Hundreds of Medicaid and Medicare recipients have been alarmed by a text message scam, according to health care provider EPIC Health.

On Wednesday, the Michigan attorney general issued a warning.

Watch Darren Cunningham's video report below: Medicaid, Medicare text scam scares hundreds during federal government shutdown

Sarah Lattimore, a Medicaid recipient, said she received one of those text messages on Thursday. For a moment, she thought her visit to the doctor on Friday would be impossible because the text claimed she no longer had Medicaid coverage.

"Basically saying that my insurance is cut off and I cannot see any doctors for any of my conditions, Lattimore told 7 News Detroit.

She said she was instantly concerned.

"I can't pay out of pocket like everybody else can, Lattimore said.

The text message had a link for her to click and submit personal information to resolve the problem. Instead, Lattimore made the wise choice to call her health care provider EPIC Health.

She learned it was scam and at least 200 other EPIC Health patients received similar text messages from scammers exploiting the federal government shutdown as a way to scare Medicaid and Medicare recipients.

"Today, we saw a huge drop off in the number of our scheduled patients," Dr. David Wash told 7 News Detroit.

Wash is the supervising physician at EPIC Health.

When asked what implications there are when someone receives and believes the text messages, Wash said, Delayed care.

Basically what that's going to do is inundate our emergency room where people are gonna start using emergency room as their primary care, or some people are just not going to go, the doctor explained.

And what that's going to do is that's going to delay care and cause increase, possibly emergencies because we have a lot of people who have uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure that need that constant preventative long-term care and management.

Wash referenced also the attorney general's warning. Attorney General Dana Nessel advises the following:

Block the text, email or call Don't click links or open attachments Report the spam Delete the text or email from their device

EPIC Health district manager Cora Fitzpatrick said the health system is also doing its part to clear confusion.

"We reassure them by letting them know, 'Hey, you are covered, she said. When they're calling us (and) when they're coming in, we let them know, You are covered. You can be seen today.

You can report scams and file complaints with the attorney general's consumer protection team on the state's website.

For those who follow the economy closely like Bankrate's Mark Hamrick the first Friday of the month is typically spent looking over new jobs data.

"A typical jobs report Friday is often the most consequential day of the month for those of us monitoring the economy, because the job market is so important," Hamrick said.

But because of a government shutdown, this Friday was different. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which releases the monthly labor data, is closed.

"Lacking this data, we're having to sort of walk with blinders on for every stakeholder in the U.S. economy, which is just about everybody," Hamrick said.

That includes the Federal Reserve, which relies on government economic data when it makes its interest rate decisions, says economics professor Abby Hall.

"This makes it much, much more difficult for them to assess and do their jobs," Hall said.

There are private companies that release jobs data, including payroll processor ADP and HR data tracker Revelio Labs. But each gets their data differently and provides different estimates.

RELATED STORY | Here's how the government shutdown will affect federal benefits programs

"Of course, we're going to get different answers," said Loujaina Abdelwahed, a senior economist at Revelio Labs. "I personally don't think that anyone can 100% replace the BLS."

For September, Revelio labs reported the U.S. added 60,000 total jobs, while ADP reported private sector jobs dropped by 32,000.

The difference shows the need for more in depth government data, says Hamrick.

"The data we get from the Labor Ddepartment on the job market is the gold standard," he said. "And so lacking that, we don't have an important piece of the puzzle trying to understand what is happening with the broader economy and the job markets."

After months of negotiations, Michigan state lawmakers have finally approved an $81 billion budget that includes significant funding increases for education and continues free school lunch programs for all students.

The budget allocates more than $24 billion to fund K-12 schools, colleges and universities across the state. Public schools will receive just over $10,000 per student, representing a 5% increase from previous funding levels.

Watch Tiarra Braddock's video report below: Michigan lawmakers pass $81 billion budget with education funding boost

"I think at the end of the day, the people of Michigan are benefited by the fact that we had to make some tough decisions together, but we put the priorities of the people first and long overdue investments in infrastructure, continued investment in education," Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.

The budget also maintains free school lunch programs for all students, a provision that has drawn support from parents and lawmakers alike.

Hear more from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on the state budget below: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks after legislature passes budget

"I think that's great. I don't think no kids should go hungry," said Renee Papageorgiou, a parent from Madison Heights.

Papageorgiou believes the free lunch program should continue regardless of budget constraints.

"I think they should keep free lunch for everybody regardless of the budget, what not. I feel like we can find a way to make sure all kids eat," Papageorgiou said.

State Rep. Jamie Thompson from Flat Rock echoed similar sentiments about the importance of the program.

"I know that is extremely important to all families, whether they be middle-income families, low-income families, families that are just very busy and just struggling to make sure lunch is prepared for the kids," Thompson said.

While lawmakers expressed relief at reaching a budget agreement and avoiding a government shutdown, some education leaders criticized the timing of the approval.

"It's more than three months overdue and that means no matter how good or bad a budget may be, it can't possibly work as well as it should for schools simply because it's so late," Robert McCann said. "Our schools have been back, helping students, serving their needs for over a month now without any certainty of how much funding they would have, not just for the basics of operations."

Robert McCann, executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, said the budget was approved far too late in the process.

Hear more from Robert McCann below: Extended interview: Executive director of the K-12 Alliance of Michigan weighs in on budget

"This can't happen again. If you want to claim that you are pro-education and that schools and students are your priority, you cannot complete a budget three months after it's due, one month into the school year," McCann said.

The budget now heads to Whitmer's desk for her signature.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Pop icon Taylor Swift's "Life of a Showgirl" is the 12th record of her career, recorded with the same produces that collaborated with her on hits like "22" and "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

The 12-song album was released less than 24 hours ago at midnight and already has millions of downloads.

To learn more about the album and what it says about Swift as an artist, Scripps News speaks with Harvard University English professor Stephanie Burt, who teaches courses on Swift's work and has written the book "Taylor's Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift."

Swift "is much more interested at this point in her life on how to write different kinds of stories, on how to push back and how to find your people, and how to make the life for yourself that you need, and then how to reach out and help other people do that, too," Burt says.

RELATED STORY | Taylor Swift brings The Life of a Showgirl to the big screen for 3 days only

"That's what she's trying to do with a lot of this album, which is so much fun and so much more aesthetically and sonically varied that a lot of us had expected or indeed feared," Burt says. "She's doing that with her Shakespeare story. She's doing that on "Eldest Daughter," which is the one that speaks most directly to me. You know, as an eldest daughter, as an only daughter I've got some younger brothers I think a lot about meeting expectations and doing what institutions and doing what adults want you to do. And for some of us, that's the right path, but it's also exhausting. And it does seem like Taylor has found the life partner as well as the songwriting partners who will let her not relax, because she doesn't do that but let her really experience a kind of confidence that she hasn't had before."

Watch the full interview with Burt in the video above.

It's Italian Heritage Month, and tucked away in Rochester with minimal signage sits a hidden gem that's been serving authentic Italian cuisine for more than a decade.

Silver Spoon restaurant is the product of a chance meeting between two Italian men at London's airport almost 30 years ago. Chef Daniele Dell'Acqua and owner Rito Lisi crossed paths while leaving their homeland and have been working together ever since.

Watch Jeffrey Lindbom's video report below: Local Rochester restaurant brings authentic Italian flavors to Michigan

"We met in the airport in London," Dell'Acqua said.

"The chef is from Milan. I am from the south," Lisi said.

Despite their different regional backgrounds, the two have built a lasting partnership, though they admit they don't always see eye to eye.

"Thirty years, we've been working together. I see more of him than my wife," Lisi said.

Their chance relationship has evolved into a long-lasting friendship over a shared passion for food. From the start, their goal has been authentic Italian dining.

"We just stick with what is the food in Italy," Lisi said.

"So you can have a nice dining experience without having to go to Italy," Dell'Acqua said.

The restaurant maintains its authenticity through traditional methods, including a manual prosciutto slicer that requires hand cranking to produce perfectly sliced meat.

"I'm happy when I make people happy," Dell'Acqua said.

"Make people feel like home when they're still at the table," Lisi said.

Lisi channels his Italian roots by making bread behind the scenes and has opened roughly 45,000 bottles of wine over the last five years. The corks now serve as keepsake decor throughout the restaurant.

"We are like a family," both men said.

Dell'Acqua describes his cooking philosophy as "easy food" nothing over the top, just a few quality ingredients with a menu mostly made from scratch. He prides himself on his steady hands while holding a pan and skills honed since his grandmother stood beside him long ago. He still carries some of her recipes today and believes she would be proud.

"It's good because everyone is happy. If everyone eats, it means she taught me something nice," Dell'Acqua said.

"I hope they leave super happy and say, 'wow. What a beautiful experience we had,'" Lisi said.

"That would make me very proud of my staff and to do the job that I'm doing," Dell'Acqua said.

Silver Spoon shared a recipe for Spaghetti ai frutti di mare:

Serving 4

Ingredients:

Spaghetti 0.7 lb

Mussels 2.25 lb

Optional 4 medium size sea scallops

Clams 2.2lb

Calamari (squid) 0.66 lb

Shrimp 8

Cherry tomatoes 0.66 lb

Extra virgin olive oil 4tbsp

Garlic 1 clove

Parsley 1 spig to be chopped

White wine 3 tbsp

Fine salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

To prepare the seafood spaghetti start cleaning the mussels and clams, than place a colander over a container so that it does not touch the bottom and fill it with cold running water leaving the clams to purge any sand. Pour out the water and repeat.

Next clean the mussels, remove any dirt from the shell with the back of a knife, if needed tear off the beard that comes out of the shell.

Heat 2 table spoon of olive oil in a large sauce and when is hot pour in the clams and the mussels, cover immediately with a lid and wait until they are all completely open, about 3 4 minutes, remove the lid an pour them in to a container. Do not discard the cooking liquid but strain it and keep it warm. Than shell both the clams and the mussels, set aside (keep some shells for decoration)

Cut the calamari in strips . Clean the scampi, and cutt the tomatoes in half.

Drizzle a pan with 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and add a clove of garlic

Once is golden, pour the squid and add a pinch of salt

Cook for 5 minute then sweat with the white wine.

Let the wine evaporate, remove the garlic

Add the cherry tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water.

Add the shrimp to the sauce, season with salt and pepper.

Drain the spaghetti directly in to the pan 4 minute before their cooking time is up

Continue cooking and pour the mussels and clams cooking water you had set aside

Lastly add the shelled mussels and clams

At the end of the cooking, turn off the heat, season with chopped Italian parsley and toss one last time. Serve it very hot.

BUON APPETITO FROM THE SILVER SPOON!

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

By MARTHA BELLISLE

SEATTLE (AP) — In what appears to be the first major challenge to the new $100,000 fee required for H-1B visa applications, a coalition of health care providers, religious groups, university professors and others filed a federal lawsuit Friday to stop the plan, saying it has “thrown employers, workers and federal agencies into chaos.”

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Sept. 19 requiring the new fee, saying the H-1B visa program “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.” The changes were slated to go into effect in 36 hours, which caused panic for employers, who instructed their workers to return to the U.S. immediately.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, said the H-1B program is a critical pathway to hiring healthcare workers and educators. It drives innovation and economic growth in the U.S., and allows employers to fill jobs in specialized fields, the lawsuit said.

“Without relief, hospitals will lose medical staff, churches will lose pastors, classrooms will lose teachers, and industries across the country risk losing key innovators,” Democracy Forward Foundation and Justice Action Center said in a press release. “The suit asks the court to immediately block the order and restore predictability for employers and workers.”

They called the new fee “Trump’s latest anti-immigration power grab.”

Messages seeking comment from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which are named as defendants along with Trump and the State Department, were not immediately returned.

The H-1B visa program was created by Congress to attract high-skilled workers to fill jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill. About a third of H-1B workers are nurses, teachers, physicians, scholars, priests and pastors, according to the lawsuit.

Critics say the program is a pipeline for overseas workers who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually, well below the $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.

Historically, H-1B visas have been doled out through a lottery. This year, Seattle-based Amazon was by far the top recipient of H-1B visas with more than 10,000 awarded, followed by Tata Consultancy, Microsoft, Apple and Google. Geographically, California has the highest number of H-1B workers.

The $100,000 fee will discourage the best and brightest minds from bringing life-saving research to the U.S., said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors.

Mike Miller, Region 6 Director of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, said Trump’s plan “prioritizes wealth and connections over scientific acumen and diligence.”

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, contends the “exorbitant fee” invites corruption and is illegal. Congress created the program and Trump can’t rewrite it overnight or levy new taxes by executive order, the groups said.

By MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court in Boston ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot withhold citizenship from children born to people in the country illegally or temporarily, adding to the mounting legal setbacks for the president’s birthright order.

A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the fifth federal court since June to either issue or uphold orders blocking the president’s birthright order. The court concluded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claims that the children described in the order are entitled to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The panel upheld lower courts’ preliminary injunctions, which blocked the birthright order while lawsuits challenging it moved ahead. The order, signed the day the president took office in January, would halt automatic citizenship for babies born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily.

“The ‘lessons of history’ thus give us every reason to be wary of now blessing this most recent effort to break with our established tradition of recognizing birthright citizenship and to make citizenship depend on the actions of one’s parents rather than — in all but the rarest of circumstances — the simple fact of being born in the United States,” the court wrote.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state was one of nearly 20 that were part of the lawsuit challenging the order, welcomed the ruling.

“The First Circuit reaffirmed what we already knew to be true: The President’s attack on birthright citizenship flagrantly defies the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and a nationwide injunction is the only reasonable way to protect against its catastrophic implications,” Bonta said in a statement. “We are glad that the courts have continued to protect Americans’ fundamental rights.”

In July, U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston issued the third court ruling blocking the birthright order nationwide after a key Supreme Court decision in June. Less than two weeks later, a federal judge in Maryland also issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the order. The issue is expected to move quickly back to the nation’s highest court.

The justices ruled in June that lower courts generally can’t issue nationwide injunctions, but they didn’t rule out other court orders that could have nationwide effects, including in class-action lawsuits and those brought by states.

A federal judge in New Hampshire later issued a ruling prohibiting Trump’s executive order from taking effect nationwide in a new class-action suit, and a San Francisco-based appeals court affirmed a different lower court’s nationwide injunction in a lawsuit that included state plaintiffs.

In September, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to uphold its birthright citizenship order. The appeal sets in motion a process at the high court that could lead to a definitive ruling from the justices by early summer on whether the citizenship restrictions are constitutional.

“The court is misinterpreting the 14th Amendment. We look forward to being vindicated by the Supreme Court,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

At the heart of the lawsuits challenging the birthright order is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which includes a citizenship clause that says all people born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to U.S. jurisdiction, are citizens.

Plaintiffs in the Boston case — one of the cases the 1st Circuit considered — told Sorokin that the principle of birthright citizenship is “enshrined in the Constitution,” and that Trump does not have the authority to issue the order, which they called a “flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip hundreds of thousands of American-born children of their citizenship based on their parentage.”

Justice Department attorneys argued the phrase “subject to United States jurisdiction” in the amendment means that citizenship isn’t automatically conferred to children based on their birth location alone.

In a landmark birthright citizenship case, the Supreme Court in 1898 found a child born in San Francisco to Chinese parents was a citizen by virtue of his birth on American soil.

Below is a list of all the games for teams, organized by league, covered by outlets in the MediaNews Group Michigan cluster — the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun, the Macomb Daily, the Oakland Press, the Royal Oak Tribune, the Voice, the Dearborn Press & Guide, and the Southgate News Herald — for Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.

Check back throughout the night, to see as scores come in, with links to coverage from all of the papers in our cluster.

 

BLUE WATER AREA CONFERENCE

Algonac at Croswell-Lexington

Armada at Almont

Richmond at Imlay City

CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE

Allen Park Cabrini at Madison Heights Bishop Foley

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood at Macomb Lutheran North

Detroit U-D Jesuit at Dearborn Divine Child

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett at Riverview Gabriel Richard

Marine City Cardinal Mooney at Clarkston Everest Collegiate

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Detroit Country Day

Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes at Royal Oak Shrine

 

CENTRAL STATE ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

Big Rapids at Remus Chippewa Hills

 

CHARTER SCHOOL CONFERENCE

Detroit Leadership Academy at Arts & Technology Academy of Pontiac

Ecorse at Harper Woods Chandler Park

Melvindale AB&T at Southfield Bradford Academy

Redford Westfield Prep at Mt. Clemens

Romulus Summit Academy North at Detroit Old Redford

 

DOWNRIVER LEAGUE

Allen Park at Lakeland

Dearborn Edsel Ford at Woodhaven

Southgate Anderson at Gibraltar Carlson

 

FLINT METRO LEAGUE

Ortonville Brandon at Clio

Holly at Flushing

 

HIGHLAND CONFERENCE

Lake City at Beal City

 

HURON LEAGUE

Flat Rock at Riverview

Grosse Ile at Carleton Airport

New Boston Huron at Monroe Jefferson

 

INDEPENDENTS

Center Line Prep at Whitmore Lake

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Detroit Country Day

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep at Oak Park

Vestaburg at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart

 

JACK PINE CONFERENCE

Beaverton at St. Louis

Gladwin at Shepherd

Sanford Meridian at Farwell

Standish-Sterling at Clare

 

KENSINGTON LAKES ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION

Dearborn at Belleville

Livonia Stevenson at Dearborn Fordson

Novi at Salem

LAKES VALLEY CONFERENCE

Allen Park at Lakeland

South Lyon at Waterford Mott

South Lyon East at Milford

Walled Lake Central at Walled Lake Northern

Waterford Kettering at Walled Lake Western

 

MACOMB AREA CONFERENCE

Anchor Bay at Sterling Heights Stevenson

Center Line at Eastpointe

Chippewa Valley at Utica Eisenhower

Clawson at Clintondale

Grosse Pointe South at L’Anse Creuse North

Hazel Park at Madison Heights Madison

L’Anse Creuse at St. Clair Shores Lakeview

Macomb Dakota at Romeo

Madison Heights Lamphere at Marysville

Marine City at Sterling Heights

Port Huron Northern at Fraser

St. Clair Shores Lake Shore at Grosse Pointe North

St. Clair Shores South Lake at St. Clair

Utica at Roseville

Utica Ford at Port Huron

Warren Lincoln at New Haven

Warren Mott at Warren Cousino

MICHIGAN INDEPENDENT ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Auburn Hills Oakland Christian at Sterling Heights Parkway Christian

Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest at Lutheran Westland

OAKLAND ACTIVITES ASSOCIATION

Auburn Hills Avondale at Royal Oak

Berkley at Jackson Northwest

Birmingham Groves at Southfield A&T

Bloomfield Hills at Troy Athens

Lake Orion at Clarkston

North Farmington at Birmingham Seaholm

Pontiac at Ferndale

Pontiac Notre Dame Prep at Oak Park

Rochester at Harper Woods

Rochester Adams at Stoney Creek

Troy at Farmington

West Bloomfield at Oxford

 

SAGINAW VALLEY LEAGUE

Mt. Pleasant at Bay City Western

 

TRI-VALLEY CONFERENCE

Flint Powers at Alma

Ithaca at Saginaw Valley Lutheran

 

WESTERN WAYNE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Melvindale at Dearborn Heights Crestwood

Redford Thurston at Dearborn Heights Robichaud

Redford Union at Dearborn Heights Annapolis

Romulus at Garden City

—————

8-PLAYER FOOTBALL

Fulton at Breckenridge

St. Charles at Carson City-Crystal

Montabella at Coleman

—————

SATURDAY GAMES

Detroit Voyageur College Prep at Warren Michigan Collegiate, 2 p.m.

Warren Fitzgerald at Warren Woods Tower, 1 p.m.

By Gregory Korte, Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON — The White House still employs 45 staffers for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency despite the Tesla Inc. CEO’s departure in May — and they’re exempt from being furloughed during the government shutdown.

The arrangement was revealed in a memo released Thursday from the White House Office of Administration detailing the staffing plan while funding from Congress remains in limbo.

The White House shutdown plan also highlights a pattern of shifting definitions of essential and non-essential workers under President Donald Trump, who has furloughed 514 fewer White House staffers than he did during the last government shutdown under his watch in 2018.

Under the earlier plan, which former President Joe Biden also adopted but never had to implement, about 61% of staff in the Executive Office of the President were temporarily laid off. The current plan furloughs only 32% of the staff.

Despite keeping more of the White House staff on-the-job during the shutdown, Trump has said he is looking to lay off federal workers, instead of just furloughing them. The White House has said the cuts could number in the “thousands.”

Among the offices fully open despite the shutdown is DOGE, the government cost-cutting operation once led by Musk before he and Trump had a falling out over the president’s support of a deficit-expanding tax cut bill.

After Musk’s departure in May, the White House said DOGE had been decentralized, and that its teams throughout the government would report to their presidentially appointed agency heads. But the shutdown plan reveals that 45 DOGE staffers still work in the US DOGE Service, a component within the Executive Office of the President.

The memo from Joshua Fisher, the director of the White House Office of Administration, did not explain why the DOGE staffers were exempt from furloughs. But DOGE’s predecessor office, the US Digital Service, was able to function through previous shutdowns because it had a separate source of funding from fees it charged other government agencies for its work.

Other parts of the White House are also seeing fewer furloughs this time. The Office of Management and Budget keeps 437 employees on duty, compared with 161 under the 2018 plan. The tax cut law — dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill — provided $100 million in long-term funding for the budget office.

The White House Office itself — the president’s immediate staff — holds on to 175 aides, slightly more than the 156 in the last shutdown. And Trump has almost doubled the number of retained workers in the executive residence to 40.

At the same time, Trump officials have signaled they will use the lapse in funding to pare back or shutter programs they oppose — especially in states that voted for his opponent last year. And the White House has threatened to permanently fire thousands of federal employees in the coming days, citing the lack of congressional funding.

The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment on the shutdown plan, but instead sent an automated out-of-office reply echoing the administration’s political talking points.

“Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays,” the message said. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to strip legal protections from more than 300,000 Venezuelan migrants.

The justices issued an emergency order, which will last as long as the court case continues, putting on hold a lower-court ruling by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco that found the administration had wrongly ended temporary protected status for the Venezuelans. The three liberal justices dissented.

Trump’s Republican administration has moved to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the United States and work legally, including ending TPS for a total of 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians who were granted protection under President Joe Biden, a Democrat. TPS is granted in 18-month increments.

In May, the Supreme Court reversed a preliminary order from Chen that affected another 350,000 Venezuelans whose protections expired in April. The high court provided no explanation at the time, which is common in emergency appeals.

“The same result that we reached in May is appropriate here,” the court wrote Friday in an unsigned order.

Some migrants have lost their jobs and homes while others have been detained and deported after the justices stepped in the first time, lawyers for the migrants told the court.

“I view today’s decision as yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote. “Because, respectfully, I cannot abide our repeated, gratuitous and harmful interference with cases pending in the lower courts while lives hang in the balance, I dissent.”

Congress created TPS in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters, civil strife or other dangerous conditions. The designation can be granted by the Homeland Security secretary.

Chen found that the Department of Homeland Security acted “with unprecedented haste and in an unprecedented manner … for the preordained purpose of expediting termination of Venezuela’s TPS” status.

In earlier denying the Trump administration’s emergency appeal, Judge Kim Wardlaw wrote for a unanimous three-judge appellate panel that Chen determined that DHS made its “decisions first and searched for a valid basis for those decisions second.”

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, had argued in the new court filing that the justices’ May order should also apply to the current case.

“This case is familiar to the court and involves the increasingly familiar and untenable phenomenon of lower courts disregarding this Court’s orders on the emergency docket,” Sauer wrote.

The result, he said, is that the “new order, just like the old one, halted the vacatur and termination of TPS affecting over 300,000 aliens based on meritless legal theories.”

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

The Home Bakery in downtown Rochester debuted a tribute to Taylor Swift and her latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl” with a life-size cake.

It took five designers 75 hours to transform 30 pounds of fondant, 12 quarts of buttercream, eight sheets of crisped rice and one full sheet cake, into Swift-as-Vegas-style showgirl, complete with champagne glass.

Bakery owner Heather Tocco unveiled the new Swift cake on Friday at the bakery, 300 S. Main Street in Rochester.

“I chose to create a Taylor Swift-inspired window because, honestly, we’re a bunch of Swifties in here!” Tocco said, adding that she’s happy to celebrate the global superstar’s music because “I really admire her. Taylor isn’t just an incredibly talented artist, she’s a brilliant businesswoman, a master storyteller, and someone who has built a global community through creativity, resilience, and authenticity.”

Tocco said she thinks of her bakery’s windows as canvases for storytelling and celebrating cultural moments that bring people together.

Swift is a popular role model, especially for young women, she said because the singer-songwriter-director shows success comes from hard work, imagination “and the courage to reinvent yourself.”

Tocco plans to display the Swift cake through mid-November.

The bakery’s front window drew crowds in January for a tribute to the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown’s iconic headstand and earlier for a life-size Spiderman cake.

Congo President Flix Tshisekedi says his country is ready to supply the United States with the critical minerals that power phones, cars, and the electric grid but only if Washington helps secure peace in the east of the country.

In an exclusive interview with Scripps News, Tshisekedi highlighted the Democratic Republic of Congo's dominance in cobalt production. The country produces nearly three-quarters of the world's supply and holds more than half of known reserves.

"We think that since the United States, with President Trump in the lead, are interested in these strategic minerals, their first reflex will obviously be to guarantee the security of these investments," Tshisekedi said.

Eastern Congo is in turmoil as the M23 rebel group seizes mineral-rich territory near Goma. United Nations investigators say Rwanda backs the group an accusation Kigali denies. At the U.N. General Assembly, Tshisekedi called for sanctions on "the perpetrators of economic crimes, but also of war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide committed in the east of my country."

The United States helped broker a peace deal in June, calling for Rwandan forces to withdraw and Congo to dismantle border militias. Former President Donald Trump has claimed credit.

"The Congo and Rwanda, they said it was impossible to settle," he said. "I got every one settled, seven of them, seven."

But fighting continues. Tshisekedi told Scripps News the deal is not dead but said Rwanda has disguised its role by backing M23.

"Rwanda is coming to get the minerals and they're using M23 like a puppet to steal and to do all these things that they are doing."

RELATED STORY | In General Assembly speech, Trump criticizes UN over wars, migration and climate change

For Tshisekedi, the path forward is clear: the U.S. can help secure eastern Congo and invest in processing minerals locally. "We will no longer simply serve as an extraction land," he said, "but we will also be a land of transformation."

Asked about U.S.China competition, Tshisekedi said he does not play favorites. "No. No. In fact, we don't have a preference. We are friends with everyone." Still, he has renegotiated a major mining deal with Beijing that he described as "not a win-win."

Amid the geopolitical struggle, Congo faces a deadly new Ebola outbreak in Kasai province. Authorities have reported 57 cases and 35 deaths since September. Tshisekedi noted the U.S. once played a major role in funding Ebola response but has since cut support.

In the heart of downtown Oxford, Angie Green and her two sons have gone from humble beginnings to launching a national brand, making up to 1,000 stuffed bagels a day.

Her message about working with family and sharing baked goods made with love is quickly spreading to 25 states and 400 stores.

Watch Simon Shayket's video report below: Oxford family-owned bagel shop goes national

I visited the community and learned about how the family-run business has flourished all the way to Colorado and Florida by selling stuffed bagels with a unique twist.

Inside a kitchen within Evergreens Coffee and Bakeshop, you can feel something special being made by Green and her two sons Hunter and Gavin.

A couple years ago, my sons said everyone loves the stuffed bagels at Evergreens, we need to take it a step further, Green said.

A proud mom, Green not only shares her love of baking, but this venture has blossomed into a thriving business.

Just rewind to two years ago and it was a trade show where the familys brand Bros & Dough won a Golden Ticket from Meijer, placing their goodies in several locations.

Its definitely been a ride, but it's been fun fun. I wouldnt change it for the world. Definitely some real-world experience before you hit adulthood, Gavin Green said.

Very unique. Nothing else really like it. We pour a lot of passion into it, family business. We have our picture right on the back, Hunter Green said.

Now, the brothers are not only making as many as a thousand stuffed bagels a day, but their packaged products are being distributed to 400 stores in 25 states.

Everyday customers in Oxford are still enjoying the various flavors.

You can get your standard bagel somewhere but to get something handcrafted, right here, and its always super fresh and theyre really good, customer Gabby Rodela said.

A key ingredient is sticking by one another, whether its marketing, meeting order deadlines or lending an extra hand.

Angie Green says her prior career as an emergency room nurse helped pave the way for her sons to learn about responsibility.

There are stuffed bagels out there just stuffed with cream cheese. We took it a step further, stuffed them with things like bacon. Who doesnt love bacon? Angie Green said.

Now, the family is savoring moments together as co-owners.

Theyre seeking a larger facility, so they can keep up with demand and expand to each and every state.

Bros n Dough says they use natural ingredients without preservatives, and they hope to be in larger stores like Kroger and others soon.

By Craig Mauger, MediaNews Group

Michigan’s new budget will channel $203 million toward increasing the compensation of public school employees, a move supporters are hailing as a win for the state’s teachers.

The Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate approved the new annual funding proposal for state operations early Friday morning. It is expected to be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the coming days.

Embedded within one of the bills was a provision to repurpose $203 million that had been previously allocated to provide financial assistance to educators who were repaying student loans, but which had gone unused.

Now, the dollars will be given to schools “to increase compensation” for employees and the pay bumps must be on top of “any existing compensation negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement” between a school district and union representing educators or support staff, according to the budget blueprint.

 

Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said the $225 million student loan forgiveness program, authorized in 2023, didn’t work as he intended and he wanted the dollars to now be used for financial relief for school employees who are facing rising health care costs.

“It was important to put more money back in the pockets of our educators,” Camilleri said.

In addition to teachers, the new initiative will benefit a wide array of school employees covered by union contracts, including librarians, counselors, social workers, custodians, bus drivers and literacy coaches, according to the bill.

Camilleri, a former teacher and the top Senate Democrat on the K-12 budget, said it will be up to districts and local unions to negotiate how the money will be handed out.

There will likely be one-time payments to staff at some point this school year, Camilleri said.

Somewhere around 381,000 people work for K-12 schools in Michigan, according to state data. It’s not clear how many of them would qualify for the new compensation. If they all did, which is not likely, and everyone got the same amount, an individual would receive $532.

“It should be a good one-time bonus,” Camilleri said.

The Michigan Education Association, which represents school staff in many districts across the state, touted the $203 million allocation in a statement on the budget Friday.

“Most critically, it provides $200 million in funding to directly put money in the paychecks of public school employees — whose pay increases are being consumed by skyrocketing out-of-pocket health insurance costs,” said Chandra Madafferi, president and CEO of the state’s largest teacher union.

Waterford Township planning commissioners have approved a three-story 60-unit senior-living building on Scott Lake, over the objections of nearby residents.

Lourdes Senior Community has a nearly 40-acres campus along Watkins Lake Road next to Scott Lake, currently offering nearly 150 units devoted to independent and assisted living options, rehabilitation, short-term and long-term care and hospice care.

Scott Lake is a private, spring-fed 77-acre lake with depths up to 35 feet. It is considered an all-sports lake.

The township allows up to 10 units per acre; the new-building site is just over three acres on the campus and would allow up to 62 units, according to township officials.

The one- and two-bedroom apartments will have full kitchens and in-unit laundry utilities. The units range in size from just over 700 square feet to just under 1,200 square feet. Amenities in the building will include a bistro, theater, game room, chapel, salon, fitness center and multipurpose rooms. Apartments would cost $5,000 to $6,800 a month, depending on size. Lourdes existing independent-living units cost between $2,875 and $4,200.

Two docks are planned on the lake, with an agreement for a total of two pontoon boats that would be operated by staff, according to plans submitted to the township.

Lourdes’ President and CEO, Rich Acho, told The Oakland Press the company started in 1965 and remains one of the few Catholic nonprofit retirement communities in Oakland County. He said aging baby boomers will need more options in the near future.

Within a five-mile radius of Lourdes’ campus, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ 2050 economic forecasts show a 22% increase in households with people 75 years or older at a time when their children or other potential caregivers are moving out of the area.

“In our market area, ages 65+ will see a 32% increase by 2028,” Acho said. “With the workforce shortage, it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire private caregivers.”

But plans to add the 60-unit independent-living building to the campus riled many Scott Lake residents. They appealed to township planning commissioners to stop the project.

Lourdes revised the site plan to address township officials’ and residents’ concerns, including relocating the building to meet setback rules, redesigning the parking lot to meet township standards and hiring a company to do a traffic study. Lourdes widened a fire lane and added a sidewalk along Watkins Lake Road, while dropping plans for a pickleball court in favor of a courtyard designed for quiet activities.

Lourdes officials told the township that because residents are considered independent, there would only be a single staff member in the building to assist in the event an emergency required a 911 call.

David Cyplik lives two-tenths of a mile from Lourdes, closer to Watkins Lake. His wife was a patient there near the end of her life, he said, adding that he donates to Lourdes and supports the senior community in other ways. But he doesn’t support a 60-unit building and worries about traffic on Watkins Lake Road, especially during rush hours.

“If you live nearby, as I do, I see the traffic backing up every day,” he said. “It backs up for a long period of time.”

Jennifer Almassy said despite changes in Lourdes’ site plan, she remains concerned.

“It’s still a stark-white three-story building adding 60 units when there’s not even barely 100 houses on the lake. I think that’s excessive,” she said.

Another neighbor, Frank Scerbo, said he liked having the Lourdes across the lake.

“It’s nice and quiet. We’d just like to keep it that way,” he said.
“I ask you respectfully: Do not allow 60 units to be built there to stick out like a white elephant.”

Scerbo said one or two residents per unit would increase Watkins Lake Road traffic, either because they will be driving or having visitors.

Several asked for a traffic light for safety reasons.

Supporters included Lourdes residents and employees, who also spoke at the Sept. 23 meeting.

A retired priest, the Rev. Joe Lang, said he’s lived on Lourdes’ campus for three years and found it peaceful.

“It’s an environment in which people take good care of themselves,” he told the board, noting that many no longer drive.

Some Lourdes residents were accompanied by the company’s caregivers. One said she heard more noise from the 80 households that share Scott Lake than from her Lourdes neighbors.

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ 2050 forecast of regional trends to predict how changes will affect the economy and the movement of residents and companies. The report is used to help decide how the infrastructure changes and what services are needed. SEMCOG’s report shows that aging is a major issue, with more older adults than children by 2026 in southeast Michigan, a trend that will be national by 2034 and global by 2050.

Higher-density housing is one SEMCOG recommendation for making sure older residents have access to transportation, food, housing, public spaces and social engagement.

By Melissa Nann Burke, MediaNews Group

The Grand Blanc community has set up an official fund to benefit the victims, families and first-responders affected by Sunday’s mass shooting and fire that destroyed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township.

The Victim Compassion Fund is hosted by the ELGA Credit Union Foundation for Impact in collaboration with Grand Blanc Township, the township’s police department and the Latter-day Saints Church, which many people know as the Mormon church.

The intent of the fund is to help victims of Sunday’s tragedy, their families, and the injured, as well as first-responders and others with needs, including paying medical bills, financial support, and counseling, organizers said.

“We are going to make sure that the people that actually receive this money are victims of the situation here in Grand Blanc Township,” Township Supervisor Scott Bennett said Friday.

“We had 37 different agencies respond to the fire, so we want to make sure that, whether it’s counseling services or if they need medical bills paid, what have you, we want to be here for them,” Bennett added.

“We have families where the parents can’t work right now because of injury or just being afraid to leave their homes. We want ot make sure we take care of them, as well.”

A committee comprising representatives from the LDS Church, the township and the police department will determine how to distribute the funds based on financial need and the available resources. Those who want to seek financial support from the fund should contact the church or the township at (810) 424-2692 or email assist@gbtgov.com.

“We said, let’s do this where people know it’s safe, and it’s trusted. ELGA Credit Union is a trusted source in Genesee County and beyond here, and people know that,” said Cheryl Sclater, president of the ELGA Credit Union Foundation for Impact.

“As the needs come in, we will fill them, and that’s how it’s going to work. There’s been a few side fundraisers that have been out there in our community, and those people are coming back and giving the money to this fund, so that it actually goes out to victims of this tragedy.”

The LDS church is pointing to the fund as the recommended place for the community to contribute to help victims of the disaster, both to help church members and others, said Greg Geiger, communications director for the LDS Church in Southeast Michigan.

“None of the money will go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One-hundred percent of the proceeds will go to victims of this tragedy,” said Geiger, who noted there are no fees associated with the fund.

“We appreciate and acknowledge their effort in trying to help the community.”

Geiger added that the LDS Church is not seeking or accepting funds from any organization to rebuild the church in Grand Blanc Township.

The impetus for the coordinated fundraising effort was, in part, to dissuade scammers, fraudulent fundraisers, and GoFundMe efforts that began circulating in the wake of Sunday’s fire. Community leaders wanted to establish a fund that could be trusted to support the who truly need help, they said.

“This is going to go far beyond even the physical and the health part. It will go on for a while with people who need that support financially for any type of therapy that they might need,” Sclater said.

“There will be a short grant process to have people please explain your needs. … But we want to get this money out. The people in this community have a heart, and they have come together like you can’t even imagine, to gift. We have had people out of state gifting, and it’s pretty amazing.”

Sclater didn’t have an estimated total available as of Friday afternoon, but said people can donate online or visit any EGLA branch in person to donate. She is working with the Mott Foundation and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, which will accept some of the larger donations to the cause, she said.

She acknowledged that a number of victims’ families have set up GoFundMe accounts, and she stressed the Victim Compassion Fund is entirely separate.

“We are simply that vehicle to give our community a safe place to give back, because they don’t know what else they can do, and they want to give,” Sclater said. “We are that safe haven where they know their dollars are going to go out and be deployed.”

By VALERIE GONZALEZ

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Trump administration said Friday that it would pay migrant children $2,500 to voluntarily return to their home countries, dangling a new incentive in efforts to persuade people to self-deport.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement didn’t say how much migrants would get or when the offer would take effect, but The Associated Press obtained an email to migrant shelters saying children 14 years of age and older would get $2,500 each. Children were given 24 hours to respond.

The notice to shelters from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s Administration for Families and Children did not indicate any consequences for children who decline the offer. It asked shelter directors to acknowledge the offer within four hours.

ICE said in a statement that the offer would initially be for 17-year-olds.

“Any payment to support a return home would be provided after an immigration judge grants the request and the individual arrives in their country of origin,” ICE said. “Access to financial support when returning home would assist should they choose that option.”

ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and the Health and Human Services Department did not immediately respond to questions about the amount of the payment and age eligibility.

ICE dismissed widespread reports among immigration lawyers and advocates that it was launching a much broader crackdown Friday to deport migrant children who entered the country without their parents, called “Freaky Friday.”

The administration has also offered $1,000 to adults who voluntarily leave the country. Advocates said $2,500 may prevent children from making informed decisions.

“For a child, $2,500 might be the most money they’ve ever seen in their life, and that may make it very, very difficult for them to accurately weigh the long-term risks of taking voluntary departure versus trying to stay in the United States and going through the immigration court process to get relief that they may be legally entitled to,” said Melissa Adamson, senior attorney at the National Center for Youth Law.

Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, echoed concerns about the offer, saying it “pressures children to abandon their legal claims and return to a life of fear and danger without ever receiving a fair hearing.”

U.S. border authorities have arrested children crossing the border without parents more than 400,000 times since October 2021. A 2008 law requires them to appear before an immigration judge before being returned to their countries.

Children have been spending more time in government-run shelters since the Trump administration put them under closer scrutiny before releasing them to family in the United States to pursue their immigration cases.

The additional scrutiny includes fingerprinting, DNA testing and home visits by immigration officers. Over the summer, immigration officers started showing up and arresting parents.

The average length of stay at government-run shelters for those released in the U.S. was 171 days in July, down from a peak of 217 days in April but well above 37 days in January, when Trump took office.

Two men on trial for allegedly posing as DTE workers in a deadly home invasion in October 2024 have both been found guilty on all counts.

A jury on Friday evening found Joshua Zuazo and Carlos Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of unlawful imprisonment.

Watch the verdict for Joshua Zuazo below: Joshua Zuazo found guilty in deadly home invastion after allegedly posing as DTE worker

In an unusual legal arrangement, the two defendants were being tried simultaneously but with separate juries that were selected earlier this week.

Both men were denied bond and are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 9.

Watch the verdict for Carlos Hernandez below: Carlos Hernandez found guilty in deadly home invastion after allegedly posing as DTE worker

During testimony this week, the juries heard from the widow of the jewelry store owner killed last year in his Rochester Hills home. She provided emotional testimony in Oakland County Circuit Court Wednesday about the home invasion that left her husband dead and herself injured.

The two suspects allegedly posed as DTE utility workers to gain entry to their home.

Watch Ruta Ulcinaite's video report below: Widow testifies in trial of men accused of posing as DTE workers in deadly home invasion Watch Ryan Marshall's video report Widow testifies in trial of men accused of posing as DTE workers in deadly home invasion

Linda Murray testified about the events of Oct. 11, 2024, when her 73-year-old husband, Hussein "Sam" Murray, was killed inside their home.

"I was screaming and Hernandez hits me in the face to cover my mouth," Linda Murray testified when asked about her reaction to seeing blood at the scene.

Joshua Zuazo and Carlos Hernandez are accused of posing as DTE Energy workers who initially visited the Murray home on Oct. 10, 2024, claiming they needed to check for a gas leak. The family turned them away due to the late hour, but prosecutors say the men returned the following morning.

According to testimony, the suspects allegedly took Sam Murray to the basement, where they tied him up and killed him. Linda Murray was upstairs making breakfast when the men came upstairs demanding jewelry and cash.

Previous coverage: Court records detail how Rochester Hills murder suspects were caught Documents reveal new details on home invasion arrests

Hernandez's attorney claims his client never intended to kill Murray, while Zuazo's attorney maintains his client was wrongly identified and was not present at the scene.

Triumph Church is accused of improperly enriching Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr.

The post IRS complaint targets Detroit mayoral candidate Kinloch and his church over $1.3M home appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.