By Max Bryan, mbruan@detroitnews.com

Birmingham has filed a lawsuit in Oakland Circuit Court to block the sale of The Community House after its nonprofit operator announced plans to cease in-house operations in 2026.

The Community House Association announced Nov. 3 that operations in its 1930 building at 380 Bates St. will not be required as the association transitions into the Birmingham Area Community Foundation, which will provide scholarships for students and support for smaller area nonprofits. The association said in the announcement that the new owners of the building are “yet to be determined” but that current operations would cease July 1, 2026.

In response, the city filed a lawsuit on Nov. 25 “to enforce deed restrictions” that it alleges require the building “to be held exclusively as a community center for use by the residents.”

“(A sale) would permanently deprive the residents of the City of Birmingham of a unique civic and charitable asset intended for their benefit,” including 33 full-time and 16 part-time employees, the facility’s childcare program, event rentals and programs, the lawsuit reads.

The association executed a trust in 1930 to be held for the building and its operations. The trust prohibited a sale or transfer to a private interest if the association were to be dissolved, the lawsuit states.

In response to a 1989 petition to modernize the trust, the state required the association to hold The Community House in accordance with the 1930 trust. It required them to convey the land and any construction on the property to the city if The Community House were to be dissolved, the lawsuit states.

The city claims in its lawsuit that The Community House must be transitioned into either “a Birmingham charitable, benevolent, or educational organization” chosen by nearly all of the trustees or given back to the city to be used as a nonprofit community center.

Alison Gaudreau, president of The Community House, said that the organization communicated to the city could submit an offer for the building but “responded by filing a lawsuit.”

In a statement to The Detroit News, Gaudreau acknowledged there are “strong emotions” about The Community House’s future.

“There are many assumptions being made about what is happening with the sale of the building,” said Gaudreau in a statement. “We agree with the city that the building should be used for charitable purposes and those are the only conversations we are having with potential buyers. We are only speaking with non-profit organizations who would continue to use this space to benefit the community.”

The city asks in the lawsuit for Oakland County Circuit Court to issue an injunction between The Community House and its potential sale on grounds that it would violate deed restrictions and court orders.

“A private sale would permanently terminate the property’s nearly 100-year role as a public, nonprofit community center and would irreversibly extinguish the public’s beneficial interest, which is harm that cannot be remedied by monetary damages or subsequent litigation,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit was filed eight days after Birmingham Mayor Clinton Baller announced at a city commissioners’ meeting that the commission “will use each and every available means” to keep the building “a community asset.” The commission was scheduled to discuss the city’s lawsuit in closed session during its Monday meeting.

For more than a century, The Community House has hosted debates, served as a gathering place and has provided programs, events and partnerships with other nonprofits. a lawsuit on Nov. 25 “to enforce deed restrictions” that it alleges require the building “to be held exclusively as a community center for use by the residents.”

It’s not a bold statement to say Kayla Nwabueze is a special talent.

The Bloomfield Hills senior showed that time and again during the 2025 season.

But, just how special a talent was she?

The more people you ask, the more that say Nwabueze is one of the all-time elite players the state has ever seen.

Farmington Hills Mercy coach Loretta Vogel has been on the sidelines for nearly 50 years and she said she’d put Nwabueze up there with anyone.

“She’s a fabulous young lady, and as an attack, I would put her up there in the top,” Vogel said when asked where Nwabueze ranks among the state’s all-time greats. “She got that team (Bloomfield Hills to the finals). I mean, they kept giving her the ball, and if I were the setter, I’d be doing the same thing. I don’t mean to belittle her other players, but sometimes if you really want to win big, you have to go to a go-to player and make them stop you. I think for me, after all these years of coaching, she is right up there, one of those top 10s for me. That’s a lot of years, a lot of girls I’ve seen, like the Carli Snyders, the Jess (Mruzik)s, a lot of people like that. She’s right there.”

The praise for Nwabueze, a Harvard commit, is understandable considering the senior year she put together, leading the Black Hawks to their first state finals appearance before losing to Mercy in four sets.

Nwabueze finished with 751 kills in 2025 while hitting .372 as an outside hitter. She also had 358 digs, making a commitment to being one of the top defenders for her team as well.

For her four-year career at Bloomfield Hills, Nwabueze put up numbers that will be hard for anyone to ever match. She had 2,217 kills, 1,127 digs, 396 blocks, and 179 aces.

Beyond the stats, Nwabueze’s teammates and coaches praised her leadership skills for helping change the program’s mentality.

“The leadership that Kayla has shown, from what I’ve only seen a year, the first day stepping in the gym, you can see the culture and the energy of all the players that were there,” first-year Bloomfield Hills coach Brian Kim said. “That was something that, even from day one for us, it was all about volleyball, and everybody was there to work hard. Everybody was there to have fun. It just made it extremely fun to come in and coach these athletes, every one of these athletes, every single day.”

Sophomore outside Allison Stakoe, who was second on the team in kills this past season, said Nwabueze has been a real mentor for her these last two years.

“Kayla has taught me so much about volleyball, mentally and emotionally and physically, about just staying in the game,” Stakoe said. “She’s really taught me so much these last few seasons. It’s terrible to see her leave, but I’m so excited to watch her at Harvard. I’m going to be rooting for her all the time. She’s just such an amazing player all around. She’s always there to empower you, and be in your corner, and always there to pump you up whenever you’re down.”

Junior setter Brynn Wilcox has had the pleasure of being the one to set Nwabueze these last three years. Wilcox knows that she got an opportunity to work with an elite talent.

“She’s, honestly, one of a kind. There’s nobody else in the country like Kayla,” Wilcox said. “She has the ability to lead each player in such a different way, and she knows exactly what each of her teammates needs. There’s nobody like that, and Harvard’s getting the best player. It’s going to be tough next year without her, but I know that her impact and her leadership, from her being a freshman all the way to now, has helped shape this program, and it’ll continue to live on even when she’s across the country.”

Nwabueze had her pick of the litter when it came to playing at the next level, but put an emphasis on her academics when choosing to play for Harvard.

Vogel believes the Ivy League is getting a player unlike anything it has ever seen.

“She will do really well in college. I know she’s going to Harvard. The academic portion is really big for her, but she could put that whole conference into the NCAA playoffs every year. I’m not kidding. I’ll put money on that,” Vogel said emphatically. “She will dominate, she will. She’s going to dominate there.”

By Jennifer Pignolet, jpignolet@detroitnews.com

The three newest additions to the Detroit Zoo are working on their roars.

The zoo on Monday announced the birth of three healthy African lion cubs to 9-year-old lioness mom Amirah and dad Kalu.

“As a first-time mom, she has been wonderfully calm, attentive and nurturing, spending her days bonding closely with her little ones in a cozy, quiet den,” the Detroti Zoo said in an announcement.

A fourth cub was stillborn, the statement said, a “natural part of life for many wild species.”

The healthy cubs were born Nov. 23 and 24.

“African lions are vulnerable to extinction and endangered in some regions due to habitat loss, declining prey, disease and human-wildlife conflict,” the zoo said. “Welcoming these cubs is not only heartwarming — it’s a meaningful milestone in the Detroit Zoo’s commitment to conservation and the future of this iconic species.”

Amirah and her cubs will remain in their den away from the public for the time being, the zoo said. The other members of the pride, Kalu and Asha, will be free to roam in and out of their outdoor habitat during this period. The zoo said it anticipates it will be a few months before guests are able to view the cubs, when they are more mobile and able to roam larger spaces.

“We can’t wait to share more updates, photos and milestones as this joyful new chapter unfolds!” the zoo said.

The announcement comes less than a week after the zoo announced the birth of a baby giraffe.

It’s official: Pat Fitzgerald is Michigan State’s new football coach.

Michigan State made the hiring official Monday. The Detroit News reported Sunday that the university intended to hire Fitzgerald, formerly of Big Ten peer Northwestern, to take over the Spartan football program after Jonathan Smith’s ouster after two seasons in East Lansing.

Terms were not disclosed. The hiring requires formal approval from the MSU Board of Trustees. The next scheduled meeting is Dec. 12.

“I am honored to be named the head football coach at Michigan State University,” Fitzgerald said in a statement released by Michigan State. “I’d like to thank President (Kevin) Guskiewicz and Athletics Director (J) Batt for this opportunity. This is a program with a deep and storied tradition, a passionate fan base, and a commitment to excellence that extends far beyond the football field. What excited me most about this opportunity was the vision for what Michigan State can be for years to come. We will restore tradition, and I’m eager to earn the trust of our players, alumni, and fans while competing at the highest level.”

Fitzgerald, who turns 51 on Tuesday, will helm the Spartans after a three-year hiatus following 17 years at Northwestern. He was dismissed before the 2023 season for a graphic hazing scandal. A later investigation by Northwestern did not find sufficient evidence that he knew of the hazing, but that he also had opportunities to find out about it.

Fitzgerald settled a $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit out of court in August, and said later that he felt “vindicated” by the result.

Fitzgerald got his first head coaching job at the age of 31, when he became head coach at Northwestern after the death of predecessor Randy Walker in 2006. In 17 seasons at Northwestern, Fitzgerald’s teams went 110-101 overall, 65-76 in the Big Ten. Fitzgerald’s teams won 10 games three times, and 10 times he took the program to a bowl, where he had a 5-5 record. Twice, Northwestern won the Big Ten West during his time with the program.

Fitzgerald also had some lean years near the end of his run in Evanston. Following a 2020 season in which his team ended 10th in the final AP poll, he posted a combined 4-20 record, 2-16 in Big Ten play.

Pat Fitzgerald is a proven leader who understands the full mission of intercollegiate athletics —competitive excellence, academic achievement, and the holistic development of student-athletes,” Guskiewicz said in a statement released by MSU. “His track record of building disciplined, resilient teams and his commitment to coaching with integrity make him an exceptional fit for Michigan State University. I’m confident that under his leadership, Spartan Football will thrive on and off the field.”

Both records are worse than what Smith just posted in a two-year stint with Michigan State (5-19, 4-14). Smith is owed $33.5 million in an 85% buyout of his seven-year contract signed in Dec. 2023, which can be offset by the salary of his next position.

The hire is the first by athletic director J Batt, who Michigan State poached from Georgia Tech in June to replace Haller.

“Today marks the beginning of a new era for Michigan State Football,” Batt said in a statement released by Michigan State. “Pat Fitzgerald is widely recognized as an exceptional football coach, whose teams play with extreme toughness and grit, demonstrate continual improvement and maximize potential. Pat is an excellent fit for Michigan State Football, as he understands the Big Ten, has great relationships throughout the Midwest and embodies the values on which our program was built. His incredible passion will resonate throughout the program, connecting with all members of our Spartan community, including student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni and donors.

“As an institution, we are committed to providing the resources and infrastructure required to realize our shared vision of competing for championships, and with Pat leading the way, Spartan Football is positioned for sustained success at the Big Ten and national level. We are excited to welcome Pat, his wife, Stacy, and sons, Jack, Ryan and Brendan, to our Spartan family.”

Fitzgerald is the oldest football coach hired by Michigan State since its November 2006 hiring of Mark Dantonio, who was also about to turn 51 at the time.

The challenge ahead

Michigan State is on its third coach since 2020, and its seventh since 2000. The rigors of college football’s professionalization since the time Fitzgerald last patrolled a sideline make for challenges to which he will have to adapt.

Fitzgerald said on a recent ESPN College Gameday podcast that he “got an opportunity to sit here and get a Ph.D. in what’s going on in college football” while out of college coaching, picking up strategies to handle changes like the transfer portal, NIL and revenue sharing.

The Michigan State program Fitzgerald takes over faces a number of challenges in both recruiting and retention. His official hiring opens a 15-day transfer portal window in addition to the main window Jan. 2 to Jan. 16. That means he will have to make heads or tails of his current roster early.

So far, only two Spartans — running back Makhi Frazier and receiver Nick Marsh — have announced their intention to enter the portal. Others have followed Fitzgerald’s social media accounts since Sunday.

Fitzgerald succeeded with limited resources at Northwestern, a private school that prioritized academic rigor that affected recruiting capabilities for the football program. Fitzgerald made his mark developing more raw prospects into better college players — he sent 16 players to the NFL Draft in 17 seasons.

Michigan State doesn’t have those problems, but it does have a limited pool of funds to wield in the NIL space. Part of the problem stems from four losing seasons in football, as well as the sexual misconduct scandal of former coach Mel Tucker and the ho-hum tenure of Smith. Some fans are out on the program, and it will take a winner to draw some back in.

Tucker’s legacy also left one more stain on the program in November, when the NCAA announced a negotiated resolution for recruiting violations that led to 14 vacated wins, three years of probation and a number of recruiting limitations on visits and contact. Those are challenges Fitzgerald will inherit.

Batt makes his mark

Michigan State spent a lot of money to hire Batt as athletic director in June — arguably money it didn’t have. It spent more than $12 million on his six-year contract, plus $1.3 million to buy out Haller and more than $2 million to pay Batt’s buyout at Georgia Tech. Then his new department got more than $12 million in an internal loan to furnish revenue share payments with athletes, an expense deemed necessary to keep up with other Big Ten schools.

Batt came to East Lansing known as a revenue generator, someone who can find money for programs in need. That made him a favorite of Nick Saban as a deputy athletic director at Alabama and a success helming his own operation at Georgia Tech.

If there’s one tool Batt can use to generate more revenue, it’s football.

“Do not be confused: every athletics department competing at the highest level must be successful in football,” Batt said at his introductory press conference in June.

Success — at least, hope for it — comes with a cost. Smith’s buyout is more than $33.5 million, to be paid in equal monthly installments through Jan. 31, 2031. Batt did save money by hiring a coach who did not have a buyout at another institution. That would’ve been another expense.

Fitzgerald will have to build his staff, which also will cost money. Many position coaches are on expiring deals, but some aren’t, including offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, who has another 14 months worth $1.5 million in base salary on his contract and defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, who is owed more than $1.9 million base salary for the same term. Because Smith was fired, in the event of a dismissal Michigan State would owe them the full remainder of their base salary and any bonuses from the past season.

Batt probably didn’t expect to hire a football coach this early, but the product on the field may have necessitated it. Michigan State lost eight straight games to open Big Ten play this season, which caused Smith to be booed at Spartan Stadium and other athletics events. Fans even chanted for him to be fired at Ford Field on Saturday, when he ended his tenure with a win.

In college athletics, the hiring of a football coach is often crucial to an athletic director’s own job security. Whether Batt made the right hire or not will affect his own legacy that is building less than six months into his tenure.

By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Since last week’s shooting of two National Guard members in the nation’s capital by a suspect who is an Afghan national, the Trump administration announced a flurry of policies aimed at making it harder for some foreigners to enter or stay in the country.

The administration said it was pausing asylum decisions, reexamining green card applications for people from countries “of concern” and halting visas for Afghans who assisted the U.S. war effort.

Days before the shooting, a memo obtained by The Associated Press said the administration would review the cases of all refugees who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration.

The stepped up effort to restrict immigration has been harshly criticized by refugee advocates and those who work with Afghans, saying it amounts to collective punishment. Critics are also saying it is a waste of government resources to reopen cases that have already been processed.

The Trump administration says the new policies are necessary to ensure that those entering the country — or are already here — do not pose a security threat.

Here’s a look at the major changes announced over roughly a week:

All asylum decisions suspended

The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said on the social platform X last week that asylum decisions will be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”

Besides the post, no formal guidance has been put forward, so details remain scarce about the planned pause.

People seeking asylum must show to U.S. officials a threat of persecution if they were sent back to their home country, whether because of race, nationality or other grounds. If they’re granted asylum, they’re allowed to stay in the U.S. and eventually apply for a green card and then citizenship.

The Afghan suspect in the National Guard shooting was granted asylum earlier this year, according to advocate group #AfghanEvac.

The right to apply for asylum was already restricted by the Trump administration. In January, Trump issued an executive order essentially halting asylum for people who have come into the country through the southern border. Those cases generally go through immigration courts which are overseen by the Department of Justice.

USCIS oversees the asylum process for foreigners the government isn’t trying to remove via immigration courts. While Trump’s January order didn’t affect those cases, Edlow’s social media post suggests they will now come under additional scrutiny. Edlow did not say how long the agency’s pause on asylum decisions would last or what happens to people while those decisions are paused.

Caseloads have been rising for all types of asylum applications. The number of asylum cases at USCIS rose from 241,280 in 2022 to a record 456,750 in 2023, according to the Office of Homeland Security Statistics.

A focus on countries ‘of concern’

On Nov. 27, Edlow said his agency was conducting a “full scale, rigorous reexamination” of every green card for people he said come from “every country of concern.”

“American safety is non negotiable,” Edlow said.

The agency said in a press release that same day that it was issuing new guidance that could make it tougher for people from 19 countries the administration considers “high-risk,” including Afghanistan, when they apply for immigration benefits such as applying for green cards or to stay in the U.S. longer.

The administration had already banned travel to the U.S. for citizens from 12 of those countries and restricted access for people from seven others.

No visas for Afghans

Other stricter stricter measures are also directed at Afghans.

On Nov. 26, USCIS said it would be suspending all “immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals.” That would affect Afghans already living in the U.S. who are applying for green cards or work permits or permission to bring family members to the U.S.

Separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced late Friday on X that the State Department has temporarily stopped issuing visas for all people traveling on Afghan passports.

The Trump administration had already severely limited travel and immigration from Afghanistan. The one avenue that had remained open was the Special Immigrant Visa program. Created by Congress, it allowed Afghans who closely supported the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan and faced retribution because of their work to emigrate to America.

But the State Department’s announcement means even that avenue is now closed.

According to #AfghanEvac, a group that advocates for Afghans coming to the U.S., about 180,000 Afghans were in the process of applying for the SIV program.

A review of refugees admitted under the Biden administration

Even before the shooting of two National Guard members, the Trump administration was planning a sweeping review of tens of thousands of immigrants who entered the U.S. during the Biden administration as part of the U.S. Refugee Assistance Program.

That program, first launched in 1980, oversees the process by which people fleeing persecution can come to the U.S. Refugees are distinct from people seeking asylum, although they meet the same criteria. Refugees have to apply and wait outside the U.S. to be admitted while asylum-seekers do so once they reach the U.S.

Trump suspended the refugee program the day he took office and only a trickle of refugees have been admitted since then, either white South Africans or people admitted as part of a lawsuit seeking to restart the refugee program.

Then on Nov. 21, Edlow said in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that the administration was going to review all refugees admitted to the U.S. during the Biden administration. That’s nearly 200,000 refugees.

Advocates say refugees already undergo rigorous vetting.

For the past 13 years, Pentatonix has been as much a part of the holidays as egg nog, Santa Claus and sale-of-the-day emails.

The Texas-formed a cappella quintet, which landed a recording deal after winning “The Sing-Off” in 2011, has released seven Christmas albums so far. plus several holiday-themed EPs and compilations. This year’s “Christmas in the City,” meanwhile, finds the group working with a full orchestra on seasonal classics — including “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” with Frank Sinatra’s vocal grafted into the recording — as well as a fair number of originals and a pair of medleys.

That, of course, means Pentatonix is on the road for the holidays, too, focusing on the new album but still drawing from its litany of Christmas records over the course of each show…

• Co-founder Scott Hoying says from Zoom via Chicago that he and his Pentatonix mates “love making Christmas music, and we always have new ideas each year. For “Christmas in the City,” he explains. “One area of Christmas we hadn’t touched yet is that classic Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole kind of sound with the big, orchestral, sweeping tracks — but still very vocal forward. We were just inspired by that idea, and we wanted to capture the feeling of going into the city at Christmas time and seeing the decorates and the hustle and bustle of window shoppers and the skyline, so we based a whole album around that. It felt like we were writing musical.”

• Hoying, 34, adds that working with such a large ensemble “felt like a different art form. When you’re arranging completely a cappella, the background parts have to be long, sustained notes and you have to fill every ounce of the space. But when there’s an orchestra and a big band in the background you can focus on the background (vocal) parts being supplementary and just coming in at certain moments. They can be more tasteful. It feels like a whole different ball game when you’re doing that. It’s easier in some ways and harder in some ways. Because the frequency space is so covered, we had to find space for our vocals to make sure it sounds like us and felt very vocal forward, even though there’s all that sound.”

• The instrumentation for Pentatonix’s current show is pre-recorded rather than bringing an orchestra on stage. “We discussed doing that,” Hoying notes. “There were a lot of factors that came into play.” Much of the “Christmas in the City” album is part of the concerts, however, blended with the group’s other holiday material. “Over the years of doing so much Christmas touring we’ve really learned what moments the audience loves and things that really work. The trickiest part is we have a lot of ballads that have done well, but if we do them all a little close to each other the show gets a little, like draggy. So it’s spreading those out, and we’ve shortened a bunch of stuff to keep the show moving. It’s like a puzzle. It’s fun.”

• Hoying says he and his bandmates are working on non-holiday original songs as well as “a big project in TV/film that we’ve been working on for years that’s finally starting to come to fruition.” He’s also preparing a stage musical called “Grim” to premiere next October in La Hoya, Calif. And Hoying says there’s a loose idea for the direction of Pentatonix’s next holiday album. “We haven`t done a lot of the kid ones, like ‘All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth’ and the hippopotamus for Christmas song, the silly ones. We’re all having kids, so my first instinct is that our next one is, like a kids Christmas album.”

• Away from Pentatonix, Hoying was a contestant on the latest season of “Dancing With the Stars,” partnered with Rylee Arnold and finishing in 10th place. “Omigod, that was the best experience ever. It was so much fun. It was epic. It was really, really hard, but it was hard in a good way and very transformative for me. I felt like I was doing inner child therapy work out there on the dance floor in front of millions of people without a microphone in my hand. I have so much experience performing, and performing for sold-out arenas and winging it, and that’s totally fine. But out there, even totally prepared and ready, it’s so nerve-wracking. I felt like the seven-year-old-version of myself who was shy and scared was being seen by the world and had to dance and be messy and imperfect. But it was such beautiful experience. I came out on the other side and felt honestly changed by it, as dramatic as that sounds.”

Pentatonix brings “Christmas in the City” to town at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Little Caesars Arena, 2645 Woodward Ave., Detroit. (313)471-7000 or 313Presents.com.

By HANNAH FINGERHUT, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Four Republican-led states agreed to settle lawsuits against the federal government over access to voters’ citizenship data, ending a dispute that began with the Biden administration in advance of the 2024 presidential election.

Officials in Florida, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio entered the settlement with the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem roughly a year after the states individually sued the agency under President Joe Biden. They had alleged the previous administration was withholding information about citizenship status that they needed to determine whether thousands of registered voters were actually eligible to cast a ballot.

Each of the states could soon run searches for thousands of voters using names, birthdays and Social Security numbers through the federal government’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements program. It has been significantly upgraded under the Trump administration. In turn, the settlement reached Friday says the states may share driver’s license records with the Department of Homeland Security “to assist in improving and modernizing” its database.

The information sharing is likely to be a focal point of the 2026 midterm elections. Voting rights groups have already sued the administration over the expanded program, known as SAVE, arguing that the recent updates could result in eligible voters being unlawfully purged from voter lists. Separately, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice has asked at least half the states for their complete voter rolls, a request that Democratic elections officials have questioned out of concern that the data would be provided to DHS.

Voting by noncitizens is illegal in federal elections and can lead to felony charges and deportation. State reviews show it is rare for noncitizen s to register to vote and even rarer that they actually cast a ballot.

Still, before the 2024 election, Trump pushed claims without evidence that noncitizens might vote in large enough numbers to sway the outcome. Many Republican candidates and lawmakers nationally emphasize that even one instance of a noncitizen voting illegally is too many.

The SAVE program, which has been around for decades, is operated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a branch of DHS. It has been widely used by local and state officials to check the citizenship status of people applying for public benefits by running them through a variety of federal databases.

DHS and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency updated the SAVE program earlier this year, according to public announcements. It is now free for election officials, allows searches for voters by the thousands instead of one at a time and no longer requires agencies to search using DHS-issued identification numbers. When a name, date of birth and government-issued number is entered, the database will return initial verification of citizenship status within 48 hours, according to the settlement.

As part of the settlement, Florida, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio will develop a memorandum of understanding with the federal government within 90 days on use of the SAVE program. The settlement also dictates that they will negotiate a new information-sharing agreement for “for the purpose of improving” the SAVE system. That may include providing DHS with 1,000 “randomly selected driver’s license records from their state” within 90 days.

Detectives with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office are seeking the public’s help in finding a Pontiac teen who didn’t return home from school on Nov. 21 and hasn’t been seen by his family since.then, officials said.

Jahlon Christopher Hamilton, 15, has had contact with his mother through text messages since he went missing, the sheriff’s office said, but she doesn’t know his whereabouts. He has reportedly stated that he’ll return home, but hasn’t, the sheriff’s office said. She believes he’s somewhere in Pontiac.

Jahlon is a student at  Arts and Tech Academy — his last known whereabouts. He’s 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighs 140 pounds, and has brown eyes and black hair. Anyone who may have seen Jahlon Hamilton or knows his whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 248-858-4950.

Detroiter shot dead outside Southfield hotel; second fatal shooting in Oakland County over the weekend

2 Southfield fires on Sunday leave 1 dead, several others burned out of homes

 

 

By AAMER MADHANI and REGINA GARCIA CANO, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday that a Navy admiral acted “within his authority and the law” when he ordered a second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea in a September U.S. military operation that has come under bipartisan scrutiny.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered the justification for the Sept. 2 strike after lawmakers from both parties on Sunday announced support for congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific Ocean. The lawmakers cited a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for a second strike that killed survivors on the boat in that September incident.

Leavitt in her comments to reporters did not dispute a Washington Post report that there were survivors after the initial strike in the incident. Her explanation came after President Donald Trump a day earlier said that he “wouldn’t have wanted that — not a second strike” when asked about the incident.

“Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes,” said Leavitt, referring to U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley, who at the time was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command. “Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated.”

The lawmakers said they did not know whether last week’s Post report was true, and some Republicans were skeptical. Still, they said the reports of attacking survivors of an initial missile strike posed serious legal concerns and merited further scrutiny.

The White House weighed in after Trump on Sunday vigorously defended Hegseth.

“Pete said he did not order the death of those two men,” Trump said. He added, “And I believe him.”

Leavitt said Hegseth has spoken with members of Congress who may have expressed some concerns about the reports over the weekend.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also spoke over the weekend with the four bipartisan lawmakers leading the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. He reiterated “his trust and confidence in the experienced commanders at every echelon,” Caine’s office said in a statement.

The statement added that the call focused on “addressing the intent and legality of missions to disrupt illicit trafficking networks which threaten the security and stability of the Western Hemisphere.”

Congress wants answers

Senate Majority Leader John Thune on Monday broadly defended the operations, echoing the Trump administration position that they’re necessary to stem the flow of illegal narcotics into the United States.

Thune said the committees in Congress will conduct oversight looking into what happened. “I don’t think you want to draw any conclusions or deductions until you have all the facts,” he said of the Sept. 2 strike. “We’ll see where they lead.”

After the Post’s report, Hegseth said Friday on X that “fake news is delivering more fabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”

“Our current operations in the Caribbean are lawful under both U.S. and international law, with all actions in compliance with the law of armed conflict — and approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command,” Hegseth wrote.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Hegseth a “national embarrassment” over his response to critics. Schumer added that the armed services committees should demand that Hegseth release the video of the strike and testify under oath about what happened.

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the panel’s inquiry would start “with briefings about what actually happened” from the officials involved.

Reed also called for the administration to release unredacted video of the strike.

“If they’ve done nothing wrong, then that video should exonerate them completely. Why don’t they release it?” he asked.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pledged that his investigation would be “done by the numbers.”

“We’ll find out the ground truth,” he said, adding that the ramifications of the report were “serious charges.”

Venezuela’s president reacts

Trump met later Monday with his national security team to discuss the ongoing operations and potential next steps against Venezuela.

The U.S. administration says the strikes are aimed at drug cartels, some of which it claims are controlled by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump also is weighing whether to carry out strikes on the Venezuelan mainland.

Trump confirmed Sunday that he had recently spoken by phone with Maduro but declined to detail the conversation.

Speaking to supporters in Caracas on Monday, Maduro said U.S. pressure has “tested” the country, but Venezuelans are ready “to defend it and lead it to the path of peace.”

“We have lived through 22 weeks of aggression that can only be described as psychological terrorism,” Maduro said.

The September strike was one in a series carried out by the U.S. military in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as Trump has ordered the buildup of a fleet of warships near Venezuela, including the largest U.S. aircraft carrier.

More than 80 have been killed the strikes on small boats that the Trump administration alleges smuggle narcotics for drug cartels.

Venezuela’s National Assembly has announced the launch of an investigation into the lethal strikes carried about by the U.S.

Sunday’s announcement by the Assembly’s president, Jorge Rodríguez, marked the first time that a Maduro government official explicitly acknowledged that Venezuelans have been killed in the monthslong U.S. military operation.

Rodríguez, Maduro’s chief negotiator, said a group of lawmakers will come together to investigate “the serious events that led to the murder of Venezuelans in the waters of the Caribbean Sea.”

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela. Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Lisa Mascaro and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

The Associated Press

Bitcoin and companies tied to cryptocurrencies extended a nearly two-month swoon Monday, tracking with a broader market sell-off in technology companies that many see as overvalued.

Bitcoin slid 6.5% after being down nearly 12% earlier in the day, settling in just above $85,000. The most-traded cryptocurrency is down about 33% since hitting a record $126,210.50 on Oct. 6, according to crypto trading platform Coinbase. Bitcoin had soared since April in line with the stock market and driven partly by a more crypto-friendly tone in Washington.

Companies that enable investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, as well as the growing number of companies who have made investing in bitcoin their main business focus, were hammered in Monday’s sell-off.

Coinbase Global fell 5.4% and online trading platform Robinhood Markets lost 4.4%. Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms dropped 2.8%.

Strategy, the biggest of the so-called crypto treasury companies that raises money just to buy bitcoin, tumbled 10%. The company has reported holding 649,870 bitcoin. As of 1 p.m. ET Monday they were worth about $55 billion.

American Bitcoin, in which President Donald Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. hold a stake, fell 8.1% and is now down more than 41% since Sept. 30.

Other Trump-related crypto ventures have seen declines as well. The market value for the World Liberty Financial token, or $WLFI, has fallen to about $4.14 billion from above $6 billion in mid-September, according to coinmarketcap.com And the price of a meme coin named for President Donald Trump, $TRUMP, is $5.67, a fraction of the $45 asking price just before his inauguration in January.

One popular way of investing in bitcoin is through spot bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, which allow investors to have a stake in bitcoin without directly owning the cryptocurrency. According to data from Morningstar Direct, investors pulled $3.6 billion out of spot bitcoin ETFs in November, the largest monthly outflow since the ETFs began trading in January 2024.

Bitcoin futures are down nearly 24% in the past month. At the same time, gold futures are up almost 7%.

Analysts point to a number of factors that have led to the sell-off in bitcoin and other crypto investments, including a broad risk-off sentiment that has gripped markets this fall, sending investors toward safer havens such as bonds and gold.

In a research note to clients last week, Deutsche Bank analysts also attributed the recent declines in crypto to institutional selling, other long-term holders collecting profits and a more hawkish Federal Reserve. Stalled crypto regulation has also contributed to the uncertainty, Deutsche Bank said.

“While volatility remains inherent, these conditions indicate Bitcoin’s portfolio integration is being tested, and raises questions of whether this is a temporary correction or a more prolonged adjustment,” the analysts wrote.

On the regulatory front, the crypto industry received a boost in July when Trump signed into law regulations that set initial guardrails and consumer protections for stablecoins, which are tied to assets like the U.S. dollar to reduce price volatility compared with other forms of cryptocurrency.

But a bill that creates a new market structure for cryptocurrency remains stalled in the Senate. The bill has been a top priority for the crypto industry since it spent heavily to elect Trump and install other allies in Washington.

A West Bloomfield man faces nine felony charges after allegedly shooting into a neighbor’s home on Monday.

West Bloomfield Police Deputy Chief Scott Mong said Marquis Greg-Lamar Fletcher, 50, was arraigned via Zoom by a 48th District Court magistrate on Wednesday.

Fletcher was arrested on Monday in the 7400 block of Coach Lane after police were summoned by his wife, who said he was armed and having a mental health crisis, Mong said.

As police were en route to the scene, Fletcher allegedly carried firearms to a neighbor’s home, broke a window and fired several rounds inside. None of the four people inside the home were hurt, Mong said.

Fletcher faces the following charges:

•  first-degree home invasion, a 20-year felony,

•  assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, a 10-year felony,

•  discharging a firearm in or at a building, a 10-year felony,

•  wearing body armor during the commission of a violent crime, a four-year felony,

• one count of assaulting, resisting and/or obstructing a police officer, a 2-year felony and

• four counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. If convicted, he faces two years in prison for each count.

Fletcher remains in Oakland County Jail, with bond set at $500,000 cash or surety. His next 48th District Court appearance is 8:45 a.m. Dec. 9.

Mong said suspects in any crime are presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

By SAM McNEIL

BRUSSELS (AP) — Money is as central to Europe’s vital support of Ukraine as ammunition and intelligence. Yet, the bloc’s most viable funding mechanism involves seizing billions of dollars worth of Russian assets that U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed taking over.

The first draft of Trump’s 28-point peace plan called for an investment scheme for Ukraine’s reconstruction controlled by the U.S. but financed by $100 billion in frozen Russian assets matched by another $100 billion from the European Union — with 50% of profits sent back to Washington.

The plan surprised Europeans, who have spent years fiercely debating the fate of Russia’s frozen fortune.

Those funds are central to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plan to both maintain pressure on Russia and increase support for Ukraine as mysterious drone incursions and sabotage operations rattle European capitals.

“I cannot see any scenario in which the European taxpayers alone will pay the bill,” she said Wednesday in Strasbourg, France to applause from lawmakers in the European Parliament.

The 27-nation EU has sent Ukraine almost $197 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four years ago. While there’s no consensus on how to provide more aid, there’s near unanimity on seizing the Russian assets to cover the estimated $153 billion for Ukraine’s budget and military needs for 2026 and 2027.

The Commission has proposed paying that bill with joint debt taken on by the EU and grants by individual nations, but its main source is the $225 billion assets frozen at Euroclear, a Brussels-based financial institution.

That is, if the Trump administration doesn’t get them first.

Perks of the deal

Trump’s brash negotiating style left many in Europe suspecting he wants a quick deal that forces Europeans to make it work and pay for it. All while the U.S. profits.

Analysts say the proposal was essentially a U.S. attempt to snatch these assets, coming as Brussels and Washington relaunch trade negotiations over tariffs.

Agathe Demarais, a senior fellow at the Berlin-based European Council on Foreign Relations, said the proposal was akin to a “signing bonus” for a peace deal heavily slanted towards Russia.

Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre, called the U.S. takeover of the assets “outrageous,” but suggested it might also be acceptable to Europeans “if that is ultimately the price to pay for a good deal.”

After intense discussions between the U.S., Germany, France, the United Kingdom and representatives from the European Commission, the investment scheme was removed from the new draft peace plan. Russia has already signaled its total rejection of the new draft.

The assets frozen in Belgium

A quick seizure of Russia’s frozen assets by the EU would not only secure Ukraine’s defense budget, but also empower Brussels at the negotiation table, Demarais said.

“If the EU rushes to seize Russia’s central bank assets before Washington grabs them, the bloc may be able to drastically curb Trump’s interest in a bad deal,” she said.

The European Commission has proposed taking direct ownership of the assets. Under von der Leyen’s leadership, it could then issue a loan to Ukraine, which would be repaid only if Moscow provides war reparations to Kyiv.

The bulk of these assets are held in a clearinghouse called Euroclear in Belgium. However, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has refused to approve their use as collateral for a massive loan for Ukraine, citing fears that Russia would retaliate against Belgian interests.

“We are a small country, and retaliation could be very hard,” De Wever said in October.

Yet the Belgian position on thawing the assets was influenced by an impasse in local politics over deep federal debt. After months of domestic political wrangling ended last week in a deal, politicians from Riga to Lisbon started hoping that De Wever would be able to lift his objections to seizing Russian assets.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said after the Brussels meeting on Wednesday that “the clock is ticking” and that seizing the assets was “the only realistic financing option that would make a real difference and one that would be most fair to taxpayers” in Europe.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat said Wednesday there is now broad EU support for Belgium.

“It would send the strongest message to Moscow that it cannot wait us out, and we need to make this decision fast,” said Kallas.

On Dec. 18, De Wever will join the other EU national leaders for a summit in Brussels over, among other subjects, seizing the Russian assets.

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber contributed from Berlin.

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER

NEW YORK (AP) — As the Justice Department gets ready to release its files on sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, a court battle over sealed documents in Maxwell’s criminal case is offering clues about what could be in those files.

Government lawyers asked a judge on Wednesday to allow the release of a wide range of records from Maxwell’s case, including search warrants, financial records, survivor interview notes, electronic device data and material from earlier Epstein investigations in Florida.

Those records, among others, are subject to secrecy orders that the Justice Department wants lifted as it works to comply with a new law mandating the public release of Epstein and Maxwell investigative materials.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump last week.

The Justice Department submitted the list a day after U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer in New York ordered the government to specify what materials it plans to publicly release from Maxwell’s case.

The government said it is conferring with survivors and their lawyers and that it will redact records to ensure protection of survivors’ identities and prevent the dissemination of sexualized images.

“In summary, the Government is in the process of identifying potentially responsive materials” that are required to be disclosed under the law, “categorizing them and processing them for review,” the department said.

The four-page filing bears the names of the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Jay Clayton, along with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Also Wednesday, a judge weighing a similar request for materials from Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking case gave the department until Monday 1 to provide detailed descriptions the records it wants made public. U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said he will review the material in private before deciding.

In August, Berman and Engelmayer denied the department’s requests to unseal grand jury transcripts and other material from Epstein and Maxwell’s cases, ruling that such disclosures are rarely, if ever, allowed.

The department asked the judges this week to reconsider, arguing in court filings that the new law requires the government to “publish the grand jury and discovery materials” from the cases. The law requires the release of Epstein-related files in a searchable format by Dec. 19.

Epstein was a millionaire money manager known for socializing with celebrities, politicians and other powerful men. He killed himself in jail a month after his 2019 arrest. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking for luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

In initial filings Monday, the Justice Department characterized the material it wants unsealed in broad terms, describing it as “grand jury transcripts and exhibits.” Engelmayer ordered the government to file a letter describing the materials “in sufficient detail to meaningfully inform victims” what it plans to make public.

Engelmayer did not preside over Maxwell’s trial, but was assigned to the case after the trial judge, Alison J. Nathan, was elevated to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Tens of thousands of pages of records pertaining to Epstein and Maxwell have already been released over the years, including through civil lawsuits, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests.

In its filing Wednesday, the Justice Department listed 18 categories of material that it is seeking to release from Maxwell’s case, including reports, photographs, videos and other materials from police in Palm Beach, Florida, and the U.S. attorney’s office there, both of which investigated Epstein in the mid-2000s.

Last year, a Florida judge ordered the release of about 150 pages of transcripts from a state grand jury that investigated Epstein in 2006. Last week, citing the new law, the Justice Department moved to unseal transcripts from a federal grand jury that also investigated Epstein.

That investigation ended in 2008 with a then-secret arrangement that allowed Epstein to avoid federal charges by pleading guilty to a state prostitution charge. He served 13 months in a jail work-release program. The request to unseal the transcripts is pending.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated after the governor of West Virginia updated his earlier report that they had died.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence.

The West Virginia governor initially said the troops had died, but later walked back the statement to say his office was “receiving conflicting reports” about their condition. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to questions about the attack and the condition of the troops.

A suspect who was in custody also was shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

“We are in ongoing contact with federal officials as the investigation continues,” Gov. Patrick Morrisey said.

Law enforcement was reviewing surveillance video from the scene and believed the suspect approached the soldiers and pulled out a gun, said another law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

At least one of the soldiers exchanged gunfire with the shooter, the official said. Investigators were trying to determine the gunman’s motive, including whether the suspect was targeting the troops for any specific reason, the official said.

The shooting happened roughly two blocks northwest of the White House.

Social media video shared in the immediate aftermath showed first responders attempting CPR on one of the soldiers and treating the other on a glass-covered sidewalk. Other officers could be seen steps away restraining an individual on the ground.

Stacy Walters said she was in a car near the scene car when she heard two gunshots and saw people running. Almost instantly, law enforcement swarmed the area. “It’s such a beautiful day. Who would do this, and we’re getting ready for the holidays?”

Emergency medical responders transported all three people to a hospital, according to Vito Maggiolo, the public information officer for the DC Fire and Emergency Services.

The presence of the National Guard in the nation’s capital has been a flashpoint issue for months, fueling a court fight and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration’s use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem.

More than 300 West Virginia National Guard members were deployed to Washington in August. Last week, about 160 of them volunteered to extend their deployment until the end of the year while the others returned to West Virginia just over a week ago.

Police tape cordoned off the scene where fire and police vehicle lights flashed and helicopter blades thudded overhead. Agents from the Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were on scene, as National Guard troops stood sentry nearby. At least one helicopter landed on the National Mall.

President Donald Trump, who was in Florida for Thanksgiving, warned in a statement on social media that the “animal” who shot the guardsmen “will pay a very steep price.”

“God bless our Great National Guard, and all of our Military and Law Enforcement. These are truly Great People,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I, as President of the United States, and everyone associated with the Office of the Presidency, am with you!”

In Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Vice President JD Vance urged “everybody who’s a person of faith” to pray for the two Guardsmen. He cautioned that much remained unknown, including the motive of the shooter.

“I think it’s a somber reminder that soldiers, whether they’re active duty, reserve or National Guard, our soldiers are the sword and the shield of the United States of America,” Vance said as he delivered a Thanksgiving message to troops.

A spokesperson for Mayor Muriel Bowser said local leaders were actively monitoring the situation. Bowser had spent the morning at a Thanksgiving event at the Convention Center and then held a news conference to explain why she was not seeking reelection.

Trump issued an emergency order in August that federalized the local police force and sent in National Guard troops from eight states and the District of Columbia. The order expired a month later, but the troops remained.

The soldiers have patrolled neighborhoods, train stations and other locations, participated in highway checkpoints and also have been assigned to trash pickup and to guard sports events.

Last week, a federal judge ordered an end to the deployment but also put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the Trump administration time to either remove the troops or appeal the decision.

—–

Governor Patrick Morrisey had previously reported their deaths in a social media post.

 

 

You don’t have to pinch yourselves, Detroit Lions fans, this is real: Frank Ragnow is coming out of retirement, a source confirmed to The Detroit News on Wednesday.

Ragnow, a multi-time All-Pro, first announced his retirement in June, citing health reasons. The former first-round pick and standout in the middle of Detroit’s vaunted offensive line has endured a number of injuries throughout his career, including a fractured throat and, as recently as the 2024 season, a partially torn pectoral muscle.

But those ailments were seemingly not enough to keep Ragnow away from the game for long. His reinsertion into the lineup gives new hope for the Lions’ offensive line, which, at best, has been up and down through the first three months of the 2025 season.

Quarterback Jared Goff has been sacked 23 times (12th-most in the NFL), and Detroit has rushed for fewer than 100 yards in each of its four losses. The Lions were held to under 75 rushing yards against the Green Bay Packers (Week 1), Minnesota Vikings (Week 9) and Philadelphia Eagles (Week 11).

Without Ragnow, the Lions turned to veteran Graham Glasgow, moving him from guard to center. At guard, the Lions initially leaned on second-year pro Christian Mahogany and rookie Tate Ratledge, but Mahogany broke a bone in his leg earlier this month and his since been replaced by Kayode Awosika. Mahogany could return in late December, Lions coach Dan Campbell has estimated.

To call Ragnow’s un-retirement a surprise would be an understatement. Asked on Nov. 4 about Ragnow, Lions coach Dan Campbell said the “ship has sailed” on him coming back: “Here’s what I know about Frank: If Frank really wanted to (play), he would be blowing my phone up, and I haven’t gotten a text yet,” Campbell said in an interview on 97.1 The Ticket’s “Costa & Jansen with Heather” show. “So, I think Frank is feeling good about his decision. Look, they just had another baby, so happy for them.”

“This is awesome for the Lions, can’t wait to watch Frank back out there doing his thing!” former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce said on social media.

Ragnow has appeared in and started 96 games in his career, with all but 16 of those games coming at center; he played left guard his rookie year. Ragnow is a four-time Pro Bowler and was a second-team All-Pro in 2020, 2023 and 2024. The Lions used the 20th overall pick in 2018 to draft Ragnow, who spent four seasons at Arkansas and was a two-time All-American.

As is standard when a player comes out of retirement, Ragnow’s preexisting contract will be in effect, according to ESPN. When he retired, he two years remaining on a four-year, $54 million extension signed in 2021.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

By HOLLY RAMER

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A Massachusetts woman who was once engaged to the brother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt remains in ICE custody two weeks after being arrested on her way to pick up the son she shares with her former fiancé.

Bruna Ferreira, 33, was driving to her son’s school in New Hampshire on Nov. 12 when she was pulled over in Revere, Massachusetts, her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said Wednesday.

“She wasn’t told why she was detained,” he said. “She was bounced from Massachusetts, to New Hampshire, to Vermont, to Louisiana on this unconstitutional merry-go-round.”

Pomerleau said Ferreira’s 11-year-old son lives with her former fiancé, Michael Leavitt, in New Hampshire, but they have shared custody and maintained a co-parenting relationship for many years since their engagement broke off.

“She was detained for no reason at all. She’s not dangerous. She’s not a flight risk. She’s not a criminal illegal alien,” he said. “She’s a business owner who pays taxes and has a child who was wondering where mommy was after school two weeks ago.”

Michael Leavitt did not respond to a message sent to his workplace. The White House press secretary declined comment. Karoline Leavitt grew up in New Hampshire, and made an unsuccessful run for Congress from the state in 2022 before becoming Trump’s spokesperson for his 2024 campaign and later joining him at the White House.

Pomerleau said his client was 2 or 3 when she and her family came to the U.S. from Brazil, and she later enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, the Obama-era policy that shields immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. He said she was in the process of applying for a green card.

The Department of Homeland Security said Ferreira entered the U.S. on a tourist visa that required her to leave in 1999. A department spokesperson said Ferreira had a previous arrest for battery, an allegation her attorney denied.

An online search of court cases in several Massachusetts locations where she has lived found no record of such a charge.

“They’re claiming she has some type of criminal record we’ve seen nowhere. Show us the proof,” Pomerleau said. “She would’ve been deported years ago if that was true. And yet, here she is in the middle of this immigration imbroglio.”

A DHS spokesperson confirmed Ferreira is being held in Louisiana.

President Donald Trump’s efforts to broadly reshape immigration policy have included changing the approach to DACA recipients. Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently issued a statement saying that people “who claim to be recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are not automatically protected from deportations. DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country.”

Fiddy is making good on his promise to expose Diddy.

Hip-hop superstar Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s eagerly anticipated documentary about Sean “Diddy” Combs will finally see the light of day two years after the project was announced.

Netflix is set to release “Sean Combs: The Reckoning” globally on Dec. 2, the streamer confirmed on Tuesday.

The four-part series — directed by Alexandria Stapleton and executive produced by 50 Cent — is described by the streaming giant as “a staggering examination of the media mogul, music legend and convicted offender.”

The documentary will feature new interviews with “those formerly in Combs’ orbit,” according to Tuesday’s announcement. It also promises to “[tell] the story of a powerful, enterprising man and the gilded empire he built — and the underworld that lay just beneath its surface.”

In a teaser also released on Tuesday, former Bad Boy Records rapper Mark Curry is heard saying: “You can’t continue to keep hurting people and nothing ever happens. It’s just a matter of time.”

Combs was found guilty in July on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, following a nine-week trial in which his ex-girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie Ventura, served as the star witness.

Last month, he began serving his four-year federal prison sentence at FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey. He’s also currently facing a barrage of civil lawsuits connected to sexual misconduct allegations as he attempts to appeal his conviction and sentence.

“This isn’t just about the story of Sean Combs or the story of Cassie, or the story of any of the victims, or the allegations against him, or the trial,” said Stapleton, whose previous credits include documentaries on Reggie Jackson, Chelsea Handler and JonBenét Ramsey.

“Ultimately, this story is a mirror [reflecting us] as the public, and what we are saying when we put our celebrities on such a high pedestal,” she continued. “I hope [this documentary] is a wake-up call for how we idolize people, and to understand that everybody is a human being.”

50 Cent, meanwhile, said he’s “grateful to everyone who came forward and trusted us with their stories,” adding that he’s proud to have Stapleton to “bring this important story to the screen.”

The “In Da Club” rapper has had long-standing beef with Diddy, dating back to the 2006 diss track “The Bomb,” in which 50 accused Combs of having something to do with the 1997 murder of the Notorious B.I.G.

The feud has continued ever since through social media jabs and rival business ventures. Actress, model and entrepreneur Daphne Joy, who shares a son with 50 Cent, was also named as one of Diddy’s “sex worker[s]” in a lawsuit filed by Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones.

50 Cent has said he suspected Combs’ alleged illegal behavior for years and that the documentary was already in the works prior to Diddy’s arrest in September 2024.

By MARK SHERMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won’t immediately allow the Trump administration to fire the director of the U.S. Copyright Office, instead delaying a decision until after they rule in two other high-profile firing cases.

The justices’ Wednesday order leaves in effect for now lower court rulings that held that the official, Shira Perlmutter, could not be unilaterally fired.

The case is the latest that relates to Trump’s authority to install his own people at the head of federal agencies. The Supreme Court has largely allowed Trump to fire officials, even as court challenges proceed.

Justice Clarence Thomas said he would have allowed Perlmutter to be fired as her lawsuit proceeds. The court majority, though, decided to wait to make a decision until after they rule in two other lawsuits over Trump firings.

Arguments are set for December in the first case, over the removal of Rebecca Slaughter as a member of the Federal Trade Commission.

And in January the court will hear the case of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, who remains in her job despite Trump’s attempt to fire her.

Rulings are expected weeks or months after the court hears arguments.

Perlmutter’s case concerns an office that is within the Library of Congress. She is the register of copyrights and also advises Congress on copyright issues.

Despite the ties to Congress, the register “wields executive power” in regulating copyrights, Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court.

Perlmutter claims Trump fired her in May because he disapproved of advice she gave to Congress in a report related to artificial intelligence. Perlmutter had received an email from the White House notifying her that “your position as the Register of Copyrights and Director at the U.S. Copyright Office is terminated effective immediately,” her office said.

A divided appellate panel ruled that Perlmutter could keep her job while the case moves forward.

Perlmutter’s attorneys have argued that she is a renowned copyright expert. She has served as register of copyrights since then-Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden appointed her to the job in October 2020.

Trump appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to replace Hayden at the Library of Congress. The White House fired Hayden amid criticism from conservatives that she was advancing a “woke” agenda.

By Sarah Hepola, The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — One of the happier narrative arcs in Hollywood belongs to Macaulay Culkin, who shot to superstardom as a kid in the 1990 smash “Home Alone.” It’s hard to endure the fame machine at only 10 years old, but Culkin turned out OK. These days, he lives in Los Angeles with his partner, Brenda Song, another former child star (Disney’s “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody”), and their two little boys.

After years of distancing himself from “Home Alone’s” Kevin McCallister, the precocious boy left behind on a family Christmas trip to Paris, Culkin has learned to accept his fate as the (screaming) face of a generation.

I spoke with Culkin by phone on Nov. 17, a day after “Home Alone’s” 35th anniversary. When I mentioned this, there was a beat of silence as he checked the date. “What do you know? I missed it!” He laughed. “Thank you for reminding me.” He’d spent the previous day with Song at a Los Angeles Rams game that the team won by two points. “Man, that was a nailbiter,” he said.

Q: Everyone has to deal with growing older, but you’re like a mirror held up to the rest of the world. As you grow older, we grow older, too.

A: Exactly. I am the opposite of Dorian Gray. This movie being 35 years old doesn’t just age me, it ages everyone else. Someone at the grocery store will ask how old I am, and I’ll say, aw, man, you don’t want to know. I’m 45, and sometimes, it’s a little punch in the gut.

Q: You pushed away from “Home Alone” for a long time. What convinced you to come back?

A: I’ve been embracing it a lot over the last few years, because I have kids of my own [Dakota, 4, and Carson, 2]. I show it to them, and my kids don’t even know it’s me. I’m taller now, I’m bearded, so they don’t quite put it together. My oldest thinks he’s Kevin. I’ll ask him if he remembers sliding down the stairs on the sled, and he’s like, sure do. What a liar! [Laughs.]

But the movie has taken on a different meaning for me. It’s fun getting people together to see this movie in a theater. Laughter is infectious. I did the tour last year, and I was touched by the reception. People want to share it with their kids the way I want to share it with my kids.

It’s a different experience watching it as an adult. There are a number of jokes that go past the kids’ heads. And slapstick is funny. Watching people get smashed in the face and fall on their butts — who doesn’t love that?

Q: I’m curious if you have any memories attached to Dallas.

A: Dallas was the first city I flew on a plane to visit. I went there to work on Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July.” I was cast in that movie, and they cut my part out. I’ve never seen the scene in any DVD extras, so Lord knows it’s probably lost to time.

Q: No way! What was your role?

A: I was probably just “boy in the crowd No. 1.” It was the third movie I’d done, so this would have been like 1988. I think Tom Cruise was in a parade or something, and my line was, “Mom, when I grow up I wanna be just like him,” and the mother turns to me and says, “No you don’t.”

Q: OK, rank these things: Dallas Cowboys, “Dallas” the TV show and the Von Erich wrestling family.

A: Ooh, the Von Erichs are No. 1 for sure. I’ve been a wrestling fan since I was a kid. I even got [my partner] Brenda into wrestling. So wrestling is a part of my DNA, and there’s quite a legacy in Texas.

Now, I don’t want to alienate any of your readers, but I’m going to say the show “Dallas” next, and I’m going to put the Cowboys last, simply because: Go Rams! Also, I grew up a Giants fan, because I’m from New York, and at the same time, the Rams are me and Brenda’s team. I can’t for the life of me put the Cowboys anywhere but last.

Q: I think a lot of our readers will agree with that ranking. Last question: You’re the one leaving your kids home for the holidays now. What will you miss most?

A: Everything. They’re such a fun age, where they believe in magic. Christmas is their favorite. Being away from them is tricky, but I make sure to go home, three days on, four days off. Last year I didn’t do that, and it was kind of a grind. Last year we had to get a plastic tree, because I’m the one who takes care of the tree. This year we got a real tree.

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