Three sessions of a free online seminar about the dangers of vaping are available this summer.

The Oakland County Health Division is offering the training on:

– July 22 from noon-1 p.m.;

– Aug. 5 from 10-11 a.m.;

– Aug. 19 from 6-7 p.m.

Vape 101 is recommended for parents, guardians, community members, organizations and middle school, high school and college students.

The seminars will cover:

– How e-cigarettes operate and identify commonly used products;

– The health consequences, safety and other concerns;

– Why youth are using these products;

– Vaping prevention resources.

Registration is available at https://bit.ly/3UfbdyB until the day before each session. A link will be sent the day before the event.

Free produce available at 2 Oakland County farmers market events

Summer workouts: Teens taking advantage of free membership

 

Today is Tuesday, July 15, the 196th day of 2024. There are 169 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On July 15, 1799, the Rosetta Stone, a key to deciphering ancient Egyptian scripts, was found at Fort Julien in the Nile Delta during the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt.

Also on this date:

In 1834, the Spanish Inquisition was abolished more than 350 years after its creation.

In 1870, Georgia became the last Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union.

In 1913, Democrat Augustus Bacon of Georgia became the first person elected to the U.S. Senate under the terms of the recently ratified 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for popular election of senators.

In 1916, The Boeing Company, originally known as Pacific Aero Products Co., was founded in Seattle.

In 1975, three American astronauts blasted off aboard an Apollo spaceship hours after two Soviet cosmonauts were launched aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a mission that included a linkup of the two ships in orbit.

In 1976, a 36-hour kidnap ordeal began for 26 schoolchildren and their bus driver as they were abducted near Chowchilla, California, by three gunmen and imprisoned in an underground cell. (The captives escaped unharmed; the kidnappers were caught.)

In 1996, MSNBC, a 24-hour all-news network, made its debut on cable and the internet.

In 1997, fashion designer Gianni Versace, 50, was shot dead outside his Miami Beach home; suspected gunman Andrew Phillip Cunanan (koo-NAN’-an), 27, was found dead eight days later, a suicide. (Investigators believed Cunanan killed four other people before Versace in a cross-country rampage that began the previous March.)

In 2002, John Walker Lindh, an American who’d fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, to two felonies in a deal sparing him life in prison.

In 2006, Twitter (now known as X) was launched to the public.

In 2019, avowed white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. was sentenced by a state court to life in prison plus 419 years for killing one and injuring dozens when he deliberately drove his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters during a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. (The previous month, Fields received a life sentence on 29 federal hate crime charges.)

In 2020, George Floyd’s family filed a lawsuit against the city of Minneapolis and the four police officers charged in his death, alleging the officers violated Floyd’s rights when they restrained him and that the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity to flourish in its police force. (The city would agree to pay $27 million to settle the lawsuit in March 2021.)

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Patrick Wayne is 86.
• R&B singer Millie Jackson is 81.
• Singer Linda Ronstadt is 79.
• Author Richard Russo is 76.
• Musician Trevon Horn is 76.
• Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post, is 75.
• Former professional wrestler and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura is 74.
• Actor Terry O’Quinn (TV: “Lost”) is 73.
• Rock drummer Marky Ramone is 73.
• Rock musician Joe Satriani is 69.
• Model Kim Alexis is 65.
• Actor Willie Aames is 65.
• Actor-director Forest Whitaker is 64.
• Actor Brigitte Nielsen is 62.
• Rock drummer Jason Bonham is 59.
• TV personality Adam Savage (TV” “MythBusters”) is 58.
• Actor-comedian Eddie Griffin is 57.
• Actor-screenwriter Jim Rash (TV: “Community”) is 53.
• Actor Scott Foley is 53.
• Actor Brian Austin Green is 52.
• Singer Buju Banton is 52.
• Actor Diane Kruger is 49.
• Actor Lana Parrilla (LAH’-nuh pa-REE’-uh) is 48.
• Actor Travis Fimmel is 46.
• Actor-singer Tristan “Mack” Wilds is 36.
• Actor Iain Armitage (TV: “Young Sheldon”) is 17.

PONTIAC – Following repeated chants of “We want JaMo,” the boys and girls planted near the 50-yard line at Notre Dame Prep High School were greeted by not one, but two Detroit Lions players.

Somewhere around 300 participants from ages 6 to 16 showed up for the youth football camp Sunday afternoon featuring Lions receiver Jameson Williams, who was joined by teammate Kerby Joseph.

All campers got a photo with Williams — and a few did as well with Joseph, who even signed one participants’ shoes — and a couple of lucky ones were able to haul in a deep pass from the four-year pro.

“I do it just to see the smiles on the kids’ faces, you know, bring joy to them,” Williams said. “They might not ever get to see a person in my position because (some of them), they stay to themselves, don’t get out in the community. I want to be a face in the community, help the kids, give some motivation.”

Kids were split into age groups and rotated through a number of stations at the camp, presented by, FlexWork Sports Management, a company that teams up with college and pro athletes throughout the US and Canada. Stations included a variety of exercises, including back pedal and ladder drills.

When asked if any campers have tried to race him, Williams laughed. “Nobody, but they always ask me about whether I’m faster than another player, and I always yes,” he said.

Due to injury, Williams never ran the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, leading to questions over what his time would be, only amplified by his claims he could run a 4.1 in the dash. Williams said on Sunday that he may not do a 40, but that he would probably run a 100-meter dash at some point in the future for fun.

When asked about the first player he was wowed by at a camp when he was younger, Williams named fellow St. Louis native and former New England Patriots running back Laurence Maroney.

Campers weren’t the only ones getting face time with the Lions’ speedy target. Irish football players who were scattered throughout the stations as volunteers also got to meet and greet with Williams before things got underway.

“This is awesome,” said Josh Laura, a defensive back who will be a senior this fall for the defending D5 state champs. “Just being out here with the guys, showing the little kids what football’s like, it’s just a great experience for everyone and great for all us to be out here.”

ND Prep head coach Pat Fox was present, too, and talked about the benefit of opportunities like Sunday to expose so many kids to the campus.

“It’s a fantastic thing,” Fox said. “We’ve got beautiful facilities, and I think that’s tremendous. But more importantly, I think it perpetuates the game of football. It gives young kids a chance to enjoy playing this great game with some new kids, gives our kids a chance to work with them, show a little patience, giggle and laugh. And we got a chance to meet Mr. Williams and meet Kerby Joseph, and what a nice couple of young men they are. So yeah, we’re really excited, and we’re happy to have kids on our campus whenever we can.”

For the Irish players, getting out on the field on a hot, sunny afternoon was a reminder that practices are just on the horizon.

“Oh, absolutely,” Laura responded when asked if it gets the juices flowing. “We’ve got a strong squad coming back on offense and defense, bringing back our quarterback, linebackers on the squad. I’m so excited for this year and the team.”

Hundreds of kids showed up at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep High School for a youth football camp featuring Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams on Sunday, July 13, 2025.

Eyes might have been, and should have been, a bit blurry Monday evening after the Tigers in the span of 24 hours wrapped up a 20-round, 21-player harvest as the 2025 MLB Draft closed.

The Tigers were busy: They took 14 pitchers, three shortstops, two catchers, and two outfielders, during their Sunday-Monday shopping spree. They made 17 of their 21 picks Monday during a pitching-dominant, seven-hour span.

Even as the Tigers are a bit thin on arms in Detroit, and even factoring that their farm-crop pitchers haven’t quite flourished as had been hoped in 2025, the Tigers said Monday’s arms-splurge was all about quality and availability when their turn arrived.

It was all part of an expedition the Tigers insisted they loved, from the moment Jordan Yost was taken with their first turn Sunday, to Monday’s final bell in the 20th round when they took a chance on 6-foot-5, 210-pound, right-handed hitting outfielder Kameron Douglas from Alabama State.

“We’re very pleased with how things turned out the past 24 hours,” said Rob Metzler, the Tigers’ assistant general manager who supervises drafting and international scouting. “We’ve selected 21 players and we’re thrilled with the group.

“We got two middle-of-the-diamond players with premier bats (catcher Michael Oliveto followed Yost during Sunday’s early Tigers). We like their makeup and like their swings, and everything about Jordan and Michael.

“And we were able to add starting-pitching profiles behind that who have a chance to compete in our system.”

Mark Conner, the Tigers director of amateur scouting who with Metzler began revamping Tigers scouting in 2023, said the condensed, two-day draft frenzy – the 20 rounds had been spread over three days previously – somehow worked.

“Honestly, it was just being nimble,” said Conner, who previously worked for the Padres before joining Metzler and Tigers front-office chief Scott Harris. “There was a lot of preparation in advance before these two days.

The players lined up fairly well with our board (Detroit’s prioritized order of players throughout the college and prep ranks), and we moved on the fly like we do every year. The group did a great job.”

Referring to Monday’s 17-round scramble, Conner said it was indeed like shopping with a time limit.

“Those grocery-store references are right,” Conner said. “Every store’s a little bit different, going down the aisles, seeing what’s available. There was a lot of work from area scouts, cross-checkers, analysts, player development – honestly, it was a total group effort.”

It also required being deft with their MLB-policed 2025 draft budget of $10,990,800.

Lots of jostling there – who can the Tigers sign for less than the “recommended” slot value for a particular pick? What pick will need more to wave his college scholarship offer and sign a pro contract?

There was evidence throughout Monday’s picks of something the Tigers naturally won’t touch: the matter of how they juggled those dollars.

It is suspected they perhaps signed Yost and Oliveto to under-slot deals: Yost’s “suggested” cash at No. 24 in the first round was $3.7 million, with Oliveto scheduled to receive no more than a MLB-authorized $2.7 million.

It didn’t take long Monday to see the Tigers would need more than MLB’s sliding-scale for deeper draft picks. It descends into low six-figure sums, to lure away various players who in a few weeks can easily keep their college commitments.

Ryan Hall, a right-handed starter from North Gwinnett High, in Suwanee, Georgia? He likely will want some sweet dollars to say no to Georgia Tech. As, presumably, will ninth-rounder, Trevor Heishman, a left-handed star from St. John Bosco High, in Bellflower, California.

Same with River Hamilton, a foot-3, 195-pound, right-handed teen from Sam Barlow High in Gresham, Oregon. He is off to LSU this fall if he doesn’t opt for the Tigers.

Lots of swinging and swaying within the Tigers’ rapid-fire decisions Monday on talent they liked at a price they believed could make such players achievable.

How the 2025 MLB Draft’s final 17 rounds played out for Detroit:

Fourth round: Caleb Leys, 22, LH starter, 6-1, 190, University of Maine: Missed 2024 with arm issues but returned this spring to start 14 games, with a 2.69 ERA and 1.24 WHIP, with 67 innings featuring: 56 hits, 27 walks, 74 strikeouts – and not a single home run.

Fifth round: Ryan Hall, 18, RH starter, 6-1, 170, North Gwinnett High, Suwanee, Ga.: Terrific athlete (a marvelous quarterback was Hall at North Gwinnett) who, as mentioned, will need to be turned from his Georgia Tech commit.

Sixth round: Grayson Grinsell, 21, LH starter, 6-1, 190, University of Oregon: A Friday night starter for the Ducks. Throws strikes and has the kind of “pitchability” finesse the Tigers happily welcome at TigerTown.

Seventh round: Cale Wetwiska, 20, RH starter, 6-2, 190, Northern Oklahoma Enid: A two-way player here who can handle the outfield but who will pitch for the Tigers if signed.

Eighth round: Nick Dumesnil, 21, Outfielder, 6-2, 210, California Baptist: He had first-round thoughts fluttering within a few scouts’ heads last summer on the Cape Cod League. Had a tough spring with California Baptist, but his potential is as significant as a center-fielder’s athleticism.

Ninth round: Trevor Heishman, 18 LH starter, 6-4, 230, St. John Bosco High, Bellflower, California: A prototypical mound-horse here, with the big fastball (940 and high-rpm pitches that define a teen power-pitcher. He must be coaxed from his pledge to the University of Memphis.

10. Edian Espinal, 20, catcher, 5-8, 205, switch-hitter, Central Florida (Puerto Rico native): Espinal’s a former infielder, with a good arm and nice exit-velocities on pitches he whacks. In his 51 games from 2025: .335/.434/.470/.905, with four homers, 21 walks and 30 strikeouts.

11. River Hamilton, 18, RH pitcher, 6-3, 195, Sam Barlow High, Gresham, Oregon: He fires fastballs at 95-96, with a serious slider. It’s why the Tigers are hoping to steer him from LSU with a proper offer.

12. Cash Kuiper, 20, RH pitcher, 6-4, 200, Murray State (Junior) College: A project here, for sure, but one the Tigers like when size and all the other scouting variables are factored.

13. Jack Goodman, 21, shortstop, 6-foot, 185, RH hitter, Northeastern University: He was a 15th-round Rangers pick in 2022. Good numbers at Northeastern in 2025:,.335/.406/.547/.953, with 10 homers.

14. Beau Ankeney, 22, 1B, 6-4, 235, RH hitter, Loyola Marymount: Big man, big power: 57 games, .358/.453/.712/1.164, with 22 bombs.

15. Charlie Christensen, 21, RH pitcher, 6-4, 190, University of Central Arkansas: Size, stuff, development, are what the Tigers are counting on with Christensen.

16. Joe Ruzicka, 21, RH pitcher, 6-3, 200, Belmont University: 15 games, 3.56 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 81 innings, 56 hits, 44 walks and 70 punchouts.

17. Joey Wimpelberg, 20, RH, 6-1, 200, pitcher Central Florida: Only one game at Central Florida this year. Otherwise pitched for Bethesda in the Cal Ripken Collegiate League.

18. Ethan Rogers, 18, LH pitcher, 6-1, 180, Lone Jack (Missouri) High: Fastball at 93. Wichita State commit.

19. Meridian Leffew, 18, SS, 6-2, 187, RH batter, Gaston Christian, Belmont, North Carolina: Central Florida commit and a big, broad-shouldered athlete with physical capacity development teams love — and speed.

20. Kameron Douglas, 21, OF, 6-5, 210, RH batter, Alabama St.: In 59 games, Douglas hit .335/.419/.639/1.058, with 17 homers.

“I think we’ve been transparent about what we value as part of the process,” Metzler said of the Tigers’ scouting identity – the traits and trademarks they’re hunting when deciding on 21 players, as they did during those frenzied 24 hours Sunday and Monday.

“It’s about an incredible work ethic, respectfully challenging each part of the process, and making the best decisions.”

MIAMI (AP) — Former NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said he has been suspended from coaching his former high school team in Miami because he provided players with financial benefits that he says he’d reported to the school.

The 32-year-old Bridgewater publicized action taken against him by Miami Northwestern High School in a social media post in which he also reaffirmed his desire to continuing coaching the team for which he once played.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Bridgewater’s social media post said. “And if it comes down to it, I will volunteer from the bleachers like I used to in 2018 and 2019 when no one had a problem.”

A message left for school administrators on Monday was not returned.

Last fall was Bridgewater’s first season coaching his former school, which he led to a Class 3A state championship before signing with Detroit in late December to serve as a backup for the playoff-bound Lions.

He wound up seeing his only action in the postseason, completing his only pass for 3 yards in a divisional-round loss to Washington.

Bridgewater had written in an earlier social media post that he paid for rides, meals and treatment for players last season. This year, he solicited donations to help cover those costs.

He said in his more recent post that he reported those payments to the school.

Drafted 32nd overall out of Louisville by Minnesota in 2014, Bridgewater appeared in 79 regular-season NFL games during 10 seasons split among the Vikings, New Orleans, Carolina, Miami, Denver and Detroit.

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s first judicial pick of his second term, voting to approve Whitney Hermandorfer as a judge for the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The confirmation of Hermandorfer, who worked for Tennessee’s attorney general, comes after the Democratic-led Senate under former President Joe Biden confirmed 235 federal judges and the Republican-led Senate in Trump’s first term confirmed 234 federal judges.

The two presidents each worked to reshape the judiciary, with Trump taking advantage of a high number of judicial vacancies at the end of President Barack Obama’s term and Democrats working to beat Trump’s number after he had the opportunity to nominate three Supreme Court justices.

So far in his second term, Trump has fewer vacancies to fill. While he inherited more than 100 vacancies from Obama, who was stymied by a Republican Senate in his final two years, Trump now has 49 vacancies to fill out of almost 900 federal judgeships.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said last week that the Senate would work to quickly confirm Trump’s judicial nominees, even though “we’re not facing the number of judicial vacancies this Congress we did during Trump’s first term.”

Hermandorfer, who was confirmed 46-42 along party lines, has defended many of Trump’s policies as director of strategic litigation for Tennessee’s attorney general, including his bid to end birthright citizenship. Democrats and liberal judicial advocacy groups criticized her as extreme on that issue and others, also citing her office’s defense of the state’s strict abortion ban.

Before working for the Tennessee Attorney General, she clerked for three Supreme Court justices. But at her confirmation hearing last month, Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware criticized what he called a “striking brevity” of court experience since Hermandorfer graduated from law school a decade ago.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Monday that Trump is only focused on “a nominee’s perceived loyalty to him and his agenda — and a willingness to rule in favor of him and his administration.”

The Judiciary panel is scheduled to vote on additional judges this week, including top Justice Department official Emil Bove, a former lawyer for Trump who is nominated for the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Bove’s nomination has come under scrutiny after a fired department lawyer claimed in a complaint that Bove used an expletive when he said during a meeting that the Trump administration might need to ignore judicial commands. Bove has pushed back against suggestions from Democrats that the whistleblower’s claims make him unfit for the federal bench.

Bove has also accused FBI officials of “insubordination” for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the U.S. Capitol riot and ordered the firings of a group of prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 criminal cases.

By JULIE WATSON, AMY TAXIN and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press

Federal authorities now say they arrested more than 360 people at two Southern California marijuana farms last week, characterizing the raids as one of the largest operations since President Donald Trump took office in January.

One farmworker died after falling from a greenhouse roof during the chaotic raids on Thursday after the Department of Homeland Security executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities in Camarillo and Carpinteria, northwest of Los Angeles.

The raids came more than a month into an extended crackdown across Southern California that was originally centered on Los Angeles, where local officials say the federal actions are spreading fear in immigrant communities. A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles.

What happened?

During the raid on the Camarillo site, crowds gathered seeking information about their relatives and to protest immigration enforcement. Authorities clad in military-style helmets and uniforms faced off with the demonstrators, and people ultimately retreated amid acrid green and white billowing smoke.

Glass House Brands is a major cannabis company in California that started a decade ago with a greenhouse in the Santa Barbara County community of Carpinteria.

The company said it later expanded, buying another facility in the Ventura County community of Camarillo that included six tomato and cucumber-growing greenhouses. Glass House converted two of them to grow cannabis, according to the company’s website.

Relatives of workers at the Camarillo site said tomatoes are still grown at the location in addition to cannabis.

Arrest numbers keep rising

The federal government initially reported that some 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally were arrested.

Then on Saturday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said 319 people were arrested and said on X it was “quickly becoming one of the largest operations since President Trump took office.”

A day later, the arrest numbers, according to the Department of Homeland Security, were up to 361 from the two locations.

The government said four of the 361 arrested had prior criminal records, including convictions for rape and kidnapping.

One death reported from the raids

A farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during the raid at the farm in Camarillo died Saturday of his injuries.

Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first known fatality during one of the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations. Yesenia Duran, Alanis’ niece, confirmed his death to The Associated Press.

She posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe that her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to a wife and daughter in Mexico. Alanis worked at the farm for 10 years, his family said.

He called his wife in Mexico and told her he was hiding from federal agents during the raid Thursday. A doctor told his relatives that the ambulance crew who took him to a hospital said he fell about 30 feet, Duran said.

Why was the business raided?

The government says it is investigating potential child labor, human trafficking and other abuse. Initially, DHS said 10 immigrant children were on the property. They later increased that number to 14.

Authorities declined to share the warrant for the operation. The administration has released no additional information about the children, including their ages and what they were doing on the property when authorities arrived. DHS has not provided details to back up its claim of possible trafficking or other abuse, and the company has not been charged with anything.

It was unclear if any of the minors were the children of farm workers at the sites or if they came to the U.S. without an adult.

Federal and state laws allow children as young as 12 to work in agriculture under certain conditions, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In California, children as young as 12 can work on farms outside of school hours, while those as young as 16 can work during school hours if they are not required to attend school, the agency said on its website.

No one under the age of 21 is allowed to work in the cannabis industry.

The California Department of Cannabis Control conducted a site visit in May 2025 and observed no minors on the premises, a spokesperson said. After receiving a subsequent complaint, the state opened an investigation to ensure full compliance with state law.

U.S. citizens were among those arrested

Four U.S. citizens were arrested during the raids for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers,” according to DHS, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.

Among those arrested was California State University Channel Islands professor Jonathan Caravello, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X.

Essayli said Caravello was arrested for throwing a tear gas canister at law enforcement and was to appear in court Tuesday.

The California Faculty Association said Caravello was taken away by agents who did not identify themselves nor inform him of why he was being arrested. The association said he was then held without being able to contact his family.

Caravello was attempting to dislodge a tear gas canister that was stuck underneath someone’s wheelchair, witnesses told KABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles.

A federal judge on Monday ordered Caravello to be released on $15,000 bond. He’s scheduled to be arraigned August 1.

Separately, the federal Bureau of Prisons said George Retes, 25, was in their custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles from Thursday to Sunday.

Retes’ family told KABC-TV on Sunday that he is a U.S. citizen, works as a security guard at the farm in Camarillo and is a disabled U.S. Army veteran. They said Retes was trying to drive away during the clashes between protesters and agents when an officer stopped him, broke his car window and shot pepper spray before dragging him out of his car and arresting him.

Retes’ sister, Destinee Magaña, told the television station on Sunday that the family had been trying to get in touch with her brother.

Federal agents “thought he was probably part of the protest, but he wasn’t, he was trying to reverse his car,” Magaña said.

Neither Retes nor Magaña responded to emails Monday from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The region prepares for more raids

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is now proposing to provide cash assistance to residents too scared to leave their homes to go to work.

The plan comes as part of a sweeping executive order the mayor signed on Friday that instructs Los Angeles officials “to bolster their protocols and training to prepare for federal immigration activity occurring on city property.”

The order also establishes a police department working group for immigrants and expands access to resources for impacted families. In addition, it seeks records from the federal government on what the city deems unlawful raids from federal agencies.

The monetary relief will not come from city funds but from philanthropic partners, officials said. Immigrant rights groups will distribute cash cards similar to those used to provide financial assistance to Angelenos struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. It wasn’t immediately clear how people will qualify to receive the cards.

The goal is to help people who have been deterred “from attending school and church, seeking city services, accessing health care, and going to work,” the order states.

Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

By DEE-ANN DURBIN, Associated Press

The U.S. government said Monday it is placing a 17% duty on most fresh Mexican tomatoes after negotiations ended without an agreement to avert the tariff.

Proponents said the import tax will help rebuild the shrinking U.S. tomato industry and ensure that produce eaten in the U.S. is also grown there. Mexico currently supplies around 70% of the U.S. tomato market, up from 30% two decades ago, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange.

But opponents, including U.S. companies that grow tomatoes in Mexico, said the tariff will make fresh tomatoes more expensive for U.S. buyers.

Tim Richards, a professor at the Morrison School of Agribusiness at Arizona State University, said U.S. retail prices for tomatoes will likely rise around 8.5% with a 17% duty.

The duty stems from a longstanding U.S. complaint about Mexico’s tomato exports and is separate from the 30% base tariff on products made in Mexico and the European Union that President Donald Trump announced on Saturday.

The Commerce Department said in late April that it was withdrawing from a deal it first reached with Mexico in 2019 to settle allegations the country was exporting tomatoes to the U.S. at artificially low prices, a practice known as dumping.

As part of the deal, Mexico had to sell its tomatoes at a minimum price and abide by other rules. Since then, the agreement has been subject to periodic reviews, but the two sides always reached an agreement that avoided duties.

In announcing its withdrawal from the Tomato Suspension Agreement, the Commerce Department said it had been “flooded with comments” from U.S. tomato growers who wanted better protection from Mexican goods.

But others, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association, had called on the Commerce Department to reach an agreement with Mexico.

In a letter sent last week to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the Chamber of Commerce and 30 other business groups said U.S. companies employ 50,000 workers and generate $8.3 billion in economic benefits moving tomatoes from Mexico into communities across the country.

“We are concerned that withdrawing from the agreement – at a time when the business community is already navigating significant trade uncertainty – could lead to retaliatory actions by our trading partners against other commodities and crops that could create further hardship for U.S. businesses and consumers,” the letter said.

By SETH BORENSTEIN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday took another step to make it harder to find major, legally mandated scientific assessments of how climate change is endangering the nation and its people.

Earlier this month, the official government websites that hosted the authoritative, peer-reviewed national climate assessments went dark. Such sites tell state and local governments and the public what to expect in their backyards from a warming world and how best to adapt to it. At the time, the White House said NASA would house the reports to comply with a 1990 law that requires the reports, which the space agency said it planned to do.

But on Monday, NASA announced that it aborted those plans.

“The USGCRP (the government agency that oversees and used to host the report) met its statutory requirements by presenting its reports to Congress. NASA has no legal obligations to host globalchange.gov’s data,” NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said in an email. That means no data from the assessment or the government science office that coordinated the work will be on NASA, she said.

On July 3, NASA put out a statement that said: “All preexisting reports will be hosted on the NASA website, ensuring continuity of reporting.”

“This document was written for the American people, paid for by the taxpayers, and it contains vital information we need to keep ourselves safe in a changing climate, as the disasters that continue to mount demonstrate so tragically and clearly,” said Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe. She is chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy and co-author of several past national climate assessments.

Copies of past reports are still squirreled away in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s library and the latest report and its interactive atlas can be seen here.

Former Obama White House science adviser and climate scientist John Holdren accused the administration of outright lying and long intended to censor or bury the reports.

“The new stance is classic Trump administration misdirection,” Holdren said. “In this instance, the administration offers a modest consolation to quell initial outrage over the closure of the globalchange.gov site and the disappearance of the National Climate Assessments. Then, two weeks later, they snatch away the consolation with no apology.”

“They simply don’t want the public to see the meticulously assembled and scientifically validated information about what climate change is already doing to our farms, forests, and fisheries, as well as to storms, floods, wildfires, and coast property — and about how all those damages will grow in the absence of concerted remedial action,” Holdren said in an email.

That’s why it’s important that state and local governments and every day people see these reports, Holdren said. He said they are written in a way that is “useful to people who need to understand what climate change is doing and will do to THEM, their loved ones, their property and their environment.”

“Trump doesn’t want people to know,” Holdren wrote.

The most recent report, issued in 2023, found that climate change is affecting people’s security, health and livelihoods in every corner of the country in different ways, with minority communities, particularly Native Americans, often disproportionately at risk.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Utica Ford head coach Matt Joseph will have a trio of his own players under his wing on the Red Team for Tuesday’s Michigan High School Softball Coaches Association Division 1 all-star game at Davenport University Softball Stadium.

The Falcons, who won 32 games this season, including a regional championship, have the most players from any program for the D1 game. They’ll be represented by catcher Sam Norrito, outfielder Brooke Williams and pitcher Jenna Walters.

“It is special to be able to coach these three players in their last official high school softball game,” Joseph said. “I was probably more excited than the kids when I got the text asking me to coach. “They have all given so much to our program. They all compete as hard as any I have coached and more importantly they are great people. I am very blessed and lucky to have been able to coach them these last four years.”

Dakota outfielder Jenna Higgins joins those three as the other Macomb County rep on the Red team.

From Oakland County, Stoney Creek third baseman Danielle Bryant and Walled Lake Northern first baseman Katelyn Stallings will also team up with the Macomb quartet for Joseph and Saline coach Rebecca Suiter.

Stallings’ inclusion comes after the Knights had a trio of their own (Lauren Fox, Patelyn Gribben, Kayle Turmell) picked to play in last year’s D1 game.

South Lyon head coach Jerry Shippe will be one of the skippers in the opposite dugout for the White Team. It features Lake Orion second baseman Addy Dukus and Lakeland’s Brynn Taliercio, selected as a utility player. Like Stallings, Dukus reps a Dragons’ program that had a trio (Grace Luby, Sydney Bell, Anna Gardner) selected to last year’s festivities.

State champion Richmond will be represented by a pair of players in the D2 game. Catcher Ashley Stafford and pitcher Katie Shuboy will lace up for the Red Team.

In the Division 3 game, Clawson pitcher Sarah McLeod was selected from a Trojans team that won 23 games and reached a regional final.

Games begin at the Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex on Tuesday with the D1 matchup, set for 10 a.m. The D2 game is scheduled for noon, followed by the Division 3 contest at 2:30 p.m. and the D4 game at 4:30 p.m.

It turned Sunday into a prep prospect party for the Detroit Tigers as they grabbed high school talent with their first two picks in the 2025 MLB Draft, snatching catcher Michael Oliveto of Hauppage (New York) High with the 34th overal pick – 10 spots after making Florida prep shortstop Jordan Yost their first choice at No. 24 overall.

The Tigers had been tied to Oliveto, who like Yost, is a left-handed hitter, and who unlike the 6-foot Joyce, is a big lad – 6-3, 185 pounds, and a young man with enough intellect to have earned a Yale scholarship.

Oliveto is, not surprisingly, considered to have prime-time power and a sophisticated hit-tool. Whether he can continue as a catcher or is better targeted down the road for another position is of little immediate concern to the Tigers, who clearly like his potential, both ways.

The Tigers’ calling-card through three drafts under front-office general Scott Harris have been prep hitters with up-the-middle talents. They struck twice Sunday in a manner reminiscent of last year’s first-round pick of Bryce Rainer and the Max Clark-Kevin McGonigle dual haul in 2023.

Yost, 18, is a left-handed batter from Sickles High in Tampa, Florida, about 50 miles from the Tigers’ farm headquarters in Lakeland. He is 6-foot, 170 pounds, and is viewed as a skilled hitter with the kind of contact-crunch and strike-zone eye an organization celebrates.

Yost is a high-ceiling pick, for sure, with two-way, bedrock talents that conform to the Tigers’ concentration on up-the-middle draft skills and baseball savvy, even when a prospect is as young as Yost.

OLSM grad Ike Irish drafted by Orioles in first round of 2025 MLB Draft

With their second-round pick, No. 62 overall, the Tigers grabbed right-handed pitcher Malachi Witherspoon (6-3, 211 pounds) from the University of Oklahoma.

The Tigers were to pick once more Sunday – at No. 98  –  in the 2025 draft’s first three rounds. Rounds 4-20 are set for Monday.

The Tigers have gone for prep bats in early rounds spanning the three years Tigers drafts have been headed by Rob Metzler and Mark Conner, all since Scott Harris became Tigers front-office boss in 2022.

The backstop of the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s back-to-back-to-back state championship teams, Ike Irish, was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles with the 19th overall pick in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft on Sunday, the third primary member of those title squads to be drafted.

Several hours later, another of the OLSM champs, Nolan Schubart, went to the Cleveland Indians in the third round (Pick 101).

The first athlete in school history to be drafted in the first round of any sport’s draft, Irish joins former Eaglet teammates Brock Porter (Round 4, Pick 109 in the 2022 Draft by Rangers) and Alex Mooney (Round 7, Pick 218 in 2023 Draft) to be drafted, giving the OLSM program 11 overall picks.

While Mooney was drafted right on the heels of the Eaglets securing their third straight title — 2019, 2021 and 2022 — with a perfect 44-0 season, Irish spent three seasons at Auburn. He earned Freshman All-America honors by four different organizations in 2023, and was first-team All-SEC and a Buster Posey Award semifinalist in 2024, then became Auburn’s seventh consensus All-America as a junior.

Irish hit .364, slugged .710 with 13 doubles, two triples and 19 home runs for the Tigers in 2025, driving in 58 runs, with an OPS of 1.179, but spent much of the season playing right field after a shoulder injury — a broken scapula on a hit by pitch in March.

A 6-foot-5, 223-pound left-handed-hitting corner outfielder for Oaklahoma State, Schubart has 60-grade power, according to MLB.com, hitting 23 home runs (and falling two hits short of winning the Big 12 Conference triple crown), earning All-America honors from several publications for the second straight year, and Acacemic All-American honors the last two, just the second player in OSU program history to do it twice.

He finishes his Cowboys career with 59 home runs — one every 10 at-bats — ranking fourth in program history in round-trippers, ninth in slugging percentage (.705), 10th with 199 RBI.

Prep roundup: OLSM baseball sets new state record for consecutive wins

 

First-place teams, winning records across the board – the Tigers’ farm surge has been a story as generally upbeat as a Detroit team’s first-place grip in the American League Central.

A look at some of the best, some of the not-so-great, and a stream of performers who have brought color and organizational muscle to the Tigers’ minor-league realm:

 

Best performance by a hitter

Kevin McGonigle, shortstop, Erie. Everyone knew McGonigle, at some point in June/July, was jumping from West Michigan to Double A after he destroyed Midwest League pitching to the tune of .372/.462/.648/1.110. His Erie ticket came July 7 (officially) and, unsurprisingly, was part of a three-player package shipped to Erie alongside two others who in normal years would have wrapped up the Tigers farm’s first-half hitting crown: Max Clark and Josue Briceno. McGonigle might well show at Erie talent as special as has been showcased at those early Tigers farm stops. If so, he will go to spring camp in February with a chance to further dazzle and push his MLB arrival to 2026. A lot left to be displayed and discussed as McGonigle soars.

Best late development by a hitter

Clark’s surge from late spring into July when he added power to an otherwise sturdy profile: In an 11-game stretch from June 22-July 6 he hit three of his eight home runs on the season, and three of his 12 doubles. Important stuff, his power beginning to blossom, when Clark is five months from turning 21 and when his walks on the season are 65 against 58 strikeouts. The Tigers aren’t second-guessing their third overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Best position debate tied to a terrific hitter

Whether a left-handed dynamite stick on Briceno’s level can remain at catcher or eventually move full-time to first base. The Tigers know catching is gold and there’s no reason to cash in Briceno’s chips even if men 6-foot-4 and 200-plus pounds rarely withstand MLB’s behind-the-plate rigors. For now, the Tigers can happily wait this one out, especially as young men such as Thayron Liranzo, Enrique Jimenez and hotshot teen Steven Madero bid for future jobs at Comerica Park. One thing to keep in mind: Spencer Torkelson is three years from free agency. Briceno looms there as a heavy insurance policy.

Toughest break for a blue-chip hitter

Bryce Rainer dislocating his shoulder during a June 4 game at Lakeland. Rainer was showing magic in that left-handed bat and was playing a superb shortstop, all at age 19. By now, he probably would have been making West Michigan a bit less anguished at losing McGonigle, Clark and Briceno to their Erie upgrades. The word from Detroit’s front office is that surgery was a best option and Rainer should be ready to resume his old, quasi-astounding ways next spring. About the only question is whether his pitching-grade arm will return to its 2025 fury. But what a talent the Tigers snagged here with last July’s 11th-overall pick.

Best performance by a starting pitcher

Troy Melton, Toledo. Candidacies here were on the light side. Melton has come on nicely at Triple A, three years after the Tigers made him a fourth-round grab from San Diego State. His power-pitching quiver is impressive (fastball up to 98-99) with a legit five-pitch mix. He needs yet to finish off hitters (see: Reese Olson) and throw to quadrants that can bedevil big-league batters. Of course, that’s every pitcher’s requirement and perfection is elusive. It’s possible Melton could find his way to Detroit during the summer’s second half. Either way, he’s headed for work in Detroit no later than (early?) next season.

Most disappointing facet of the farm’s first half

That so few starters showed promise when much was expected. Ty Madden (shoulder issues), Jaden Hamm, Rayner Castillo, Gabriel Reyes, Owen Hall, Ethan Schiefelbein, Josh Randall, Joseph Montalvo, and others all expected to be arcing upward. It hasn’t, on balance, happened, although there have been exceptions: Lucas Elissalt and R.J. Sales at Lakeland; Andrew Sears at West Michigan; Jake Miller at Erie, among others. What’s ironic is the Tigers forever were better at finding pitching than hitting. That has reversed the past couple of drafts under new execs. No major alterations from taking hitters quickly, and arms later, is expected during the Tigers’ 2025 draft. What the Tigers hope as pitching forecasts become clearer is better health, principally, and pitchers rebounding — as they so often do within the mercurial realm of arms and baseball. Surprises and expectations on the plus side can always sprout in these closing months of 2025 — and during a critical 2026 season.

Better signs from below (pitching)

That relievers appeared to be gestating at various levels, including a rich group at West Michigan: Marco Jimenez, Micah Ashman, Preston Howey, and others. RJ Petit is evolving at Erie, as is Richard Guasch and a restored Tanner Kohlhepp. Moises Rodriguez looks as if a move to West Michigan from Lakeland will happen as quickly as some of the above shift to Erie. And by all means keep an eye on Thomas Szapucki, a one-time bright-light in the Mets system who signed in February with the Tigers. He was splendid during some tune-ups at Lakeland, and now is stationed at Toledo. Another Mud Hen to eyeball: Drew Sommers, a left-handed option, for sure, if the Tigers need help in Detroit. Sommers was Tampa Bay’s price in a February trade for Mason Englert. Also of interest: Woo-Suk Go, 25, a left-handed South Korea product who has past time in the Marlins and Padres systems. He struck out four in two innings Saturday against Omaha.

Hitter who best rebounded

Max Anderson, Erie. Last season, his first full farm year after the Tigers drafted him 45th overall in 2023, was not uplifting (.266, .702 OPS). This year has been more like a rocket-launch, with any night on which Anderson gets fewer than two hits something of a surprise. He has steadily been well above .300 in 2025 with .900-plus OPS, and only a 14.9% strikeout rate. He walks too few times, but his bat-to-ball skills, and power (.534 slugging, 11 home runs) make him one to consider as the Tigers right-side infield future plays out, or as an enticing trade chip this month or later. Note that he also is getting work at third base, although half the Tigers organization seems to have had at least a turn at third.

Still to be sorted out

What the Tigers do with their infield triumvirate of Anderson, Jace Jung and Hao-Yu Lee. All of them primarily are second basemen working (to different degrees) as third-base converts. Anderson is having by far the better season, offensively. Jung is working on a swing-change that appears to be paying off. Lee is keeping pace with the bat and in sharing time at two positions. The Tigers are likely to lose Gleyber Torres this autumn to free agency. One or two of the above ideally becomes a factor at one or both positions as a team’s big-league infield mysteries evolve.

Hitters who aren’t yet cutting it

The Tigers got Gage Workman back from his Rule 5 hiatus with the Cubs and White Sox and looked to be retrieving a potential roster piece. But, ah, since returning to Toledo it’s an old story through 39 games: .188 batting average and another scary strikeout clip, long Workman’s bogeyman, of 39.5%. Also worrisome: Roberto Campos at Erie. He turned 22 last month, should be showing definitive signs of big-league cachet, and instead in 69 games at Double A is batting .231/.293/.331/.624. He is 6-3, 200, bats right-handed and in 2019 was a then-record Tigers international investment of $2.85 million. There are regular assurances across the Tigers organization that Campos will be fine. It’s time to ask: Will he?

Hitter most closely to follow (second half)

Franyerber Montilla at Lakeland. Montilla plays middle infield, switch hits, and had a chilly spring before things began getting toasty with the Flying Tigers (12-for-25 in his past six games). The thermostat turned up last month and an ongoing second-half surge could put him at West Michigan even this summer. His strikeouts (25.1%) remain a bit heavy but, if amended, would factor in any later-summer notions of moving him to high-A.

Pitcher most closely to follow (second half)

Kenny Serwa at Erie. Those who don’t take this man seriously might wish to take in a Serwa start. His knuckleball is real. He can throw it for strikes. He is tough to hit. He can give you six innings, easily. He is an athlete. He probably should bag his fastball, or at least not throw it on an 0-2 count, as he did Thursday and watched as it banged against the fence for a triple. And he should avoid bad innings that seemingly are within the grasp of a 27-year-old man still fairly new to professional baseball. These are fairly achievable matters for a pitcher who in 17 games (12 starts) at West Michigan and Erie has a 3.36 ERA and 1.09 WHIP, with strikeout/walks rates of 7.0 and 3.0 and who has been nicked for only 55 hits in 72 innings. Serwa, in fact, has two knuckleballs thrown at markedly different speeds. Understand this man’s uniqueness. Appreciate his potential.

Over the horizon

There are signs of life, some of them brilliant, in the deeper regions of Detroit’s rookeries in the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League. Kelvis Salcedo, Eddy Felix, Jatnk Diaz – all, by next year, could be part of an organization-wide rebound among Tigers kid starters. Offensively, Javier Osorio, Jose Dickson and Jude Warwick, now joining Enrique Jimenez as the Tigers’ best quartet of FCL hitters, should be digging in as lineup regulars at Lakeland. In the Dominican Summer League, teens soon headed States-side include Madero, a marvelously talented young catcher, as well as Cris Rodriguez, Nestor Miranda, and Cristian Perez – and 18-year-old right-handed gunslinger Jhonan Coba.

An eventful first half, this year’s Tigers farm story and its revelations. Second-half news should also, steadily, make 2025 one of the more remarkable seasons in the past 50 years of Tigers minor-league life.

DETROIT – The genesis of Tarik Skubal being named the American League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game Tuesday began with a phone call from Yankees ace Max Fried.

“It was actually a really cool conversation from his perspective, because of his history with Atlanta and all that stuff,” Skubal said.

Fried, of course, spent the first eight years of his career with the Braves. Obviously, him going back to that city to start the All-Star Game against the National League would have been a big deal.

And Fried, at that point, hadn’t pulled himself out of the game.

“He asked me if I wanted to start,” Skubal said. “I told him, ‘Hey, if you want to start, I get it. I’m a fan of the game and I want to watch that, as well. If you want to start, go for it. I’m not going to get offended or anything like that.’

“And he was like, ‘No, I don’t really care about the story. I think you deserve (to start). I just wondered if you want to start.’”

Skubal very much wanted to start. Fried went to manager Aaron Boone and told him he thought Skubal deserved to start the game. On Saturday, Boone notified Skubal and the Tigers that he would be starting on Tuesday.

“It was a cool thing,” Skubal said of Fried’s phone call. “It was a very professional thing to do and you have a ton of respect for guys who do stuff like that, especially with the story of him going back there and obviously he’s been great this year, too.”

Fried, who came out of his start Saturday with a blister on his finger, won’t be participating in the game.

“Anybody in their career would want to start an All-Star Game,” Skubal said. “As a kid, you watch those games and you want to be the first arm out there. I think that’s something I’ll keep pretty special for the rest of my career.

“I’m glad I’m able to check that box at this point in my career. I don’t know how many more of these games I’ll get to play in so I’m really glad I get to start this one.”

Skubal will be starting opposite Pirates phenom Paul Skenes, something that just missed happening when the Pirates were at Comerica Park last month.

“That’ll be fun,” Skubal said. “He’s a helluva talent. We missed each other by a day-night doubleheader earlier this season. It’ll be fun to square off on a big stage like that and it’ll be fun to compete against the game’s best.”

Better with buddies

Last season, the Tigers’ representation in the All-Star Game was Skubal and Riley Greene. This year, the Tigers are sending a six-player entourage.

“I feel like with the whole group coming with me, it’s going to make it more fun,” Greene said. “I’m not saying Skub wasn’t fun. Skub was fun. But having more guys there is going to be great.”

Gleyber Torres, who is returning to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2019, seconded that.

“It’s really special to start the All-Star Game with your buddies,” he said. “These opportunities are really good as a player, but also really special for the entire organization. Detroit is going to be represented by four starters and two guys who will come off the bench in the second part of the game.

“That’s really special and we’re going to try to put on a good show.”

Besides Skubal, Greene and Torres, Javier Baez will be the American League’s starting centerfielder, even though he hasn’t played in center since June 4.

“It’s pretty great,” Baez said when he was announced as a starter. “Right now it feels a little weird; I am playing more short. But this is what you work for, to be an All-Star. … I am grateful to enjoy this with my family now.”

Utility man Zach McKinstry and pitcher Casey Mize will also be part of the Tigers’ contingent in Atlanta.

The Tigers presented all six players with beautiful Shinola watchs before the game Sunday.

‘Just be yourself’

Greene has had a remarkable first half. His 24 homers and 78 RBI after Sunday are franchise records by a left-handed hitter before the break. And, counting right-handed hitters, that pre-break production has been matched by only three other players – Hank Greenberg, Cecil Fielder and Miguel Cabrera.

“Like, yeah, this is my second All-Star Game, but I am going to cherish it like it’s my first,” Greene said. “And if there are any more in the future, I’m going to cherish those the same way. You never know when it’s going to be your last one.”

Greene isn’t competing in the Home Run Derby, but he’s planning on watching at least the first half of it Monday. He’s also looking forward to letting himself relax and take in more of the hoopla that surrounds the game.

“I know what to expect this year,” he said. “It was a little harder to relax the first time because you were always like, ‘What do I do?’ You don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I know now, whatever you do, you aren’t going to step on anyone’s toes.

“Just be yourself. We’re here to hang out and play a game.”

Around the horn

Hinch shared his tentative pitching plan for after the All-Star break. Reese Olson will start the first game in Texas and Skubal will pitch the ESPN game on Sunday. Mize is penciled in for Saturday, but Hinch said that could change if he ends up pitching in the All-Star Game Tuesday. If he does, Hinch could plug Keider Montero into the Saturday start, or deploy a bullpen game.

… Right-hander Sawyer Gipson-Long (neck) is expected to continue his rehab work in Lakeland during the break.

Family and friends of an Oakland County restaurant food server are mourning his loss after he was killed over the weekend as a result of high-speed police chase that ended in Warren.

Relatives identified the victim as Alex Habib, 28, a married father of two from Madison Heights, who died early Saturday in a car crash involving a Roseville police officer.

Warren police Lt. John Grajewski on Sunday confirmed the fatality, which remains under investigation.

According to Warren police, Roseville police initiated a vehicle pursuit around 3 a.m. Saturday that ended in a multi-car crash in the Van Dyke Avenue/11 Mile Road area.

Further details were not immediately available.

Roseville police administrators did not respond Sunday morning to a request for comment.

Habib apparently was an innocent bystander who was struck by one of the vehicles involved in the pursuit, according to friends.

He was married to Danielle and the two have two young children, 1-year-old Eleanora and Santiago, who is 3 months old.

“His life revolved around his family — he was their strength, their protector, and their constant source of support,” relatives said in a GoFundMe request.

“Alex worked tirelessly to provide for Danielle and the kids, both emotionally and financially. He was a man of deep love, quiet strength, and unwavering dedication — someone who gave selflessly and always showed up for the people he loved. His loss is felt not just by his wife and children, but by all who knew him.”

Habib worked as a server at Jim Brady’s restaurant on Main Street in Royal Oak.

According to a social media message posted by management, the Jim Brady’s team of workers is “heartbroken” over his passing.

“We have lost a beloved member of our team,” the Facebook post said. “Alex Habib, who was loved by all those who came into contact with him, has been taken from all of those close to him far too early…The family appreciates any and all that we can do for them. Thank you from the bottom of our heart.”

As of Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe effort has raised in excess of $55,000.

To make a donation, visit gofundme.com/f/support-for-alex-habibs-loved-ones

Come back to Macombdaily.com for further updates as they become available.

DETROIT (AP) — Jorge Polanco and Cole Young hit back-to-back home runs in a four-run ninth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 8-4 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Julio Rodriguez, Randy Arozarena and Mitch Garver also hit solo home runs for the Mariners, who humbled the major league-leading Tigers with 12-3 and 15-7 wins in the first two games of the series.

Seattle’s 35 runs is the most they have scored in a three-game series since 2002.

The Tigers are taking a season-high four-game losing streak into the All-Star break.

After Polanco broke a 4-all tie in the ninth and Young created a two-run cushion, the Mariners scored two more runs.

Matt Brash (1-0) struck out two in the eighth to earn the win.

Tommy Kahnle (1-2) gave up three runs on two hits and a walk without getting an out in the pivotal ninth.

Detroit scored two unearned runs off Logan Gilbert in the first inning, taking advantage of Luke Raley’s throwing error, and went ahead again in the seventh on Riley Greene’s 24th homer of the season.

Seattle’s Cal Raleigh went 0 for 2 with three walks, leaving him with an AL-record 38 homers before the All-Star Game — one shy of Barry Bonds’ 2001 major league record for homers before the break. Raleigh stole a base, joining Babe Ruth (1921), Reggie Jackson (1969) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1998) as players with at least 38 homers and 10 stolen bases in their team’s first 96 games.

Key moment

Polanco was a pinch-hitter to lead off the ninth and hit a 401-foot homer to right.

Key stat

Raleigh is the first catcher to lead the majors outright in homers at the All-Star break since Hall of Famer Johnny Bench in 1972.

Up next

The Tigers have a franchise-record six All-Stars in Atlanta, including starting pitcher Tarik Skubal. Seattle is sending five All-Stars to the Midsummer Classic for the first time since 2003.

The Fraser City Council voted Thursday night to grant the region’s troubled waste hauler a contract extension that includes a 24% rate hike despite ongoing complaints from homeowners about chronic service delays.

Clinton Township-based Priority Waste received a three-year extension of its existing $1.1 million contract, with 3% annual raises each year, according to the city’s Department of Public Works.

In a memo to the council, DPW Superintendent Rob Barrett said there’s not enough time to solicit bids from other waste hauling firms before the city’s contract expires Sept. 12.

“Unfortunately, we recently discovered that most waste disposal companies require several months to prepare a bid, receive several months to prepare a bid, receive the award, and invest in trucks and personnel to provide the service,” Barrett said in recommending the extension.

Councilmembers said they were frustrated by the lack of bids given Priority Waste’s numerous complaints over various services. Mayor Michael Lesich said he “reluctantly” voted along with the rest of the council.

Fraser’s approval marked the second one this week for Priority Waste, which earlier this week gained support from Orchard Lake in Oakland County.

Daniel Venet, the company’s vice president of municipal sales, said the new agreement in Fraser follows ongoing discussions between the city and Priority Waste over improving the company’s performance.

“From where we started a year ago, we were all in a chaotic moment of stress,” he said. “We put a lot on your shoulders — the DPW staff, yourselves, and the administration. It’s not something I took lightly.”

During Thursday’s meeting in Fraser, Barrett, a former longtime Oak Park employee, apologized to the council for not addressing the matter sooner and said the city administration will request proposals for the service earlier next time the contract is nearing its end.

According to the memo, the extension includes a starting rate of $17.50 per month for residential garbage service, which includes compost and recycling, with a 3% annual increase for each of the three years.

The DPW head said the company’s price of $1.12 million a year for Fraser is “quite fair” by comparison to other bids in local communities that were received recently awarded:

• Harrison Township — $1.2 million
• Shelby Township — $1.29 million
• New Haven — $300,000

“That satisfies me that’s a fair number (in the bid),” Barrett told the council.

Fraser has approximately 5,750 trash pickups, 4,830 recycling pickups, and 3,950 compost pickups per month, according to the city’s DPW.

Priority Waste took over residential accounts from GFL Environmental on July 1, 2024. The company now handles trash services for about 700,000 residents in dozens of communities in Genesee, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties.

Prior to that, Fraser had an eight-year contract with GFL, which some questioned. While a councilmember at the time, Lesich voted against the move.

Troubled transition

But almost from the day the sale of GFL to Priority Waste was announced in July 2024, the company has been plagued with troubles related to the transition.

Over the past year, Priority Waste has been facing a barrage of complaints from numerous communities over missed pickups and other service issues.

Residents and municipal leaders have reported days-long  delays in trash and recycling collection, scattered trash, difficulty reaching the company. Company officials say they were left many “decrepit” and aging garbage trucks.

Company officials said a load of new trucks have been ordered with final delivery expected around November.

Service improving

Venet said Priority Waste is making steady improvements every month.

He talked about a former GFL official who advised him: “One thing he said to me about Fraser was that the people are understanding and forgiving, but they will hold you accountable when you fail. And things were not good for us those first three months.”

Priority Waste officials thought the problems would have leveled off over the winter. Instead, Venet said, it took three months to sell the old fleet of vehicles. At the same time, the company continued to see an increase in the volume of waste left out for disposal, which “doesn’t help,” he said.

Venet believes as the company continues to chip away, things should get “more like normal.” by January, both in Fraser and other communities.

He also acknowledged concerns about the company’s street sanitation workers.

“My stance is people do make mistakes so we can allow for some variance if a mistake occurs but if it’s an occurrence of choice or it’s habitual or a continuous issue, the employee’s going to get reprimanded and disciplined through our protocols,” Venet said.

He told the council that problems are certain to happen in “an industry with 1 million touches a year.

“But it’s how you respond, correct, and move forward,” Venet said.

The extension comes as Macomb Township’s board voted to issue a formal notice of default that could result in fines against the company as early as next month.

A spokesperson for the company has said they faced obstacles involving the number of GFL garbage trucks Priority Waste received in the sale and technology issues. Many vehicles were broken down and required immediate repairs, while a camera system the company uses to monitor work conditions had problems staying operational.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan football staff member Connor Stalions, whose actions triggered an NCAA investigation into sign-stealing, says he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons.

Stalions shared those details Saturday on social media, responding to TCU coach Sonny Dykes telling On3 that his team changed some signs in advance of its win over the Wolverines in the 2022 College Football semifinals.

“We got some favorable matchups because of that and, yeah, there was some big plays in the game,” Dykes said in the On3 report.

Stalions bristled at the latest attempt to suggest Michigan won or lost games because of his sign-stealing role with the team.

“There were 7 games in my time at Michigan where I knew almost every signal the whole game: 2021 MSU, 2022 MSU, 2022 PSU, 2022 OSU, 2022 TCU, 2021 Georgia, and 2021 Wisconsin,” Stalions wrote in his post. “We lost 3 of those games because we didn’t tackle well, and Georgia was historically good. We won the four other games because we dominated the line of scrimmage & tackled well. Blocking, ball security, tackling, run fits & coverage tools.

“That’s football. This is not rocket science.”

Nearly a year ago, the NCAA alleged in a notice relating to Michigan’s sign-stealing investigation that current coach Sherrone Moore violated rules as an assistant under former coach Jim Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its own investigation into the allegations after the two ended up in court.

Moore also was accused of deleting text messages with Stalions, before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation.

Michigan is prepared to suspend Moore for two games during the coming season. The NCAA will decide if that self-imposed sanction is enough to address allegations that Moore failed to cooperate in an investigation that rocked college football during the 2023 championship season with Harbaugh on the sideline.

The school had a hearing with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions last month. The governing body takes three months on average for contested cases to make a final decision.

The Wolverines open the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and then go to Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman, on Sept. 6.

The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but it does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team’s signals. Records from other Big Ten schools showed that Stalions bought tickets to games involving future opponents, sending people to digitally record teams when they signaled plays.

Stalions initially was placed on leave by Michigan and later resigned. He did not participate in the NCAA investigation.

The NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years.