By David WelchBloomberg

Brittany Humphries and her husband Jon Bassford are what sales people at car dealerships might call motivated buyers. The couple, who live in suburban Maryland outside Washington, DC, moved swiftly to lock in purchases this year to avoid the risk of paying thousands of dollars more once Trump administration policies on electric vehicles and tariffs fully kick in.

The couple’s story presages a buying boom as people rush to get ahead of the 25% tariff hike on imported vehicles that President Donald Trump announced on March 26, which is set to go into effect on April 3.

By the end of February, Humphries, 38, had traded in her 2022 Hyundai Kona crossover for a new $44,000 Acura Integra compact and her 42-year-old husband swapped his Acura MDX SUV for a lease on a $72,000 all-electric ZDX SUV.

Those transactions helped power strong first-quarter new car sales ahead of White House moves to disrupt the auto industry’s status quo.

“We just don’t want to be part of Trump’s game,” Humphries said.

The promised tariffs could jack up sticker prices once current inventories are depleted.

The first indication of a wider upswell in demand will come Tuesday, when major automakers such as General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. release new car sales data for the latest quarter. Tesla Inc. is expected to detail its global delivery numbers for the period on April 2.

Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on Friday that Americans shouldn’t rush out to buy cars ahead of the tariffs. But that doesn’t appear to be deterring motivated buyers.

“Savvy consumers are likely attempting to get ahead of future uncertainty surrounding auto pricing levels by taking advantage of March deals,” Chris Hopson, principal analyst at S&P Global Mobility, said in a statement. “Downside risks to the auto demand and production environment abound as consumers face potential higher auto prices as a result of expected tariffs.”

Import models – including those shipped from Canada and Mexico – make up about half of overall US sales. And many vehicles made in the US use a lot of imported parts. But it’s unclear exactly how much of a levy will be charged on specific vehicles and also how much of that extra cost – which is estimated to be as much as $12,000 for some models – will be born by consumers. The burden from previous tariff hikes and Covid-era supply chain disruptions was spread out among automakers, parts suppliers and car buyers over a period of years.

Cars already are more expensive than just a few years ago, giving pause even to some affluent buyers. Average new vehicle transaction prices hit $47,373 in February, according to car-shopping website Edmunds. Fear that prices can only go up with Trump’s latest tariffs is driving more people to move up their timeline for buying a new car, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at market research firm AutoForecast Solutions.

“The idea that cars might be more expensive in April has been all over the news,” he said.

A similar trend boosted car sales in the final quarter of 2024 as buyers rushed to sign paperwork for electric vehicles eligible for tax credits Trump has started to curb. That helped automakers end 2024 on a bullish note, with sales up 2.2% to 15.9 million vehicles for the year, marking the highest level since 2019, according to Wards Intelligence.

Edmunds projects first quarter sales will continue that upward trend, rising 1% to 3.8 million vehicles – the strongest start to the year since 2021. That number likely reflects some sales pulled forward by trade policy concerns, but also reflects healthy overall demand and supply in the market, according to Jessica Caldwell, an analyst at Edmunds. Price hikes and inventory disruptions tied to trade policy may start to weigh on auto sales beginning in April, she said.

“If you’re looking to buy a car in the next, I’d say, month, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a car as soon as possible,” Caldwell said in a Bloomberg TV interview.

Most major automakers sell vehicles sourced from multiple countries, with some brands more dependent on foreign-made models than others. Many of the cheapest vehicles are imported, something that could soon put many cars out of reach for entry-level buyers.

Faith Johnson, a 30-year-old dental assistant living in metro Detroit, has been looking to buy a new car because her current vehicle, a used Ford Explorer, is having engine trouble even after $5,000 in repairs. She’s been saving for a down payment on a new car since November, and has about $2,000 in cash saved up so far.

“Things are just super expensive,” said Johnson. “Now you have to come up with even more money because of the tariffs? That is insane.”

Researcher Cox Automotive projects sales growth to continue into the first three months of 2025, with a seasonally-adjusted annualized sales rate of 15.8 million vehicles. Prior to Trump’s tariff announcement, Cox expected 16.3 million vehicles would be sold for the full year. But that may drop once tariffs are imposed.

“It will be a squandered opportunity as we were poised for continuing growth” this year, Jonathan Smoke, Cox Automotive chief economist, said in a March 26 webcast. “Our quarterly survey of dealer sentiment showed positive momentum at the end of 2024.”

By Dr. Trisha Pasricha
Special to The Washington Post

Q: I feel so rushed during my doctor’s appointments. There’s hardly any time for my doctor to get to know me or to address what concerns me the most. What can I do with these hurried 15-minute visits?

A: Many patients lament how hurried their doctors’ appointments feel. Believe me, I get it. Because as a doctor, I hate it, too.

In many cases, 15 minutes isn’t enough time for physicians to get all the information they need. Many doctors end up running abysmally late trying to ensure the 20 or so patients squished into their daily schedules feel heard and get the time they deserve.

Patients are suffering and frustrated with these crammed appointments, which also are a major driver of physician burnout.

So as a patient, what can you do? If you’ve only got 15 minutes with your doctor, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the brief visit.

Weave in a quick fun fact about yourself

I know this may sound odd when we’re talking about a lack of time. Consider the psychology of the physician here for a moment: Imagine you’re seeing your 11th patient of the day. It’s flu season, and everyone’s masked and hard to recognize. Tales of diabetes and high blood pressure are starting to blur together. You haven’t eaten anything since that stale granola bar during your morning commute.

And then … a revelation: A patient tells you out of the blue that they used to fly airplanes for the army. Or that their teenage granddaughter is teaching them how to ski for the first time. Or that they took up yarn-crafting during the pandemic and just finished a magnificent, crocheted penguin.

We’re all human. Sometimes, your physician is transformed against their will into a robot. Years ago, we all went into medicine because we wanted to make our patients’ lives better TOP-L-HealthBeat-Hack0126 not fill out paperwork for insurance companies and write lengthy notes that meet billing requirements. These glimpses of the wonderful, unique person you are will remind your doctor that they are treating a person, and not a disease.

Decades of research in the biopsychosocial model of medicine have taught us that patient and physician outcomes are better when we integrate the patient’s story into our care. It takes an extra 15-30 seconds, but I go out of my way to ask new patients to tell me a fun fact about themselves that I make note of with their permission. In doing so, not only do I remember their medical histories better, but we both find it almost invariably brings a tiny, coveted spark of joy.

Lead with your most pressing concern

I like to open my visits by asking patients to tell me one thing they absolutely want to make sure is addressed today. Then I dive into other items on our agenda, such as following up on prescriptions or health screening tests.

It’s a classic scenario, and one I’ve experienced time and time again: me reaching for the doorknob at the end of the allotted visit, only to hear that you were saving your most concerning question for last.

Never save the most important thing for last — even if it’s embarrassing or it scares you. By raising your most pressing question first, your doctor will focus more time on what is truly worrying you.

Bring written notes to common questions

For new symptoms, your physician will probably ask a set of predictable questions:

• When did the issue start? It’s fine to just have a ballpark — but there’s big difference between a few weeks and a few years ago.

• What interventions or medications have you already tried? Know the medication names and doses — bring in your bag of pill bottles if it’ll help.

• Has anyone in the family experienced something like this? Call your family members ahead of time and ask about their medical history — it can dramatically change what a doctor decides to do next.

Rehearsing your “story” and gathering these details can help ensure our limited time is spent on diving into specifics, a physical exam and counseling — rather than searching for medication names on your smartphone.

Give A.I. a chance

When was the last time you met a doctor who spent the entire visit looking at you? How many seconds passed before they broke eye contact and began typing frenetically on their computers?

A.I. is starting to be used in many clinics to listen in on the conversation between patient and physician, and automatically create a note in your chart so that your doctor focuses directly on you, rather than the computer screen. You may not have much control over whether your doctor’s clinic offers it (within the next year or two, you can bet it’ll become more and more mainstream), but if it’s on the table, don’t be scared or ask to opt out.

Paradoxically, I think this kind of A.I. may be a step in the right direction to restore some humanity back to the doctor-patient relationship. Remember: A.I. in health care is heavily regulated. These technologies are HIPAA-compliant and are transcribing — not recording — the conversation.

Embrace medical trainees in your visit

If you get your care at a major academic center, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll encounter a trainee — medical students, residents or fellows. This may mean you’ll have to repeat your story multiple times. Once each member of the team has seen you, they’ll gather with the attending physician to come up with a plan.

I realize repeating your story can feel tiresome. But consider these two things: First, studies have shown that doctors are most empathetic when they’re fresh out of medical school. So they may well be the most devoted and sensitive member of your team. Second, when a trainee is involved in your care, you as a patient can actually get a longer appointment time. This means you have a chance to discuss details and worries in a way that may otherwise have felt too rushed with just the attending physician.

You want someone to listen to your whole story. So take advantage of the fact that trainees are dedicated to hearing you and reporting back the best assessment of your case. In my experience, they often become your biggest advocate.

Today is Tuesday, April 1, the 91st day of 2025. There are 274 days left in the year. This is April Fool’s Day.

Today in history:

On April 1, 1945, American forces launched the amphibious invasion of Okinawa during World War II. (U.S. forces succeeded in capturing the Japanese island on June 22 after a battle in which more than 240,000 died, including as many as 150,000 Okinawan civilians.)

Also on this date:

In 1924, Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. (Hitler would serve just nine months of the sentence, during which time he completed the first volume of “Mein Kampf.”)

In 1946, a magnitude 8.6 earthquake centered near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands triggered a tsunami that pounded the Hawaiian Islands with waves up to 55 feet (17 meters) tall, killing 159.

In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and television beginning in January 1971.

In 1976, Apple Computer was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

In 1984, singer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father after Gaye intervened in an argument between his parents at their home.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.

In 2003, American troops raided a hospital in Nasiriyah (nah-sih-REE’-uh), Iraq, and rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed on March 23.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Ali MacGraw is 86.
• Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is 75.
• Actor Annette O’Toole is 73.
• Filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld is 72.
• Singer Susan Boyle is 64.
• Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Stevens is 61.
• Rapper-actor Method Man is 54.
• Political commentator Rachel Maddow is 52.
• Actor David Oyelowo is 49.
• Comedian-actor Taran Killam is 43.
• Actor Asa Butterfield is 28.

SEATTLE (AP) — Riley Greene homered and Javier Báez hit a two-run double in Detroit’s six-run first inning, helping the Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 9-6 on Monday night for their first victory of the season.

Báez, Dillon Dingler and Trey Sweeney each had three of Detroit’s 18 hits. Kerry Carpenter had two hits and two RBIs.

The Tigers were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in their season-opening series.

Randy Arozarena, Cal Raleigh and Luke Raley homered for Seattle. Julio Rodríguez had two hits and scored two runs.

Mariners right-hander Emerson Hancock (0-1) recorded just two outs before he was pulled.

Carpenter singled in Justin-Henry Malloy, and Greene hit a solo drive for his first homer of the season. Dingler and Sweeney each hit an RBI single before Baez chased Hancock with his first double of the year.

Tigers rookie Jackson Jobe permitted three runs and three hits in four innings in his first career start. He struck out three and walked four.

Tyler Holton (1-0) got the win, and Brant Hurter pitched three innings for the save.

Key moment

Baez’s first-inning double broke the game wide open. Hancock was one strike away from getting out of the inning, but Baez’s hit went off the wall in left.

Key stat

Eight players had at least one hit for Detroit.

Up next

Tigers right-hander Casey Mize will start Tuesday against Seattle ace Logan Gilbert (0-0, 1.29 ERA).

— By SHANE LANTZ, Associated Press

While one of the two Waterford schools will go back into the Oakland Activities Association wearing the boys basketball crown of their former conference, the other is still searching for its way.

At least the latter, Waterford Kettering, has picked the man the Captains hope can steer the ship out of the storm, announcing on Monday the hiring of former college and NBA player and coach Rex Walters as their new head coach.

In a social media post entitled ‘We Got Our Guy,’ the Captains listed off the resume of the 55-year-old Walters, and it is extensive:

– Played at Northwestern and Kansas.

– Drafted with the 16th pick in the first round of the 1993 NBA Draft (held at the Palace of Auburn Hills, and headlined by local star Chris Webber).

– Played professionally for 10 seasons, with NBA stops with the New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat.

– Assistant coaching stops at Valparaiso and Florida Atlantic, before acting as the head coach of FAU and San Francisco, where he earned WCC coach of the year honors in 2014.

– Head coach of the Pistons G-League team in Grand Rapids, the Drive, a season on the Pistons bench as an assistant, single seasons at Nevada and Wake Forest, a season with the New Orleans Pelicans and two with the Hornets.

“Big Thank You to AD Shane Hynes, Principal Ben Harwood, Waterford AD Allison Sartorius and the Search Committee for the opportunity to work with the Young Men at Waterford Kettering,” Walters posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Excited to get to work and get back on the Basketball Court!”

He’ll have to continue the rebuilding job that longtime Oakland County coach Steve Emert began over the last three seasons.

While cross town rival Waterford Mott has had a share of the last four Lakes Valley Conference titles, the Captains have been on the opposite end of the standings each of those seasons. The last time they were relatively level was the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, when they finished tied with each other for sixth place (both 3-5).

From that 7-10 season, though, the Captains went 2-19 in the single season (2021-22) under Stefon Wilson, then went 10-59 overall in Emert’s three seasons (3-45 in LVC play).

“Congratulations Coach Walters. You will enjoy working with the student/athletes and the parents in the Kettering community,” Emert replied to a a Facebook post of this story.

There will at least be a modicum of familiarity with the OAA for Walters, who got a look at the league when his younger son, Gunner, played for Rochester Adams before graduating in 2022.

By AMANDA SEITZ and MATTHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — As they readied to leave work Monday, some workers at the Food and Drug Administration were told to pack their laptops and prepare for the possibility that they wouldn’t be back, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press.

Nervous employees — roughly 82,000 across the nation’s public health agencies — waited to see whether pink slips would arrive in their inboxes. The mass dismissals have been expected since Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week a massive reorganization that will result in 20,000 fewer jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. About 10,000 will be eliminated through layoffs.

The email sent to some at the FDA said staffers should check their email for a possible notice that their jobs would be eliminated, which would also halt their access to government buildings. An FDA employee shared the email with AP on condition of anonymity, because they weren’t authorized to disclose internal agency matters.

Kennedy has criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient “sprawling bureaucracy” and said the department’s $1.7 trillion yearly budget “has failed to improve the health of Americans.” He plans to streamline operations and fold entire agencies — such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — into a new Administration for a Healthy America.

On Friday, dozens of federal health employees working to stop infectious diseases from spreading were put on leave.

Several current and former federal officials told The AP that the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy was hollowed out that night. Some employees posted on LinkedIn about the office emptying. And an HIV and public health expert who works directly with the office was emailed a notice saying that all staff had been asked to leave. The expert spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity over fears of losing future work on the issue.

Several of the office’s advisory committees — including the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and others that advise on HIV/AIDs response — have had their meetings canceled.

“It puts a number of important efforts to improve the health of Americans at risk,” said Dr. Robert H. Hopkins Jr., the former chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, an advisory committee of the office.

An HHS official said the office is not being closed but that the department is seeking to consolidate the work and reduce redundancies.

Also, as of Monday, a website for the Office of Minority Health was disabled, with an error message saying the page “does not exist.”

Beyond layoffs at federal health agencies, cuts have begun at state and local health departments as a result of an HHS move last week to pull back more than $11 billion in COVID-19-related funds.

Local and state health officials are still assessing the impact, but some health departments have already identified hundreds of jobs that stand to be eliminated because of lost funding, “some of them overnight, some of them are already gone,” said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

Associated Press writer Carla K. Johnson in Seattle contributed reporting.

By JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Monday paused plans by the Trump administration to end temporary legal protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, a week before they were scheduled to expire.

The order by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco is a relief for 350,000 Venezuelans whose Temporary Protected Status was scheduled to expire April 7. The lawsuit was filed by lawyers for the National TPS Alliance and TPS holders across the country.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also announced the end of TPS for an estimated 250,000 additional Venezuelans in September.

Chen said in his ruling that the action by Noem “threatens to: inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States.”

He said the government had failed to identify any “real countervailing harm in continuing TPS for Venezuelan beneficiaries” and said plaintiffs will likely succeed in showing that Noem’s actions “are unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus.”

Chen, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, said his order applies nationally.

He gave the government one week to file notice of an appeal and the plaintiffs one week to file to pause for 500,000 Haitians whose TPS protections are set to expire in August. Alejandro Mayorkas, the previous secretary, had extended protections for all three cohorts into 2026.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Congress created TPS, as the law is known, in 1990 to prevent deportations to countries suffering from natural disasters or civil strife, giving people authorization to live and work in the U.S. in increments of up to 18 months if the Homeland Security secretary deems conditions in their home countries are unsafe for return.

The reversals are a major about-face from immigration policies under former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and come as Republican President Donald Trump and his top aides have ratcheted up attacks on judges who rule against them, with immigration being at the forefront of many disagreements.

At a hearing last Monday, lawyers for TPS holders said that Noem has no authority to cancel the protections and that her actions were motivated in part by racism. They asked the judge to pause Noem’s orders, citing the irreparable harm to TPS holders struggling with fear of deportation and potential separation from family members.

Government lawyers for Noem said that Congress gave the secretary clear and broad authority to make determinations related to the TPS program and that the decisions were not subject to judicial review. Plaintiffs have no right to thwart the secretary’s orders from being carried out, they said.

But Chen found the government’s arguments unpersuasive and found that numerous derogatory and false comments by Noem — and by Trump — against Venezuelans as criminals show that racial animus was a motivator in ending protections.

“Acting on the basis of a negative group stereotype and generalizing such stereotype to the entire group is the classic example of racism,” he wrote.

Biden sharply expanded use of TPS and other temporary forms of protection in a strategy to create and expand legal pathways to live in the United States while suspending asylum for those who enter illegally.

Trump has questioned the the impartiality of a federal judge who blocked his plans to deport Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, levelling his criticism only hours before his administration asked an appeals court to lift the judge’s order.

The administration has also said it was revoking temporary protections for more than 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans who have come to the U.S. since October 2022 through another legal avenue called humanitarian parole, which Biden used more than any other president. Their two-year work permits will expire April 24.

By WILL WEISSERT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump invited Kid Rock into the Oval Office on Monday and signed an executive order that he says will help curb ticket scalping and bring “commonsense” changes to the way live events are priced.

“Anyone who’s bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years — no matter what your politics are — knows that it’s a conundrum,” said Kid Rock, who wore a red bedazzled suit featuring an American flag motif and a straw fedora.

Designed to stop “price-gouging by middlemen,” the order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to ensure that scalpers offering tickets at higher prices than their face value comply with all Internal Revenue Service rules.

It also orders the Federal Trade Commission to ensure “price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchase process” and to “take enforcement action to prevent unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct in the secondary ticketing market,” which the Trump administration argues can restore sensibility and order to the ticket market.

Trump said he knows Kid Rock, a longtime supporter whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, as simply “Bob.”

“He’s been a good friend for a long time,” Trump said.

The president said rising fees for concerts and other events have “gotten worse and worse with time.” Kid Rock agreed.

“You can buy a ticket for $100. By the time you check out, it’s $170. You don’t know what you’ve been charged for,” Kid Rock said. “But, more importantly, the bots, you know, they come in, they get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to, and then they’re relisted immediately for sometimes 400-500% markup.”

The order mostly directs federal agencies to enforce existing laws. Still, it marks a rare instance of policy crossover with the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden, which used the FTC to target “ junk fees,” or levies tacked on at the end of the purchase process that can mask the full price of things like concert tickets, hotel rooms and utility bills.

Under Biden, the Justice Department also sued Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, last year. It accused them of running an illegal monopoly over live events and asked a court to break up the system that squelches competition and drives up prices for fans.

Those companies have a history of clashing with major artists, including Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. whose summer 2022 stadium tour was plagued by difficulty getting tickets.

Country music star Zach Bryan even released a 2022 album titled “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster.” A representative for Bryan said he had “nothing to add” when asked to comment on Monday’s executive orer.

The Biden administration used such initiatives as a way to protect consumers from rising prices that were already inflated. Trump, meanwhile, campaigned on combating high ticket prices, calling them “very unfortunate.”

Kid Rock, known for hits like “Cowboy” and “Bawitdaba,” called Trump’s order a ”great first step” and said he’d eventually like to see a cap on resale prices on tickets — while quickly adding, “I’m a capitalist.” He also said he’d spoken to Ticketmaster, which he described as “on board” with the change.

The White House says America’s live concert and entertainment industry has a total nationwide economic impact of $132.6 billion and supports 913,000 jobs, “But it has become blighted by unscrupulous middle-men who impose egregious fees on fans with no benefit to artists,” according to a fact sheet it released Monday.

Trump’s order further directs federal officials and the FTC to deliver a report in six months “summarizing actions taken to address the issue of unfair practices in the live concert and entertainment industry and recommend additional regulations or legislation needed to protect consumers in this industry.”

“Ticket scalpers use bots and other unfair means to acquire large quantities of face-value tickets, then re-sell them at an enormous markup on the secondary market, price-gouging consumers and depriving fans of the opportunity to see their favorite artists without incurring extraordinary expenses,” the White House face sheet said.

It also noted that higher prices don’t mean additional profits for artists but instead go “solely to the scalper and the ticketing agency.”

Kid Rock agreed that such markups don’t benefit artists like himself, then chuckled while offering, “I’ll be the first one to say, and I know the president doesn’t like when I say this, but, I’m a little overpaid right now.”

“It’s kind of ridiculous. I would rather be, you know, a hero to working-class people and have them be able to come attend my shows and give them a fair ticket price,” he said. “I can’t control that right now so hopefully this is a step to make that happen.”

Associated Press writer Maria Sherman contributed to this report from New York.

The Pontiac that goes below the Phoenix Center is closed. It’s a beginning step in a long-term plan that will reconfigure downtown Pontiac and reinvent the Ottawa Towers. It’s just one issue on Tuesday’s city council agenda.

Already, drivers headed west on Auburn Road and east on Orchard Lake Road are being detoured to the north- and southbound lanes of Woodward Avenue. The two roads meet under the Phoenix Center, which is about to be demolished.

The road will remain closed for an estimated 12 to 18 months, which include rebuilding the road.

Pontiac’s city council will hear a presentation on demolition and construction plans at Tuesday’s meeting. The council will also consider adding 74 parking spaces, including three accessible spaces for people with disabilities, on Judson Street.

The temporary parking spaces will be used by tenants at 51111 Woodward Ave. and their visitors. The building is used by the state and Oakland County officials plan to occupy some of the offices once the renovation is complete.

Adding parking spaces will reduce Judson Street to two lanes of traffic. The city will post a “No Through Traffic” sign for westbound drivers to prevent them from using the street as a shortcut from southbound to northbound Woodward during the next two years. During that time, the traffic light at Judson and Saginaw streets will be off and traffic will use a four-way stop.

Once demotion is done, construction will start on a parking deck. It’s part of a long-term plan to move an estimated 700 county employees to downtown Pontiac after the county purchased the former General Motors building at 31 E. Judson St. and 51111 Woodward Ave.

The overall project will cost an estimated cost of $120 to $130 million. The county has committed $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act money to the project; the state granted $50 million for the work.

The Phoenix Center demolition will open eventually up Saginaw Street to the downtown’s south end. The city will get a park and entertainment space as part of the deal.

Tuesday’s council meeting will also include a presentation on creating a bonding authority for the city, in part to pursue a $15 million capital improvement bond to finance part of the construction for a youth recreation center. The council will also discuss using the bonding authority for other capital projects, according to the board’s president, Mike McGuinness.

The council meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, for a closed session about a real estate matter, followed by a public meeting at 6 p.m. in the council chambers at city hall, 47450 Woodward Ave. in Pontiac. The complete agenda and packet are online at https://www.pontiac.mi.us/government/city_council/agendas___minutes.php.

By ALI SWENSON

NEW YORK (AP) — Two election watchdog organizations sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday over his executive order seeking to overhaul the nation’s elections through a proof-of-citizenship requirement, new mail ballot deadline restrictions and other sweeping changes.

The lawsuit, filed by the Campaign Legal Center and the State Democracy Defenders Fund in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, asks the court to declare the order unconstitutional and stop it from being implemented.

It names three nonprofit voter advocacy organizations as plaintiffs that it alleges are harmed by the order: the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Secure Families Initiative and the Arizona Students’ Association.

“The president’s executive order is an unlawful action that threatens to uproot our tried-and-tested election systems and silence potentially millions of Americans,” said Danielle Lang, senior director of voting rights at the D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center. “It is simply not within the president’s authority to set election rules by executive decree, especially when they would restrict access to voting in this way.”

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Monday’s lawsuit marks the first major legal challenge to last week’s executive order, which election lawyers have warned may violate the U.S. Constitution and asserts power they say the president does not have over an independent agency. That agency, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, sets voluntary voting system guidelines and maintains the federal voter registration form.

It comes as Congress is considering codifying a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration into law, and as Trump has promised more actions related to elections in the coming weeks.

The lawsuit draws attention to the Constitution’s “ Elections Clause,” which says states — not the president — get to decide the “times, places and manner” of how elections are run. That section of the Constitution also gives Congress the power to “make or alter” election regulations, at least for federal office, but it doesn’t mention any presidential authority over election administration.

“The Constitution is clear: States set their own rules of the road when it comes to elections, and only Congress has the power to override these laws with respect to federal elections,” said Lang, calling the executive order an “unconstitutional executive overreach.”

The lawsuit also argues the president’s order intrudes on Americans’ right to vote.

Trump, one of the top spreaders of election falsehoods, has argued this executive order will secure the vote against illegal voting by noncitizens. Multiple studies and investigations in individual states have shown that noncitizens casting ballots in federal elections, already a felony, is exceedingly rare.

Monday’s lawsuit against Trump’s elections order could be just the first of many challenges. Other voting rights advocates have said they’re considering legal action, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Democratic attorney Marc Elias. Several Democratic state attorneys general have said they are looking closely at the order and suspect it is illegal.

Meanwhile, Trump’s order has received praise from the top election officials in some Republican states who say it could inhibit instances of voter fraud and give them access to federal data to better maintain their voter rolls.

If courts determine the order can stand, the changes Trump is demanding are likely to cause some headaches for both election administrators and voters. State election officials, who already have lost some federal cybersecurity assistance, would have to spend time and money to comply with the order, including potentially buying new voting systems and educating voters of the rules.

The proof-of-citizenship requirement also could cause confusion or voter disenfranchisement because millions of eligible voting-age Americans do not have the proper documents readily available. In Kansas, which had a proof-of-citizenship requirement for three years before it was overturned, the state’s own expert estimated that almost all the roughly 30,000 people who were prevented from registering to vote during the time it was in effect were U.S. citizens who had been eligible.

Monday’s lawsuit is the latest of numerous efforts to fight the flurry of executive actions Trump has taken during the first months of his second term. Federal judges have partially or fully blocked many of them, including efforts to restrict birthright citizenship, ban transgender people from military service and curb diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives among federal contractors and grant recipients.

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about the AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By LAURA UNGAR, Associated Press

Federal health officials said Tuesday they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

The statement said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to recover the money beginning 30 days after termination notices, which began being sent out on Monday.

Officials said the money was largely used for COVID-19 testing, vaccination and global projects as well as community health workers responding to COVID and a program established in 2021 to address COVID health disparities among high-risk and underserved patients, including those in minority populations. The move was first reported by NBC News.

Lori Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County & City Health Officials, said much of the funding was set to end soon anyway. “It’s ending in the next six months,” she said. “There’s no reason — why rescind it now? It’s just cruel and unusual behavior.”

In a related move, more than two dozen COVID-related research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health have been canceled. Earlier this month, the Trump administration shut down ordering from covidtest.gov, the site where Americans could have COVID-19 tests delivered to their mailboxes for no charge.

Although the COVID federal public health emergency has ended, the virus is still killing Americans: 458 people per week on average have died from COVID over the past four weeks, according to CDC data.

HHS wouldn’t provide many details about how the federal government expects to recover the money from what it called “impacted recipients.” But HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email: “The $11.4 billion is undisbursed funds remaining.”

Freeman said her understanding is that state health departments already had the COVID money.

“The funding was authorized by Congress, was appropriated by Congress, and it was out the door, basically, into the hands of the grantees” — states, she said, which decide how to distribute it locally.

Some of the COVID money is used to address other public health issues, Freeman added. For example, wastewater surveillance that began during COVID became important for detecting other diseases, too.

“It was being used in significant ways to track flu and patterns of new disease and emerging diseases — and even more recently with the measles outbreak,” Freeman said.

Under both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, billions of dollars was allocated for COVID response through legislation, including a COVID relief bill and the American Rescue Plan Act.

At this point, it’s unclear exactly how health departments will be affected by the pullback of funds. But some were starting to look at what it might mean for them. In Washington state, for example, health officials were notified that more than $125 million in COVID-related funding has been immediately terminated. They are “assessing the impact” of the actions, they said.

In Los Angeles County, health officials said they could lose more than $80 million in core funding for vaccinations and other services. “Much of this funding supports disease surveillance, public health lab services, outbreak investigations, infection control activities at healthcare facilities and data transparency,” a department official wrote in an email.

Associated Press reporters Mike Stobbe in New York, JoNel Aleccia in Temecula, California, Carla K. Johnson in Seattle and Amanda Seitz in Washington, D.C. contributed to this story.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Phil Elam figures he’s been acting since he was 6 years old, in a church holiday production.

Now he’s making his feature film debut in “Bob Trevino Likes It,” opening in metro area theaters this weekend after winning two dozen awards on the festival circuit, including two top prizes at last year’s South By Southwest Film & TV Festival.

Elam, a Ferndale resident who also performs music under the name Coco Bean, considers the role an arrival, but is quick to note that “so much of it is all (from) the training and classes and studying. I couldn’t have gotten here without it.”

The Florida-born Elam, who moved to Detroit when he was 4 years old, has a number of independent film credits, including his own “Swing Low.” He’s been studying at the 1st Team Actors Studio in Cleveland and filmed his audition for “Bob Trevino” with his partner, in the basement of their house. Director-writer Tracie Laymon chose him from more than 50 finalists and was happy enough with his performance — as “an office manager who’s having a really, really bad day” — that she added another scene for him in the film.

“It was a great experience,” Elam says of his one-day shoot in Kentucky. “The energy and sincerity and the loving vibe on the set was great. You didn’t feel like you were working at all. It felt like you were creating a piece of art.”

The film, based on Laymon’s own life, stars Barbie Ferreira as a woman trying to connect with a distant father (French Stewart) who, in her search for him connects with another Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo) for a relationship that’s more genuinely loving and rewarding.

“Bring your Kleenex,” Elam advises.

As the film opens, however, Elam is on to his next project, another feature called “Last Shop on Walnut” that’s starring Peter Lawson Jones (“A Man Called Otto,” “Detroit 1-8-7”), who’s one of his instructors in Cleveland.

Several education bills have passed in the Michigan House including one to eliminate the fee to apply for a teaching certificate and renewal.

Last week three bills passed, one of which was sponsored by state Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-55th District Rochester and Rochester Hills), eliminating hundreds of dollars in fees for teachers on everything from teaching certificate applications and renewals to new endorsements and permits.

Fees are usually $160 for the initial application and then $100 to renew every five years, or $210 for an out-of-state teacher to become a teacher in Michigan. There are other fees for more advanced certificates.

Those fees would be eliminated.

“In an age where schools are struggling to keep our best teachers on the job, nickel and diming our educators every year can no longer be an option,” Tisdel said in a statement after the bill passed. “We need to make it as easy as possible to start a career in education and stop punishing teachers for staying in that important job for the long-term.”

Another bill co-sponsored by Tisdel, allows teachers to fill critical vacancies when they have subject area expertise.

“Many schools that can’t fill specific areas will wait until next year to hire someone, and teachers who want to teach a new subject often have to go through a lengthy process instead of simply adding a new subject area endorsement to their license,” said Tisdel. “If a social studies teacher has a background in literature and wants to step in and teach English, they should be able to do so when it makes sense.”

House Bill 4153 co-sponsored by Tisdel, Tom Kuhn (R-57th District Troy and Madison Heights) and others addressed hiring local experts to teach specific classes, like asking software engineers to offer courses in computer science and bringing in retired statisticians to teach statistics.

“The private sector is laying people off and wouldn’t it be great to give them a path to coming into a classroom and continuing to show their knowledge and skills to the next generation of students?” said Tisdel.

Other bills under consideration in the House include:

House Bill 4156: Overhauling the Michigan Merit Curriculum system by allowing students to pursue paths that match their talents and interests. Alternatives include:

Allowing two out of four math credits to be replaced by career technical education or college dual enrollment classes;
Adding computer science classes to the list of courses that count toward science, math and art credit requirements;
Including coding classes as options to fill foreign language requirements;
requiring a class in personal finance and offering multiple options for electives, like business mathematics, agribusiness and computer science.
House Bill 4154: Adding trade school options to dual enrollment.

House Bill 4148: Changing the state Board of Education election process, so board members are nominated at the local level to represent their communities.

House Bills 4155 and 4159: Creating and publishing a list of proven curriculum options and resources for teachers, giving educators access to a vast array of resources in line with the highest state and national standards. In 2022 alone, elementary teachers used 444 different language arts curriculum resources statewide.

House Bill 4147: Boosting teacher pay and hiring more teachers by helping schools spend less on overhead.

“These bills are not tied together, but there is a common element to all of them aimed at making the education process easier,” said Tisdel. “They are to clear as many obstacles and fences out of the way as possible and make life a little easier for the teachers.”

“The other bills in the education package are still working their way through committee or on the floor, but haven’t come up for final passage yet,” said House Republican Senior Communications Advisor Jeremiah Ward.

Tisdel also presented two bills last year that could be voted on later in the spring.

The first bill amends the Revised School Code to require public and nonpublic schools to implement a mobile panic alert system beginning with the 2025-2026 school year.

The bill requires the system to ensure real-time coordination between schools, 911, law enforcement, and first responders; and must directly integrate with local public safety answering point infrastructure to transmit 911 calls and mobile activations with continued two-way communication between 911 and the school.

The bill is a variation on Alyssa’s Law, named after 14-year-old Alyssa Alhadeff, who was killed in a 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The second bill would ban or restrict smartphones in schools throughout the state.

Tisdel estimated that only 27 out of 538 public school districts in the state currently have some form of cell phone ban or restrictions in place and is looking to create legislation to cover all schools statewide. Armada schools in Macomb County implemented a new cell phone policy last month.

Although cell phone bans have been passed in seven different states, including Ohio, Indiana and Minnesota, Tisdel said he worked with other legislators and experts over two years to create the language for the bill rather than duplicate the policies implemented in those states.

“We started from scratch. I targeted it off of what some of the school districts have already had some experience with and established a minimum baseline and then in the legislation school districts are allowed to be more strict or add additional guardrails if they so choose,” said Tisdel.

 

 

 

Today is Wednesday, March 26, the 85th day of 2025. There are 280 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On March 26, 2018, a toxicology report obtained by The Associated Press revealed that the late pop superstar Prince had levels of fentanyl in his body that multiple experts described as “exceedingly high.”

Also on this date:

In 1812, an earthquake devastated Caracas, Venezuela, causing as many as 30,000 deaths. (The U.S. Congress later approved $50,000 in food aid to be sent to Venezuela — the first example of American disaster assistance abroad.)

In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first American ice hockey team to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 9-1 to win the championship series, three games to one.

In 1979, a peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and witnessed by President Jimmy Carter at the White House.

In 1992, a judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison on rape charges. (Tyson would ultimately serve less than three years of the sentence.)

In 1997, the bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate religious cult who took their own lives were found inside a rented mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

In 2013, Italy’s top criminal court overturned the acquittal of American Amanda Knox in the grisly murder of British roommate Meredith Kercher and ordered Knox to stand trial again. (Although convicted in absentia, Knox was exonerated by the Italian Supreme Court in 2015.)

In 2021, Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, saying the cable news giant falsely claimed that the voting company rigged the 2020 election. (Fox would eventually agree to pay Dominion $787.5 million in one of the largest defamation settlements in U.S. history.)

In 2024, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship, killing six maintenance workers on the bridge. (Maryland officials have announced plans to replace the bridge by late 2028.)

Today’s Birthdays:

• Basketball Hall of Famer Wayne Embry is 88.
• Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 85.
• Author Erica Jong is 83.
• Journalist Bob Woodward is 82.
• Singer Diana Ross is 81.
• Rock singer Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) is 77.
• Actor-comedian Vicki Lawrence is 76.
• Actor-comedian Martin Short is 75.
• Country singer Ronnie McDowell is 75.
• Country singer Charly McClain is 69.
• TV personality Leeza Gibbons is 68.
• Football Hall of Famer Marcus Allen is 65.
• Actor Jennifer Grey is 65.
• Basketball Hall of Famer John Stockton is 63.
• Actor Michael Imperioli is 59.
• Country singer Kenny Chesney is 57.
• Actor Leslie Mann is 53.
• Google co-founder Larry Page is 52.
• Rapper Juvenile is 50.
• Actor Keira Knightley is 40.
• Actor-comedian Ramy Youssef is 34.

WHAT IS THE BEST MEN’S MOUNTAIN BIKE?

Few combinations are better than exercise and nature. Improving your physical health while taking in the beauty of the physical world is fun and easy with a mountain bike.

Cycling is a popular pastime, and mastering the trails at your favorite park or course is what mountain bikes are for. There are many different styles of mountain bikes — even electronic bikes so that people of all abilities can enjoy the ride. The best mountain bike is the SB140 CLR GX Eagle AXS 29in Mountain Bike due to its durability and extra smooth ride.

What to know before you buy a men’s mountain bike

Which type of bike do you need?

Mountain bikes are for off-road riding. If you are regularly hitting the trails, you will need a mountain bike with the design and components to absorb the bumps and jumps on the path. Some people prefer mountain bikes for navigating downtown or a leisurely ride. There also are fat bikes designed for sand and snow. Electric mountain bikes assist with pedaling for those who want a little extra boost.

Which type of frame do you need?

Rigid bikes do not have suspensions. Instead, they rely on spoked wheels and pneumatic tires for shock absorption. Rigid-framed bikes are usually less expensive and have fewer maintenance issues. Hardtail frames have spring suspension on the front of the bike. This improves shock absorption and can be adjusted on some higher-end models. Hardtail frames are common for lower and middle-priced bikes. Full suspension frames have suspension at both ends of the bike, which provides the most control and comfort. Full suspension frames are heavier and the most expensive. They are typically used by competitive mountain bikers.

Which material is best for your bike?

There are three metals used to make mountain bikes. The lighter the metal, the more expensive it is. Steel is the heaviest and the standard for lower-cost bikes. Aluminum alloy is found in many mid-priced bikes. Carbon fiber is the lightest metal but expensive. If you aren’t racing competitively, steel or aluminum alloy should suffice.

What to look for in a quality men’s mountain bike

Wheels

Wheels have changed over time. Some bikes with 26-inch wheels, which used to be the standard, but now there are wheels that measure from 27 to over 29 inches. Larger wheels make the bike faster but also harder to control. The new standard is 27.5 inches. The best wheel for your bike depends on how you plan to use it.

Gears

Beginner mountain bikes usually have five to seven gears, but there are many bikes with more than that. More gears provide more options to make climbing hills easier. Fat bikes can have as many as 30 gears to help move through thicker terrain.

Brakes

Rim brakes, which grab the outside edge of the wheel, are reliable and efficient. They are very common but can struggle when the bike is wet or muddy. Disc brakes are more expensive and fare better with off-road conditions. They can be cable or hydraulically operated.

How much you can expect to spend on a men’s mountain bike

Beginner mountain bikes cost between $200-$500, have minimal features and are primarily intended for leisure. Active bikers should consider mountain bikes between $500-$1,500 that provide most of the options you would need for frequent biking outings. Higher-end mountain bikes made from ultralight carbon and electric mountain bikes run from $2,500 to as high as $10,000.

Men’s mountain bike FAQ

Do mountain bikes come with a warranty?

A. Yes, mountain bikes have a warranty, but the parameters vary widely by manufacturer. The length of the warranty can be one to 10 years. Some warranties have exclusions, such as if the bike was altered in any way, if you crash the bike or even normal wear and tear. Read your manufacturer’s warranty closely so that you know what is covered.

Do mountain bikes wear out quickly?

A. Even though mountain bikes can take a beating on the trails, they are built for the long haul. When parts fail, the most typical thing to look for are faulty brakes. Look over the pads for excessive wear, as well as the cables and hydraulics.

Check your tire tread regularly, too, for punctures or a needed replacement. 

What’s the best men’s mountain bike to buy?

Top men’s mountain bike

SB140 CLR GX Eagle AXS 29in Mountain Bike

What you need to know: Designed for the rider who bikes regularly, this high-quality mountain bike is smooth and efficient.

What you’ll love: Made from lightweight and strong C/series carbon, this mountain bike is built for hills and turns. It features Crank Brothers Enduro Synthesis wheels for good grip in the front and stability in the back and strong brakes for quick stopping. It is highly rated for its durability.

What you should consider: This is one of the higher-priced mountain bikes and is not intended for beginners.

Top men’s mountain bike for the money

Schwinn High Timber Mountain Bike

What you need to know: An affordable bike from a leading brand, this bike is perfect for beginners.

What you’ll love: This bike has an alloy crank for steady gearing and twist shifters with a rear derailleur. It features wide knobby mountain tires on alloy wheels intended for all terrains. The seat is easily adjusted.

What you should consider: Assembling the bike can prove challenging for people who are not mechanically inclined.

Worth checking out

Mongoose Dolomite Men’s Fat Tire Mountain Bike

What you need to know: This bike features a sturdy frame with extra-large knobby tires for riding on any terrain.

What you’ll love: The steel frame is designed for bumps, and supersized tires can handle about any off-road trail. There are disc brakes in the front and back with beach cruiser pedals for extra comfort. Seven speeds make it easy to climb hills.

What you should consider: The seat included with this bike is not very comfortable, according to some riders.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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Which disc golf driver is best?

Disc golf is far more nuanced than it may seem, requiring a fleet of specialized discs at the highest level of play. Among the most critical types of discs is the driver. It comes in a few varieties that can be used for the longest shots off the tee or for gliding farther down the fairway.

The best disc golf driver is the Discraft Buzzz Elite Z Golf Disc. It’s designed for use by anyone of any skill level and is sturdy enough to last but soft enough for gentle landings.

What to know before you buy a disc golf driver

Types of disc golf drivers

There are two types of disc golf drivers: distance and fairway.

• Distance drivers require the most skill to use efficiently, but they can also travel the farthest of any disc. However, they tend to curve during flight rather than stay straight.
• Fairway, or control, drivers require less skill to keep them gliding straight and far. They’re perfect for beginners in all cases and let pros closely control their game.

Flight numbers

Disc golf drivers have a set of four numbers that indicate how a disc flies.

• Speed tells how hard you must throw a disc to maintain its intended flight pattern. Drivers typically have speeds of 7-14.
• Glide tells how long a disc can stay in the air. High glides can go the distance but are the most affected by wind.
• Turn tells how likely a disc is to bend one way and then hook toward the other way, making an S-curve. The lower the number, the more likely it is that a turn will happen.
• Fade tells how likely the disc is to curve toward the end of the throw. The higher the number, the more intense it can hook.

What to look for in a quality disc golf driver

Plastic

Disc manufacturers use a range of plastics to make drivers and frequently use special names, making it easier to examine the material in terms of hardness.

• Hard plastic is the most durable and glides the smoothest. However, it can be challenging to maintain a good grip.
• Soft plastic discs are easier to grip and maintain your control, but they fly slower and less far. They also skip less and don’t last as long.
• Rubber is rarely used, but it can be useful for those who struggle to keep a close grip on their driver. It’s moderately durable, too.

Weight

Driver weight is most linked to your skill level.

• Light drivers of 150 to 165 grams are better for beginners. It takes less power to control them, and they fly farther distances. However, they are easily affected by wind.
• Heavy drivers of 165 to 175-plus grams are better for pros. It takes more power to control them, but they’re easier to control and more predictable.

How much you can expect to spend on a disc golf driver

Most disc golf drivers cost $10-$15. Players of any skill can use discs in this price range, and they are built to last. The best drivers start at $15 and go up in price the better the material is. Some drivers cost less than $10, but these are entirely meant for beginners.

Disc golf driver FAQ

Does it matter if I throw backhanded or forehanded?

A. That depends on your skill level. If you’re starting out and you’re trying to keep your shots straight, you should throw in whichever manner is the most comfortable for you. If you’re trying to develop advanced skills, throwing backhanded and forehanded will help the driver to curve in opposite directions.

How long does a disc golf driver last?

A. That depends on how often you use it and the quality of its design. The average driver can last for years if you treat it properly, and it can actually get easier to use the more you break it in. It will eventually become too broken in to function optimally, and only then will you need a new one.

What’s the best disc golf driver to buy?

Top disc golf driver

Discraft Buzzz Elite Z Golf Disc

What you need to know: This driver is a great choice for players of all skill levels.

What you’ll love: It’s designed for midrange throws and comes in three weights. The clean designs and simple curves help maintain this driver’s accuracy in most weather conditions. The plastic is sturdy enough to last but soft enough to prevent damage from errant throws.

What you should consider: You cannot specify what color you want, and instead, you’re just shipped one at random. A few of the more advanced consumers felt the plastic was average.

Top disc golf driver for the money

Westside Discs Origio Burst Underworld Fairway Disc Golf Driver

What you need to know: It’s affordable, effective and sports a rad skull design.

What you’ll love: It has a speed rating of 7, a glide rating of 6, a turn rating of -3 and a fade rating of 1. The flattop profile and narrow rim are designed with beginners in mind to help them maintain control of their throws.

What you should consider: The helmeted skull design isn’t for everyone. It isn’t as sturdy as more advanced drivers — hard landings on concrete can chip the rim.

Worth checking out

Axiom Discs Proton Insanity Disc Golf Driver

What you need to know: It’s a good driver that’s available in whichever weight best suits your experience.

What you’ll love: It comes in five weights, from the ultralight 150-160 gram to the heavy 170-175 gram. Axiom Discs uses a special plastic called “Proton,” which has high durability to withstand even the harshest conditions. It uses aerodynamics and a trademarked GYRO system for accuracy.

What you should consider: Any throws outside standard straight or curved shots are hard to accomplish. The center is clear, making it difficult to find in the grass.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

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ROYAL OAK – The host Royal Oak Ravens scored in the opening minute and rolled to a 3-0 win over the Novi Wildcats Tuesday night.

Kaitlyn Eberhardt got behind everyone to slot a shot into the empty net just 53 seconds into the game and stake the Ravens to an early lead.

After a rough start, the Wildcats settled into the game, and the teams went back and forth without creating many chances. Royal Oak had the better of play, but it wasn’t until the final minute of the opening half that the Ravens scored again as Reagan Mason tapped in a cross from in tight to double the advantage before halftime.

Novi’s best chances came in the second half, but Ravens goalie Kayla Faulkner came up big when needed, particularly with a pair of quick leaping saves midway through the second half. Eventually, the Ravens added another goal, the final one coming by Alexis Zimmy to close things out.

Overall, Royal Oak’s offense looked to be in midseason form despite this being their first game of the season.

“We’ve got tons of speed on this team, and they mesh really well,” Ravens head coach Melissa VanGorden said. “The team itself has really come together. We’ve really build a culture to get everybody to play for ‘we’ before ‘me’ type of mentality. I think everyone is stepping up into roles that they know they can perform well in. So we’re mixing it up and going out there and having fun.”

Novi goalie Riley Boujoulian made six saves for the Wildcats, who are still putting things together due to injuries and availability. The Wildcats were missing a handful of players Tuesday night and had a different lineup from last week’s win over Livonia Stevenson that opened their spring.

“We have a little bit of a younger team and a lot of injuries, and I think things sped up for us,” Wildcats assistant coach Ken Fenchel said. “I think it’s just getting used to everything all at once, early-season stuff, and it’s stuff that now we have a chance to work on it and get better the rest of the year.”

Photo gallery of Novi vs. Royal Oak in girls soccer action

Royal Oak (1-0), who won its playoff opener last season over Ferndale before losing to regional finalist Troy, has a scrimmage on Wednesday before taking quite a bit of time off. The Ravens’ next official game is not until after spring break when they travel to Clarkston to open up OAA White play on April 8.

“I think it was a good game for us to start with and come out strong. We know Novi is talented. They have a lot of good players,” VanGorden said.

Novi (1-1) hosts Swartz Creek on Thursday before going on spring break as well.

“I think we had a little bit better second half. We changed some things around, and it gave us a chance to improve, and we’ll try it again on Thursday,” Fenchel said. “Overall, I was happy that we got going a bit and that we stuck with it,” he added.

A goal just 53 seconds into the game was all that Royal Oak needed as the Ravens downed Novi 3-0 in their season opener Tuesday, March 25, 2025 in Royal Oak.

DEARBORN — After being postponed a day prior due to weather, the originally-scheduled softball matchup between Detroit Country Day and Dearborn Divine Child took place on Tuesday at Levagood Park.

Tuesday was officially the season opener for Divine Child, who last played a pair of scrimmages against Ohio-based teams back on March 15 before having their original season opener vs Northville canceled on March 20. Country Day meanwhile opened up its spring campaign last week on March 19, falling by a final score of 3-1 at home vs Milan.

It was ultimately a good first dress rehearsal for the preseason state-ranked and host Falcons, who needed just five innings of work to earn a 13-0 shutout win over the visiting Yellowjackets.

Tuesday was the back end of a home-and-home series between the two programs. A season ago, it was an eerily similar outcome for Divine Child, who scored 12 of their 14 runs from the third inning onward in a road shutout of Country Day.

This time around, the Falcons more of a concerted effort to assert themselves early against the ‘Jackets, scoring a dozen runs through the first three innings including a big six-run second inning.

The scoring for DC began in the first with an RBI triple from freshman Aubree Soto, who then scored on the ensuing at-bat from a pop-fly single off the bat of Jessica Nelson.

Things opened up considerably with that aforementioned crooked number in the second for Divine Child, who at one point saw six consecutive batters reach base safely. Included in that stretch were a pair of home runs from Nelson as well as Lexi Hansen along with a double from Natalie Hansen.

Nelson, who finished 3-for-3 with five runs batted in, did the rest in the circle for the No. 8-ranked Falcons. The senior hurler allowed just four baserunners — three hits and one base on balls — to Country Day hitters through five innings of work.

Elsewhere for Divine Child, it was largely the top of the batting order doing the most damage. The leadoff hitter Lexi Hansen and the No. 3 hitter Soto each turned in two-hit games.

Country Day meanwhile had encouraging starts in each trip to the plate, getting the leadoff hitter to reach base two times. They also got a one-out double from Evie Greenwald in the top of the first but could not cash in.

Greenwald was responsible for two of the Yellowjackets’ three hits in Tuesday’s loss, the other being an infield single from Mirissa Brown to begin the second. Brown later in the inning was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice.

The hitting success from Divine Child came at the expense of Country Day pitcher Juliette Hauser. The sophomore, who also drew a walk against Nelson, spun all four innings for the visitors, tossing just over 100 pitches and fanning seven Falcons hitters.

UP NEXT

It is a very quick turnaround for both teams as they are back on the diamond on Wednesday, March 26.

Divine Child (1-0) is back on the road for a doubleheader against Pontiac Notre Dame Prep, while Country Day (0-2) will vie for its first win once more when they travel to Wixom St Catherine for a single game.

PHOTOS: Softball – Detroit Country Day vs Dearborn Divine Child