Tuesday Musicale of Greater Pontiac welcomes the public to a concert performed by the 2025 student award winners of the Rosamond Haeberle and Dora Dawson musical competitions, at 3 p.m. March 9, in the Sanctuary of the Central United Methodist Church, 3882 Highland Road, Waterford Twp. The concert will feature Trinity Fan, pianist and Brendan Callies, cellist.

A part of Musicale’s mission is to support student musicians in the world of music and aid monetarily to fund their musical education. This is a free admission concert and it promises to be an exceptional afternoon of outstanding music.

Sandra DeRemer announced the Rosamond Haeberle $4,000 piano award winner is Trinity Fan. Fan made her first Weil Recital-Carnegie Hall appearance at the age of 8 as a grand winner of the NLPA International Young Artists Competition, and has been a top prize winner of numerous competitions since then. In 2022 Trinity was a finalist in the Spotlight International Piano Competition where she also won the Audience Award. Previously, she studied with Edward Auer at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a Founders Scholar and was a recipient of the Music Faculty Award as well as a great many scholarships. Aside from performing, she has a love for teaching. At the University of Michigan, she studies with Christopher Harding and jazz piano with Andy Mine. She is currently a Graduate Student Instructor at U of M’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance and teaches at the SMTD Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program. As a composer, Trinity was awarded Second Prize in the 2024 MTNA National Composition Competition for her piece “Reminiscence.” Fan plans to use her $4,000 award to complete her education at the University of Michigan and anticipates graduating with the degree: Master of Music Piano Performance and Pedagogy.

Mary Ann LaMonte will introduce Brendan Callies, winner of the $4,000 Dora Dawson award. Callies is a cellist currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree at Wayne State University. He has been a featured soloist in the Wayne State University Orchestra and is a regular member of the International Symphony in Sarnia, Canada. Callies is a substitute musician for the New World Symphony in Florida as well as the Lansing and Dearborn Symphonies in Michigan. He has performed in Detroit with pop and jazz musicians such as the prominent bandleader and saxophonist De’Sean Jones, who leads a pop/jazz/techno/rock fusion group called the Urban Art Orchestra. Callies has also premiered new works by eminent composers such as Errollyn Wallen. Callies first began taking lessons seven years ago while in eighth grade and now at Wayne State, he studies with Una O’Riodan. After graduation he plans to continue his education by applying for graduate school. When informed that he had won the Tuesday Musicale Dora Dawson award, he immediately began searching for a new bow to purchase with his winnings.

Following the concert there will be refreshments available. Tuesday Musicale of Greater Pontiac is affiliated with the National and Michigan Federation of Music Clubs. Find information about Tuesday Musicale on Facebook or visit https://tuesdaymusicaleofgreaterpontiac.org or contact Mary Ann LaMonte (248) 673-8187.

By Shannon Heffernan for The Marshall Project

Just before the 2024 presidential election, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said that if former President Donald Trump won, he would get back into the “deportation business.” Now, the suburban Ohio sheriff has set aside 250 to 300 beds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, detainees—around a third of Butler County Jail’s capacity, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, and a boon to the county’s revenue.

Overwhelming evidence shows immigrants are less likely to commit crime than people born in the U.S. Sheriff Jones himself concedes that immigrants are not more prone to crime. However, he has echoed Trump’s immigration rhetoric and vowed to do his part to enforce Trump’s plans to deport undocumented immigrants. “I believe in American citizens first. People who have blood and sweat into this country have fought for it, them first. These other countries aren’t first. We are,” Jones told WLWT.

The detention part of the “deportation business” could be a profitable one for Butler County, The Marshall Project reports. In 2024, the county made over $6.7 million renting jail beds to other local and federal government agencies, including the U.S. Marshals and the Bureau of Prisons. Even before Trump’s re-election, Butler County budgeted for an increase in that revenue to an estimated $8.5 million in 2025, according to the Journal-News.

A county commissioner offered support for the sheriff’s plans to rent more beds to ICE: “Obviously, the more prisoners we have, the more revenue it produces,” Commissioner Don Dixon said.

Butler County isn’t the only entity that could see revenue rise with the deportation of immigrants.

Trump’s plans will require building a massive nationwide infrastructure, including centers to detain people awaiting deportation, contracts to provide food and health care services during their incarceration, and planes to fly them out of the country.

The Biden administration has already laid the groundwork for deportations by extending private detention contracts. Still, Trump will face significant financial, legal, and logistical limitations in building or expanding any kind of deportation infrastructure. But even if he only partially delivers on his promises, the financial and human impacts could be significant.

Since the election, there has been a lot of attention on how many for-profit companies, especially private prisons, stand to rake in big profits from mass deportations. Some have already seen their stock prices skyrocket. But local governments may also assist Trump, for both political and financial reasons.

As The New York Times reported last month, it would be nearly impossible for Trump to execute his immigration plans without cooperation from local law enforcement.

Local law enforcement officers can check people’s immigration statuses after an arrest and pass them along to federal officials. And The New Yorker recently described how the Trump administration might make it so even more people who are arrested locally may face deportation proceedings.

The job of detaining immigrants, though, is where local governments most clearly stand to profit. County jails may rent beds to ICE, expanding detention capacity. Local governments can also sign intergovernmental agreements to provide detention for ICE, and then subcontract to private companies to actually run the jails — essentially acting as middlemen between private jails and the federal government. That allows ICE to bypass rules about documentation and competitive contracting, according to a government report.

Local jails are the most common type of detention facility that ICE uses, according to a recent report from Vera, an advocacy organization working to end mass incarceration. These kinds of agreements already exist under the Biden administration, but could expand under Trump’s deportation plans.

A 2022 report from the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal public policy institute, found that local governments sometimes use jail space to generate income, by building “jails that are bigger than they need with the expectation of selling the extra space.”

In some cases, immigrant detention is filling voids left by declining prison and jail populations.

In Louisiana, more than a dozen facilities closed after the state passed laws reducing mandatory minimums and increasing chances for parole. But some buildings were quickly repurposed to house migrants. The complex interplay between state, federal and local governments and also between public and private entities often makes oversight and accountability difficult, according to Bloomberg News. The journalistic investigation looked specifically at Louisiana’s Winn Correctional Center, which is run by the private company LaSalle Corrections.

“The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections owns the facility,” reporters at Bloomberg wrote. “The Winn Parish Sheriff’s Office leases the property from the state. The sheriff’s office then signs a contract with the federal government to allow the facility to be used for ICE detainees. Finally, LaSalle Corrections is subcontracted to handle day-to-day operations.”

When lawyers with an advocacy organization tried to get records to investigate troubling allegations of abuse, each agency insisted someone else was responsible for keeping them.

While such arrangements may grow under Trump, there is already a long history of local jails playing a role in immigration detention. “The Migrant’s Jail,” a recently published book by Brianna Nofil, shows how these practices stretch back to the 1920’s and ’30s. “By the end of the 20th century, sheriffs are funding city emergency services, buying new police technologies, and eliminating personal property tax off of migrant incarceration revenue,” Nofil told Princeton University Press.

The conditions of those jails were often inhumane. According to Nofil, in 1925, a grand jury found the situation at a Galveston, Texas jail so terrible, it declared it “a crime against humanity.”

Problems with poor conditions continue today. In August, Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey wrote a letter to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, raising concerns about deficient medical care and allegations of staff violence at Plymouth County Correctional Facility. But since then, the county has signed a new contract that more than doubles the jail’s revenue, according to The Boston Globe, “paying the sheriff’s office $215 per detainee per day.”

Some states have taken action to limit how much local governments can contract with ICE, but have met resistance for financial reasons. Illinois passed a law banning ICE detention in 2021, but two counties sued the state. In court records, Kankakee County Sheriff Michael Downey said the county’s contract with ICE generated $16 million over four years, which paid for many aspects of local government. Losing the contract would lead to a need to increase taxes, cut budgets, and lay off staff, the sheriff testified. A federal judge ruled against the counties.

Stacy Suh, Program Director at Detention Watch Network, an advocacy group that opposes immigration detention, told me that these kinds of incentives are perverse. Suh also argued that prisons and jails don’t always deliver the jobs or economic boons towns hope for.

“We’re very concerned that this detention expansion is happening—both through local governments that are struggling with shrinking budgets, or private prison corporations that are looking to profit,” Suh said.

This story was produced by The Marshall Project, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system, and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

By BRUCE SCHREINER

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The scramble to fill Mitch McConnell’s Senate seat in Kentucky began as soon as the long-serving Republican lawmaker revealed he won’t seek reelection in 2026.

Former state Attorney General Daniel Cameron jumped into the campaign Thursday, looking for a political comeback after losing his bid for governor in 2023. Elsewhere in the GOP, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr signaled he would announce his plans soon and said he’s been encouraged by his support as he considers a Senate run. Businessman Nate Morris has signaled his strong interest in the Senate race, too.

Another prominent Kentucky Republican, U.S. Rep. James Comer, will not run for the Senate next year but is “strongly considering” a run for governor in 2027, a Comer spokesman said.

Although the prize is a Senate seat that will be open for the first time in more than 40 years, leading Kentucky Democrats did not rush to embrace the challenge in a state that has turned solidly Republican in recent years. The two Democrats holding statewide office — Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman — signaled Thursday that they won’t enter the Senate race.

McConnell announced to his Senate colleagues on Thursday that he will retire when his current seventh term ends.

The longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, McConnell relinquished his leadership post after the November 2024 election. His departure will mark the loss of a powerful advocate who steered large amounts of federal money to Kentucky. But his popularity with Republicans back home sagged after his relationship with President Donald Trump cratered.

Some Kentuckians worried that his departure would mean a loss of influence for the state.

“Someone will serve in his seat, but they will not step into his shoes in terms of seniority that he has built as the longest-serving senator in Kentucky history,” GOP political consultant T.J. Litafik said.

A top legislative Democrat, state House Minority Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson, recently filed to raise money for the Senate race. She would become the state’s first Black U.S. senator if she were to win.

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination won’t have history on their side. The last Democrat to win a Senate race in the Bluegrass State was Wendell Ford in 1992.

Meanwhile, jockeying on the Republican side after McConnell’s announcement previewed what looks to be a bumpy primary. Sniping began after Cameron signaled his Senate intentions by posting on X: “Kentucky, it’s time for a new generation of leadership in the U.S. Senate. Let’s do this.”

That provoked a bare-knuckled response from Barr’s camp. Barr spokesman Tyler Staker said Cameron had “embarrassed” Trump and the GOP by losing the governor’s race to Beshear. Staker added the party needs “proven winners,” perhaps foreshadowing Barr’s pitch for a coveted Trump endorsement.

Cameron, who also would become the state’s first Black U.S. senator if he won, fired back, saying, “You get outside of his district, nobody knows who Andy Barr is.”

Cameron told The Associated Press that he’s in the race to succeed his one-time mentor, having formerly worked as McConnell’s legal counsel. He has been planning a political comeback since his defeat in 2023. He said his values align with Kentucky voters and touted his support for Trump.

“Serving in the Senate, I’m going to make sure I stand up for the ‘America First’ agenda and the values of Kentucky,” Cameron told the AP in a phone interview Thursday evening.

A presidential endorsement, if it’s forthcoming, could tip the scales in bright red Kentucky.

“If Trump endorses, it would likely — very likely — be determinative,” said Scott Jennings, a Republican political strategist. “His influence in the party is unquestionable and Kentucky Republicans would respond to his judgment for sure.”

Things could change, of course. The party in the White House typically loses ground in midterm elections. A downward shift in the economy or any negative impact of tariffs on bourbon and other Kentucky-made products could diminish the value of Trump’s endorsement with some Kentuckians. Republicans in Washington are weighing potential cuts to Medicaid, a health care lifeline for many people in Kentucky.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said the now-open Kentucky Senate seat in 2026 would create “an additional defensive headache” for national Republicans.

Trump has previous ties with both Cameron and Barr. He endorsed Cameron’s run for governor about 11 months before the 2023 gubernatorial primary. Cameron never looked back in winning the nomination but lost to Beshear, who won a second term. In 2018, Trump gave Barr a boost by campaigning for him when the congressman faced a tough Democratic challenge in a closely watched House race.

Meanwhile, Morris has cast himself as a political outsider. While Cameron and Barr jockeyed behind the scenes while awaiting McConnell’s decision on the 2026 race, Morris bluntly said it was time for McConnell to retire. He ripped into the senator for opposing a trio of Trump nominations, and accused his potential GOP rivals of lacking the backbone to speak out about the McConnell votes.

“Anyone afraid to upset the establishment will undoubtedly be too cowardly to deliver real, conservative results for the American people,” Morris said in a recent Kentucky newspaper op-ed.

BERLIN (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance has criticized Germany’s free speech laws during an appearance at a conservative gathering outside Washington, linking the country’s limits against hate speech to American troops stationed there.

German law sets restrictions on free speech, including the long-standing ban on Holocaust denial and any glorification of the country’s Nazi past.

The limits are an effort to curb extremism and incitement, and have led to authorities policing the internet for hate speech and arresting the people allegedly posting, and reposting, such comments.

“There are thousands upon thousands of American troops in Germany today. Do you think that the American taxpayer is going to stand for that, if you get thrown in jail in Germany for posting a mean tweet? Of course they’re not,” Vance told activists gathered Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

There are nearly 84,000 U.S. service members in the European Theater, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The figure fluctuates, however, and has increased since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24, 2022.

The U.S. military is stationed throughout Germany, according to U.S. European Command, including at Ramstein Air Base. A count of U.S. service members in Germany wasn’t immediately available on Friday.

Vance’s remarks followed his speech earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference, where he lectured European leaders about the state of democracy and free speech across the continent. His comments were met with rebukes from multiple European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“Obviously we’re going to continue to have important alliances with Europe,” Vance told CPAC moderator Mercedes Schlapp. “But I really do think the strength of those alliances is doing to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction.”

Vance then claimed that “Germany’s entire defense is subsidized by the American taxpayers.”

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON (AP) — A court battle resumed Friday over the Trump administration’s drastic cuts in medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and delay new lifesaving discoveries.

A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked the cuts from taking effect earlier this month in response to separate lawsuits filed by a group of 22 states plus organizations representing universities, hospitals and research institutions nationwide.

The new National Institutes of Health policy would strip research groups of hundreds of millions of dollars to cover so-called indirect expenses of studying Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses — anything from clinical trials of new treatments to basic lab research that is the foundation for discoveries. Now U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, must decide whether to extend the temporary restraining order blocking those cuts.

The states and research groups say such a move is illegal, pointing to bipartisan congressional action during President Donald Trump’s first term to prohibit it.

“Yet here we are again,” attorneys argued in a court motion, saying the NIH is “in open defiance” of what Congress decreed.

Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, tried unsuccessfully to block the NIH cut during an overnight Senate budget debate, saying it “violates bipartisan appropriations law. I should know, I helped author that provision. And Republicans should know – they worked with me to pass it.”

In court Friday, Trump administration attorney Brian Lea argued the issue is “broad discretion power of the executive branch” in how to allocate funds.

The administration also claims Kelley’s courtroom isn’t the proper venue to arbitrate claims of breach of contract and that states and researchers haven’t shown the cuts will cause “an irreparable injury.”

The NIH, the main funder of biomedical research, awarded about $35 billion in grants to research groups last year. The total is divided into “direct” costs – covering researchers’ salaries and laboratory supplies – and “indirect” costs, the administrative and facility costs needed to support that work.

The Trump administration had dismissed those expenses as “overhead” but universities and hospitals argue they’re far more critical. They can include such things as electricity to operate sophisticated machinery, hazardous waste disposal, staff who ensure researchers follow safety rules and janitorial workers.

Different projects require different resources. Labs that handle dangerous viruses, for example, require more expensive safety precautions than a simpler experiment. So currently each grant’s amount of indirect costs is negotiated with NIH, some of them small while others reaching 50% or more of the total grant.

If the new policy stands, indirect costs would be capped at 15% immediately, for already awarded grants and new ones. NIH calculated that would save the agency $4 billion a year.

A motion filed earlier this week cited a long list of examples of immediate harm in blue states and red states. They included the possibility of ending some clinical trials of treatments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, that could leave “a population of patients with no viable alternative.”

Officials at Johns Hopkins University were more blunt, saying the cut would end or require significantly scaling back research projects potentially including some of the 600 NIH-funded studies open to Hopkins patients.

“The care, treatments and medical breakthroughs provided to them and their families are not ‘overhead,’” university president Ron Daniels and Hopkins Medicine CEO Theodore DeWeese wrote to employees.

Attorneys also argued the cuts would harm state economies. The University of Florida would need to cut “critical research staffing” by about 45 people, while construction of a new research facility in Detroit expected to create nearly 500 new jobs could be paused or even abandoned, they wrote.

“Implementing this 15% cap will mean the abrupt loss of hundreds of millions of dollars that are already committed to employing tens of thousands of researchers and other workers, putting a halt to countless lifesaving health research and cutting-edge technology initiatives,” the lawsuit said.

Neergaard reported from Washington.

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

By MICHAEL CASEY

A federal judge will on Friday consider a request to further block President Donald Trump ’s administration from freezing trillions of dollars of grants and loans that fund everything from clean energy programs to bridge repairs to emergency shelters.

U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell in Rhode Island, who already approved a temporary restraining order on the funding freeze, is hearing a request for a permanent injunction from nearly two dozen Democrat states. If approved, it would be the first order since the Trump administration announced a sweeping pause on federal aid, stirring up a wave of confusion and anxiety across the United States.

“The confusion caused by the Federal Funding Freeze itself constitutes immediate harm by impeding planning, wasting resources to mitigate potential impacts, and unnecessarily stopping work,” the states wrote. “Without the timely disbursement of this funding, the Plaintiff States will be unable to provide these essential services for residents, pay public employees, satisfy obligations, and carry on the important business of government.”

A second lawsuit over the funding freeze by groups representing thousands of nonprofits and small businesses is being heard by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan in Washington, D.C. AliKhan is also considering a request to issue a preliminary injunction.

In their court documents in the Rhode Island case, the states listed a litany of programs that are still waiting for federal funds or some clarity on whether the money is going to be delivered.

The funding impacted includes billions of dollars that would fund rooftop solar power in low-income neighborhoods; billions of dollars that subsidize low- and moderate-income households’ purchase and installation of electric heat pump water heaters; billions of dollars for greenhouse gas reduction programs; and hundreds of millions of dollars for bridge projects, including $220 million in federal grant funding for the replacement of Rhode Island’s Washington Bridge, a critical span that nearly 100,000 vehicles each day.

Last month, the White House said it would temporarily halt federal funding to ensure that the payments complied with Trump’s orders barring diversity programs. The Republican president wants to increase fossil fuel production, remove protections for transgender people and end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The administration rescinded the memo outlining its planned funding freeze, but many state governments, universities and nonprofits have argued federal agencies continue to block funding for a range of programs.

Earlier this month, McConnell, who is based in Rhode Island and was nominated by President Barack Obama, ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal spending. Federal money remained tied up even after his Jan. 31 order blocking a planned halt on federal spending, he found.

“These pauses in funding violate the plain text of the (temporary restraining order),” McConnell wrote. “The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country.”

The government argues its move to freeze funds is legal and says the request for a preliminary injunction is moot since the memo from the Office of Management and Budget has been rescinded. They also argue the states are exaggerating the impact of the freeze.

“Plaintiffs here seek to portray the Executive Branch’s actions in extreme terms, as imposing an indefinite pause on all federal funding,” the administration wrote. “In reality, this case is about something far more modest — the Executive’s ability to instruct agencies to temporarily pause discrete categories of funding, to the extent doing so is consistent with their underlying statutory authorities, to ensure that such funding aligns with a new Administration’s priorities.”

An Alabama city suspended its entire police department Thursday after most of its officers were indicted on corruption charges brought to light in part by the overdose death of a dispatcher.

The move came a day after a grand jury indicted five Hanceville Police Department officers, including the chief, and one of their spouses, citing a “rampant culture of corruption” and recommending that the entire force be abolished.

Jim Sawyer, mayor of the 3,200-population city about 45 miles north of Birmingham, temporarily handed law enforcement duties over to the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office, placing all department employees on leave as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

Chief Jason Marlin, 51, was charged with two counts of failure to report ethics crime and tampering with evidence, reported WBRC.

Charges against Cody Alan Kelso, 33; Jason Scott Wilbanks, 37; William Andrew Shellnutt, 39, and Eric Michael Kelso, 44, included evidence tampering, distribution of controlled substances, and a variety of other felonies. Kelso’s wife, 63-year-old Donna Reid Kelso, faced similar charges.

Especially concerning was the “unfettered access” people had to the department’s evidence room, Cullman District Attorney Champ Crocker said in a news conference Wednesday, illustrating his point with photos of a hole in the wall and a green broomstick that people would use to force the door open.

Such access may well have led to the death of 49-year-old dispatcher Christopher Michael Willingham, who had been found in his office on Aug. 23, 2024. The Cullman County Coroner’s Office ruled his death accidental, caused by a toxic combination of fentanyl, gabapentin, diazepam, amphetamine, carisoprodol and methocarbamol, according to WBRC.

The grand jury called his death a “direct result of Hanceville Police Department’s negligence, lack of procedure, general incompetence, and disregard of human life.”

“With these indictments, these officers find themselves on the opposite end of the laws they were sworn to uphold,” Crocker said Wednesday in announcing the indictments, calling it “a sad day for law enforcement, but at the same time it is a good day for the rule of law.”

With News Wire Services

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON

OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Billionaire Elon Musk appeared at a conservative gathering outside Washington waving a chainsaw in the air, showing openness to auditing the Federal Reserve and accusing Democrats of “treason.”

Musk, the Tesla CEO who has become perhaps President Donald Trump’s most influential adviser, spoke Thursday about his crusade to cut government spending and downsize the federal workforce with the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The entrepreneur was first announced earlier that day as a speaker, drawing huge cheers from activists gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Before his appearance, he met with Argentine President Javier Milei, who has been frequently praised by Musk and popularized the power tool while campaigning in 2023 and proposing slashing public spending.

After Musk appeared onstage, wearing shades and his trademark black “Make America Great Again” hat, he said Milei had a gift for him. The Argentine leader then walked onstage with the red chainsaw and passed it to Musk. The chainsaw was engraved with Milei’s slogan, “Viva la libertad, carajo,” which is Spanish for “Long live liberty, damn it.”

“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy,” he said.

Musk slammed the previous Biden administration for its immigration policies, specifically naming an app that was used by nearly 1 million people to be allowed into the U.S. on two-year permits with eligibility to work. He accused Biden and Democrats of doing that as an “investment” to get more support in swing states.

“A lot of people don’t quite appreciate that this was an actual real scam at scale to tilt the scales of democracy in America,” Musk said before Newsmax host Rob Schmitt asked him, “Treason?”

Musk responded, “Treason.”

When Schmitt asked him if he would consider auditing the Federal Reserve, Musk responded, “Yeah, sure, while we’re at it.”

“Waste is pretty much everywhere,” Musk said.

The billionaire joked that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has told him he is worried about his security and said he was open to ideas on how to improve his safety measures.

“President Bukele from El Salvador, who managed to put in prison like a hundred thousand murderous thugs, and he called me. ‘I am worried about your security,’” he said the Central American leader told him. “I’m like, ‘Dude, you are worried about my security?’”

When asked to describe what is like inside his mind, Musk replied: “My mind is a storm. It’s a storm.”

Steve Bannon, a popular Trump ally who once served as his chief strategist, followed Musk’s appearance and acknowledged he was not the evening’s top attraction as he took the stage to a far less enthusiastic reception.

“How did I draw the card to follow Elon Musk?” Bannon asked about a man he has frequently criticized as insufficiently loyal to Trump. “C’mon man! You bring out the world’s wealthiest guy, Superman. I’m supposed to follow it? I’m just a crazy Irishman!”

Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed from New York.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — An idea first proposed on social media has bubbled up to the White House and received President Donald Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement: Take some of the savings from billionaire Elon Musk’s drive to cut government spending and return it to taxpayers.

“I love it,” Trump said late Wednesday on Air Force One, when asked about the proposal.

If Musk’s target of $2 trillion in spending cuts is achieved by next year, supporters of the idea say that about one-fifth of those funds could be distributed to taxpaying households in checks of about $5,000.

But before you start planning for a windfall, budget experts say such huge savings — nearly one-third of the federal government’s annual spending — are highly unlikely. And sending out a round of checks — similar to the stimulus payments distributed by Trump and then President Joe Biden during the pandemic — could fuel inflation, economists warn, though White House officials dismiss that concern.

With the annual budget deficit at $1.8 trillion last year and Trump proposing extensive tax cuts, there will also be significant pressure to use all the savings to reduce that deficit, rather than pass on part of it.

Here’s what to know about the proposal:

Where is this coming from?

James Fishback, founder of investment firm Azoria Partners which he launched at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, promoted the idea Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, prompting Musk to respond that he would “check with the president.” Fishback said there have also been “behind the scenes” conversations about the issue with White House officials.

Musk has estimated that his Department of Government Efficiency has cut $55 billion so far — a tiny fraction of the $6.8 trillion federal budget. But DOGE’s public statements so far haven’t verified the presumed savings, and its claims that tens of millions of dead people are fraudulently receiving Social Security have been disproven.

Fishback supports having the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determine how much DOGE saved. If DOGE cuts $500 billion by July 2026, he said, then the checks would be $1,250, rather than $5,000.

“We uncovered enormous waste, fraud and abuse,” Fishback said in an interview with The Associated Press. “And we are going to make good and pay restitution and then rewrite the social contract between the taxpayer and the federal government.”

Fishback supports sending out checks, rather than using all the money to reduce the deficit, because it would encourage Americans to seek out wasteful government spending “in their communities, and report it to DOGE.”

When am I going to get my check?

OK, let’s slow down. According to the proposal, DOGE must first complete its work, slated to be done by July 2026. Once that happens, one-fifth of any savings could be distributed later that year to the roughly 79 million households that pay income taxes. About 40% of Americans don’t pay such taxes, so they wouldn’t get a check.

How much can DOGE really save?

Color most economists and budget experts skeptical that its focus on “waste, fraud, and abuse” can actually reduce government spending by much. Budget-cutters from both parties have sought to eliminate “waste” — which doesn’t have much of a political constituency — for decades, with little success in reducing the deficit.

One of the biggest moves by the Trump administration so far has been to fire tens of thousands of government workers, but such changes aren’t likely to produce big savings.

“Only a small share of total spending goes to federal employees,” said Douglas Elmendorf, former director of the Congressional Budget Office. “The big money is in federal benefits and in federal taxes and those are not in DOGE’s purview.”

In November, John DiIulio Jr., a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in an essay for the Brookings Institution that “eliminating the entire federal civilian workforce would leave in place about 95% of all federal spending and the $34 trillion national debt.’’ DiIulio noted that government contractors and nonprofits that receive government funds now employ three times as many people as the federal government’s 2.2 million employees.

It’s also not clear how much in savings can be achieved without Congress codifying it in law.

“Firing someone doesn’t save money until Congress comes back and reduces the appropriation for that employee’s agency,” Elmendorf said. “If you fire somebody but leave the appropriation where it is, then … that money can be spent on something else. So DOGE can’t really achieve savings until there’s legislative change as well.”

Wouldn’t another round of government checks contribute to higher inflation?

Trump and his economists blame Biden’s $1,400 stimulus checks, distributed in the spring of 2021, for fueling the worst spike in inflation in four decades. Yet they maintain that sending checks stemming from reduced government spending wouldn’t boost inflation.

Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said Thursday that since the money would have been spent by the government anyway, having it spent by consumers would be a wash. Biden and Trump’s stimulus checks during the pandemic were deficit-financed, which can be more inflationary.

But Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Yale Budget Lab, and an economist in the Biden White House, said that more government checks are “the last thing we need economically right now.”

The U.S. unemployment rate is now much lower than in 2021, Tedeschi said, which means that businesses could struggle to hire enough workers to meet the additional demand created by a round of checks. Worker shortages can push up prices.

Yet some Democrats agree with Hassett, but for different reasons.

“I can’t imagine they’d be inflationary because I can’t imagine they’d be big enough,’’ said Elaine Kamarck, senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.

Kamarck, who worked with Vice President Al Gore to cut government waste in the Clinton administration, dismissed the DOGE dividend as “ridiculous.”

“There’s no money there, and certainly not enough money to make a big contribution to taxpayers,” she said. “The guy just says things,” she added, referring to Musk.

On Feb. 25, 1946, Gov. Harry Kelly signed Public Act 9 into law, creating the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund (MVTF) from $50 million in post-World War II reserve funds.

Since then, the MVTF has helped veterans of every wartime era overcome unexpected expenses ranging from utility bills to home repairs to mortgage assistance and get back on their feet financially.

The Emergency Grant Program is intended to help veterans overcome an unforeseen situation causing a temporary or short-term financial emergency or hardship that a grant will resolve and for which the applicant can demonstrate the ability to meet future expenses.

Beginning December 2021, peacetime-era veterans 65 years and older are now eligible for emergency assistance as part of the MVTF’s 65+ Peacetime Program. The program allows veterans who served in a peacetime era, have at least 180 days of service, and were discharged under honorable conditions to apply for emergency assistance. A person is eligible to apply any time during the year in which they turn 65.

To apply for emergency funds from the MVTF, veterans should contact the MVTF county committee serving the county where they reside.

Oakland County Veterans’ Services has been providing Oakland County veterans and their families with professional veterans benefits advocacy and assistance for more than 60 years.

They have a staff of highly trained and accredited Veterans’ Benefits Counselors who are dedicated to ensuring that the sacrifices of our nation’s veterans are recognized and that they and their families receive all veterans benefits to which they are entitled. The Oakland County Veterans’ Services team’s mission is to obtain the maximum veteran benefits available to veterans and their families, while making the process as simple and understandable as possible.

For more information, visit www.oakgov.com/government/veterans/benefits-services or call the Pontiac office at 248-858-0785, or the Troy/South Oakland office at 248-655-1250.

Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency staff available to attend veterans events

Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) staff members are available to attend and/or speak at events for veterans or events that involve veteran issues. To request MVAA staff to speak at an event, participate on a panel or present a session, staff a booth or table, provide brochures and information on health care, education, employment and other topics concerning veterans, or to have a veteran-focused event added to the MVAA website, fill out the event invitation form at: www.michigan.gov/mvaa/forms/event-invitation. For more information, visit www.michigan.gov/mvaa/about-us/request-event.

Upcoming events

• Oxford American Legion Post 108 to host Euchre from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 and from noon to 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27 and Fish dinners from noon to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at 130 Drahner Road, Oxford. For more information, call 248-628-9081.

• Royal Oak American Legion Post 253 to host Taco Tuesday at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 and Friday Night-Swedish Meatballs at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at 1505 N. Main St. For more information, call 248-546-0490.

• Oxford American Legion Post 108 to host Chef’s Choice Buffet from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 130 Drahner Road, Oxford. For more information, call 248-628-9081.

• Clarkston American Legion Post 377 to host Bingo from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25 and a Fish Fry from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at 4819 Mary Sue Ave. For more information, call 248-673-9301.

• Milford American Legion Post 216 to host Burger Nite from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, at 510 W. Commerce Road, Milford. For more information, call 248-684-9919.

• Berkley American Legion Post 374 to host Pancake Platter Feast from 9 a.m. to noon, Sunday, March 2, and Music Trivia at 7 p.m. Thursday Feb. 27, at 2079 W. Twelve Mile Road, Berkley. Breakfast cost for adults-from $10, under 12-from $5. Beverages available to purchase. For more information, call 248-542-7668.

The Oakland Press is interested in all veterans events in Oakland County. Please send info in the body of an email with subject line “Veterans Affairs” to Sharon Longman at sslstart@aol.com. Allow two weeks’ notice for scheduled events and include a phone number for readers to call for more information.

A Springfield Township man accused of shaking his child and nearly killing him is out of jail since a judge changed his $1 million bond to a personal bond – requiring no cash or surety to be posted.

Daniel Gracer, 31, is charged with one count of first-degree child abuse in connection with the near-fatal injuries his then-2-month-old son suffered in December. At Gracer’s arraignment earlier this month, a magistrate set bond at $1 million dollars and Gracer was remanded to the Oakland County Jail. At a court hearing on Tuesday, 52-2 District Judge Kelly Kostin granted Gracer a personal bond and he was released from jail shortly before 6 p.m., records show.

According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, on Dec. 23, 2024 deputies were called to a home in the 7000 block of Meadow Lane in Springfield Township for a report of an unresponsive baby. Gracer was caring for the boy at the time, the sheriff’s office said.

The baby suffered serious head and brain trauma, and a child abuse specialist who examined the baby determined the injuries were non-accidental, the sheriff’s office said. The brain injury, according to the specialist, was due to rapid acceleration and rapid deceleration, consistent with being shaken, the sheriff’s office said. The trauma was “nearly fatal,” the sheriff’s office said, and the baby is likely to have severely delayed development.

Hospital staff reportedly relayed the findings to the sheriff’s office which launched an investigation.

Gracer’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 14 for a probable cause conference.

A year after teen fatally shot, police chief still urging friends who witnessed it to come forward

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — No sooner had Senate Republicans voted to begin work on $340 billion budget bill focused on funding the White House’s mass deportations and border security agenda than President Donald Trump threw it into turmoil.

Trump on Wednesday criticized the approach from the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and sided with the House GOP’s broader, if politically difficult, plan that includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and other priorities. Senators wanted to address those later, in a second package.

Vice President JD Vance was on his way to Capitol Hill to confer privately with Republican senators.

“Unlike the Lindsey Graham version of the very important Legislation currently being discussed, the House Resolution implements my FULL America First Agenda, EVERYTHING, not just parts of it!” Trump posted on social media.

Trump wants the House’s version passed as a way to “kickstart” the process and “move all of our priorities to the concept of, ‘ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL.’”

The Senate’s Republican leadership is scrambling after being blindsided by the post.

“As they say, I did not see that one coming,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

Thune had engineered the two-bill approach as a way to deliver an early victory for the White House and had pushed the Senate forward while the House is away on recess this week, saying it was time to act. Thune was meeting privately in his office with Graham.

“We’re planning to proceed, but obviously we are interested in, and hoping to hear with more clarity where the White House is coming from,” Thune said.

The sudden turn of events means more upheaval in the difficult budget process. Republicans have majority control of the House and Senate, but face big hurdles in trying to put the president’s agenda into law as Democrats prepare to counter the onslaught of actions from the White House.

Late Tuesday, Republicans had pushed ahead on the scaled-back budget bill, on a party-line vote, 50-47, in what was supposed to be the first step in unlocking Trump’s campaign promises — tax cuts, energy production and border controls — and dominating the agenda on Capitol Hill.

But it also comes as the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency effort is slashing costs across government departments, leaving a trail of fired federal workers and dismantling programs on which many Americans depend. Democrats, having floundered amid the initial upheaval coming from the White House, have emerged galvanized as they try to warn the public about what is at stake.

“These bills that they have have one purpose — and that is they’re trying to give a tax break to their billionaire buddies and have you, the average American person, pay for it,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York told The Associated Press.

Schumer convened a private call over the weekend with Democratic senators and agreed on a strategy to challenge Republicans for prioritizing tax cuts that primarily flow to the wealthy at the expense of program and service reductions in health care, scientific research, veterans services and elsewhere.

“This is going to be a long, drawn-out fight,” Schumer said.

The Senate’s budget process begins this week, with an initial 50 hours of debate followed by an expected all-night session with lots of attempts to amend the package.

The Republican package would allow $175 billion to be spent on border security, including money for mass deportation operations and building the U.S.-Mexico border wall, in addition to a $150 billion boost to the Pentagon and $20 billion for the Coast Guard.

Republicans are determined to push ahead after Trump border czar Tom Homan and top aide Stephen Miller told senators privately last week that they are running short of cash to accomplish the president’s immigration priorities.

Trump met with Republican senators last month, expressing no preference for one bill or two, but just that Congress “get the result.”

The Senate Budget Committee said its package would cost about $85.5 billion a year, for four years of Trump’s presidency, paid for with new reductions and revenues elsewhere that other committees will draw up.

Eyeing ways to pay for it, Republican senators are considering a rollback of the Biden administration’s methane emissions fee, which was approved by Democrats as part of climate change strategies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and hoping to draw new revenue from energy leases as they aim to spur domestic energy production.

The House GOP bill is multiple times larger, with $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and $1.5 trillion in spending reductions over the decade across Medicaid health care programs, food stamps and other services used by large swaths of the country. The cuts could ultimately grow to $2 trillion to appease hard-right conservatives.

The budget plans are being considered under what’s called the reconciliation process, which allows passage on a simple majority vote without many of the procedural hurdles that stall bills. Once rare, reconciliation is increasingly being used in the House and Senate to pass big packages on party-line votes when one party controls the White House and Congress.

During Trump’s first term, Republicans used the reconciliation process to pass the GOP tax cuts in 2017. Democrats used reconciliation during the Biden presidency era to approve COVID relief and also the Inflation Reduction Act.

By Max Reinhart, Tribune News Service

An Oakland County jury on Tuesday delivered a $106 million verdict against a Birmingham-based health and beauty business after six women who worked there sued, claiming the owner subjected them to frequent verbal and physical sexual advances including thrusting his hips into a massage table, making inappropriate remarks about his family members and using the company’s LinkedIn account to solicit European prostitutes.

The women, each named Jane Doe in the lawsuit filed in June 2024 in Oakland County Circuit Court, worked at Science Beauty Tech for owner Gary Raykhinshteyn between 2021 and 2023. Some were as young as 19 when they were hired, said Todd Flood, managing partner at Flood Law, who represented five of the plaintiffs.

“What these women had to endure in the workplace was nothing short of horrific,” Flood said. “Let this be a lesson for all those who abuse their position of power – you will be held accountable.”

Raykhinshteyn called the jury’s decision “completely insane” and said the allegations were lies.

“This is just unheard of,” he said of the $106 million verdict. “These women are telling the judge I put a gun to their head and asked them to rub my penis? There is no proof.”

Among the numerous allegations against Raykhinshteyn in the complaint, none involved a firearm.

Propositions on social media

While working as an office assistant, Jane Doe 1 discovered a message sent by Raykhinshteyn on the company’s Instagram page in which he claimed he would offer to let her perform fellatio on the recipient of the message, “but he couldn’t because the third party did not have any money,” according to the complaint.

Two of the women alleged that Raykhinshteyn would also use the company Instagram account to request nude photographs from other women and the company’s LinkedIn account to book appointments with prostitutes in Europe.

In a separate incident, Jane Doe 4, who worked as an office manager at SBT, said Raykhinshteyn brought her along with him to Florida for a business conference sometime while she worked there between November 2021 and March 2022. When they arrived, she alleged, she learned that he had only booked one room and that only he would be attending the conference, while she was to wait in the room.

During the trip he repeatedly requested sex from her and asked her to watch him masturbate. She said that at one point he wrapped himself around her, releasing her only after she repeatedly pleaded for him to stop.

Each of the plaintiffs said Raykhinshteyn had touched them either on the shoulders, back or buttocks and made inappropriate comments toward them.

Jane Doe 6, who only worked at SBT from January to February in 2023, said Raykhinshteyn requested she give him a massage using a specialty device used to promote blood circulation, lymphatic drainage and reduction of cellulite and wrinkles in patients. During the massage, she alleged, Raykhinshteyn moaned and appeared to have an erection while he was lying on his back and when he rolled onto his stomach he thrusted his hips into the table.

Two of the women said Raykhinshteyn prodded them to profess their attraction to him and, when they declined, he responded by insulting their intelligence, appearance and weight, according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs also said their boss made comments about their wardrobes, telling some of them to wear more revealing attire at work or for business meetings, and telling one not to wear leggings to work because he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

During a text exchange with two of the plaintiffs, Raykhinshteyn referred to potential hires as “victims,” the suit alleged.

The business owner also was accused of making inappropriate remarks regarding his family members. Jane Doe 6 said Raykhinshteyn told her that when his daughter gets married, her husband can have sex with her against her will because it’s not rape if the two are married. He also allegedly told her that when he has sex with his wife, sometimes she just “lays there” and “takes it like a good wife.”

Retaliation alleged

The woman said Raykhinshteyn retaliated against them after they refused his advances by making disparaging comments, revoking their free parking or failing to pay them once they quit for work already completed.

Flood said the jury found in favor of the women based on findings of employment discrimination, hostile work environment, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“Testifying in open court and confronting their former employer required immense bravery, as they had to relive the trauma that marred what should have been an exciting start to their professional careers,” Flood Law said in a press release. “Collectively, they hope to prevent Mr. Raykhinshteyn from causing further harm to young women while empowering those in similar situations to find their voices.”

Raykhinshteyn said he plans to appeal the decision and will consider filing a malpractice suit against his attorney, Jonahtan M. Jones.

Jones did not return a call seeking comment.

By JOSH BOAK

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is moving to give the White House direct control of independent federal regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

The executive order that Trump signed Tuesday gives the president more power to shape the oversight of the financial system and lay out criteria for transportation safety, basic consumer protections and wireless, broadcast, satellite and broadband communications.

It is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to assert greater authority over the government, possibly limiting the spending of congressionally approved funds in ways that could set up lawsuits and lead courts to weigh in.

Past administrations saw public benefit in having regulators that could operate in the long-term interests of the country without the daily machinations of politics. Presidents could exercise informal control by whom they appointed to lead the agencies without necessarily requiring those agencies to submit strategic plans to the White House and lose access to funding initiatives as the order lays out.

But the Trump White House maintains that independent regulators could undermine the president’s agenda and the will of the voting public.

“For the Federal Government to be truly accountable to the American people, officials who wield vast executive power must be supervised and controlled by the people’s elected President,” said the order signed by Trump.

Independent agencies go back to 1887 with the creation of the Independent Commerce Commission, which initially existed to deal with railroad monopolies and the rates they charged. Multiple other regulators were built on this format and operated through presidential appointments and congressional oversight.

Roger Nober, a professor at George Washington University and director of the GW Regulator Studies Center, called the order “very significant.” The rule goes beyond existing requirements that regulations with an economic impact of more than $100 million or more go through a review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

“The intent of this is to significantly scale back the independence of independent regulatory agencies,” said Nober, who was previously chair of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board, an independent regulator, during George W. Bush’s presidency.

Nober stressed that he could understand why Trump might wish to bring a stock market regulator such as the SEC under greater White House control. But, he said, “we’ll have to see if this is the right approach in the long run to make independent agencies more politically responsible.”

The executive order covers the regulatory responsibilities of the Federal Reserve, but it would specifically keep its independence on setting short-term interest rates that can influence inflation rates and employment levels.

A Fed spokesperson declined to comment Wednesday on the executive order.

The order may have only a limited practical effect, at least in the short term. The Fed’s vice chair for supervision, Michael Barr, a Biden appointee, said last month that he would step down Feb. 28. The Fed also said it would pause any major rulemaking until Barr’s successor is confirmed.

Ian Katz, an analyst at the policy research firm Capital Alpha, believes a court challenge is one of the goals of the order.

“The White House and conservatives not only expect, but want, legal challenges to the executive order,” Katz wrote in an email. “They would like a Supreme Court ruling that further solidifies executive branch authority over the agencies.”

Under the order, the White House Office of Management and Budget would set performance standards and management objectives for the heads of independent agencies. The OMB could also change the funding apportioned to the agencies based on “activity, function, project, or object” that might be in conflict with the president’s agenda.

The heads of independent agencies would need to have special White House liaisons to coordinate with the president’s aides and advisers.

Associated Press economics writer Christopher Rugaber in Washington contributed to this report.

By Henry Payne, Tribune News Service

January and the Detroit Auto Show fit like hand and a (winter) glove.

The show’s organizers said Wednesday it will be back next year from Jan. 14-25, solidifying itself as the first North American auto show on the calendar after a successful return this year. Like a mall, the Huntington Place showcase will again be anchored by Detroit automakers, The Gallery exhibit full of exotic cars, and Racing Day sponsored by the Detroit Grand Prix.

After a disjointed four years that saw multiple date changes and even cancellation due to the COVID pandemic, the Detroit Auto Show was back to its traditional January dates this year for the first time since 2019. Shedding its moniker as the North American International Auto Show as the auto industry has become less show-centric for vehicle reveals, the auto-palooza now carries the moniker Detroit Auto Show.

It attracted 275,000 people over 11 days this winter, well off its NAIAS peak of 800,000. The show boasted an economic impact of $370 million as it brought car fans into the city to kick off the new year.

By MICHELLE GUMEDE

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the leading rich and developing nations that starts on Thursday after criticizing host South Africa’s policies as anti-American.

Instead, Rubio was headed back to the United States on Wednesday from his first trip to the Middle East as America’s chief diplomat after leading a U.S. delegation in talks with Russia in Riyad over the war in Ukraine.

Rubio spoke with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the European Union’s foreign policy chief to brief them immediately after Tuesday’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the State Department said.

Top European diplomats, as well as Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are all expected at the Group of 20 meeting in Johannesburg while the U.S. will be represented by a lower-level delegation.

A G20 meeting would normally be an opportunity for a U.S. secretary of state to push for support on U.S. positions, especially at the start of a new administration.

Analysts say Rubio’s absence reflects the Trump administration’s indifference to organizations promoting international cooperation, but Rubio has also directly rejected South Africa’s priorities for its G20 presidency. The hosts have picked “solidarity, equality, sustainability” as the theme of the G20 this year.

South Africa, the first African nation to hold the group’s presidency, says it will try to advance the interests of poor countries, especially with debt refinancing and helping them mitigate the impacts of climate change, where the developing world is asking rich countries to pay more.

Rubio posted on X this month that he would also not attend the main G20 summit in Johannesburg in November, saying South Africa was using the gathering to promote diversity, equality and inclusion frameworks, “In other words: DEI and climate change.”

“My job is to advance America’s national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti-Americanism,” Rubio wrote.

Rubio’s decision to skip the G20 meeting also underscores a major deterioration in U.S. relations with South Africa, one of its key trade partners in Africa.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month stopping U.S. aid and assistance to South Africa over a land law that he says discriminates against some of the country’s white minority. The order also called South Africa’s foreign policy anti-American and criticized its ongoing case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza at the United Nations’ top court, and what it said was the country’s closeness to the Communist Party in China.

South Africa is due to hand over the presidency of the G20 to the U.S. at the end of this year, and the two countries are expected to work together under G20 protocols.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said on Wednesday that the U.S. would be represented in Johannesburg this week “in one form or shape or another” and stressed that Rubio’s decision was “not a complete boycott of South Africa’s G20” by the U.S.

Analysts in Africa says they still see a way for the G20 to make progress under South Africa’s presidency, even with limited U.S. interest. The EU, Russia and China have expressed support for South Africa’s G20 leadership.

“No one wants to be on the wrong side of the United States,” said Oscar van Heerden, senior researcher at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre of African Diplomacy and Leadership. “But I think everyone also realizes that what drives the foreign policy of the United States is not necessarily what drives the foreign policy of the European Union or the other members of the G20.”

While European allies have their own concerns over future cooperation with the Trump administration after they were sidelined by its move to hold bilateral talks this week with Russia, the G20 meeting was still an opportunity for the EU to promote inclusivity.

“Multilateralism is under threat right now,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in South Africa, “We also need to use this opportunity to develop the international system further to be more inclusive for all countries in the world.”

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and Gerald Imray in Cape Town, South Africa, contributed to this report.

By JOSHUA GOODMAN, Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump’s media company sued a Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Wednesday, accusing him of violating U.S. free speech protections when he imposed a ban on a right-wing supporter of the country’s former President Jair Bolsonaro.

The lawsuit in Tampa federal court was filed just hours after Bolsonaro was charged in Brazil for participating in a would-be coup aimed at allowing him to stay in office after his 2022 election defeat to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The plot, prosecutors allege, included a plan to poison Lula and shoot dead Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the main judicial foe of the former president.

The lawsuit in the U.S. was brought by Sarasota, Florida-based Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the Truth Social media platform preferred by the president to communicate with his followers. It was joined as a plaintiff by Rumble, a video-sharing platform that partners with Truth Social and fashions itself a safe harbor for free expression.

In their 39-page complaint, the plaintiffs allege that Moraes overstepped his legal authority and international law by seeking to shut down the U.S.-based accounts of a right-wing Brazilian commentator who is seeking asylum in the U.S. The blogger is identified in the complaint only as “Political Dissident A.”

“Justice Moraes cannot dictate the contours of lawful discourse within the United States,” plaintiffs’ attorneys from New York-based Boies Schiller said in the complaint. “The United States has long upheld free speech as a cornerstone of its constitutional framework, enshrined in the First Amendment, and has consistently opposed censorship.”

According to the complaint, Rumble said it faced a fine of $9,000 a day and a shutdown of its service in Brazil if it doesn’t abide by Moraes’ order. The Trump media organization, although not the apparent target of Moraes’ gag order, said Truth Social’s operations would be impacted should Rumble be taken offline.

Moraes has emerged as Brazil’s chief legal powerbroker and would-be defender of the country’s democracy following the far- right Bolsonaro’s shock election in 2018.

What started as a judicial examination of fake news and threats to the high court has since evolved into a sprawling investigation into Bolsonaro himself on allegations of corruption and attempts to destabilize the country by testing the boundaries of free expression. In the run-up to the 2022 election, Bolsonaro used his sizable social media presence to raise unfounded doubts about Brazil’s electronic voting system.

Unlike the U.S., where the First Amendment is an almost sacred text taught in every elementary school, Brazil’s Constitution, drafted in the aftermath of the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, is more unwieldy and offers fewer protections for freedom of speech.

Under Moraes’ orders, police in 2020 raided the homes and froze the social media accounts of several far-right supporters and YouTube supporters of Bolsonaro.

Lawmakers loyal to the former army captain have pushed for Moraes’ impeachment and even some critics of Bolsonaro have questioned the justice’s aggressive tactics.

It’s been a year since a Ferndale teen was fatally shot in a Southfield hotel room where he’d been hanging out with four friends.

But so far, no arrest has been made —  because all of the witnesses refuse to speak with police about who pulled the trigger that ended the life of 15-year-old Tyler Johnson, said Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren.

The frustration that plagues Tyler’s grief-stricken mother because no one has been held accountable is not only justified, but personally relatable, Barren said: His own brother was murdered in 2007 in Detroit, and the case is still unsolved.

Just like in Tyler’s case, his brother’s friends “failed him,” Barren said, adding, “I can relate to friends not providing information.”

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning at the Southfield police station, Barren said investigators “absolutely” have an idea of which of the four teenage friends shot Tyler, killing him, but until one of them comes forward with the evidence needed, the case can’t progress. All have retained attorneys and aren’t cooperating with police, Barren said.

“We have physical evidence, we have circumstantial evidence…what we need is an eyewitness to bring those things together,” he said.

Barren said “speculation” by the public, including comments made on social media, was a driving force behind the news conference — and reiterated why the case is stalled.

“We need these people — these juveniles who were there, (Tyler’s friends) — to have the courage to give this family justice. It takes courage to stand up,” he said.

Tyler was shot in the head on the morning of Feb. 11, 2024 at the Westin Hotel in Southfield and died from the injury four days later while hospitalized. He was a sophomore at Loyola High School in Detroit.

According to Southfield police, the five teenage friends were in a room rented by an uncle of one of them who left the boys there unsupervised. Police responding to the shooting detained two of the teens as they tried to flee — and one of them was found in possession of two firearms including the gun used to kill Tyler. He was charged with two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, which was adjudicated in juvenile court in Wayne County. But investigators have no evidence to directly tie him to the homicide, Barren said.

Cell phone evidence shows “multiple photos of the teens handling the weapon,” Barren said, but no photos of the fatal shooting were found.

Assistant prosecutor Justin Davis said Southfield police, including the chief, are “doing everything they can, exhausting all avenues.”

“At this point, they’ve reached a dead end…we need witnesses and we need evidence…to move forward with this case,” Davis said.

Barren said the five boys were close friends “who spent a lot of time together,” and their families also “associated as friends.”

Sheriff’s update on abandoned kids: Oldest went outside just twice in nearly 5 years — to feel grass, check mail; father says he was denied visitation

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By BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Since his election, President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed support for a major natural gas pipeline in Alaska — comments that have drawn fresh attention to a project that’s floundered for years despite support from state leaders.

Trump mentioned the pipeline at a news conference with Japan’s prime minister earlier this month, drawing praise from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, both Republicans. As proposed, the nearly 810-mile pipeline would funnel gas from Alaska’s vast North Slope to port, with an eye largely on exports to Asian countries.

Critics, however, see this as a repackaged version of a decades-old effort that has struggled to gain traction. Hurdles include the cost — an estimated $44 billion for the pipeline and related infrastructure — competition from other projects and questions about its economic feasibility. One state senator said Alaska has put around $1 billion over the years into trying to get a pipeline built.

What is liquefied natural gas?

It’s natural gas that’s been cooled to a liquid form for shipping and storage. Natural gas, a fossil fuel, is extracted from underground.

The Alaska project calls for a pipeline from the gas fields of the North Slope to south-central Alaska. A liquefaction facility in Nikiski, southwest of Anchorage, would process and export the liquefied natural gas.

What has Trump said?

Trump, following his election, said his administration would ensure the project gets built “to provide affordable energy to Alaska and allies all over the world.” He highlighted it as a priority in an Alaska-specific executive order aimed at spurring resource development he signed on his first day in office. And during a recent news conference with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan, Trump touted the Alaska project’s relative proximity to that country and said there were talks “about a joint venture of some type.” He did not elaborate.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement, said the meeting between the leaders “was carried out in a way that would be beneficial to both sides and confirmed that the two nations will cooperate bilaterally toward strengthening energy security, including increasing LNG exports to Japan.” It did not specifically reference the Alaska project.

Trump was a booster of the project during his first term. In 2017, he was there for the signing in Beijing of an agreement between then-Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and representatives of Chinese companies that called for the parties to work together on elements of the project. That effort ultimately fizzled: Walker, an independent, left office in 2018, and his successor, Dunleavy, took the project in a different direction. The project has a history of new governors taking a different tack than their predecessors; Walker did it, too.

Walker called Trump’s recent actions significant: “What he has done is a tremendous boost to the awareness of the project worldwide.”

What have been some challenges?

Currently, there is no way to bring Alaska’s large gas reserves to market. The focus for decades by major companies on the North Slope has been on producing more profitable oil. The 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline — which began operating in 1977 — is the state’s economic lifeline. Gas that occurs with deposits of oil is reinjected into the fields.

Changing markets and costs have been major obstacles, too.

What’s next?

State leaders are facing the likelihood that Alaska could have to import gas to help meet the needs of its most populous region due to production constraints in the aging Cook Inlet basin in south-central Alaska, hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the North Slope. Cook Inlet is Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas basin, dating to the 1950s.

Even a year ago, the idea of importing gas was widely seen by lawmakers as a humiliating possibility. But it’s now being met with resignation and hopes by some that it might simply be a short-term solution until a gas line is built.

Alaska House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp, a Republican, said Alaskans “need to be hopeful” and cautioned against negative thinking.

“We need to watch how we talk because it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and an energy project of this size, if it was successful, would be transformative to the economic security of our state,” he said.

Roger Marks, an oil and gas economist in Alaska, said he can’t see the pipeline project happening and said more energy should be devoted to preparing for possible imports. “Creating these false expectations has just been a big distraction from what needs to be done,” he said.

Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.