar-bank-acquisition/69598819007/
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Warren man wins $25K a year for life thanks to random number generator
Aaron Essenmacher of Warren had been playing the Michigan Lottery's Lucky For Life game a lot recently. And when he did, he usually played the same sets of numbers. That was until he decided to change things up.
He recently decided to add a different set of numbers — one he got from a random number generator he found online — and it generated a lot of cash.
Essenmacher's new set of numbers matched the five white balls drawn Sept. 15 — 2-18-27-41-45 — to win the game's prize of $25,000 a year for life, according to the Michigan Lottery.
He purchased his ticket at Happy Days Party Store located at 32855 Schoenherr Road in Warren, and opted to receive a one-time lump sum payment of $390,000 instead of annuity payments of $25,000 a year for 20 years or life, whichever is greater.
More:Winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million sold in Dearborn
“I was checking the winning numbers online the day after the drawing and when I saw I’d matched five, I couldn’t believe it!" Essenmacher, 50, told the Michigan Lottery. "What shocked me even more was that the numbers I won on are the ones I got from the random number generator. I kept scanning my ticket on the app over and over again because I couldn’t believe I’d really won!"
He plans to use the money to pay bills and take a vacation.
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2022-10-28T15:21:00Z
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Michigan Lottery: Warren man wins Lucky For Life's $25K a year prize
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/10/28/michigan-lottery-lucky-life-winning-numbers-aaron-essenmacher/69598872007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2022/10/28/michigan-lottery-lucky-life-winning-numbers-aaron-essenmacher/69598872007/
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Kristina Karamo, Michigan's Republican secretary of state candidate, filed a lawsuit earlier this week seeking a court order that could result in the rejection of tens of thousands of absentee ballots cast by Detroit voters for the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm election.
Karamo is one of several secretary of state candidates backed by former President Donald Trump who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen vying to serve as their state's top election official.
While the lawsuit takes issue with election procedures in place across the state — such as the process for verifying voter signatures on absentee ballots — its allegations of election law violations target Detroit, Michigan's largest voting jurisdiction and the nation's largest majority-Black city. Karamo, who is Black, has put up billboards across the city promoting her campaign.
The lawsuit, filed against Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey less than two weeks before the Nov. 8 midterm election, asks the court to require Detroit voters to cast their ballots in person or show an ID at the clerk's office to vote absentee. Currently, election officials rely on signature verification rather than photo identification to verify absentee ballots, and the right to vote absentee is guaranteed in the state constitution. Tens of thousands of voters in the city have already returned their ballots expecting them to count.
The lawsuit suggests election officials should toss those ballots. It asks the court to "halt the use of absentee ballots that are obtained without identification" and "the counting of ballots cast through drop boxes that are not effectively monitored." It doesn't indicate how voters who have already returned their absentee ballots might ensure their votes count.
The Detroit News first reported on the lawsuit, which was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court. A hearing on a motion requesting a visiting judge to hear the case to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest will take place Monday. If the court "declines to act before the election then there will be a question about the legitimacy of the outcome," the plaintiffs' motion for an emergency hearing warns.
Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson called the legal challenge "egregious" and said her "opponent is seeking to have valid votes thrown out... based on nothing but lies," in a tweet. "It won't succeed. Democracy will prevail." Benson won nearly 95% of the vote in Detroit in 2018.
Every Michigander has the right to vote by absentee ballot under the state’s constitution. In 2018, nearly 67% of Michigan voters adopted a constitutional amendment establishing a right to no-reason absentee voting.
Karamo rose to national prominence after serving as an election challenger in Detroit in 2020. Challengers in Michigan can observe polling locations and counting rooms processing absentee ballots and have the authority to contest a voter's eligibility to cast a ballot or an election procedure. In the wake of the 2020 election, Karamo joined legal efforts to overturn its results. Trump routinely targeted Detroit in his attacks against the election and leveled unfounded claims that the vote count was rife with fraud and misconduct.
Detroit voters — like those across Michigan — have embraced their right to vote absentee. As of Wednesday, more than 79,000 absentee ballots have been issued to voters in the city and more than 43,000 ballots have been returned, according to city election officials.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare that only those requested in person can count. It is unclear how many Detroit voters requested their absentee ballots online or by mail rather than in person.
Other plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit brought by Karamo include those affiliated with organizations that deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election and have instructed poll challengers to observe the upcoming election in trainings recommended by a group spearheaded by prominent election conspiracists and Trump allies.
More:Election conspiracists have checklist for Michigan poll challengers: What’s on it
More:In legal victory for Republicans, court order invalidates Benson election challenger rules
One of the plaintiffs — Braden Giacobazzi — served as a challenger during the recent primary in Detroit. He was kicked out of the absentee ballot counting room for harassing election workers. He has denied any wrongdoing and has said he instructs challengers to be courteous to election workers. He has helped lead election challenger trainings on behalf of the Election Integrity Fund and Force, an organization whose website boasts its lawsuit to "decertify the Michigan 2020 election."
Another plaintiff in the case — Phil O'Halloran — wrote a report about the administration of the 2020 presidential election in Detroit alleging "election lawlessness." Audits, court rulings and post-election reviews undercut allegations of widespread fraud.
Before absentee ballots are counted, a voter must submit an application to request a ballot. Before issuing a ballot, election officials verify the signature on the absentee ballot application with the one on file for the voter. Officials also perform a signature match on the absentee ballot return envelope returned by the voter.
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2022-10-28T15:21:06Z
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www.freep.com
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Kristina Karamo lawsuit questions thousands of Detroit votes
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/kristina-karamo-lawsuit-detroit-votes/69598090007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/kristina-karamo-lawsuit-detroit-votes/69598090007/
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Detroit Tigers bring back lefty reliever Miguel Del Pozo on minor-league contract
The Detroit Tigers re-signed left-handed reliever Miguel Del Pozo, who has pitched in 89 games out of the bullpen for Triple-A Toledo over the past two seasons, on Friday to a minor-league contract. It's unclear if he received an invitation to MLB spring training.
The 30-year-old pitched five games for the Tigers in 2021 but didn't reach the big leagues this season.
Del Pozo has found success against left-handed hitters in his professional career, with lefties batting .131 against in 2021 and .195 in 2022 at Toledo. He elected free agency at the end of the season but decided to return to the Tigers' organization.
WORLD SERIES:Detroit Tigers' 2022 World Series ties a reminder of franchise's glory days
The Tigers kept Del Pozo on the 40-man roster throughout last offseason, but in April, he was designated for assignment. He posted a 3.88 ERA with 16 walks and 66 strikeouts over 53⅓ innings for the Mud Hens, giving him 11.1 strikeouts and 2.7 walks per nine innings in 55 appearances.
In 2021, Del Pozo registered 12.7 strikeouts and 3.8 walks per nine innings over 34 outings in Toledo. He had a 2.82 ERA with 16 walks and 54 strikeouts in 38⅓ innings.
His MLB career, however, is a small sample, pitching 18⅓ innings in 27 total appearances for the Los Angeles Angels in 2019, Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 and Tigers in 2021. He has a 9.82 ERA in his career with 18 walks and 17 strikeouts.
For 2023, Del Pozo provides the Tigers with lefty reliever depth at the Triple-A level.
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2022-10-28T17:44:45Z
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Detroit Tigers re-sign reliever Miguel Del Pozo to minors deal
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/10/28/detroit-tigers-re-sign-reliever-miguel-del-pozo-to-minor-league-deal/69599385007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/10/28/detroit-tigers-re-sign-reliever-miguel-del-pozo-to-minor-league-deal/69599385007/
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New documentary explores Muslim American life post-9/11
New documentary featuring a Michigan woman explores Muslim American life post 9/11
A heralded new documentary about Muslim life in America is getting two free screenings in metro Detroit this weekend.
“An Act of Worship” focuses on the impact of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policy – particularly on young Muslims who came of age after 9/11. The film received its world premiere at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year.
One of the film’s key story arcs features Khadega Mohammed, an 18-year-old Sudanese immigrant living in Michigan. “An Act of Worship” uses home videos and contemporary footage to weave together her story with those of other Muslim-American women as they advocate for their communities.
The film was directed by Nausheen Dadabhoy, a California filmmaker-cinematographer whose extensive resume includes work on narrative films, documentaries and music videos.
Details on the events:
6:45 p.m. Friday, Bel-Air Cinema, Detroit. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Khadega Mohammed and Aint Afraid.
Noon Saturday, Arab American National Museum, Dearborn. The screening will be followed by a mental health workshop with Dr. Kameelah Rashad, including a healing circle and debrief.
More info about the events, including links to reserve tickets, can be found here.
The film made its broadcast premiere on PBS’s “POV” earlier this month. It can be streamed through the PBS website and app.
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2022-10-28T19:55:22Z
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www.freep.com
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'An Act of Worship' explores Muslim American life post-9/11
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/10/28/an-act-of-worship-movie-documentary-detroit-screening/69600159007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/10/28/an-act-of-worship-movie-documentary-detroit-screening/69600159007/
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October's final weekend brings music, art and Halloween fun to Detroit's cultural institutions.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is leaning all the way into Halloween this weekend with three different musical events celebrating the occasion. Friday night at 8 p.m., The Cube at Orchestra Hall will host a screening of F.W. Murnau’s highly influential silent film classic “Nosferatu” with a new score performed live by the Andrew Alden Ensemble. The score will blend classical chamber music with rock and elements of jazz; the screening marks the film’s 100th anniversary. Tickets are $20.
Children are encouraged to wear costumes to Rock O’Ween with Miss Paula and the Candy Bandits at 10 a.m. Saturday at The Cube. The band will play children’s songs in rock-'n'-roll style during the one-hour concert. Tickets are $12.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, a costume contest and other activities will precede the one-hour presentation of Halloween at Hogwarts in Orchestra Hall. Conductor Erin Freeman and the DSO will offer musical selections from the Harry Potter films and more. Tickets start at $20.
Admission is free; the gallery is open through Saturday, noon-5:30 p.m. More information at dkgallery.com.
Celebrating 30 years of impactful visual arts offerings, Detroit’s Carr Center, 15 E. Kirby St., will host Homecoming Part 2 on Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served during the retrospective curated by Lina Stephens. Work from artists such as Carrie Mae Weems, Carole Harris, Mindy Mitchell, Hugh Grannum, Andrew Evans, Morgan Bouldes, Robin McDaniel, Pat Kabore, Toyin Akintoroye, Ray Wells, Marian Stephens and more will be on display. Admission is free. More information at thecarrcenter.org.
Chamber Music Detroit will present the multi-award-winning Merz Trio from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Friday at Schaver Music Recital Hall, 480 W. Hancock St. in Detroit. Brilliant young violinist Jordan Bak will join the group for a program of solos, trios and Schumann’s “Piano Quartet in E-flat major, Op. 47.”
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2022-10-28T19:59:43Z
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Detroit arts and music things to do this weekend, Oct. 28-30
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/10/28/detroit-arts-music-things-to-do-halloween/69597310007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/10/28/detroit-arts-music-things-to-do-halloween/69597310007/
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Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell was appreciative of the vote of confidence owner Sheila Hamp gave him amidst the team's 1-5 start this week, but Campbell said Hamp's comments do not change the urgency of his situation.
"I mean, look I’m not blind to any of this," Campbell said Friday. "I appreciate that and I know, but I also know the reality. I mean, we got to win. I mean there’s still urgency here. I mean that’s not – that’s never changed. I mean, we know what kind of business we’re in. I know what kind of business I’m in and I know that the patience only goes so long."
Hamp held an impromptu 4-minute meeting with reporters Wednesday to show support for Campbell, general manager Brad Holmes and their staffs in Year 2 of their rebuild.
Birkett mailbag:Jared Goff's future, and should the Lions tank for Bryce Young?
The Lions went 3-13-1 last season and are an NFL-worst 1-5 this year entering Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins.
They have the worst defense in the NFL, an offense that has not scored a touchdown in eight quarters, and Campbell has made crucial mistakes managing games.
"I know this is difficult," Hamp told reporters. "A rebuild is hard. But we really believe in our process, we really believe in we’re going to turn this thing around the right way, through the draft. It requires patience, it’s frustrating. Am I frustrated? Absolutely. Are the fans frustrated? Absolutely. Are you guys frustrated? But I think we really are making progress."
Seidel:Enough talk, Detroit Lions. Time for Sheila Hamp, GM and head coach to show us something
Hamp declined to say if Campbell and Holmes would return for 2023 no matter how this season finishes, but she insisted, "I believe in the leadership," and touted "the process we went through in the first place when we hired Brad and Dan."
Asked about those comments Friday, in his first availability since Hamp met with reporters, Campbell said he "appreciated it."
"But I also, I know that – she’s told me that’s how she feels, so I’m not surprised by it, either," he said. "But I appreciate it, she didn’t have to do that. So certainly, I appreciate that and I know that – I know that we have her support. But I don’t take that for granted, I don’t take it lightly, either. I know that that’s not easy. It’s not easy at all. It’s not easy on anybody. But certainly, I do, I appreciate it.”
At 4-18-1, Campbell is off to the worst 23-game start by a Lions coach since Jim Schwartz went 4-19 in 2009-10. The Lions went 2-14 in Schwartz's first season, improved to 7-9 in Year 2 and made the playoffs in his third year.
"We’re trying to get one this week and then after that takes place, then you go get the next one," Campbell said. "But I mean, it’s all about winning. I mean, we’re not – we’re not trying to kick the can down the road. We’re not trying to say any of that. I mean, we’ve got a team here that I know can win and it’s my job to get them there."
Windsor:Detroit Lions owner Sheila Hamp met with media to tell fanbase: 'There, there.'
'Slim to none'
Campbell said right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai likely will not play this season after undergoing back surgery in September. Vaitai was injured late in training camp, and the Lions have used a rotating cast of linemen − Evan Brown, Logan Stenberg and Dan Skipper − in his place.
"He’s doing well," Campbell said. "I would say (the chances of him playing) would be very slim to none as of right now, but the surgery went well and he’s doing great. It’s just – that’s one of those long term. It’ll be probably – if you’re asking me right now, I’d say it would be hard to get him back.”
Backup guard Tommy Kraemer, who has not played this season because of a back injury, could return "at some point here over the next few weeks possibly," Campbell said.
More:Two-game touchdown drought has not dimmed Ben Johnson's outlook on Detroit Lions offense
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2022-10-28T19:59:44Z
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Dan Campbell appreciative of Detroit Lions owner Sheila Hamp's support
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/10/28/dan-campbell-detroit-lions-owner-sheila-ford-hamp-support/69600069007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/10/28/dan-campbell-detroit-lions-owner-sheila-ford-hamp-support/69600069007/
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A popular bookstore in Ann Arbor is expected to close for good on Monday, Oct. 31, according to a recent Instagram post.
Ulrich's Bookstore is expected to close after 88 years in the University of Michigan community. On Sept. 21, the company took to Instagram to announce its closure.
They thanked the University of Michigan community, and business partners plus pointed out their own contributions.
"Ulrich's Bookstore has seen many changes over 88 years and we have helped many young people start their educational journey each and every semester," according to the Instagram post on Ulrich's Bookstore page.
Since 1934, University of Michigan students could possibly find themselves shopping in the store, not just for books, but dorm finds, beauty products, and, of course, maize and blue spirit gear.
Shoppers have until 2 p.m. on Monday to pick up and buy any last-minute notebooks, books, or gear.
More:Ghost hunters on the prowl at local theater
More: Rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis has died
Detroit Free Press reached out to the store manager Tracy Buse but she is unable to comment on why the store is closing. Parent company Follett Corp. has yet to reply to inquiries from the Free Press.
According to a recent Mlive article on the closing, Follett told them that the building's lease ends on Nov. 14 but no further information was provided.
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2022-10-28T22:06:10Z
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www.freep.com
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Ulrich's Bookstore in Ann Arbor is closing its doors after 88 years
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/10/28/ulrichs-bookstore-in-ann-arbor-is-closing-its-doors-after-88-years/69597260007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/10/28/ulrichs-bookstore-in-ann-arbor-is-closing-its-doors-after-88-years/69597260007/
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Calvin University to add Division III football program
Calvin University, one of the charter members of one of the first college conferences in the country, has decided to play football.
The Grand Rapids-based college announced Friday that the Board of Trustees voted to approved the university's athletics strategic plan that calls for adding football, women's acrobatics and tumbling and men's volleyball.
It is not clear when those sports will begin at Calvin.
"We are one of the premier athletics programs in all of Division III and so why not add more offerings that meet the needs of our students," Calvin University president Wiebe Boer said. "By adding these sports, we are providing students who have competed throughout high school the opportunity to get the best Christian liberal arts education around and continue in the sport they love. It's a win-win."
Calvin was one of the first members of the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association and has a longtime basketball rivalry with Hope, which has had football since the 1990s.
There are currently seven MIAA schools that play football: Adrian, Albion, Alma, Hope, Kalamazoo, Olivet and Trine. The only other school without football would be Saint Mary's (Indiana), which is an all-women's college.
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2022-10-28T22:06:35Z
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Calvin University to add Division III football program
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/10/28/calvin-university-add-division-iii-football-program/69601095007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/10/28/calvin-university-add-division-iii-football-program/69601095007/
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Highland Park revitalization plan would include paying water debt. What leaders said
Black business leaders, political candidates and community members gathered in Highland Park on Friday for the announcement of a $10 billion revitalization plan.
The plan, which would be led by Redford-based nonprofit Manna Development Corp., would include paying between $24 million to $50 million the city owes for water to the Great Lakes Water Authority. Leaders said at the news conference announcing the revitalization that Manna would work with unnamed investment partners on the project.Leaders also said NORR, a Detroit-based architect engineering firm, would help build a mixed-use development called Uptown Highland Park.
"We will bring the city new manufacturing facilities that will connect the city with markets around the world," said Kenneth Hogan, president and CEO of Manna, which helps to rebuild disenfranchised areas in Detroit and has been operating since 2000. "We'll have new educational system. We will work with the city to revitalize it." The city has not had a high school for seven years.
Leaders said the first installment would be $127 million, and that the money will be invested over four years.
But some vital information was not revealed, such as when the money would come, when building would start or, again, who the investors are.
Highland Park Mayor Hubert Yopp, who made an appearance at the news conference, said he will believe it when he sees it.
"I've not seen any documentation," Yopp said. "Word of mouth is no proof of truth."
Hogan also promised:
Better access to food and medicine with the help of financial and technical assistance.
Industrial firms would be created that are owned by the city and private firms.
Training and a workforce that would be created that is far from automation.
Prioritized hiring of city residents first, and then hire those from surrounding cities.
A new 90-unit, 70,000 square feet, seven-story mixed-use building that would be built at the former Sears location that was demolished in 2007.
"All together, we intend to utilize the $10 billion budget to stabilize the city through redevelopment and transplanting viable international business into this area," Hogan said. "We are also here to announce that Manna Development and its investment partners, subject to a proposed public and private partnership with the city of Highland Park, are prepared to pay the city of Highland Park's obligation related to the water supply and redevelopment."
The Great Lakes Water Authority,when asked about its knowledge of impending payments, had this to say:
"GLWA is not aware of this new development opportunity for the city of Highland Park," Randal Brown, GLWA General Counsel, said in an emailed statement. "However, the Authority is pleased to hear about it, and looks forward to further information about the proposed development and is generally supportive of this and any other efforts that could lead to a resolution of the debt owed to the regional authority."
More:Gen Z siblings from Detroit land a big federal contract against the odds: How they did it.
More:Detroit arts and music things to do this weekend, Oct. 28-30
Friday's news conference was held next to a former NAACP headquarters. During the conference, leaders said the grouphas site control over the building and that a contract has been signed to work on the building.
Many people who attended the news conference grew up in Highland Park or have a close connection to the city. Several candidates running for political office spoke during the news conference and gave their opinions about what they heard Friday. They also encouraged people to vote for them.
"We have to have thinking that is going to be outside of our traditional box," said Maurice Turner, who is running for Highland Park mayor as a write-in candidate. The current mayor is stepping down Dec. 31.
"And we have to put forth the passion and the effort to make sure that the change that is already here is going to continue and that we continue to work together, reach across the aisle, reach across our 2.9-mile city," he added.
The plans for the mixed-use building space include a hub for small businesses, clean energy businesses and information technology jobs as well as 20% of the units that would be reserved for affordable housing.
"Our development and investment group believes that the redevelopment of the city of Highland Park will be a model of economic development across the United States and around the world," said Hogan.
Other items promised include:
Geothermal technology to power the lights in Highland Park.
Raise the standard of living for residents.
Launch a public-private partnership with the city of Highland Park.
Although investors are not being revealed at this time, leaders did say multiple times during the news conference that those investors would be present at a ground-breaking ceremony in the future. However, no date was given.
Hogan said a letter of intent about the water obligation was sent to the mayor's office, along with a document with payment terms. He said that investors are not looking to get abatements for this project and that this project is for the citizens.
"We are requesting that the mayor ... call an emergency meeting of the City Council session before the Nov. 21 meeting, so that City Council can review our proposal," Hogan said.
Yopp said Friday that he had not been part of any conversations about the investments and was not aware of any emergency meeting. But he did say his community economic director, Tyrone Hinton, had discussed the project with the group.
"I would never turn my back on progress," Yopp said. "So understand this — I've not seen $10 billion. I've not seen any money at this point. But I do know this, if in fact it's the truth, I'm for it."
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2022-10-29T00:03:56Z
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www.freep.com
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Highland Park revitalization plan would include paying water debt
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/highland-park-revitalization-plan-pay-water-debt/69600330007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/highland-park-revitalization-plan-pay-water-debt/69600330007/
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$1B proposal would demolish Lakeside Mall, redevelop the site with housing
The owner of Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights has a $1 billion redevelopment plan that calls for demolishing most of the struggling 1970s shopping mall and then building lots of new housing, new retail and a hotel.
Out of the Box Ventures, a subsidiary of Miami-based investment firm Lionheart Capital, is proposing to tear down nearly all of the 1.5 million-square-foot enclosed mall, except for the Macy's, JC Penney and former Sears buildings.
Once the mall starts coming down, likely in spring 2024, the 110-acre site would then get redeveloped over a period of 10 to 12 years, according to Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor.
This proposed future "Lakeside City Center" would have:
2,803 new housing units (market-rate plus senior housing).
Nearly 150,000 square feet of new retail space.
Facelifted Macy's and JC Penney stores.
A 120-room hotel.
60,000 square feet of office space.
New restaurants.
“Right now, there is just Lakeside Circle and a sea of pavement with the (mall) in the middle," the mayor said. "The building is going to be removed, the pavement is going to be removed and we’re going to put in a whole new street grid with sidewalks, streetscapes, trees, landscaping, park benches — you name it. It’s going to look like a town center.”
On Tuesday, Sterling Heights City Council is scheduled to take up a proposal in which the city would partner with Lionheart on the development and helping to finance just the pre-development and public infrastructure portions of the project, such as roads, sidewalks, water and sewer lines.
Under the proposal, Lionheart would get reimbursed for the $71 million cost of this pre-development work and infrastructure buildout with future tax revenues generated at new development.
Also, to cover a temporary cash flow shortfall between when debt payments are due and the future tax revenues start flowing, the city would issue $45 million in bonds. Lionheart would then draw on those bond proceeds to complete the work.
The city would pay back the bonds using new tax revenues from the new development — not any general fund money.
New owner of Oakland Mall wants an 'anti-mall' with TikTok stars
“I think everybody on the council wants to see this vision come to life, and that’s why Tuesday I’m anticipating a strong vote of support," Taylor said.
Lionheart is later expected to seek state-level approvals for a Brownfield subsidy that would cover the mall's demolition costs. It also will need to obtain a $636.8 million construction loan. The firm would donate about 30 acres of land for public use as parks, streetscape and infrastructure.
In addition, Lionheart is expected to apply for a "Transformational Brownfield," which is a unique state-level subsidy for big development projects.
That type of brownfield would redirect to Lionheart decades of future property taxes that will be generated at the new development site, plus state income taxes paid by construction workers employed at the site and the state income taxes of future residents who reside there.
Michigan lawmakers last December eased requirements for the Transformational Brownfield program so that more projects could qualify for the powerful incentives. So far, only two projects have qualified since the program began nearly five years ago: redevelopment of an abandoned Vicksburg paper mill into commercial and residential space, and Dan Gilbert's four big downtown Detroit developments, including the Hudson's site.
The fully enclosed Lakeside Mall opened in 1976 and was developed by A. Alfred Taubman and Rodamco. The mall expanded in 1990 and was last renovated in 2007. It is situated on one of the busiest retail corridors in the state, and it's a short drive to the open-air Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township.
Lionheart's Out of the Box Ventures bought Lakeside Mall for $26.5 million in late 2019 on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are honored to be working with the city of Sterling Heights to help breathe new life into an area that has been underutilized for decades, and in so doing, create thousands of new jobs,” Allison Greenfield, principal and chief development officer of Lionheart Capital, said in a statement.
The firm's $1 billion mall redevelopment plan has similarities to the one underway at the former Northland Center site in Southfield, where Bloomfield Hills-based Contour Companies is razing much of the old mall and constructing "Northland City Center" with more than 1,500 housing units, plus rehab of the Northland's original Hudson's store into new retail and housing.
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2022-10-29T00:04:02Z
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$1 billion plan would demolish Lakeside Mall, redevelop as housing
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/plan-demolish-lakeside-mall-redevelop-housing/69600089007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/28/plan-demolish-lakeside-mall-redevelop-housing/69600089007/
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I Bonds see unprecedented sales in 24 hours
The inflation-fueled frenzy to buy I Bonds led to an unprecedented volume of purchases in the last 24 hours, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
As of 4 p.m. Friday, TreasuryDirect saw 68,751 online accounts created and $710 million in purchase requests for I Bonds in just one day. It’s an enormous amount when you consider that nearly $704 million in I Bonds was sold in the first two weeks of October, through Oct. 14, based on Treasury data.
Buyers wanted to lock in an annualized 9.62% rate for a six-month window. The rate looks great when many one-year certificates of deposit are paying 1% or less.
While many people got through successfully to buy I Bonds on Friday, others expressed a great deal of frustration, noting that when they tried to go to TreasuryDirect.gov, the site wasn't coming up on their computer screen. Or some said they were cut offline during the process. Some complained that they got locked out — and couldn't get back in Friday — when they didn't remember their security questions for Treasury accounts they had opened years ago.
If anyone had hoped to sit down Saturday morning and buy I Bonds, they're out of luck.
The TreasuryDirect site will go down for a scheduled maintenance beginning midnight Saturday through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, according to a post on TreasuryDirect late Friday afternoon.
Savers are told once again, though, that purchases that are completed before the scheduled maintenance will receive the much talked about annualized rate of 9.62% that will apply to the first six months after the bond's purchase. Another rate — likely to be about an annualized 6.48% — will apply to the following six months. That new rate will be announced Nov. 1.
More: Inflation drives ratesI Bonds can bring big deals for savers: Why you should buy before Oct. 28
The Treasury Department had told savers a few weeks ago that Oct. 28 was the final date to buy I Bonds to lock in that high attractive rate of 9.62% for the first six months after the bond is issued.
Most people wanted to buy in October so they can end up with an interest rate of about 8% over 12 months, after combining the 9.62% rate for the first six months and what's expected to be the new 6.48% annualized rate for the next six months.
Savers have been buying I Bonds — which can be bought for as little as $25 and up to $10,000 — for months ever since the exceptionally high rate was announced in May.
But last-minute glitches hit the system and frustrated some savers. Some who bought bonds Friday were fearful when they saw the bonds would have an issue date of Oct. 31. Did that mean they didn't make the cut? No, not at all.
More: High rate frenzyYou might not be able to get last-minute deal on I Bonds after Treasury website slowdowns
The TreasuryDirect site noted Friday: "This maintenance period will also ensure we are able to successfully process the unprecedented volume of I Bond purchases made in the past 24 hours. During this time the account management system will be unavailable."
The TreasuryDirect system will be open on Monday, allowing savers to create new accounts and buy bonds. But bonds bought on Oct. 31 will not receive that higher rate of 9.62% — the purchase had to go through by Oct. 28.
"Beginning Monday, purchases will receive the rate that will be published on Tuesday, Nov. 1," the site noted. "This new rate will be applied for six months after purchase."
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2022-10-29T00:04:08Z
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www.freep.com
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Savers buy $710 million inflation-fueled I Bonds in just one day
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2022/10/28/i-bonds-treasury-direct-site-maintenance/69600983007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2022/10/28/i-bonds-treasury-direct-site-maintenance/69600983007/
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Tudor Dixon improves fundraising but remains vastly outspent by Gov. Whitmer
LANSING - Republican challenger Tudor Dixon finally kicked her fundraising into high gear in the most recent reporting period, with the $4.4 million Dixon raised coming close to equaling the $4.7 million that incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer raised during the same period, reports filed Friday show.
However, Whitmer's record-setting donor haul has left Dixon vastly outraised overall this cycle, and the Democratic governor's campaign has spent roughly eight times what Dixon's has, with polls showing a tightening race as the Nov. 8 Election Day approaches.
Donations to Whitmer's campaign during the most recent reporting period brought the total amount she has raised for the election cycle to $36.4 million. Though that amount includes more than $3.5 million Whitmer turned over to the Michigan Democratic Party because of donation caps that were exceeded by donors, the amount raised is a record for a Michigan candidate for governor who is funding a campaign from donations, rather than personal wealth.
Whitmer spent $14.7 million between Aug. 23 and Oct. 23, most of it on TV ads, and brought her total campaign spending to $30.5 million. Her campaign spending may exceed even the $35 million that Republican candidate Dick DeVos spent, nearly all of it from his personal fortune, on his unsuccessful bid for governor in 2006.
The most recent spending still left Whitmer with just over $4 million to spend in the final days of the campaign, compared to just under $3 million for Dixon.
Dixon's total fundraising is now at $6.8 million. Her campaign spent just under $2 million during the most recent reporting period, bringing her total spending to $3.8 million.
The biggest donations Dixon received during the reporting period were $66,350 from the Cherry Capital Victory Committee, which held a Leelanau-area fundraiser for Dixon, and $34,000 from the Michigan Farm Bureau.
More:Whitmer, Dixon highlight differences in final Michigan governor debate
More:Tudor Dixon fails to boost finances off GOP primary win in governor's race
She received more than 60 donations of the maximum $7,150 allowed, including donations of that amount from former Gov. John Engler and his wife Michelle, American Axle CEO David Dauch and his wife Anita, and West Bloomfield developer Ron Boji, who is CEO of the Boji Group.
Notably absent from the report was a promised $100,000 donation to Dixon from the Michigan Republican Party.
"The party is still doing the $100K donation. That hasn't changed," party spokesman Gustavo Portela said in a Friday text message, providing no further explanation as to why the money has yet to arrive.
The biggest donations Whitmer received in the reporting period were $51,500 from the Michigan Laborers PAC and $49,500 from the Operating Engineers Local 324. Those donations brought the total given by each of those two union PACs to $71,500, the maximum allowed by law.
Whitmer also received about 60 additional donations from individual donors of the $7,150 maximum. Those included donations from Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Broadway producer and environmental activist Louise Gund, and Chicago businessman Fred Eychaner, the chairman of Newsweb Corp. and an advocate for LGBTQ rights.
Third-party spending has helped Dixon, whose campaign until this week was unable to air its own TV ads.
Members of the DeVos family and other mostly west Michigan business executives put another $5 million into a Super PAC supporting Dixon in the most recent quarter, bringing total contributions to the Michigan Families United fund to $7.5 million.
The Republican Governors Association or related entities have spent more than $3 million for TV ads supporting Dixon and a PAC associated with former President Donald Trump kicked in for an ad buy of less than $1 million in recent days.
But even in the area of third-party spending, Dixon remains outmatched. The Democratic Governors Association and related entities have spent more than $20 million on ads supporting Whitmer.
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2022-10-29T00:04:20Z
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www.freep.com
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Dixon improves fundraising but still trails Whitmer by big margin
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/gretchen-whitmer-tudor-dixon-campaign-cash-fundraising/69598833007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/gretchen-whitmer-tudor-dixon-campaign-cash-fundraising/69598833007/
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Nessel, Benson fundraising far outpaces GOP challengers in final days of campaign
Democratic incumbents Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson continue to significantly outraise and outspend GOP challengers Matthew DePerno and Kristina Karamo in the final days of their statewide campaigns, according to new records filed Friday.
Benson raked in $874,000 from mid-September to late October and spent $2.7 million, according to the latest campaign finance filings. While the campaign said the majority of those donations came in at less than $100, it includes a $51,500 contribution from the labor union The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, $34,200 from the Michigan League of Conservation Voters and $18,500 from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
"Citizens want a secretary of state who will deliver real results, which is what she has done and what she will do going forward. Jocelyn will save you time, will protect your voice and ensure that your vote is counted, no matter who you vote for," said Dan Farough, Benson campaign chair, in a statement.
She spent more than $2.3 million on media advertising and production but still has more than $1.4 million in the bank, setting herself up for an end-of-campaign push if needed.
More:Jocelyn Benson faces Kristina Karamo in Michigan secretary of state race: What to know
The totals continue to dwarf Karamo's fundraising efforts. From mid-September to late October, she raised $241,000 and spent $267,000. While she has $158,000 left in the bank and continues to spend money on billboards in Detroit and elsewhere, it generally takes substantially more money to launch a statewide television ad campaign.
Polls consistently show Benson leading Karamo.
While Deperno still lags Nessel in overall money collected, he had a bit more cash on hand at the end of the most recent filing period -- in theory, that positions him well for a final push in the days before the election.
He collected $174,000 and only spent $107,000 from mid-September through late October. He's raised about $1.1 million since the start of the campaign and has about $305,000 left in the bank.
Nessel has about half of that in the bank, $167,000, but that’s because she spent about $3.5 million during the same time frame. The $1.25 million she collected from mid-September through late October helped buoy her spending, including the sweeping television ad campaign she’s recently launched.
Polls show Nessel with very slight leads, sometimes within the margin of error.
DePerno is buoyed a bit by outside spending. MAGA Inc., an organization affiliated with former President Donald Trump, purchased air time across Michigan for an advertisement attacking Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Notable contributions included a $2,500 check from Trump-aligned activist David Bossie and more than $15,000 combined from several county Republican party committees.
Although DePerno's campaign filed documents with television stations indicating it planned to purchase advertising in the Grand Rapids, Lansing and Kalamazoo television markets starting this week, the campaign report does not specifically identify any spending on television ads. Instead, there's a $28,400 expense for "campaign collateral" that may include television ads, but could also many any other sort of material used to promote the campaign.
Nessel and her allies remain on the airwaves with a flurry of ads, attacking DePerno over his stance against abortion access, his unfounded election conspiracy lawsuit and other issues.
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2022-10-29T00:04:26Z
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www.freep.com
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Nessel, Benson keep money edge over GOP rivals in final days of campaign
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/nessel-benson-fundraising-outpace-gop-challenger/69598900007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/28/nessel-benson-fundraising-outpace-gop-challenger/69598900007/
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The city’s Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship has launched an initiative that empowers residents and tourists to use their smartphones to identify Detroit murals and artists and include them in an official registry. The new site and map launched Friday at detroitartsandculture.com. A video about the efforts will air at 10 a.m. Sunday on “Flashpoint” on WDIV-TV (Channel 4).
CANVS, an art technology company, has joined with Detroit's arts and culture office and now has 225 area murals logged in its app, with more being added regularly. The company contracted with the city earlier this year and has since expanded to more than 100 cities with more than 2,000 murals identified.
Anyone with the app can hunt down and add new murals into the system. Once they're added by a user, the entries are vetted by the CANVS team to ensure that they meet the city's standards (such as no profanity or drug references) and that the information is correct with the artists. They are then included on the app map.
“So, let’s say that five years now, nobody wants (a particular) building and it gets torn down,” said Rochelle Riley, director of Detroit's arts and culture office. “We won’t lose the art. It’ll say on the app; this is where it existed.”
“Part of my job,” she said, “is to make sure that I am nurturing and making it easy for artists to make a living. My goal is to make sure that anybody who is an artist of any kind, whether they are a stage actor or a gig musician or a painter or muralist, that they do not have to do something else and have to do this as a hobby. We have some emerging artists who are fantastic.”
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @DBFreePress.
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2022-10-29T11:58:45Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit launches effort and an app to document all of city's murals
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/10/29/detroit-launches-effort-and-an-app-to-document-all-of-citys-murals/69601151007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/arts/2022/10/29/detroit-launches-effort-and-an-app-to-document-all-of-citys-murals/69601151007/
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Kristen Harter and Tre’si Jolley
Last month, a patient called us from Ohio. She was pregnant and needed an abortion, but didn’t know how she would get to Michigan for care. She couldn’t afford the travel costs or the time off work. She had a baby at home already and wasn’t sure who would care for him while she was gone. And she was panicking.
We talked to her for a long time, as she poured her story out to us. We listened, reassured her ― and jumped into action. A few days later ― after we helped her coordinate and pay for her travel to and from Michigan, along with an overnight stay in a nearby hotel ― she went to her appointment at a Planned Parenthood of Michigan health center before returning home to her family in Ohio.
Every single day, we talk to dozens of people just like her, who must overcome incredible barriers just to access basic reproductive health care.
For patient navigators like us, there is no such thing as a typical day at work. Every patient we speak to has different needs and is facing unique obstacles. But one thing is clear with every new call we answer: When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June, they created a national crisis ― and pregnant people are paying the price.
One in four women
In the U.S., more than one in four women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Now, nearly half of them could be forced to leave their state to access care ― even when their health or lives are at risk. This is a cruel and dangerous reality.
Since Roe fell, Planned Parenthood of Michigan has seen a more than 200% increase in out-of-state patients traveling to us for care. We are doing our best to care for them all, but there are few resources to draw from, and even fewer statewide abortion funds. And even if we had all the financial resources in the world, so much of this work is emotional.
We spend a lot of time on the phone just listening to patients. Sometimes they’ll call us with the smallest questions, just because they want to talk to someone who won’t judge them. Many are surprised when we remember their names. We work hard to offer a personal touch that people don’t always get in health care, because we know that many of our patients are fighting their own internal stigmas and working through feelings of shame for needing to ask for help on top of it.
In any given week, we may help someone buy a bus ticket or pay for plane fare. We read hotel reviews online to make sure the places we booking for them are safe. We scramble to secure local transportation when their rides don’t show up. We talk people through childcare considerations, and how they can navigate conversations with their supervisors when they don’t have paid sick time.
Because Michigan has a waiting period, patients must review documents on the state's website between two weeks and 24 hours before the procedure, print and sign a consent form, and present the signed form with the state's date-and-time stamp at their appointment. Patients who aren't working with navigators like us might not know the forms are required. For some patients, finding a printer is a challenge — even more complicated if you've traveled from out of state. Often, the stress and their feelings of shame are made worse if they have to go to a local library and use a public printer to get this done.
An untenable situation
We are proud to do this work, but this situation is untenable. People shouldn’t have to reschedule their appointments multiple times. They shouldn’t have to take days off to work to travel hundreds of miles. They shouldn’t have to risk medical complications due to delayed care. They shouldn’t have to worry about who is going to care for their children while they’re gone. And they shouldn’t have to panic about how they’re going to pay for all of it.
Navigating abortion care shouldn’t be a battle. People deserve to have abortions without having to flee their home state to get the care they need and deserve.
While abortion is still legal here ― for now ― passing Prop 3 would permanently protect abortion access in Michigan, which is crucial as the states around us continue to further restrict or outright ban abortion within their borders.
If Prop 3 does not pass next month, our jobs could shift from helping people get to Michigan so we can care for them, to helping Michiganders escape. Our friends, family members and neighbors deserve better.
Earlier this year, Michiganders signed petitions in record-breaking numbers to get Prop 3 on the ballot, but we must keep this momentum going and not lose sight of what’s at stake. We must turn out to vote and make our voices heard at the ballot box.
Kristen Harter and Tre’si Jolley are abortion patient navigators at Planned Parenthood of Michigan.
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2022-10-29T11:59:27Z
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www.freep.com
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Opinion: Out of state patients boost abortion demand in Michigan
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/29/abortion-michigan-patient-navigators/69596599007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/29/abortion-michigan-patient-navigators/69596599007/
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I’ve been an obstetrician-gynecologist in Michigan for nearly 25 years, caring for women giving birth, experiencing miscarriage, trying to become pregnant and deciding to end a pregnancy.
Michigan voters will shortly decide whether to add protections to our state constitution to keep abortion legal. Without such protections, Michigan’s 1931 abortion ban may soon come into effect. It is among the strictest in the nation, prohibiting all abortion unless required to “preserve the life” of a pregnant woman, and penalizing doctors and nurses who violate the law with prison time. What voters decide will directly impact the women who turn to me and other doctors for care.
Many of you see the complexities in abortion, and are carrying two opposite ideas in your hearts at the same time: that abortion means a potential human won’t be born, and that a ban on abortion means that women may not be able to determine the course of their lives and their family’s lives. Both things are true, and that is what can make abortion such a hard issue.
I want to offer a window into abortion care here in Michigan.
Michigan women from all walks of life make the decision to end a pregnancy, in a wide range of circumstances. I am continually struck both by the complexity of people’s lives, and by the seriousness with which patients make this decision.
Our team of counselors, educators, nurses and doctors always ensures that a patient has the information and time they need to consider all possible paths — including continuing the pregnancy and parenting, or placing a newborn for adoption.
I’ve learned from my patients that adoption is not always the answer — for example, when they know an abusive partner will not relinquish parental rights, or when ongoing pregnancy jeopardizes their health, among many other reasons.
We never proceed with an abortion if a patient is uncertain, or needs more time. Sometimes, after meeting with our team, a patient leaves with referrals for prenatal care, choosing not to end their pregnancy. Our priority is for people to make the decision that is best for them, their family, and their health. We also counsel on, and offer, all forms of birth control for a patient's future use, though no method (even sterilization) is effective 100% of the time. Indeed, more than half of patients seeking abortion care were using a contraceptive method at the time they conceived.
My fellow doctors and I make careful decisions about the safest place to treat a patient. Women who are generally healthy can be cared for in outpatient office settings, but people with significant underlying medical conditions and those experiencing serious pregnancy complications may need to be seen in a hospital. Extensive medical research on abortion guides us. That is one reason why abortion care is so safe — in fact more than 50 times safer than giving birth, according to recent Centers for Disease Control data.
Nearly all patients I see are accompanied by a loved one. This is especially true for teen patients, who are virtually always accompanied by a supportive adult, though not always their parent. Sometimes a parent can’t give them the support or, sadly, the safety they need, and they bring an aunt, grandmother, or older sister instead.
Though Roe was overturned in June, allowing states to ban abortion for the first time since 1973, women in Michigan have still been able to access abortion care because state courts have so far blocked enforcement of our ban while a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is decided. Even if the court overturns the ban, uncertainty will remain. Without Proposal 3’s protections, state elected officials could pass a new law banning abortion in Michigan.
In the months since the federal protection of abortion access was taken away, the fragility of my patients’ access to care has been more apparent than ever. It’s now common for doctors and nurses to catch each other’s eye in the procedure room. We know we are wondering the same thing: What would have happened to our patient if the ban was in place? Was their pregnancy sufficiently life-threatening to receive care? There are no clear medical or legal definitions to guide us.
Since Roe was overturned in June, our team has provided abortion care for patients with metastatic cancer, new cancer diagnoses, heart disease, blood clots in their lungs due to pregnancy hormones. We’ve seen patients who had severe complications in a prior pregnancy and fear that happening again, and whose membranes ruptured early in pregnancy bringing risk of infection. None faced immediate risk of dying, but continuing a pregnancy to term may have resulted in death in the worst case, or serious risks to their health in the best.
We’ve also seen patients trying to leave violent or abusive relationships, who had been sexually assaulted, whose existing children are fighting cancer and other grave illnesses, or who struggled in any number of other ways to care for the children they already have. In Michigan, 68% of people who have an abortion are mothers already. We’ve also seen patients whose unborn babies were diagnosed with significant genetic or other health conditions.
Being a parent is difficult in the best of circumstances, and many pregnant patients make abortion decisions in the worst. But Michigan’s ban does not permit women to consider abortion in any of these circumstances.
Perhaps my patients would have traveled out-of-state for care. Most, though, don’t have resources to pay for hotels and travel costs, and many don’t have jobs that allow them time away, which makes travel difficult. Many live in counties where the nearest out-of-state abortion care would be over 250 miles away, and much farther for women in northern Michigan counties and in the Upper Peninsula. Research shows that most women facing travel distances like this will continue a pregnancy and give birth. The problem here in Michigan is that prenatal and maternity care are also unavailable in many of the same rural counties, increasing the risks of pregnancy and birth.
Perhaps some would have tried to end their pregnancies on their own. Self-managed abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol pills is very safe, but people who can't access this method might have used dangerous methods. Maybe my colleagues and I would have seen them in the emergency department for complications of unsafe methods, or perhaps they would have been too afraid to come to the emergency room, thinking they would be reported to the police.
Women experiencing miscarriage may be afraid to seek care, fearing they will be suspected of doing something to end their pregnancy.
These things are on doctors’ minds, and patients share that it is weighing on them, too.
Most Michiganders I’ve met want women to have some degree of control over decisions as important and personal as building a family, and at the same time want there to be limits, guardrails, to ensure that patients are safe and that abortion care provision remains clearly within acceptable medical, ethical and moral boundaries. Michiganders also want caring adults to be part of decisions that young people may be faced with.
I want these same things — indeed as the mother of a daughter, I relate to this last concern in particular. I am very reassured that the language of Proposal 3 explicitly allows for ongoing regulation of abortion care by the state, and does not automatically negate our existing abortion laws.
At the same time, I understand that permitting abortion for the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman may feel too broad, especially when considering abortion later in pregnancy. It may help to learn that most abortion in Michigan happens early in pregnancy — almost 90% of abortions occur in the first 12 weeks. Ninety-six percent of abortions occur in the first 16 weeks, and over 99% occur before the end of the second trimester. Doctors report these numbers to the Michigan Department of Health (without patient identifying information) and they are available to anyone for review. In other words, abortion later in pregnancy — in Michigan and nationally — is extremely uncommon. There is not a reason this would change if the protections of Roe are reinstated in Michigan through Proposal 3.
Though they are extremely rare cases, I can share my experience with patients who needed care after the second trimester, which seems to be the worry that most impacts Michiganders’ ability to support Proposal 3 in good conscience. In almost 25 years, I have seen patients facing this situation only a handful of times. In each case, something had gone terribly wrong during the pregnancy.
Sometimes patients faced an unexpected fetal diagnosis in the child they hoped for. In these cases, care teams performed additional confirmatory testing and assessments, encouraged second opinions, and supported patients and their loved ones as they carefully considered all possible paths ahead. For women and families in this situation, the quality of life their baby would face, including likely pain and suffering ahead, guided their decisions.
Paradoxical as it seems, some patients choose abortion as an act of compassion towards a child they wanted. If a family decided to end that pregnancy, they traveled out of state — current Michigan law permits abortion after the second trimester only to save the life of a pregnant woman. Proposal 3 may allow them to continue their care with us instead. Though this impacts only a very small number of families, I know they would have been grateful to stay with the doctors they already knew.
In different situations, when an unborn baby was healthy and unexpected maternal health complications arose after the second trimester, care teams with whom I worked uniformly induced labor or performed a Cesarean delivery, resulting in the early birth of a baby, offering the supportive medical care needed to give that newborn every chance possible. Abortion was not considered in those situations. This will remain my practice if Proposal 3 passes.
It is normal to worry about medical and moral boundaries of abortion. However, now I worry more about outcomes, like the ones I am already seeing in our neighbor state, Ohio, which banned virtually all abortions just hours after Roe was overturned. This upended a wide range of reproductive healthcare, not just abortion care.
Here in Michigan, we began seeing patients from Ohio for things like life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, because doctors feared they might be accused of breaking Ohio’s abortion ban by providing care that was standard just the day before. Physician colleagues in other states with abortion bans have shared upsetting stories of waiting for women to get “sick enough” with a pregnancy complication to qualify for a life-preserving abortion, when it would have been far safer to receive treatment earlier. Facing the possibility of prison, doctors are suddenly considering not just risks and benefits to patients when making treatment plans, but risks to themselves.
Being a doctor is humbling, because every patient’s life circumstances, health, and family’s needs are so very different. I can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach to care. As you consider Proposal 3, I hope you can hold space for women and their loved ones to make decisions about pregnancy, even if they are not the same decisions you or your loved ones might make. Abortion raises complexities, to be sure. A ban on abortion does, too. It is hard to accept all of that at once, and yet that is what we are being asked to do.
This is something that all Michigan voters now have in common with women considering abortion, and the doctors like me, to whom, at least for the moment, they turn for help.
Lisa Harris, MD, PhD, has been an obstetrician-gynecologist in Michigan for 25 years.
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2022-10-29T11:59:33Z
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I'm an OBGYN worried about my Michigan patients | Opinion
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/29/im-an-obgyn-worried-about-my-michigan-patients-opinion/69596560007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/29/im-an-obgyn-worried-about-my-michigan-patients-opinion/69596560007/
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General Motors announced late Friday it is suspending its paid advertising on Twitter, shortly after Elon Musk, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla, took control of the social media platform.
It was unclear how long the move would last or what it would cost Twitter, but in a statement to the Free Press the automaker suggested it is still in conversations with Twitter — which is making what GM called significant changes — to "understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership."
GM said its decision was consistent with its "normal course of business" to "temporarily paused our paid advertising." However, the automaker added, it is not abandoning Twitter entirely, as its "customer care interactions on Twitter will continue."
Musk's takeover of Twitter put GM — and other automakers who use the platform — in the position of being a consumer of its advertising services and competitor, especially as GM seeks to build and sell more electric vehicles, Austin-based Tesla's focus. Tesla dominates the electric car market in the United States.
By temporarily suspending advertising, GM can wait and see not just what Twitter will do, but also whether other advertisers will follow its lead.
In recent years, large corporations like GM have sought to burnish an image of being socially responsible, promoting causes and organizations it deems beneficial to society but also distancing themselves from efforts and entities that are controversial.
In the meantime, the Associated Press reported Lou Paskalis, former head of media for Bank of America, said Twitter’s most loyal advertisers, many Fortune 100 companies, believe in the platform and probably won’t leave unless "some really untoward things" happen.
More:GM reports revenue and income surge, but challenges remain
More:Michigan-Michigan State football predictions: How long will Spartans hang with Wolverines?
Musk, a transportation billionaire and one of the wealthiest men in the world, took control of Twitter on Thursday in a deal originally valued at $44 billion after months of business wrangling, and ousted the CEO, chief financial officer and the company’s top lawyer.
The move was not a surprise, given Musk's criticism and statements on his plans for the company. He also tweeted the “the bird has been freed,” an allusion to Twitter's logo. In the past, Musk has been critical of Twitter's ad-based revenue model.
Musk said he aims to increase Twitter’s subscriber base and revenue and wants to promote free speech by cutting back on moderating content, and hinted Twitter might allow banned users, such as former president Donald Trump, to return.
However, he also has sought to "soothe leery Twitter advertisers," the AP reported, by saying that he is buying the platform to help humanity and doesn’t want it to become a "free-for-all hellscape," and plans to form a "content moderation council."
In an uncharacteristically long tweet, Musk also posted his reasoning for why he purchased Twitter and what he thinks about advertising, noting that "there has been much speculation."
"The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence." he added. "There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society."
In the post, Musk also criticized strategies employed by news organizations, saying the "relentless pursuit of clicks" has fueled and "catered to those polarized extremes, as they believer that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost."
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2022-10-29T15:19:37Z
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www.freep.com
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GM temporarily halts paid ads on Twitter after Elon Musk takes over
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/10/29/gm-ads-twitter-elon-musk/69602249007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2022/10/29/gm-ads-twitter-elon-musk/69602249007/
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Former President Barack Obama acknowledged the pain of inflation in a Saturday speech in Detroit aimed at energizing Democrats ahead of the Nov. 8 general election, but said Republicans have no solutions that will improve the lives of working people.
"Who will fight for you? Who is on your side?" Obama asked an estimated 3,000 supporters in a gymnasium at Renaissance High School in northwest Detroit. "Democrats have actual plans."
Obama said inflation is a global problem and "a legacy of the pandemic that wreaked havoc on supply chains," while the war in Ukraine has helped drive up gas prices.
"Who's going to do something about it?" he asked.
Republican politicians, he said, are obsessed with "owning the libs" and "getting Donald Trump's approval," while Democrats have pushed through a major infrastructure bill, reduced the cost of prescription drugs and protected health care.
Obama hit on the abortion issue, which is a major area of disagreement between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who favors abortion rights, and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, who favors an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the pregnant person. Dixon says the only abortion exception she condones is one to save the life of the pregnant person.
"We should all agree women everywhere should be able to control what happens with their own bodies," Obama said.
And he said democracy is on the ballot, because of the large number of candidates who don't accept the outcome of the 2020 presidential election who are running for key offices in Michigan and elsewhere.
"We've all seen what happens when you give up on democracy," Obama said. "You can see it in other countries."
Obama's 50-minute Detroit speech, twice interrupted by hecklers who were escorted from the gym, was part of a late campaign swing by Obama that included a Friday night rally in Atlanta and a Saturday event in Milwaukee, following the Detroit event.
Elected the first Black president of the United States in 2008, Obama has been out of office since 2017 but remains hugely popular among Democrats in Detroit and across the country.
Detroit Fire Marshal Donald Thomas, who was at the event, told the Free Press he limited capacity to about 3,000 people in the high school gym.
Turnout among Black voters is a concern in the midterm elections among Democrats, who can usually count on strong support from Black residents in large cities such as Detroit to significantly improve their statewide vote totals.
Polls have shown a tightening race between Whitmer and Dixon, a businesswoman from Norton Shores. Dixon was making campaign stops Saturday in Detroit, Southfield and Harrison Township, and on Sunday in Rochester Hills, Troy, Livonia and Dearborn. Dixon was to be joined both days by Tulsi Gabbard, a former congresswoman from Hawaii who was a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 but now describes herself as an Independent.
"We have always known this would be a close election and there is too much at stake to take anything for granted," said Whitmer, who joined Obama at Saturday's Detroit event. She told the crowd her administration has made huge strides by increasing education funding to record levels and securing the future of the auto industry by attracting new manufacturing plants related to electric vehicles.
"All that hard-fought progress is at stake," said Whitmer, who was joined at the rally by Attorney General Dana Nessel, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, and other Democratic officials and candidates.
As of Friday, about 15% of Detroit's registered voters had received absentee ballots and about 8% had returned one, based on data from the clerk's office. By comparison, about 22% of voters statewide had received absentee ballots and about 9% had returned them, based on the most recent available state data, from Wednesday. That means absentee ballot energy in Detroit is on the low side, relative to the rest of Michigan.
More:Tudor Dixon improves fundraising but remains vastly outspent by Gov. Whitmer
More:Tudor Dixon featured at fundraiser hosted by Trump official who made racist comments
Though former President Donald Trump and many Republican activists have made Detroit a focal point of their unsupported claims of widespread voter fraud, turnout in Detroit generally lags statewide turnout. In 2020, about 51% of the city's registered voters cast ballots, compared with nearly 70% statewide. In 2018, the last election for governor, turnout was 41% in Detroit and 58% statewide.
In addition to concerns about turnout, there are signs that the level of Democratic support among Black voters may be slipping.
A poll published Thursday by USA Today found that across the U.S., 21% of Black voters said they would back the Republican on a generic ballot that identifies political parties but not specific candidates. By comparison, Trump received about 12% of the Black vote nationally in the 2020 presidential election, according to network exit polls.
But Esther Bargaineer, a Detroit resident who was among those waiting in line Saturday morning to see Obama, said she has already voted absentee and feels good about voter energy and the election.
"The biggest issue is Proposal 3," which would enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution, said Bargaineer, who owns a Detroit clothing boutique and said she last saw Obama in person the first time he ran for president, in 2008.
"I feel great," she said. "I've already signed up so I can be working the polls."
Greg Bowens, a political and communications consultant who was press secretary to former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, said he senses relatively low voter energy in Detroit. Obama's visit could have a significant effect, particularly if he can make some impromptu appearances around the city, beyond a speech at a tightly controlled venue where most of the tickets will be issued to Democrats who are already active party stalwarts.
"The presidency is over but the man remains," Bowens said. If Obama is able "to touch the people, it will have an amazing impact." If he is "ensconced in a bubble, well, it might as well just be another YouTube video people will scroll by on their phones."
But officials with the Whitmer campaign said they were not aware of any planned Obama appearances outside of the high school, citing the former president's tight travel schedule.
Gustavo Portela, a spokesman for the Michigan Republican Party, described Saturday's rally as "elitist" in a news release. "Whitmer's sinking ship is on its way down due to her own failures and not even a last-ditch effort by Barack Obama can save her," he said.
Bowens said Black voters are often taken for granted by Democrats and also unfairly scapegoated when the party does not do well in an election.
"You've got to engage people where they are," he said. The Obama visit is good, as was Whitmer kicking off her recent campaign bus tour in Detroit, but "there has to be more."
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2022-10-29T20:54:57Z
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www.freep.com
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Obama to Detroit: Inflation hurts, but only one party will fix it
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/29/barack-obama-detroit-election-2022-inflation/69596302007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/29/barack-obama-detroit-election-2022-inflation/69596302007/
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The Detroit Tigers have a new scouting director.
Mark Conner, who has worked for the San Diego Padres since 2010, has been hired as the Tigers' amateur scouting director under new assistant general manager Rob Metzler, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Free Press on Saturday.
Conner served as the Padres' scouting director for seven seasons, from 2015-21, before being reassigned to the role of special assistant to general manager A.J. Preller in September 2021. The Tigers have not confirmed Conner's hire.
The Tigers hired Metzler from the Tampa Bay Rays' scouting department on Tuesday morning. He was in charge of making the final pick for scouting director.
Before hiring Conner, the Tigers interviewed Milwaukee Brewers special assistant to scouting Chip Lawrence. Lawrence, who previously worked for the Padres, was informed by the Tigers on Tuesday night that he did not receive the job. On Wednesday, the Tigers interviewed Conner and discussed the future of the department.
In San Diego, Conner crossed paths with Tigers manager A.J. Hinch.
Hinch became the Padres' vice president of pro scouting in September 2010 and resigned in August 2014.
Conner, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, joined the Padres in 2010 as an amateur scout and was promoted to northeast regional supervisor prior to the 2014 season. In November 2014, the Padres elevated Conner to scouting director as Billy Gasparino's replacement. He most recently used top picks to select Robert Hassell, CJ Abrams, Ryan Weathers, MacKenzie Gore and Luis Campusano, along with Cal Quantrill and Eric Lauer.
Of those players, Campusano and Weathers are the only remaining members of the Padres. The others were traded, with Abrams, Gore and Hassell forming the bulk of the prospect haul sent to the Washington Nationals for slugger Juan Soto at the 2022 trade deadline.
Before the 2022 season, Preller reassigned Conner as his special assistant. He also took on the role of field coordinator. As special assistant to the general manager, Conner was challenged with evaluating every player in San Diego's farm system.
The Tigers began shuffling their amateur scouting department in early October, when new president of baseball operations Scott Harris fired amateur scouting director Scott Pleis after 15 seasons with the organization.
Harris offered to reassign assistant general manager David Chadd, but on Monday, the Tigers officially parted ways with the longtime scout after 18 seasons together. The next day, the Tigers hired Metzler as an assistant general manager with a vice president tag. He is responsible for overseeing the amateur and international scouting departments.
Now, Conner is the newest addition to Harris' regime.
He will serve as Metzler's right-hand man in the amateur scouting department.
Before joining the Padres, Conner served as the pitching coach at the University of South Carolina Aiken for five seasons, from 2005-09. He also has coaching experience at Indian Hills Community College and Cumberland University.
Conner played catcher from 1996-99 at Cumberland University, where he won four Mid-South Conference championships. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1999 and his master's degree in 2002, both in education.
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2022-10-29T21:03:40Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit Tigers hire Mark Conner from Padres as scouting director
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/10/29/detroit-tigers-mark-conner-scouting-director-san-diego-padres/69591321007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/10/29/detroit-tigers-mark-conner-scouting-director-san-diego-padres/69591321007/
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Cider, donuts, barbecue, tons of candy and, of course, the kiddos were all in attendance Saturday for the Detroit Pistons and Brilliant Detroit harvest celebration.
The block party kicked off in Detroit's east-side Islandview neighborhood. It was an afternoon of balloon animals, costume-wearing and celebration. Then Brilliant Detroit and members of the Detroit Pistons then headed over to the new home which will serve as a community hub and performed a ribbon cutting. Despite it officially opening in January of 2023.
The Detroit Pistons teamed up with Brilliant Detroit for the NBA's 75th Anniversary Legacy Project. During the beginning of the 2021-22 season, the NBA announced it was doing a leaguewide initiative to dedicate and create almost 50 new Live, Learn, or Play Centers during the season across the country.
Brilliant Detroit was created in 2015 and serves as a community group that focuses on kindergarten readiness in neighborhoods. The goal of the organization is to provide educational help and prepare Detroit children during their early childhood development. They do this by taking vacant homes and creating them into community hubs with tutors, and activities through the help of the community, partnerships and parents.
Since the Detroit Pistons needed to complete their contribution to the legacy project, they looked to Brilliant Detroit to help get it done.
Brilliant Detroit CEO Cindy Eggleton said this partnership is very important to the city.
"First off, this is about Detroit, and bringing the community together within Detroit," said Eggleton. "Detroiters, making their own change. That's really what's at the center of this because it's done with neighborhoods, there is no better organization than the Pistons to do that, the Pistons unify the city. That's really what the goal is, and I really sincerely can't tell you how much I feel that in my heart."
This is the 18th house that Brilliant Detroit has created; other community houses are in Brightmoor, Fitzgerald, Littlefield, and Martin Park, just to name a few.
Eggleton also said that Detroiters have helped the program grow tremendously since in 2015.
" I think what we've seen in six years is we've grown to serve 16,000 people and I think that this is grown out of Detroiters," said Eggleton. "We don't go anywhere unless we're invited in and I think they're telling us why it's important. There's not a lot of places in the middle of neighborhoods for people where they can get everything they need, they have to go to millions of different places and it doesn't pull it all together."
The new hub is located at 3289 Helen in Detroit and is offering doulas for pregnant moms. They are also offering a nurse-family partnership for Detroit families and children from birth to eight years old.
"We have over 120 programs that come into each location," said Eggleton. "It's a lot of programs, because really what we're looking to do is to change lives."
Erika Swilley, Pistons community and social responsibility vice president, said that the Pistons along with a few other organizations helped provide resources for the space.
"We provided funding and then other resources, too. We brought some of our other partners to the table like Priority Health, they're going to be donating 10,000 Pampers to the house," said Swilley. "We also partnered with UWM, who's our jersey patch sponsor, and they're going to be helping to build outside lots. We're going to talk to the community to see what they want, "Do they want a playground?, Do they want a three-on-three basketball court?"
Swilley said that the Pistons are striving to build a name in the Detroit community.
"It's important for us to find organizations that are kind of doing amazing work, like really in Detroit, and then find ways that we can partner and kind of amplify the work that they're doing and kind of bring a different spin to it," said Swilley. "Giving back and working in the community is kind of at the core of our organization and what we do."
Aesha Menifield, a Detroit mother of four, said that events and programs like this matter a lot to her and her children. Her children are fairly new members of Brilliant Detroit and already enjoy it.
"I'm very new to the program," said Menifield. "I haven't even been a month but I know my kids love it, they get excited when it's time for their tutoring sessions. I just saw now that they have martial arts, my son is very interested in that. I'm looking forward to whatever else programs they have to offer for us."
Menifield also said that programs like this matter for children because they are the future.
"Rather we believe it or not, still the children are the future, and if this can help them to bridge that gap of the reading loss, then all hats off to them," she said.
Brilliant Detroit suggests visiting their website for ways to join the organization or find a home.
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2022-10-29T23:27:54Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit Pistons fund project with Brilliant Detroit
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/10/29/detroit-pistons-fund-project-with-brilliant-detroit/69600356007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/10/29/detroit-pistons-fund-project-with-brilliant-detroit/69600356007/
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How's this for Halloween scary?
The city said it is putting up human barricades and signs, not so much to stop the roaches, but to close the sidewalks on the street from Eureka to Grove from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday to vehicles and kids in their adorable costumes. The closure, the city said, includes the intersections of Orchard and Pine.
The letter, which was dated Oct. 25, was signed by Gregory Mayhew and posted in a Downriver Facebook group. A resident and City Councilman Todd Hanna, whose name is at the top of the letter, along with other officials, independently verified the letter's accuracy.
"It's of no fault of the city," Hanna told the Free Press on Saturday, explaining that the infestation came to light a few weeks ago when the city's waste management picked up a load of garbage crawling with bugs outside a home that has since been vacated.
In the meantime, the council voted to shut down trick-or-treating to "prevent roaches from grabbing on to kids' costumes" and entering other homes. There was also concern, he said, that even if the trick-or-treaters were to kill some of the roaches by stepping on them, their eggs could survive and be tracked all over the neighborhood.
Mayhew wrote in his letter that the city's engineering department identified a property "in your neighborhood" that has a roach infestation, and that the bugs are making their way to other homes. The city is trying to exterminate the roaches, but, Mayhew said, "it will take some time."
Wyandotte resident Jeff Kerekes, who lives near the infested home, said he posted the letter to social media to show that the city never covers up or hides issues that are important to our communities and that "we always do our research and get in contact with officials with facts." He also said he had been in contact with Hanna and that "he has also been speaking to all affected neighbors in that area for the past few days and keeping them updated."
Kerekes added: "People need to realize that there are procedures that have to be followed and that is what the city has been doing. In the very near future, the city will take control of the affected property and have professionals in that field come in and take care of this situation."
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2022-10-29T23:28:00Z
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www.freep.com
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Roach infestation cancels Halloween trick-or-treating in Wyandotte
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2022/10/29/halloween-wyandotte-roaches-cancel-trick-or-treat/69602839007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2022/10/29/halloween-wyandotte-roaches-cancel-trick-or-treat/69602839007/
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Michigan State called a timeout, just to be sure it had the right play call.
Facing fourth-and-1 from the Michigan football 5-yard line, down by three, the Spartans lined up to go for it instead of attempting a field goal — after the Wolverines had already stuffed Elijah Collins on a fourth-and-1 try in the previous quarter. (The initial spot on the field was called a first down, but it was overturned after review.)
MSU ran Jaden Reed in motion in an effort to get the defense moving, then tried a delayed counter the opposite way with running back Jalen Berger. Michigan wasn't fooled at all.
The Wolverines' defensive front mauled MSU's interior into the backfield, linebackers Junior Colson and Michael Barrett shot through the vacancies and dropped Berger for a loss of two, sending the crowd of 111,803 into a pom-pom shaking craze with 7:31 left to play in the second quarter.
It was the tone-setting play in Michigan's 29-7 victory as the Wolverines (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) got the Paul Bunyan Trophy back for the fist time since 2019, ending Michigan State's (3-5, 1-4 Big Ten) two-game winning streak in the series in the process.
As significant as any aspect of the moment, the exhale from the maize-and-blue faithful in the stands. The crowd sat on its hands in the first 20 minutes after Michigan had an early turnover and MSU was in the midst of consecutive drives of more than 70 yards.
POSTGAME FIGHT:Michigan, Michigan State football players have postgame altercation in tunnel
There was a fearful energy in the air given what has happened in this rivalry's recent history, but the stop sent a message, as well as a sigh of relief, across the stadium.
The Wolverines then took the ball, along with control of the game.
Blake Corum ripped off a gain of 18, breaking multiple tackles while carrying the pile on the first play. Four plays later, J.J. McCarthy appeared to be bottled up before he ripped off a 21-yard rush up the middle of the field into MSU territory. On the next set of downs, McCarthy and the Wolverines faced fourth-and-3 when he again made magic with his legs and scampered for a gain of 16 to get into the MSU red zone.
While the Wolverines were stopped and ultimately settled for a 24-yard Jake Moody field goal, the damage was done. MSU had had a chance to tie or take the lead, but instead it was Michigan going up by six.
That signature fourth-down play was representative of the critical third- and fourth-down plays which proved to be the difference in the contest. Through three quarters, when it was still a two-possession game, Michigan was a combined 8-for-13 on the key situations. MSU was 2-for-10.
When Michigan wasn't converting key downs and distances, it was often in the red zone, or at minimum in MSU territory. The Wolverines didn't punt until there were fewer than six minutes left in the game, but did frequently use a special teams weapon: Jake Moody.
The reigning Lou Groza Award winner went 5-for-5 on kicks, the longest of which came from 54 yards with 14:45 to play before Corum's final four-yard touchdown rush put the game that was controlled by Michigan long before.
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2022-10-30T03:53:38Z
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www.freep.com
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Michigan football's 4th-down stand sets tone in 29-7 win over MSU
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/10/30/michigan-footballs-4th-down-stand-sets-tone-in-29-7-win-over-msu/69602962007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/10/30/michigan-footballs-4th-down-stand-sets-tone-in-29-7-win-over-msu/69602962007/
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Mitch Albom: Where should we go when it's time to go?
On a recent visit to the cemetery where my parents are buried, I was reminded of a bothersome fact: I have yet to choose my final resting place.
I’ve given it thought. I know I should deal with it. But as that old song says:
I just don’t know what to do with myself.
I suppose a part of me doesn’t want to think about it, because if you don’t think about your death, you can believe you won’t have one.
But I know that’s silly. When it comes to burials, you need to, well, plot. My parents, when they were younger, purchased gravesites in Florida where my father’s parents were interred. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
But when my mother died, she and my father were living in California.
“Dad,” we said, “how will you ever go visit Mom if she’s buried across the country?”
He relented, so we scrambled to find a plot in the area. It’s the last thing you want to do when you are grieving a lost loved one. And yet there we were, touring a cemetery, walking down a hill, trying to pick a lovely spot for Mom while wiping away tears.
Now I lay me down to rest.
Ashes to ashes, dust to ... soil?
I wonder how many of you are facing this issue? Do you delay, too? Are we all procrastinators? What’s the right age by which to pick out your gravesite? How you want to be buried? And in what fashion?
The question, it seems, has gotten more complex. When I was growing up, options were few. There were a couple of cemeteries within reasonable distance. You died. You were buried in one of those.
But today, cremation has replaced burial as the most popular choice. In fact, the National Funeral Directors Association says by 2035, nearly 80% of Americans will be cremated.
Unless they’re composted.
Yes. Composted. Like coffee grounds, wood chips and dead leaves. This is the newest rage in states like Oregon, Vermont, Washington, California and Colorado, where, and we’re not making this up, human remains may now be composted.
I don’t know. I get people wanting to be environmentally conscious. But I’d like to imagine something more eternal than fertilizer.
Cremation, the more popular (and less expensive) option, is certainly a viable choice for many. But you still have the issue of “where?” In an urn? In a columbarium? On the mantle? Scattered to the wind?
There’s always freezing. Cryogenics is a real thing. I could be buried in a cannister, hanging upside down, awaiting a future, centuries from now, when I could be thawed out and theoretically brought back to life.
But who would I know? Who would I hang out with? Everything would be so completely different, except for the Lions losing.
Come, stay a while
So no thanks to freezing, composting or having my ashes scattered over the ocean. My luck, a breeze would blow at precisely the wrong time and I’d end up on someone’s beach umbrella.
Sue me. I’m old-fashioned. I’d like a funeral, a grave and a marker. Which takes me back to picking a place. I grew up in one part of the country, but have lived in many others. My immediate family lives in other states. And, being married, my first loyalty is to my wife, who is from Michigan.
So where to lay me down? There’s a lovely cemetery in the town where I live, and I suppose it makes sense to plan your eternal rest near to where you endured your eternal struggle.
But why haven’t I pulled the trigger? What’s stopping me? Is it the idea that once I commit, it’s sort of like the Army? There’s no turning back?
Or do I think there are more chapters to come? Places yet to be discovered? I once went to New Zealand and took a helicopter ride to a mountain lake that you could only reach by landing on it. The setting was incredibly serene. The colors were amazing. It was as quiet as the most isolated part of heaven.
“Wouldn’t this be a great place to be buried?” I asked the people with me.
“Yeah, sure,” they said. “If you don’t want anyone to visit.”
And I guess, when it’s all said and done, that’s what will make my decision. Even dead, I’d still like some company. Where would those I love have the best chance to come by for a spell?
My old professor Morrie Schwartz — the Morrie of “Tuesdays With Morrie” — asked me, in his final days, to come visit him at his grave after he died. He wanted me to bring a blanket, pack a lunch, and come talk to him. About life. My problems. The world.
“Talk to you? I said.
“Just like were talking now,” he said.
“But, Morrie, it won’t be like we’re talking now. Because you won’t be able to talk back.”
He looked at me as if I were very naïve.
“Well, Mitch,” he said. “I’ll make you a deal. After I’m dead, you talk, I’ll listen.”
Such a lovely idea. I think, in the end — and I mean the end — I will choose a place that has less to do with me and more to do with those who might come by. I want to make it welcoming. I’m still not sure where that will be. But it won’t be a pile of fertilizer.
Who wants to visit that?
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2022-10-30T05:55:40Z
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www.freep.com
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Mitch Albom: Where should we go when it's time to go?
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2022/10/30/mitch-albom-after-death-burial-cremation-human-composting/69602858007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2022/10/30/mitch-albom-after-death-burial-cremation-human-composting/69602858007/
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This label is a placeBagley (Detroit, MI)
Chris Johnson is alive when he serves Detroit
Chris Johnson of Detroit watches kids from Bates Academy cross safely across Wyoming in front of the school as a volunteer crossing guard on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. Johnson gives his all to the community he lives in from being the president of the Bagley Community Association to being a crossing guard. Even though there is a stop light at the intersection of Wyoming and Pembroke, cars still speed through on a yellow and red light so Johnson is there with his whistle and neon vest to make sure the kids can cross to go home safely. Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press
Before he suffered two collapsed lungs.
Before he had a portion of one of his lungs removed.
And long before hospital confinement prevented him from being with his family for Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2020, Chris Johnson spent most of his childhood on Marlowe Street on Detroit’s west side, where he began to establish an intimate relationship with his community.
“I had a paper route (Detroit News) from the age of 12 to 17; it was an everyday job with door-to-door delivery and I established relationships with my customers,” recalled the 57-year-old Johnson, who attended Burns Elementary School, Cadillac Middle School, Region 4 Open Middle School, Cooley High School, and, for a brief time, Redford High School (Class of 1983) while growing up on Marlowe. “I was also in JA (Junior Achievement) and the Explorers Program at Mount Carmel Hospital, which was volunteer work and I enjoyed it. You could say that all of those activities in the community, outside of my home, strengthened me.”
Johnson discovered just how much “strength” he could draw from his community when his health steadily — at some points rapidly — deteriorated after he tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 15, 2020, almost exactly one month before the first deliveries of the COVID-19 vaccines began. Johnson would spend a combined 80 days in two hospitals, one skilled-nursing facility and one rehabilitation center. At one point, Johnson said he was pressured by a hospital staff member who wanted him to sign a DNR (do not resuscitate) order, which Johnson declined to do. And on several occasions, Johnson said people around him spoke like “they were preparing for me to die.”
But through the ordeal; during a period of time when risk was still associated with group gatherings; Johnson, who today is a community liaison for Wayne County Commissioner Irma Clark-Coleman and the president of the Bagley Community Council, found a way to reconnect with his community through church services he watched live on Facebook and Bible study classes he participated in via Zoom. There also were community meetings (Bagley Community Council, Detroit Department of Neighborhoods, Detroit District 2) that he regularly attended virtually.
“I would see all of the people and the faces, and say to myself: ‘Don’t count me out,’ ” said Johnson, who kept his Zoom camera on because he felt it was important for others to see his COVID reality, which included being hooked up to hoses, which allowed him to breathe.
“I still wanted to be a part of my church services (Greater Seth Temple Sanctuary of Praise Church of God In Christ) and I still wanted to be a part of my community. Having something to do and something to be a part of, I think that was the key.”
More from Scott Talley:Helping many, not being 'first,' matters most to the Rev. Robyn Moore
Chris Johnson of Detroit and a volunteer crossing guard watches for the light to turn red before leading kids from Bates Academy across Wyoming so they can safely walk home on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. Johnson gives his all to the community he lives in from being the president of the Bagley Community Association to being a crossing guard. Even though there is a stop light at the intersection of Wyoming and Pembroke, cars still speed through on a yellow and red light so Johnson is there with his whistle and neon vest to make sure the kids can cross to go home safely. Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press
An ordained elder, Johnson also points to “constant” calls he received from his pastor, Bishop Philip Jackson, who helped him to lock in on the goal of “going through that door” of whatever facility he was being cared for at a particular time and returning home. And during moments alone, Johnson thought back to an extra prayerful day, early on in his COVID journey, when Johnson was in what he described as a “hospice-like” unit. But this time, a hospital staff member offered him an uplifting message: “If you can make it through the night, I think you’re going to be all right.” Johnson took those words and tried as hard as he could to “activate” his faith.
“When I say I prayed, I prayed, I fell asleep praying,” said Johnson, whose prayers were finally answered when he returned home on Feb. 5, 2021.
The man who came back to his beloved Bagley Community in northwest Detroit was far from robust, as Johnson sat in a wheelchair and was hooked up to oxygen. Navigating stairs within his house was out of the question upon his return, so Johnson learned how to make himself as comfortable as possible on an air mattress downstairs. Johnson also lost 80 pounds during his COVID struggle. But once back home, his appetite for community service returned in full. The Bagley Community Council presidency and the work he is doing for Clark-Coleman represent community responsibilities and duties he accepted after returning home. And as his community work increased, his wheelchair, walker, cane and oxygen tank all became things of the past.
“You have to have a reason to get up in the morning and I live to serve my community,” said Johnson, who also has been a member of the Bates Academy Dads Club for the past six years. “I’m enjoying what I’m doing now, and I’m enjoying helping people get the resource information they need.”
Johnson started working for Clark-Coleman in January and he came to her attention due to the service he provided the Bagley Community Council, which he has been a member of since 2008. While working for a Wayne County Commissioner means serving the entire city of Detroit, Johnson says he will never lessen his volunteer community involvement with two Detroit schools he holds dear — Bagley Elementary School and Bates Academy. That means daily visits to Bagley to help out in any way he can, such as on Thursday, when he helped the PTA establish a board, which he will be a member of. And if anyone wants to find him between 3:25 p.m and 3:50 p.m., Mondays through Friday, that would be the corner of Wyoming and Pembroke, where he makes sure students from Bates get safely across Wyoming. The scene played out Wednesday, when Johnson and Karlton Akins, clad in neon yellow vests, performed like a well-oiled machine, as Akins wielded a stop sign and Johnson worked a bright yellow whistle, which he says can be heard inside any nearby car, even if music is playing.
Johnson and Akins will never receive, nor will ever desire payment for their good deeds after school at Bates. But that in no way diminishes the value of the service they provide, yet there are some people that have defined the value of volunteer service to this region in dollars. On Friday, citing statistics for the combined Detroit, Warren and Dearborn region provided by AmeriCorps, Julie Durham, a senior consultant for the Talent & Economic team at Lansing-headquartered Public Sector Consultants, said in 2020 alone, 78.8 million hours of volunteer service were performed with an estimated value of $1.9 billion.
“For communities, volunteers are like planks on a bridge that get you from one side to the other,” said Durham, a former development director for Habitat for Humanity in Lansing.
A mention of the $1.9 billion figure to Johnson on Friday afternoon produced a “Wow.” But shortly afterward, the simple but vital volunteer community service of getting children safely from one side of Wyoming to the other was revisited, when he was reminded of a speeding car that came through a red light at 3:49 p.m. on Wednesday toward the end of his safety patrol duty with Akins. There were no children crossing at the time and it was far from the first time that Johnson had witnessed a car run a light at the corner. But two days later he was shaken, nonetheless.
“It scares me,” said Johnson, who also is a husband to Shawnese Laury and a father to Christina, 32; Christopher, 26, Camille, 19, and 13-year-old Candace Johnson. “I don’t know every kids’ name that crosses at that corner, but they all know me, and we smile and we talk. I had a young lady come up to me and say: ‘Hi, Mr. Johnson, I know your daughter (Candace) and your daughter is my friend.’ It would hurt my heart if one of those kids got hit crossing the street.
“When God allowed me to get well, I realized that it wasn’t for me, it was for others. Everyone needs someone to help them with something; and helping someone may not make their life perfect, but it makes it better. And that’s why I do what I do.”
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2022-10-30T12:19:02Z
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www.freep.com
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Losing part of a lung to COVID made Detroit man hungrier to serve city
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https://www.freep.com/mosaic-story/news/local/detroit-is/2022/10/30/losing-part-of-a-lung-to-covid-made-detroit-man-hungrier-to-serve-city/69597143007/
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https://www.freep.com/mosaic-story/news/local/detroit-is/2022/10/30/losing-part-of-a-lung-to-covid-made-detroit-man-hungrier-to-serve-city/69597143007/
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Jordan Klepper comes home to Michigan for Comedy Central special on 2022 midterms
In a clip from his latest Comedy Central special, Jordan Klepper is shown visiting the October rally in Warren where President Donald Trump appeared in support of Michigan’s top GOP candidates.
Speaking to a woman in a pro-Trump T-shirt, he mentions that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is ahead in the polls. “That’s baloney,” she counters, explaining that she doesn’t believe in polls unless they’re done by Republicans.
The conversation stays pleasant , but Klepper pushes back on that thought and, in the process, sums up the current state of American politics.
“It’s important for polls not to reflect reality,” he says, “but to reflect your reality.”
As a veteran cast member of “The Daily Show,” Klepper has focused in recent years on covering the 2016 presidential campaign and Trump's subsequent White House term. Along the way, he has become an expert of sorts on the rise of conspiracy theories and threats to democracy. That’s the theme of his new half-hour special that airs at 11:30 p.m. Monday and is titled “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Midterms — America Unfollows Democracy.”
According to Comedy Central’s press materials, Klepper is seeking answers to a flip version of a deeply troubling question: “Is America unfollowing democracy?” During the special, he'll travel the campaign trail and interview some of the growing number of Republicans who deny the results of the 2020 election and don't believe President Joe Biden is the country’s legitimate president.
More:Women 60 and older are woefully missing from TV's prime-time programming
Examining the eroding lack of faith in election outcomes isn't an easy job for someone in the humor trade, but it's a job that has earned Klepper a reputation for fearless political comedy.
This latest special follows two previous ones that earned him Emmy nominations. “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Globe — Hungary for Democracy" took him to the Eastern European nation, and “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse — Into the MAGAverse” was a dive into Trump rallies on the 2020 campaign trail.
Klepper’s reports are played for laughs, but they’re not that far removed from what real journalists are chronicling as the midterm elections on Nov. 8 draw near.
Writing about the same Warren rally that Klepper visited, the Associated Press noted that “after spending much of the last two years obsessively peddling false claims of a stolen election, Trump is increasingly attracting those who have broken with reality, including adherents of the baseless QAnon conspiracy, which began in the dark corners of the internet and is premised on the belief that the country is run by a ring of child sex traffickers, satanic pedophiles and cannibals that only Trump can defeat.”
So what has Klepper learned from the conspiracy theory beat? “One takeaway is it’s good that Windsor is so close. Good option for all those Detroiters,” he jokes during a Zoom interview on Wednesday, referring to the Canadian city across the river from the Motor City that’s convenient for fleeing.
Klepper is a Kalamazoo native who became immersed in comedy at Kalamazoo College, where he was part of a student-run campus improv troupe called Monkapult. After getting his degree in 2001, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a performer and a teacher at the city's top troupes, Second City and iO (formerly called the Improv Olympics). One of his early coaches was Detroit's own Keegan-Michael Key of “Key & Peele” fame.
In 2014, Klepper joined “The Daily Show" at a time when Jon Stewart was still the host. Along with being a correspondent, his credits include a 2017-18 stint hosting “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper” in the time slot after “The Daily Show” and the 2019 eight-episode docuseries "Klepper." He also earned kudos for his 2017 one-hour special “Jordan Klepper Solves Guns,” which went to Kalamazoo and other sites in pursuit of common-sense consensus on gun control.
On Nov. 9, Klepper will launch a six-episode podcast, “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy,” that gives him a chance to go deeper into some of the outrageous claims he has encountered.
”It’s sort of an in-depth jump into some of the conspiracies and the wilder theories I hear out on the road. For example, I will talk to somebody at a rally and they will mention JFK Jr. being the vice president of the United States. We may point out some of the inherent flaws in that (belief), but I always go: 'Where did that come from? Do more people believe this? Why are we grasping onto these ideas?”
Klepper will use the podcast “to sit down with experts, to sit down with people who are affected by these conspiracies, people who have studied these and we kind of walk it back to see why these ideas are so sticky. ... Why people are suddenly talking about Democrats drinking baby blood, which sounds wild, but I keep hearing it over and over again. So I’m going to bring somebody in who can (address) ... what is the inherent fear that is really at the bottom of all of this? Why are we suddenly talking more and more about these ideas?”
The biggest news at "The Daily Show" this year is the departure of Trevor Noah, whose last episode is set for Dec. 8. Klepper, whose name has been mentioned in the gossip surrounding who’ll get the job next, says he will miss Noah's "calming, thoughtful perspective" as host.
"I think Trevor has always come in with a calm response to the chaos ... Trevor, from day one, walked into a writers room and an America that was pulling its hair out every second of the day. … When he saw this, he was able to be like, 'It's not that this isn't valid, but I’m not going to be stressed out every second of the day.'"
How was Klepper received by attendees when he went to the Trump rally in his home state? “Well, with the traditional Michigan greeting. We raise our hand. We point to where we’re from. I show them where Kalamazoo is. … We get an understanding of geography first and foremost,” he jokes
More seriously, he says he mostly encountered Midwest niceness. “People were eager to talk to me about ideas. So there was not a lot of animosity about that. Usually when I go to these these rallies, the animosity tends to come from not the fact I’m from "The Daily Show,' but the fact that I have a camera crew with me and am from the media altogether."
Klepper understands that Americans have always loved conspiracy theories, which in the past have sprung up around topics ranging from JFK’s assassination to the existence of Bigfoot. "They’re fun. They’re secretive. It gives you power to think something is happening that you’ve discovered and nobody else knows about," he says.
What’s different now is the way such conspiracy theories have insinuated themselves into the national political conversation.
Says Klepper: “Whereas 'The Daily Show' would have covered Bigfoot 15 years ago, I think sadly 'The Daily Show' is going to cover Bigfoot running for Congress and potentially winning months from now.”
'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Presents: Jordan Klepper Fingers the Midterms — America Unfollows Democracy'
11:30 p.m Mon.
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2022-10-30T12:19:14Z
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www.freep.com
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Jordan Klepper comes home to Michigan for Comedy Central special
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2022/10/30/jordan-klepper-michigan-comedy-central-special/69593117007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2022/10/30/jordan-klepper-michigan-comedy-central-special/69593117007/
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Fox 2's Roop Raj hopes kids see in him what he never saw on TV
Roop Raj's parents supported his dream even if they didn't understand it, because what else can you do when your 10-year-old is narrating pretend newscasts in his bedroom?
Outside his family, though, there was pushback. Concern. Scorn, even. News anchor was an unsuitable aspiration for an Indian American boy, and the proof was right there on the television screen. Or rather, it wasn't there.
"You'd see Black men and white men on television," says Raj, the evening co-anchor at WJBK-TV (Channel 2). "No Indian men."
Three-plus decades later, Raj carries that memory with him every time he's on camera. Along with it, he'll tell you, he carries a responsibility — not as a burden, but as a gift.
Be they Indian American kids, Arab American, Latino or anything else, he says, "I hope everybody can see a little of themselves in what I'm doing."
In the emails he responds to and a Zoom call he made time for last week, he gets told that his presence makes a difference. It brings a glow to the kid from Troy who used to hang a bedsheet as a background, flick on a desk lamp as a studio light and read the Free Press into a cassette recorder.
Truth is, male Indian American evening news anchors in major markets remain a surprisingly small subset. Raj, 46, knows of one other, on the NBC affiliate serving greater San Francisco.
He wishes there were more, not to fill a quota, but to fulfill unrealized dreams.
"Many people of many backgrounds have heard my story," he says, "and asked, 'How did you do it?' "
He went full-tilt, to start with. Huel Perkins, his predecessor on the Fox 2 anchor desk, says Raj is "the hardest worker I've ever seen." He asked smart people for advice, Perkins among them.
Probably most important, he never considered doing anything else, no matter what his parents' friends said.
It helped that he's good at the job.
Raj was a 20-year-old student at Michigan State when he was hired by the ABC affiliate in Lansing. By 22, he’d moved on to the weekend anchor desk in Flint, and he had an agent in New York.
Moving up the television food chain in 2001, he took a morning anchor job in New Orleans — and started two weeks after the attacks of Sept. 11.
Indian American women, less encumbered by expectations, had been making inroads in television. An Indian American man was new and somehow threatening to people who couldn't tell a Hindu from their Muslim pharmacist or their pharmacist from a Saudi terrorist.
Advertisers bailed out, Raj says. A letter to a local newspaper asked, "Where did they find this guy, the axis of evil?"
He persevered. Became part of the community. Endured Hurricane Katrina in 2005 with everyone else in the Crescent City, wearing the same shirt on newscasts for what felt like weeks. Met a Catholic psychologist named Julie and married her in a ceremony that combined both of their faiths. Kept trying to come home, knocking on the door at Fox 2, but even Perkins told him, "You're not ready yet."
In 2009, hallelujah, the door opened. He was a reporter, then a weekend or morning anchor. Then, six months ago, Perkins and Monica Gayle retired.
Raj and Taryn Asher became the evening anchors, and just maybe some of the people who'd questioned his career choice had second thoughts.
Unsuitable profession
Raj's parents emigrated from India in 1973. He was born three years later into a family and culture where being a B-minus student was almost an act of rebellion, and where a child trying to find himself wasn't sure where to look.
At home, he says, he was Indian, learning respect and humility and how to exist in the background. At school, he was American, "where the goal is to get out in front of people and make sure you're heard."
He was happy, mind you, and funnier than what he can show on the air. At family gatherings, he was the cutup doing impressions of Dana Carvey or the first President George Bush.
Still, he felt uncertain in both worlds, and uninspired by what was understood to be his future. He could be an engineer, like his father and his brother who went to M.I.T., or a doctor, or possibly a lawyer, even if that struck the elders as overly flamboyant.
TV spoke to him, though. Not at him, the way it does most people, but to him — the chance to be in people's lives and living rooms, being the first to know, finding the truth, making things better.
By 14, he was hosting a program on community access cable called "Voices of Troy." Among his guests, invited with a bold phone call, was Perkins, touching off a mentorship that became an enduring friendship.
“He was eager not only in terms of what he wanted to do,” Perkins says, “but in terms of his desire to learn.”
Raj's friends were impressed by "Voices." His parents were encouraging, and the Indian American community around them was aghast.
Acquaintances would tell his father, Anil, and mother, Reva, "He's wasting his time." There wasn't any money in it or dignity to it.
But Reva bought him his first suits, and Anil would assign him writing drills, condensing articles from U.S. News or Time into understandable, newscast-size paragraphs.
Raj kept plugging, even if he still didn't see anyone on the screen who reminded him of himself.
Instead, he became the welcoming smile for other people, the ones who might become the second or third face in a market or a generation.
He wants them to know there's a pathway, he says — and that while they're looking at him, he's looking back.
Reach Neal Rubin at NARubin@freepress.com, or on Twitter at @nealrubin_fp.
To subscribe to the Free Press for as little as $1, click here.
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2022-10-30T12:19:27Z
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www.freep.com
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Fox 2's Roop Raj hopes kids see in him what he never saw on TV
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/neal-rubin/2022/10/30/wjbk-roop-raj-wants-to-be-indian-american-role-model-he-never-had/69574389007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/neal-rubin/2022/10/30/wjbk-roop-raj-wants-to-be-indian-american-role-model-he-never-had/69574389007/
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A once-abandoned brick house in Detroit's North End neighborhood along the Woodward Corridor, renovated using recovered materials from various historic houses and buildings, is listed for sale at $475,000.
“Every piece has been constructed or restored with materials from around Detroit,” said Adam Soroka of real estate firm @properties Christie's International, who listed the house at 246 E. Philadelphia St. on Oct. 21.
It's filled with reclaimed fixtures that originated at Marygrove College, the Book Tower and historic homes and buildings in Corktown, Boston Edison, Birmingham, Lapeer, New York and Maine.
The four-bedroom, 1 ½ bath house built in 1905 with 2,223 of above-ground living space was completely remodeled this year.
Owner Kyle Dubay purchased the fire-damaged house from the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which sells city-owned vacant homes. A homeowner who lives across the street from the house had plans to purchase and tear the burnt home down because it was an eyesore, Dubay said.
Those plans changed when Dubay and his partner Bo Shephard, Detroit residents who own Woodward Throwbacks — a Hamtramck company that designs and builds furniture and spaces using reclaimed and found materials, looked at the property in search of salvageable goods.
The couple thought it wasn’t in terrible shape, compared to many demolition-bound buildings they visit. After having a conversation about the property, they talked with the neighbor about their intention to purchase and fix the house instead.
“So that’s how it started,” Dubay said.
More:Metro Detroit home sales down 20% amid higher mortgage rates
More:Downtown Detroit's Monroe Street Midway will be transformed into winter carnival
The house has been renovated from head to toe.
“Every piece of the home tells a story, which makes it very unique,” said Soroka. “It’s a brand-new house, but with historic materials that are high quality.”
Original mosaic tile greets guests in the foyer, and the front door, original to the house, has been stripped and fitted with new trim and hardware from a Detroit church. A light fixture in the foyer comes from Marygrove College, and its metal crown was salvaged from a building in the Lansing area.
To the left of the entrance is an office/library with a desk made from salvaged slate chalkboards from Transfiguration School in Detroit and reclaimed oak base made from church pews.
To the right is a living room that has a fireplace mantle salvaged from late 1800s brick townhomes in Detroit's historic Corktown neighborhood. A coffee table in the living room was made from salvaged walnut parquet flooring from a 1920s era mansion in Birmingham. The living room light fixture was a salvaged courthouse light from Portland, Maine. The end tables are made of reclaimed flooring with salvaged green marble tops.
The dining room offers custom built-in seating and salvaged wood-cladded walls. The table is made of salvaged oak with legs made from the old support columns in the basement. A leaded transom window above the back door come from an early 1900s house in upstate New York.
The kitchen has modern amenities, including a subzero fridge, pantry, salvaged scaffold shelving and salvaged phenolic resin lab counters from Romeo High School. The island is made of salvaged white oak.
Off the kitchen is a deck and a fenced yard with a two-car parking pad.
The powder room on the first floor is equipped with a vanity made of reclaimed walnut parquet flooring from a mansion in Birmingham and reclaimed oak base from church pews. The door is salvaged from the Grand Army of the Republic building in downtown Detroit.
Built-in shelving outside of the powder room was once a maple display cabinet from New Martha Washington Bakery in Hamtramck.
A staircase salvaged from a late 1800s house in Corktown leads to the second level, which has three bedrooms with floors salvaged from a maple basketball court at the former E.T. White school building in Lapeer, and doors salvaged from a 1920’s mansion in Birmingham.
The full bathroom on the second floor has a vanity from a science lab salvaged from Marygrove College and a marble countertop salvaged from the Book Tower downtown.
The second-floor laundry has a sliding door that was a reclaimed carriage house door from a house in Detroit's Indian Village neighborhood.
A salvaged spiral staircase from a house in Boston Edison leads to the third level, an attic converted into an extra bedroom with additional living space.
The real estate listing notes that the house has been completely updated with new windows, roof, two high efficiency furnaces, two AC units, plumbing and electrical.
Followers of the popular Woodward Throwbacks Instagram page, have been able to watch the transformation of the, house, using the #wtphillyhouse hashtag.
The couple originally planned to move into the house, but last year found a different "dream home."
“We built this house to the nines as if we were gonna live in it, so we didn’t spare any money,” Dubay said. “Everything except for building the house and framing the house, we did.”
The furniture used to stage the house is also for sale.
“They brought the house back to life, using their own materials and sense of creativity,” Soroka said.
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2022-10-30T12:19:33Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit house renovated with reclaimed materials for sale
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/10/30/detroit-house-renovated-north-end-for-sale/69599486007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/10/30/detroit-house-renovated-north-end-for-sale/69599486007/
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Free Press staff
Before she became a sports media star, before she drew the ire of former President Donald Trump, and before she developed into a national columnist and podcast host, Jemele Hill was a Free Press sports writer.
The Detroit native and Michigan State alumnus who started her journalism career as an apprentice with the Free Press, returned to her hometown paper in the late 1990s to cover MSU football and basketball. She also contributed to coverage of the Pistons and the Olympics until she was hired as a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel.
From there, she was hired to write for ESPN, which later turned into a role as a host for "SportsCenter."
Hill details her journey in Detroit and through her life in "Uphill: A Memoir," which was released on Tuesday. To purchase a copy of her book, visit mahagonaybooks.com. She will have a book signing at the Detroit Public Library on Woodward at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 16.
In this excerpt from her book, Hill explains just how she fell in love with sports writing as a kid.
Whenever I’m asked how I became interested in sports journalism, I tell the story of Mr. Miller, the eighty-year-old white man whose house my mother cleaned for years. Mr. Miller lived on the southwest side of Detroit and subscribed to both hometown newspapers, the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News. I often accompanied my mother when she cleaned his house, and to entertain myself as she scrubbed his two-story home spotless, I would read his newspapers.
I always grabbed the sports section as I was in the process of becoming a sports junkie. James Morgan had helped turn me into a sports addict and we would spend a lot of time together playing catch or watching sports. Competition excited me. I loved watching great athletes and was drawn to the drama of sports. I loved the strategy and artistry. I was amazed and enthralled by all of it.
Mr. Miller also loved sports, and like me, he was a huge baseball fan. As my presence in his life grew, Mr. Miller and I would often watch Detroit Tigers games together and, because of his age, he knew a lot about their history. Sometimes Mr. Miller would also turn on the Tigers radio broadcast, so we could listen to the legendary Ernie Harwell’s play-by-play. Harwell was the radio voice of the Tigers for forty-two seasons and is one of the most beloved people in Detroit’s history.
Whenever I spoke of my love for the Tigers, my grandmother would tell me how much she hated the Tigers because they were once owned by the unrepentant racist Walter O. Briggs Sr. In 1935, Briggs assumed sole ownership of the Tigers franchise. Briggs’s refusal to sign Black players made the Tigers the second to last team in Major League Baseball to integrate. In a 2017 editorial for the Detroit Free Press, Briggs’s great-grandson, Harvey Briggs, wrote that around the team clubhouse, team personnel often used the phrase “No Jigs with Briggs,” because Briggs Sr.’s hatred and bigotry toward African Americans was well known. Even when the Tigers won the World Series in 1984 and remained competitive for much of the 1980s, my grandmother refused to root for them.
My grandmother was the reason Mr. Miller came into our lives in the first place. She had majored in sociology and was a social worker for the state of Michigan for nearly four decades. For a time, her cases consisted of just senior citizens. When I was younger, I would go with my grandmother on her house visits to her elderly clients. I saw my grandmother counsel and guide people whose living situations were often deplorable. I saw sickly, older people who were unable to do much for themselves and were mostly living alone. If they did have relatives, the relatives only took advantage of their situation. Generations of poverty had run in their families and their golden years were filled with financial despair and bad health.
Long before I used my fingers to write my first articles, I used them to file welfare cases in the social services office where my grandmother worked. She’d lobbied for me to get my first job there, and though it was tedious, boring work, it felt good to earn my own money. Even though those paper cuts really sucked.
One of the services my grandmother regularly set up for her elderly clients was housecleaning and caretaker services. And because my mother had started her own cleaning service when we lived in Texas, my grandmother employed my mother as a caretaker and housekeeper. My mother has always loved to clean, which suited her germaphobe tendencies. Sometimes it became annoying navigating my mother’s little household quirks, like making sure all of the towels in the linen closet were folded and facing in the same direction. And no matter how many times she showed me, I still couldn’t fold a fitted sheet.
Mr. Miller started as one of my grandmother’s clients, and she then arranged it so that my mother became his housekeeper. The first time I saw his house, it seemed like a mansion to me. He had four bedrooms, and a kitchen that was bigger than any I’d ever seen. He also had a family room, a spacious dining room, and a fairly new burgundy Grand Marquis. I thought Mr. Miller was some kind of tycoon.
Mr. Miller was a kind man but, like many seniors, he was lonely. He was a widower, and although he had kids of his own who cared about him, they had lives of their own. He wanted companionship, and, unfortunately, my mother stepped in to fill that role.
One of the reasons my mother had been so angry about what I’d written in my journal is because I wrote about her relationship with Mr. Miller, which felt inappropriate to me. It made me feel ashamed of her because I thought she was using him, and, in many ways, doing the same thing Henry had done to her. My mother did genuinely care for Mr. Miller. She made sure he got to his appointments and took his medication. She cooked and cleaned for him. But they were also romantically involved, and that was the part that disgusted me.
At that age, I only had a basic understanding of what sex was, but I knew that what was going on wasn’t right. Of course, Mr. Miller enjoyed my mother’s attention and affection. What eighty-year-old man wouldn’t? He gave her money, paid some of her bills, and let her drive his car, all of which both directly and indirectly supported her drug habit. Sugar daddy and sugar baby. On a few occasions, I overheard my mother and Mr. Miller argue about her drug use, yet that didn’t stop Mr. Miller from feeding her habit. I felt more compassion for Mr. Miller than I did for some of the other men that enabled her habit because we had developed a relationship. Some of it had to do with his age. He also wasn’t in the street life like most of the men who came in and out of my mother’s life. He was just an old man who wanted to feel like he mattered. As much as I hated to admit it, there was a part of me that could relate to that.
The Tigers won the World Series in 1968, a year after Detroit was torn apart by one of the most destructive riots of the civil rights era.
The unrest started just a few blocks from where my grandmother, mother, and uncle Norman lived, on 12th Street and Clairmount. At the time, Detroit was suffocated by racial tension. The Detroit police department had a notorious, well-earned reputation for harassing, profiling, and brutalizing Black Detroiters. On a miserable hot July night in 1967, the police raided a “blind pig,” which was the nickname for an illegal after-hours club. This particular establishment was hosting a party for two servicemen who recently returned home from the Vietnam War. The police raided the spot at three thirty a.m., and when the club patrons spilled out onto the street, all hell broke loose. Some two hundred fed-up onlookers gathered around the police as they took the club’s patrons to jail. People shouted, threw glass bottles, and managed to chase the police away. But their anger couldn’t be contained; people were tired of being disenfranchised and treated as if they weren’t human. Soon, hundreds of people spilled out into the streets. The riots lasted five days. Forty-three people died. Fourteen hundred buildings were burned. Many of the neighborhoods that were the center of where the unrest took place never recovered.
That first night of the riot, my mother was all alone in their apartment, which was above a hardware store. She sat on the floor, terrified in the dark. My grandmother was at work when the riots happened and she couldn’t get through to my mother because the police had barricaded the whole neighborhood. My uncle Norman also wasn’t there. Being raped isn’t the only reason my mother has never liked the dark. It also was because the dark reminds her of that night she spent alone when she was just ten years old, cowering on the floor, listening to bullets, shouting, and the rumble of military tanks from the National Guard rolling down her street.
When the Tigers won in 1968, it was a unifying moment the city desperately needed. White residents fled Detroit by the thousands to isolate themselves in the suburbs, deepening the racial divisions. The Tigers’ World Series win did not neutralize the explosive element of race in Detroit, but it gave everyone in the city something to root for. In fact, when the Tigers won the title again in 1984, I was eight years old and that racial divide was still there. But the Tigers’ ability to unite people in spite of the underlying racial disharmony was present, too.
My mother established a tradition where she took me to at least one Tigers game a year, usually on Opening Day, which in Detroit is treated like a national holiday. But since I was such a nerd and never wanted to miss school for any reason, my mother could only convince me by telling me there was no school that day. A small lie for a worthwhile experience. My mother could only afford bleacher seats, which went for $5 apiece then. We had enough money to get a few hot dogs, an ice cold beer for her, and a Coke for me. Not only was it one of the few luxuries that we had, but a priceless memory because I saw my mother’s joy.
I never could have foreseen that my love for the Tigers would be the basis for how I grew to love newspapers, and what eventually put me on the path toward a career in sports journalism. I guess this is also why I looked at Mr. Miller differently. He was an unlikely conduit to me finding my way.
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2022-10-30T12:20:03Z
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www.freep.com
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Jemele Hill book excerpt: How Detroit Tigers sparked journalism career
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/10/30/jemele-hill-book-excerpt-detroit-tigers-sparked-journalism-career/69587205007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/10/30/jemele-hill-book-excerpt-detroit-tigers-sparked-journalism-career/69587205007/
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Mel Tucker: "As Spartans our program has a responsibility to uphold the highest level of sportsmanship. While emotions were very high at the conclusion of our rivalry game at Michigan Stadium, there is no excuse for behavior that puts our team or our opponents at risk.
More:How Mel Tucker's Michigan State football program has fallen hard a year after his best win
MSU president Samuel L. Stanley, who resigned his duty in September but will stay on into January, said in his statement: "I’m extremely saddened by the unacceptable behavior depicted by members of our football program. On behalf of MSU, my heartfelt apology to the University of Michigan and the student athletes who were injured.
U-M president Santa J. Ono spoke with Stanley and said Stanley apologized to him: "We are in strong agreement that this behavior is unacceptable.
"You want to protect your players. Ten on one, whatever it was, it was bad. It needs to be investigated.”
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2022-10-30T16:27:35Z
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www.freep.com
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Mel Tucker on Michigan State football fight: 'There is no excuse'
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/10/30/michigan-state-football-fight-michigan-jaden-mcburrows-mel-tucker/69603780007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2022/10/30/michigan-state-football-fight-michigan-jaden-mcburrows-mel-tucker/69603780007/
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St. Brown practiced on a limited basis all week, but was placed in concussion protocol when officials removed him from the first quarter of last week's loss to the Dallas Cowboys after he showed balance issues following a hit to the head.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said St. Brown never was diagnosed with a brain injury and passed concussion testing on the sideline, but the NFL modified its concussion protocol this season to add ataxia − coordination issues that could result from a brain injury − to the list of symptoms that require a player's removal from the game.
He suffered a high ankle sprain in the Lions' Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings and sat out the following week's game against the Seattle Seahawks. He had 18 yards receiving in limited use the following week against the New England Patriots, and played 10 snaps last week against the Cowboys.
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2022-10-30T17:02:33Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown to play vs. Miami Dolphins
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/10/30/detroit-lions-amon-ra-st-brown-nfl-miami-dolphins/69603425007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/10/30/detroit-lions-amon-ra-st-brown-nfl-miami-dolphins/69603425007/
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Dan Campbell wanted his defensive backs to take a hands-on approach with speedy Miami Dolphins receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle on Sunday. Literally.
But when it came time to get physical, the Detroit Lions were nothing like Olivia Newton-John.
"We didn’t hit them," Campbell said. "We didn't hit them at the line. That was part of the game plan. We didn’t disrupt. We did not disrupt, and when you let them do that and get into your defense it’s — we didn’t want to turn it into a track meet and it was a track meet."
Hill and Waddle combined for 294 yards receiving and two touchdowns as the Dolphins handed the Lions their fifth straight loss, 31-27, at Ford Field.
GROUNDHOG DAYThis Detroit Lions season is sadly familiar — road team has its way with Dan Campbell's bunch
BREAKING DAN?Coach Dan Campbell isn't fully Lion-ized, but he's showing warning signs
Hill tied a season-high with 12 catches for 188 yards, while Waddle had eight catches for 106 yards and two scores.
"That was definitely a thing, us trying to get our hands on them and limit their speed down the field," Lions cornerback Will Harris said. "We’ve just got to be better all-around and execute as much as possible."
Hill caught five passes of at least 18 yards, including gains of 42 yards and 36 yards. His 36-yard catch came on a third-and-13 play when he got a free release at the line of scrimmage. Waddle had two catches for 18-plus yards and got free releases on both his TDs.
"We didn’t handle their speed well," Campbell said. "We didn’t get under those windows. Tua (Tagovailoa) did a good job of playing with rhythm, getting it out of his hands. (He would pump fake) and then kind of pop and then find the second window. We just did not — a lot of it is why you have to try to disrupt these guys, whether they’re on the line and some of that fast motion. If you’re a flat player, you’ve got to try to hit them a little bit because if you allow them into the defense, we’ve got problems. And they’re too fast. So we just didn’t handle it well top to bottom.”
Limited role for Swift
D'Andre Swift played a supporting role in his return from ankle and shoulder injuries Sunday, logging 10 touches as the Lions managed his workload after a three-game absence. Jamaal Williams started at running back and led the Lions with 10 carries for 53 yards and two touchdowns.
"We were just trying to see where Swift was at," Campbell said. "Certainly, he’s not 100-percent, but we got a few plays out of him.”
Swift finished with five carries for 6 yards and had 27 yards receiving on five catches, including a 7-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Making the GradeDetroit Lions grades in loss to Dolphins: Jared Goff wilts under pressure, DBs get another F
One of the Lions' most explosive offensive players, Swift played for the first time since spraining his shoulder in a Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. He also has been dealing with a sprained ankle he suffered in a Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Campbell said he hopes managing Swift's workload will lead to better health as the season goes on.
"I mean, we hope, but we’ll take it as it comes," he said. "Look, at least we got him out there moving around. It’s better than him not being at the game. And let’s see if we can — how he came out of this game and hopefully he’ll be a little bit better next week and maybe a little bit better the week after."
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2022-10-31T02:38:00Z
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Detroit Lions struggles with speedy Miami Dolphins receivers
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/10/31/detroit-lions-miami-dolphins-tyreek-hill-jaylen-waddle/69604486007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/10/31/detroit-lions-miami-dolphins-tyreek-hill-jaylen-waddle/69604486007/
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The steady beep of a medical monitor droned in the background. Melissa Parker’s 3-week-old, chubby-cheeked youngest son, Owen, lay in a crib as high-flow oxygen pushed through a tube and into his nostrils.
“He started with just a runny nose at home on the weekend (of Oct. 22) and that kind of progressed,” said Parker, 34, of Shelby Township. “He started being a little less like himself. He wasn't eating as much or as often, was falling asleep during his feedings, started having retractions — the sucking in underneath his ribs. And then, during one of his feedings, he was holding his breath and kind of turning blue around the mouth.”
Parker, who is a pediatric nurse, knew those were the warning signs that Owen wasn’t getting enough oxygen.
She took him to Corewell Health Beaumont Troy Hospital, where he was hospitalized Oct. 24 with respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV. Four days later, Owen was transferred to Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, where he was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.
Owen is among hundreds of Michigan children who have needed hospital care amid an October wave of RSV, which causes the most serious illness in babies, people with compromised immune systems and elderly people.
How serious is Michigan’s RSV outbreak?
RSV cases aren’t required to be reported to public health departments, so they can be difficult to track. However, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the chief medical executive for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said it’s clear Michigan is experiencing an RSV surge.
“We are hearing from our partners in pediatric hospitals that they are seeing a lot of kids” who are sick with the virus, she said. “We are hearing that emergency departments are getting pretty full and we're also hearing that pediatric ICU (intensive care unit) beds are approaching capacity.
“I'm not saying that we are in a critical point and that ICUs are over capacity,” Bagdasarian told the Free Press. “I would not say that things are dire at this moment, but it’s certainly something that we are keeping a very close eye on.”
How many Michigan kids are hospitalized with RSV?
Michigan lacks a statewide tally, but Corewell Health East, the new name for Beaumont Health, reports it has seen a 567% rise in the number of patients hospitalized with RSV in the last month. In October, the health system cared for 881 hospitalized patients (adults and children) with the virus — compared with 132 hospitalized with RSV in September.
Across the state in Grand Rapids at Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, demand for pediatric beds driven by kids with RSV is up 385%, said Dr. Andrea Hadley, pediatric hospitalist.
In September, 40 children were hospitalized with the virus at DeVos. Comparatively, in October, 194 needed hospitalization for RSV.
At C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, 119 children were hospitalized with RSV between Oct. 1-26 this year. That’s about 28% more than were hospitalized in the full month of October 2021, a health system spokesperson told the Free Press.
It’s a very common respiratory virus that in most people causes mild, cold-like symptoms "typical of other respiratory diseases — runny nose, coughing, sneezing, fevers, all of those things," Bagdasarian said. "Most people who have RSV infections, they get better on their own at home.”
A subset of the population — especially babies, toddlers, senior citizens and people with compromised immune systems — can have a harder time fighting the virus and can get very ill.
More:Flu threatens early surge. Doctors urge vaccinations now.
More:U-M cyberattack hits 33K patients
“We are particularly worried about those who are at the spectrums of age … children younger than 1 year of age, especially," Bagdasarian said. "We’re talking about infants who are born premature or underweight. And then … older adults can also be at risk for more severe symptoms.”
When babies get the virus, it can cause wheezing and respiratory distress.
“The younger you (are), the smaller your airways are,” said Dr. Andrea Hadley, pediatric hospitalist from at DeVos Children’s. “All of that congestion can lead to difficulty breathing, high fevers, and dehydration related to difficulty feeding because of all the congestion."
The congestion “irritates the smallest parts of the airway called the bronchioles and causes bronchiolitis — inflammation of the bronchioles," said Dr. Rudolph Valentini, a pediatric nephrologist at Children's Hospital of Michigan and group chief medical officer for the Detroit Medical Center. "That often causes breathing difficulty in babies. It actually can cause infants to have apnea, which means they actually can stop breathing with it."
“This virus spreads in secretions and through respiratory droplets,” Hadley said.
“The best way to prevent the spread is to wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. Keep your kids home when they're sick.
“It spreads like wildfire through day cares and preschools and elementary schools. People can bring it home to their infants; siblings spread it to one another. Try to minimize contact with infants and keep kids home when they're ill.”
If you must go out when you’re sick, Hadley suggested wearing a mask to prevent spreading the virus to others.
“We are asking our community to do those things for us because not only does it protect them, but it helps to offload our extremely busy pediatrician’s offices, emergency departments and hospitals … so that we can be there to care for every single patient that walks through the door,” she said.
How are hospitals managing the strain?
Dr. Whitney Minnock, pediatric emergency center physician at Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak, said the "abundance of patients with RSV" have been a challenge to manage.
“I think that all of the hospitals in the area are affected pretty significantly and are trying really hard to meet the demands … of the kids that are sick,” she said.
“We've been increasing our staffing and kind of looking (at it) day to day. We've had several meetings to try to figure out how we can take care of all the patients that need us to take care of them, and I think that we've done a really good job. But we're all working really hard right now.”
Children’s Hospital of Michigan is juggling a high volume of patients with RSV as well, Valentini said.
“We're all feeling the pinch,” he said. “The state of Michigan has not been as heavily impacted as some of the other regions of the country but it does appear as though it's evolving and it could be upon us in the weeks ahead.
What happens if there's a flu outbreak on top of RSV?
“If influenza were to come in close proximity of time to the RSV surge, that could really tip us over," Valentini said, in terms of hospital capacity to care for all the patients who need it. "Right now, … Michigan is coping with the situation, but it is definitely putting a strain on us.”
Minnock said the coronavirus pandemic has taught hospital systems to be flexible and, if necessary, patients can be transferred from a hospital that’s overwhelmed to one with a better ability to take extra patients.
But, she said, the public can play a role in slowing the spread of RSV and other respiratory viruses to help ease the stress on hospitals.
More:As monkeypox cases dip, Michigan's top doctor urges ongoing caution
“We're calling on all of our partners in the community to do everything that we can to keep kids safe,” Minnock said. “We are also calling on other hospitals that can take care of pediatric patients … to help the pediatric hospitals really take care of the sickest patients,” Minnock said.
Getting flu and COVID-19 vaccines also will help, said Dr. Kimberly Monroe, interim chief clinical officer at U-M Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital & Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital.
"Please do get vaccinated because that can help the medical system," she said. "It'll decrease the number of cases ... if there is overlap" with RSV, flu and COVID-19.
What are the signs that my child might need to go to the emergency room with RSV?
Infants can’t tell their parents when they’re struggling to breathe. Drs. Valentini, Hadley, Minnock and Monroe said caretakers should watch for the following symptoms:
Wheezing or grunting noise
Nostrils flaring and/or muscles in the neck, chest or abdomen are strained when trying to breathe
Not eating well
Excessive fussiness or excessive lethargy
Bluish coloration of the skin
Dehydration, which shows up in infants as fewer wet diapers
Apnea episodes
“When the respiratory rate is above 60, a lot of times they're so busy trying to take a breath to get oxygen into their body that they don't often eat well,” Valentini said.
“They're vulnerable to dehydration. So if they're not eating well, if they're fussy, if they have a fever, if you see the abdominal breathing or the grunting, you need to get to a hospital,” he said.
“Not every cough or cold with a little bit of wheezing warrants a hospital visit. If your baby is feeding comfortably but seems a little bit uncomfortable, you could pick up the phone and contact your pediatrician for some guidance.
“But certainly when they have those symptoms of breathing difficulty where they're grunting, or you see the abdominal breathing or they're having trouble feeding, you need to get (medical) attention.”
Because it is a virus, antibiotics are generally not used to treat it. However, Minnock said, some kids who have RSV also develop bacterial infections that require antibiotic treatment.
“Urinary tract infections, sometimes ear infections, and some will get a superimposed pneumonia. … They might need some antibiotics for whatever infection they have on top of the RSV.”
Most of the time, hospitalization with RSV means supportive care, ensuring children are hydrated and their oxygen needs are met.
“RSV typically gets bad on days three to five and, usually, once they get past that bad respiratory part of it, they get better,” Monroe said. “It's just kind of supporting them until their body can do what it needs to do to get through the virus.
“Most of these children will just need (oxygen delivered through) a nasal cannula. And some of them might need what’s called a high-flow nasal cannula, which is sort of super-duper nasal cannula. ... Some people need what's called CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), which people might be familiar with in hearing about sleep apnea management.”
A very small number of children will need to be put on a ventilator because of an RSV infection, she said.
Not yet. However, researchers are working to develop one that could be available within the next two years, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told MSNBC.
"We don't have tools for all viral respiratory diseases," Bagdasarian said. "We don't have vaccines for all of them, but we should use the tools that we do have as effectively as possible to prepare for this upcoming respiratory season."
That means staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters and getting an annual flu shot, Bagdasarian said.
More:Demand for abortions in Michigan doubles among out-of-state residents
"With all of these diseases, our goal is not necessarily to stop every single infection, but we want to save lives," she said. "We want to keep health care capacity open and we want to keep our vital infrastructure open. ... By using the tools, we will be able to get through this respiratory viral season."
How deadly is RSV?
A study published in February in JAMA Open Network estimated that from 1999-2018 about 100 babies under the age of 1 in the U.S. died each year from RSV. Among adults older than 65, the study found RSV remains "an important" cause of death, which, "in some seasons ... is associated with more deaths than influenza."
The good news for children, Monroe said, is that most survive and have no long-term complications.
“The vast majority fully recover,” said Dr. Monroe. “That does not mean it's not absolutely terrifying for parents and we as providers recognize that. Just because we can provide care and support your child and after the illness is over, they're fine doesn't mean it's not scary.”
Why does RSV seem to be so severe this year?
"Quite simply we have had two very unusual years when it comes to respiratory viruses," Bagdasarian said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, RSV cases typically peaked in December and January, she said.
"What we saw was that in 2020 definitely and in 2021 as well, things were different because of all the mitigation measures that we've been using for COVID," she said. "So when we look at the 2020 data, we were flat in terms of RSV. There was no RSV.
"Now what we're finding is that most of the mitigation strategies that people have been using for COVID-19 have gone away and so we're seeing respiratory viruses come back," she said. "There are young kids who haven't been exposed to the same types of respiratory viruses for the last couple of years and so there is a possibility that their immune systems will handle this a little bit differently."
Valentini said people ought to take RSV seriously and do all they can to protect their infants and young children from exposure.
"RSV is for real," he said. "It's always been for real, but it seems like it's coming out with a vengeance this year.
"Perhaps it's because we have less immunity in our community due to the pandemic kind of keeping everybody distant. But if you have a baby, you have to be extremely careful with your infant."
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2022-10-31T11:38:34Z
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www.freep.com
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RSV surges in Michigan: What you need to know to protect your kids
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/10/31/rsv-surge-michigan-children-need-to-know/69601282007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/10/31/rsv-surge-michigan-children-need-to-know/69601282007/
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In 2020, Michigan voters did not have complete unofficial election results on election night. The same could be true this year.
The Secretary of State's Office expects unofficial results will be available within about 24 hours from when the polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 8.
In recent elections, about half of voters cast an absentee ballot which take longer to process and count than ballots cast in person at polling locations. "There is a reality that the workflow of counting absentee ballots is really time-intensive," said Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck during a recent news briefing. "Beyond the speed, we want to make sure that it's right."
With the upcoming midterm election on track to see high voter turnout, that means election officials across Michigan anticipate a large volume of absentee ballots.
But election workers cannot begin counting absentee ballots until 7 a.m. on Election Day when polling locations open. Some municipalities will undertake the initial steps of preparing an absentee ballot to be counted on Election Day, but election administrators say the preprocessing measures in place in Michigan won't significantly expedite the count.
Several factors will impact when election administrators will have unofficial results to report, and election officials have urged voters to be patient.
"The last thing somebody wants is for a clerk to rush," said Harrison Township Clerk Adam Wit, who serves as president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks.
Preprocessing doesn't include tabulating ballots, many big cities to skip it
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the GOP-led Legislature reached a last-minute deal to allow clerks in some Michigan communities to begin processing but not counting ballots before Election Day. For some clerks, the change came too late for them to shift plans and take advantage of the preprocessing, according to the Secretary of State's Office.
For some clerks, the preprocessing approved by lawmakers wasn't the time-saver they wanted because it doesn't allow them to start tabulating ballots until Election Day. Under Michigan's new preprocessing law, election workers can open the return envelopes containing absentee ballots and check that the number on the stub attached to the ballot matches the number on the envelope. Clerks cannot remove absentee ballots from the secrecy sleeve or tabulate them. A majority of states allow ballots to be scanned into tabulators before Election Day, according to an analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center.
In total, 39 municipalities in Michigan plan to preprocess ballots, including some of the state's biggest cities like Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor and Troy. But some of Michigan's largest cities like Warren, Sterling Heights, Lansing, Dearborn, Livonia and Westland plan to skip preprocessing ahead of the Nov. 8 election.
Clerks must receive absentee ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day
Clerks must receive absentee ballots by 8 p.m. on Election Day. While election officials can begin counting absentee ballots starting at 7 a.m. on Election Day, they'll have a new batch of ballots that roll in by the 8 p.m. deadline that need to be verified before they can be counted.
Depending on how many voters wait to return their ballots until the evening of Nov. 8, the process could take awhile. Election workers must collect ballots from drop boxes and verify the voter's signature on the return envelope before sending them to counting rooms for tabulation.
It's a process that takes time. For instance, during the 2020 presidential election in Detroit, ballots arrived to the counting room early in the morning the day after the election to be counted.
More:Satellite clerk's offices open across Detroit as Election Day nears: Find one near you
Unofficial election results in some counties driven to clerks' offices
Most counties in Michigan no longer use modems to transmit unofficial election results from polling locations.
"We're essentially across the country in the process of decommissioning the electronic transmission of results directly from tabulators," Roebuck said. The shift was prompted, in part, by misinformation about the use of modems and guidance from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, according to the Secretary of State's Office.
In some counties, clerks drive memory cards containing unofficial results to the county clerk's office and in others, local clerks collect the cards from polling locations and transmit them to the county clerk's office which then posts them online.
Relying on hand-delivering results takes longer compared with transmitting them via modems. "There's just no way around that," said Roebuck.
"It just delays everything," said Wit.
When results were "modemed" in previously, polling locations could transmit them within five minutes of closing, Wit said. In the recent August primary, Wit said that most tabulators in Harrison Township were shut off at 8:05 p.m., but he didn't drop off the unofficial results at the county clerk's office until about 10:45 p.m. The Macomb County Clerk's Office indicates that the latest municipality in Macomb County to report unofficial results was Eastpointe, whose results came through at 4:18 a.m. the day after the recent August primary, according to the county clerk's website.
Wayne County completed its unofficial election results report about 7 a.m. the day after the recent August primary, about 2½ hours later than Macomb County, according to the Wayne County Clerk's Office.
"It often gets overlooked that Wayne County is the largest county in the State of Michigan, and consists of 918 precincts," said Lisa Williams, a spokesperson for the clerk's office, in an email. "Wayne County has 43 local clerks who administer their elections and then report their results. Wayne County isn't able to report results until they are received by each local clerk."
The Free Press will be monitoring results as they come in, and relies on the Associated Press to call races.
How unofficial election results become official
Across Michigan, turnout in the upcoming midterm is expected to significantly exceed turnout in the August primary, which means more ballots to process and a potentially longer time between when the polls close and voters have unofficial results.
After election workers have counted every ballot, county boards of canvassers will begin reviewing election results and election materials as part of a post-election review. County boards of canvassers have until Nov. 22 to finalize the results in the county and certify the outcomes of contests within county lines. The Board of State Canvassers then has until Nov. 28 to certify the results of statewide races and those that cross county lines based on the vote totals received from the counties.
The Secretary of State's Office recommends voters request an absentee ballot in person at their local clerk's office or satellite office to avoid potential postal delays. The office also recommends that voters who have already received an absentee ballot fill it out and return it in person at the local clerk's office or via a ballot drop box. Those eligible have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to register to vote and cast a ballot at their local clerk's office. Polling locations are open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 8.
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2022-10-31T11:38:46Z
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www.freep.com
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Michigan election results could take multiple days
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/31/michigan-election-results-delay/69586831007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/10/31/michigan-election-results-delay/69586831007/
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Detroit Pistons coach Dwayne Casey: Vote to improve Detroit and Michigan
Most of you know me as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, but my life started as a child of the South in Morganfield, Ky., a rural two stop-light town in the western part of the state. When I began my schooling at Dunbar Elementary School all the students, teachers and administrators were Black; this was by design as segregation was the law of the land. When I was 8 years old the schools in Morganfield were desegregated and I entered a school where many saw my presence as a sign of a change that they did not accept nor welcome. I am no stranger to the fact that progress in this life can be an uncertain and uphill journey. Many times you fall to the bottom before you have an opportunity to make it to the top. As a teenager, and a standout basketball player, I chose to attend the University of Kentucky, where I was also one of the first Black athletes to play for that storied program. At UK, I learned that my success came not just through my own hard work and determination − it was also the result of the team around me: on the court, the classroom, at home and in the community. Consequently, my journey up that hill has always meant linking arms with others; bettering ourselves together and creating better outcomes for each other. That idea is core to who I am as a coach, a father, an advocate and as a member of the Detroit community.
Right now, that notion of a shared destiny is showing up nationwide in the movement to fight mass incarceration and reform our broken criminal justice system. Despite the countless tragedies and stark racial injustices we have all witnessed, there are new seeds of progress: together, we have started to make systemic change − revising laws and policies that have destroyed too many lives; disproportionately in Black and Brown communities across the country. A great example of forward momentum is right here in Michigan: in 2020, the state Legislature passed “clean slate” laws that that give Michiganders who have completed sentences for minor offenses a second chance to lead productive lives. And, eventually, up to a million Michigan residents may be eligible for expungement.
The new laws allow eligible individuals − our neighbors, our friends, and our loved ones − to have their records expunged so they can more easily hold jobs, apply for school, get housing, and begin rebuilding their lives in our community. This is a big win for justice, for our economy and for us all. We need to keep spreading the word to all those who qualify to look into the process or connect with local organizations that can help, like Safe & Just Michigan or Detroit’s Project Clean Slate. Since January of last year only 15,500 people have submitted applications to Project Clean Slate − a fraction of the estimated 168,000 Detroiters who may be eligible.
Clean Slate is just one example of how we can make a better Detroit − and a better Michigan − by following that principle of investing in and trusting each other. I will always try to use my voice to help our city reach its fullest potential. Over the years, I’ve tried to speak out for what I think is right: from filming PSAs to promote voting rights and civic engagement; to meeting with federal officials in Washington D.C. to push for passage of a national fair sentencing law, as part of my work with the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition.
As we close in on Election Day, we all have a responsibility to make our voices heard. That’s what makes living in a democracy special: our leaders are accountable to us, the people. Each of us can learn more, ask questions and demand answers. But the first way to have your say is to get registered and vote this November. In addition to choosing members of Congress and senators, we are choosing Michigan’s governor, state senators and representatives, judges, school board members, and municipal officials. There are also key policies up for direct vote, like Proposal 2 or “Promote the Vote,” which will help create fairer and safer elections across the state.
FROM 2018:How Dwane Casey's response to N-word helped fuel rise: It was 'big time'
There are dozens of ways to participate in our democracy. The truth is, every one of us is a critical player in making a better city and state so we can continue to journey up the hill together. We need each other − but we have to be willing to get in the game.
Dwane Casey is head coach of the Detroit Pistons. Since 2021, he has served on the board of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition, the 501(c)(4) advocacy organization of players, coaches and executives leading the NBA family’s social justice efforts.
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2022-10-31T11:38:52Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit Pistons' Dwayne Casey: Vote to improve Detroit and Michigan
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/31/pistons-coach-dwayne-casey-vote-to-improve-detroit-and-michigan/69600584007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/10/31/pistons-coach-dwayne-casey-vote-to-improve-detroit-and-michigan/69600584007/
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Detroit Pistons (2-5) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (5-0)
Where: Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
Betting line: Bucks by 13½.
Game notes: And then there was one — just one squad remains unbeaten this season, and it’s the Pistons’ opponent for the next two games, both in Milwaukee. (The back-to-back home games kinda made sense for Atlanta’s visit to Detroit last week … but against a division rival on the other side of Lake Michigan? OK.) The player to watch is, as always, Giannis Antetokounmpo, who’s making an early bid for his third MVP award in averaging 34.4 points, 14 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.6 blocks in 34.6 minutes per game.
Jrue Holliday is once again a worthy sidekick, with 18 points and eight assists a game, and newcomer Brook Lopez appears to be a solid fit with 13.6 points a game in his first five appearances with the Bucks; after going 1-for-11 from 3-point range against the Nets and Knicks last week, he hit five of his eight shots beyond the arc in the Bucks’ 123-115 win over Atlanta on Saturday night.
The Pistons, meanwhile, washed the depressing taste of a five-game losing streak out of their mouths with a steady win over the defending champion Warriors on Sunday. Golden State was playing with nearly a full roster, sitting only Klay Thompson. One bright spot recently for the Pistons: 2021 No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham. After scoring 35 with nine rebounds and eight assists against the Hawks on Friday, he came within an assist of a triple-double Sunday, with 23 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
SUNDAY'S ACTION:Pistons upset Golden State Warriors, snap five-game skid with 128-114 win
As noted, the two teams will get a rematch in Milwaukee on Wednesday. After that, the Pistons will return home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday while the Bucks will head west to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves, also on Friday.
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2022-10-31T11:39:46Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit Pistons game score vs. Milwaukee Bucks: Time, TV, odds
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/10/31/detroit-pistons-game-score-vs-milwaukee-bucks-time-tv-odds/69604680007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2022/10/31/detroit-pistons-game-score-vs-milwaukee-bucks-time-tv-odds/69604680007/
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When the Detroit Pistons tip off against the Bucks on Monday night in Milwaukee, it’ll be the franchise’s 27th time playing on Halloween. That’s more than any other NBA franchise but one — the Sacramento Kings, who are a horror story in their own right.
Counting Monday, a whopping 18 of the Pistons’ Halloween games will have come on the road, tied for the most among NBA franchises — with, of course, the Kings, who also tip off Monday against the Hornets in Charlotte. (On the other end, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic — franchises that have existed for 34 seasons — have played on the holiday, home or away, just four times. Maybe they had problems finding costumes?)
CATCHING UP WITH THE GM:Troy Weaver: Detroit Pistons won't 'put a cap' on Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren
In all, the Pistons enter Monday’s game with a 9-17 record on Halloween, and a 4-13 road record on the holiday — that’s a lot of boxes of raisins instead of full-size candy bars. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some treats to go with all those tricks. With so many Pistons games to choose from, we thought we’d look back on the greatest All Hallows’ Eve performances in franchise history.
1968: Bing dishes out the assists
Bucks 134, Pistons 118: Halloween 1968 was a big night for giving across the Midwest. In Detroit, Gordie Howe picked up his 900th career assist for the Red Wings. (Only 18 other NHL’ers have that many now, though Sidney Crosby may have joined them by the time you read this.) And in Milwaukee, Dave Bing handed out 19 assists to his teammates while also hitting 10 shots from the field and nine of 11 free throws for a team-high 29 points (24 of which came in the second half).
MORE FROM BING:Former mayor has high expectations for Pistons' future and it starts next season
Unfortunately for the future Detroit mayor, he and his teammates were a little too giving (despite being the visitors; didn’t they know how Halloween works?) in the second quarter as the Bucks outscored the Pistons by 16 and then prevailed in a frantic second half to claim the greatest treat of all — the expansion franchise’s first-ever victory, in its sixth try.
1974: Lanier rocks Cleveland
Cavaliers 118, Pistons 101: It was a night for the ages for big man Bob Lanier — or at least a half for the books — as the Pistons’ No. 1 overall pick in 1970 shot 13-for-16 en route to 31 points in the first half alone. But Lanier cooled off after halftime, hitting just four of 12 shots for an additional 10 points. His Pistons teammates didn’t help much, either, shooting just 41.9% from the floor for the entire game.
Lanier added 14 rebounds and five assists, but, again, his support was lacking, as the 10 other Pistons managed just 30 boards, infuriating coach Ray Scott: “We’ve got a total breakdown in our defense,” Scott said. “We’re not talking, we’re not physical, we’re not (rebounding) and it’s primarily at forward.”
Lanier is still one of just four Pistons with a 40-point, 10-rebound, five-assist game on any date (the others: Bing in 1970, Isiah Thomas in 1983 and Blake Griffin in 2018); he’s the only Piston to do it three times.
SHAWN WINDSOR:Detroit Pistons center Bob Lanier was brightest star in a bleak decade for Detroit sports
1997: Running up that Hill
Pistons 92, Wizards 79: No Piston has ever posted a triple-double on Halloween, but a few have come close — Scott had 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in a 1964 loss to the Hawks, and Lanier had the points (24) but fell just short on the boards (nine) and the assists (eight). The most well-rounded near-miss belongs to Hill, however — 25 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, all while shooting 9-for-17 from the field over 37 minutes.
That game, the Pistons’ home opener for the 1997-98 season, was also a homecoming, of sorts, with former Wolverines Juwan Howard and Chris Webber suiting up for the Wizards. That franchise was in a costume of their own — the game at The Palace of Auburn Hills was the franchise’s first as the Wizards, after changing their name from the Bullets over the offseason. But Hill needed no disguise; he put up 10 points in the first quarter, prompting him to say, “I love playing against Washington.”
2000: A Stack attack
Pistons 104, Raptors 95: Halloween 2000 brought a new look for the Pistons — with Hill departed for Orlando via a sign-and-trade, Jerry Stackhouse became the face of the franchise in its final season in teal (until last Friday). The early returns were less than encouraging, as the co-captain missed eight of his first 10 shots in Toronto. But he kept shooting, finishing the first half with 17 attempts for 16 points. He added 18 more shots in the second half and, after that frozen start up north, sank 15 of his final 25 attempts. That thaw included a 19-point third quarter and 44 points overall — the most by a Piston on Halloween.
THIS YEAR'S TEAM:Bojan Bogdanovic showcasing star-level offense with Pistons
Stackhouse also had five rebounds and three assists in 42 minutes — nearly four minutes more than any other Piston — prompting coach George Irvine to apologize: “I have to get Jerry rest, but he loves being out there. When he takes himself out of the game you know he's tired."
Stackhouse’s co-captain (and future Pistons head coach) Michael Curry approved of the effort: “The thing I like is that he took 35 shots but every shot was a good shot. … We'll keep getting Jerry shots."
2018: Drumm solo in Brooklyn
Nets 120, Pistons 119 (OT): Drummond has, by far, the franchise record for rebounds on Halloween as he pulled down 23 boards at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. (Lanier’s 14 in 1974 is No. 2.) He also added 24 points (on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and 8-for-10 shooting from the free throw line) and two blocks over 38 minutes for what should have been a treat for Pistons fans.
Instead, it was a rotten apple — former Piston Spencer Dinwiddie — spoiling the night with 22 points in the final 17 minutes of action, including a game-winning 3 with 7.1 seconds left. Still, Drummond was able to chuckle afterward about his former teammate’s late dominance: “That man has a personal vendetta every time we play him," Drummond said. "He's trying to let us have it every time we play.
"Anytime he sees the Detroit Pistons, he comes after us."
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2022-10-31T11:39:52Z
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Detroit Pistons' most haunting Halloween performances of all time
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Michigan football defensive back Gemon Green has retained Tom Mars of Mars Law Firm to represent him in a lawsuit against Michigan State players after he was "assaulted" in the tunnel on Saturday night following U-M's 29-7 win over MSU, Mars confirmed to the Free Press.
"When college football players brutally attack a member of the opposing team with their helmets, resulting in the player suffering a concussion and other injuries, an apology won’t suffice," Mars said in a written statement. "There has to be severe consequences for this kind of misconduct. Not only does Gemon Green deserve to be compensated for his injuries, severe consequences in this case will deter others who might think they can get away with brutally beating an opposing player and only get a slap on the wrist.
"I’ve got news for the MSU players who did this to Gemon. They are going to feel the full wrath of the law."
There were no further specifics on who the charges will be filed against or the specific nature of the charges.
This comes just hours after Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said he "can't imagine that this will not result in criminal charges," and identified the two Michigan players who were attacked as Green and fellow defensive back Ja'Den McBurrows.
Video on social media, in one instance, shows McBurrows being hit and kicked by a handful of Spartans players.
Another video showed an MSU player swinging a helmet at Green. MSU suspended four players — Tank Brown, Angelo Grose, Khary Crump and Zion Young — indefinitely as of Sunday night as the investigation continues.
Harbaugh explained that in addition to the videos circulating on social media, he saw a "tunnel cam" by ABC that comes from a higher angle that showed even more that he'd initially seen.
"Right now we have an ongoing police investigation, what happened in the tunnel was egregious, sickening to watch," Harbaugh said. "There needs to be accountability, there needs to be a full, thorough, timely investigation.
"The videos are bad. It's clear what transpired, it seems very open and shut as they say."
Tucker addressed the incident at the start of his weekly news conference on Monday afternoon in East Lansing.
"We're note here to make any excuses for he behaviors Saturday," Tucker said. "They are unacceptable. It's also very important to say we honor the traditions of the Big Ten conference, including the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry game and we have a responsibility to uphold the values of this great university.
'THERE IS NO EXCUSE':Mel Tucker on Michigan State players ganging up on U-M player: 'There is no excuse'
"We are deeply sorry to both universities, the conference, our fans, alumni, supporters and of course all of our student-athletes, past and present."
Defensive back Rod Moore said the whole team was saddened and frustrated by what happened and that it was particularly tough in his room, the defensive backs, since it was two teammates from their unit. When Moore and Harbaugh spoke with reporters Monday morning, the team had not met formally since Saturday evening.
Sunday is an off-day for players to get treatment and for coaches to game plan and the team does not practice until Monday afternoon.
"It was uncalled for, it's a football game, there's no reason for a team to do something like that especially against two people," Moore said. "I'm really close with Ja'Den and just to see that video, I couldn't keep watching it because like me, I like defending my brothers and I couldn't be up there to defend them.
"So that hurt, especially all of us in the same room, it was just like we couldn't defend them, so it made everybody upset but we just have to move on because there's nothing we can do now."
As Michigan State made its way up the tunnel, video shows the two defensive backs also heading up the tunnel to get to their locker room, while the majority of the Wolverines were still on the field. Harbaugh was asked why they were not with the rest of their team and separated from the Spartans.
"They were walking up the tunnel exactly how they have each of the last games," Harbaugh said. "Those two players did the same thing the Penn State game, did the same thing the previous games. They, they go up the tunnel with the other players."
When asked if Green will be available for Saturday's game at Rutgers, Harbaugh said "I don't know."
Free Press sports writer Chris Solari contributed to this report. Contact Tony Garcia at apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @realtonygarcia.
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2022-10-31T19:42:34Z
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Michigan football's Gemon Green hires attorney after tunnel incident
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/10/31/michigan-football-gemon-green-hires-attorney-michigan-state-tunnel/69607090007/
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New Amazon fulfillment center in Detroit not ready to launch
A new Amazon fulfillment center in Detroit at the former State Fairgrounds that could employ 1,200 or more people is no longer scheduled to open this year as originally planned, the Free Press has learned.
Construction of the massive 3.8-million-square-foot building began in late 2020, and Amazon at the time reportedly hoped that the center could open by the middle of this year so that operations would be in full swing by the 2022 holiday season.
The new building has now been up for months, but Amazon's timeline for using it has changed.
Amazon spokesman Austin Stowe told the Free Press that while "initial operations" have started in the building, Amazon is now looking to 2023 for ramping up and officially launching the fulfillment center.
The spokesman would not give reasons for the opening delay or give details on when next year the center will launch or the type of early operations that have started.
A Detroit official said Monday the city isn't worried about the postponed opening.
"Amazon could have chosen anywhere else," Nicole Sherard-Freeman, group executive of Jobs, Economy & Detroit at Work, said in a statement. "This is great for the city and we're not concerned about the delay, given the fact that the project was announced at the beginning of the pandemic. Amazon has made a tremendous investment and commitment to the city of Detroit and we look forward to the facility's opening."
Amazon has experienced slower sales growth this year and delayed the planned opening of multiple new warehouse facilities in the U.S. and outright scrapped plans for others.
In Michigan, a fulfillment center in Delta Township outside Lansing that was to open this year has been delayed until 2024, and the construction of an Amazon delivery center in Gaines Township outside Grand Rapids is on hold, the township's manager said.
In Washtenaw County, a delivery station is still planned for Pittsfield Township, although there is no available timeline for building it, and Amazon reportedly canceled plans for a warehouse in Ypsilanti Township. The online shopping giant however did open a new delivery center last week in Canton.
The new Detroit fulfillment center, located off Eight Mile at the former fairgrounds, was developed for Amazon by Detroit-based Sterling Group and Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties.
Sterling Group and Hillwood bought the 142-acre site from the city of Detroit for $16 million.
Amazon received no local or state tax breaks or subsidies for the fulfillment center.
A group called the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition sought to halt the 2020 sale of the city-owned land, claiming the value of the property had been undervalued in the deal and that Amazon should be required to do a Community Benefits Agreement with Detroit.
The coalition won a temporary injunction from Wayne County Circuit Court in late October 2020 halting the sale, but it was quickly reversed days later by the state Court of Appeals. The deal then went through and construction began.
In response to the coalition's lawsuit against the deal, a Detroit economic development official said in an October 2020 affidavit that the fulfillment center project was on an "extremely aggressive" construction timeline and that Amazon expected the center to be operational by mid-2022.
If the coalition's lawsuit were to delay the start of construction, the official warned, Amazon might decide to build the center somewhere else.
"Amazon requires that completion date in order for operations at the distribution center to have hit their stride in time for the 2022 peak holiday season," the official, Lucas Polcyn, deputy group executive for jobs and economic growth, wrote in the affidavit. "That deadline leaves no margin for delay to complete this $400 million project."
When the appeals court lifted the restraining order in early November 2020, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan cheered the news and said Amazon had indicated it might even have 2,000 positions available at the new fulfillment center, up from the initially expected 1,200.
Frank Hammer, co-chair of the development coalition, said last week that Amazon is clearly lagging on the timeline that the city once claimed was crucially important.
"It is not opening in time for the holiday season," he said.
The 2020 Detroit Amazon deal also included construction of a new Detroit Department of Transportation transit center within the fairgrounds' old Dairy Cattle Building, which is to replace a nearby bus hub on Woodward Avenue. The new State Fair Transit Center is scheduled for completion by early 2024.
The fairgrounds' historic bandshell, once at risk of demolition, is being repaired and relocated to Palmer Park, near the parking lot for the Detroit Police Department's 12th Precinct. The bandshell is on track for a fall 2023 opening, according to the city.
Amazon facilities in Michigan
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2022-10-31T23:16:25Z
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New Amazon fulfillment center in Detroit not ready to launch
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/10/31/amazon-fulfillment-center-detroit-not-ready/69601236007/
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EAST LANSING – Mel Tucker delivered an apology for the actions of Michigan State football players during a confrontation with two Michigan football players on Saturday.
During his Monday news conference, the Spartans head coach repeated his statement from Sunday night announcing the suspension of four players
“We're not here to make any excuses for the behaviors Saturday. They are unacceptable,” Tucker said. “It's also very important to say we honor the traditions of the Big Ten Conference, including the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry game. And we have a responsibility to uphold the values of this great university. We are deeply sorry. We're deeply sorry to both universities, the conference, our fans, alumni, supporters and of course all of our student-athletes past and present.”
IN ANN ARBOR:Jim Harbaugh expects criminal charges for MSU tunnel incident; 'an apology' is not enough
ON THE FIELD:Michigan State offense about to face its biggest test of season vs. Illinois
Tucker suspended four of his players indefinitely for their roles in the altercations: starting junior defensive back Angelo Grose, starting freshman defensive end Zion Young, backup defensive end Itayvion “Tank” Brown and backup defensive back Khary Crump. Suspended players will be permitted to receive “academic support and medical services,” Tucker said, but they will not be permitted to participate in team meetings, practices, weight training or games.
The third-year head coach added that other players could face discipline as investigations continue with MSU, the Big Ten and three different police agencies (U-M Police, Ann Arbor Police and the state police).
“Our entire team will be cooperating with law enforcement and the Big Ten Conference to further evaluate the events in Ann Arbor,” Tucker said. “These suspensions will remain in place until the investigations are completed. When we have a full report, I will address further actions if needed.”
It remains unclear whether the Big Ten will issue a statement or any additional punishment to the players and schools. During his weekly news conference — about a half-hour before Tucker’s — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters he anticipates criminal charges being filed. Michigan defensive back Gemon Green, who was allegedly hit by a helmet during the altercation, has already hired a lawyer — Tom Mars of Mars Law Firm — and plans to sue the MSU players involved.
"Not only does Gemon Green deserve to be compensated for his injuries, severe consequences in this case will deter others who might think they can get away with brutally beating an opposing player and only get a slap on the wrist.," Mars said in a written statement Monday.
ESPN reporter Tom VanHaaren said Green’s father told him the family plans to press charges against the player who swung the helmet.
It remains unclear what triggered the start of the incident, but footage from ABC released Monday afternoon showed it started in the tunnel with Crump and Green. Crump, a sophomore who transferred to MSU from Arizona before the 2021 season, and Green appeared to push each other, and Crump used his helmet to swing at Michigan’s Green after Spartans star linebacker Jacoby Windmon pushed the Wolverines cornerback into a wall. MSU defensive tackle Derrick Harmon and safety Kendell Brooks wrestled Crump away from Green and eventually pulled him into the Spartans locker room.
Asked about the incident after the game, Windmon said he did not know what happened.
“It's just a violent game, just playing football,” he said Saturday night. “It's a rivalry game. You know there's gonna be a lot of talking back and forth. But from our side, it wasn't too much talking, just a lot of playing football and pads popping. And that was it.”
As the incident with Green happened, video shot by reporters on the other side of the tunnel showed a large group of Spartans dragging McBurrows along the opposite wall. Reporters captured video of Brown, Grose, Young and others throwing punches at McBurrows, with Young also attempting to kick the U-M player after he was on the ground. Video also shows two other players — MSU cornerback Justin White and defensive end Brandon Wright — appearing to at least push McBurrows.
The newly released 4 minutes, 39 seconds of ABC footage from the back of the tunnel shows Green’s twin brother, U-M defensive back German Green, walking to his team’s locker room and apparently being told what happened. German Green attempted to rush to the MSU locker room but was restrained.
Tucker said he was “pulling up the rear” to ensure the Spartans got into the tunnel safely and did not know about the incidents until after he addressed his team.
“I was made aware that there was an incident, but I didn't have any specifics,” he said. “I was able to gather information on Sunday morning and throughout the day from our athletic director (Alan Haller) and the Big Ten Conference. I reviewed it and then came to these conclusions. And now there's an investigation. We're gonna let that play out.”
A video of an adult fan leaning down from the stands and touching Tucker’s head as he walked into the tunnel bracketed by two police officers emerged early Sunday morning, and the coach swatted the man’s hand away, then appeared to reach back up toward him as the three-second video ended. Tucker on Monday said there are multiple ongoing investigations, including that situation.
“Yeah, it was alarming,” he said of getting hit in the head. “But obviously, there's an investigation, so I'm not gonna be irresponsible and comment further on that.”
Tucker said he had not talked to Harbaugh yet. He also said he had yet to watch film on MSU’s next opponent, Illinois, because he had been working on figuring out the punishment for his players.
“What I've done is taking action. That's part of my responsibilities,” Tucker said. “I talk about accountability and things like that, and so that's where I am and that's what I'm doing.”
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2022-10-31T23:16:31Z
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Michigan State football: Mel Tucker apologizes for players' actions
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Detroit Pistons' late run falls short in 110-108 loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks repeatedly threatened to bury the Detroit Pistons for good.
But the Pistons wouldn’t let them.
A pair of free throws by George Hill gave the Bucks an 85-69 lead with 3:11 remaining in the third quarter. The Pistons, who rallied back from a 15-point deficit in the first quarter and stayed within striking distance for most of the night, had one more run in them.
The Pistons used a 25-13 spurt to cut the deficit to two midway through the fourth quarter, and tied the game with just under a minute remaining with a cutting layup by Isaiah Stewart. But a clutch 3-pointer by Jrue Holiday with 45 seconds remaining ended up being the dagger Milwaukee needed to pull away for good.
The Bucks defeated the Pistons in Milwaukee, 110-108, behind a 31-point night from Giannis Antetokounmpo. Cade Cunningham, who continued his run of strong play Monday, missed an elbow jumper and 3-pointer in the final 40 seconds that would’ve given Detroit a shot at winning. It was however another big night for Cunningham, who led the Pistons with 27 points along with seven assists and six rebounds.
BUT THEY BEAT THE CHAMPS:Win over Warriors teaches young Pistons an important NBA lesson
Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 23 points, Jaden Ivey scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Isaiah Stewart added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Hamidou Diallo also had a good night with a season-high 13 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes off of the bench. Holiday scored 25 points and dished 10 assists for Milwaukee, and Brook Lopez added 24 points and nine rebounds.
Detroit managed to keep the margin close against a contending Bucks team despite being on the second night of a back-to-back, as the Pistons defeated the Warriors at Little Caesars Arena on Sunday. They outscored the Bucks, 31-22, in the final period, holding them to 7-for-24 shooting.
Cunningham, Ivey shine in close loss
Entering Monday, Cunningham was in the midst of a hot streak. In his previous three games, he averaged 28 points, nine rebounds and 7.7 assists on 50% overall shooting. His midrange shot has become almost automatic over the last week, and he’s had little issue getting to his spots.
He continued his strong run of play against Milwaukee, tallying 19 points on 8-for-13 shooting in the first and second quarters. Cunningham cooled off in the second half, making just 3 of 10 shots. But he had six assists in the final two periods, including a feed to Stewart that tied the game at 105. His two misses on Detroit’s final two possessions were an unfortunate end to an overall strong night.
Ivey had few issues cutting through the Bucks’ stout defense, and his performance was a prime display of the natural talent that made him a steal for the Pistons at No. 5 in last summer's draft. His first step breaks down defenders, but it’s what he does after his first step — the way he’s able to slither between traffic and finish with either hand — that makes him dangerous.
Ivey scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half. Milwaukee was a great test, as Brook Lopez and Antetokounmpo are two of the NBA’s best rim protectors. He second-guessed a drive against Lopez in the first quarter, and ended up turning the ball over on a bailout pass to Stewart. It wasn’t a sign of things to come, as he found his rhythm soon after.
Duren sits, Noel makes season debut
It appeared Jalen Duren would miss some time after he tweaked his left ankle in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s home game against the Golden State Warriors. He couldn’t put any weight on it as his teammates helped him off of the floor.
A BIG LESSON:Defense is the Detroit Pistons' weakness early this season. Here's the plan to fix it
As expected, he was ruled out ahead of Monday’s game with a left ankle sprain. The Pistons subsequently turned to Nerlens Noel, who Dwane Casey characterized as an emergency option toward the beginning of the season. With Marvin Bagley III also still awaiting his return, Monday certainly qualified as an emergency situation.
Noel made his season debut toward the end of the first quarter, and logged close to 19 minutes as Stewart battled foul trouble. It was a quiet night for the veteran center, as Noel finished with two points, four rebounds, a block and a steal. Noel will be thrusted into a backup role until either Duren and/or Marvin Bagley III, who is nearing his re-evaluation date as he recovers from an MCL sprain, returns from injury.
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2022-11-01T04:12:57Z
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Detroit Pistons' late run falls short in 110-108 loss to Bucks
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Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois residents will be able to explore all three states through a non-motorized bike path along the south shore of Lake Michigan — The Marquette Greenway Trail.
The new trail, largely funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation through a $17.8 million grant, will span 58 miles, connecting Michigan's downtown New Buffalo to Chicago's southeast side and providing safe access to a variety of lakefront destinations.
The trail will increase the quality of life and attract residents and visitors to the area, said Deputy Executive Director of the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission Marcy Hamilton. The Michigan portion of the trail is nearly four miles, from the Indiana State Line to downtown New Buffalo.
"Southwest Michigan is very dependent on tourism and so having a trail connecting Chicago and New Buffalo will definitely help with that and be a destination type trail that I think folks from all over would want to ride," Hamilton said. The trail will also benefit "the residents of southwest Michigan in terms of having a recreational facility long distance trail available to them. We don't have very many trails in Berrien County."
More:MSU board names faculty choice Teresa Woodruff as interim president
According to a Michigan trail development nonprofit Friends of Berrien County Trails, 22 miles of the Marquette Greenway are already built while 32 miles have been fully funded with federal, state, and foundation grants and community support.
The Chicago portion of the project is complete. In Indiana, where most of the trail will be located, one more mile is in the planning stage, and construction is expected in late 2026 or early 2027.
Michigan's trail construction is split up into two phases and will cost $5.6 million. The first phase, starting in spring 2023, spans from downtown New Buffalo to Grand Beach. The second phase spans from Grand Beach to the Indiana state border and should wrap up by 2025. Currently, $5.35 million has been secured for Michigan's portion. Friend of Berrien County Trails volunteers is fundraising for the remaining $250,000 until year-end.
More:The mystery surrounding Jerry Lee Lewis' fifth wife
More: Michigan hit by huge RSV outbreak
A Marquette Greenway Give Back Dinner is being hosted at Bentwood Tavern in New Buffalo on Nov. 3 from 4 p.m.- p.m. where 50% of food and beverage sales will be donated to support the project.
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2022-11-01T10:40:52Z
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Bike from New Buffalo to Chicago thanks to trail linking 3 states
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Jason Foley polished up his game last offseason.
The primary focus was his mental game, evident when he entered spring training overflowing with confidence. His sinker, velocity, pitch movements, arm angle and ground-ball rate have intrigued the Detroit Tigers for a few years, and after an 11-game taste of the big leagues last season, he prepared himself mentally and physically for a bigger role.
By the end of 2022, Foley had one of the most productive seasons of any player on the roster. The 6-foot-4 right-hander took a significant step forward on his development path by throwing strikes, avoiding walks and initiating contact — all examples of an improved confidence in his abilities.
The next step in his evolution is missing bats with a better breaking ball.
"I've done a better job of proving I can pitch in this league," Foley said in August. "Last year, I thought I pitched OK, but I was a little shaky. I feel like I've just grown as a pitcher, and I'm going to continue to grow and learn from all the guys around me."
The 26-year-old seemingly saw it coming.
"This year is a little different," Foley said in late March, about two weeks before spring training ended. "I expect to be a part of the team, and I think I deserve to be on this team. I came in with a different mindset."
Indeed, Foley deserved to be on the team, and he was rewarded as such with a spot on the Opening Day roster. Foley, whom the Tigers signed in August 2016 as an undrafted junior, also talked about wanting to establish himself in the big leagues.
He did that, too.
"I feel like I've solidified a little more of a role here," Foley said. "I'm going to continue to work hard each day and pitch the best I can, but not really looking over your shoulder every day to see if you're going to get sent down, it's a pretty comforting feeling. I think that helps a lot."
ON THEIR OWN:Tigers' Scott Harris looking outside the box as he puts together front office
The Tigers optioned Foley to Triple-A Toledo in April, but he returned to the majors in May and appeared in a total of 60 MLB games. He logged a 3.88 ERA with 11 walks and 43 strikeouts over 60⅓ innings. He was asked to pitch to contact by aggressively throwing strikes, and when he followed instructions, success often followed. Moving forward, that will remain his style as a late-inning reliever.
Foley throws hard with movement, but he doesn't need to be a strikeout king.
"I like where I'm at with my stuff," Foley said. "I need to clean up the command and make sure I'm locating that sinker down-and-in and backdooring it, and really making sure I'm getting that slider down-and-away and being able to throw it in the dirt when I want and for a strike when I want. That's pretty important."
Getting into leverage counts is a product of throwing strikes, which explains Foley's success this season. His walk rate improved to 4.3% in 2022, ranking fourth among 83 relievers with at least 60 innings pitched. Nearly 58% of balls in play were ground balls. When Foley gets to two strikes, though, he would benefit from having multiple weapons to get a strikeout. This season, he registered a 15.4% strikeout rate and 16.7% swing-and-miss rate.
His strikeout rate ranked 82nd among the same group of relievers.
ASSISTANT GM:Tigers hire Rob Metzler from Rays' scouting department as new assistant general manager
SCOUTING DIRECTOR:Tigers hire Mark Conner from Padres as new amateur scouting director
Foley, better against righties than lefties, fits the profile of a sinker-slider reliever with a changeup for left-handed hitters. His elite sinker has arm-side run, sits around 96 mph and reaches 99 mph. He threw 60.8% sinkers and 23.5% sliders this season, but his slider — although effective at times — didn't feature consistent movement or a high swing-and-miss rate.
"Foley was nasty," manager A.J. Hinch said July 29, after Foley struck out two batters and retired the Toronto Blue Jays in order in the sixth inning. "I mean, electric stuff. Turbo sink, pretty good slider, swing and miss. They looked very uncomfortable, which was a good sign."
A dependable breaking ball should take Foley over the top, but while he works on mastering his slider, it's important to remember his development over the past two seasons. A few downward blips aside, Foley pitched his best baseball throughout the summer months and thrived in situational outings in the sixth and seventh innings.
Most importantly, he has set the foundation for the next step in his evolution.
"I have pretty good confidence in my stuff," Foley said. "It's more of execution. When I'm getting ahead of guys and really executing my pitches, it's generally good results. I try to simplify the game as much as possible. A well-executed pitch is probably not going to get hit in this league. Maybe a select few hitters will, but more often than not, good things are going to happen."
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2022-11-01T13:14:18Z
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www.freep.com
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How Jason Foley emerged for Detroit Tigers in 2022, and what's next
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/11/01/how-jason-foley-emerged-for-detroit-tigers-in-2022-and-whats-next/69606887007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/11/01/how-jason-foley-emerged-for-detroit-tigers-in-2022-and-whats-next/69606887007/
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Taylor Swift is headed to Detroit next summer as part of U.S. stadium tour, she announced Tuesday morning.
The pop star will play Ford Field on June 10 on the Eras Tour, joined by Girl in Red and Owenn as openers.
Tickets for Swift’s Detroit show and other stops on the tour will go on sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 15. Those seats are being sold through Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan program, which requires advance registration. That registration window runs now through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. Tickets will be priced from $49-$449, with VIP packages ranging from $199 to $899, according to USA TODAY.
Any remaining tickets will be released for sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Nov. 18.
Swift is hitting the road in support of her album “Midnights,” which was released Oct. 21 and promptly clocked 186 million streams on Spotify to set the service’s single-day record.
More:Angela Davis reacts to FBI’s Aretha Franklin surveillance: ‘I was shocked’
More:For Quinn XCII, linking with Big Sean for new song and video is a Detroit dream come true
The Lions’ stadium has been Swift’s go-to Detroit venue for more than a decade: Next year’s show will be her fifth at Ford Field — not counting a 2006 national-anthem performance at a Lions game, when she was a 16-year-old country newcomer.
She joins a growing 2023 concert calendar at the stadium, which already includes Luke Combs (April 22) and Ed Sheeran (July 15).
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2022-11-01T16:12:20Z
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www.freep.com
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Taylor Swift Eras Tour coming to Detroit's Ford Field on June 10
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/11/01/taylor-swift-eras-tour-detroit-ford-field-tickets/69609008007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2022/11/01/taylor-swift-eras-tour-detroit-ford-field-tickets/69609008007/
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Four-star guard George Washington III committed to Juwan Howard's program Tuesday, the second four-star prospect in as many weeks to pledge to the Wolverines. Washington III is a 6-foot-2, 165-pound combo guard originally from Texas, who then moved to Louisville, Kentucky and recently Dayton, Ohio to attend Chaminade Julienne High School. His father, George Washington Jr., is an assistant on the Dayton women's basketball team.
Washington decommitted from Ohio State in early September. He chose Michigan over Power Five offers from Wake Forest, Louisville, Virginia and his hometown school, Dayton.
SHAWN WINDSOR:We don't need a break from Michigan-Michigan State football rivalry, despite tunnel incident
“I think at the end of the day Michigan is just the best place for me in terms of both personality, play style, and my end goal of playing and being a prominent guard in the NBA,” he told On3 Sports.
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2022-11-01T16:21:12Z
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www.freep.com
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Michigan basketball lands George Washington III, 4-star recruit
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/11/01/michigan-basketball-george-washington-iii-recruiting/69609294007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2022/11/01/michigan-basketball-george-washington-iii-recruiting/69609294007/
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NFL Network reported the deal is for a swap of future draft picks. The Lions will receive a 2023 second-round pick and 2024 third-round pick, and send a 2023 fourth-round pick and a 2024 conditional fourth-rounder to the Vikings − it becomes a fifth if the Vikings win a playoff game this season, ESPN reports.
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2022-11-01T18:36:26Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroit Lions trade TE T.J. Hockenson to Minnesota Vikings
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/11/01/detroit-lions-trade-tj-hockenson-minnesota-vikings-nfl/69610279007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/11/01/detroit-lions-trade-tj-hockenson-minnesota-vikings-nfl/69610279007/
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Campbell hinted after the Dolphins game Jerry Jacobs could play a more prominent role in the secondary over the season’s final two months.
Jacobs, a nine-game starter as an undrafted rookie last season, has played one defensive snap in his first two games back from the torn ACL he suffered last December. Against the Dolphins, he played exclusively on special teams.
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2022-11-01T19:06:58Z
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www.freep.com
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Second-year Detroit Lions CB Jerry Jacobs may give secondary a boost
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/11/01/detroit-lions-defense-jerry-jacobs/69609303007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2022/11/01/detroit-lions-defense-jerry-jacobs/69609303007/
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According to the autopsy report, there was no evidence of close-range firing. The autopsy report also did not note any injuries on Burks' body by stun gun. Police initially told the public Burks was first shot at with a stun gun, but later backtracked.
Detroit Police Chief James White has defended his officers, telling the public they had attempted verbal de-escalation as they had been trained to do. A statement from the department said its officers have successfully de-escalated similar incidents in the past.
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2022-11-01T20:51:43Z
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www.freep.com
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Porter Burks shot 19 times by Detroit police; family seeks $50M
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/11/01/porter-burks-shot-detroit-police-lawsuit/69609280007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/11/01/porter-burks-shot-detroit-police-lawsuit/69609280007/
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Wayne County has pulled all $32 million it promised for a fund that aims to help small businesses in southeastern Michigan communities, a partner in the project said Tuesday.
Wafa Dinaro, executive director of the New Economy Initiative, the philanthropic group that supports entrepreneurship and is a project of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, said she received notice Oct. 24 that Wayne County was canceling the partnership and all funding for the Wayne County Small Business Hub fund, which would have helped small business owners in such cities as Inkster, River Rouge, Ecorse and Romulus.
The partnership was announced by Dinaro and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans in June during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference. The fund started as a $54 million investment that also included matches from several private partners. It now stand at $22 million.
The $32 million the county promised was to come from American Rescue Plan Act funds, which are government dollars devoted to COVID-19 relief, and the support was contingent on the Wayne County Commission approving the allocation. The Wayne County Commission office could not immediately be reached for comment.
When Dinaro received notice that Wayne County was out, she said she was "incredibly disappointed."
“I mean, this is a $32 million infusion to underserved small businesses throughout the county,” Dinaro said Tuesday. “ ... I really want to see the county continue to be committed to small businesses, especially in those BIPOC communities and those underserved communities.”
Dinaro said no further information had been provided to explain the cancelation, beyond the letter.
Asked about the cancellation, Wayne County said an emailed statement Tuesday that it was due to a leadership change in county administration and other unnamed factors.
“Small business and nonprofit relief have remained a priority of Executive Evans since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Luz Meza, director of Wayne County Economic Development Department, said in the statement. “The Evans administration has contributed more than $60 (million) in small business relief and remains committed to the ongoing support of small businesses.”
She continued: “During a change in leadership and as the process to develop our Small Business Hub went on, Wayne County leadership determined that it would be most beneficial to build direct relationships with stakeholders in this work."
The fund will move forward in its plans with the finances that it still has, Dinaro said. The funding will be dispersed to business support organizations who will then provide technical assistance to small businesses.
Dinaro said the program is still readjusting its plans based on the notice.
“NEI is looking at expanding into Wayne County,” Dinaro said. “We're still incredibly committed to supporting those communities and supporting those business support organizations. It's just going to look different now that we don't have $32 million from the ARPA funds.” Dinaro said there are still plans to provide assistance in Inkster, Ecorse, River Rouge, a few communities in Downriver and Romulus.
“But we're still working through what that's going to look like,” she said. “But our footprint is going to have to be smaller, just because we're working with less money.”
Just over $4 million has already been distributed to the business support organizations since the initial announcement, Dinaro said. The program is funded through 2025.
The fund still has support from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Ford Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, The Kresge Foundation, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and William Davidson Foundation.
Meza said: “We will continue to make small businesses a priority through the investment of ARPA funds in projects such as the Small Business Hub while continuously integrating input from our small business stakeholders. We strive to deliver a transparent process as we continue to make strides in economic development within Wayne County.”
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2022-11-01T23:59:23Z
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www.freep.com
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Wayne County pulls commitment of $32M for new small business fund
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/11/01/wayne-county-pulls-commitment-new-small-business-fund/69610945007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2022/11/01/wayne-county-pulls-commitment-new-small-business-fund/69610945007/
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As book-banning debates continue to take the stage and the election nears, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote a letter to Michigan school districts encouraging them to protect students' First Amendment rights.
"In addition to threatening the First Amendment rights of all students, this wave of book-banning is an attack on LGTBQ+ children and their families, and it must be stopped," said Jay Kaplan, ACLU of Michigan LGBTQ+ Rights Project staff attorney, in a Tuesday news release. "For countless youth who face bullying, isolation, and depression, access to LGBTQ+ representation or information in books and literature can be a refuge — and in some cases lifesaving. School libraries are places where young people should be able to learn about themselves and people who are different from themselves, not denied access to the diverse perspectives that books and literature offer us all.”
In the past, book banning focused on themes including race, gender, and sexuality. The bans can further marginalize underrepresented communities, critics say.
Proponents of the bans are saying the books contain content they deem inappropriate, citing the emotional and social toll such topics have on their children.
Dearborn in particular is in the national spotlight as candidates and protesters voice their support for and against banning books focusing on LGBTQ+ characters. At some school board meetings, LGBTQ+ public commenters have been booed by a large crowd.
Jamestown Township, located near Grand Rapids, made headlines after voters defunded the library because of its LGBTQ+ collection. The millage is on the ballot again on Nov. 8.
The letter is being sent to hundreds of superintendents and school board presidents, according to the news release, and it warns that restricting access to diverse books can threaten democracy.
"In debating whether to allow students to check out a controversial book from the school library, it is easy to lose sight of the overarching function of our schools: to train young people to think for themselves," the letter reads. "When school officials attempt to create a 'sanitized' learning space by eliminating controversial texts from school libraries, they undermine this critical function of public education.
"In the end, schools become another arena for political warfare, rather than a space of learning for our youth. Neither students nor their communities are well served by this practice. Accordingly, we are asking superintendents and school boards throughout the state to take a stand against censorship, and in support of the rights and interests of your students and our democracy. We urge you to resist any attempts to remove books from your school libraries — and if books have been banned in your district, to restore students’ access to all censored materials as soon as possible."
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2022-11-02T10:45:01Z
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www.freep.com
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ACLU letter to Michigan schools warns book bans undermine education
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/11/02/book-bans-aclu-letter-michigan-schools/69610614007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/11/02/book-bans-aclu-letter-michigan-schools/69610614007/
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Karamo seeks a court order declaring that only absentee ballots requested by Detroit voters in person will count.
"I saw that and I'm going 'only for the city of Detroit?' What's wrong with you?" said Enid Cyrus, a 71-year-old Detroit voter who said she called the clerk's office to request an absentee ballot that she returned via the mail last week.
Shirley Myles, a 73-year-old voter in the city, said it's obvious to her why Karamo has targeted Detroit.
"This is a Black city and those that are not Black are low-income," she said. "That is why and that is wrong."
Myles, who said she mailed in a request for an absentee ballot she returned early last month, said Karamo was making a last-ditch attempt to try to change the rules for voters in the city.
"I don't understand how she can put in a request in a lawsuit for something that when we voted was not even in effect at all," Myles said.
Tens of thousands of Detroit voters — who have the right under the Michigan Constitution to request absentee ballots by mail or in person — have already returned their absentee ballots for the upcoming Nov. 8 election. As of Monday, 82,941 absentee ballots were sent out to the Detroit voters and 47,932 have been returned, according to the Secretary of State's Office.
Karamo received former President Donald Trump's backing after serving as an election observer in Detroit in 2020 and leveling unfounded allegations of misconduct. She participated in lawsuits to overturn the results of the presidential election in Michigan and other battleground states won by President Joe Biden.
Her latest legal effort asks the court to order a halt to the count of absentee ballots obtained without identification and those returned through drop boxes Karamo's lawsuit alleged were not properly monitored. Election officials verify absentee ballots in Michigan by reviewing the voter's signature on the ballot application and return envelope, not through photo identification. All drop boxes in the city are under 24/7 camera surveillance, according to city election officials. Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit brought by Karamo include poll challengers who have observed the vote count in Detroit in previous elections now leading trainings for election monitors and an organization that has touted its legal effort to decertify the 2020 election.
David Fink, the lawyer representing Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey in the lawsuit, called the legal challenge "blatant racism" reminiscent of Jim Crow voter disenfranchisement during a court hearing Monday. Karamo, who is Black, vehemently rejected the characterization at a Monday news briefing during which she accused those who said her lawsuit would disenfranchise Detroiters of lying.
She repeatedly said that her lawsuit asked the court for guidance on alleged election law violations in the city. "The goal is not to make Detroit residents physically present themselves," she said during her news briefing. But the complaint specifically requests that the court "declare that only Absentee Ballots that have been requested in person can be validly voted in the election."
Karamo's campaign did not respond to a request for comment regarding whether the complaint will be amended to exclude the request to stop the count of absentee ballots not requested in person. A lawyer involved in the lawsuit indicated an amended complaint would not be filed during a court hearing that preceded Karamo's briefing. It is not clear how Detroit voters who have already returned their absentee ballots could comply with such an order if Karamo scores a legal victory with the Nov. 8 election less than a week away.
Karamo has blamed low voter turnout in Detroit on unproven claims of widespread election fraud and painted her legal challenge as a way to protect the voting rights of Detroiters from ballots she alleges were cast illegally. "Our concern is that illegal ballots might dilute the legal vote," she said. Karamo, who is registered to vote in Oak Park, made several references suggesting her own voting rights were on the line in her lawsuit.
Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Detroit resident, called Karamo's lawsuit filed in the Wayne County Circuit Court last week an "egregious" attempt "to have valid votes thrown out" in a tweet. Political leaders in the city, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and U.S. Rep. Rashida, D-Detroit, similarly blasted Karamo's lawsuit during a Democratic rally headlined by former President Barack Obama in the city last weekend.
Richard Mack, an attorney with the Detroit Branch NAACP, said Karamo knows her lawsuit is poised to fail but said despite its defeat, her decision to file it alone threatens the voting rights of Detroiters.
"She knows that she's not going to win," he said at a news briefing. But it might deter some absentee voters who hear about the lawsuit from turning in their ballots if they think their vote won't count. "If they could just shave off a few percentage points of absentee voters who think that because of the paper, because they read the headline that they may have a problem with absentee voting, then that's a victory for her," Mack said.
Fink indicated future plans to pursue sanctions against the attorneys involved in the lawsuit. Detroit Branch NAACP President, the Rev. Wendell Anthony, said he supports such an effort to ensure Detroit taxpayers won't have to foot the legal bill for defending the city against Karamo's legal bid. He characterized her challenge as a frivolous "lawsuit in search of a violation."
At a court hearing Monday, Karamo's lawyers withdrew a motion requesting a visiting judge outside of Wayne County hear the matter, alleging judges on the ballot in the county would create an appearance of impropriety. The lawyers said they did not realize Wayne County Circuit Chief Judge Timothy Kenny presides over all election-related cases and that his name does not appear on the ballot for the upcoming midterm because he will retire in several weeks.
Election officials recommend voters who have requested and received their absentee ballots complete and return them as soon as possible in person at their local clerk's office or a drop box to avoid postal delays. Those eligible can register to vote and cast a ballot until 8 p.m. on Nov. 8 Election Day. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
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2022-11-02T10:45:07Z
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www.freep.com
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Detroiters on why Karamo lawsuit targets them: 'This is a Black city'
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/detroiters-kristina-karamo-lawsuit-black-disenfranchisement/69609066007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/detroiters-kristina-karamo-lawsuit-black-disenfranchisement/69609066007/
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We are less than a week away from Election Day in Michigan, when voters will get to decide a slew of issues and positions affecting the Great Lakes state.
There's quite a bit on the ballot this year — so here's a quick primer on what you need to know about this year's midterm elections.
Election Day in Michigan is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Polls open at 7 a.m. and remain open until 8 p.m. that day.
Yes, you can! Eligible voters can still register to vote at their local clerk’s office until polls close on Election Day.
To be eligible to vote in Michigan, you must be:
18 years old by Election Day
A Michigan resident and a resident of your city or township for at least 30 days by Election Day
Not currently serving a jail or prison sentence
When registering to vote, you must present proof of eligibility and residency. According to the Secretary of State's office, this can be your driver’s license or state identification, a paycheck, a current utility bill, a bank statement or another government form.
To find your local clerk’s office, visit the Michigan Voter Information Center at michigan.gov/vote.
More:Absentee ballots now available in Michigan: Here's how to request, return one
Once registered, voters can either wait to cast their ballots on Election Day or request an absentee ballot from their local clerk.
Applications can be requested online and through the mail up to 5 p.m. the Friday before Election Day through the Michigan Voter Information Center.
Voters can request their application to be mailed to them by their local clerk, but it's important to give yourself enough time to receive the application, fill it out and return it to make sure your vote is counted. This close to Election Day, it’s recommended to return an absentee ballot application in person.
For voters requesting absentee ballot applications in person at their local clerk's office, they can do so until 4 p.m. the Monday before the election.
Voters in Michigan who experience any issues attempting to cast their ballots can call the nonpartisan Election Protection hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE- (866-687-8683).
Governor race between Whitmer, Dixon, tops ticket
Michigan’s highest elected office, governor, is on the ballot this year. Incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, is being challenged by Republican nominee Tudor Dixon, a businesswoman from Norton Shores.
Whitmer is focusing on issues like protecting abortion rights in Michigan and points to initiatives enacted during her time in office, like record funding for K-12 education and rebuilding Michigan’s bridges and roads.
Dixon, who was a conservative media commenter before launching her campaign last year, is heavily critical of Whitmer’s stewarding of the economy and her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dixon also has focused on cultural issues affecting K-12 schooling and does not favor abortions except to save the life of the mother.
Read more on where the candidates stand in the Michigan gubernatorial race here.
Michigan’s Secretary of State and Attorney General are also being contested. In both contests, incumbent Democrats are facing challenges from political newcomers who rose to prominence after spreading debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is being challenged by Kristina Karamo, a community college instructor from Oak Park. Benson touts changes to customer service at Michigan Secretary of State branch locations and expanding online and mobile service stations throughout the state.
Karamo has focused much of her campaign on Benson’s actions. She has denied the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, and has espoused debunked theories on election fraud and leveled unfounded allegations regarding the vote count in Detroit after serving as an election observer in the city in 2020. Karamo recently filed a lawsuit seeking the invalidation of some absentee ballots submitted in the city of Detroit.
Read more about the Michigan Secretary of State race here.
Attorney General Dana Nessel is facing Matthew DePerno, a lawyer who emerged victorious in the Republican nominating process. Polls in the race have had the closest margins of the three statewide races.
Nessel touts her office’s accomplishments in areas like civil rights, consumer protection and public safety. DePerno rose to prominence after filing lawsuits focusing on false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, namely a lawsuit focusing on a debunked conspiracy theory in Antrim County.
Read more about the Michigan Attorney General race here.
Three proposals on the Michigan ballot
Voters in Michigan will also get to decide on a trio of ballot proposals, each focused on a different issue in Michigan.
Proposal 1 (it will appear as Proposal 22-1 on your ballot) would change term limits for Michigan lawmakers and require financial disclosures for lawmakers and other elected officials.
Proposal 2 (it will appear as Proposal 22-2 on your ballot) would change or codify election standards in Michigan, including clarifying Michigan’s voter ID laws and creating nine days of “early voting.”
Proposal 3 (it will appear as Proposal 22-3 on your ballot) would enshrine the “right to reproductive freedom” in Michigan, allowing Michiganders to seek abortion access if they choose to.
Read more about each proposal.
First election with new congressional, legislative districts
The 2022 midterms will be the first election in Michigan since the state underwent its latest round of redistricting. Voters will be selecting representatives in completely new lines for the U.S. House of Representatives, Michigan House and Michigan Senate.
In 2018, voters passed an amendment to create an independent redistricting commission tasked with drawing fairer lines. The resulting districts may give Michigan Democrats a better chance at taking control of the state Senate for the first time in decades.
More:Where is your congressional district in Michigan? Look it up with this map
More:Handful of marquee matchups highlight Michigan's US House races
Michigan did lose a congressional seat since its population growth lagged behind other states — starting in 2023, the state will only send 13 House representatives to Washington D.C. instead of 14.
Some of the districts are considered reliable for Republicans and Democrats, but others are more competitive. Read about these competitive congressional districts:
Michigan’s 7th Congressional District
Michigan’s 10th Congressional District
And catch up on all the congressional races here.
In 2018, Michigan voters approved a ballot proposal expanding the use of absentee ballots. While absentee ballots can be submitted weeks before Election Day, election workers cannot begin counting them until Election Day itself.
In 2020, Michigan’s statewide results weren’t available on election night — it’s likely that remains the case this year. As of Tuesday, Michigan had already received over 1 million absentee ballots.
Election workers have to pre-process absentee ballots before counting them. Since absentee ballots can be submitted up until 8 p.m. on Election Day, it’s possible election workers in some jurisdictions may not get to start counting some ballots until well after polls close.
Read more about the absentee ballot counting process here.
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2022-11-02T10:45:13Z
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www.freep.com
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Election Day in Michigan is next week: What's on the ballot
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/election-2022-michigan-vote/69607365007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/election-2022-michigan-vote/69607365007/
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Opinion: We crafted Prop 3. Here's what it really does.
Loren Khogali, Somer Foster and Nicole Wells Stallworth
With Election Day approaching, misinformation regarding Proposal 3 is flooding the airwaves and filling mailboxes. As the leaders of three distinct and very different statewide organizations supporting reproductive freedom, we are compelled to set the record straight so that people will know the truth about what they are voting on.
It is really quite simple: When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, the door was opened wide for the reactivation of a draconian 1931 law that criminalizes abortion in our state, even in cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Anticipating that decision, we’d already been working to craft Proposal 3 as a commonsense response to the Supreme Court taking away abortion rights that have been in place for nearly 50 years. What Prop 3 does is retain for Michiganders the reproductive freedom established for all Americans when the Court first decided Roe in 1973.
There’s nothing extreme about that.
More:Opinion: Women are traveling to Michigan for abortions. That could change if Prop 3 fails.
We believe that decisions regarding reproduction are up to individuals and their healthcare providers. Politicians should have no role in determining the outcome of such a highly personal decision. When complications arise during pregnancy, or there’s a medical crisis, doctors must have the freedom to act without being forced to look over their shoulders. Prop 3 ensures doctors can provide a full range of reproductive care without interference from lawmakers in Lansing.
In fact, Prop 3 is being fully embraced by the mainstream medical establishment. The Michigan Nurses Association, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians are just a few of the state and national organizations endorsing Prop 3. In addition, more than 1,500 health care professionals have joined in urging people to vote “yes” on Prop 3.
Our state, our choice
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, protecting reproductive rights has been returned to the states. We know from polling that a significant majority of Michiganders support reproductive freedom. The breadth and depth of that support is reflected in the fact that we were able to collect a record number of signatures ― more than 750,000 ― to put Prop 3 on the ballot.
Prop 3 would amend the Michigan constitution to protect the right to make personal decisions about pregnancy, birth control and abortion. As it was under Roe v. Wade, our state Legislature would continue to make laws and our state judiciary would continue to interpret those laws. Simply put, Proposal 3 would ensure the rights Michiganders had under Roe are preserved in the state constitution and leave to the legislature and judiciary its roles in making and interpreting laws.
Many constituencies, one objective
As the leaders of our respective organizations, we represent different constituencies and approach the issue of reproductive freedom from different angles.
At Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, we are privileged to hear from Michiganders from every walk of life and every corner of the state who depend on Planned Parenthood for reproductive health care – including abortion. The diversity of people and families coming to us, and the variety of reasons they have for doing so, is eye-opening. Studies show that for many reasons, including catastrophic medical complications, one in four women will have an abortion by the time they are 45. In all likelihood, you know someone who has had an abortion. There is nothing extreme about wanting to continue providing these people with the care they need.
For the ACLU of Michigan, the issue is a priority because it involves our long-held commitment to protecting civil liberties. Just as we go to court to protect the right of people to exercise their free speech rights established under the 1st Amendment, we are equally committed to ensuring everyone has the right to make decisions regarding their own body without having government officials inserting themselves.
Michigan Voices is a nonprofit with statewide reach. We work with grassroots organizations on many issues, including reproductive justice. We provide resources for groups that primarily represent Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. Along with being a civil rights issue, abortion access is also very much a matter of economic and health justice for the people our organization is dedicated to serving.
Although underlying reasons may differ, we are united in our determination to ensure that the reproductive freedom protected under Roe remains guaranteed in Michigan for generations to come.
But you don’t need to take our word for it. We urge you to read Proposal 3 yourself. If you do, we believe you will agree with us and see that this is a commonsense proposal that deserves a “yes” vote when people cast their ballots in the Nov. 8 election.
Loren Khogali is the executive director of ACLU of Michigan. Sommer Foster is the co-executive director of Michigan Voices. Nicole Wells Stallworth is the executive director of Planned Parenthood of Michigan.
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2022-11-02T10:45:25Z
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www.freep.com
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Opinion: We crafted Proposal 3. This is what it does.
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/11/02/opinion-we-crafted-proposal-3-this-is-what-it-does/69596499007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/11/02/opinion-we-crafted-proposal-3-this-is-what-it-does/69596499007/
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In real life, the last Blockbuster Video store, the only one to survive in the age of streaming, is in Bend, Oregon.
But in sitcom land, that retro technology honor goes to Michigan.
“Blockbuster,” which arrives Thursday on Netflix, is a new half-hour comedy starring Randall Park (ABC’s “Fresh off the Boat”) as stressed-to-the-max Timmy, who finds out the Blockbuster franchise that he runs is about to become the last one anywhere.
This leaves Timmy desperate to figure out how to keep the store financially afloat without the corporation to help cover expenses.
Timmy’s eclectic staff is played by Melissa Fumero (NBC’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) as his longtime crush Eliza, Olga Merediz (“In the Heights” on Broadway and in the film version) as the maternal Connie, Tyler Alvarez as aspiring filmmaker Carlos, Madeleine Arthur as gentle and naïve Hannah and Kamaia Fairburn as Kayla, the daughter of Timmy’s best friend.
J.B. Smoove (HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) portrays Kayla’s dad, Percy, who owns the strip mall that's home to the Blockbuster and also runs the nearby party-supply store.
More:Women 60 and older are woefully missing from TV's prime-time programming
More:Jordan Klepper comes home to Michigan for Comedy Central special on 2022 midterms
Netflix isn’t hyping the fact that the setting for this fictional look at a retail dinosaur — renting VHS tapes and DVDs in the age of, well, Netflix? — is either set in a Michigan suburb or a Michigan small town. (It has been described both ways by recent press reports).
But the first two episodes are sprinkled with a handful of references that make it clear the action takes place somewhere in Michigan — about 30 miles from Detroit, from the sound of it.
That’s an educated guess. Creator and showrunner Vanessa Ramos (“Superstore,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) wasn't available for interviews to elaborate on why she sought a pleasant peninsula, according to Netflix.
"Blockbuster" joins a long list of comedies, dramas and reality series that have used Michigan as a setting (and sometimes an actual physical location for shooting). The list includes small-screen favorites like "Home Improvement" and "Martin," crime sagas like "Low Winter Sun" and "Detroit 1-8-7" and cult hits made in Detroit by Detroiters like "Detroiters," the late, great, hilarious Comedy Central series that was gone too soon.
Current shows set in Michigan include the popular CBS comedy "Bob Hearts Abishola," Jeremy Renner's Paramount+ prison-town drama "The Mayor of Kingstown," Starz's gritty dram "BMF" (which is inspired by the real-life tale of two southwest Detroit brothers who became drug kingpins) and NBC's "American Auto," an ensemble workplace comedy set in the corporate offices of a struggling Detroit automaker.
Like "American Auto," "Blockbuster” balances the quirkiness of its characters with sharp dialogue, occasional genuine warmth and frequently hilarious pop-culture references.
In one scene, Timmy describes Carlos as a movie genius because “he got someone to rent ‘Garden State’ after 2004,” a mild dig at the Zach Braff film from the same year. In another, Timmy describes the middle-aged Connie’s strength as her relatability to older customers, noting: “Who else is going to know Hank Ackerman means Hugh Jackman?”
If there is a main message to “Blockbuster,” it is that brick-and-mortar stores should be valued for providing human interaction, as opposed to the often solitary nature of shopping, working and renting movies online in a digital-dominated world.
So how does Michigan sneak its way into the story line? Well, here and there. In the first episode, Park’s character surveys the stores adjacent to his that have been hit by the economic downturn. “That used to be the most popular pill mill in Michigan,” he says of one.
Later, as Park’s Timmy and Smoove’s Percy brainstorm over-the-top ways to attract potential customers with a block party, Fumero’s Eliza complains that her high school wasn’t allowed to have graduation parties because of the “two students at Franklin” (aka Timmy and Percy) who drove a Zamboni through a living room. “Still the only ZUI in the history of Michigan,” brags Timmy.
Hmm, that could be a nod to Livonia's Franklin High School.
And there is a subtle mention of southeast Michigan’s biggest campus town in episode two. When Timmy faces the possibility of having to fire an employee in order to save money, he chooses the unlucky person and then insists he can’t deliver the bad news until the next day because he wants to buy a gift to help soften the blow.
“It’s not my fault that the nearest Edible Arrangements is in Ann Arbor,” he says.
Blockbuster Video was a staple of the 1990s, back when wandering the aisles of the stores was almost as entertaining as the actual content that followed. It offered a seemingly endless list of titles on its shelves and the thrill of the hunt for a copy of the newest releases, which flew out of stores faster than you could say: "Be kind. Rewind."
Once consisting of a mighty 9,000 shops across America, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and faded into oblivion. Yet it continues to fuel a lingering nostalgia that "Blockbuster" mines as a symbol of what's missing from 2022.
It's a feeling mostly lost on the show's younger characters like Kayla, who cracks wise about her job to Timmy: "Walking into a dusty time capsule every day and having some gross dude in a 'Gremlins' T-shirt mutter 'You probably weren't even born when this movie came out' is honestly every 16-year-old's dream."
Still, there's something about the place that keeps Timmy, who has worked there since seventh grade, fighting the good fight — like when he rallies his staffers by standing on top of the checkout counter and reciting lines from Bill Pullman's rousing speech as president in "Independence Day."
Timmy is on the side of one person making a difference, and he believes there is still a market for humans helping other humans, at least in terms of finding something good to watch on Saturday night.
"Blockbuster" is for such believers. As one satisfied customer says after Timmy recommends he watch "Under the Tuscan Sun" to soothe his heartache: “Algorithms can suck it. Long live Blockbuster!”
Ten-episode first season arrives Thursday
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2022-11-02T13:13:17Z
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www.freep.com
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'Blockbuster' on Netflix puts chain's last store somewhere in Michigan
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2022/11/02/blockbuster-on-netflix-puts-chains-last-store-somewhere-in-michigan/69610070007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2022/11/02/blockbuster-on-netflix-puts-chains-last-store-somewhere-in-michigan/69610070007/
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LANSING — For Troy resident Richard Peluso, a Republican, showing up at the polls on Election Day is part of one's civic duty, unless voters have good reasons why they can't.
For Oak Park resident Michelle Spencer, a Democrat who remembers waiting in line for hours to vote for former President Barack Obama in 2008, attacks on early voting and absentee voting are in many cases attempts to inconvenience and disenfranchise urban residents generally and Black voters specifically.
And for Julie Gavigan of Livonia, an independent voter who as of Tuesday was still wrestling with who to support in Michigan's race for governor, whether one votes absentee or at the polls is largely a matter of personal preference, especially with ongoing health concerns related to COVID-19.
The three Michigan voters were interviewed by the Free Press as part of an election special with Detroit Public Television's "One Detroit" program, which airs at 7 p.m. Thursday.
They each hold views about voting that mirror national trends. Democrats overwhelmingly support early voting and any-reason absentee voting, but Republican support for those election features has been declining.
A 2021 study by the Pew Research Center found that 84% of Democrats support any-reason absentee voting, a percentage that is roughly unchanged from 2018. But the study found that only 38% of Republicans support the practice, down from 57% in 2018. Voters who did not clearly align with either political party were more evenly split on the issue.
Michigan voters approved any-reason absentee voting in a 2018 referendum, and Nov. 8 will be the first Michigan election for governor in which the feature is available. Michigan, technically, does not have early voting in which the polls are open on days prior to Election Day. But citizens can vote in person by absentee ballot, prior to Election Day, at their local clerk's office.
Polls show a tightening race between Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who is seeking a second four-year term, and Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, who on Tuesday picked up a significant endorsement from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, the state's most powerful business lobbying group. Many voters who view Whitmer and Dixon differently also disagree on issues related to how and when people should be allowed to vote.
For Peluso, who is retired from a company that supplied corporations with online modules for employee training, any-reason absentee voting has grown along with his concerns about election integrity. He said he also sees going to the polls as a form of civic duty and a way to see one's neighbors. Peluso, who turns 75 this year, said that even at the height of the pandemic, he and his wife masked up and voted in person.
"I think we've kind of degraded the whole voting process by extending the amount of time that you can vote," Peluso said.
"It's not that I disagree with absentee voting, to be used in the right way. Offshore military people or infirm, and sick and those kinds of situations. But anytime that you're going to take ballots over an extended period of time, it just makes me a tad concerned about the effectiveness and the legitimacy of those kinds of votes being cast."
Peluso feels the economy and his retirement investments were roaring along under former President Donald Trump and things took a sharp turn for the worse almost as soon as President Joe Biden took office. He feels that excess federal spending, including universal stimulus checks and partial forgiveness of student loan debt, are major reasons for persistent inflation. And at the state level, he feels Whitmer "blundered" by ordering too many businesses shut down during the pandemic for too long, and showed arrogance by not always observing the COVID-19 rules her own administration imposed.
Spencer, a Democrat who is retired, said Trump's unsubstantiated allegations of fraud surrounding the 2020 presidential election are ridiculous, but they didn't surprise her, because Trump was already making allegations of fraud before the election even happened. She said attempts to curtail absentee voting disproportionately hurt urban residents because it is those residents who are most likely to have to stand in line and wait to cast ballots on Election Day.
"If you can deter Democratic votes, then who's going to win?" Spencer asked. "It's all done on purpose."
She said she is voting absentee in the Nov. 8 election because it is so much easier than standing in line, and because it is also safe and secure.
Spencer is Roman Catholic, and abortion rights are a major issue for her in the governor's race between Whitmer, who supports those rights, and Dixon, who does not. Spencer said abortions are going to happen regardless of what the law says, so it is better that they be legal and safe.
"No old man sitting in an office somewhere should be able to tell me what I can do with my own body," she said.
Gavigan, who considers herself "right in the middle" politically, but leaning conservative on economic issues, said she has not spent a lot of time worrying about the fraud allegations that were made in connection with the 2020 election, but she hopes that increased scrutiny will mean any shortcomings are addressed for 2022.
The claims were investigated, and "there is no need to keep drudging it back up," Gavigan said. "It's a waste of taxpayer money and time." She hopes that the fact allegations were made about 2020 will result in more checks and balances and more transparency for the current election.
Gavigan said she will vote absentee mainly because she has relatives and others she comes into contact with who are immuno-compromised and she does not want to do anything that unnecessarily puts them at risk.
On the governor's election, Gavigan, who has two daughters, said she remains torn, even after watching both debates between Whitmer and Dixon.
She said she does not support Dixon's position on abortion, because she believes any abortion ban should have exceptions for cases of rape and incest. She said she will vote for Proposal 3, and if she knew it would pass, she would be more willing to vote for Dixon, knowing that she could not then impose a strict abortion ban in Michigan.
As for Whitmer, Gavigan is concerned about both pandemic money and social services money generally going to people who don't need it, who she believes are scamming the system.
She also has concerns about Whitmer's signature 2018 promise to "fix the damn roads," she said.
"I don't agree with her fixing all the roads all at once, I believe it should be done systematically so that we can at least maneuver around in some type of fashion where everybody is not confused and in a hurry."
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2022-11-02T13:13:18Z
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www.freep.com
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Michigan voters speak out on absentee voting, governor's race
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/michigan-absentee-voting-whitmer-dixon-governor-election/69609040007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/michigan-absentee-voting-whitmer-dixon-governor-election/69609040007/
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Ford Motor Co. announced Wednesday the departure of three senior executives and the promotion of a new quality chief in Jim Baumbick, a role critical to the future of the company.
Baumbick, vice president of product development operations, cycle planning and internal combustion engine programs, will now take on the responsibility of improving the Dearborn automaker's pattern of spending billions of dollars annually on warranty and recall expenses.
CEO Jim Farley has said during recent earnings calls with industry analysts that product improvement and improved customer experience are top priorities at the company. He spotlighted quality concerns prior to taking the helm on Oct. 1, 2020, when he was still chief operating officer.
In 2022, Ford had the most recalls of any automakers, 61 recalls potentially affecting nearly 7.6 million vehicles, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“Quality is our No.1 priority as a company," Farley said in a news release Wednesday. "And Jim Baumbick is the right leader to deliver world-class quality and reliability at Ford with a disciplined process that runs from our supply chain to our engineering labs all the way to the factory floor."
Josh Halliburton, executive director of quality, who was brought to Ford after a career at Troy-based J.D. Power consumer research, data and analytics firm, will report to Baumbick.
This allows "further integrating quality improvement across workstreams in product development, including design, engineering, supply chain and manufacturing," Ford said in the release.
While Baumbick is moving up, other big names at Ford have announced plans to retire:
Stuart Rowley, chief transformation and quality officer who has spent 32 years working around the world in various roles that included president of Ford Europe and chief operating officer for Ford North America, leaves on Dec. 1.
Joy Falotico, president of Lincoln since 2018, launched Aviator and Corsair. She has worked at Ford for 33 years, including stints as chief marketing officer and CEO of Ford Credit. She leaves Dec. 1.
Steven Armstrong, vice president of India and South America transformation, spent 35 years at the company, having provided key leadership in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He previously served as president of Changan Ford. He leaves Jan. 1, 2023.
Dianne Craig, president of the International Markets Group (IMG), Ford Blue will succeed Falotico as president of Lincoln. Craig, who has experience with sales, marketing and advertising, has worked at Ford for more than 30 years and is currently president of the International Markets Group. She will report directly to Farley.
Of the departures, he credited members of his senior team with specific areas of success:
“I’m especially grateful to Stuart for leading the redesign of our European business to become much leaner and focused on our commercial vehicles business and transition" (to electric vehicles).
“Joy has been a wonderful steward of Lincoln, building out its distinctive lineup of vehicles and experiences, polishing the Lincoln brand image, and overseeing a promising growth strategy in China. As Lincoln embarks on its second century, it is well positioned to flourish with a new generation of electric and connected vehicles.”
More:Ford reveals radical plan to restructure automaker into three business units
Kumar Galhotra, president of Ford Blue, said Armstrong's leadership "has been critical to the significant improvement" Ford has seen in many of its international markets.
Responsibilities for Ford’s business in South America will be part of Ford Blue led by Galhotra. Ford’s India operations will be part of Ford’s IMG unit. A successor to Craig has not been named. Separately, Ford Business Solutions will now report to Mike Amend, Ford’s chief enterprise technology officer.
Farley has made big changes to the management team, including replacing the chief financial officer on day one. He told Wall Street he is infusing new talent to meet new demands as the auto industry transforms.
More:Ford employees on Performance Enhancement Plan can now exit with severance package
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2022-11-02T15:28:53Z
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www.freep.com
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Ford names Jim Baumbick new quality chief, 3 execs retire
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/11/02/ford-jim-baumbick-new-quality-chief-executives-retire/69612805007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2022/11/02/ford-jim-baumbick-new-quality-chief-executives-retire/69612805007/
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added one of the most commonly used antibiotics for children to its Drug Shortage Database partly because of a spike in demand amid a national surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV.
Many Michigan drugstore shelves already are bare of amoxicillin oral powder for suspension, which is mixed by a pharmacist and dispensed in liquid form most often to children, said Farah Jalloul, director of professional development at the Michigan Pharmacists Association.
Hundreds of Michigan children have been hospitalized with RSV in recent weeks as part of a national wave of infections. In most people, the common virus causes mild, cold-like symptoms. But for babies, people with compromised immune systems and elderly people, it can cause serious illness.
RSV cases aren’t required to be reported to public health departments, so there’s no statewide tally of cases. But Corewell Health East, the new name for Beaumont Health, reported a 567% rise in the number of patients hospitalized with RSV in October. Across the state, Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids had a 385% rise in the number of children hospitalized with the virus.
“I would not say that things are dire at this moment, but it’s certainly something that we are keeping a very close eye on.”
FDA Press Officer Jim McKinney told the Free Press Wednesday that the agency is aware of some “intermittent supply interruptions of amoxicillin products in the U.S., and (is) currently working with the approved manufacturers” to address them.
“You can imagine it’s frustrating for Mom or Dad or guardian come into the pharmacy with a screaming child because they're in pain and they're trying to fill that prescription, and that dose, we might not have.”
“We will get through this. We've gotten through other shortages before, and I think this is just something that we will have to collaboratively work with our prescribers to make sure that our patients that our pediatric patients are taken care of.”
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2022-11-02T17:39:24Z
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www.freep.com
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Amoxicillin shortage 2022: RSV surge in kids fuels spike in demand
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/11/02/amoxicillin-shortage-rsv-children/69613417007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/health/2022/11/02/amoxicillin-shortage-rsv-children/69613417007/
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What will we do with our extra hour?
At 2 a.m. Sunday, daylight saving time comes to an end — at least until March 12 or whenever federal legislation proposing to make it permanent is enacted — meaning that the clocks must be reset and we get back the hour we lost in March.
For most of us, the extra hour comes and goes because we are in bed at 2 a.m., sleeping, and other than noticing more sunlight in the morning and perhaps feeling a little more refreshed, we hardly even notice it. Smart clocks, now, know when to change on their own.
But every year, partly because stupid clocks still need to be changed, news outlets remind everyone to "fall back." And the debate begins: How did this tradition start? Is it good for us? And if it is not, should we always be an hour ahead or an hour behind?
Daylight saving time, or some people say daylight savings time, is the term we use to distinguish between the part of the year starting in March when we advance clocks — or they now advance themselves — an hour ahead. Ironically, when this happens there's less daylight in the morning.
When we set clocks back an hour, it's called standard time.
To help school children remember what to do with clocks when they learn the mnemonic device: "spring forward" and "fall back." Get it?
Benjamin Franklin, the statesman and inventor whose picture appears on the $100-bill, is credited with the idea to conserve candles back in 1784. Others offered other proposals over the years, and in 1966, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act, the twice-year time change became law.
Despite the commonly held belief that daylight savings time was to help farmers, it was created to save energy, and according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, when the sun sets later, it's presumed that people will stay out longer and spend more time outside leading to a need for less electricity usage for lights and appliances.
Proposed changes to the law
But there's also lots of debate about whether the time change is good for our health.
Among the evidence: Americans experience physical health problems caused by the biannual time changes, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health. The problems included strokes, heart attacks, accidents, and changes in mood.
As a result, at least 350 bills and resolutions have been introduced since 2015 in virtually every state, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Last year, the Michigan House approved a bill that would do away with twice-a-year clock changes in the state if Congress eliminated daylight saving time. The proposal would move Michigan to year-round daylight saving time, but only if Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania did, too.
And get this: Two states, Hawaii and Arizona, don't even recognize daylight savings time.
Earlier this year, the Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which, if approved by the House and signed by the president, would make daylight saving time permanent. If that happens, and here's where it gets especially confusing, daylight saving time becomes the new standard time.
"Pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who introduced the proposal, said. "I know this is not the most important issue confronting America, but it's one of those issues where there's a lot of agreement."
Well, there's still plenty of disagreement.
Right after the Senate passed its proposal, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a statement cautioning that the move overlooks potential health risks associated with that time system. Sleep experts said standard time, not daylight saving time, should be — to use another pun — the year-round standard.
So on Sunday, if you don't know what else to do with your extra hour, you use it to think about whether we should get rid of it — or not.
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2022-11-02T17:39:26Z
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www.freep.com
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Daylight Saving Time 2022 ends November 6: What it means, how it works
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/11/02/daylight-saving-time/69612849007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2022/11/02/daylight-saving-time/69612849007/
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Hannah Rosenfield, MD
Today I held the hand of a patient who traveled across three state lines to see me. She was exhausted and anxious, but also relieved to finally be here.
She told me about her serious health problems including multiple sclerosis and the complications she had with her prior pregnancies. She was fearful that continuing her current pregnancy would leave her unable to walk and care for her two children.
She needed an abortion, and she made that decision for her family, her daughters and her health.
I became a physician because I saw joy and meaning in caring for and supporting others. For me, providing good medical care is about centering the focus on the person in front of me, prioritizing their concerns, understanding what brings quality to their lives and empowering them with the tools to meet their goals. As a primary care doctor, I have the privilege of taking care of people from birth through old age, and seeing up close how their life situations, relationships, and aspirations intersect with their health decisions. Providing reproductive health care means supporting patients through their pregnancies, their decisions about birth control, and also their abortion care.
Decisions about continuing a pregnancy and abortion are deeply personal: ∎ An elementary school teacher with high blood pressure and severe preeclampsia that threatens her life and her baby’s is scared of the real and serious health risks of another pregnancy.
∎ A patient who has been eager to start a family recently found out her pregnancy is not growing normally, a diagnosis that means the infant would die at birth. She shared her sadness but also relief. She is now able to get care that will decrease ongoing physical and emotional trauma, and allow her to try again sooner to start a family.
∎ A first-generation college student confides that continuing her pregnancy would mean staying in an abusive relationship. She deserves the right to make a decision about her life and be free from that relationship.
I see the immense suffering my patients experience when their ability to make decisions about their health and lives is stripped from them.
As a doctor, I am not interested in politics. Yet I realize that I cannot ignore what is happening in our country and in Michigan. If the state Supreme Court allows prosecutors to enforce a 1931, sabortion will be illegal in our state, even in cases of rape, incest and danger to a woman's health. The passage of Proposal 3 would protect access to reproductive healthcare like birth control, prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, fertility treatment and miscarriage management. Abortion would continue to be highly regulated.
In November, we have an opportunity to protect our patients, our communities, and our loved ones in Michigan. I am voting yes on Proposal 3, to ensure the focus and power is in the hands of my patients — the people making this personal decision with the help of her health care providers, family, and loved ones.
Dr. Hannah Rosenfield is a physician in Kalamazoo.
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2022-11-02T17:39:27Z
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www.freep.com
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Opinion: My patients need Proposal 3 to pass in Michigan
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/11/02/abortion-michigan-proposal-3-election/69611729007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/11/02/abortion-michigan-proposal-3-election/69611729007/
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A Dearborn resident whose existence was doubted by comedian Stephen Colbert during a monologue last week has a message for the CBS late-night host: I am real and so is my switch to the Republican Party.
On "The Late Show," Colbert said a person described by Tudor Dixon during a debate last week with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer must have been "totally made up" by the GOP nominee for governor. He was skeptical of her story that a Michigan man approached her complaining of an inappropriate book he found in a school library after failing to find help from Democrats, saying sarcastically: "That happened."
But the man, Khalil Othman, told the Free Press he is an actual person and did attend the Dixon campaign rally she referred to.
"I told his story (during the debate)," Dixon said Sunday of Othman to hundreds in Dearborn. "And Stephen Colbert picks it up. ... And they make this whole skit about how this has never happened. That's what he said, this story never happened. That's where the Democrats are right now. You don't exist, your stories are not important."
On Oct. 21, Othman attended a rally for Dixon in Flat Rock in which he declared to the crowd he's now a Republican, posting a video on Facebook of his remarks later that night.
"My name is Khalil Othman. I came all the way from Dearborn, Michigan," he said to loud applause. "I'm here along with two parents, concerned parents ... against these sexually explicit books."
Othman has been one of many protesters in Dearborn attending protests in recent weeks against several books in the libraries of Dearborn public schools. The school district has removed for six books so far, several of them with LGBTQ themes.
"I am a proud Muslim American who express my values and concerns all the time," Othman said in Flat Rock. "Dearborn has been voting Democrat blue for the last decade or two decades. But not anymore. On behalf of myself and my family, I guarantee you for sure that my family and my friends will vote for Republicans."
More:A Michigan town may lose its only library after its staff refused to remove an LGBTQ book
In his Facebook post, Othman, said he's been "a loyal Democrat" since immigrating almost 20 years ago from Yemen.
"Never once did I ever vote Republican," he wrote. "However, the situation with the sexually explicit material in the schools was for me a bridge too far. When it comes to my kids and my family, I will not budge."
A few days later during the Oct. 25 debate between Dixon and Whitmer, Dixon described Othman's story. Dixon didn't say his name during the debate, but a spokeswoman for the campaign later confirmed to the Free Press it was Othman. During the Sunday rally in Dearborn, Dixon said he was from Dearborn.
"I had a gentleman come up to me just a few nights ago," Dixon said during the debate. "And he said: 'I found content in my school library describing how to have sex to my son. I went to the Democrats and I said, I cannot believe that this is in there.' ... He said 'just a few weeks ago, not only was I a Democrat, but I was running for office as a Democrat.' He said because Democrats won't stand up for our children and go back to the basics, 'I'm leaving the Democratic Party.'"
The next day, Oct. 26, Colbert mocked Dixon as an "anti-choice MAGA Republican," which he said is "very unpopular in Michigan," and so she's now turning to the books issue to drum up support.
Colbert poked fun at Dixon's concerns and said: "Dixon is not the only one worried about this issue. So is this guy she totally made up." He then aired a clip of Dixon talking about Othman.
After the clip ran, Colbert said: "OK, fine. That happened," raising his two hands with two fingers extended to indicate sarcastic quotation marks. "But even if it did, if someone found a book that didn't like the school library, why would they go to the Democrats?"
Adopting the voice of a haughty man outraged on the phone with a Democrat, Colbert continued: "That's like saying: 'Excuse me is this Chuck Schumer's office? I didn't like the finale of 'House of the Dragon.' Also, this natural peanut butter is way too oily when it's in the cupboard but it gets too hard when it's in the fridge. I'm voting Republican! Good day, sir."
During the Sunday appearance in Dearborn, Dixon sought to frame the Colbert dig as an example of liberals not listening to voters.
"But I am listening to you," she said. "I want to listen to you. I want to take your concerns telling, and I hope that you can trust me and then I can earn your vote."
Othman said he's been disappointed with the Democrats on the issue of certain books. Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, who's running for a new district that includes Dearborn, are Democrats who both have come out in support of the books.
"The Democratic establishment ... has been ruling Dearborn for the last two decades," Othman said. "The parents did not receive any kind of support from the whole top leadership, all elected officials, all Democratic leadership."
Opinion:I'm a queer Muslim. Dearborn schools pulling LGBTQ books puts kids in danger
Whitmer said during the debate she and others are listening to the concerns of parents, but also want to be inclusive and ensure the safety of all students. President of the Dearborn school board Roxanne McDonald said last month that LGBTQ students don't feel safe in Dearborn amid protests that included anti-gay rhetoric.
Othman said Colbert's remarks about him are part of an effort "to hurt the momentum of" Republicans winning over Muslim votes in Dearborn.
"Right now, it's a crunch time for for both candidates, and he's trying whatever he can do with his media influence to hurt her campaign," Othman said. "He doesn't know me."
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2022-11-02T19:28:27Z
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www.freep.com
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Stephen Colbert doubted existence of man Dixon cited — but he's real
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2022/11/02/stephen-colbert-dearborn-man-dearborn/69608126007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2022/11/02/stephen-colbert-dearborn-man-dearborn/69608126007/
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The claim: If Proposal 3 passes, it would allow children to undergo "gender-change therapy without parental consent"
Opponents of Proposal 3 — a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Michigan Constitution — call it a "Pandora's box" that goes far beyond restoring the national right to an abortion lost when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade this summer.
The proposed constitutional amendment — which appears on the Michigan ballot as "Proposal 22-3" — would allow children to undergo "gender change therapy without parental consent," Citizens to Support MI Women & Children claims in a tweet. Citizens to Support MI Women & Children is a coalition campaigning against Proposal 3 that includes prominent abortion rights opponents, including Right to Life of Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference.
One television ad from the coalition shows boxes of a medication called Triptorelin with fluid dripping from the needle before scanning over the faces of young children. "This drug blocks a child from going through puberty," the narrator says. "It's the first step in gender change therapy. Clinics prescribe this drug in Michigan. If Proposal 3 passes, minors as young as 10 or 11 will be able to receive this prescription without the consent of their parents or their parents even knowing."
What Proposal 3 actually says
If voters adopt Proposal 3 in the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm, it would add about 300 words to the Michigan Constitution. The amendment contains no explicit reference to gender-affirming care or parental consent.
"Every individual has a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which entails the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy," the amendment states. It provides some examples of what the right to reproductive freedom includes: "prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care."
An attorney for Reproductive Freedom for All — the group behind the proposed constitutional amendment — cast doubt on opponents' assertions that Proposal 3 would affect gender-affirming care.
"They're spending an awful lot of time and effort talking about matters that do not relate to pregnancy which are outside the scope of this proposal," Steve Liedel said during a recent news briefing. He said Reproductive Freedom for All has asked stations to stop airing the ad from Citizens to Support MI Women & Children that claims Proposal 3 would allow children to obtain prescriptions for puberty blockers without their parents’ consent or knowledge.
Liedel said that "the status of minors that haven't even entered puberty and are not capable of becoming pregnant until they have completed puberty has nothing to do with the rights addressed by the proposal."
Christen Pollo, a spokesperson for Citizens to Support MI Women & Children, defended the ad's claims.
"A constitutional right to 'sterilization' surely includes a right to be sterilized to align one's sex and gender identity," she wrote in an email. "The majority of voters do not support a 12-year-old girl's right to sterilization without her parent's notice or consent. But that is the implication of giving this right to every 'individual,' no matter their age."
If Michigan voters adopt Proposal 3 a future court could, in theory, hear a legal challenge from a minor seeking gender-affirming care without their parents' consent.
In such a case, courts also interpret the amendment's text. That could boil down to two questions: Does the right to reproductive freedom protected by the amendment include gender-affirming treatments and procedures? If so, would the constitutional amendment bar parental consent requirements for minors seeking care?
Independent legal and medical experts answered no to both.
A court would consider what the amendment's drafters intended when they wrote it. Because those backing the amendment have denied that it has anything to do with gender-affirming care, it's unlikely courts will interpret it that way, according to Catherine Archibald, a University of Detroit Mercy law professor who specializes in LGBT legal issues and gender law.
More:Michigan's abortion amendment: Here's what it will and won't do if approved
Gender-affirming care included right to made decisions "about all matters relating to pregnancy"?
Dr. Daniel Shumer is a pediatric endocrinologist at Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. He is an expert in treating children with issues including hormone problems and puberty challenges and also focuses on transgender health.
He told the Free Press there is not a direct tie between sterilization and gender-affirming care, and parents remain crucial to health decisions that affect their children.
"Proposal 3 is unrelated to care for children and adolescents with differences in gender identity. Parents play a critical role in decision-making when it comes to gender-affirming care. Parental involvement, and consent, is required for hormone care in minors and passage of Proposal 3 will have no bearing on this," Shumer said.
He and Anna Kirkland, a lawyer and professor of women's and gender studies at the University of Michigan, acknowledged guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. It's considered the preeminent medical body for collecting evidence to establish best practices in the treatment of transgender patients.
The organization's standards of care specifically outline the crucial need for parental involvement.
"We recommend when gender-affirming medical or surgical treatments are indicated for adolescents, health care professionals working with transgender and gender diverse adolescents involve parent(s)/guardian(s) in the assessment and treatment process, unless their involvement is determined to be harmful to the adolescent or not feasible," the 2022 standards state.
The standards also note that while some care may prevent a patient from reproducing in the future, other care does not, and it's crucial for patients to understand outcomes well before final medical decisions are made.
"Age has a strong, albeit imperfect, correlation with cognitive and psychosocial development and may be a useful objective marker for determining the potential timing of interventions," the standards state.
Kirkland noted puberty blockers do not cause infertility, nor do they create "sterilization."
Kirkland suggested those who crafted the amendment included the word "sterilization" to combat forced sterilization, noting state-sponsored eugenics programs across the country.
"Given this very recent and terrible history, of course sterilization would be mentioned in a list of reproductive freedoms that people need to control themselves rather than have the state control, and historically that has meant the right not to be sterilized coercively," she said.
Legal experts also argue that it's far-fetched to interpret the right to "sterilization" in Proposal 3 as encompassing gender-affirming care.
Mae Kuykendall, a Michigan State University law professor who specializes in constitutional law, said the amendment "clearly confines the idea of sterilization to a concern about pregnancy," in an email. Transgender care doesn't fit the bill, she said.
Leah Litman, a University of Michigan law professor focused on constitutional law who joined a brief asking the Michigan Supreme Court to put Proposal 3 on the ballot, called opponents' claims that Proposal 3 encompasses gender-affirming care "divorced from language."
"I am not familiar with any lawyer or any health care professional who looks at the word sterilization and thinks, 'ah yes, that includes gender-affirming care,'" she said. "Even if it was encompassed in the right … you would still have greater latitude to restrict rights vis-a-vis minors."
Minors' rights routinely regulated in ways rights of adults are not
Citizens to Support MI Women & Children has argued that the amendment would repeal parental consent laws.
An attorney with the ACLU of Michigan — one of the groups behind the Reproductive Freedom for All amendment — previously told the Free Press that a future court could decide the fate of a Michigan law requiring those performing abortions on minors to obtain the consent of the minor's parent guardian. The law also allows minors to petition a court, bypassing the parental consent requirement if approved by a judge.
Reproductive Freedom for All has since argued that Proposal 3 would leave parental consent requirements untouched if voters adopt it. Legal experts weighing in on the matter argue that parental consent laws in place regarding medical treatments for minors don't conflict with the proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine a fundamental right to reproductive freedom in the Michigan Constitution. They expect parental consent requirements to survive legal challenges if voters adopt Proposal 3.
They point out that constitutional rights often don't distinguish between the rights of minors and the rights of adults but that state and federal courts routinely allow lawmakers to establish different rules and regulations for children.
Litman gave an example: The U.S. Constitution includes the right to bear arms, but that doesn't mean children can purchase guns.
Proposal 3 on its own doesn't invalidate any state laws, including those regarding parental consent. That would require action by the judiciary or changes to laws currently in place by the Legislature to ensure they comply with the constitutional amendment.
Proposal 3 does not explicitly state that minors have a right to gender-affirming care without parental consent. The proposed constitutional amendment's drafters deny that it provides such a right and legal experts don't foresee a future court siding with opponents of the amendment who claim it includes an unfettered right for minors to access puberty blockers or gender-affirming surgical procedures without parental consent. Medical experts say that Proposal 3 does not touch on gender-affirming care that requires parental involvement.
The burden of proof lies with opponents to provide evidence supporting their claims based on current information. Instead, they rely on hypothetical conjectures about how the amendment might be interpreted. Opponents' claim that Proposal 3 would allow minors to undergo "gender change therapy without parental consent" is not accurate.
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2022-11-02T19:28:29Z
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www.freep.com
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Michigan Proposal 3: Gender change therapy, parental consent questions
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/michigan-proposal-3-parental-consent-gender-change-therapy/69611266007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2022/11/02/michigan-proposal-3-parental-consent-gender-change-therapy/69611266007/
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The Detroit Tigers claimed left-handed reliever Sean Guenther off waivers from the Miami Marlins, the team announced Wednesday.
Guenther, 26, underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2022 and is on the 60-day injured list. The Tigers now have 10 players on the 60-day injured list that must be reinstated to the 40-man roster by the fifth day after the World Series ends.
The Tigers have claimed three players off waivers since president of baseball operations Scott Harris took control of day-to-day operations in early October: Guenther, catcher Michael Papierski and utility player Jermaine Palacios.
THE ROSTER:Evaluating each Tigers player entering offseason of change under new leadership
Guenther, a seventh-round pick in the 2017 draft from Notre Dame, pitched 14 games out of the Marlins' bullpen in 2021. He posted a 9.30 ERA with 10 walks and 15 strikeouts across 20⅓ innings, with a 47.2% ground-ball rate.
In April 2022, Guenther had Tommy John surgery.
Guenther began his professional career as a starting pitcher but shifted to the bullpen in 2019. He pitched 11 games for Double-A Pensacola and 15 games for Triple-A Jacksonville in the 2021 season, registering a 3.12 ERA with seven walks and 54 strikeouts across 40⅓ between the two affiliates.
At the Triple-A level, Guenther averaged 11.1 strikeouts and 1.6 walks per nine innings.
Here's the Tigers' full list of players on the 60-day injured list: Guenther, Beau Brieske, Kyle Funkhouser, Rony García, Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Spencer Turnbull, Jake Rogers and Austin Meadows.
Over the next week, the 40-man roster will drastically change as the offseason officially begins.
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2022-11-02T19:37:29Z
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www.freep.com
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Tigers claim LHP Sean Guenther off waivers from Marlins
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/11/02/detroit-tigers-lhp-sean-guenther-waivers-marlins/69614144007/
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2022/11/02/detroit-tigers-lhp-sean-guenther-waivers-marlins/69614144007/
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