UTICA — Orchard Lake St. Mary’s proved Friday night at Jimmy John’s Field that it is one of the most dominant teams in the state, earning a 49-10 Catholic League Central Division win over Warren De La Salle.

St. Mary’s — 3-0 and ranked No. 3 in The News Super 25 poll — showed it is primed to defend its Division 2 state championship, ending a five-game losing streak in the series with No. 9 De La Salle (1-2).

De La Salle sophomore quarterback Grayson Thurston looked impressive on the first drive, hitting on 5 of 7 passes for 56 yards to set up a 37-yard field goal that missed the mark.

St. Mary’s then tightened its defense to give Jabin Gonzales short fields to work with and he did the rest, leading to a 28-point second quarter and a 28-3 halftime lead.

First, Gonzales scored on a 3-yard run to cap off a 57-yard, eight-play drive which included one play where St. Mary’s offensive line helped push Jamari Givhan for a 15-yard gain.

St. Mary’s opened up a 14-3 lead when it blocked a punt and Reece Hurst scooped the ball up at the 5-yard line and ran into the end zone less than two minutes later.

St. Mary’s showed its explosive big-play offense on the next two drives, both led by Gonzales.

Gonzales showed his arm strength on St. Mary’s next drive that started at its own 25, going up top on the first play and finding Daniel Taylor for a 75-yard touchdown and a 21-3 cushion.

“D.J. can do it all. I honestly looked to the wrong side so I kind of threw it late, but D.J. ran a great route and I threw it, kind of took a hit, and he grabbed it. Big play,” Gonzales said of his long TD pass to Taylor.

St. Mary’s defense again stepped up, forcing a Thurston fumble that Gage Nessen recovered at the St. Mary’s 35-yard line. On the ensuing play, Gonzales broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run to make it 28-3 with 35 seconds remaining in the half.

“My O-line opened up the hole great for me, I ran through and made a couple of guys miss, ran somebody over and took it to the crib,” Gonzales said.

De La Salle advanced into St. Mary’s territory during the final minute, but defensive end Ryan Harrington stopped the drive with his third sack of the half.

“We were unstoppable,” Harrington said. “They couldn’t run the ball on us and when they were trying to pass, we were getting back all the time. We practiced hard all week and it paid off.”

And, on his sacks?

“I was just thinking, get off the ball and get to the QB. We hadn’t beaten these guys in five or six years and I’m sick of having that feeling of not beating them, so I’m happy to beat them 49-10, which is crazy,” Harrington said.

Thurston was 12-for-15 passing for 131 yards in the first half, but he was also sacked five times, leading to just 18 yards on the ground on 16 carries for De La Salle.

St. Mary’s received the ball to start the second half and continued its dominance, marching more than 90 yards for another score. Gonzales hit Brandon Adams for 35 yards to set up a 45-yard TD pass to Lorenzo Barber on the following play for a 35-3 lead with 10:48 left in the third quarter.

So, just how impressive was St. Mary’s?

Givhan ran for 36 yards to set up Gonzales’ touchdown toss to four-star junior receiver Chad Willis, but the score was wiped out due to a penalty. Givhan took the handoff on the next play and scored on a 33-yard run for a 42-3 lead with 8:22 left, putting the running clock into play against a De La Salle team that won Division 2 state titles in 2021 and 2022 and lost in the state championship game in 2023.

De La Salle moved the ball inside St. Mary’s 40-yard line, but a fumble on the handoff exchange ended the drive as Treighjan Gibson recovered it.

St. Mary’s quickly took advantage of the turnover when Givhan broke loose for a 32-yard run to De La Salle’s 31, setting up Gonzales’ TD pass to Angelo Chapman on the next play for a 49-3 advantage.

Gonzales was 5 of 6 passing for 196 yards and three TDs and ran for two scores through three quarters.

De La Salle didn’t get into the end zone until Damion King’s 3-yard TD reception with 7:45 remaining.

By JESSICA DAMIANO

If the wait for bulbs to bloom in spring seems excruciatingly long, you can pot some up now and enjoy a floriferous winter indoors.

Gardeners are constantly gaming the system, using fertilizers to force plants to direct energy toward more blooms, more fruit or faster growth; starting seeds indoors to ensure earlier tomatoes; and using row covers or cold frames to extend the season. So why not bend nature’s schedule to gift ourselves some joy during the bleakness of January?

That is, after all, what professional growers do to fill all those pastel-foil-wrapped pots of tulips and daffodils sold as Easter plants.

All you need are clay pots, potting mix, ordinary spring bulbs and some patience.

How to do it

Fill pots with the mix, then set grape or standard hyacinth, tulip, daffodil or crocus bulbs — or a combination — just beneath the surface. (Tulip bulbs should be angled with their flat sides facing outward so that their eventual leaves unfurl over the container’s edge.)

Store the pots at about 55 degrees Fahrenheit for four to six weeks to ensure good root establishment, and water regularly to keep the soil slightly moist. An unheated basement or attached garage could serve well, depending on your location.

Then prepare for the deception.

For the bulbs to bloom, you’ll have to convince them that they’ve lived through winter. You can achieve this by placing the pots in the refrigerator (away from fruit, which releases ethylene gas that inhibits sprouting) for 12 weeks.

If you find yourself growing impatient, you can remove them from the fridge after six weeks, but they will take longer to bloom.

And if you’re feeling creative, take one pot out at the six-week mark, then remove another every couple of weeks. You’ll be rewarded with a succession of blooms that will last through winter.

After the chilling period, move the pots into the warmth and light of your living space, where they’ll grow and bloom in as little as two weeks. If you live in a frost-free region, you can even plant the chilled bulbs outdoors.

Aside from water, the plants won’t require anything from you, as bulbs contain all the stored energy and nutrients they need to survive and thrive.

When the danger of frost has passed, you can move your plants into the garden. Tulips may not reappear next year — that’s a gamble with nothing to lose — but you can expect daffodils, crocus and hyacinths to bloom again alongside their bedmates.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

Just after Labor Day, movie studios become more serious-minded about the films they are releasing — with the upcoming awards season in mind.

That means titles, directors and actors will start showing up on theater marquees that studios hope will be repeated on Oscar night.

Not that the popcorn season has popped its last kernel. Plenty of potential blockbusters will be hitting theaters this season along with expected “prestige” films.

This fall season is no exception, with awards contenders getting carted out amongst the crowd-pleasers.

And, of course, plenty of sequels, reboots and remakes will be in the picture. This fall, for example, brings the hard-luck rockers from “Spinal Tap” back to the big screen in a much-anticipated sequel. “Downton Abbey” gets a “Grand Finale.” Bill Condon offers a new take on “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” And Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi star in Guillermo del Toro’s new adaption of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

In short, film fans can look forward to a rich assortment of new and time-honored cinematic stories this fall.

We took a look at a few (44!) of the most promising titles hitting theaters from Sept. 5 to Nov. 14. Note: Release dates are subject to change.

September

“Twinless”: A single-for-a-reason guy (director/screenwriter James Sweeney) enters a support group and gets cozy with a straight twin (Dylan O’Brien, in a dual role). Confused? Not to worry; this hot, cringey jaw-dropper makes sense out of an increasingly outlandish situation. (In theaters Sept. 5.)

“The Conjuring: Last Rites”: The Smurl brood from Pennsylvania hire paranormal-busters Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) to remove a most unwelcome demonic houseguest. Billed as the final in the franchise. (In theaters Sept. 5.)

“Spinal Tap II: The End Continues”: Hollywood’s insatiable appetite for late-blooming nostalgic sequels (“Beetlejuice,” “Happy Gilmore”) continues with director/co-screenwriter Rob Reiner’s ADU to his 1984 mockumentary classic.  It takes place 41 years after with those estranged metalheads and documentarian Marty Di Bergi (Reiner) prepping for one last boisterous concert. Paul McCartney and Elton John crash the party. (In theaters Sept. 12.)

“Paper Bag Plan”: Oakland native Anthony Lucero’s big-hearted follow to his Oakland-set “East Side Sushi” follows a terminally ill father (Lance Kinsey) as he shows disabled son (Cole Massie) the ropes on bagging groceries so he’ll thrive independently. Both performances are phenomenal. (Opens Sept. 12 at the Grand Lake Theater, Oakland; Sept. 19 at Cinelux Almaden Cafe & Lounge, San Jose.)

“The Long Walk”: Some Stephen King diehards consider his 1979 dystopian psychological thriller, written as Richard Bachman, to be his bleakest. That’s saying somethin’. This one is about teen boys in an authoritarian America participating in a brutal and lethal walking contest. (In theaters Sept. 12.)

“Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale”: The 1930s prove a topsy-turvy time for the Crawleys as they weather scandal and money woes, all of which disrupt the lives of the people who work for them. (In theaters Sept. 12.)

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle”: Anime fans are already queuing up for the latest outing that’s based on the insanely popular fantasy manga and series. (In theaters Sept. 12.)

“HIM”: Executive producer Jordan Peele hands the big-league ball over to talented El Cerrito-born filmmaker Justin Tipping (“Kicks”), who directs/co-writes a sports horror story about a gifted young athlete (Tyriq Withers) training at a freaky football camp overseen by a sunsetting game veteran (Marlon Wayans). (In theaters Sept. 19.)

“A Big Bold Beautiful Journey”: Two of today’s most beloved actors — Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell — unite for a romantic fantasy wherein strangers get a chance to revisit their pasts. Kogonada (he of the the criminally underrated “After Yang”) directs. (In theaters Sept. 19.)

“The Lost Bus”: Matthew McConaughey is a school bus driver and America Ferrera is a teacher who team to save schoolchildren during the horrific 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County. Director Paul Greengrass co-wrote the screenplay. (In select theaters Sept. 19; streaming on Apple TV+ Oct. 3.)

“One Battle After Another”: Paul Thomas Anderson attempts the near-impossible again, adapting another wily Thomas Pynchon tome. (He had limited success with “Inherent Vice.”) Leonardo Di Caprio, Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall, and Sean Penn hop aboard for this wild ride wherein a pack of quirky ex-revolutionaries queue up to save one of their daughters. (In theaters Sept. 26.)

“Eleanor the Great”: In Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, June Squibb portrays a longing-for-connection 94-year-old who sparks the attention of a journalism student after she shares a story that’s not her own. (In theaters Sept. 26.)

October

“The Smashing Machine”: Will Hayward native Dwayne Johnson score an acting nom for his portrayal of real-life MMA fighter Mark Kerr? With Benny Safdie helming this bio-pic, it wouldn’t surprise us. (In theaters Oct. 3.)

“Anemone”: One of our acting greats — Daniel Day-Lewis — comes out of retirement for a drama he co-wrote with son, Ronan — who directs. The Oscar winner plays a hermit who reconnects with his brother decades after a traumatic incident. (In limited release Oct. 3; expands Oct. 10.)

“Shelby Oaks”: A horrifying videotape propels a woman on a hellish odyssey to pinpoint her long-missing sister. It’s YouTube sensation Chris Stuckmann’s horror debut. (In theaters Oct. 3.)

“Good Boy”: Some might well shout out “nepo puppy!” upon hearing that the doggie hero in this horror film is played by director Ben Leonberg’s retriever Indy. Don’t. Word is this effective horror ditty set in a haunted country home features star turns from its director, canine star and others in the cast. (In theaters Oct. 3.)

“Bone Lake”: Wicked and kinky games between two couples turn bloody in a cabin in the woods. This erotic horror film has been shocking early audiences. (In theaters Oct. 3.)

“Tron: Ares”:  After the meh “Tron: Legacy” (2010), Disney hopes to rev up the engines of this franchise. Jared Leto is in the driver’s seat in an AI-themed actionfest set in the real world. Original star Jeff Bridges gives it gravitas. (In theaters Oct. 10.)

“Roofman”: In this film based on a true story, a robber (Channing Tatum) camps out for six months in a Toys “R” Us store but finds that double-life challenged when he meets a customer (Kirsten Dunst). Derek Cianfrance

(“Blue Valentine”) directed and co-wrote this comedy-drama. (In theaters Oct. 10.)

“Kiss of the Spider Woman”: Both the Tony-winning musical adaptation and the 1976 novel it was based on, which also begat an award-winning 1985 feature, serve as the inspiration for Bill Condon’s music-infused version with Diego Luna, Tonatiuh and Jennifer Lopez. It’s centered on a relationship between two people in prison. (In theaters Oct. 10.)

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”: Rose Byrne’s gaining buzz for her committed performance as a stressed-to-the-breaking-point mom who leaps from one crisis to another. Conan O’Brien plays her not-so-helpful therapist. (In select theaters Oct. 10.)

“After the Hunt”: The past of college professor Alma Olsson (Julia Roberts) and academic egos collide when a brilliant student (Ayo Edebiri) lobs a sexual abuse accusation the way of Alma’s colleague (Andrew Garfield). Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name,” “Challengers”) directs this conversation-starter, which sparked a vigorous post-screening convo after its Venice Film Fest screening last weekend. (Opens Oct. 10 in Los Angeles and New York; Oct. 17 elsewhere.)

“It Was Just an Accident”: Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s intense drama continues to gobble up awards on the festival circuit, including the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes. The premise is a grabber: A mechanic believes he’s run into the cruel jailhouse captor from his past and takes matters into his own hands. (In select theaters Oct. 15.)

“Ballad of a Small Player”: “Conclave” director Edward Berger jumps from bishops to gamblers for this adaptation of Lawrence Osborne’s much-praised novel set in Macau. Colin Farrell rolls the dice in the lead. (In select theaters Oct. 15; available on Netflix Oct. 29.)

“Good Fortune”: The trailer alone promises huge laughs, as a bungling angel (Keanu Reeves) becomes too involved in the lives of a down-on-his-luck gig worker (Aziz Ansari, who also directs and stars) and an obscenely rich venture capitalist (Seth Rogen). (In theaters Oct. 17.)

“Frankenstein”: Mary Shelley’s Gothic classic comes to life again, this time with Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as The Creature and Mia Goth as Elizabeth and Guillermo del Toro directing. (In select theaters Oct. 17; on Netflix Nov. 7.)

“Black Phone 2”: Villains never stay dead and buried, at least in the horror film world. Case in point: The Grabber (Ethan Hawke) who haunts the living daylights once again out of a now-17-year-old Finn (Mason Thames) and his sister at a snowed-in winter resort. Scott Derrickson returns to direct.

“Hedda”: Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”) gives Ibsen’s classic story and iconic character a modern revival with Tessa Thompson portraying Hedda, who’s confronting harsh societal expectations and demands. (In select theaters Oct. 22; available on Amazon Prime Oct. 29.)

“Regretting You”: Colleen Hoover’s tearjerker of a best seller about a mom (Allison Williams) and daughter (Mckenna Grace) and the fraught relationship between the two that settles in after a tragic accident stars Palo Alto native Dave Franco and Monterey native Scott Eastwood, as well Mason Thames. (In theaters Oct. 24.)

“Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere”: Director/screenwriter Scott Cooper hones in on a pivotal period in the career of The Boss (Jeremy Allen White): the making of his brilliant 1982 acoustic album “Nebraska.” Will the smoldering star of “The Bear” land an Oscar nod like Timothée Chalamet did for playing Dylan? Looks hopeful. (In theaters Oct. 24.)

“Bugonia”: In yet another bizarre head trip from filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, two “worker bees”(Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) become convinced a CEO (Emma Stone) is intent on obliterating our world. So they kidnap her. Will Tracy’s screenplay uses the 2003 Korean comedy “Save the Green Planet!” as its jumping off point. (In New York and Los Angeles Oct. 24; opens wide Oct. 31.)

“Blue Moon”: The often-inebriated lyricist Lorenz Hart (Ethan Hawke) hangs out at a New York bar on the eve of the premiere of his collaboration with Richard Rodgers (Andrew Scott), the musical “Oklahoma!,” and becomes smitten with an enchanting woman (Margaret Qualley). Richard Linklater directs. (In theaters Oct. 24.)

“Nouvelle Vague”: What transpired during the making of Jean Luc-Godard’s French New Wave classic “Breathless”?  Richard Linklater’s black-and-white film imagines it. (In select theaters Oct. 31; on Netflix Nov. 14.)

“A House of Dynamite”: Director Kathryn Bigelow’s thriller with Idris Elba and Rebecca Ferguson focuses on a missile getting aimed at the U.S. and the countdown over what to do next. (Available on Netflix Oct. 24.)

November

“Train Dreams”: The Sundance crowd embraced Clint Bentley’s adaptation of Denis Johnson’s novella about an early 20th century logger and railroad worker portrayed by Joel Edgerton. (In select theatres Nov. 7; on Netflix Nov. 21.)

“Predator: Badlands”: Dan Trachtenberg revitalized the “Predator” franchise in 2022 with the Indigenous-themed “Prey” and he looks to be carrying on that tradition with a futuristic rejiggering in which a Predator that’s been rejected from his clan teams with a female robot (Elle Fanning) and takes on a new nemesis. (In theaters Nov. 7.)

“Sentimental Value”: The Cannes crowd gushed over Joachim Trier’s latest drama, which reteams the director with the iridescent Renate Reinsve (“The Worst Person in the World”). She plays one of two daughters sucked into her father’s filmmaking world. (In theaters Nov. 7.)

“Nuremberg”: Pressure reaches the boiling point for a psychiatrist (Rami Malek) determining whether infamous Nazi leader Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) is mentally sound to stand trial. Director James Vanderbilt adapts author Jack El-Hai’s “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist.” (In theaters Nov. 7.)

“I Wish You All the Best”: When their parents kick them out for revealing they’re nonbinary, Ben (Corey Fogelmanis) moves in with their estranged sister and finds connection and friendship at a new school. Tommy Dorfman steps into the director’s and producer’s chair and adapts author Mason Deaver’s heralded YA novel. (In theaters Nov. 7.)

“The Running Man”: Edgar Wright put his electrifying directorial skills to work with his take on a 1982 Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) novel that was turned into a 1987 movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Glenn Powell enters the danger zone as a contestant participating in a deadly game. Colman Domingo looks to be a scene stealer as the host of “The Running Man” show. (In theaters Nov. 14.)

“Keeper”: Prolific Osgood Perkins (“Longlegs,” “The Monkey”) gives us another multi-layered horror story, this time penned by “Dangerous Animals” screenwriter Nick Lepard. It’s set in a cabin in the woods where a couple (Tatiana Maslany and Rossif Sutherland) gets sucked into a vortex of terror. (In theaters Nov. 14.)

“Now You See Me, Now You Don’t”: A diamond heist brings veteran and newbie illusionists together in the latest installment of a franchise that again boasts a killer cast (Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Rosamund Pike, Morgan Freeman and more. (In theaters Nov. 14.)

“Jay Kelly”: With his longtime manager (Adam Sandler) by his side, an introspective 60-year-old actor (George Clooney) considers his place in the world while attending an Italian film festival honoring him. Noah Baumbach’s dramedy costars Billy Crudup, Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig. (In theaters Nov. 14.)

“Sirat”: The search for a young woman brings a father and son to a rave in Morocco in this twist-filled, genre-defiant feature from Oliver Laxe.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

EAST LANSING — Mark Dantonio may have retired from head coaching five years ago, but he didn’t retire from football. In reality, he’s around it as much as he ever was.

The Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame inducted Dantonio Friday as part of its six-member 2025 class. It enshrined his program-record 114 wins, 12 bowl games, three Big Ten championships and one College Football Playoff appearance over the course of his 13-year career as the Spartans’ coach.

Dantonio’s coaching career may be over, but nowadays he’s watching more football than he even did as a coach as a member of the CFP Selection Committee.

“I really have,” Dantonio said. “I’ve watched more coaching film, and I watched a lot of TV games to sort of get the start of the season, who’s who and things of that nature. … I’ve always watched a lot of football, but probably pushing it a little bit more now.”

That’s his idea of retirement. Of taking it easy. On top of all that work, Friday’s induction marked the third hall of fame the 69-year-old Dantonio has entered in the past year, joining the College Football Hall of Fame (for which he also entered the Spartan Stadium Ring of Honor) and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2024.

The football itch has never been scratched for Dantonio, who started out as an All-Ohio safety at Zanesville High School in the 1970s. He played for South Carolina from 1976-78 before embarking on a 40-year coaching career across nine different schools, including the head coach at Cincinnati from 2004-06 and Michigan State from 2007-19. Dantonio earned Big Ten Coach of the Year twice in that span (2010 and 2013).

To Dantonio, his selection to Michigan State’s hall of fame is an honor beyond himself.

“I got started because I wanted to be around young people and watch young people develop,” Dantonio said, “and I love the X’s and O’s of it, and all the things that go along with it. But it really was about the players, and what can you accomplish with young people.”

How much could Dantonio accomplish? A lot. He brought Michigan State back as a powerhouse of the Big Ten in the 2010s, routinely in bowls and routinely winning against rivals — his 8-5 record against Michigan is the highest win percentage of any coach in program history. With Dantonio coaching football and Tom Izzo coaching men’s basketball, Michigan State established itself as a premier athletic department.

These days Dantonio’s program is the standard by which his Michigan State successors are judged — easy enough when he’s the winningest to ever do it. But in many respects, Michigan State’s program has never quite recovered since Dantonio’s retirement. It was a decision that caught many inside and outside the university by surprise when he announced it in February 2020, right before national signing day. Five seasons since his departure have yielded one winner: Mel Tucker’s 11-2 campaign in 2021 powered by Kenneth Walker III.

Piece by piece, it appears current coach Jonathan Smith (hired in November 2023, after Tucker’s scandal-clad dismissal brought Dantonio back to the sideline one more time as an associate head coach) has gotten the closest to filling that hole. Smith has given Dantonio his props over the course of two years in East Lansing, and Dantonio said he feels Smith has the program “on the right course.”

Dantonio himself didn’t build his own program in a vacuum, taking plenty of inspiration from two other Michigan State hall of fame members: George Perles and Duffy Daugherty.

“I think everybody has their own program, but you always look back in the past and try and, I think, replicate what was good,” Dantonio said. “You know, that’s what I tried to do. I reached back to Coach Perles’ teams, and then also to Duffy’s teams and things like that. And, you know, Michigan State’s got great tradition here. So once you’ve done it once, there’s always the possibility of doing it again.”

College football is a markedly different landscape since Dantonio retired. The transfer portal and name, image and likeness (NIL) legislation changed the fabric of the sport so much that teams can now share revenue directly with athletes. The money side of the sport is more transparent than ever, and with that comes roster churn. That side of the sport is antithetical to Dantonio’s program, known for players sticking with him and his staff.

Dantonio still misses some joys of coaching, even if he’s still ingrained in the sport.

“I don’t miss the butterflies,” he said. “You know, that apprehension a little bit. But I miss the competitiveness of it and the thrill of winning.”

Maybe that’s why he’s never truly retired.

Funny how life works

From 1986-90, Dantonio served as the defensive coordinator for Jim Tressel’s Youngstown State program, helping lay the foundation for what would become a four-time NCAA Division I-AA national champion in the 1990s.

Saturday, that same Youngstown State program comes to East Lansing to play the Spartans (2-0).

“Going full circle a little bit,” Dantonio said. “I think I was 29 years old when I took the job at Youngstown. I was there for five years, and then (Tressel) stayed, I think, another 13 and won some national championships. (My) last year, ‘90, we were undefeated, but lost in the playoffs. But Youngstown had a great program, and still to this day, I think they’re very highly regarded.”

Current Youngstown State head coach Doug Phillips became a grad assistant with Tressel’s team the year after Dantonio left.

Youngstown State has played Michigan State three times in history, with the Spartans winning in 2011, 2013 and 2021, the first two under Dantonio.

By Jamie Ducharme, KFF Health News

After losing 50 pounds on the injectable weight loss medication Zepbound, Kyra Wensley received a surprising letter from her pharmacy benefit manager in April.

Her request for coverage had been denied, the letter said, because she’d had a body mass index of less than 35 when she started Zepbound. The 25-year-old who lives in New York had been taking Zepbound without incident for months, so she was confused: Why was her BMI, which had been around 32 when she started, becoming an issue only now?

Wensley had no interest in quitting an effective drug. “Going right off like that, it’s easier said than done,” she said.

Her doctor fought to keep her on the GLP-1 agonist, the category that includes weight loss and Type 2 diabetes drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. But Wensley ultimately had to switch from Zepbound to Wegovy to meet her plan’s requirements. She said she doesn’t like Wegovy as much as her old medication, but she now feels lucky to be on any GLP-1.

Lots of research suggests such medications must be used indefinitely to maintain weight loss and related health benefits. But with list prices of roughly $1,000 a month, public and private payers are struggling to keep up with ballooning demand for GLP-1 weight loss drugs and in some cases are eliminating or restricting their coverage as a result.

North Carolina Medicaid plans to end GLP-1 coverage for weight loss on Oct. 1, just over a year after starting the coverage. Pennsylvania is planning to limit Medicaid coverage to beneficiaries at the highest risk of complications from obesity. And despite recent reports of a potential federal pilot program to extend coverage of GLP-1 obesity drugs under Medicaid and Medicare, all state Medicaid programs are likely to be under pressure due to steep spending cuts in the budget reconciliation package recently signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Already, many GLP-1 users quit within a year, studies suggest — often due to side effects, high costs, or insurance issues. Now a growing number of researchers, payers, and providers are exploring deliberate “deprescription,” which aims to taper some patients off their medication after they have taken it for a certain amount of time or lost a certain amount of weight.

The U.K.’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which creates guidance for the National Health Service, recommends two-year limits on the use of some weight loss medications, such as Wegovy. And the concept was raised in a recent Institute for Clinical and Economic Review report on affordable access to obesity drugs.

A. Mark Fendrick, who directs the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan, has argued that if some people using GLP-1s to lose weight were eventually transitioned off, more people could take advantage of them.

“If you’re going to spend $1 billion or $100 billion, you could either spend it on fewer people for a long period of time, or you can spend it on a lot more people for a shorter period of time,” he said.

Fendrick’s employer, the University of Michigan, indeed does that. Its prescription drug plan caps coverage of GLP-1 drugs at two years if they’re used solely for weight loss.

Jamie Bennett, a spokesperson for Wegovy and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk, declined to comment on the concept of deprescription, noting that its drugs are intended for chronic conditions. Rachel Sorvig, a spokesperson for Zepbound and Mounjaro manufacturer Eli Lilly, said in a statement that users should “talk to their health care provider about dosage and duration needs.”

Studies have shown that people typically regain a substantial amount of weight within a year of stopping GLP-1 medications, and that many people who quit ultimately go back on the drugs.

“There’s no standard of care or gold standard on how to wean right now,” said Allison Adams, an obesity and internal medicine doctor with UK HealthCare in Kentucky.

But the math shows why time-limited coverage is appealing to payers that struggle to pay for beneficiaries’ GLP-1 prescriptions, said Michelle Gourdine, chief medical officer for the pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark.

And states are “between a rock and a hard place,” said Kody Kinsley, who until January led North Carolina’s Health and Human Services Department. “They’re going to have to look at every single thing and trim dollars everywhere they can.”

Pennsylvania was looking for cost-saving strategies even before the new federal tax-and-spending law, according to Brandon Cwalina, press secretary for the state’s Department of Human Services. Pennsylvania projects it will spend $1.3 billion on GLP-1 drugs this year.

Plans could see real savings, Fendrick said, if they covered GLP-1s for initial weight loss then moved people to cheaper options — such as more affordable drugs or behavioral health programs — to maintain it.

Plenty of companies are eager to sell insurers, employers, and individuals on behavioral alternatives. One is Virta Health, which advertises its nutrition-focused weight management program as “a proven approach for deprescribing GLP-1s when clinically appropriate.” A Virta-funded study assessed 154 people with Type 2 diabetes who stopped using GLP-1 medications but continued following Virta’s program, concluding that their weight did not significantly increase after a year.

Researchers affiliated with a European weight management company also recently reported that slowly tapering off the medications may help maintain weight loss.

For employers and insurers, the “initial question” was whether to cover GLP-1s for obesity, said Virta CEO Sami Inkinen. “Now, basically, everyone’s coming to the middle and asking, ‘How do we responsibly cover these drugs?’”

Part of responsible coverage, Inkinen said, is providing other forms of support to patients who stop using GLP-1 medications, by choice or otherwise.

For some people, however, maintaining weight loss without a GLP-1 remains a challenge, even with other options available.

Lily, who lives in Michigan, lost almost 80 pounds in roughly 18 months on Wegovy. But she had to quit the drug when she turned 26 and left her parents’ insurance plan this year. The plan her employer offers stopped covering GLP-1s for weight loss right around the time she joined.

Lily, who asked to be identified by only her first name because she is not out to her family as transgender, has tried other medications since then, and previously tried lifestyle programs to control her weight. But she said nothing works as well for her as Wegovy.

She has regained 20 pounds since going off the drug at the beginning of the year and worries that number will continue to rise, potentially contributing to future health problems.

“Just give people the drugs,” she said. “It seems cheaper and safer in the long run.”

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Max Reinhart, MediaNews Group

In the wake of a shooting that killed right-wing firebrand Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at a Utah college campus, political figures in Michigan offered condolences while reflecting on the dangers associated with life in the public eye.

Robert Lulgjuraj, a Republican candidate seeking Michigan’s 10th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, said he looked at Kirk as an “inspiration,” given that the two were less than a year apart in age (Lulgjuraj is 32 years old; Kirk was 31) and both are outspoken in their Christian beliefs and willingness to engage in discourse with individuals with opposing political views.

He called Wednesday “an evil day in American history” but said the killing wouldn’t affect his approach on the campaign trail.

“I assure you it’s not going to silence this movement or my campaign,” Lulgjuraj said.

The killing also won’t deter state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, in her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. She called his death “chilling.”

“But we decided on our team that it’s all the more important we bring people together publicly — It’s the only way we get out of this as a country,” she told The Detroit News via text.

The shooting, which happened around noon on the campus of Utah Valley University, brought to mind the February 2023 shooting on the campus of Michigan State University that killed three students, said Josh Cowen, an MSU professor who is running as a Democrat to represent the state’s 7th District in the U.S. House.

“My first thought was, ‘Man, this happened at another campus, another place of learning and debate,” Cowen said. “(Kirk) was famous for going into places and having debates, and he was killed for that. With political violence on the rise in this country, we all need to take a step back and look at what’s going on.”

The deans of Michigan’s congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, issued a rare joint statement Thursday to say they were horrified by Kirk’s shooting and “deeply disturbed” by the rise in political violence taking place across the U.S.

“Silencing voices through violence erodes our foundational principles. Instead, we must do more to protect every American’s freedom to have passionate disagreement, rigorous debate, free expression, and an open exchange of ideas without the threat of harm,” the lawmakers said. “All Americans must do their part to stop the escalation of violence.”

News of the shooting broke while the Michigan House was still in session on Wednesday in Lansing. Voting stopped on the House floor for a time of prayer as House sergeants began closing shutters over the chamber windows as an additional security measure.

State Rep. Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland, led a prayer from the House floor for Kirk and his family.

House Majority Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford, said the decision was made to end the daily session after the prayer out of respect for Kirk as well as safety concerns. He noted it was the first political assassination to occur while lawmakers were in session.

“We decided that’s what would make sense to do in this scenario,” Posthumus said.

State Sen. Jim Runestad, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said he was “devastated” to learn of the fatal shooting.

“For over a decade, Charlie energized the youth of America at college campuses across the country, challenging students to dream big about their future, and inspiring generations of future leaders, legislators, and constitutional conservatives. His wisdom and dedication to upholding our constitutional rights will be dearly missed,” Runestad said in a statement.

Kirk’s killing unfolded less than a half-hour before a separate incident in which a student at Evergreen High School in Colorado opened fire at the school, injuring at least three other students.

End Gun Violence Michigan, a nonprofit that backs gun law reform, said the incidents share a commonality: easy access to firearms.

Progress for People town hall in Warren cancelled

“It is simply far too easy for those who wish to commit heinous violence to access powerful weapons,” Ryan Bates, executive director of the gun control group, said in a statement. “Our leaders need to take action now to address the national crisis of gun violence before another tragedy strikes.”

The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence across the U.S. In June, a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were shot and killed in what authorities have described as a politically motivated attack. Also that month, a man shouting pro-Palestinian slogans firebombed a Colorado gathering held in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Those incidents followed the July 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump at an outdoor campaign rally in rural Pennsylvania. There was also an arsonist’s attack on the residence of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and had defended Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas but who had criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza.

“The wave of political violence gripping our nation is un-American, and unpatriotic,” Runestad said. “No American should fear for their life because of their faith or their political views.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, herself the target of an alleged 2020 kidnapping plot by political extremists, ordered U.S. and state flags lowered to half-staff in accordance with a Trump order.

“I am thinking of Charlie Kirk, his family, and the community at UVU after the horrific shooting that took place earlier today,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Political violence of any form is unacceptable and must be condemned.”

Other Michigan officials remembered Kirk for his unapologetic brand of activism.

On social media Wednesday, Walberg said, “No one has fought for free speech and challenged ideas on campuses like Charlie.” U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, posted “Rest in peace, conservative warrior.”

Senate GOP Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, called the killing “an act of terrorism, plain and simple.”

“People tried to shame Charlie,” Nesbitt said in a statement. “They tried to kick him off campuses so he couldn’t speak. And, finally, they tried to silence him permanently. Unfortunately, they did.”

mreinhart@detroitnews.com

@max_detroitnews

Staff Writers Melissa Nann Burke and Beth LeBlanc contributed.

DETROIT ― The United Football League’s future in Detroit could be tied to a soccer team.

Detroit City Football Club officials have had informal talks with the UFL about the possibility of sharing its new stadium with the pro spring football league, officials with both entities have confirmed to The News.

There has been rampant speculation about the Michigan Panthers relocating to another market as early as 2026, amid obstacles ― namely, the exorbitant game-day cost ― to continue playing at Ford Field, home of the NFL’s Lions. That’s where the Panthers have played the last three years, one in the United States Football League and the last two in the UFL, which merged the USFL and the XFL.

Detroit City FC is building a new 15,000-seat stadium, AlumniFi Field, set to open in southwest Detroit in 2027. The stadium is being privately financed, and will cost at least $150 million, as DCFC prepares to move from Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck.

“We have had informal talks with them,” said Alex Wright, co-owner of DCFC, speaking of the UFL. “We are focused on creating a premier soccer-focused venue, but we have interest in activating the space beyond DCFC matches.”

DCFC, which plays in the USL Championship, hosts less than 30 matches a year, between its men’s and women’s teams, from March through October.

The UFL has eight teams, but hasn’t yet announced which markets it will play in for the 2026 season. There is expected to be some changes from 2025, and Michigan has been reported to be on the chopping block, despite seeing the largest increase in attendance from 2024 to 2025.

The Birmingham Stallions of Alabama also were said to be in danger of being relocated, but new co-owner Mike Repole announced in August that they were safe.

Repole has said on social media that he sees value in the Panthers remaining in Michigan, too, and said he was keeping tabs on the developments with AlumniFi Field, for which DCFC is seeking no public funding for construction, but is seeking tax breaks from the city of Detroit.

This week, Repole said he plans to announce the eight franchises for 2026 no later than Oct. 8.

“Identifying the right markets, with a passionate fan base and with the right venue, is an incredibly important part of our future success,” Repole said on X earlier this week. “We have been doing a really deep dive and responsible due diligence to set this league up for ultimate success, not just for 2026, but for decades to come.”

Panthers head coach Mike Nolan, who led the team to the championship game earlier this year, and GM Steve Kazor have said repeatedly that they have not heard anything definitive about the Detroit franchise. The Panthers laid off most of its front-office and sales staff after the end of the 2025 season in June.

The UFL has committed to adding a franchise in Columbus, Ohio, and Repole said on social media that he’s also exploring expanding the league from eight teams to 10 for the 2028 season. It’s unclear if plans could include a relocation of Michigan until 2028, at which point AlumniFi Field will be built.

Repole, 56, recently joined the UFL ownership group that also includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Fox, RedBird Capital Partners and Dany Garcia. Repole brings a marketing and branding background to a league that has had major problems attracting eyeballs, with attendance and television ratings down substantially in 2025. TV ratings declined 20% in 2025 from 2024, despite games airing on ESPN and Fox platforms.

ALLEN PARK — A few short weeks ago, it was easy to believe that Ben Johnson’s return to Ford Field would be a high-intensity slugfest between teams looking to establish dominance as the division’s top dog.

Instead, both teams are simply hoping to avoid starting 0-2 on the season and in the NFC North. The Lions lost at Green Bay, 27-13, on Sunday, and the Bears blew a second-half lead to fall, 27-24, to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.

That certainly does not lessen the stakes in a matchup between the apprentice, Johnson, and his coaching master, Dan Campbell. If anything, it might amplify them.

“We’re going in, getting ready to play Chicago, we’re going to win this game, we have to,” Campbell said earlier this week. “We’ve got to find a way to clean things up and do what we’ve got to do and they’re going to try to do the same thing. It’s like every week.”

After three successful seasons guiding the Lions’ offense, Johnson took the next step in his career by becoming the coach of the Bears in January. From 2022-24, the Lions were first in points scored and net yards.

There doesn’t appear to be any bad blood about Johnson choosing to further his career in the same division as Detroit. But Lions general manager Brad Holmes did say on an episode of the Green Light Podcast that he wondered, “Why Chicago?” when Johnson initially departed.

Earlier this week, Campbell called Johnson “my friend” and said, “Nothing about that’s going to change.” The two go back even further than their time spent in Detroit (2021-24). Campbell and Johnson overlapped for four seasons (2012-15) in Miami, where Campbell was primarily the tight ends coach and Johnson was an assistant quarterbacks coach. When Campbell became Miami’s interim head coach in 2015, Johnson assumed his duties as the tight end coach.

“We texted back and forth a few weeks ago. We have been in touch. That friendship is always going to be there. I view him like family, and I think he would tell you the same thing. That’ll never change,” Johnson said this week. “We have fond memories of back when I was just a young snot-nosed computer punk, as he likes to call it, in Miami. I feel like we have both grown up in this profession of coaching.”

But while there might not be any bad blood between the two staffs, Johnson’s decision to continue his career in a place where he’d play the Lions twice a year — and stand directly in the way of the Lions achieving their goals — has left a bad taste in the mouth of some fans.

Johnson classified his choice to go to Chicago as “a tough decision.”

“Everything, last year, ran through my head. That was one of the unfortunate parts of making that decision, you were saying goodbye to a lot of friends and a great place. My family, myself, we have a lot of strong relationships there in that community,” Johnson said this week.

“Hopefully, that continues to stay that way, as well. But, we felt like this was the best opportunity for myself and my family, and we were really excited about coming to Chicago. At times, you have to make tough decisions, and that’s really how that one went down.”

From an on-the-field standpoint, Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said it’ll be just like training camp. Sheppard was the team’s linebackers coach when Johnson was engaging in those intense, daily battles against former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, but he knows Johnson well all the same.

Asked what Johnson’s strengths are, Sheppard said, “Everything. Next question.”

“Listen, we all understand and respect Ben Johnson as a person, more importantly, but also as a play caller,” Sheppard said. “It’s why he got afforded the opportunity he’s in and we all understand this.”

Johnson was (and still is) a highly calculated man who pay the utmost attention to the details. Lions linebacker Jack Campbell provided proof of this.

He told reporters on Friday that he’d been asking guys on the offensive side of the ball about Johnson’s offense and what some potential points of emphasis would be.

Asked to elaborate, Campbell said, “I don’t know. I know Ben’s gonna read this, or some Chicago Bears person is gonna read this,” before moving on to the next question.

On the offensive side of the ball, several players spoke about what Johnson did for their careers.

“I love Ben. I’ll never really have anything bad to say about him because of what he did for me as a player, what he did for this team,” receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown said. “I remember, when I first got here as a rookie, he was a tight ends coach. They promoted him, to I think pass game coordinator, my rookie year.

“I feel like ever since he stepped in that role, I got more catches, more opportunities. He believed in me. He trusted me. And just seeing the work ethic that he had, I respect him as a coach, as a man. I love Ben, but there’s two games out of the year where I want him to fail.”

Lions receiver Jameson Williams, who was with Johnson for the first three years of his career, called Johnson “a great guy.”

“He taught me a lot, how to approach the game, how to learn the game, we talked a lot. I talked to him a couple times this offseason, just checking up on my little guy over there, (Bears rookie receiver) Luther Burden III, my little brother. They got (former Lions receiver Maurice Alexander) over there, so I was just calling him and I end up talking to Ben somehow,” Williams said, laughing.

“But I appreciate everything he’s done for me. He’s helped me a lot.”

Ultimately, an intimate knowledge of each other’s tendencies is not likely to enhance either side’s chances of winning the game, Dan Campbell said. He’s not getting caught up in worrying about Johnson’s trick plays, or what he might do to throw the Lions off their game. Both coaches reiterated in some form, “This game is about us.”

“I think we’re on equal playing ground really. I think it’s the same thing. He knows what we’re about, we know what he’s about and because of that you’re going to play that game a little bit,” Campbell said. “But the game doesn’t matter if you don’t master the basics inside the game, and so that’s what we have to get back to.”

That might be true, but the familiarity will certainly make the contest a lot more enjoyable to watch.

The following is a list of in-person and online worship services and events happening at churches and synagogues in the Oakland County area. Visit websites or call for service times and events.

• Abiding Presence Lutheran Church, 1550 Walton Blvd., Rochester Hills, 248-651-6550, abidingpresence.org. Sunday worship services are at 9:30 a.m., also virtual services are available on the website.

• Adat Shalom Synagogue, 29901 Middlebelt Road, Farmington Hills, in-person and online services via Zoom. To view daily Minyan video conferences; email Executive Director Michael Wolf at mwolf@adatshalom.org or visit adatshalom.org, 248-851-5100.

• All Saints’ Episcopal, 171 W. Pike St., Pontiac, allsaintspontiac.org, 248-334-4571, rector@allsaintspontiac.org.

• The Apostolic Church of Christ, 3655 N. Squirrel Road, Auburn Hills, theapostolicchurch.com, 248-373-4500, Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.

• Archdiocese of Detroit, livestream Mass times, aod.org/livemasses.

• Auburn Hills Christian Center, 2592 Walton Blvd., Auburn Hills, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m., Servicio Evangelistico services (in Spanish) at 2-4 p.m. Sundays, 248-373-7139, www.myahcc.org.

• Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Troy, in-person and online services at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, beaconcongregation.org, admin@beaconcongregation.org.

• Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 5631 N. Adams Road, Bloomfield Hills, livestream services at 9 a.m. Sundays, and in person at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. at bslcmi.org, facebook/bslcmi, 248-646-5041.

• Berea Family Tabernacle of Faith, Pontiac, Sunday worship services are at 11 a.m., experienceberea.org, 248-338-4748.

• Berkley First United Methodist Church, 2820 12 Mile Road, Berkley, worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays in person and online at www.berkleyfirst.org.

• Bharatiya Temple, 6850 N Adams Road, Troy, www.bharatiya-temple.org, 248-879-2552.

• Big Beaver United Methodist Church, 3753 John R Road, Troy, worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays, http://bbumchurch.org.

• Birmingham First United Methodist Church, 1589 W Maple Road, Birmingham, www.fumcbirmingham.org, 248-646-1200. Sunday worship services are in person and online at 9:30 a.m., and in-person only services at 11 a.m. (Summer worship services are at 10 a.m. between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day.)

• Birmingham Unitarian Church, 38651 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, in-person and online worship services, 10:30 a.m. Sundays, bucmi.org, 248-647-2380.

• Bridge Community Church, 5700 Rochester Road, Troy, in-person and online worship services, 10 a.m. Sundays, bridgecommunitychurch.com/live, 248-879-9500.

• Bridgewood Church, 6765 Rattalee Lake Road, Clarkston, 248-625-1344, www.bridgewoodchurch.com. Sunday worship services are 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., also online services, and locations in Goodrich.

• Brightmoor Christian Church, 40800 W. 13 Mile Road, Novi, www.brightmoorchurch.org. Sunday worship services at 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.

• Calvary Chapel Oakland County, 1975 E. Long Lake Road, Troy, 248-457-9673, ccoaklandcounty.com. Worship 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 10 a.m. Sundays.

• Calvary Church, 1361 Giddings Road, Pontiac, Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m., https://ccpontiac.org, 248-373-0311.

• Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, 6805 Bluegrass Drive, Clarkston, calvary-lutheran.org. Sunday worship services are Traditional Worship at 7:55 a.m.; Modern Worship at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.; and livestream at 9:30 a.m. Food pantry (drive-up or curbside pickup) is 9-11 a.m. Wednesdays.

• Central Church, 1529 Twelve Mile Road, Madison Heights, www.centralchurch.cc. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.

• Central Oaks Community Church, 2005 Rochester Road, Royal Oak, www.centraloaks.com, 248-547-7755. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.

• Central United Methodist Church, 3882 Highland Road, Waterford Twp., 248-681-0040, WaterfordCUMC.org. In-person worship at 8:45 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sundays and online at 10:30 a.m. at Live.WaterfordCUMC.org. Back to Church Sunday and Block Party is 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 14, at the church, with children’s games and activities, hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream sundae bar, bring chairs, registration appreciated, https://waterfordcumc.org/upcoming-events/welcome-back-sunday-and-block-party, free.

• Central Woodward Christian Church Disciples of Christ, 3955 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 248-644-0512, centralwoodwardchristian.com. Sunday worship services are at 10:30 a.m., in person and online at centralwoodwardchristian.com and Facebook at www.facebook.com/CentralWoodward.

• Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake, 3535 Commerce Road, West Bloomfield Twp., www.sscms.edu, 248-683-0310.

• Christian Tabernacle Church, Southfield, ctabchurch.com, 248-213-4770.

• Christ Church Cranbrook, 470 Church Road, Bloomfield Hills, in-person and online worship services, 10 a.m. Sundays, ccc-info.org.

• Christ Lutheran Church, Waterford Twp., https://christwaterford.org, 248-673-7331. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.

• Christ Lutheran Church and School, 620 General Motors Road, Milford, www.christlutheranmilford.org. Sunday worship services at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

• Christ, Our Light! Catholic Church, 3077 Glouchester, Troy. Mass times are: Saturday at 4 p.m.; Sunday at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.; weekday Masses (followed by Rosary recitation) are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 9 a.m., and Friday at 12:05 p.m., www.coltroy.org, 248-649-5510.

• Christ the Good Shepherd Progressive Catholic Church, 3947 Twelve Mile Road Berkley, church services: Saturday Mass at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday Mass at 10:30 a.m., 248-439-0470, www.cgs-occ.org.

• Christ the Redeemer Parish, 2700 Waldon Road Orion Township, 248-391-1621, www.ctredeemer.org. Weekend Masses are 5 p.m. Saturdays, and 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays.

• Crown of Life Lutheran Church, 2975 Dutton Road  Rochester Hills, www.crownoflifechurch.org, 248-652-7720. Sunday worship services are 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

• Church of the Holy Spirit, 3700 Harvey Lake Road, Highland Twp., www.holyspirithighland.com.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregations in Oakland County include: Bloomfield Hills, Clarkston, Commerce Twp., Farmington Hills, Lake Orion, Pontiac (Spanish), Rochester, Troy and White Lake Twp. The congregations host worship services on Sundays. For worship times and locations, visit churchofjesuschrist.org.

• Church of the Resurrection, 6490 Clarkston Road, Village of Clarkston, https://clarkstonepiscopal.com, 248-625-2325. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.

• Clarkston Community Church, 6300 Clarkston Road, Clarkston, in-person and online services at 9:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, clarkstoncchurch.com, 248-625-1323.

• Clarkston United Methodist Church, 6600 Waldon Road, Clarkston, in-person and online faith services, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, clarkstonumc.org, 248-625-1611.

• Commerce United Methodist Church, 1155 N. Commerce Road, Commerce Twp., commerceumc.org/media.

• Community Bible Church, 1888 Crescent Lake Road, Waterford Twp., https://cbcmi.com, 248-674-4871. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.

• Community Fellowship Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 27800 Southfield Road, Lathrup Village, church services at 11 a.m. Saturdays, http://communityfellowship22.adventistchurchconnect.org, 248-469-8539.

• Community Presbyterian Church, 4301 Monroe Ave., Waterford Twp. In-person worship is 10 a.m., Sundays, cpcwaterford.org, 248-673-7805. Blessing of the Animals free event is Sept. 14. Pets must be on a leash, harness, carrier or cage. If unable to bring the pet, a picture of the pet will be honored. Pets receive a St. Francis medal for their collar and a certificate. Event is rain or shine in the north parking lot of the church.

• Congregation Beth Ahm, 5075 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield Twp., 248-851-6880, cbahm.org.

• Congregational Church of Birmingham, UCC, 1000 Cranbrook Road, Bloomfield Hills. Worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays, ccbucc.org, 248-646-4511.

• Congregation Shaarey Zedek, 27375 Bell Road, Southfield, Jewish religious services including daily morning and evening Minyan services, Shabbat morning services and Youth Shabbat activities, shaareyzedek.org, 248-357-5544. Daily minyan services are hybrid services, meeting both in person in the Lee and Gerson Bernstein Chapel (morning services are followed by breakfast), and on Zoom. Shabbat musical services meet on the first Friday evening of each month, in person  and on Zoom.

• Congregation Shir Tikvah, 3900 Northfield Parkway, Troy, www.shirtikvah.org.

• Cornerstone Baptist Church, Ortonville, in-person worship services, Sundays at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Also online at Facebook at Cornerstone Baptist Church Ortonville, cbcortonville.com, 248 627-4700.

• Cornerstone Church, 4995 N Hickory Ridge Road, Highland, cornerstonehighland.com, 248-887-1600. Worship services at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Also, livestream at 11 a.m. Sundays on YouTube, Facebook, and website.

• Crossroads Free Will Baptist Church, 4804 White Lake Road, White Lake Twp., https://crossroadswl.org, Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. The church has a Blessing Box that is stocked with non-perishable food items, books and other household items for those in need. Donations welcome.

• Destiny Faith Church, 501 University Drive, Pontiac, Destinyfaith.org, 248-322-2200. Worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Wednesdays, in person and online.

• Divine Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 3000 S. Lapeer Road, Orion Twp., divinegrace.net, Sunday worship services at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

• Door of Faith Christian Church, Pontiac, online services, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, mydooroffaith.org.

• Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 23425 Lahser Road, Southfield, 248-357-1848, emmanuellutheransouthfield.org.

• Empowerment Church of Southfield, worship services are 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sundays at new worship center location, Shriner’s Silver Garden Events Center, 24350 Southfield Road, Southfield, 248-569-2299, empowerment.mi.org. Also virtual worship services, 10:30 a.m. Sundays at empowermentmi.org/stream and on Facebook Live.

• Encounter Church, 600 North Campbell Road, Royal Oak, in-person and online services, 11 a.m. Sundays; also services at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, www.encounter360.org.

• Faith Church, 160 W Hamlin Road, Rochester Hills, Sunday services at 10:30 a.m., www.faithrh.com, 248-651-3535. Faith Church is adding a second service at 9 a.m., starting Sunday Sept. 7.

• Faith Covenant Church, 35415 W. 14 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, worship services at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., Sundays, 248-661-9191, www.4fcc.org.

• First Baptist Church, 2601 John R Road, Troy, worship services at 10 a.m., Sundays, fbctroy.org.

• First Baptist Church, 255 E. Scripps Road, Lake Orion, worship services at 10:30 a.m., Sundays, fbclo.org, 248-693-6203, info@fbclo.org.

• First Congregational Church, 5449 Clarkston Road, Clarkston, (just east of Sashabaw Road), 248-394-0200, www.fcclarkston.com, worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays.

• First Congregational Church of Rochester UCC, 1315 N. Pine, Rochester, worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays, fccrochester.org, 248-651-6225.

• First Congregational Church of Royal Oak, 1314 Northwood Blvd., Royal Oak. Worship services at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, www.fccro.org.

• First General Baptist of Waterford, 2933 Frembes Road, Waterford, wgbchurch.com, 248-673-6481, Sunday school at 10 a.m., worship services at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

• First Missionary Church, 4832 Clintonville Road, Independence Twp., www.fmcclarkston.org, 248-674-3186. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.

• First Presbyterian Church Birmingham, 1669 W. Maple, Birmingham, worship services are Sundays, 8:30 a.m. in person, and 10 a.m. in person and livestream, fpcbirmingham.org, 248-644-2040.

• First Presbyterian Church of Pontiac, 99 Wayne Street, Pontiac, fpcpontiac.info.

• First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak, 529 Hendrie Blvd., 248-541-0108. Sunday worship services are at 10:30 a.m., online services available anytime at fpcro.org, 248-541-0108.

• First United Methodist Church of Troy, 6363 Livernois, Troy. Church services are 10 a.m. Sundays in person and livestream on YouTube and Facebook, www.FUMCTROY.org, 248-879-6363.

• Five Points Community Church, 3411 E Walton Blvd, Auburn Hills. Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m., https://5pointscc.org, 248-373-1381.

• Four Towns United Methodist, 6451 Cooley Lake Road, Waterford Twp. Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m., www.fourtowns.org, 248-766-8868. Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m.

• Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 1950 S. Baldwin Road, Lake Orion. Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m., 248-391-1170, goodshepherdlakeorion.net.

• Grace Gospel Fellowship, 65 East Huron Street, Pontiac; in-person and livestream services are 11 a.m. Sundays and 7 p.m. Wednesdays. Livestream services are at www.facebook.com/GraceGospelFellowshipPontiac, 248-334-2187.

• Greenfield Presbyterian Church, 2312 Greenfield Road, Berkley, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m. only, youtube.com/user/GreenfieldChurch, greenfieldchurch.com, 248-544-1800. (After Labor Day, in-person and online worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays.)

• Grace Church, 220 Bogie Lake Road, White Lake Twp. Sunday services are 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., Gracechurchinfo.net, 248-887-3700.

• Harvestland Church, 5848 Clintonville Road, Independence Twp., https://harvestland.church, 248-391-2063. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.

• Hazel Park First United Methodist Church, 313 E. Nine Mile Road, Hazel Park, 248-546-5955, hpfirst.org. Sunday worship services at 11:15 a.m.

• Heart of the Hills Christian Church, 5085 Orion Road, Rochester, https://heartofthehills.com, 248-841-1679. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.

• Hillside Bible Church, 73 N Church St, Ortonville, 248-627-2513, hillsidebible.org, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.

• Hilltop Church of the Nazarene, 21260 Haggerty Road, Northville, hilltopnaz.org, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.

• Holly Calvary Church, 15010 N Holly Road, Holly, hollycalvary.org, Sunday worship services at 10 a.m. in person and online, Wednesday worship is at 6:30 p.m.

• Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, 4800 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp. In-person worship services at 10 a.m. Sundays, livestream on YouTube youtube.com/@spiritdrivenchurch, 248-682-5441, spiritdrivenchurch.com.

• Hope United Methodist Church, 26275 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield, 248-356-1020, hopeumc.org.

• Immanuel Congregational Church of Christ, Oxford, 248-628-1610, icucc.org, in-person worship services at 11 a.m. Sundays, and online at facebook.com/oxfordimmanuelucc.

• International Christian Church, 1630 Joslyn Ave, Pontiac, worship services at 11:30 a.m. Sundays, 248-494-8757, globalicc.org, facebook.com/icchurch/live.

• Islamic Association of Greater Detroit, 879 West Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, www.childrenofabrahamday.org.

• Jewel Heart Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, 27745 Woodward Ave., Berkley, www.jewelheart.org.

• Journey Lutheran Church, (joined with Holy Cross Church) 136 S. Washington St., Oxford, in-person and online worship services, 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, education hour is at 10 a.m., journeylutheran.church, 248-628-2011.

• Kensington Church with locations in Birmingham, Clarkston, Clinton Twp., Orion Twp. and Troy, in-person Sunday worship times, and online services offered streaming on YouTube, Facebook, and website, kensingtonchurch.org.

• King of Kings Lutheran Church, 1715 S. Lapeer Road, Lake Orion, www.kingofkingslakeorion.org. Sunday worship services are at 9:30 a.m. Sundays, online streaming at www.facebook.com/kingofkingslakeorion.

• Kirk in the Hills, 1340 W. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills. Sunday worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., kirkinthehills.org, 248 626 2515.

• Lakecrest Baptist Church, 35 Airport Rd, Waterford Twp., www.lakecrestbaptist.com, 248-681-3214. Sunday worship services are at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Spanish service at 1 p.m.

• Lake Orion Church of Christ, 1080 Hemingway Road, Lake Orion, www.lococ.org, 248-693-7242. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.

• Lake Orion Methodist Church, Lake Orion, www.lakeorionumc.org. Sunday worship services at 10 a.m., in person and online.

• LakePoint Community Church, 1550 W. Drahner Road, Oxford, https://lakepointcc.org, 248-628-0038.

• The Lakes Church, 1450 S Hospital Road, Waterford Twp., www.thelakes.cc, 248-254-7833, Sunday worship services are 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. The 9:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. services are livestreamed.

• Liberty General Baptist Church, 3545 Joslyn Rd, Auburn Hills, https://libertygeneralbaptistchurch.org, 248-431-3498. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.

• Lifepoint Church, 5601 Scott Lake Road, Waterford Twp., lifepointchristian.com.

• Life Renewal Church, 28312 Grand River, Farmington Hills, https://liferenewalchurch.org, worship is 11 a.m. Sundays.

• Madison Heights Church of the Nazarene, 555 E 13 Mile Road, Madison Heights, mhnaz.org, 248-585-5551.

• Maranatha Baptist Church, 5790 Flemings Lake Road, Clarkston, Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m., www.mbcclarkston.org.

• Marimont Community Church, 424 W Walton Blvd., Pontiac, Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., https://marimontcommunitychurch.com.

• Masjid Mahmood, Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Center, 1730 W. Auburn Road, Rochester Hills, ahmadiyyamosque.blogspot.com.

• Metro Detroit Christian Church, 33360 W. 13 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, https://metrodetroit.org, 248-562-7998. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.

• Mother of God Chaldean Catholic Church, 25585 Berg Road, Southfield, https://mogccc.com, 248-356-0565.

• Motor City Church, 3668 Livernois Road, Troy, www.motorcitychurch.org, 248-524-2400. Sunday worship services are at 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

• Mt. Zion Church, 4900 Maybee Road, Clarkston, mtzion.org. Sunday worship services at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

• Muslim Unity Center of Bloomfield Hills, 1830 W. Square Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, Muslimunitycenter.org.

• Nardin Park United Methodist Church, 29887 W Eleven Mile Road, Farmington Hills, 248-476-8860, nardinpark.org, www.facebook.com/NPUMC.

• Nativity Episcopal Church, 21220 W. 14 Mile Road, Bloomfield Twp., nativityepiscopalchurch.org, 248-646-4100.

• New Heights Baptist Church, Grand Blanc, 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays, newheightsbc.com. For information, email pastornewheights@gmail.com or call 810-866-4563.

• New Hope Christian Fellowship, 6020 Pontiac Lake Road, Waterford Twp., https://newhopemi.org, 248-886-1500, Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.

• New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, 23455 W Nine Mile Road, Southfield,  www.newhope-mbc.org, 248-353-0675. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m., in person and livestream.

• New Hudson United Methodist Church, 56730 Grand River Ave., New Hudson, newhudsonumc.org. Worship services, 10:30 a.m. Sundays.

• Northminster Presbyterian Church, 3633 W. Big Beaver Road, Troy, 248-644-5920. Worship service at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, in person and livestream, www.facebook.com/TroyNorthminster.

• Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 23925 Northwestern Hwy, Southfield, www.northwestuu.org, 248-281-4902. Worship service at 10:30 a.m. Sundays in person and virtual.

• North Congregational Church, 36520 W. 12 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, northcongregationalchurch.org.

• North Hills Christian Reformed Church, 3150 North Adams Road, Troy, worship services, 9:30 a.m. Sundays, 248-645-1990, northhillscrc.org.

• North Oaks Church, 9600 Ortonville Road, City of the Village of Clarkston, worship services are 10:30 a.m., Sundays, northoakschurch.org, office@northoakschurch.org, 248-922-3515.

• Oakland Church, 5100 North Adams Road, Rochester, worship services, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, www.oaklandchurch.me.

• Oakland Church of Christ, 23333 West 10 Mile Road Southfield, in-person and online worship services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, TheOaklandChurchofchrist.org, 248-355-9225.

• Oakland Hills Community Church, Farmington Hills, ohcc.net, 313-686-4578.

• Oakland Woods Baptist Church 5628 Maybee Rd, Village of Clarkston, www.facebook.com/OWBCClarkston, 248-625-7557. Sunday worship services are at 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

• Oak Pointe Church,1250 South Hill, Milford, in-person or online worship services are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, opcmilford.org.

• Oak Pointe Church, 50200 W. 10 Mile Road, Novi, in-person or online worship services are 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. oakpointe.org, 248-912-0043.

• Oak Pointe Church, 6343 Farmington Road, West Bloomfield, in-person or online worship services are 10:15 a.m. Sundays, oakpointe.org/westbloomfield.

• Oakwood Community Church, 5791 Oakwood Rd, Ortonville, www.oakwoodcc.org, 248-628-6388.

• Orchard Grove Community Church, 850 Ladd Rd; Bldg. C, Walled Lake, Sunday worship services are at 10:10 a.m., www.orchardgrove.org.

• Orchard Lake Community Church, Presbyterian, 5171 Commerce Road, Orchard Lake, worship services are at 9 a.m., and 10:30 a.m. Sundays, olccp.com, 248-682-0730.

• Orchard United Methodist Church, 30450 Farmington Road, Farmington Hills, summer worship services are at 10 a.m., Sundays, June 15 to Sept. 7, (returning to two services, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., starting Sept. 14). Livestream at youtube.com/c/OrchardUMC and facebook.com/OrchardUMC/live_videos, 248-626-3620, orchardumc.org.

• Our Lady of La Salette, 2600 Harvard Road, Berkley, 248-541-3762, par8551@gmail.com, lasalette-church.org, Mass is at 4:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Sundays.

• Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in-person Mass, Saturday at 5 p.m., Sunday at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., weekdays at 8:15 a.m., 5481 Dixie Hwy., Waterford Twp. Livestream Mass at 5 p.m. Saturdays and 9:30 a.m. Sunday, ollonline.org/live.

• Our Lady of Refuge Church, 3700 Commerce Road, Orchard Lake, olorcc.org, 248-682-4099, Mass is 5 p.m. Saturdays and  8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. Sundays.

• Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 23815 Power Road, Farmington, church.olsorrows.com.

• Our Mother of Perpetual Help, 13500 Oak Park Blvd, Oak Park, www.omoph.org. Saturday mass is at 4:30 p.m. and Sunday mass is at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

• Oxbow Lake Baptist Church, 10730 Elizabeth Lake Rd, White Lake Charter Township, www.oxbowbc.com, 248-698-3034. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

• Oxford United Methodist Church, 21 E. Burdick St. Oxford, 248 628-1289, oxfordunitedmc.org. People Feeding People (PFP) free breakfast is 9:30-10:30 a.m. Saturdays. In-person worship services and online at youtube.com/channel/UCN2R96oWdXzxDqwdz8YBlrQ.

• Paint Creek United Methodist Church, 4420 Collins Road, Rochester, www.paintcreekumc.org, 248-373-2360, Sunday worship services are at 11 a.m.

• Renaissance Vineyard Church, 1841 Pinecrest Drive, Ferndale, https://renvc.com, 248-545-4664. Sunday worship services at 10:33 a.m.

• The River Church of Auburn Hills, 315 S. Squirrel Road, Auburn Hills, http://riverchurch.faith, 248-853-1524. Worship services are 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Sundays.

• The River Church, Holly, Lake Orion, Waterford and more locations, livestream and videos of sermons, theriverchurch.cc, 248-328-0490.

• River North Church, 67 N Lynn Ave, Waterford Twp., Sunday School is 10 a.m. Sundays, worship services at 11:15 a.m. Sundays and 7:15 p.m. Wednesdays. Also view sermons online at www.youtube.com/@rivernorthchurch2023, nondenominational family church, 248-724-6559, www.facebook.com/Rivernorthchurch.

• River Of Life Christian Church, 5482 Winell St., Independence Twp., 248-599-3074.

• Rochester Christian Church, 4435 Rochester Rd, Rochester Hills, https://rcc4me.com, 248-652-3353, Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.

• Rochester Church of Christ, 250 W. Avon Road, Rochester Hills, www.rochestercoc.org, 248-651-1933, Sunday worship services at 10 a.m.

• Royal Oak First United Methodist Church, 320 W. 7th Street, Royal Oak, www.rofum.org, 248-541-4100. Worship services are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays, in person and online, www.rofum.org/live.

• Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 3400 S. Adams Road, Auburn Hills. Mass times are at 4 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday. Weekday Mass services are 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, www.esacredheart.org, 248-852-4170.

• St. Anastasia Roman Catholic Church, 4571 John R Road, Troy, www.stanastasia.org, 248-689-8380.

• St. Anne Catholic Church of Ortonville, 825 South Ortonville Road, Ortonville. Mass times are Sunday at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.; Saturday at 5 p.m.; Monday at 7 p.m. and Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 a.m., 248-627-3965, churchofstanne.org.

• St. Augustine Lutheran Troy (SALT) Church, 5475 Livernois in Troy, www.saltchurch.net, communications@saltchurch.net, 248-879-6400.

• St. Benedict Catholic Church, 60 South Lynn Street, Waterford Twp., 248-681-1534. Sunday Mass times are 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., streaming at stbencc.org/live-stream.

• St. David’s Episcopal Church, 16200 W. Twelve Mile Road, Southfield, www.stdavidssf.org. Sunday worship services are at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. both in person and via zoom. Food pantry is 9 a.m.-noon Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

• St. George’s Episcopal Church, 801 E Commerce, Milford, 248-684-0495. Sunday worship services 8:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., in person and online, www.stgeorgesmilford.org.

• St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 43816 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, 248-335-8869, www.stgeorgebloomfield.org.

• St. George Orthodox Church, 2160 E Maple Road, Troy, 248-589-0480, www.stgeorgeoftroy.org, www.facebook.com/stgeorgeoftroymi.

• St. James Church, 46325 Ten Mile Road, Novi, Mass times are 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Sundays, and 4 p.m. Saturdays. Livestream services, 4 p.m. Saturdays, 248-347-7778, stjamesnovi.org.

• St. John Lutheran Church & School, 1011 University Drive, Rochester. Traditional praise worship services are Sundays at  8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Modern praise services are Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 10:45 p.m. The 8 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Sunday worship services are livestreamed and posted on the website at stjohnrochester.org.

• St. John Lutheran Church, 23225 Gill Road, Farmington Hills, www.stjohn-elca.org. A special Back-to-School Blessing Service will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 7. The blessing will be extended to students, parents, teachers, school staff, caregivers and all who support learning and growth. A reception with light refreshments will follow the service, www.facebook.com/StJohnFarmingtonHills#, www.youtube.com/channel/UCkAHpwRvbGyH9hZ8i5rH-fg.

• St. John’s Episcopal Church Royal Oak, 26998 Woodward Ave. Royal Oak. Services are 8 a.m. Sundays, in person and 10:15 a.m. Sundays, in-person and online worship, stjohnsroyaloak.org, 248-546-1255.

• St. Joseph Catholic Church, Lake Orion, view Mass services on the church’s Youtube channel, youtube.com/user/stjosephmassarchive, or at Facebook page, facebook.com/StJoeLo, stjoelo.org, 248-693-0440.

• St. Joseph Chapel and Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 400 South Blvd. West, Pontiac, https://terrasanctaministries.net.

• St. Mark and St. Mary & St. Philopater Coptic Orthodox Church, 3603 Livernois Road, Troy, www.stmarkmi.org. Divine liturgy services are at 7 a.m. (Arabic) and 8:15 a.m. (English), Sundays.

• St. Mary Catholic Church, 730 S Lafayette Ave., Royal Oak, www.stmaryroyaloak.com, 248-547-1818. Mass at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday.

• St. Mary of the Hills Roman Catholic Church, 2675 John R. Road, Rochester Hills. In-person Mass is 9 a.m. or 11 a.m. Sunday, 248-853-5390, smoth.org. Live online Mass is 4 p.m. Saturday, on Facebook and YouTube.

• St. Mary’s In-the-Hills Episcopal Church, 2512 Joslyn Court, Lake Orion, 248-391-0663, www.stmarysinthehills.org. Sunday Services are at 8:30 a.m.-Simple service of Holy Eucharist and at 10 a.m.-Service of Holy Eucharist with choir and Children’s Church School-Service, livestream on YouTube or Facebook or www.stmarysinthehills.org. Adult Bible Study is held Tuesdays at 10 a.m.

• St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 2040 S. Commerce Road, Walled Lake, 248-624-7676, st-matthew.org. Blended Worship services are 8:45 a.m. Sundays (also livestream on YouTube); Prayer & Praise Worship services are 11 a.m. Sundays; Monday Blended Worship services are 7 p.m.

• St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 48380 Pontiac Trail, Wixom, 248-624-9525, st-matthew.org. Sunday worship services are 10 a.m.

• St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, Divine Liturgy at 9:30 a.m. Sundays, 760 W Wattles Road, Troy, 248-362-9575, stnicholastroy.org.

• St. Owen Catholic Church, 6869 Franklin Road  Bloomfield Hills, stowen.org.

• St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 1413 E. Thirteen Mile Road, Madison Heights, 248-585-9591, in-person Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m., or online at stpatsmh.org.

• St. Paul Community Lutheran Church, 1133 Joslyn Ave., Pontiac, www.stpaulpontiac.com. 248-758-9019. Sunday worship services at 11 a.m.

• St. Paul Lutheran Church, 202 E. Fifth St, Royal Oak, worship services are 8:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sundays. Livestream also at 8:15 a.m. service, stpaulroyaloak.org, 248-930-3100.

• St. Paul United Methodist Church, 165 E. Square Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, 248-338-8233, services are at 9:45 a.m. Sundays, SPUMC.net, facebook.com/spumcbloomfieldhills, 248-216-1657.

• St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 620 Romeo Street, Rochester. Open door worship services are at 9:30 a.m. Sundays and sanctuary worship services are at 11 a.m., Sundays, livestream available, facebook.com/stpaulsrochester, stpaulsrochester.org.

• St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 100 Romeo Road, Rochester, stpfeeds.org.

• St. Rita Catholic Church, 309 E Maple, Holly, 248-634-4841, stritaholly.org. Weekend services are 4 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday.

• St. Stephens Episcopal Church, 5500 N Adams Road, Troy, www.ststephenstroy.org, 248-641-8080, In-person Sunday worship services are at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Online service at 10 a.m.

• St. Stephens Missionary Baptist Church, 69 S. Astor St., Pontiac, 248-335-5873, www.saintstephenmbc.com. Sunday worship services are at 11 a.m.

• St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church, 6900 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield Twp., www.stccc.org.

• St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m. Sundays,  29150 W. 10 Mile Road, Farmington Hills, 248-471-1059, stthomasalbanianorthodoxchurch.org.

• St. William Parish, 531 Common St., Walled Lake, stwilliam.com, 248-624-1421.

• Sanctuary Church, 300 Willits St., Birmingham, in-person and online services, 10:30 a.m. Sundays, 248-644-0550, sanctuary-church.com.

• Sashabaw Presbyterian Church, Clarkston, worship services via Zoom, services at 11 a.m. on 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of the month, and at 6 p.m. on 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. Email sashabawpresbyterianchurch@gmail.com for a link to services, sashabawpresbyterianchurch.org, 248-310-0792.

• Scott Lake Baptist Church, 811 Scott Lake Road, Waterford Twp., Sunday worship services at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., also livestream, https://hisscottlake.org.

• Seymour Lake United Methodist Church, 3050 S. Sashabaw Road, Oxford, in-person or online services at 10 a.m. Sundays, 248-572-4200, email- office@seymourlakeumc.org, seymourlakeumc.org.

• Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church, 2905 S. Commerce Road, Walled Lake, worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays, and Wednesdays at 7 p.m. during Lent and Advent, www.shepherdlakes.org, 248-624-4238.

• Shrine Catholic Church, 12 Mile and Woodward, 248-541-4122, https://shrinechurch.com.

• Silver Lake Church Of The Nazarene, 20 W Walton Blvd., Pontiac, https://slcpontiac.org, 248-977-4698.

• Spirit of Grace Church, 2399 Figa Ave., West Bloomfield Twp., 248-682-0270, Sunday worship at 10 a.m., spiritofgrace.church, facebook.com/spiritograce/videos. The church has a diabetic food pantry for those in need with dietary restrictions. The church seeks donations of non-perishable food items for diabetics including: proteins, nuts, grains and beans, sugar-free foods, low carb and high fiber foods as well as shopping bags and unused boxes. Drive-up diabetic food pantry hours are 10 a.m.-noon, 3rd Saturdays of the month.

• Spiritual Life Center, Troy, www.slctroy.com, 248-925-6214. A Message of Hope is 10 a.m. Sundays at www.youtube.com/c/SLCTroy.

• Temple Beth El Synagogue, 7400 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, www.tbeonline.org. In person services are Friday at 7 p.m. Online services are Saturdays at 10 a.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on Zoom, www.tbelive.org and facebook.com/tbeonline/live, 248-851-1100.

• Temple Israel, West Bloomfield Twp., streaming video at temple-israel.org.

• Temple Kol Ami, 5085 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp., tkolami.org, 248-661-0040.

• Temple Shir Shalom, 3999 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp., www.shirshalom.org, 248-737-8700.

• Thrive Church, a Global Methodist Church, 680 W. Livingston Road, Highland Twp., www.thrive-church.us, 248-887-1311.

• Trinity United Methodist Church, 6440 Maceday Drive, Waterford Twp., Services, 11 a.m. Sundays, waterfordtrinityumc.org, 248-623-6860.

• Troy Church of the Nazarene, 6840 Crooks Road, Troy, troynaz.org, 248-802-7650. Worship Services and Bible Study, 11 a.m. Sundays and 6 p.m. Wednesdays.

• Unity of Farmington Hills worship service in person and online at 10 a.m. Sundays, youtube.com/channel/UCi90mgzXUDpw0k21_3JXlTg, Unityfh.com.

• Unity of Lake Orion, 3070 S. Baldwin Road, Orion Twp., unitylakeorion.org, 248-391-9211. Sunday worship services are 10 a.m. Sundays, in person and livestream on Facebook.

• Unity of Royal Oak, 2500 Crooks Road, Royal Oak, unityofroyaloak.org, 248-288-3550. In-person Sunday worship services at 10 a.m., livestream on YouTube and Facebook.

• Universalist Unitarian Church of Farmington, 25301 Halsted Road, Farmington Hills, uufarmington.org. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, in person and livestream.

• University Presbyterian Church, 1385 S. Adams, Rochester Hills, universitypres.org, 248-375-0400.

• The Village Church of Ortonville, 93 N Church St. Ortonville, www.facebook.com/oumvillagechurch, 248 627-3125.

• Walled Lake United Methodist Church, 313 E Northport St., Walled Lake. Sunday worship services at 9:30 a.m. in person, or at Facebook Live, facebook.com/walledlakeumc and YouTube, youtube.com/channel/UCjOTQmG5DAGUdd_ghKdp2FQ, walledlakeumc.org, 248-624-2405.

• Warren’s Amazing Grace Lutheran Church, 29860 Dequindre, Warren. Sunday worship services are at 10 a.m. in person and livestream at www.aglc-warren.org, 586-751-7750.

• Waterford Seventh-day Adventist Church, 5725 Pontiac Lake Road, Waterford Twp., www.waterfordadventist.org, 248-681-3334. Worship services in person and livestream, 11 a.m. Saturdays.

• Waypoint Church, 8400 Dixie Hwy., Clarkston, waypoint.org, 248-623-1224. Sunday worship services at 10:30 a.m.

• Welcome Missionary Baptist Church, 143 Oneida St, Pontiac, www.welcomemissionarybaptistchurch.com, 248-335-8740. Sunday worship services are at 8:30 a.m. in person and livestream on Facebook at www.facebook.com/welcomemissionary.church.

• Wellspring Bible Church, 485 Farnsworth, White Lake Twp., worship services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, wellspringbiblechurch.org, 248-682-0319.

• West Bloomfield United Methodist Church, 4100 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Twp., worship services are at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, westbloomfieldumc.org, 248-851-2330.

• White Lake Presbyterian Church, 4805 Highland Road, White Lake Twp., 248-887-4654, www.whitelakepc.org.

• Williams Lake Church, 2840 Airport Road, Waterford Twp., www.facebook.com/williamslakechurch, 248-673-5911, www.williamslakechurch.com.

• Woodside Bible Church, with 14 locations in Southeast Michigan, in-person service times vary by location, online services at 8:15 a.m.10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Sundays, live.woodsidebible.org, 248-879-8533.

• Zion Lutheran Church, 143 Albany St., Ferndale, in-person and online worship services at 10:30 a.m. Sundays, www.zionlutheranmi.org.

To add a church to this list, send an email to Kathy Blake at kblake@medianewsgroup.com.

— MediaNews Group

Today is Saturday, Sept. 13, the 256th day of 2025. There are 109 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 13, 1993, at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy.

Also on this date:

In 1788, the Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election and declared New York City the temporary national capital.

In 1948, Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was elected to the U.S. Senate; she became the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

In 1971, a four-day inmate rebellion at the Attica Correctional Facility in western New York ended as police and guards stormed the prison; the ordeal and final assault claimed the lives of 32 inmates and 11 hostages.

In 1997, a funeral was held in Kolkata, India, for Nobel peace laureate Mother Teresa.

In 2008, crews rescued people from their homes in an all-out search for thousands of Texans who had stayed behind overnight to face Hurricane Ike.

In 2010, Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic to win his first U.S. Open title and complete a career Grand Slam.

In 2021, school resumed for New York City public school students in the nation’s largest experiment of in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Barbara Bain is 94.
• Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias is 85.
• Rock singer David Clayton-Thomas (Blood, Sweat & Tears) is 84.
• Actor Jacqueline Bisset is 81.
• Singer Peter Cetera is 81.
• Actor Jean Smart is 74.
• Record producer Don Was is 73.
• Chef Alain Ducasse is 69.
• Rock singer-musician Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) is 64.
• Olympic gold medal sprinter Michael Johnson is 58.
• Filmmaker Tyler Perry is 56.
• Fashion designer Stella McCartney is 54.
• Former tennis player Goran Ivanisevic (ee-van-EE’-seh-vihch) is 54.
• Country musician Joe Don Rooney (Rascal Flatts) is 50.
• Singer-songwriter Fiona Apple is 48.
• Actor Ben Savage is 45.
• Soccer player Thomas Müller is 36.
• Rock singer Niall Horan (One Direction) is 32.
• Actor Lili Reinhart (TV: “Riverdale”) is 29.

By GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press

The governors of Arizona and Maine on Friday joined the growing list of Democratic officials who have signed orders intended to ensure most residents can receive COVID-19 vaccines at pharmacies without individual prescriptions.

Unlike past years, access to COVID-19 vaccines has become complicated in 2025, largely because federal guidance does not recommend them for nearly everyone this year as it had in the past.

Here’s a look at where things stand.

Pharmacy chain says the shots are available in most states without individual prescriptions

CVS Health, the biggest pharmacy chain in the U.S., says its stores are offering the shots without an individual prescription in 41 states as of midday Friday.

But the remaining states — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and West Virginia, plus the District of Columbia — require individual prescriptions under the company’s interpretation of state policies.

Arizona and Maine are likely to come off that list as the new orders take effect there.

“I will not stand idly by while the Trump Administration makes it harder for Maine people to get a vaccine that protects their health and could very well save their life,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills said in the statement. “Through this standing order, we are stepping up to knock down the barriers the Trump Administration is putting in the way of the health and welfare of Maine people.”

Democratic governors have been taking action

At least 14 states — 12 with Democratic governors, plus Virginia, where Republican Glenn Youngkin is governor — have announced policies this month to ease access.

In some of the states that have expanded access — including Delaware and New Jersey this week — at least some pharmacies were already providing the shots broadly.

But in Arizona and Maine, Friday’s orders are expected to change the policy.

While most Republican-controlled states have not changed vaccine policy this month, the inoculations are still available there under existing policies.

In addition to the round of orders from governors, boards of pharmacy and other officials, four states — California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington — have announced an alliance to make their own vaccine recommendations. Of those, only Oregon doesn’t currently allow the shots in pharmacies without individual prescriptions.

Vaccines have become politically contentious

In past years, the federal government has recommended the vaccines to all Americans above the age of 6 months.

This year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved them for people age 65 and over but said they should be used only for children and younger adults who have a risk factor such as asthma or obesity.

That change came as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy fired the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June, accusing of them of being too closely aligned with the companies that make the vaccines. The replacements include vaccine skeptics.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, framed her order Friday as “protecting the health care freedom” of people in the state.

One state has taken another stance on vaccines

Florida’s surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, announced this month that the state could become the first to eliminate requirements that children have a list of vaccinations.

Since then, though, the state health department said that the change likely wouldn’t take effect until December and that without legislative action, only some vaccines — including for chickenpox — would become optional. The measles and polio shots would remain mandatory.

Associated Press writer Patrick Whittle in Maine contributed to this report.

By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Republicans handed President Donald Trump a political victory Friday, giving final legislative approval to a redistricting plan that could help Republicans win an additional U.S. House seat in next year’s elections.

The Senate vote sends the redistricting plan to Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe for his expected signature to make it law. But opponents immediately announced a referendum petition that, if successful, could force a statewide vote on the new map.

Missouri is the third state to take up mid-decade redistricting in an emerging national battle for partisan advantage ahead of the midterm elections. Republican lawmakers in Texas passed a new U.S. House map last month aimed at helping their party win five additional seats. Democratic lawmakers in California countered with their own redistricting plan aimed at winning five more seats, but it still needs voter approval.

Each seat could be critical, because Democrats need to gain just three seats to win control of the House, which would allow them to obstruct Trump’s agenda and launch investigations into him. Trump is trying to stave off a historic trend in which the president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections.

Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight U.S. House seats. The revised map passed the state House earlier this week as the focal point of a special session called by Kehoe.

Missouri’s revised map targets a seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by shaving off portions of his Kansas City district and stretching the rest of it into Republican-heavy rural areas. The plan reduces the number of Black and minority residents in Cleaver’s district, partly by creating a dividing line along a street that Cleaver said had been a historical segregation line between Black and white residents.

Cleaver, who was Kansas City’s first Black mayor, has served in Congress for over 20 years. He won reelection with over 60% of the vote in both 2024 and 2022 under districts adopted by the Republican-led state Legislature after the 2020 census.

A Progress for People town hall organized by Michigan United Action that was to feature Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), and Rep. Becca Balint (VT-at large) and be held at the UAW Region 1 hall in Warren has been postponed.

Progress for People sent out notification of the postponement on the afternoon of Sept. 11.

No new date has been set for the event. No details were given regarding the cancellation beyond “an abundance of caution for the community’s safety,”

Rep. John James was invited to the event but it is not known if he was planning to attend.

The event was sponsored by Michigan United Action, Fair Share America, United Auto Workers Region 1, Reproductive Freedom for All, Macomb Defenders Rising (Indivisible), United for Respect, and the Progressive Caucus Action Fund.

Those wishing to learn more about adoption and meet older youths seeking homes are invited to the 2025 Michigan Heart Gallery in Royal Oak on Saturday, Sept. 13.

The event is an annual traveling exhibit featuring photos of older youths in foster care. This year’s display features pictures of 60 young people, some of whom will attend the premiere.

It will be held from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Emagine Theatre, 200 N. Main St. in Royal Oak.

The Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange, a program administered by the Judson Center, a Farmington Hills human services agency, sponsors the event, which is funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The event includes a red-carpet arrival for the youths and guests, a film presentation, formal program and lunch. An adoption information session will be held featuring MARE’s adoption navigators. They are experienced adoptive parents who can offer guidance and personal knowledge about the process, challenges and joys of adopting.

Sixteen professional photographers from across the state volunteered their time to take the photos for the project. The exhibit will travel across the state following the Royal Oak premiere.

“The first showing of the Michigan Heart Gallery is always such an exciting and inspirational event,” said MARE Director Michelle Parra. “It’s a time when we celebrate our older youth in foster care and give them hope for the future. They truly are the stars on this day.”

Admission to the event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to pre-register on the MARE website at www.mare.org. Complimentary parking vouchers will be available.

Candidate for governor posts rebuke against pride flag at Oakland County school

Oak Park judge faces backlash for saying Charlie Kirk died for his ‘beliefs’

By DAVID A. LIEB and M.K. WILDEMAN, Associated Press

President Donald Trump has approved federal disaster aid for six states and tribes following storms and floods that occurred this spring and summer.

The disaster declarations, announced Thursday, will allow federal funding to flow to Kansas, North Carolina, North Dakota and Wisconsin, and for tribes in Montana and South Dakota. In each case except Wisconsin, it took Trump more than a month to approve the aid requests from local officials, continuing a trend of longer waits for disaster relief noted by a recent Associated Press analysis.

Trump has now approved more than 30 major natural disaster declarations since taking office in January. Before the latest batch, his approvals had averaged a 34-day wait from the time the relief was requested. For his most recent declarations, that wait ranged from just 15 days following an aid request for Wisconsin flooding in August to 56 days following a tribal request for Montana flooding that occurred in May.

The AP’s analysis showed that delays in approving federal disaster aid have grown over time, regardless of the party in power. On average, it took less than two weeks for requests for a presidential disaster declaration to be granted in the 1990s and early 2000s. That rose to about three weeks during the past decade under presidents from both major parties. During Trump’s first term in office, it took him an average of 24 days to approve requests.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the AP that Trump is providing “a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him” to make sure that federal tax dollars are spent wisely.

But delays mean individuals must wait to receive federal aid for daily living expenses, temporary lodging and home repairs. Delays in disaster declarations also can hamper recovery efforts by local officials uncertain whether they will receive federal reimbursement for cleaning up debris and rebuilding infrastructure.

Trump’s latest declarations approved public assistance for local governments and nonprofits in all cases except Wisconsin, where assistance for individuals was approved. But that doesn’t preclude the federal government from later also approving public assistance for Wisconsin.

Preliminary estimates from Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration said more than 1,500 residential structures were destroyed or suffered major damage in August flooding at a cost of more than $33 million. There was also more than $43 million in public sector damage over six counties, according to the Evers administration.

Evers requested aid for residents in six counties, but Trump approved it only for three.

“I will continue to urge the Trump Administration to approve the remainder of my request, and I will keep fighting to make sure Wisconsin receives every resource that is needed and available,” Evers said in a statement in which he thanked Democratic officeholders for their efforts, but not Trump or any Republicans.

Trump had announced several of the disaster declarations — including Wisconsin’s — on his social media site while noting his victories in those states and highlighting their Republican officials. He received thanks from Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Republican officials elsewhere.

Trump’s approval of six major disaster declarations in one day would have been unusual for some presidents but not for him. Trump approved seven disaster requests on July 22 and nine on May 21.

But Trump has not approved requests for hazard mitigation assistance — a once-typical add-on that helps recipients build back with resilience — since February.

Associated Press writers Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Scott Bauer, Jack Dura and Gary D. Robertson contributed to this report.

By Lena H. Sun, Rachel Roubein, Dan Diamond
The Washington Post

Trump health officials plan to link coronavirus vaccines to the deaths of 25 children as they consider limiting which Americans should get the shots, according to four people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe confidential information.

The findings appear to be based on information submitted to the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which contains unverified reports of side effects or bad experiences with vaccines submitted by anyone, including patients, doctors, pharmacists or even someone who sees a report on social media. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes that the database is not designed to assess whether a shot caused a death, a conclusion that requires thorough investigations by scientists and public health professionals.

Trump health officials plan to include the pediatric deaths claim in a presentation next week to an influential panel of advisers to the CDC that is considering new coronavirus vaccine recommendations, which affect access to the shots and whether they’re free.

The plan has alarmed some career scientists who say coronavirus vaccines have been extensively studied, including in children, and that dangers of the virus itself are being underplayed. CDC staff in June presented data to the same vaccine committee showing that at least 25 children died who had covid-associated hospitalizations since July 2023 and that number was likely an undercount. Of the 16 old enough for vaccination, none was up-to-date on vaccines.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary confirmed on CNN last week that officials were investigating reports of possible child deaths from the vaccine, including reviewing autopsy reports and interviewing families. Such a review could take months, according to health officials, and it is unclear when those investigations began.

The pediatric deaths presentation to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is not final, according to one person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe ongoing policy discussions. The full methodology for the analysis was not immediately clear.

“FDA and CDC staff routinely analyze VAERS and other safety monitoring data, and those reviews are being shared publicly through the established ACIP process,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email. “Any recommendations on updated COVID-19 vaccines will be based on gold standard science and deliberated transparently at ACIP next week.”

The FDA in August approved the latest coronavirus vaccines for people ages 65 and older or who have risk factors for severe disease, but the CDC vaccine panel can recommend the shots more narrowly or broadly. The committee is weighing a plan to recommend the shot for those 75 and older but instruct people who are younger to speak to a physician before they get the vaccine, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share policy discussions. Another option would not recommend the vaccine to people under the age of 75 without preexisting conditions, the people said.

But limiting access for people ages 65 to 74 has raised concerns about a political backlash, said one federal health official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations. According to CDC estimates, nearly 43 percent of people in that age group received the 2024-2025 version of the coronavirus vaccine.

Many countries do not recommend annual coronavirus vaccination for healthy children because they rarely die from covid and most experience mild symptoms. U.S. officials have justified yearly shots based on data showing infants and toddlers faced elevated risk of hospitalization and that significant shares of those who were hospitalized had no underlying conditions. They have also said vaccines offer children protection against long covid.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime critic of coronavirus vaccines, in May directed health officials to stop recommending the shots for otherwise healthy children. The CDC later instructed parents to consult a doctor before getting their children coronavirus vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends annual coronavirus vaccines for all children ages 6 to 23 months and for older children if their parents want them to have protection.

Next week’s vaccine advisory panel’s meeting is critical because the recommendations determine whether insurers must pay for the immunizations, pharmacies can administer them and doctors are willing to offer them. Kennedy purged the membership of the panel earlier this year and appointed his own picks, most of whom have criticized coronavirus vaccination policy. He is considering adding additional critics of covid shots to the committee.

The previous vaccine panel was already considering a more targeted approach to coronavirus vaccination, recommending the shot for high-risk groups, but allowing others, including children, to get the vaccine if they wanted.

Tracy Beth Hoeg, one of Makary’s top deputies who was a critic of broad childhood coronavirus vaccination before joining the FDA, has been one of the officials looking into vaccine safety data, according to five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private information.

The planned pediatric death presentation included attempts to interview some families, but it’s not clear what other information was used. Some of those same families had been previously interviewed by the CDC officials as part of vaccine safety tracking, according to one person familiar with the matter.

Harleen Marwah, a pediatrician at Mass General Brigham for Children who recently reviewed data on the coronavirus vaccine and its safety and efficacy in children, said new studies since June identified “no new safety concerns.” Marwah conducted the research on behalf of the Vaccine Integrity Project, a new initiative based at the University of Minnesota to provide scientific evidence to inform vaccine recommendations.

The CDC has been monitoring coronavirus vaccine safety data since the first shots rolled out in the United States. Much stricter requirements were put in place for reporting adverse events than for other vaccines because the vaccines were initially fast-tracked under the FDA’s emergency response authority.

Death rates among all ages after mRNA coronavirus vaccination were below those for the general population, according to data presented to the CDC vaccine committee in June.

Noel Brewer, a public health professor at the University of North Carolina and one of the vaccine advisers terminated by Kennedy, said the focus on vaccine harms ignores the harms of coronavirus.

“They are leveraging this platform to share untruths about vaccines to scare people,” Brewer said. “The U.S. government is now in the business of vaccine misinformation.”

By Nada Hassanein, Stateline.org

Pharmacies in Black and Latino neighborhoods are less likely to dispense buprenorphine — one of the main treatments for opioid use disorder — even though people of color are more likely to die from opioid overdoses.

The drug helps reduce cravings for opioids and the likelihood of a fatal overdose.

While the nation as a whole has seen decreases in opioid overdose deaths in recent years, overdose deaths among Black, Latino and Indigenous people have continued to increase.

Many medical and health policy experts fear the broad domestic policy law President Donald Trump signed in July will worsen the problem by increasing the number of people without health insurance. As a result of the law, the number of people without coverage will increase by about 10 million by 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

About 7.5 million of the people who will lose coverage under the new law are covered by Medicaid. Shortly before Trump signed the bill into law, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Boston University estimated that roughly 156,000 Medicaid recipients will lose access to medications for opioid addiction because of the cuts, resulting in approximately 1,000 more overdose deaths annually.

Because Black and Hispanic people are overrepresented on the rolls, the Medicaid cuts will have a disproportionate effect on communities that already face higher barriers to getting medications to treat addiction.

From 2017 to 2023, the percentage of U.S. retail pharmacies regularly dispensing buprenorphine increased from 33% to 39%, according to a study published last week in Health Affairs.

But researchers found the drug was much less likely to be available in pharmacies in mostly Black (18% of pharmacies) and Hispanic neighborhoods (17%), compared with mostly white ones (46%).

In some states, the disparity was even worse. In California, for example, only about 9% of pharmacies in Black neighborhoods dispensed buprenorphine, compared with 52% in white neighborhoods.

The researchers found buprenorphine was least available in Black and Latino neighborhoods across nearly all states.

Barriers to treatment

Dr. Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr, a family physician who specializes in addiction medicine, said many communities of color are “pharmacy deserts.” Even the pharmacies that do exist in those neighborhoods tend to “have additional barriers to obtain buprenorphine and other controlled substances out of a concern for historic overuse of some treatments,” said Trotzky-Sirr, who wasn’t involved in the study.

In addition to its federal classification as a controlled substance, buprenorphine is also subject to state regulations to prevent illegal use. Pharmacies that carry it know that wholesalers and distributors audit their orders, which dissuades some from stocking or dispensing it.

Dima Qato, associate professor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Southern California and an author of the Health Affairs study, said that without changes in policy, Black and Hispanic people will continue to have an especially hard time getting buprenorphine.

“If you don’t address these dispensing regulations, or regulate buprenorphine from the aspect of pharmacy regulations, people are still going to encounter barriers accessing it,” she said.

In neighborhoods where at least a fifth of the population is on Medicaid, just 35% of pharmacies dispensed buprenorphine, Qato and her team found. But in neighborhoods with fewer residents on Medicaid, about 42% of pharmacies carried the drug.

Medicaid covers nearly half— 47% — of nonelderly adults who suffer from opioid use disorder. In states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, another recent study found an increase in people getting prescriptions for buprenorphine.

“Medicaid is the backbone of care for people struggling with opioid use disorder,” said Cherlette McCullough, a Florida-based mental health therapist. “We’re going to see people in relapse. We’re going to see more overdoses. We’re going to see more people in the ER.”

Qato said the shortage of pharmacies in minority communities is likely to get worse, as many independent pharmacists are already struggling to stay open.

“We know they’re more likely to close in neighborhoods of color, so there’s going to be even fewer pharmacies that carry it in the neighborhoods that really need it,” she said.

‘There needs to be urgency’

Qato and her colleagues say states and local governments should mandate that pharmacies carry a minimum stock of buprenorphine and dispense it to anyone coming in with a legitimate prescription. As examples, they point to a Philadelphia ordinance mandating that pharmacies carry the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone and similar emergency contraception requirements in Massachusetts.

“We need to create expectations. We need to encourage our pharmacies to carry this to make it accessible, same day, and there needs to be urgency,” said Arianna Campbell, a physician assistant and co-founder of the Bridge Center, a California-based organization that aims to help increase addiction treatment in emergency rooms.

“In many of the conversations I have with pharmacies, when I’m getting some pushback, I have to say: ‘Hey, this person’s at the highest risk of dying right now. They need this medication right now.’”

She said patients frequently become discouraged due to barriers they face in getting prescriptions filled. The Bridge Center has been expanding its patient navigator program across the state, and helping other states start their own. The program helps patients identify pharmacies where they can fill their prescription fastest.

“There’s a medication that can help you, but at every turn it’s really hard to get it,” she said, calling the disparities in access to medication treatment “unacceptable.”

Trotzky-Sirr, the California doctor, fears the looming Medicaid cuts will cause many of her patients to discontinue treatment and relapse. Many of her patients are covered by Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program.

“A lot of our patients are able to obtain medications for treatment of addiction like buprenorphine, because of the state covering the cost of the medication,” said Trotzky-Sirr, who also is a regional coordinator at the Bridge Center.

“They don’t have the resources to pay for it, cash, out of pocket.”

Some low-income patients switch between multiple providers or clinics as they try to find care and coverage, she added. These could be interpreted as red flags to a pharmacy.

Trotzky-Sirr argued buprenorphine does not need to be monitored as carefully as opioids and other drugs that are easier to misuse or overuse.

“Buprenorphine does not have those features and really needs to be in a class by itself,” she said. “Unfortunately, it’s hard to explain that to a pharmacist in 30 seconds over the phone.”

More is known about the medication now than when it was placed on the controlled substances list about two decades ago, said Brendan Saloner, a Bloomberg Professor of American Health in Addiction and Overdose at Johns Hopkins University.

Pharmacies are fearful of regulatory scrutiny and don’t have “countervailing pressure” to ensure patients get the treatments, he said.

On top of that fear, Medicaid managed care plans’ prior authorization processes may also be adding to the pharmacy bottleneck, he said.

“Black and Latino communities have higher rates of Medicaid enrollment, so to the extent that Medicaid prior authorization techniques are a hassle to pharmacies, that may also kind of discourage them [pharmacies] from stocking buprenorphine,” he said.

In some states, buprenorphine is much more readily available. In Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah and Vermont, more than 70% of pharmacies carried the drug, according to the study. Buprenorphine availability was highest in states such as Oregon that have the least restrictive regulations for dispensing it.

In contrast, less than a quarter of pharmacies in Iowa, North Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Washington, D.C., carried the medication.

“We’re going to see more people becoming unhoused, because without treatment, they’re going to go back to those old habits,” McCullough, the Florida therapist, said. “When we talk about marginalized communities, these are the populations that are going to suffer the most because they already have challenges with access to care.”

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Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at nhassanein@stateline.org.

©2025 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, long an advocate for civility, made an impassioned plea on Friday for Americans and young people in particular to use the horror of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s public assassination as an inflection point to turn the country away from political violence and division.

“This is our moment: Do we escalate or do we find an off-ramp?” Cox told a news conference in Utah as he announced authorities had a suspect in Kirk’s killing in custody. “It’s a choice.”

Throughout his political career, Cox, a two-term Republican governor, has issued pleas for bipartisan cooperation and at times drawn national attention for his empathetic remarks.

His speech on Friday was his most emotional and prominent example yet, as he urged an appeal to common ground and humanity to forge a better society. It was a marked departure from the bellicose rhetoric often employed in recent years by U.S. politicians, especially President Donald Trump, who is known for provocative language and has blamed Kirk’s killing on “radical left” rhetoric.

‘Politics feels like rage’

On Wednesday, after Kirk’s killing, Cox made an initial plea. On Friday, acknowledging he was running on only 90 minutes of sleep after days of the manhunt for Kirk’s killer and heated rhetoric unfurling online, he went further.

His voice appearing to break at times, Cox said that the response to violence and hate can be more violence and hate. “And that’s the problem with political violence,” he said. “It metastasizes because we can always point the finger at the other side. And at some point we have to find an off-ramp or it’s going to get much much worse.”

“History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country,” he said. “But every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us.”

The 50-year-old governor, who has four children who are teenagers and young adults, directed some of his remarks to young people: “You are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage. It feels like rage is the only option.”

But, Cox said, a different path is possible: “Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now.”

He said the 22-year-old suspect in Kirk’s killing had become “more political” in the run-up to Wednesday’s shooting on a university campus.

Cox also spoke of the harms of social media and said it was terrible that Kirk’s slaying was “so gruesomely displayed” for everyone to watch online.

“We are not wired as human beings biologically, historically we have not evolved in a way that we are capable of processing those types of violent imagery,” Cox said. “This is not good for us. It is not good to consume. Social media is a cancer on our society right now.”

These approaches are not new for Cox

As governor, Cox has sought to curb the harms of social media on young people, signing laws that require social media companies to verify the ages of their users and disable certain features on accounts of minors.

Though he lives in heavily Republican Utah, where little bipartisan action is needed for his party to enact its agenda, Cox has for years emphasized respect and unity. As governor, he has consistently invoked a need for civility — a trait that’s at home in the culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a faith to which Cox and many in the state belong.

His more moderate tone became rarer as Utah’s politics drifted rightward in the Trump era. At a statewide convention of Utah Republicans in April 2024, Cox was booed. “Maybe you hate that I don’t hate enough,” Cox told the crowd. He still won his state’s GOP primary and reelection in November.

In 2016, Cox drew national attention for his remarks after a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Then, he called for people to come together and appealed to their “better angels.” He also apologized for having been unkind while in high school to students he later learned were gay.

He also drew attention during his 2020 campaign for governor in which he appeared in television ads with his Democratic opponent as they pledged to “disagree without hating each other.”

Cox was openly critical of Trump and did not support him until after the president survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, last year. The governor wrote then-candidate Trump a letter expressing admiration for his defiant response to being struck by a bullet.

In that letter, Cox told Trump he believed “God had a hand in saving you” and that “miracle” gave him the opportunity to unify the country.

“We need to turn down the temperature and find ways to come together again before it’s too late,” Cox wrote.

Minutes before Cox took the stage Friday, Trump had that opportunity as he sat for a live interview on Fox News Channel. He was asked how the country can be brought back together. Trump said his response would “get me in trouble, but I couldn’t care less.”

Before he launched into a list of grievances with his Democratic opponents, the president said: “The radicals on the left are the problem.”

Associated Press writer Chris Megerian contributed to this report.

By DIDI TANG and PAUL WISEMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s push to revitalize American manufacturing by luring foreign investment into the U.S. has run smack into one of his other priorities: cracking down on illegal immigration.

Hardly a week after immigration authorities raided a sprawling Hyundai battery plant in Georgia, detained more than 300 South Korean workers and showed video of some of them shackled in chains, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned that the country’s other companies may be reluctant to take up Trump’s invitation to pour money into the United States.

The detained South Koreans were released Thursday and most were flown home.

If the U.S. can’t promptly issue visas to the technicians and other skilled workers needed to launch plants, then “establishing a local factory in the United States will either come with severe disadvantages or become very difficult for our companies,” Lee said Thursday. “They will wonder whether they should even do it.”

The raid and subsequent diplomatic crisis show how the Trump administration’s mass deportation goals are running up against its efforts to bring in money from abroad to drive the U.S. economy and create more jobs. Moves like workplace immigration enforcement and visa restrictions could risk alienating allies that are pledging to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S. to avoid high tariffs.

South Korea is already a big investor in the US

Trump’s economic agenda is built around using hefty tariffs on imports, including a 15% levy on South Korean products, as a cudgel to force manufacturing to return to the U.S. He’s repeatedly said foreign companies can escape his tariffs if they produce in America. South Korea, already a top investor, pledged to invest $350 billion in the U.S. when the two sides announced a trade deal in July.

It made more investments in new construction, such as factories, on previously undeveloped land than any other country in 2022. Last year, it ranked 12th in the world with $93 billion in total American investment — including acquisitions of existing companies, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

But the dramatic roundup of South Koreans and others working to set up the battery plant threatens to put a chill on the investment push. Indeed, Trump seems to be trying to undo the damage.

While demanding that foreign investors “LEGALLY bring your very smart people,” Trump also promised to “make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so.”

“President Trump will continue delivering on his promise to make the United States the best place in the world to do business, while also enforcing federal immigration laws,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement Thursday.

For now, the South Koreans are furious and immigration experts are puzzled. It’s been common practice for decades for foreign companies — such as the Japanese and German carmakers that have built factories in the American Midwest and South — to send technical specialists from their home countries to help open plants in the United States. Most of them train U.S. workers, then go home.

“Japanese managers, senior engineers, other technical experts had to come to the United States to set this stuff up,” said Lee Branstetter, a professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University who’s studied Japanese auto plants in the U.S.

American companies do the same thing, sending U.S. workers overseas temporarily to get operations started.

Some experts call it a baffling, ‘performative’ raid

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched the roundup last week at a manufacturing site that state officials have touted as Georgia’s largest economic development project.

“It’s really baffling to me why this raid would have occurred,” said Ben Armstrong, executive director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Industrial Performance Center. “The existence of these workers shouldn’t have been a surprise.”

U.S. immigration officials could have audited the workers’ documents without the drama, retired immigration lawyer Dan Kowalski said, adding that “raiding and arresting and putting them in chains and shackles is 100% performative.”

It had to do with “wanting to look tough — arresting as many foreigners as possible for the photo-op,” said Kowalski, who is now a writer and editor.

U.S. work visa categories make it a challenge to bring in foreign workers quickly and easily, said Kevin Miner, an immigration lawyer in Atlanta.

Some run on a highly competitive lottery system, are for seasonal workers and have a cap, or are restricted to managers and executives. Other short-term visas have strict limits on employment.

After meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week in Washington, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said they agreed to set up a joint working group for discussions on creating a new visa category to make it easier for South Korean companies to send their staff to work in the United States.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau also plans to visit Seoul this weekend.

Calls for fixes to the US visa system

Hyundai’s “desire to get this thing up and running as quickly as possible ran head-on into the often time-consuming processes that the U.S. government requires in order to issue business visas,” said Branstetter of Carnegie Mellon.

U.S. authorities say those detained were “unlawfully working” at the plant. Charles Kuck, a lawyer representing several of the South Koreans who were detained, said the “vast majority” of the workers from South Korea were doing work authorized under a visa program.

Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, said work visas — like nearly all other aspects of the U.S. immigration system — need reform.

“Our visa system does not envision this kind of scenario,” Gelatt said, of bringing in skilled foreign workers needed for the initial setup of factories. The U.S. has a few country-specific visa categories that make it easier to bring in certain foreign workers, like those from Mexico, Australia or Singapore.

“The goal,” said MIT’s Armstrong, “should be to make foreign direct investment as streamlined as possible.”