By TARA COPP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot was asked to resign this week, a senior defense official told The Associated Press on Thursday, in the latest shakeup for the Defense Department following firings and other changes under President Donald Trump.

Ullyot was one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s initial hires for the communications office and oversaw some of its most highly visible but controversial moves, including a broad edict to the military services to strip away online images and other content considered a promotion of diversity, equity or inclusion.

That directive, given under a wide-ranging Trump administration effort to purge so-called DEI content from federal agencies, led to public outcry when images of national heroes like Jackie Robinson were briefly removed.

Ullyot’s departure is the fourth this week among Hegseth’s former inner circle. Three other senior officials were escorted from the building this week after being implicated in an ongoing investigation into information leaks: Colin Carroll, chief of staff to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg; Darin Selnick, Hegseth’s deputy chief of staff; and Dan Caldwell, an aide to Hegseth.

It was not immediately clear what leaks led to the departures. Caldwell and Selnick had worked with the defense secretary during his time leading the nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America.

Under Hegseth, the communications office has made significant changes to how it works with Pentagon reporters, including removing many news outlets from their longtime workspaces and not yet holding weekly briefings.

Ullyot was transferred out of the communications office in late March following the blowback from the Pentagon’s purge of Robinson and a bungled public affairs response. Also, in his emailed responses to journalists, Ullyot referred to himself as the Pentagon press secretary. But Hegseth had hired Sean Parnell to speak for him from the Pentagon’s podium.

In an emailed response to the AP on Thursday, Ullyot said he told Hegseth when he was hired he “was not interested in being number two to anyone in public affairs” and that the understanding was always that he would stay only for about two months to help get the communications office up and running. When no other suitable position was found for him, Ullyot said he decided to resign.

But a senior defense official familiar with the decision said that wasn’t the case and that Hegseth’s office had requested that Ullyot resign.

Ullyot, who shared his resignation letter with AP, disputed the official’s account, calling it “flat out false and laughable.”

Ullyot’s resignation Wednesday was not tied to the inquiry into the unauthorized disclosures. Two other U.S. officials said Carroll, Selnick and Caldwell were placed on leave in that investigation.

All three officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that have not been made public.

The departures follow a purge of senior military officers, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown; Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti; National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command director Gen. Tim Haugh; and Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee.

By RODRIQUE NGOWI and BEN FINLEY

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — University professors and students led protests on campuses across the U.S. on Thursday against what they say are broad attacks on higher education, including massive cuts to funding, the expulsion of international students and the stifling of free speech about the war in Gaza.

Demonstrations were held at schools including Harvard, where President Donald Trump’s administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in grants and contracts and is threatening to revoke the university’s ability to host international students.

Rochelle Sun, a graduate student at Harvard’s Department of Government, said she came to stick up for international students because they’re integral to the school’s mission of pushing “the boundaries of human knowledge.”

“The whole point of me having this education here and for pursuing research at Harvard is to be among the best scholars that exist in the world,” Sun said after the protest in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “And so if they’re not going to be around me, then I’m not going to be able to achieve my goals of being here, either.”

Sun held a sign that read: “I should be writing my dissertation, but I keep having to fight this stupid fascism.”

Nancy Krieger, a professor of social epidemiology in Harvard’s School of Public Health, spoke to the crowd about cuts to programs that are crucial to medical discoveries and monitoring the health of the population.

“We are doing our work to make a better world in which all living on this planet can equitably thrive,” she said.

Krieger said her grant from the National Institutes of Health was terminated in late February because it studied discrimination in health, the kind of research that likely won’t be funded by companies or philanthropies.

“We need to have that money going towards research and academic work and the training and teaching of the next generation that can protect the public’s health,” Krieger said to cheers.

Federal funding targeted

A growing list of higher education institutions have had federal funding targeted by the government in order to comply with the Trump administration’s political agenda. The series of threats — and subsequent pauses in funding — to some of the top U.S. universities have become an unprecedented tool for the administration to exert influence on college campuses.

Trump vowed to pursue these federal cuts on the campaign trail last year, saying he would focus on schools that push “critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content.”

Republican officials have also heavily scrutinized universities where Palestinian protests erupted on campus amid the war in Gaza last year, while several Ivy League presidents testified before Congress to discuss antisemitism allegations.

Trump and other officials have accused protesters and others of being “pro-Hamas,” referring to the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Many protesters have said they were speaking out against Israel’s actions in the war.

The U.S. government has used its immigration enforcement powers to crack down on international students and scholars who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations or criticized Israel over its military action in Gaza. Some have been taken into custody or deported. Others fled the U.S. after learning their visas had been revoked.

‘You cannot appease a tyrant’

Thursday’s protest at Harvard comes just a few days after it became the first university to openly defy the Trump administration as it demands sweeping changes to limit activism on campus. The university frames the government’s demands as a threat not only to the Ivy League school but to the autonomy that the Supreme Court has long granted American universities.

Meanwhile, roughly 450 people showed up for a protest at the University of California-Berkeley, where emeritus professor and former Labor Secretary Robert Reich spoke out against placating Trump.

“You cannot appease a tyrant,” said Reich, who served in President Bill Clinton’s cabinet. “Columbia University tried to appease a tyrant. It didn’t work.”

Columbia University in New York initially agreed to several demands from the Trump administration. But its acting president took a more defiant tone in a campus message Monday, saying some of the demands “are not subject to negotiation.”

About 150 protesters rallied at Columbia, which had been the scene of huge pro-Palestinian protests last year. They gathered on a plaza outside a building that houses federal offices, holding signs emblazoned with slogans including “stop the war on universities” and “censorship is the weapon of fascists.”

The protests were organized by the Coalition for Action in Higher Education, which includes groups such as Higher Education Labor United and the American Federation of Teachers.

Kelly Benjamin, a spokesperson for American Association of University Professors, said in a phone call that the Trump administration’s goal of eviscerating academia is fundamentally anti-American.

“College campuses have historically been the places where these kind of conversations, these kind of robust debates and dissent take place in the United States,” Benjamin said. “It’s healthy for democracy. And they’re trying to destroy all of that in order to enact their vision and agenda.”

Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. Associated Press journalists Noah Berger in Berkeley, California, and Joseph B. Frederick in New York contributed to this report.

By GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA and THALIA BEATY

For more than a century, the majority of colleges and universities have not paid most taxes. The Revenue Act of 1909 excused nonprofits operating “exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes” in order to continue acting in the public interest.

President Donald Trump is looking to challenge that designation, complaining that colleges and universities are “indoctrinating” their students with “radical left” ideas, rather than educating them. And he has decided to start with the 388-year-old Harvard University, one of the world’s most prestigious institutions of learning and the first college founded in the American colonies.

On Tuesday, he targeted Harvard University in a post on his social media site, questioning whether it should remain tax-exempt “if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting “Sickness?” Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!”

Tax-exempt status, which is decided by the Internal Revenue Service, means that these institutions do not pay certain kinds of taxes and that their donors receive a tax deduction when they make gifts. The rules they have to follow to maintain that status are set out in the tax code. We spoke with attorneys who specialize in nonprofit law and freedom of speech to try to answer questions about this challenge.

Does a university’s curriculum affect its charitable status?

In general, no. Colleges and universities have broad leeway to design the education they provide.

Genevieve Lakier, a First Amendment scholar at the University of Chicago Law School, said the U.S. Supreme Court has laid out four essential freedoms for colleges and universities — what to teach, how to teach it, who their students are and who their professors are.

“That’s the irreducible core of academic freedom and it is constitutionally protected in this country,” she said, adding the government cannot threaten funding cuts or revoking a school’s tax status as punishment for its views or what the school teaches.

The First Amendment also protects the rights of other nonprofits to pursue their charitable missions under freedom of assembly, Lakier said, even if those missions are odious or the government does not like them.

Can the president ask the IRS to revoke a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status?

No, he is not supposed to, according to two nonprofit tax attorneys who wrote about a previous call from Trump to revoke the nonprofit status of colleges and universities.

In 1998, Congress passed a law that forbade federal officials from telling the IRS to investigate any taxpayer in an effort to increase trust in tax enforcement.

The attorneys, Ellen Aprill and Samuel Brunson, also pointed to legislation that forbade the IRS “from targeting individuals and organizations for ideological reasons,” after a controversy over how it treated Tea Party groups in 2013.

How does a nonprofit get and keep its tax-exempt status?

The IRS recognizes multiple reasons for a nonprofit to to be exempt from paying many kinds of taxes, including pursuing charitable, religious or educational missions among many other examples. The statute specifically names sports competitions, preventing cruelty to children or animals and defending human or civil rights as exempt purposes.

Nonprofits can lose their tax-exempt status for things like improperly paying its directors, endorsing a political candidate or operating a business unrelated to its charitable mission.

In short, tax attorneys say nonprofits must operate “exclusively for charitable purposes,” which is a different standard than what the president referred to as, “acting in the public interest.”

Phil Hackney, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said, “Long history and precedent suggest that Harvard and institutions of higher education are operating for educational purposes, which are considered charitable,” under the tax code.

He said it would be exceedingly difficult to make a case that a college or university was not operating for charitable purposes under current law. However, Edward McCaffery, who teaches tax policy at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, warned there is precedent for the IRS revoking the tax-exempt status of colleges that the government could lean on.

“I think to dismiss it out of hand as over-the-top bluster and that the administration has no power to unilaterally pursue it, I think that’s naive,” McCaffery said. “This could happen.”

Has the IRS ever stripped a college of its tax-exempt status before?

Yes. In 1983, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that the IRS could deny tax-exempt status to Bob Jones University, a private Christian university that banned interracial dating and marriage on campus, and Goldsboro Christian Schools, which employed racially discriminatory admissions policies.

The court found the IRS had some discretion to determine whether an organization seeking tax-exempt status met standards of “charity,” meaning that it “must serve a public purpose and not be contrary to established public policy.”

Nonetheless, McCaffery said, “The ability of the IRS just to come in and deny tax exemption, it better be a very clear, long-standing, deeply held public policy, and not political preferences for certain kinds of positions, attitudes and voting patterns.”

How can the IRS revoke a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status?

Usually, the IRS would open an audit, where it gathers evidence that a nonprofit is not operating exclusively for charitable purposes.

“The IRS would have to send to Harvard a proposed revocation of its status,” Hackney said. “At that point, Harvard would have many different means to talk with the IRS about why they believed they were within the law,” including suing.

However, Hackney said the U.S. Department of Treasury could implement new regulations, for example, stating that operating a diversity, equity and inclusion program is not consistent with charitable purposes. Such a change would usually take years to make and would run counter to decades of precedent, Hackney said.

“I am skeptical this effort will be successful,” he said. “If it were, this would be the most dramatic change of charitable law in my lifetime and I would say in the history of our charitable law.”

This story has been updated to reflect that Harvard University is 388 years old. A previous version stated it is 488 years old.

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Pontiac schools are moving ahead with plans to  reshape the district for the future.

At an April 14 special meeting, Interim Superintendent Kimberly Leverette walked the board through a plan for how students and programs will be relocated as part of Phase I.

“This plan is about what we can provide for the whole child,” Leverette told the board. “The rigor and academic outcomes that we want for all kids is absolutely possible. The way we have been doing it is not working. We must do something different.”

An earlier proposal to shift all International Technology Academy students grades 7-12 into Pontiac Middle School and High School was changed.

According to the district, the technology academy is “a specialized school program within the district that emphasizes STEM education and diverse learning experiences, and preparing students to become global citizens.” It serves K-12 students.

Students from the technology academy will now merge with students from International Language Academy and all classes will be located in the Whitmer Human Resource Center.

The language academy is a dual-language K-5 elementary program within the district.

According to the presentation, the combined program, to be called the “ITA at WHRC”, will have 438 students, including 50 kindergarteners. The number could be  expanded in the future based on space in the Whitmer building.

The PEACE Academy, which offers pre-school and before/after school care programs, will relocate to the Whitmer building from Frost Elementary.

PEACE will have 20 classrooms in the south wing of the building and their own secure entrance.

Six classrooms will relocate to Herrington Elementary and four special education classrooms will move from Whitmer to Rogers Elementary and Herrington.

The PEACE would also shift from four days a week of instruction to five days and expand classroom sizes from 16 to 18 students.

The estimated cost of moving the PEACE program, located at 723 Cottage, to the Whitmer building is $788,555.

The current PEACE building would be emptied  and its future use to be determined. The district would save $172,000 annually by closing the building.

The plan, which takes effect this fall, could be voted on at the board’s April 28 meeting.

There will be a public forum on the Phase I plan from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on April 24 at the Pontiac High School auditorium.

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Pistons hit rock bottom not long ago, suffering from the embarrassment of the longest single-season losing streak in league history and slumping to the NBA’s worst record for a second straight year.

Tom Gores had seen enough.

The team owner responded with a series of moves less than a year ago, including one that cost him $65 million to fire coach Monty Williams, to spark an unprecedented turnaround.

The Cade Cunningham-led Pistons were 44-38 this season — one year after winning a league-low 14 games — and the 30-game improvement was the best by a team in the league that earned fewer than 20 victories the previous season.

Detroit is also the first NBA franchise to triple its total number of victories from the previous year in an 82-game season.

“I haven’t seen anything like it,” former NBA coach Dwane Casey said in an interview with The Associated Press, drawing on his three-three plus decades in the league.

There’s a reason for that. It had never happened.

After pulling off a feat no one saw coming, the Pistons will tip off their first appearance in the NBA playoffs since 2019 on Saturday night on the road against the New York Knicks.

“It’s surreal that we’re here when you look back at what this team had been through when we took the job,” general manager Trajan Langdon told the AP. “It’s incredibly gratifying and I’m so happy for the players who made it happen.”

Gores purchased the Pistons in 2011, when a three-time championship franchise was trying to rebuild, and failed to find the right combination of management, coaching and players to win until last year’s retooling.

Detroit had only one winning record before this season under Gores, who also owns 27% of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers. The Pistons were swept in the first round six years ago and in the 2016 playoffs, extending the NBA’s longest playoff losing streak to 14 games dating to May 26, 2008.

Casey endured some of the misery in the Motor City.

He was fired by the Toronto Raptors in 2018, days after winning the NBA Coach of the Year award, and led the Pistons to a .500 record and playoff appearance the next season.

Casey averaged just 20 wins over the next four years. He resigned to became a senior advisor for the team as it hired Williams and went from 17 victories to just 14 under another former NBA Coach of the Year in one of the worst two-year stretches in league history.

Gores refused to let his franchise idle and hope for the best, triggering pivotal decisions that have panned out for the Pistons.

He fired general manager Troy Weaver following four futile years, a decision that surprised no one, then shocked many by firing Williams after only one season.

“Everybody thought it was crazy to let the coach go,” said Casey, a senior advisor for the team. “It took a lot of guts to do that.”

It also took a lot of money.

Gores paid Williams $65 million to leave last May after hiring Langdon, who put J.B. Bickerstaff on the bench shortly after the Cleveland Cavaliers fired a coach who won 99 games the previous two seasons.

“Tom Gores’ decision to move on from Monty created a domino effect, and it’s a move most owners would not have made because of his contract,” said former NBA player and TV analyst Jalen Rose, who often roots for his hometown team while standing up in front of a courtside seat at Little Caesars Arena. “The fact that he was willing to blow it all up sent a message to everyone, including media and fans, and then he hired one of the hottest GM prospects when he got Trajan.

“It also helped that the No. 1 pick took a leap like SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) did in Oklahoma City and Anthony Edwards did in Minnesota.”

The Pistons gave Cunningham, drafted first overall in 2021, a five-year contract extension worth at least $224 million last summer and the point guard has made that deal look like a bargain.

Cunningham became an All-Star for the first time this season, averaging 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds, and went from being a good player with some injury issues to a durable, All-NBA caliber candidate.

“It means everything,” said shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr., one of the key veterans acquired last summer along with Tobias Harris and Malik Beasley. “A lot of this would not be possible without him.”

The turnaround, though, may not have happened if Gores gave Williams another shot this season and yet he was quick to deflect credit to the men making shots and stops on the court and those calling the shots from the bench and front office.

“It means a lot, but we’re not done,” Gores said. “The story has just started.”

A 17-year-old Mount Clemens juvenile who allegedly broke into a house and threw an explosive device because a girl living there spurned his advances was arraigned Thursday on four felony charges.

Jonathan Brady is being held in the Macomb County Juvenile Justice Center in Mount Clemens on a $500,000 bond set by 41B District Court Magistrate Ryan Zemke.

During the arraignment proceedings, Assistant Prosecutor Maria Panchenko said the defendant confessed to committing the crimes.

“The victims in this matter are now homeless and the home that was destroyed by the explosive mortar device is no longer inhabitable,” Panchenko said. “He knew that at least two infants under the age of 1 were present, and there were people in total in the home at the time.”

Brady was arraigned on charges of:

• First-degree home invasion
• Second degree arson
• Explosives – placing near property causing property damage
• Explosives – possession of bombs with unlawful intent – causing property damage

Each of the four counts carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Brady has two prior adjudications in juvenile court and has a “history of not complying” with authorities when placed on bond or probation in the past, she added. She expressed concern that Brady may threaten the safety of the girlfriend and her family should he be released.

Public defender Dana Freers said Brady, who turns 18 on May 1, last got into trouble three years ago. He was living with a family friend at the time of fire according to Freers.

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office said someone broke into the victim’s rental home on Eldredge Street about 3 a.m. April 10 and threw an explosive device — believed to be an M80 — which ignited a fire that consumed the entire house.

Mount Clemens firefighters were able to contain the blaze, but the damage was extensive, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Fire Investigation Unit was called to the scene to investigate as well.

No injuries among the seven occupants were reported.

Brady was arrested later that day.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said he decided to charge Brady as an adult due to the circumstances of the case.

“I did not reach the decision to charge Mr. Brady as an adult lightly. The gravity of this crime plus the need to seek justice for the victims and protect the public required this solemn action,” he said in a statement.

Lucido said that while serving in the Michigan Senate, he authored legislation that ended the prosecutorial practice of automatically charging 17 year-olds as adults to provide more discretion and fairness in the justice system. The legislation was signed into law.

“Mr. Brady is accused of committing extremely serious crimes that endangered the lives of seven people and caused a family to lose their home. I am especially outraged that the lives of multiple infants were put at risk,” Lucido said.

During the court proceedings today, the magistrate ordered Brady not to have contact with any of the victims. If he posts bond, Brady must wear a GPS tether, and he is prohibited from using drugs and alcohol. In addition, he cannot be in possession of a firearm, ammunition or any other weapons.

Unless he posts bond, Brady will remain in custody at the Macomb Juvenile Justice Center (JJC) until at least May 1, 2025, when he turns age 18. After that date, the JJC will have the discretion to continue to incarcerate Brady or transfer him to the Macomb County Jail.

Brady will have his probable cause conference and preliminary examination hearing within 21 days before 41-B District Court Judge Sabastian Lucido.

Delvon Lee, who was renting the house with Michelle Lee, have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise a goal amount of $10,000 for essential items, because they literally have nothing left. Flames and smoke badly damaged the interior and all of the family’s belongings.

For anyone who would like to make a donation to the GoFundMe effort, visit gofundme.com/f/huy5r9-fire-leaves-family-without-essentials.

Deputies arrest juvenile suspected of tossing explosive in Macomb County home

DETROIT — The joyous sensation that comes with April sunshine is typically overshadowed by despair for Cade Cunningham. For the first three years of his career with the Pistons, walking into the Henry Ford Performance Center in mid-April is usually reserved for locker cleanout day, as he tries to find words to summarize another disappointing season.

“It feels like it’s been a two, three-year thing, but for us to have done it so quickly, I think it’s just a testament to the group of people that we brought into the building,” Cunningham said.

“The chip that last year put on our shoulder, I think everybody understands that and wants to come in and make a change. We feel great for the city to have put ourselves in the position we’re in now. And now it’s about working our way and trying to find ways to win the championship.”

Cunningham had an All-NBA-caliber season, leading the Pistons to their most successful campaign in nine years. They finished with a 44-38 record and secured the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. As a result, Detroit will begin its best-of-seven series against the Knicks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

The idea of making a playoff debut under the bright lights of New York could be nerve-racking for any young player. However, for the first-time All-Star, Cunningham will make his postseason debut in a place where he has had a handful of successful moments in his young career.

“I’ve played in the Garden, I know what it feels like,” Cunningham said. “I am going in there with an open mind. I am not shying away from anything. I am not blocking out any possibilities. I’ve played games there before. I think I have what it takes to do everything I like to do on the court. I am ready to go.”

Since his rookie season in 2021, Cunningham has played six career games at the Garden, averaging 25 points on 45% shooting from the floor with 8.5 assists and six rebounds.

During Detroit’s renaissance this season, the former No. 1 pick led the Pistons to a 2-0 record on the Knicks’ home floor. He notched the 11th-highest scoring average at Madison Square Garden this season, recording 32.5 points on 52.3% shooting from the field and 56.3% on 3-pointers, along with 9.5 assists and six rebounds.

His performances against the Knicks illustrate how he has led Detroit’s resurgence, contributing to a 3-1 regular-season record against New York.

“What Cade has shown this year is that he impacts winning in a high way,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He is an All-NBA player in my mind. I know what Cade wants to be and what he aims to be. Those players who are at that level win. That’s why I believe he deserves everything he has received. I know how hungry he is, and he is pushing for more.”

Similar to his teammates’ mindset, Cunningham is not relying upon the success of the regular season to prepare for the playoffs. Under the guidance of coach Tom Thibodeau, he anticipates the Knicks will employ a new defensive strategy to slow down his nifty play.

“I have an idea of how they are going to game plan and switch things up,” Cunningham said. “But once we get to the moment, we will see and make adjustments from there. Just making sure that we are as ready as possible for anything that might come.”

Cunningham’s breakout year has been marked by several standout moments throughout the regular season. One of his best performances took place during the Pistons’ 120-111 road win over the Knicks on Dec. 7, when he recorded a triple-double with 29 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.

Pistons fans at the Garden were in a frenzy, while Knicks supporters departed the arena feeling stunned by the loss. Although it was a significant moment for Cunningham, he understands that the intense atmosphere in New York on a cold night in early December pales in comparison to what’s at stake during the postseason.

However, Cunningham will be entering hostile territory with confidence.

Playing in the playoffs has been a dream since Cunningham, a Dallas-area native, watched Dirk Nowitzki lead the Mavericks to an NBA championship in 2011. The experience sparked a desire to one day lead an NBA franchise to a title within his respective career. Fourteen years later, Cunningham will get his first opportunity as his postseason journey begins in the mecca of basketball.

“It’s exciting,” Cunningham said. “Watching the play-in games and knowing that we still have games to come, it is just exciting. I am looking forward to playoff basketball. It is something I always dreamt of. Just trying to stay rested and ready to go.”

New ramp and lane closures are coming as I-696 is rebuilt in southeastern Oakland County.

The northbound I-75 ramp to 12 Mile Road will have one lane open from 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, April 18, for pavement repair, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

The southbound I-75 ramp to eastbound I-696 will be closed from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 19, for bridge work.

Only two lanes will be open on westbound I-696 from Southfield Road to Lahser Road from 7 a.m. Monday, April 21, to late July for bridge work.

Weather can affect schedules and may result in delays or cancellations.

This is the final phase of the Restore the Reuther project. It involves rebuilding I-696 between Lahser and Dequindre in 2025-2026.

For more information, visit https://DrivingOakland.com/I696-East/.

Crews recently completed a reconstruction of I-696 between Lahser and I-275. The Macomb County portion was renovated several years ago.

Consumers Energy starts work on $182M pipeline for south Macomb, Oakland counties

Vacant Oakland County bank building to be redeveloped for residential, retail, use

Waterford Township hired two companies to complete its $33 million community center.

In back-to-back votes Monday evening, township trustees voted unanimously for the architecture-engineering firm Neumann/Smith of Southfield and construction manager Frank Rewold & Sons of Rochester.

The two other finalists, IDS of Troy and Clark Construction of Auburn Hills, could be reconsidered should contract negotiations with Rewold and Neumann/Smith fall through.

Voters approved a $36.4 million bond for the project in November.

The township purchased 51 acres of land on OCC’s Highland Lakes campus at 7350 Cooley Lake Road. The community center outdoor space will include accessible restrooms, a playground, softball field, shuffleboard and bocce ball courts, a dog park and trails connecting to Hess-Hathaway Park.

Most classes continue at OCC’s Highland campus through the end of the fall semester. Health science classes continue through the end of 2027. Work starts in 2026 to convert the existing building to a community center.

Waterford Twp. trustees to sign community center contracts

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN, ERIC TUCKER and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s claim that it can’t do anything to free Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison and return him to the U.S. “should be shocking,” a federal appeals court said Thursday in a blistering order that ratchets up the escalating conflict between the government’s executive and judicial branches.

A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously refused to suspend a judge’s decision to order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her instruction to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, who was nominated by Republican President Ronald Reagan, wrote that he and his two colleagues “cling to the hope that it is not naïve to believe our good brethren in the Executive Branch perceive the rule of law as vital to the American ethos.”

“This case presents their unique chance to vindicate that value and to summon the best that is within us while there is still time,” Wilkinson wrote.

The seven-page order amounts to an extraordinary condemnation of the administration’s position in Abrego Garcia’s case and also an ominous warning of the dangers of an escalating conflict between the judiciary and executive branches the court said threatens to “diminish both.” It says the judiciary will be hurt by the “constant intimations of its illegitimacy” while the executive branch “will lose much from a public perception of its lawlessness.”

When asked by reporters Thursday afternoon if he believed Abrego Garcia was entitled to due process, Trump ducked the question.

“I have to refer, again, to the lawyers,” he said in the Oval Office. “I have to do what they ask me to do.”

The president added: “I had heard that there were a lot of things about a certain gentleman — perhaps it was that gentleman — that would make that case be a case that’s easily winnable on appeal. So we’ll just have to see. I’m gonna have to respond to the lawyers.”

The Justice Department didn’t immediately comment on the decision. In a brief accompanying their appeal, government lawyers argued that courts do not have the authority to “press-gang the President or his agents into taking any particular act of diplomacy.”

“Yet here, a single district court has inserted itself into the foreign policy of the United States and has tried to dictate it from the bench,” they wrote.

The panel said Republican President Donald Trump’s government is “asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

“Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear,” Wilkinson wrote.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court said the Trump administration must work to bring back Abrego Garcia. An earlier order by U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis “properly requires the Government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador,” the high court said in an unsigned order with no noted dissents.

The Justice Department appealed after Xinis on Tuesday ordered sworn testimony by at least four officials who work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.

The 4th Circuit panel denied the government’s request for a stay of Xinis’ order while they appeal.

“The relief the government is requesting is both extraordinary and premature,” the opinion says. “While we fully respect the Executive’s robust assertion of its Article II powers, we shall not micromanage the efforts of a fine district judge attempting to implement the Supreme Court’s recent decision.”

Wilkinson, the opinion’s author, was regarded as a contender for the Supreme Court seat that was ultimately filled by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2005. Wilkinson’s conservative pedigree may complicate White House efforts to credibly assail him as a left-leaning jurist bent on thwarting the Trump administration’s agenda for political purposes, a fallback line of attack when judicial decisions run counter to the president’s wishes.

Joining Wilkinson in the ruling were judges Stephanie Thacker, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, and Robert Bruce King, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton.

White House officials claim they lack the authority to bring back the Salvadoran national from his native country. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele also said Monday that he would not return Abrego Garcia, likening it to smuggling “a terrorist into the United States.”

While initially acknowledging Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported, the administration has dug in its heels in recent days, describing him as a “terrorist” even though he was never criminally charged in the U.S.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday that “he is not coming back to our country.”

Administration officials have conceded that Abrego Garcia shouldn’t have been sent to El Salvador, but they have insisted that he was a member of the MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia’s lawyers say there is no evidence linking him to MS-13 or any other gang.

The appeals court panel concluded that Abrego Garcia deserves due process, even if the government can connect him to a gang.

“If the government is confident of its position, it should be assured that position will prevail in proceedings to terminate the withholding of removal order,” the opinion says.

Xinis also was skeptical of assertions by White House officials and Bukele that they were unable to bring back Abrego Garcia. She described their statements as “two very misguided ships passing in the night.”

“The Supreme Court has spoken,” Xinis said Tuesday.

Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed reporting.

MILWAUKEE – The first question that had to be answered Tuesday night was whether the Tigers were going to manage a base hit.

Brewers’ right-hander Quinn Priester kept the hit column empty for five innings, though he did walk three and took the mound in the sixth at 81 pitches.

Second question, would they be able to climb out of a 3-0 hole against the Brewers’ bullpen.

Negative.

Torres’ hit was the only one produced by the Tigers and the Brewers evened the series with a 5-0 win at American Family Field.

Torres ended up stranded at third base when lefty reliever Jared Koenig entered and struck out Riley Greene (looking) and Spencer Torkelson (swinging) to end the sixth.

The last 12 hitters were dispatched in order Koenig (1.1 innings), Abner Uribe (.2), Nick Mears (1) and Grant Anderson (1).

It was a labor-intensive start for Tigers’ Jack Flaherty. He seemed out of sync from the first inning on, with his fastball velocity fluctuating from 89 mph to 94 and getting into deep counts.

Rhys Hoskins opened the second inning with a 440-foot home run to left-center and it was an example of Flaherty’s issues. He got ahead with a 93-mph four-seamer, painted on the outer edge.

Next pitch, another four-seamer, this one at 90 mph in the heart of the plate.

Sal Frelick followed with a triple and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Mitchell.

The Brewers tacked on a two-out run in the fourth on a double by Mitchell and a bloop single by Joey Ortiz.

Flaherty was pulled with two outs in the fifth. He was at 98 pitches, only 56 strikes.

The Tigers’ bullpen didn’t hold the game in check, though hat-tip to Torres for saving one run.

With Frelick at second base and two outs in the sixth, Ortiz spanked a ground ball that looked ticketed for right field. Torres ranged to his left and made a sensational diving play, getting up quickly to make the throw to first.

The Brewers scored two unearned runs off Brenan Hanifee in the seventh. A one-out throwing error by third baseman Andy Ibanez was the culprit.

Brenan Hanifee ended up throwing 38 pitches in 1.1 innings, making him the leading candidate to get optioned back to Triple-A Toledo to make room for Keider Montero, who was summoned and will start the finale of this series Wednesday.

ROCHESTER HILLS – The Troy Athens Red Hawks dominated possession and rolled to a 4-1 league win over the host Stoney Creek Cougars on a cold, windy Tuesday evening.

The Red Hawks opened the scoring just over 17 minutes into the game when Lulu Thaqi crossed a ball for Lauren DeJonckheere who hit a one-time volley that went in off the left post. Just over six minutes later, Lily Greaves banged in a rebound to make it 2-0 in favor of Athens.

Overall, Athens dominated possession and the stat sheet. The Red Hawks were able to connect passes and move the ball between levels, which created many offensive chances in both the first and second halves.

“We’ve been working on the possession piece, and then finding forwards has been the key piece yet. (Retaining possession) while going forward has been really important for us,” Red Hawks head coach Jason Clark said. “They worked well today,” he added.

The Red Hawks added on a pair of goals in the second half – one each by Emily Mendrick and by Thaqi – to stretch the lead to 4-0 with 22:15 still to play.

Still, the Cougars’ back line – featuring two sophomores and a freshman – held up pretty well given the amount of pressure they were under. But eventually, Athens just had too much possession and too many forward pushes, and the Red Hawks were able to find a few goals.

Stoney Creek would have a late push. Led by Gianna Kay, the Cougars kept organized and remained fighting.

“Gianna is a captain, a leader,” Cougars head coach Bryan Mittlestadt said. “Any coach would enjoy having several players with that kind of leadership, and the grit and that talent.”

Eventually the hosts pulled a goal back when Emma Norred popped a ball up in the air and behind the Troy Athens defense. Lauren Ziehm won the race to the ball and slotted it home past the charging netminder for a consolation goal.

Overall, the Athens defense turned in a very strong performance. Anchored by Abby Waldron and Annie Lawson, the Red Hawks’ backline held Stoney Creek to just three shot attempts all night as the Cougars struggled to find production in the attacking third.

Photo gallery of Stoney Creek vs. Troy Athens in OAA Red girls soccer action

With the win, Troy Athens (6-1 overall) levels its record in league play at 1-1.

“Anytime you get an OAA Red win, it’s a positive note,” Clark said. “I thought the girls played really well today, and especially for the conditions, I thought we did well.”

Stoney Creek (2-2-2 overall) is 0-2-1 in the OAA Red.

“We’re a little bit young. We’ve got some kids who are getting their first experience in the OAA, and we’ve just got to keep working,” Mittelstadt said. “We’ve got kids that care and work hard. There’s no doubt that we’re working hard. We’ve just got to play a little bit better soccer and get things going."

Both teams have tough non-league matchups on Thursday when Troy Athens travels to Grosse Ile to take on the Red Devils while Stoney Creek hosts Utica Eisenhower.

Troy Athens opened up strong, controlled the play and cruised to a 4-1 victory over Stoney Creek Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Rochester Hills.

The OAA produced a pair of regional finalists last season in Seaholm and Rochester.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the conference produce more district champions this spring after several of the OAA’s top programs ran into other top state contenders early on in the postseason. Pitching remains strong amongst some of the best teams within the county.

Here’s a look at the OAA programs heading into the 2025 season. (Note: Some information was provided by coaches, and not all coaches submitted.)

Avondale

Head coach: James Swanson

Last year’s record: 8-26

Overview: First-year head coach Swanson brings youth and excitement to the program. He’s aiming to leverage the team’s speed. Top talents for the Yellow Jackets include Rochester College commit Joseph Arends (SS/P, Sr.), Braylin Grandberry (CF/P, Jr.), Avery Prentice (IF/P, Jr.) and Natheer Huskic (1B/P, Sr.).

Berkley

Head coach: Todd Dunfield

Last year’s record: 18-17

Overview: The program turns to Dunfield after Matt Rawlik stepped back to take on the role of AD at Berkley. A Seaholm grad who played at Albion in college, the biggest players Dunfield will have to replace are Logan Field and Ben Streetman (Henry Ford CC). Reed Reynolds and Brayden Kubicki are among the starting arms the Bears will count on this spring. Spencer Bajcz is one of Berkley’s best bats within the heart of the order.

Birmingham Groves

Head coach: Shawn Morrison

Last year’s record: 25-14

Returning starters: Returning starters: Johnny Bedell (IF/P, Sr.), Tyler Bronczyk (OF/P, Sr.), Benji Cook (OF/P, Sr.), Josh Gibson (OF, Sr.), Xan Scheinfield (OF/P, Jr.), Sebastian Shorter (SS/P, Jr.), Carlos Smith (C/P, So.), Jack Stillwagon (1B, Sr.), Hunter Tengler (IF/P, Sr.), Michael West (IF/P, So.)

Overview: Speedy Steven Whitted (Wayne State) and Jake Rossenwasser are several of the key players to replace for the Falcons. Just a sophomore, West already looks to be one of the team’s better bats, and should lot his share of important innings, along with Bronczyk and Tengler. “I think we’ve got guys that really have taken ownership of the team this year,” Morrison said. “Their heads are where their feet are, and I think overall that’s going to put us in a pretty good position to battle for a league and district championship at the end.”

Birmingham Seaholm

Head coach: Steve Oshinski

Last year’s record: 24-11

Overview: Oshinski will rely on a new batch of players after graduating a nucleus that won a combined 50 games the past two seasons. That new group includes Ozzie Borman (2B), Ryan Pfeiffer (P/OF), Steve Schneider (OF), Myles Henderson (1B), Cobie Early (INF/OF) Shawn Moore (P), and “No. 1 hype man” Owen Tyranski. Otherwise, infielder Brandon Gottesman should step in as an impact bat, and the tandem of Patrick Hughes and Dylan Layer will be counted upon by the Maples on the bump as well.

Bloomfield Hills

Head coach: Greg Fettes

Last year’s record: 18-17

Overview: The good news was that the Black Hawks had home field advantage in districts last season. Unfortunately, the opened the postseason against Brother Rice. More good news is that Bloomfield Hills has a new head coach with a winning pedigree in Fettes, who led Bishop Foley to a state title not so long ago. He’ll have a good staff to work with in senior Sawyer Cooney (Xavier), junior Hunter Farbman and senior Tyler Marx. Fettes has a couple of good bats that will be around for a couple of years also in junior 3B/OF Drew Harst and sophomore IF Ethan Franklin.

Clarkston

Head coach: Addison Turk

Last year’s record: 13-22

Overview: Dylan Johnston and Camden Williamson combined to throw over 11 scoreless innings last postseason for Clarkston, who won a playoff game against Fenton before bowing out against Oxford. Johnston, who hit a walk-off single in that district win, is back as one of the Wolves’ top arms with Chris York, TJ Hyde and Gavin Bond. Along with Lucas DeBell, Paul, Johnston and York will try to provide Clarkston with offense at the top of the lineup.

Farmington

Head coach: Charles Colding

Last year’s record: 13-20

Returning starters: Vincent Pesci (SS, Jr.), Andrew Pahnke (1B/P, Jr.), Jayden Essary (3B/OF, Jr.), John Lynem (OF/P, Jr.), Brady Irvin (1B/P, So.), Carter O’Driscoll (P, So.), Ben Holmes (P, Jr.), Carson Drake (P, Jr.)

Strengths: Hitting

Overview: Speedy infielder Owen Matteson is one of the key players Farmington will have to replace. The Falcons return another key middle infielder in Pesci, an All-OAA Honorable Mention, while Essary will be one of the team’s other best bats. Pahnke is one of the team’s best arms; he struck out 59 batters in 41 frames as a sophomore. It’s a young team (one senior) that will add some more talented youth in sophomore SS/OF JJ Dail and freshman 1B/OF/LHP Anderson Axe and to help Farmington take a step forward.

Ferndale

Head coach: Christopher Bailey

Last year’s record: 2-16

Overview: It’s nowhere to go but up for the Eagles and their first-year head coach in Bailey. They return their top hitter in senior Jaylin Dennard, who batted .429 with four doubles and triples each last season, all team-highs. Senior Cullen Hock also returns as one of the team’s main threats on the base paths. Dennard and Mason Shaltis, another senior, started the majority of games in 2024, so continuity will help.

Lake Orion

Head coach: Andrew Schramek

Last year’s record: 23-12

Overview: Southpaw Kael Gahan mowed down batters last year for the Dragons and is now off at Duke, while Ryan McCartan (Saginaw Valley State) is also a loss to graduation. Still, Lake Orion returns four starters, as well as a handful of pitchers that include Jackson Gilbert and Sam Beemer, who should keep the Dragons in plenty of games against some of the league’s top teams.

North Farmington

Head coach: James Malkovich

Last year’s record: 5-27

Overview: The Raiders should approach or surpass double-digit wins after a tough 2024 campaign. They lose Josh Brenner to graduation, but bring back juniors Rashad Travis and Josh Shelby as well as sophomore Jayden Glinz. Infielder Kyle Pierce was a good bat at the top of the order as a freshman last season and will attempt to set the table along with junior catcher Amare Christian, and senior Seth Cohen, who will also throw for North Farmington.

Oak Park

Head coach: Darryl Allen

Last year’s record: N/A

Overview: Freshman Rashad Palmer looks like he’ll get one of the trusted arms for Oak Park. He’ll be a top bat in the order, as is senior Tryce Davis, who can mash as well. Other senior starters include Omari Pointer, along with Darian and Dorian Moss.

Oxford

Head coach: David Herrick

Last year’s record: 20-17

Returning starters: Parker Bennion (P, Sr.), Eli Carpenter (OF/P, Sr.), Jack Hendrix (IF, Jr.), Max Lovins (C, Sr.), Dean Rice (OF/P, Sr.)

Overview: The Wildcats got right at the end of last year and ran off a win streak of 11 in a row, including a district victory over Clarkston. Hendrix is one of the leading returning hitters after a .378 average with 15 RBIs as a sophomore. Carpenter, Hendrix and Rice (29 IP, 3.37 ERA) were among the top handful in innings-getters for Oxford last spring.

Rochester

Head coach: Eric Magiera

Last year’s record: 24-16

Returning starters: Sean Fox (3B, Sr.), Dominic Gadlage (IF/P, Sr.), Andrew Scott (OF, Jr.), Jacob Scott (OF, Jr.), Jake Norton (SS, Sr.)

Overview: Don’t pay too much attention to Rochester’s record from last season. The Falcons got healthy late, then went on a seven-game winning streak that included a district championship and resulted in a run to the regional finals. The JTs (Sawyer and Youngblood) graduated, but talent remains. Fox, an Ohio U commit, set the school’s single-season home run record last year with nine. Gadlage (Kalamazoo Valley CC) is a top hitter, and like Norton (Lansing CC), he provides good defense. The Scott twins are base-stealing threats that can cause havoc, too.

Rochester Adams

Head coach: Andy Lamkin

Last year’s record: 13-15

Overview: A competitive schedule that included non-conference games against Brother Rice, quarterfinalist Okemos and semifinalist Bay City Western paid off for Adams, though the Highlanders fell short in the district final to rival Rochester. Ryland and Flip Watters can swing it, as can Matt Toeppner and Luke Borowski. That football arm of Ryland will be used on the hill, where he’ll be joined by starters Jack Durand, Drew Szymanski and Drew Stitzel. Expect the Highlanders to improve on their win total from last spring even with a similarly competitive set of opponents.

Royal Oak

Head coach: Brett Borrocci

Last year’s record: 16-10

Overview: This will be the first year Borrocci with the Ravens, whose moderate successes included winning three league series last spring. A number of Royal Oak’s top arms and bats graduated, but junior Jack Groya is one of the arms that comes back and he should help contribute when he steps in the box, too. Senior infielders Silas Burbridge Parker Lassner appear to be two of the better bats back for the Ravens.

Southfield A&T

Head coach: Jamal Womble

Last year’s record: 5-19

Overview: Pitching was a struggle for the Warriors last season, but they ended the year on a high note by scoring a 17-2 win over Renaissance in the playoffs. Derrick Lee and Kevin Hanyes, who tied for tops on the squad in average at .364, have both graduated, but junior Kaleib Norman (.312 BA in ’24) led the team in RBIs with 20 as a sophomore. Some good news for the pitching is that Norman also boasted the second-best ERA of all the Warriors’ arms last year.

Stoney Creek

Head coach: Paul Diegel

Last year’s record: 17-19

Overview: Diegel takes over for Clint Rodger this season. Evan Woodard graduated and moves on to hurl innings at Saginaw Valley State, but juniors Anthony Voikos and Caleb Helms will look to pick up where he left off. Outfielder Jacob Champine and catcher Collin Lott will be several of the key bats for Stoney.

Troy

Head coach: Joe D’Orazio

Last year’s record: 25-9

Returning starters: Cam Adams (IF/P, Jr.), Miles Carter (OF, Sr.), Davey Crockett (OF, Sr.), Gabe Geisner (C, Jr.), Ethan Hucal (1B/P, Sr.), Trevor Marshall (P, Sr.), Carson Noon (SS/P, Sr.), Jack Sobotka (IF/P, Jr.)

Overview: Jon Whiteside, who pitched a complete game shutout in the playoffs last season and threw in Troy’s other postseason win, has graduated. But Sobotka is the Colts’ other primary returning arm, and he’ll be complimented by others, including Nick Aretha and Adams. Carter brings XBH power in the order, as do Noon and Sobotka. Additionally, a solid freshman class should aid the Colts in their OAA White quest.

Troy Athens

Head coach: Mike Morris

Last year’s record: 25-7

Returning starters: Macklin Ciurla (OF/P, So.), Sam Link (1B/P, Sr.), Cole Cosgrove (2B/P, So.), Derek Smith (3B/P, Jr.), Nick Rossi (OF/P, Sr.), Joe Morelli (OF/P, Sr.), Andrew Cermak (C, Sr.) and Matthew Schriber (1B, Sr.)

Strengths: Deep pitching staff and strong senior leaders

Overview: Brody Fahnestock (Oakland) and Joel Botardo (Kalamazoo Valley CC) are key players that Morris has to replace, but at least in the case of Fahnestock, the Red Hawks have a ton of arms left in the tank. They’ll look to replicate the good runs of form they put together from last season, including a 13-game winning streak early in the slate, as Athens competes in the OAA Red.

West Bloomfield

Head coach: Josh Birnberg

Last year’s record: 32-8

Returning starters: Brody Pikur (OF/P, Sr.), Logan Scheidt (C, So.), Stevie Fountain (1B/P, Sr.), Cam Laflamme (OF/P, Sr.), Slade Moore (OF/P, Sr.), Brady Scheidt (SS/P, Sr.)

Strengths: Pitching staff

Overview: Someone had to come out of last year’s district between Brother Rice and West Bloomfield. The Lakers won’t have that problem this season (and host their district), but they’re just as well-equipped to emerge regardless. The team might be able to claim the best starter duo in the state in LHP Moore (Michigan) and RHP Fountain (Michigan State), while Laflamme and Brady Scheidt are real good arms behind those two, also. Fountain and Pikur have long-ball potential in their sticks, while LaFlamme and Logan Scheidt should help fill out an order that has some production to replace. There’s potential for this team to make a deep run.

Former Central Michigan head football coach, Michigan offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Mike DeBord died Tuesday from complications due to a stroke he suffered in 2021.

DeBord was 69.

“The world lost a great man today,” Tyler DeBord wrote. “He taught me so much in life, I am so grateful the good Lord blessed me with the best dad! He was a man of faith, an unbelievable dad, husband, grandpa, and man! For all his successes in life, he always stuck to his small town roots and never forgot where he came from. He had a great sense of faith, work ethic, love for family, football, and life. His loss will be felt by many because of the impact he had on everyone he touched. He loved fiercely, and we loved him!”

DeBord, a native of Muncie, Ind., started four years on the offensive line at Manchester College where he was a captain in 1977. His coaching career began in 1982.

He made stops at Eastern Illinois, Ball State, Colorado State and Northwestern before joining Lloyd Carr’s staff at Michigan. DeBord was the Wolverines’ offensive line coach from 1993-1996, then became the offensive coordinator from 1997, when he helped lead the program to an unbeaten season and the AP national championship, through 1999. He left Michigan to become head coach of Central Michigan from 2000-2003.

“It is with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of Mike DeBord, a respected leader and valued figure in Central Michigan football history,” Central Michigan head football coach Matt Drinkall said in a statement to The Detroit News. “You still hear stories from his former players about the impact he made on their lives and our community. His legacy as a coach, person and mentor will forever be remembered.”

DeBord returned to Michigan in 2004 and was on the staff through 2007 when Carr retired.

Jon Jansen, a two-time captain and integral part of the national title team, was close with DeBord, who coached him at Michigan. Jansen, now the analyst on Michigan football radio broadcasts and a radio host in Detroit on The Ticket 97.1 FM, also was a frequent visitor at CMU when DeBord was head coach and would speak to the team.

“Mike was one of the great leaders,” Jansen told The Detroit News on Tuesday. “He cared about you as a player and 100% attribute a ton of my success and my life to the energy he put into me. He was just like everybody on Lloyd’s staff — he was such a good man and cared about you as an individual, whether it was going to class, making the right decisions. He was somebody that was always there no matter the situation.

“He was one of the best men I have ever known.”

After Carr’s retirement, DeBord then coached in the NFL at Seattle and Chicago and in 2013 returned to Michigan as sports administrator for Michigan’s Olympic teams. He went back to college coaching at Tennessee in 2015 and then Indiana in 2017 where he was associate head coach and offensive coordinator. He retired briefly from coaching and returned to help coach the San Diego Fleet.

In 2020, he was hired by former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh as an offensive analyst at Michigan.

“Football, to me, coaching football’s an addiction,” DeBord told The Detroit News in 2020. “You’ve got to be addicted to it.”

He was explaining why he couldn’t stay retired and away from the game.

“I always loved the meetings and the coaching on the field — that’s why you coach,” DeBord said as he discussed why he returned to be an analyst. “I would say this is taking care of a part of me. I told Jim when I came to talk to him, ‘I love Michigan. I love Michigan football.’”

After a year as a Michigan analyst, DeBord was named offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Kansas in the February 2021. He suffered the stroke later that year. Deb DeBord, his wife, died last June from cancer.

Tyler DeBord said in his post that funeral arrangements are pending.

By TARA COPP

WASHINGTON (AP) — With the Trump administration expected to reverse a controversial 2023 decision on the permanent location of U.S. Space Command, a review by the Defense Department inspector general could not determine why Colorado was chosen over Alabama.

The inspector general’s report, issued Friday, said this was in part due to a lack of access to senior defense officials during the Biden administration, when the review began.

The location of U.S. Space Command has significant implications for the local economy, given the fast growth in national defense spending in space-based communications and defenses.

In 2021, the Air Force identified Army Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, as the preferred location for the new U.S. Space Command due to cost and other factors. But a temporary headquarters had already been established in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and after multiple delays President Joe Biden announced it as the permanent headquarters.

Alabama’s Republican congressional delegation accused the Biden administration of politicizing the decision. But Colorado, which has Republican and Democratic lawmakers, is home to many other Air Force and U.S. Space Force facilities.

As recently as last week, Rep. Mike Rogers House, an Alabama Republican who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, told a panel at Auburn University he expects the decision to be reversed by the White House before the end of April.

The location of Space Command would be one of many decisions that have swung back and forth between Biden and President Donald Trump. For instance, Biden stopped the construction of the border wall that began during Trump’s first term, only to have Trump now vow to complete it. And Trump is again seeking to ban transgender troops from serving in the military, after Biden removed Trump’s first-term limitations.

The controversy over the basing decision began seven days before Trump’s first term expired, when his Air Force secretary announced Alabama would be home to Space Command, pending an environmental review.

That review was completed about six months into Biden’s term and found no significant impact with hosting the command in Alabama. But the new administration did not act on the decision.

Instead, a year later, the Biden White House said it was keeping the headquarters in Colorado Springs, citing the time that would be lost relocating staff and the headquarters to Huntsville.

The report said interviews has been requested with Biden’s Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to understand why Huntsville was not named, but the Biden White House would only allow the interviews if administration lawyers were present. The inspector general rejected that condition, saying it could affect its unfettered access to information.

By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas judge on Tuesday threw out a federal rule that would have capped credit card late fees after officials with President Donald Trump’s administration and a coalition of major banking groups agreed that the rule was illegal.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth came a day after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a collection of major industry groups that had filed a lawsuit last year to stop the rule announced they had come to an agreement to throw out the rule. The groups that sued included the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The banks and other groups had alleged the new rule — proposed last year under the administration of President Joe Biden — violated the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure or CARD Act of 2009, which was enacted to protect consumers from unfair practices by credit card companies. The groups claimed the new rule did not allow credit card issuers “to charge fees that sufficiently account for deterrence or consumer conduct, including with respect to repeat violations.”

“The parties agree that, in the Late Fee Rule, the Bureau violated the CARD Act by failing to allow card issuers to ‘charge penalty fees reasonable and proportional to violations,’” attorneys with the CFPB wrote in a joint motion on Monday with the banking groups to vacate the rule.

The banks have been pushing hard to stop the late fee rule, due to the potential billions of dollars the banks would lose in revenue. The CFPB estimated when it issued the proposal last year that banks brought in roughly $14 billion in credit card late fees a year.

“This is a win for consumers and common sense. If the CFPB’s rule had gone into effect, it would have resulted in more late payments, lower credit scores, higher interest rates and reduced credit access for those who need it most. It would have also penalized the millions of Americans who pay their credit card bills on time and reduced important incentives for consumers to manage their finances,” the banking groups and others said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Even if the lawsuit had gone forward, the banking groups had a good chance of winning as Pittman in a December ruling had said they would have likely prevailed as he found that the new rule violated the CARD Act by not allowing credit card issuers to charge penalty fees that are reasonable and proportional to violations.

The CFPB has been in turmoil since the Trump administration earlier this year began dismantling it, targeting it for mass firings and dropping various enforcement actions against companies like Capital One and Rocket Homes. A federal judge last month issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily stopped the agency’s demise.

The CFPB was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices by a wide range of financial institutions and businesses.

Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at juanlozano70

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has been placed on administrative leave and was escorted out of the Pentagon by security on Tuesday, two defense officials said.

The officials said Caldwell’s sudden downfall was tied to an investigation into unauthorized disclosure of department information. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

Caldwell, who served in the Marine Corps, was one of several senior advisers who worked closely with Hegseth. Caldwell’s ties to the secretary go back to Hegseth’s time as the head of Concerned Veterans for America, a nonprofit that fell into financial difficulty during his time there. Caldwell worked at CVA beginning in 2013 as policy director and later as executive director.

He also was the staff member designated as Hegseth’s point person in the Signal messaging chat that top Trump administration national security officials, including Hegseth, used to convey plans for a military strike against Houthi militants in Yemen. The chat, set up by national security adviser Michael Waltz, included a number of top Cabinet members and came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was added to the group.

The officials did not disclose what leaks are being investigated, but there has been a crackdown across the Pentagon and the Trump administration on the disclosure of sensitive or classified information.

Caldwell’s ouster was first reported by Reuters.

On March 21, Hegseth’s chief of staff, Joe Kasper, said in a memo that the Pentagon was investigating what it said were leaks of national security information. Defense Department personnel could face polygraphs.

The memo referred to “recent unauthorized disclosures” but provided no details. Kasper warned that the investigation would begin immediately and result in a report to Hegseth.

“I expect to be informed immediately if this effort results in information identifying a party responsible for an unauthorized disclosure, and that such information will be referred to the appropriate criminal law enforcement entity for criminal prosecution,” Kasper said in the memo.

Caldwell, who graduated from Arizona State University in 2011, also worked as a public policy adviser at Defense Priorities, a think tank based in Washington.

Branford Marsalis, John Scofield, Kenny Barron and Maria Schneider are among the musical luminaries slated to perform at the 2025 Detroit Jazz Festival, taking place during Labor Day weekend in downtown Detroit.

The initial lineup announcement was made Tuesday evening, April 15, during a livestream previewed event from the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center on the Wayne State University campus. Pianist Jason Moran, the 2025 Artist-in-Residence, performed, along with the Detroit Jazz Festival All-Stars Generation Quintet.

The initial lineup announcement was made Tuesday evening, April 15, during a livestream previewed event from the Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center on the Wayne State University campus. Pianist Jason Moran, the 2025 Artist-in-Residence, performed, along with the Detroit Jazz Festival All-Stars Generation Quintet.

Moran will perform three times during the festival — on opening night, Aug. 29, on Sunday, Aug. 31 and on Monday, Sept. 1. Moran is planning to lead a commemoration of Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday with musicians as well as performances with his trio Bandwagon and a jazz-electronic collaboration.

Trumpeter Keyon Harrold will also be part of the opening night performances, promoting his 2024 album “Foreverland.” Other highlights include: pianist/bandleader Schneider and her Orchestra on Aug. 30; the Chucho Valdes and Paquito D’Rivera Reunion Sextet on Aug. 31; Detroit bassist Marion Hayden, this year’s Kresge Eminent Artist Award winner, leading her Legacy Ensemble with Kamau Kenyatta guesting, on Sept. 1; and trumpeter Nicholas Payton joining the John Scofield Trio, also on Sept. 1.

“We’re excited to once again bring an eclectic array of jazz luminaries to the stages of the Detroit Jazz Festival,” president and artistic director Chris Collins said. “We look forward to celebrating our 46th year as a free festival that brings the magic of jazz to our faithful fans in Detroit, around the state and across the globe without any barriers.”

Last year’s edition of the festival offered more than 50 performances on three stages for an audience of more than 300,000 in person and an estimated more than two million unique viewers around the world via the festival web site and social media platforms.

In addition to the initial lineup, the festival is accepting applications from other artists who would like to perform, with a deadline of June 1. Information on that, as well as festival updates and VIP packages, can be found via detroitjazzfest.org.

The 2025 Detroit Jazz Festival lineup includes:

Friday, Aug. 29

• Artist-In-Residence Jason Moran

• Keyon Harrold ‘Foreverland’

Saturday, Aug. 30

• Maria Schneider Orchestra

• Kenny Barron

• Hiromi’s Sonicwonder

• Chris Potter Trio featuring Matt Brewer and Kendrick Scott

• John Pizzarelli

• Endea Owens & The Cookout

• Herlin Riley Quartet

• Tatiana Eva-Marie & The Avalon Jazz Band

Sunday, Aug. 31

• Artist-In-Residence Jason Moran

• Chucho Valdes and Paquito D’Rivera Reunion Sextet

• Branford Marsalis Quartet

• Connie Han Trio

• Omar Sosa Quarteto Americanos

• Lakecia Benjamin

• Walter Smith III Quartet

Monday, Sept. 1

• Artist-In-Residence Jason Moran

• The John Scofield Trio featuring Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart with Nicholas Payton

• Kris Davis

• James Francies Trio

• Marion Hayden Legacy Ensemble with Kamau Kenyatta