DETROIT (AP) — John Gibson kept up his hot December with 24 saves, Dylan Larkin and Mason Appleton scored goals, and the Detroit Red Wings beat the slumping Winnipeg Jets 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Gibson won for the ninth time in 10 starts as the Red Wings improved to 11-3-1 in December.

The Jets lost their seventh straight game (0-4-3) on a night where Connor Hellebuyck made 17 saves. Logan Stanley scored Winnipeg’s goal.

The Red Wings took a 1-0 lead at 8:22 of the first period when Larkin ripped a shot through traffic over Hellebuyck’s glove while on the power play. Larkin and Hellebuyck, who grew up a few miles apart in Detroit’s western suburbs, are expected to be teammates on Team USA in the upcoming Olympics.

Appleton put the Red Wings ahead 2-0 with 5:12 left in the first, finishing off a two-on-one break with J.T. Compher. Hellebuyck made the initial save, but defenseman Luke Schenn knocked the puck into the net while trying to clear the crease.

Gustav Nyquist nearly made it 2-1 late in the second period against his former team, but hit the crossbar from a sharp angle.

Stanley made it 2-1 at 7:04 of the third with a shot along the ice that seemed to fool Gibson.

No sooner had John F. Kennedy’s granddaughter died of leukemia at age 35, than President Trump got busy dusting off previous social media posts to cast shade at her bereaved family.

Though he didn’t mention the late Tatiana Schlossberg by name or reference her death, Trump harvested screenshots of his supporters’ posts belittling the famous family after his newly handpicked board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted to tack the president’s name onto the venue.

The Kennedy family announced Schlossberg’s death on Tuesday from a rare form of leukemia with the simple message, “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts.”

Schlossberg had written poignantly about her diagnosis and treatment in The New Yorker in November, a powerful account of a year-long journey that paralleled her cousin Robert Kennedy Jr.’s attack on the nation’s public health system as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

As condolences poured in, Trump, reportedly miffed at the raft of performance cancellations in the wake of the board’s Dec. 18 name change, pulled supporters’ social media posts out of mothballs and onto Truth Social. He re-upped such gems as, “The Kennedy Family have LONG neglected the Kennedy Center, btw. They don’t raise money for it. They never show up. And the only Kennedy who has been there recently is a member of Trump’s cabinet,” and, “The Trumps have always been supporters of the arts. The Kennedys are supporters of the Kennedys.”

The Kennedys themselves were especially vocal during the public backlash against the institution’s name change, given that Congress had dedicated it as a living memorial to JFK after the president’s 1963 assassination.

CNN’s Jake Tapper and others led the excoriation charge against Trump’s posts.

“In the early afternoon, ET, the Kennedy family announced that JFK’s granddaughter Tatiana Schlossberg had died from cancer,” the anchor wrote on X. “A few hours later, President Trump re-posted some social media garbage attacking the Kennedy family.”

Barely a month earlier, Trump had blamed movie director Rob Reiner for his own murder.

“On a day when the Kennedy family is grappling with an unimaginable personal loss, Donald Trump chose to use his platform to launch petty, vindictive attacks against them,” Meidas Touch wrote on X. “Yet another stunning display of cruelty and utter lack of basic human decency.”

With News Wire Services

ORLANDO, Fla. – For the last six days since Michigan arrived here to prepare for the Citrus Bowl, the game felt like an afterthought.

After all, Michigan hired new coach Kyle Whittingham on Dec. 26, the day the team flew to Florida from Ann Arbor, and two days later he was formally introduced as the program’s 22nd head coach. His hiring dominated interviews and headlines, and, oh, yeah, there was a game coming up for a team that had faced many distractions since their previous coach, Sherrone Moore, was fired on Dec. 10 creating turmoil within the program.

Michigan and Texas both entered the Citrus Bowl with the goal of winning their 10th game at Camping World Stadium. But it was the Longhorns, with two previous wins against Michigan, who prevailed, with a 41-27 win in an entertaining, high-scoring game with Whittingham observing his new team from the press box suites.

The game featured two of the most hyped quarterbacks in the game, but it was Texas quarterback Arch Manning who had the spectacular performance. He threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 155 yards and two touchdowns, including a 60-yard run that converted on his counterpart Bryce Underwood’s second interception and put Texas up two scores, 38-27.

Underwood, Michigan’s freshman quarterback, had not had a touchdown pass in four of his last five games and had two against Texas, to Andrew Marsh and Kendrick Bell. He also rushed for 69 yards with one touchdown. But trumping all of that was his three interceptions, the third coming with 4:33 left that led to a Texas field goal and a 41-27 lead. He was picked off three times in the second half, including back-to-back fourth-quarter drives.

Michigan was short-handed in the run game with both of the Wolverines’ top rushers, Jordan Marshall and Justice Haynes, on the sideline, leaving the bulk of the job to Bryson Kuzdzal, who led the team with 82 yards on 20 carries. Haynes, who has been recovering from a foot injury suffered in the Michigan State game, was in street clothes, but Marshall, who suffered a right shoulder injury in Game 11 against Northwestern, was in uniform. And there were the opt-outs, including sack leader Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham.

The Wolverines regained the lead, 27-24, with 11 minutes left in the game with a 5-yard run by Underwood that was reviewed after it appeared he may have fumbled as the ball crossed the pylon.

But Texas had a strong reply and drove 75 yards on nine plays as Manning made a stunning pass to Kaliq Lockett for a 30-yard touchdown and the 31-27 lead with just less than seven minutes left.

Michigan built a 20-17 lead early in the second half on Dominic Zvada’s second field goal, this time from 31 yards, but Texas responded with a touchdown drive as Manning scored on a 23-yard run to give the Longhorns a 24-20 lead.

The Wolverines were driving on their next possession when Underwood was intercepted on a poor pass on third-and-17 at the Texas 25-yard line. But Michigan’s defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out.

Michigan had 192 total first-half yards while Texas had 233. Underwood was 12 of 18 for 112 yards and the TD passes to Bell and Marsh. He also ran for 49 yards on five carries. The Wolverines, who struggled finding any semblance of a pass rush against Ohio State in the final regular-season game, didn’t pressure Manning much in the first half. Manning was 14 of 23 for 147 yards and a score.

Texas made it 10-10 early in the second quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run, but Michigan, playing behind a reconfigured offensive line after center Greg Crippen left the game with injury, responded with an efficient drive.

With Crippen out, Jake Guarnera moved from right guard to center and freshman Kaden Strayhorn came in at right guard, shuffling a line that was already featuring a new starter at right tackle, Brady Norton for Andrew Sprague, and Nathan Efobi at left guard for Gio El-Hadi, who decided not to play in the bowl.

Michigan needed seven plays, with Underwood running four times, including a 33-yard gain to the Texas 4-yard line. Marsh, who switched to No. 3, his high school number, before the game, scored on a pass from Underwood give Michigan a 17-10 lead.

Texas tied the game 17-17 the next drive on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Jack Endries.

Michigan’s defense came up big on Texas’ final drive of the half. The Longhorns reached the UM 21-yard line and Manning looked to have another touchdown on a second-down throw but TJ Metcalf broke up the play in the end zone. On third down, the snap went over Manning’s head for a 12-yard loss. Michigan got the ball back with 48 seconds left and after reaching the Texas 27-yard line, Zvada missed a 45-yard field goal wide right as time expired. He made a 53-yarder in the first quarter.

The Wolverines took a 10-3 lead in the first quarter, scoring twice in 46 seconds, first on a 53-yard field goal from Zvada. On the ensuing kickoff, Texas’ Ryan Niblett was hit by Cole Sullivan, who forced a fumble that Metcalf recovered at the Longhorns’ 23-yard line.

On third-and-16, Underwood connected with Bell in the end zone, but it was officially ruled incomplete. The Michigan players, however, began to celebrate, throwing up their arms to signal a touchdown, after watching a replay on the videoboard. The call was overturned after the review showed Bell got his right toe down for the score and a 10-3 lead.

Texas opened the game a 43-yard field goal after having two 22-yard plays in the drive.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that the Constitution remains a sturdy pillar for the country, a message that comes after a tumultuous year in the nation’s judicial system with pivotal Supreme Court decisions on the horizon.

Roberts said the nation’s founding documents remain “firm and unshaken,” a reference to a century-old quote from President Calvin Coolidge. “True then; true now,” Roberts wrote in his annual letter to the judiciary.

The letter comes after a year in which legal scholars and Democrats raised fears of a possible constitutional crisis as Republican President Donald Trump’s supporters pushed back against rulings that slowed his far-reaching conservative agenda.

Roberts weighed in at one point in March, issuing a rare rebuke after Trump called for the impeachment of a judge who had ruled against him in a case over the deportation of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members.

The chief justice’s Wednesday letter was largely focused on the nation’s history, including an early 19th-century case establishing the principle that Congress shouldn’t remove judges over contentious rulings.

He also called on judges to “continue to decide the cases before us according to our oath, doing equal right to the poor and to the rich, and performing all of our duties faithfully and impartially under the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

While the Trump administration faced pushback in the lower courts, it has scored a series of some two dozen wins on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. The court’s conservative majority has allowed Trump to move ahead for now with banning transgender people from the military, clawing back billions of dollars of congressionally approved federal spending, moving aggressively on immigration and firing the Senate-confirmed leaders of independent federal agencies.

The court also handed Trump a few defeats over the last year, including in his push to deploy the National Guard to U.S. cities.

Other pivotal issues are ahead for the high court in 2026, including arguments over Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship and a ruling on whether he can unilaterally impose tariffs on hundreds of countries.

Roberts’ letter contained few references to those issues. It opened with a history of the seminal 1776 pamphlet “Common Sense,” written by Thomas Paine, a “recent immigrant to Britain’s North American colonies,” and closed with Coolidge’s encouragement to “turn for solace” to the Constitution and Declaration of Independence “amid all the welter of partisan politics.”

By FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on four firms operating in Venezuela’s oil sector and designated four additional oil tankers, which the U.S. accuses of being part of a shadow fleet serving Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government, as blocked property.

The action is part of the Trump administration’s monthslong pressure campaign on Maduro. U.S. forces also have seized two oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast, are pursuing another and have conducted a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

A set of strikes announced Wednesday increased the death toll from the attacks to at least 110 people since early September. And in a new escalation marking the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil, the CIA carried out a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by drug cartels.

The latest sanctions from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control target ships called Nord Star, Lunar Tide, Rosalind and Della, and their registered ownership companies.

“Today’s sanctions continue President Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro and his cronies,” State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said in a statement. “The Trump Administration is committed to disrupting the network that props up Maduro and his illegitimate regime.”

The sanctions are meant to deny the firms and tankers access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. People, banks and financial institutions that violate that restriction expose themselves to sanctions or enforcement actions.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States “will not allow the illegitimate Maduro regime to profit from exporting oil while it floods the United States with deadly drugs.”

President Donald Trump has announced a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of the South American country. He has demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago and has said Maduro’s government is using oil profits to fund drug trafficking and other crimes.

“The Treasury Department will continue to implement President Trump’s campaign of pressure on Maduro’s regime,” Bessent said.

By JOSH FUNK and DIDI TANG

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Farmers are now learning how much aid they can expect to receive from a $12 billion package that President Donald Trump announced earlier this month.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the figures Wednesday for how much aid per acre farmers can plan on for each row crop. The details arrived after most farmers have already met with their bankers to arrange financing for next year’s crops and placed orders for the seed and fertilizer they will need. But officials have promised that the payments should arrive by the end of February.

Soybean farmers have been hit especially hard by Trump’s trade war with China, which stopped buying any American crops after Trump announced his tariffs this spring. China is the world’s largest buyer of soybeans. This aid package is expected to help farmers weather the trade disruptions until China buys more soybeans under an agreement announced in October and until provisions of Trump’s massive budget bill take effect later this year.

Soybean farmers will get $30.88 per acre while corn farmers will receive $44.36 per acre. Another crop hit hard when China stopped buying was sorghum, and those farmers will get $48.11 per acre. The amounts are based on a USDA formula on the cost of production.

Farmers say they need more buyers for their crops

But farmers say the aid won’t solve all their problems as they continue to deal with the soaring costs of fertilizer, seeds and labor that make it hard to turn a profit right now. Some agricultural trade groups have said they worry that thousands of farmers could go out of business, but others have said they believe most farmers have the financial resources and equity needed to survive.

Kentucky soybean farmer Caleb Ragland, who was president of the American Soybean Association until recently, said the aid is “a Band-Aid on a deep wound. We need competition and opportunities in the market to make our future brighter.”

The President of the National Corn Growers Association Jed Bower also urged the Trump administration to focus on cultivating additional uses for their crops. Farmers will benefit from having more buyers whether it is for ethanol and animal feed at home or for international markets.

“Corn growers have been sounding the alarm about the fact that farmers have been faced with multiple consecutive years of low corn prices and high input costs,” Bower said. “While this financial assistance is helpful and welcomed, we urgently need the administration and Congress to develop markets in the United States and abroad that will provide growers with more long-term economic certainty.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said that is the goal and promised to continue working to open new markets while strengthening the safety net for farmers.

Minnesota Soybean Growers Association President Darin Johnson said the aid number for soybeans fell short of what farmers had been hoping for, so more help could be needed, though this package will help.

Most farmers remain steadfast supporters of Trump even after the disruptions caused by the trade war. They generally support many of his other policies and believe they will get a better trade deal in the end.

White House and farmers encouraged by China’s purchases

These aid payments will add up to $11 billion for row crop farmers who raise corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum and other crops. Another $1 billion has been set aside for specialty crops and sugar, but the administration hasn’t released any details of aid for those crops.

After Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea in October, the White House said Beijing had promised to buy at least 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by the end of the calendar year, plus 25 million metric tons a year in each of the next three years. Officials have said China is on track to meet the 12 million metric ton goal by the end of February.

As of Dec. 18, China had bought about 6 million metric tons of soybeans, according to the latest USDA’s weekly report. Separately, the federal agency reported that China since then bought at least three more batches totaling 600,000 metric tons.

Beijing has yet to confirm any commitment to buying 12 million metric tons of soybeans for this season, but the Chinese embassy in Washington said earlier this month that “agricultural trade cooperation between China and the United States is proceeding in an orderly manner.”

However, the recent increase in international purchases is encouraging to farmers, said Tim Lust, CEO of the National Sorghum Producers, who has seen more than 1 million metric tons of sorghum purchased in just the past few weeks. Like soybeans, more than half of the sorghum crop is exported each year with China traditionally being the biggest buyer.

The aid payments will be capped at $155,000 per farmer or entity, and only farms that make less than $900,000 in adjusted gross income will be eligible. During the first Trump administration, a number of large farms found ways around the payment limits and collected millions.

The USDA says the average size of the 1.88 million farms nationwide was 466 acres last year, but many farmers are much larger than that as larger operations have continued to buy up neighboring farms over time.

All it took was a couple weeks worth of evidence that Birmingham Groves’ new approach this season was going to result in some eye-popping numbers.

Averaging 60 points in their two first games? Nothing out of the ordinary.

Then the Falcons set a new school record for points in a game when they beat Fenton 103-45 on Dec. 16. Just three days later, they improved to 2-2 by waxing Fraser 92-61.

Triple-digit evenings are going to mean double-digit individual performances will be more common in that neighborhood, whether it’s Sophie Schwanik, Mallory Killian, Jacey Roy or take your pick.

But no one is benefitting more than Groves junior Harlem Simpson, as if she was going to fly under the radar for long regardless.

Nothing tells the tale better than the Falcons’ loss to Mercy in their second game of the season. Simpson, who admitted it wasn’t her brightest and best performance, was quiet for three quarters. Then she ripped off five 3-pointers in the fourth and still finished with 26 points.

Against Fenton, Simpson was far more efficient, shooting over 53 from the field (including 7 of 12 from downtown) as she finished with a new career-high 45 points.

In the victory over the Ramblers, she nearly followed up with a triple-double, scoring 35 points while pulling down 13 rebounds and finishing with seven steals.

The points will pull in the most attention, but Simpson’s ability to be a disruptive force with steals like she had against Fraser are what will only make Groves more dangerous as they acclimate to the Grinnell system, which second-year head coach Jessica Duleba installed over the summer.

“It’s just new,” Simpson said after the Mercy loss. “We’ve just got to get used to it. We’ve got to know we can still take layups, know that we don’t have to shoot all the time. We’ve got to listen to coaches, but if you are open, you’ve got to see it, and when you get the ball you’ve got to realize it. But we’ll get used to it.”

Simpson has basketball in her blood. Her mom, Kisha, graduated as Michigan State’s all-time leading scorer and was the program’s first All-American, enough to earn her a place in MSU’s Hall of Fame (2011), and older brother John helped make Groves history by being part of last year’s senior class that brought the Falcons their first OAA Red title.

Harlem began to make her own name known on a bigger stage with AAU performances this past summer and her development has earned her double-digit Division 1 offers that include Penn State, Oakland, Detroit Mercy and Central Michigan, though that attention doesn’t seem to bother her or have her in any rush to decide on a destination. “You just gotta keep it spread out,” she said after at least a few schools were in attendance watching the loss to the Marlins. “I’ve been on a few visits. I’m just talking to everybody, feeling them out, figuring out where I want to be at.”

One of the state’s best from the Class of 2027 has the quickness to get by defenders, but her perimeter offense is where the focus has been placed to make her even more dangerous.

“In practice, she’s shooting the ball at 80%, so for me, she has the green light,” Duleba said. “If you’re open, you better shoot it, because I’ll take my chances (with her). I think that’s the biggest improvement in her game that she’s now added that 3-point shooting piece, because there isn’t a girl that can stand in front of her. I’d like to know who’s a better ball-handler than she is.”

Harlem talked about the work that’s seemed to translate into these recent performances, saying, “Every day, every practice, 100 threes over the summer. I was in the gym every day, every week shooting threes on the gun, getting up over 500 shots every day.”

Considering that Roy is the team’s only senior, the ceiling for the Falcons seems to match its talented star.

“It’ll be good,” Simpson said. “Everyone will get more comfortable with each other because there’s a lot of freshmen that are playing and a lot of us hadn’t played together. We’ve just got to get used to playing with each other and we’ll be straight.”

Duleba issued a reminder after falling to 0-2 that the goal was to be winning in March, but with the results Simpson and her teammates are producing already, opponents won’t be sleeping on the Falcons when that time comes.

By BEN FINLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Wednesday it struck three more boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs, killing three people while others jumped overboard and may have survived.

The statement by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees South America, did not reveal where the attacks occurred. Previous attacks have been in the Caribbean Sea and in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

A video posted by Southern Command on social media shows the boats traveling in a close formation, which is unusual, and the military said they were in a convoy along known narco-trafficking routes and “had transferred narcotics between the three vessels prior to the strikes.” The military did not provide evidence to back up the claim.

The military said three people were killed when the first boat was struck, while people in the other two boats jumped overboard and distanced themselves from the vessels before they were attacked. Southern Command said it immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate search and rescue efforts.

The attacks occurred on Tuesday. Southern Command’s statement did not say whether those who jumped off the boats were rescued.

Calling in the Coast Guard is notable because the U.S. military drew heavy scrutiny after U.S. forces killed the survivors of an attack in early September with a follow-up strike to their disabled boat. Some Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the military committed a crime, while the Trump administration and some Republican lawmakers say the follow-up strike was legal.

The latest attacks bring the total number of known boat strikes to 33 and the number of people killed to at least 110 since early September, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

Along with the strikes, the Trump administration has built up military forces in the region as part of an escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been charged with narco-terrorism in the United States.

Meanwhile, the CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter.

It was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September, a significant escalation in the administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro’s government.

By STEPHEN GROVES

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has ended the lease agreement for three public golf courses in Washington, a move that offers President Donald Trump an additional opportunity to put his stamp on another piece of the nation’s capital.

The National Links Trust, the nonprofit that has operated Washington’s three public courses on federal land for the last five years, said Wednesday that the Department of the Interior had terminated its 50-year lease agreement. The Interior Department said it was terminating the lease because the nonprofit had not implemented required capital improvements and failed to meet the terms of the lease.

While it was unclear what the Trump administration’s plans are for the golf courses, the move gives Trump, whose private company has developed numerous golf courses in the U.S. and abroad, the chance to remake links overlooking the Potomac River and in Rock Creek Park and a site that is part of Black golf history.

Officials for the National Links Trust said in a statement that they were “devastated” by the decision to terminate the lease and defended their management of the courses. They said $8.5 million had gone toward capital improvements at the courses and that rounds played and revenue had more than doubled in their tenure managing the courses. The nonprofit has agreed to keep managing the courses for the time being, but long-term renovations will stop.

“While this termination is a major setback, we remain stubbornly hopeful that a path forward can be found that preserves affordable and accessible public golf in the nation’s capital for generations to come,” the officials added.

The Department of the Interior’s decision comes as Trump rebrands civic spaces in Washington and deploys National Guard members to the streets for public safety. The Kennedy Center added Trump’s name this month after the center’s board of trustees — made up of Trump appointees — voted to change the name of the performing arts space designated by Congress as a memorial to John F. Kennedy. Trump is also in the midst of a construction project to build a ballroom on the White House’s East Wing, and he has put his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace.

By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Jan. 6. riot at the U.S. Capitol “does not happen” without Donald Trump, former special counsel Jack Smith told lawmakers earlier this month in characterizing the Republican president as the “most culpable and most responsible person” in the criminal conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee released on Wednesday a transcript and video of a closed-door interview Smith gave about two investigations of Trump. The document shows how Smith during the course of a daylong deposition repeatedly defended the basis for pursuing indictments against Trump and vigorously rejected Republican suggestions that his investigations were politically motivated.

“The evidence here made clear that President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol, part of this case, does not happen without him. The other co-conspirators were doing this for his benefit,” Smith said, bristling at a question about whether his investigations were meant to prevent Trump from reclaiming the presidency in 2024.

“So in terms of why we would pursue a case against him, I entirely disagree with any characterization that our work was in any way meant to hamper him in the presidential election,” he added.

The Dec. 17 deposition was conducted privately despite Smith’s request to testify publicly. The release of the transcript and video of the interview, so far Smith’s only appearance on Capitol Hill since leaving his special counsel position last January, adds to the public understanding of the decision-making behind two of the most consequential Justice Department investigations in recent history.

Trump was indicted on charges of conspiring to undo the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, and of willfully retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both cases were abandoned after Trump’s 2024 election win, with Smith citing Justice Department policy against the indictment of a sitting president.

Smith repeatedly made clear his belief that the evidence gathered against Trump was strong enough to sustain a conviction. Part of the strength of the Jan. 6 case, Smith said, was the extent to which it relied on the testimony of Trump allies and supporters who cooperated with the investigation.

“We had an elector in Pennsylvania who is a former congressman, who was going to be an elector for President Trump, who said that what they were trying to do was an attempt to overthrow the government and illegal,” Smith said. “Our case was built on, frankly, Republicans who put their allegiance to the country before the party.”

Accounts from Republicans willing to stand up against the falsehood that the election had been stolen “even though it could mean trouble for them” created what Smith described as the “most powerful” evidence against Trump.

When it came to the Capitol riot itself, Smith said, the evidence showed that Trump “caused it and that he exploited it and that it was foreseeable to him.”

Asked whether there was evidence that Trump had instructed supporters to riot at the Capitol, Smith said that Trump in the weeks leading to the insurrection got “people to believe fraud claims that weren’t true.”

“He made false statements to State legislatures, to his supporters in all sorts of contexts and was aware in the days leading up to January 6th that his supporters were angry when he invited them and then he directed them to the Capitol,” Smith said.

“Now, once they were at the Capitol and once the attack on the Capitol happened, he refused to stop it. He instead issued a tweet that without question in my mind endangered the life of his own Vice President. And when the violence was going on, he had to be pushed repeatedly by his staff members to do anything to quell it.”

Some of the deposition focused on Republican anger at revelations that the Smith team had obtained, and analyzed, phone records of GOP lawmakers who were in contact with Trump on Jan. 6. Smith defended the maneuver as lawful and by-the-book, and suggested that outrage over the tactic should be directed at Trump and not his team of prosecutors.

“Well, I think who should be accountable for this is Donald Trump. These records are people, in the case of the senators, Donald Trump directed his co-conspirators to call these people to further delay the proceedings. He chose to do that. If Donald Trump had chosen to call a number of Democratic senators, we would have gotten toll records for Democratic senators.”

The communications between Trump and Republican supporters in Congress were an important component of the case, Smith said. He cited an interview his office did with Mark Meadows in which Trump’s then-chief of staff referenced that Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had been in touch with the White House on the afternoon of the riot.

“And what I recall was Meadows stating that ‘I’ve never seen Jim Jordan scared of anything,’ and the fact that we were in this different situation now where people were scared really made it clear that what was going on at the Capitol could not be mistaken for anything other than what it was,” Smith said.

Smith was also asked whether his team evaluated former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s explosive claim that Trump that grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him go to the U.S. Capitol building after a rally at the Ellipse on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith told lawmakers that investigators interviewed the officer who was in the car, “who said that President Trump was very angry and wanted to go to the Capitol,” but the officer’s version of events “was not the same as what Cassidy Hutchinson said she heard from somebody secondhand,” Smith said.

Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

MILFORD — Coming off a 21-2 season and losing a ton of talent, Oxford head coach Joe Fedorinchik knew that this season would be a struggle at times for his team.

On Tuesday, that struggle came in the form of a 21-point Hartland run that took what was a close game and put it out of reach for the Wildcats as the Eagles prevailed 41-24 in the championship game of the Milford “Skip” Holiday Classic.

Oxford started the scoring on the evening, taking an early 2-0 lead, and a few minutes later regained the lead at 4-3, but the second consecutive 3-pointer by Hartland’s Logan Morrish, who tallied eight points on the night, would put the Eagles ahead for good.

“They (Hartland) were the aggressor tonight, there is no doubt about that.” said Fedorinchik, who graduated four starters from last year’s roster of OAA White champions, including prolific scorer Jake Champagne. “They are a good team, well coached. Number two (Morrish) and 23 (Parker Sundman) are dynamite and they are going to be fun. That is a fun group to watch.”

Still, Oxford kept things relatively close and only trailed the Eagles 12-9 midway through the second quarter until Hartland took control with the aforementioned spurt that lasted into the third quarter. At the end of that run, the score stood at 35-12 in favor of Hartland.

Photos of Oxford vs. Hartland from the 2025 Milford “Skip” Holiday Classic

“I thought for the first quarter and a half we defended pretty dang good," Fedorinchik said. "We struggled to put the ball in the hoop and that makes everything a little more difficult. Some good shooters missed some good looks and we missed some layups. At the end of the day, you are busting your butt playing defense, defense, defense, and you look up, and it is demoralizing when you are still stuck at nine points.”

The Wildcats didn’t fold in the last quarter-and-a-half of play, however, managing to outscore Hartland 12-8. That gave them something of a stepping stone into their next matchup against Utica at home on Jan. 6.

“I love the way we competed," Fedorinchik said. "We executed defensively, the kids were locked in. Again, I think it's just, you look up and we only have nine points, and it starts to psychologically weigh on you a bit.

“I think that (Hartland) is a phenomenal basketball team. I told the boys that's maybe the best team we are going to play until maybe districts.”

In addition to Morrish’s eight points on the evening, Hartland was paced by Sundman, who dropped in 20. Oxford was led by Brennan Elling’s 11 and Brody Casper’s 10 points on the night.

MILFORD 41, SOUTH LYON EAST 36

Typically accustomed to reaching the championship final, the host Mavericks, beaten on Monday 49-37 by Oxford, were victorious in the consolation game that got the action underway on Tuesday.

East outscored Milford in three quarters, but the Mavs were able to turn the tables in the second quarter and flip a one-point deficit into a 13-point lead entering intermission.

Reflecting head coach Dave Gilbert's recent comments about having a deep squad, seven players found their way into the scoring column for Milford compared to a handful for the Cougars, who doubled up the Mavs 12-6 in the third quarter, but couldn't quite make up for scoring just four in that second quarter.

Photos of Milford vs. South Lyon East from the 2025 Milford “Skip” Holiday Classic

Outside shooting helped the Mavs put together their best eight-minute stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers by sophomore Jake Goodnough, who paced his team with 11 points. Dorian Wright also knocked down a pair of triples to finish with nine points and sophomore Nolan Walcott added eight for Milford, who improved to 3-5.

Junior Mason Crosby led all scorers, finishing with 15 points for SL East. Classmate Will Noonan added nine, all on 3-pointers, and senior forward Dalton Dudas chipped in eight.

The Cougars (4-3) return to action on Jan. 6 when they host Dexter. Milford's next outing will be a Lakes Valley Conference game the same day at Walled Lake Western.

Oxford played good defense and kept things close early before a 21-0 stretch by Hartland that spanned both halves was too much to overcome for the Wildcats, who fell 41-24 in the championship game of the Milford “Skip” Holiday Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.

The homages to the impact of the life of longtime CHSL director Vic Michaels continued to pour out on Tuesday, as friends, colleagues and peers tried to grapple with the emotions of his death at age 71.

Most of those noted his impact on high school athletics, but almost all mentioned him as a friend, mentor and confidante.

“The guy had more friends than anyone I know. Everyone who ever talked to him or was with him, he made you feel like he was your best friend,” said Kris Daiek, the former athletic director and boys basketball coach at Riverview Gabriel Richard.

“I first met him through coaching. We’d be sitting there and looking at him like he was the enemy, but he didn’t do the same. He was always good about putting an arm on your shoulder and asking, ‘How are you doing?’ You thought you had a special relationship with him, but then you realize he did with everyone. That’s what made him special.”

Funeral arrangements have been set for next weekend.

A visitation will be held for Michaels at A.H. Peters Funeral home in Grosse Pointe Woods, from 2-8 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, followed by a scripture service at 7 p.m. An instate period will be held on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026 at 9 a.m. at St. John of Arc Catholic Church in St. Clair Shores, followed by a funeral mass at 10 a.m.

Here are a few of the tributes from friends and colleagues:

 

Michael Evoy, CHSL student services and athletics coordinator

“He was a typical coach. Didn’t always dole out a lot of comments but if you ever got it, it always meant a lot.”

“It came as a shock, just like it did for everybody. I had just talked to him earlier in the morning, as I have for probably the last 10 years. One of the immediate follow-up reactions I had was, ‘What do I need to do?’ That’s what Vic would have wanted. One of his greatest attributes was to think about others, no matter the situation.”

“How Vic would act with you at a basketball game is the same as he would for dinner, or after mass. He was such a personable individual. He had a special bond with so many people. This isn’t just a loss for the Catholic High School League, it is a loss for all of educational athletics.”

“When we are successful, there is a sense to beat that drum. Vic was against that. It was never about the wins and losses as it was the betterment of the student-athletes. If you do things the right way, success come. If you don’t you won’t last in the Catholic League. It all starts from the top down. He brought a great culture that trickled down all the way to the athletic programs.”

“His favorite time of the year was February. Some of my best memories and learning lessons from him was through the game of basketball, which I love as well. I learned so much just sitting there along the wall, learning the game and talking strategies.”

“It’s that he cared about the student-athletes. The Catholic education, the MHSAA, the Catholic High School League — those are all very important to him. But he always wanted to do what was right by the student-athletes. It wouldn’t be isolated to a non-public issue, but to the entire association.”

Brian Barnes, Madison Heights Bishop Foley athletic director

“Vic impacted ADs and coaches alike. He was genuine, authentic, and took interest in you no matter what school you were from or how your teams were performing. His example of ‘servant’ leadership will continue to resonate with all of us, and I am forever grateful to have known him.”

Betty Wroubel, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep coach and athletic director

“I know I join so many others in being saddened, stunned, and devastated by this loss. We truly lost a remarkable man; a devoted dad, husband, grandpa, friend, and mentor. His impact and influence went far beyond his family, friends, and colleagues.”

“Students, both in and out of the athletic realm, benefited from his wisdom and leadership. His influence was felt not only locally and statewide, but nationwide. What made him truly rare was that he never let disagreements or differences of opinion affect relationships. He had a way of making everyone feel heard, important, and genuinely valued …like you were a true friend of his.”

Kris Daiek, former Riverview Gabriel Richard coach and athletic director

“My heart sank. My heart sank for his family, and for Mike (Evoy) as well. Mike was his right-hand man. That was my first text, was to Mike to let him know I had him in my prayers, and Vic’s family also. I’m just shocked.”

“His whole goal was, ‘how does this help the kids?’”

“It’s funny actually. The arguments we’d have in the Catholic League, you’d think we’re all bitter enemies — Hatfields and McCoys. I was always amazed at how you would be at each other’s throats, but then instantly have each other’s backs when we were out there. That’s a culture that Vic had a lot to do with, and I know (former CHSL director Tom Rashid) had a lot to do with that too.”

“He would use basketball to attack every scenario he got into. But yeah, February down at Calihan Hall was always so special. It was always amazing to see someone who wasn’t trying to own the room, walk in and own the room. We always had good basketball conversations. But everyone did because he always brought basketball into it.”

“He was always talking about retiring. I think he had been retiring for seven straight years. But it grounds you. Here’s a guy that would put everything else aside and looked at it as, ‘How does this help kids?’ When you take that mentality into anything you do in education, which is very difficult these days, you can’t be wrong. That’s kind of what Vic taught me.”

“He was instrumental in high school athletics. I would find it challenging to find someone who has had more of an impact on high school sports than Vic has. Not just sports, but kids’ lives as a whole.”

Clarkston Everest Collegiate football head coach Michael Pruchnicki

“This is a huge loss for the Catholic league and difficult to accept, as it is quite a surprise. With that stated, what an incredible life Vic led giving his life to a mission he believed in and all the lives he affected. Truly a great man!”

The CHSL’s longest-tenured director, Vic Michaels, dies at 71

Allen Park Cabrini football coach RJ Chidester

“Vic ran the Catholic League with great pride and dignity since I was a student-athlete in the early 2000s.  He will be greatly missed, and his legacy will be enduring. Our prayers are with him and his family.”

Dearborn Divine Child athletic director Rick Jakacki

“I met Vic when I came to Divine Child about three and a half years ago. I liked him from the start, but liked him more and more as I got to know him. He was kind, fair, calm, smart, and a great listener. Whenever there were issues, he was someone I could talk with and someone who always answered my calls. He understood what it is like to be an athletic director and the difficulties (and rewards) that go with the job. He is certainly someone who I called a friend, and he will be sorely missed by the Catholic League, the state and so many others. I feel for his family who are suddenly without a great man. My prayers go out for them. I’m a better man and AD for knowing Vic.”

The consolation game of the Milford “Skip” Holiday Classic saw South Lyon East make a late run only to fall short to Milford, 41-36, on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025.

By HALLIE GOLDEN, Associated Press

President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Tuesday that it’s freezing child care funds to Minnesota after a series of fraud schemes in recent years.

Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on the social platform X that the step is in response to “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant in Minnesota and across the country.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back in a post on X, saying fraudsters are a serious issue that the state has spent years cracking down on but that this move is part of “Trump’s long game.”

“He’s politicizing the issue to defund programs that help Minnesotans,” Walz said.

O’Neil called out a right-wing influencer who had posted a video Friday claiming he found that day care centers operated by Somali residents in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud. O’Neill said he has demanded Walz submit an audit of these centers that includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations and inspections.

Earlier coverage: Video alleging fraud in Minnesota draws federal response; state casts doubt on it

“We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud,” O’Neill said.

The announcement comes one day after U.S. Homeland Security officials were in Minneapolis conducting a fraud investigation by going to unidentified businesses and questioning workers.

There have been years of fraud investigation that began with the $300 million scheme at the nonprofit Feeding Our Future, for which 57 defendants in Minnesota have been convicted. Prosecutors said the organization was at the center of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud scam, when defendants exploited a state-run, federally funded program intended to provide food for children.

A federal prosecutor alleged earlier in December that half or more of the roughly $18 billion in federal funds that supported 14 programs in Minnesota since 2018 may have been stolen. Most of the defendants are Somali Americans, they said.

O’Neill, who is serving as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also said in the social media post Tuesday that payments across the U.S. through the Administration for Children and Families, an agency within the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, will now require “justification and a receipt or photo evidence” before money is sent. They have also launched a fraud-reporting hotline and email address, he said.

The Administration for Children and Families provides $185 million in childcare funds annually to Minnesota, according to Assistant Secretary Alex Adams.

“That money should be helping 19,000 American children, including toddlers and infants,” he said in a video posted on X. “Any dollar stolen by fraudsters is stolen from those children.”

Adams said he spoke Monday with the director of Minnesota’s child care services office and she wasn’t able to say “with confidence whether those allegations of fraud are isolated or whether there’s fraud stretching statewide.”

Walz, the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, has said fraud will not be tolerated and his administration “will continue to work with federal partners to ensure fraud is stopped and fraudsters are caught.”

Walz has said an audit due by late January should give a better picture of the extent of the fraud. He said his administration is taking aggressive action to prevent additional fraud. He has long defended how his administration responded.

Minnesota’s most prominent Somali American, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, has urged people not to blame an entire community for the actions of a relative few.

By SAFIYAH RIDDLE and CHARLOTTE KRAMON

Hundreds of people from South Sudan may be able to live and work in the United States legally, while a federal judge on Tuesday weighs whether President Donald Trump’s move to revoke temporary protected status for immigrants from the East African country was illegal.

The termination was set to take effect on January 6, 2026, at which point the roughly 300 South Sudanese nationals living and working in the U.S. under the program — or who otherwise have pending applications — would be eligible for deportation.

Civil rights groups sued the Department of Homeland Security in late December, writing in a complaint that the change violated administrative procedure and was unconstitutional because it aimed to “significantly reduce the number of non-white and non-European immigrants in the United States” on the basis of race.

The court order written by U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts temporarily bars the federal government from initiating deportation while the final decision is pending.

“These significant and far-reaching consequences not only deserve, but require, a full and careful consideration of the merits by the Court,” Kelley wrote, adding that the changes could potentially cause irreversible harm to the East African migrants.

DHS blasted the decision in a statement on Tuesday.

“Yet another lawless and activist order from the federal judiciary who continues to usurp the President’s constitutional authority. Under the previous administration Temporary Protected Status was abused to allow violent terrorists, criminals, and national security threats into our nation,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote.

Temporary protected status is granted to foreign nationals from countries devastated by war or natural disaster. Successful applicants must already reside in the U.S. and pass extensive background checks and vetting through DHS.

Without providing evidence, McLaughlin claimed there is “renewed peace in South Sudan” and pointed to “their demonstrated commitment to ensuring the safe reintegration of returning nationals, and improved diplomatic relations.”

“Now is the right time to conclude what was always intended to be a temporary designation,” McLaughlin wrote.

According to U.N. experts, “Years of neglect have fragmented government and opposition forces alike,” the panel said, “resulting in a patchwork of uniformed soldiers, defectors and armed community defense groups.”

South Sudanese people were made eligible for temporary protected status in 2011. The East African’s embattled government still struggles to deliver many of the basic services of a state. Years of conflict have left the country heavily reliant on aid, which has been hit hard by the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts in foreign assistance. Many South Sudanese people face hunger, and this year a hunger monitor said parts of conflict-hit South Sudan were heading toward famine conditions.

“I don’t know how DHS can say with a straight face that it’s safe for South South Sudanese TPS holders to return to South Sudan when their own State Department, albeit another government agency, says is not safe to travel there,” said Dorian Spence, litigation coordinator Communities United for Status and Protection, one of the groups that filed the December 22 lawsuit.

“This is only one prong in their multi-pronged attack into making America whiter,” Spence added, noting Trump’s willingness to accept white South Africans as refugees.

Critics of the Trump administration in South Sudan said that the move was political retaliation for South Sudan’s decision to stop accepting deportees from the U.S. as part of a program to deport migrants to third countries. At least eight men were deported to South Sudan from the U.S. earlier in the year.

“This has angered the Trump administration (and) the Trump administration has reached this decision now, where it is ending protections available for South Sudanese who fled the war,” he said.

The Trump administration has attempted to withdraw various protections that have allowed immigrants to remain in the U.S. and work legally, including ending temporary status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians who were granted protection under President Joe Biden.

Protected status for immigrants from Ethiopia, Cameroon, Afghanistan, Nepal, Burma, Syria, Nicaragua and Honduras is also in jeopardy.

Kramon contributed to this report from Atlanta and Riddle from New York.

By Craig Mauger, Chad Livengood, Beth LeBlanc, MediaNews Group

Lansing — A group of seven Michigan House Republicans introduced bills this month that would exempt land owned by people without children in public schools from property taxes that benefit public schools.

The legislation, which has little to no chance of passing the state Legislature this term, would lead to significant funding cuts for K-12 schools in the coming years. However, the supporters of the proposals contended that it was unfair to require property owners who don’t directly use public schools to fund them.

“It’s fundamentally unjust to force people, including seniors, empty-nesters, those who pay for private school, and those without children, to subsidize a government education system they do not use,” Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, argued in a press release. “This is especially unfair because our broken system spends a record amount of money, yet results continue to plummet.”

The exemption, under Carra’s proposal, would be phased in starting with a 40% drop in taxes in 2027 and then expanding by 15 percentage points annually until the school-connected property taxes were eliminated in 2031.

Among the other six lawmakers who co-sponsored the measures were Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rep. Jim DeSana, R-Carleton, who also serves on the appropriations panel.

About 72% of Michigan households do not have a child in government schools, according to Carra’s press release.

In 2023, about $10.8 billion of property tax money went to schools or the State Education Tax, which benefits the School Aid Fund, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Jess Newman, deputy political director for the advocacy group United for Respect, labeled Carra’s proposal an “unconscionable bill” and “a move to defund our public schools.”

“The result for our communities will be nothing short of devastating,” Newman added. “Families are already stretched thin by rising housing, health care and child care costs. Making parents shoulder the cost of education alone would be unbearable.

“We all benefit from healthy, well-funded schools, whether or not we have children attending, and this move will only further widen inequities between wealthy and low-income districts.”

Newman is part of the Invest In MI Kids campaign, which is seeking to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2026 that would impose a 5% tax on income over $500,000 to increase funding for K-12 schools.

House GOP leaders sent the property tax exemption bills to the Government Operations Committee. In addition to the House, the Democratic-controlled Senate would have to approve them for them to become law, and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would have to sign them.

Democrats in the Senate and Whitmer have promoted their efforts to increase K-12 school funding over the years.

Senator asks for AG convention opinion

State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, has asked Attorney General Dana Nessel for an official opinion on whether it’s legal for political parties to hold early nominating conventions to make binding picks of candidates for attorney general, secretary of state and other statewide offices.

Both Michigan Republicans and Democrats have scheduled nominating conventions for the spring of 2026, as a strategy to give their nominees an early start on the fall campaign. The parties have done the same thing previously.

However, Michigan law says each political party must nominate a candidate for lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general at fall conventions after the August primary.

“It has come to my attention that one of the state’s major political parties intends to convene a separate ‘endorsement convention’ several months prior to the August primary election,” McBroom wrote to Nessel “Under the adopted party rules, only a person who has (a) obtained prior endorsement at that separate “endorsement convention” and (b) paid a fee of $10,000 to appear before the ‘endorsement convention; may be considered for nomination at the post-primary state convention.”

McBroom specifically asked Nessel to decide whether a political party may lawfully conduct an endorsement convention that “purports to bind, limit or otherwise condition the constitutional authority of the post-primary state convention to nominate candidates for attorney general and secretary of state.”

Duggan moving downtown

After 12 years of living in the Manoogian Mansion on the banks of the Detroit River, outgoing Mayor Mike Duggan is going to get a better view of downtown Detroit each morning.

Duggan and his wife, Dr. Sonia Hassan, are moving into a rental condo in the 33-story Book-Cadillac Hotel building on Washington Boulevard.

The one-time Livonia resident confirmed his post-mayoral residency plans in a Dec. 18 interview with The Detroit News editorial board.

“My wife and I are looking forward to being able to just walk out to dinner downtown like normal people, which we will be able to do in two weeks,” said Duggan, who is running for governor next year as an independent.

With his eyes set on moving into the governor’s residence in Lansing in 2027, Duggan said he and his wife got a one-year lease in the Book-Cadillac, which houses both luxury condos and a Westin hotel.

Duggan has lived at the Manoogian Mansion on the city’s east riverfront since he was first elected mayor in 2013. Detroit’s official residence for the mayor is named after its one-time owner, the late construction materials magnate Alex Manoogian, who donated it to the city in the mid-1960s.

A nonprofit group reportedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on improvements to the 4,000-square-foot home while Duggan has lived there.

Duggan told The News he expects Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield to make additional improvements to the century-old mansion.

“It’s in good shape now and Sheffield (will) fix it up even more,” Duggan said. “… It is a great place to live. I will miss the house.”

Andy Levin’s new (ad)venture

Former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin appears to be living his best life — and perhaps pinching himself.

Instead of trying to mount a comeback in Michigan politics, the former two-term congressman from Bloomfield Township has bought a cross-country skiing and snowshoeing resort in northern Ontario.

In a Dec. 20 post on LinkedIn, Levin divulged that he and his wife, Mary Freeman, are the new majority owners of Stokely Creek Lodge in Goulais River, Ontario, about 25 miles — or 41 kilometers — north of the International Bridge connecting Sault Ste. Marie with its sister city of the same name in Canada.

“We’ve been snowshoeing, skiing, canoeing and hiking in the Algoma region of Ontario since before we were married. In fact, I proposed to Mary on snowshoes high atop the Awausee Trail in Lake Superior Provincial Park,” Levin wrote.

The former congressman described the lodge in the foothills above Lake Superior as “a mix of unfussy, down-home comfort with high standards.”

Levin and Freeman still run their Detroit-based energy-efficiency consulting firm, Lean & Green Michigan. In his announcement post, Levin suggested they might use the resort to host retreats for progressive political allies.

“As we move into the holiday season in a world plagued with violence, greed and corruption, I’m grateful for the curveballs life throws our way.” Levin wrote. “Watch out: some of them just might open doors to adventures you didn’t even know you wanted to undertake!”

Whitmer calls Michigan troops

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday called Michigan National Guard troops deployed to Germany, Kuwait and the southeast border to wish them well ahead of the holidays and New Year’s.

More than 800 Michigan National Guard members are serving away from their families and homes of the holidays, according to the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

“As we celebrate the holidays and gather with family, friends, and loved ones, I encourage every Michigander to take a moment to acknowledge the selfless sacrifices that these individuals make every day and pray for their safe return home,” Whitmer said in a statement Tuesday.

The members she spoke with over video calls included those from the 217th Air Operations Group, 110th Wing, from Battle Creek; Alpha Company, 3-126 Infantry Battalion from Detroit; Bravo Company, 3-126 Infantry Battalion from Wyoming; and the 1430th Engineer Company from Traverse City, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

Pure Michigan plate wins in a landslide

The basic white Pure Michigan license plate will continue to carry the mantle of being the most popular license plate design in Michigan into 2026. The license plate adorns about 8.3 million vehicles and trailers, accounting for about 71.5% of license plate sales in Michigan, the Secretary of State’s office said last week.

Among the state’s standard plate options, the blue and yellow Water-Winter Wonderland plate is the second most popular, with 1.27 million plates or 10.9% of plates issued, and the multicolor Mackinac Bridge plate comes in third, accounting for 10.7% of plates issued at 1.25 million vehicles and trailers.

About 453,000 of the discontinued white, green, and blue Spectacular Peninsulas plates remain in circulation, as well as about 218,000 green and white Water Wonderland plates.

About 122,586 university fundraising plates are still on the road, with Michigan State University topping the list at 55,413 and the University of Michigan in second with 28,194.

The University of Michigan-Flint came in last with 536 fundraising plates in circulation.

Tweet of the Week

The Insider report’s “Tweet of the Week,” recognizing a social media post that was worthy of attention or, possibly, just a laugh, from the previous week goes to the Pure Michigan account on X, formerly Twitter.

On Christmas Eve, the state’s tourism organization posted a bird’s-eye view of a snow-covered Mackinac Island, proving the island is much more idyllic when covered in snow during the winter than when it’s filled with politicians and lobbyists in the spring for the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual Mackinac Policy Conference.

cmauger@detroitnews.com

clivengood@detroitnews.com

eleblanc@detroitnews.com

 

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — The United States and Ivory Coast signed a health deal Tuesday requiring the U.S. to commit $480 million to the West African nation’s health sector as part of “America First” global health funding pacts that mirror the Trump administration’s foreign policy.

The signing in Ivory Coast’s capital of Abidjan covers areas such as HIV, malaria, maternal and child health, and global health security. It is the latest agreement the U.S. has entered with more than a dozen African countries, most of them hit by U.S. aid cuts, including Ivory Coast.

U.S. aid cuts have crippled health systems across the developing world, including in Africa, where many countries relied on the funding for crucial programs, including those responding to outbreaks of disease.

The new health pact is based on the principle of shared responsibility with Ivory Coast committing to provide up to $292 million by 2030, representing 60% of the overall commitment, according to Ivorian Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé.

U.S. Ambassador to Ivory Coast Jessica Davis Ba said the U.S. government is moving “beyond the traditional aid approach toward a model focused on trade, innovation, and shared prosperity.”

“Today, our bilateral cooperation is entering a new phase. We are implementing the America First global health strategy,” the ambassador said.

The Trump administration says the new “America First” global health funding agreements are meant to increase self-sufficiency and eliminate what it says are ideology and waste from international assistance. The deals replace a patchwork of previous health agreements under the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development.

In Ivory Coast, USAID had invested $115 million to support sectors such as health, education and aid for refugees mostly fleeing violence in neighboring Sahel states.

Analysts say the new approach to global health aligns with President Donald Trump’s pattern of dealing with other nations transactionally, using direct talks with foreign governments to promote his agenda abroad.

By JENNIFER PELTZ The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — They’re ready to embark on 2026.

Three more dog breeds joined the American Kennel Club’s roster of recognized breeds on Tuesday, making them eligible for many U.S. dog shows and likely increasing their visibility to the pet-loving public.

One of the newcomers is a terrier named for a U.S. president. Another is a toy dog from Cold War-era Russia. The third is a centuries-old French hunting hound. Here’s a closer look:

The basset fauve de Bretagne

The stats: 12.5 to 15.5 inches (32 to 40 centimeters) at the base of the neck; 23 to 39 pounds (10.5 to 17.5 kilograms)

The topline: A hardy, sociable, compact hound that can hunt all day — and needs mental and physical activity.

The pronunciation: bah-SAY’ fove deh breh-TAHN’-yeh

The translation: Fawn-colored, low-set dog from Brittany

The history: Versions of these coarse-coated, tan-hued hounds go back at least as far as 16th-century French aristocratic circles. The breed has been championed in the U.S. in recent years by Cindy Hartman, a South Carolina service dog trainer who brought a pair of fauve puppies back from France in 2001. She has since trained and placed about 20 fauves as medical alert dogs for people with diabetes, she said.

The quote: “They’re wicked smart, and so if you’re wanting a dog that’s just going to lay around all day long, a fauve is not for you,” Hartman said. “But yet, when challenged mentally and physically, they’re happy to come in with you and curl up on the sofa for the evening.”

The Teddy Roosevelt terrier

The stats: 8 to 14 inches (20 to 36 centimeters) at the base of the neck; 8 to 25 pounds (3.5 to 11 kilograms)

The topline: A solid, energetic small canine that will rid your barn of rodents, alert you to strangers, do dog sports — or just entertain you with its antics.

The history: Originally seen as a short-legged variant of the rat terrier, these dogs were deemed a breed of their own in 1999. The breed was named for President Theodore Roosevelt because of his fondness for dogs, including terriers.

The quote: “They know how to get you to laugh,” says Cindy Rickey of Waynesville, North Carolina, the secretary of the American Teddy Roosevelt Terrier Club. While many terrier breeds are known for being independent-minded, her Teddy competes in obedience. “They’re terriers, no doubt about it, but they also have this tremendous desire to please,” she explains.

The Russian tsvetnaya bolonka

The stats: Up to 10¼ inches (26 centimeters) at the base of the neck; 7 to 9 pounds (3 to 4 kilograms)

The topline: A sweet but clever little companion that wants playful interaction, not just snuggling (though it likes that, too).

The pronunciation: zvit-NEYE’-ah boh-LON’-kah

The translation: Russian colored lapdog

The history: The breed was developed in Soviet-era Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) after World War II as a pet for apartment dwellers. American fans have been working to establish bolonki (the proper plural) in the U.S. since the early 2000s.

The quote: “Having a bolonka is like having a 3-year-old kid running around your house. … They can enjoy their time lying on the couch with you, but you’ve got to be prepared to play with them and keep them entertained,” says Denise Dang of Oklahoma City, the secretary of the Russian Tsvetnaya Bolonka Club of America. Owners also need to care for a thick, wavy coat that’s low-shedding but can get matted. Even if it’s cut fairly short, a bath every couple of weeks is wise, Dang says.

The big picture

The AKC recognizes 205 breeds, including these three newcomers. Fanciers of many others — though, as yet, no “doodles” or other popular poodle hybrids — have voluntarily entered a pipeline that takes years of breeding, documentation and consensus-building.

The club doesn’t limit the number of breeds it might eventually recognize. Spokesperson Brandi Hunter Munden says it’s not “adding dogs indiscriminately,” but rather providing “an established framework for growth, breed standards, competition and education in the U.S.”

The controversy

Animal-rights activists have long deplored dog breeding and the AKC for supporting it, and the criticism hardened this year into a lawsuit over the health of French bulldogs, pugs, dachshunds and Chinese shar-peis. The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is seeking a court order to stop the AKC from continuing to promulgate the current “standards,” or ideal characteristics, for those breeds.

PETA accused the kennel club of providing “blueprints for the breeding of deformed, unhealthy dogs.”

The AKC denies the allegations and has asked a court to dismiss the case, calling the suit frivolous. The club said it “has been — and remains — firmly committed to the health, well-being and proper treatment of all dogs.”