Today is Friday, Dec. 19, the 353rd day of 2025. There are 12 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Dec. 19, 2008, citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered a $17.4 billion emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
Also on this date:
In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington led his army of more than 12,000 soldiers to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.
In 1907, 239 workers died in an explosion at the Darr coal mine near Van Meter, Pennsylvania.
In 1960, fire broke out on the hangar deck of the nearly completed aircraft carrier USS Constellation at the New York Naval Shipyard, killing 50 civilian workers.
In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, concluding the Apollo program of crewed lunar landings.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice. (He was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.)
In 2011, North Korea announced the death two days earlier of leader Kim Jong Il; North Koreans marched by the thousands to mourn while state media proclaimed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as the nation’s new leader.
In 2016, a truck rammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State. (The suspected attacker was killed in a police shootout four days later.)
In 2023, a strong earthquake rocked a mountainous region of northwestern China, killing 131 people, reducing homes to rubble and leaving residents outside in below-freezing winter weather.
Today’s Birthdays:
Actor Tim Reid is 81.
Singer Janie Fricke is 78.
Actor Jennifer Beals is 62.
Basketball Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis is 61.
Olympic skiing gold medalist Alberto Tomba is 59.
Actor Kristy Swanson is 56.
Model Tyson Beckford is 55.
Actor Alyssa Milano is 53.
Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is 53.
Actor Jake Gyllenhaal (JIH’-lihn-hahl) is 45.
Actor Annie Murphy is 39.
Journalist Ronan Farrow is 38.
Auto executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, and Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli, testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the auto industry bailout. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
By BEN FINLEY, ERIC TUCKER, KEVIN FREKING and JOSHUA GOODMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast is raising new questions about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America, while fueling concerns that the U.S. could be edging closer to war.
The Trump administration says its blockade is narrowly tailored and not targeting civilians, which would be an illegal act of war. But some experts say seizing sanctioned oil tied to leader Nicolás Maduro could provoke a military response from Venezuela, engaging American forces in a new level of conflict that goes beyond their attacks on alleged drug boats.
“My biggest fear is this is exactly how wars start and how conflicts escalate out of control,” said Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. “And there are no adults in the room with this administration, nor is there consultation with Congress. So I’m very worried.”
Claire Finkelstein, a professor of national security law at the University of Pennsylvania, said the use of such an aggressive tactic without congressional authority stretches the bounds of international law and increasingly looks like a veiled attempt to trigger a Venezuelan response.
“The concern is that we are bootstrapping our way into armed conflict,” Finkelstein said. “We’re upping the ante in order to try to get them to engage in an act of aggression that would then justify an act of self-defense on our part.”
Republicans largely are OK with the campaign
Trump has used the word “blockade” to describe his latest tactic in an escalating pressure campaign against Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the U.S. and now has been accused of using oil profits to fund drug trafficking. While Trump said it only applies to vessels facing U.S. economic penalties, the move has sparked outrage among Democrats and mostly shrugs, if not cheers, from Republicans.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Trump going after sanctioned oil tankers linked to Venezuela is no different from targeting Iranian oil.
“Just like with the Iranian shadow tankers, I have no problem with that,” McCaul said. “They’re circumventing sanctions.”
The president has declared the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels in an effort to reduce the flow of drugs to American communities. U.S. forces have attacked 26 alleged drug-smuggling boats and killed least 99 people since early September. Trump has repeatedly promised that land strikes are next, while linking Maduro to the cartels.
The campaign has drawn scrutiny in Congress, particularly after it was revealed that U.S. forces killed two survivors of a boat attack with a follow-up strike. But Republicans so far have repeatedly declined to require congressional authorization for further military action in the region, blocking Democrats’ war powers resolutions.
Sen. Roger Wicker, Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee, has essentially ended his panel’s investigation into the Sept. 2 strike, saying Thursday that the entire campaign is being conducted “on sound legal advice.”
Venezuela pushes back
Trump announced the blockade Tuesday, about a week after U.S. forces seized a sanctioned oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast. The South American country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and relies heavily on the revenue to support its economy.
The U.S. has been imposing sanctions on Venezuela since 2005 over concerns about corruption as well as criminal and anti-democratic activities. The first Trump administration expanded the penalties to oil, prompting Maduro’s government to rely on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains.
The state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA, has been largely locked out of global oil markets by U.S. sanctions. It sells most of its exports at a steep discount on the black market in China.
Nicolás Maduro Guerra, Maduro’s son and a lawmaker, on Thursday decried Trump’s latest tactic and vowed to work with the private sector to limit any impact on the country’s oil-dependent economy. He acknowledged that it won’t be an easy task.
“We value peace and dialogue, but the reality right now is that we are being threatened by the most powerful army in the world, and that’s not something to be taken lightly,” Maduro Guerra said.
Pentagon prefers the term ‘quarantine’
It wasn’t immediately clear how the U.S. planned to enact Trump’s order. But the Navy has 11 ships in the region and a wide complement of aircraft that can monitor marine traffic coming in and out of Venezuela.
Trump may be using the term “blockade,” but the Pentagon says officials prefer “quarantine.”
A defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to outline internal reasoning about the policy, said a blockade, under international law, constitutes an act of war requiring formal declaration and enforcement against all incoming and outgoing traffic. A quarantine, however, is a selective, preventive security measure that targets specific, illegal activity.
Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he was unsure of the legality of Trump’s blockade.
“They’re blockading apparently the oil industry, not the entire country,” said Smith, who represents parts of western Washington state. “How does that change things? I got to talk to some lawyers, but in general, a blockade is an act of war.”
The U.S. has a long history of leveraging naval sieges to pressure lesser powers, especially in the 19th century era of “gunboat diplomacy,” sometimes provoking them into taking action that triggers an even greater American response.
But in recent decades, as the architecture of international law has developed, successive U.S. administrations have been careful not to use such maritime shows of force because they are seen as punishing civilians — an illegal act of aggression outside of wartime.
During the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, President John F. Kennedy famously called his naval cordon to counter a real threat — weapons shipments from the Soviet Union — a “quarantine” not a blockade.
Mark Nevitt, an Emory University law professor and former Navy judge advocate general, said there is a legal basis for the U.S. to board and seize an already-sanctioned ship that is deemed to be stateless or is claiming two states.
But a blockade, he said, is a “wartime naval operation and maneuver” designed to block the access of vessels and aircraft of an enemy state.
“I think the blockade is predicated on a false legal pretense that we are at war with narcoterrorists,” he said.
Nevitt added: “This seems to be almost like a junior varsity blockade, where they’re trying to assert a wartime legal tool, a blockade, but only doing it selectively.”
Geoffrey Corn, a Texas Tech law professor who previously served as the Army’s senior adviser for law-of-war issues and has been critical of the Trump administration’s boat strikes, said he was not convinced the blockade was intended to ratchet up the conflict with Venezuela.
Instead, he suggested it could be aimed at escalating the pressure on Maduro to give up power or encouraging his supporters to back away from him.
“You can look at it through the lens of, is this an administration trying to create a pretext for a broader conflict?” Corn said. “Or you can look at it as part of an overall campaign of pressuring the Maduro regime to step aside.”
Goodman reported from Miami. Associated Press reporters Stephen Groves and Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump listens before he signs an executive order reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The head of the U.S. agency for enforcing workplace civil rights posted a social media call-out urging white men to come forward if they have experienced race or sex discrimination at work.
“Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex? You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws,” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas, a vocal critic of DEI, wrote on X Wednesday evening. The post urged eligible workers to reach out to the agency “as soon as possible” and referred users to the agency’s fact sheet on “DEI-related discrimination” for more information.
Lucas’ post, viewed millions of times, was shared about two hours after Vice President JD Vance posted an article he said “describes the evil of DEI and its consequences,” which also received millions of views. Lucas responded to Vance’s post saying: “Absolutely right @JDVance. And precisely because this widespread, systemic, unlawful discrimination primarily harmed white men, elites didn’t just turn a blind eye; they celebrated it. Absolutely unacceptable; unlawful; immoral.”
She added that the EEOC “won’t rest until this discrimination is eliminated.” Neither the agency nor Vance responded immediately to requests for additional comment.
Since being named acting chair of the EEOC in January, Lucas has been shifting the agency’s focus to prioritize “rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination,” aligning with President Donald Trump’s own anti-DEI executive orders. Trump named Lucas as the agency’s chair in November.
Earlier this year, the EEOC along with the Department of Justice issued two “technical assistance” documents attempting to clarify what might constitute “DEI-related Discrimination at Work” and providing guidance on how workers can file complaints over such concerns. The documents took broad aim at practices such as training, employee resource groups and fellowship programs, warning such programs — depending on how they’re constructed — could run afoul of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race and gender.
David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the NYU School of Law, said Lucas’s latest social media posts demonstrate a “fundamental misunderstanding of what DEI is.”
“It’s really much more about creating a culture in which you get the most out of everyone who you’re bringing on board, where everyone experiences fairness and equal opportunity, including white men and members of other groups,” Glasgow said.
The Meltzer Center tracks lawsuits that are likely to affect workplace DEI practices, including 57 cases of workplace discrimination. Although there are instances in which it occurs on a case-by-case basis, Glasgow said he has not seen “any kind of systematic evidence that white men are being discriminated against.”
He pointed out that Fortune 500 CEOs are overwhelmingly white men, and that relative to their share of the population, the demographic is overrepresented in corporate senior leadership, Congress, and beyond.
“If DEI has been this engine of discrimination against white men, I have to say it hasn’t really been doing a very good job at achieving that,” Glasgow said.
Jenny Yang, a former EEOC chair and now a partner at law firm Outten & Golden, said it is “unusual” and “problematic” for the head of the agency to single out a particular demographic group for civil rights enforcement.
“It suggests some sort of priority treatment,” Yang said. “That’s not something that sounds to me like equal opportunity for all.”
On the other hand, the agency has done the opposite for transgender workers, whose discrimination complaints have been deprioritized or dropped completely, Yang said. The EEOC has limited resources, and must accordingly prioritize which cases to pursue. But treating charges differently based on workers’ identities goes against the mission of the agency, she said.
“It worries me that a message is being sent that the EEOC only cares about some workers and not others,” Yang said.
The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
FILE – Andrea Lucas, nominee to be a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, testifies during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, June 18, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
A Kansas tribe said it has walked away from a nearly $30 million federal contract to come up with preliminary designs for immigrant detention centers after facing a wave of online criticism.
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation ‘s announcement Wednesday night came just over a week after the economic development leaders who brokered the deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were fired.
With some Native Americans swept up and detained in recent ICE raids, the deal was derided online as “disgusting” and “cruel.” Many in Indian Country also questioned how a tribe whose own ancestors were uprooted two centuries ago from the Great Lakes region and corralled on a reservation south of Topeka could participate in the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
Tribal Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick nodded to the historic issues last week in a video address that called reservations “the government’s first attempts at detention centers.” In an update Wednesday, he announced that he was “happy to share that our Nation has successfully exited all third-party related interests affiliated with ICE.”
The Prairie Band Potawatomi has a range of businesses that provide health care management staffing, general contracting and even interior design. And Rupnick said in his latest address that tribal officials plan to meet in January about how to ensure “economic interests do not come into conflict with our values in the future.”
A tribal offshoot hired by ICE — KPB Services LLC — was established in April in Holton, Kansas, by Ernest C. Woodward Jr., a former naval officer who markets himself as a “go-to” adviser for tribes and affiliated companies seeking to land federal contracts.
The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation said in 2017 that Woodward’s firm advised it on its acquisition of another government contractor, Mill Creek LLC, which specializes in outfitting federal buildings and the military with office furniture and medical equipment.
Woodward also is listed as the chief operating officer of the Florida branch of Prairie Band Construction Inc., which was registered in September.
Attempts to locate Woodward were unsuccessful. A spokesperson for KPB said Woodward is no longer with the LLC but she declined to say whether he was terminated. Woodward did not respond to an email sent to another consulting firm he’s affiliated with, Virginia-based Chinkapin Partners LLC.
A spokesperson for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation said the tribe divested from KPB. While that company still has the contract, “Prairie Band no longer has a stake,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Woodward is no longer with the tribe’s limited liability corporation, but she declined to say whether he was terminated.
The ICE contract initially was awarded in October for $19 million for unspecified “due diligence and concept designs” for processing centers and detention centers throughout the U.S., according to a one-sentence description of the work on the federal government’s real-time contracting database. It was modified a month later to increase the payout ceiling to $29.9 million.
Sole-source contracts above $30 million require additional justification under federal contracting rules.
Tribal leaders and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security haven’t responded to detailed questions about why the firm was selected for such a big contract without having to compete for the work as federal contracting normally requires. It’s also unclear what the Tribal Council knew about the contract.
“That process of internal auditing is really just beginning,” the tribal spokesperson said.
Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas, and Goodman from Miami.
A sign on a road off of U.S. Highway 75 welcomes motorists to the Prairie Band Potawatomi reservation, outside Mayetta, Kan., Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/John Hanna)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The U.S. Justice Department sued three states and the District of Columbia on Thursday for not turning over requested voter information to the Trump administration.
The latest lawsuits were filed against Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia and the District of Columbia. The Justice Department has now filed 22 lawsuits seeking voter information as part of its effort to collect detailed voting data and other election information across the country.
“We shared our nation-leading list maintenance practices and public voter roll data with the DOJ December 8 at their request, and we look forward to working together to eliminate the federal barriers that prevent even cleaner voter rolls,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement. “Hardworking Georgians can rest easy knowing this data was shared strictly in accordance with state law that protect voters’ privacy.”
The latest round comes one week after the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted against the Justice Department’s request for the data. Both Republican and Democratic commissioners voiced concerns about the request last week, saying it would be illegal under Wisconsin law to provide the voter roll information that includes the full names, dates of birth, residential addresses and driver’s license numbers of voters.
Spokespeople for the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the state Department of Justice, which would defend the commission, did not immediately return messages. The Illinois State Board of Elections declined to comment.
An Associated Press tally found that the Justice Department has asked at least 26 states for voter registration rolls in recent months, and in many cases asked states for information on how they maintain their voter rolls. Other states being sued by the Justice Department include California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
The Justice Department said 10 states are either in full compliance or working toward it.
The Trump administration has characterized the lawsuits as part of an effort to ensure the security of elections, and the Justice Department says the states are violating federal law by refusing to provide the voter lists and information about ineligible voters.
FILE – Election workers process ballots for the 2024 General Election, Nov. 5, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
The lawsuits have raised concerns among some Democratic officials and others who question exactly how the data will be used, and whether the department will follow privacy laws to protect the information. Some of the data sought includes names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.
“The law is clear: states need to give us this information, so we can do our duty to protect American citizens from vote dilution,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. “Today’s filings show that regardless of which party is in charge of a particular state, the Department of Justice will firmly stand on the side of election integrity and transparency.”
Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta and John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, contributed to this report.
FILE – A voter leaves Albion Town hall after casting their ballot on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, in Albion, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)
Demolition has started at the site of the new AlumniFi Field, which will be home to the Detroit City Football Club soccer field. The former Southwest Detroit Hospital, which has been vacant for years, will be demolished to make way for the 15 thousand seat soccer stadium and mixed-use project. The project will also include a 421-space parking garage and a 76-unit residential building.
Additional headlines for Thursday, December 18, 2025
Gorgon confirmed
The U-S Senate last week confirmed Detroit Native Jerome Gorgon as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Gorgon will be the chief federal law enforcement official for federal cases in Detroit and throughout the state’s eastern Lower Peninsula. He follows former US Attorney Dawn Ison. Gorgon was born in Southwest Detroit, graduated from Southwestern High School, and taught in Detroit Public Schools.
Waitlist open
The Taylor Housing Commission is opening up the waitlist for its housing choice voucher program for 12 days this month. The last time the list was open was in 2023. Starting December 20, the commission will accept pre-applications for a potential spot on its waiting list for the program meant to help low-income families, the elderly, veterans, and people with disabilities afford housing. The commission will randomly select up to 400 names to create its new wait list. Applicants do not need to be residents of Taylor to apply. To apply, visit taylorhousing.org
Applications being accepted
PropserUs Detroit is hiring. The organization supports entrepreneurs with opportunities and capital needed to build businesses, generational wealth, and vibrant neighborhoods. ProsperUs is seeking applications for trainers to deliver a variety of programming, including entrepreneur training, subject-matter workshops, group technical assistance, and one-on-one coaching. Ideal candidates will have experience in entrepreneurship, knowledge of adult learning, and a commitment to equity and community impact. Visit ProsperUs Detroit’s Instagram page for a link to apply. Application window closes on January 11.
Drop in temps tonight
Watch out for a flash freeze tonight. Scattered showers throughout the day today are expected to create wind gusts picking up to about 40 mph by Friday morning. Temperatures are expected to quickly drop to below freezing overnight, increasing the potential of a flash freeze on the roads by Friday morning. Snow is also predicted through Friday morning.
Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.
The non-profit gun violence prevention group Brady United estimates about 4.6 million children live in homes with unlocked and loaded firearms.
And guns are now the leading cause of death among children.
Michigan recently took steps to help stop injuries from firearms by enacting a law requiring owners to keep guns safely stored and secured.
But the president of Brady United, Kris Brown, says gun owners must use extra caution during the holidays when large numbers of family members often gather together.
Listen: Gun violence prevention group says securely storing firearms is key to a safe holiday season
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kris Brown, Brady United: If you look at all of the different causes of gun violence in this country, unintentional shootings in a home kill or injure eight kids a day. About 76% of school shooters get their gun from a home where it’s not safely stored. And two-thirds of gun deaths are from suicide. The hugest risk factor for suicide in the home is the presence of a loaded and unsecured firearm.
Taken together, those statistics show us that preventing “family fire,” the unintentional injury or death of a loved one with an unsecured fire in a home, has to be a top priority if we’re really going to lessen the rate of gun violence in this country in a material way. It starts in everyone’s home and it starts with safe storage.
Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: In Michigan, there was a tragic school shooting a few years ago at Oxford High School. It was one of the many that have happened across the country, sadly. A law was passed around the time of the Oxford shooting mandating safe storage of firearms. And in that case they also held the parents liable for the gun crimes committed by their son because they said that it wasn’t stored safely. From what your group has seen, are those kinds of laws widespread across the country? And do they seem to have any effect on limiting unintended shootings?
KB: They’re not widespread yet. There are a number of states that, after the Oxford shooting and others like it that have, unfortunately, occurred in states like Georgia, has created more of a groundswell to seek support for those kinds of laws. Child access prevention laws and similar laws of that ilk.
Brady United has mixed feelings about it. We believe the critical thing is to prevent these kinds of shootings from happening in the first place. Throwing parents in jail after the fact because they’ve been grossly negligent, that’s what the law we do believe should require. But it doesn’t bring back the innocent victims. It doesn’t stop the harm from happening in the first place.
That’s why we think child access prevention laws that ensure if you choose to have a firearm in the home it is safely stored are important compliments to public safety laws. They should be adopted across the country.
QK: In your view, does it seem that “threatening” parents, for lack of a better word, actually makes an impact? Or is it something where they just need to have this top of mind to begin with? There’s been shootings where people had a gun stuck in a shoe box that they seemed to think was fine because it stored away. And still a kid was able to get to it.
KB: I think there needs to be a complement of effort, sort of in the same way that getting a ticket when you’re speeding is a way to remind you that you shouldn’t have a lead foot. It compliments education in driver’s ed about why speeding is potentially very dangerous. The same sort of approach should apply here. This isn’t a unique area of human experience, though it’s a uniquely deadly area of human experience.
We at Brady have done a lot on our website so that families can find absolutely crystal clear guidance on safe storage options. And even how to talk to family members when you’re at the dining table over the holidays about the kinds of things that they can be doing, if they choose to have firearms in the home, to protect those who live there and those who visit the home.
We at Brady believe that it’s on each of us to have these conversations and to normalize something that’s as old as our nation, older than the Second Amendment, which is safe storage of firearms. Back in the colonial times it was mandated and enforced in terms of muskets. Why should it be different today, when eight kids a day are killed or injured by guns that those parents and most gun owners brought in with the idea that they should protect their families? And unless they’re safely stored, it’s tragic that that is exactly the opposite of what’s happening.
QK: I’ve heard some firearm owners and people that say they’re fighting for the Second Amendment who mention some of the recent mass shootings, the tragedy in Australia, for example. They’ll say that country had some of the toughest gun laws around and still that tragedy occurred. They argue restrictions on firearms really don’t make any huge difference, whether it’s children in the home or people out and about. What is your reaction to those kinds of comments?
KB: There was a mass shooting in Australia at Port Arthur. Immediately following that, I think it was a matter of days or weeks, not months, Australia banned various assault style weapons. And they greatly strengthened the regulation of the sale and ownership of firearms in their country. There was a significant reduction in mass shootings.
If you look at U.S. history, we have a distinguishing feature. Here guns are the number one killer of our kids. We experience 26 times the gun violence of every other industrialized country. The five states with the strongest gun laws in this country have a 70% or more reduced experience of gun death and injury compared to the states with the five weakest laws.
Will they prevent every gun death and injury? No, just like speeding limits didn’t stop every automobile fatality. But they reduced them a lot. This is in our hands. This is in the hands of gun owners across this country. That means guns locked, unloaded, and stored separately from ammunition. Doesn’t need a vote at the ballot box. It doesn’t need a better enforcement agency. It needs an individual taking an action that will ensure that a firearm is not used unintentionally to harm someone in their home.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Opposition to a proposed data center in Saline Township continues as state regulators prepare to take public comment on environmental permits tied to the project.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy will hold a virtual public hearing Thursday to gather input on whether to issue permits to developer Related Digital. The permits cover impacts to wetlands, streams, and nearby waterways.
Tim Bruneau, a member of Stop Saline Data Center who lives near the proposed site, raised concerns about the project’s closed-loop cooling system. He says repeated circulation concentrates contaminants such as glycol, rust inhibitors, and nitrates, which would eventually be discharged into the Saline River.
The project includes filling and excavating wetlands, installing culverts in unnamed streams, and constructing multiple stormwater outfalls that would discharge treated runoff into the Saline River, Bridgewater Drain, and other waterways. One of the outfalls would be located within the Saline River’s 100-year floodplain.
The virtual public hearing begins at 6 p.m. Information on how to attend is available at michigan.gov/egle.
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A recent study by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) found that 46% of adults aged 45 to 59 reported feeling lonely in 2025, compared to 35% of adults aged 60 and up.
Heather Nawrocki is Vice President of Fun and Fulfillment at AARP.
She says there are risk factors for lonely people.
“It’s important to keep an eye out for people around you that you know are spending a lot of time alone. They are going to be at a higher risk than someone who’s not. Mental and physical health challenges are also a big one,” she says.
Nawrocki says people who have physical health challenges may have difficulty getting out of the house to meet people in real life.
She says people who live in lower-income and rural areas also have higher risks for loneliness.
Get on the phone?
People can feel lonelier during the holiday season.
Nawrocki says the study found adults 45 and older are engaging with fewer people in social settings.
She says, however, that those who use technology usually have positive outcomes.
“What the study shows is 6 in 10 really rely on tech, those who are not lonely. And they actually say they have more friends as a result of technology,” she says, although it depends on each person’s individual experience.
Nawrocki says social health is just as important as mental and physical health to create the happiest, healthiest, longest life possible.
AARP offers 14,000 events online and in person nationwide for people to connect at aarp.org/connect.
Gender disparity
She says men have higher rates of loneliness compared to women.
“They’re just not getting out of the house as much. They don’t have as many close friends and they’re not joining community organizations, clubs or pursuing interests with others the same way as perhaps they did before,” she says.
The social interactions one can make doing volunteering, for example, are a great way to combat feelings of isolation.
Nawrocki says it’s important to check on friends and loved ones to rekindle relationships for social health, which also impacts health, happiness, and longevity.
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WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
Social media companies are distracting people, sowing division, and preventing kids from experiencing normal childhoods.
Those are the big takeaways of the book, “The Anxious Generation”, by Jonathan Haidt. That book is a big reason countries, states and classrooms have been restricting social media and phone use.
Michigan schools have already taken action. Gibraltar, Dearborn, and Novi school districts have restricted phone use.
In Novi, the school superintendent gave copies of Jonathan Haidt’s “The Anxious Generation” to anyone who wanted it.
About one year later, how has the book influenced Novi students, teachers and parents?
The Metro’s Sam Corey spoke with Novi Community School District Superintendent Ben Mainka to find out.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
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Wrestling great Mick Foley has called it quits with the WWE over its cozy relationship with President Donald Trump, he said Tuesday, citing “incredibly cruel comments” Trump made about film director Rob Reiner’s murder.
Long concerned with the WWE’s cozy relationship with Trump amid the administration’s “ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants,” Foley wrote in his announcement on social media, “reading the President’s incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death is the final straw for me.”
WWE Chief Content Officer Paul Levesque, known in the wrestling world as Triple H, is a fixture at many White House events. Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon helmed the U.S. Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term and currently serves as U.S. Secretary of Education.
“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy,” Foley wrote. “Last night, I informed WWE talent relations that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office.”
Both Foley and Trump were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, Trump as a celebrity honoree.
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Mick Foley is pictured in Manhattan in 2022. (Getty)
“Additionally, I will not be signing a new Legends deal when my current one expires in June,” Foley wrote. “I love WWE, will always treasure my time with them, and I am deeply appreciative for all the opportunities they afforded me. But, in the words of Popeye the sailor, ’I stands all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.’ ”
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Wrestling great Mick Foley, pictured in 2011, has called it quits with the WWE until the country dumps Trump, he said Tuesday. (AP)
Clips of Reiner’s compassionate response to the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk when he discussed the horrifying incident with Piers Morgan in September are flooding the internet.
“When you first heard about the murder of Charlie Kirk, what was your immediate gut reaction to it?” Morgan asked Reiner on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” as shown in a clip posted by show staffers and then reposted by its eponymous host.
“Well, horror. Absolute horror,” Reiner said. “And I unfortunately saw the video of it, and it’s beyond belief what happened to him. And that should never happen to anybody. I don’t care what your political beliefs are. That’s not acceptable. That’s not a solution to solving problems.”
“I felt like what his wife said at the service, at the memorial they had, was exactly right,” Reiner continued. “And totally. I believe, you know, I’m Jewish, but I believe in the teachings of Jesus, and I believe in ‘do unto others,’ and I believe in forgiveness. And what she said, to me, was beautiful and absolutely, you know, she forgave his assassin, and I think that that is admirable.”
Reiner’s remarks resonated in a soft-spoken rebuke to Trump’s widely denounced vitriol, in which he blamed the director’s killing on anger supposedly generated by his liberal views, described him as “tortured and struggling” and said he suffered from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
“Rob Reiner responded with grace and compassion to Charlie’s assassination,” Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet wrote on X, echoing the public support for the 78-year-old director. “This video makes it all the more painful to hear of he and his wife’s tragic end. May God be close to the broken hearted in this terrible story.”
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President Donald Trump, left, and Rob Reiner. (Getty Images)
Nebraska will become the first state to implement new work requirements for some people with Medicaid health insurance under a law President Donald Trump signed last year.
Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, announced Wednesday that the requirement would take effect in the state May 1 and could impact about 30,000 people who have slightly higher incomes than traditional Medicaid beneficiaries.
“We’re not here to take everybody to the curb,” he said. Instead, he said, the aim is “making sure we get every able-bodied Nebraskan to be part of our community.”
The sweeping tax and policy law Trump signed in July requires states to make sure many recipients are working by 2027 but gave them the option to do it sooner.
FILE – Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Beneficiaries will have more reporting duties
The law mandates that people ages 19 to 64 who have Medicaid coverage work or perform community service at least 80 hours a month or be enrolled in school at least half-time to receive and keep coverage.
It applies only to people who receive Medicaid coverage through an expansion that covers a population with a slightly higher income limit. Forty states and the District of Columbia have opted to expand the coverage income guidelines under former President Barrack Obama’s 2010 health insurance overhaul.
Of 346,000 Nebraska residents enrolled in Medicaid as of May, about 72,000 were in the higher income expansion group.
Some people will be exempted, including disabled veterans, pregnant women, parents and guardians of dependent children under 14 or disabled individuals, people who were recently released from incarceration, those who are homeless and people getting addiction treatment. States can also offer short-term hardships for others if they choose.
All Medicaid beneficiaries who are eligible because of the expansion will be required to submit paperwork at least every six months showing they meet the mandate.
Those who don’t would lose their coverage.
The reporting requirement is twice as frequent as it is for most people covered by Medicaid now. That change means more work for the state agencies — and for some of them, extensive and likely expensive computer program updates.
Pillen said he does not expect the state government to increase staffing to make the changes.
When and how to implement the change is likely to be on the agenda for governors and state lawmakers across the country as legislative sessions start — most of them in January.
The policy is expected to lead to lost coverage
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the requirement will reduce Medicaid costs by $326 billion over a decade — and that it will result in 4.5 million people becoming uninsured each year starting in 2027. Currently, about 77 million Americans are covered by Medicaid.
Because most people covered by Medicaid who are able to work already do, it’s not expected to increase employment rates.
Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, joined Pillen’s announcement via a video feed and said the administration believes there are jobs available across the country, and the challenge is connecting people with them.
“Most people who are able-bodied on Medicaid actually want to get a job,” Oz said.
Arkansas tried another variation of Medicaid work requirements — later blocked by a judge — that saw 18,000 people kicked off coverage in the first seven months after it took effect in 2018.
FILE – Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen greets state senators before giving a speech on June 2, 2025, in Lincoln, Neb. (Justin Wan/Lincoln Journal Star via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that the National Guard deployment in the nation’s capital can continue for now, staying a lower-court ruling that had ordered an end to the troops’ presence.
The three-judge panel for U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Donald Trump may prevail in his argument that the president “possesses a unique power” to mobilize the Guard in Washington, which is a federal district.
The ruling stops the implementation of U.S. District Court Judge Jia Cobb’s Nov. 20 opinion and order, and reaffirms that residents and visitors to Washington will routinely see Guard members well into 2026.
Cobb had ruled that the deployment illegally intrudes on local officials’ authority to direct law enforcement in the District of Columbia.
Wednesday’s unanimous 32-page ruling went on to say that other factors also favored the Republican administration, including the “disruption to the lives of thousands of service members,” as well as what it said was the president’s interest “in the protection of federal governmental functions and property within the Nation’s capital.”
The judges found that the district “has not identified any ongoing injury to its statutory interests.”
The ruling acknowledged that the administration has a strong case for its appeal.
The deployment began in August after Trump issued an executive order declaring a crime emergency in Washington. Within a month, more than 2,300 National Guard troops from eight states and the district were patrolling the city under the command of the Army secretary. Trump also deployed hundreds of federal agents to assist.
The city’s attorney general, Brian Schwalb, sued to challenge the Guard deployments. He asked that the White House be barred from deploying Guard troops without the mayor’s consent while the lawsuit played out. Dozens of states took sides in Schwalb’s lawsuit, with their support falling along party lines.
A spokesperson with Schwalb’s office said the stay was a “preliminary ruling that does not resolve the merits. We look forward to continuing our case in both the district and appellate courts.”
Cobb had found that while the president did have authority to protect federal functions and property, he could not unilaterally deploy the D.C. National Guard to help with crime control as he saw fit or call in troops from other states. She called for the troops to be sent home after her ruling but put her order on hold for 21 days to allow the appeal by the administration.
The court action comes three weeks after two members of the West Virginia National Guard, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe were ambushed as they patrolled a subway station three blocks from the White House. Beckstrom died Nov. 27 from her injuries. Wolfe continues to recover. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national, has been charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
The administration has called for an additional 500 National Guard members to be deployed to Washington as a result of the shooting.
The appeals court panel said its decision was “limited in several respects.” For example, it did not address questions such as whether the Guard units were engaged in “law enforcement” activities in violation of federal law.
National Guard patrol in the Lincoln Memorial, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. The Washington Monument is seen in the background. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate gave final passage on Wednesday to an annual military policy bill that will authorize $901 billion in defense programs while pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on alleged drug boats in international water near Venezuela.
The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which raises troop pay by 3.8%, gained bipartisan backing as it moved through Congress. It passed the Senate on a 77-20 vote before lawmakers planned to leave Washington for a holiday break. Two Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee — and 18 Democrats voted against the bill.
The White House has indicated that it is in line with President Donald Trump’s national security priorities. However, the legislation, which ran over 3,000 pages, revealed some points of friction between Congress and the Pentagon as the Trump administration reorients its focus away from security in Europe and toward Central and South America.
The bill pushes back on recent moves by the Pentagon. It demands more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean, requires that the U.S. keep its troop levels in Europe at current levels and sends some military aid to Ukraine.
But overall, the bill represents a compromise between the parties. It implements many of Trump’s executive orders and proposals on eliminating diversity and inclusion efforts in the military and grants emergency military powers at the U.S. border with Mexico. It also enhances congressional oversight of the Department of Defense, repeals several years-old war authorizations and seeks to overhaul how the Pentagon purchases weapons as the U.S. tries to outpace China in developing the next generation of military technology.
“We’re about to pass, and the president will enthusiastically sign, the most sweeping upgrades to DOD’s business practices in 60 years,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Still, the sprawling bill faced objections from both Democratic and Republican leadership on the Senate Commerce Committee. That’s because the legislation allows military aircraft to obtain a waiver to operate without broadcasting their precise location, as an Army helicopter had done before a midair collision with an airliner in Washington, D.C. in January that killed 67 people.
“The special carve-out was exactly what caused the January 29th crash that claimed 67 lives,” Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said at a news conference this week.
Cruz said he was seeking a vote on bipartisan legislation in the next month that would require military aircraft to use a precise location sharing tool and improve coordination between commercial and military aircraft in busy areas.
Boat strike videos
Republicans and Democrats agreed to language in the defense bill that threatened to withhold a quarter of Hegseth’s travel budget until he provided unedited video of the strikes, as well as the orders authorizing them, to the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services.
Hegseth was on Capitol Hill Tuesday ahead of the bill’s passage to brief lawmakers on the U.S. military campaign in international water near Venezuela. The briefing elicited contrasting responses from many lawmakers, with Republicans largely backing the campaign and Democrats expressing concern about it and saying they had not received enough information.
The committees are investigating a Sept. 2 strike — the first of the campaign — that killed two people who had survived an initial attack on their boat. The Navy admiral who ordered the “double-tap” strike, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, also appeared before the committees shortly before the vote Wednesday in a classified briefing that also included video of the strike in question.
Several Republican senators emerged from the meeting backing Hegseth and his decision not to release the video publicly, but other GOP lawmakers stayed silent on their opinion of the strike.
Democrats are calling for part of the video to be released publicly and for every member of Congress to have access to the full footage.
“The American people absolutely need to see this video,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. “I think they would be shocked.”
Congressional oversight
Lawmakers have been caught by surprise by the Trump administration several times in the last year, including by a move to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine and a decision to reduce U.S. troop presence in NATO countries in eastern Europe. The defense legislation requires that Congress be kept in the loop on decisions like that going forward, as well as when top military brass are removed.
The Pentagon is also required, under the legislation, to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests. Around 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops are usually present on European soil. A similar requirement also keeps the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea at 28,500.
Lawmakers are also pushing back on some Pentagon decisions by authorizing $400 million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine.
Cuts to diversity and climate initiatives
Trump and Hegseth have made it a priority to purge the military of material and programs that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues, and the defense bill would codify many of those changes. It will repeal diversity, equity and inclusion offices and trainings, including the position of chief diversity officer. Those cuts would save the Pentagon about $40 million, according to the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee.
The U.S. military has long found that climate change is a threat to how it provides national security because weather-related disasters can destroy military bases and equipment. But the bill makes $1.6 billion in cuts by eliminating climate-change related programs at the Pentagon.
Repeal of war authorizations and Syria sanctions
Congress is writing a closing chapter to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion. Now that Iraq is a strategic partner of the U.S., lawmakers in support of the provision say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses. The bill also repeals the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War.
The rare, bipartisan moves to repeal the legal justifications for the conflicts signaled a potential appetite among lawmakers to reclaim some of Congress’s war powers.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives to brief members of Congress on military strikes near Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic senators on Wednesday hammered the Federal Communications Commission’s leader for pressuring broadcasters to take ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air, suggesting that Brendan Carr was politicizing an independent agency and trampling the First Amendment.
The FCC chairman was peppered with questions by Democrats on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee over his criticism of Kimmel for comments about the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“You are weaponizing the public interest standard,” said Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who told Carr that he should resign.
Carr refused to disown his comments about Kimmel, and the chairman said he has simply enforced laws that hold networks to stricter scrutiny than cable and other forms of media.
“The FCC has walked away from enforcing the public interest standard and I don’t think that’s a good thing,” Carr said.
Republican senators appeared intent on bringing up broadcast spectrum auctions, undersea cable infrastructure, algorithm-driven content, robocalls and just about anything other than Carr’s statements about Kimmel.
The committee chairman, Sen. Ted Cruz, had previously equated Carr’s comments to those of a mobster and called them “dangerous as hell.” But at the hearing, Cruz, R-Texas, took a far softer stance. He dismissed Kimmel as “tasteless” and “unfunny,” and shifted to criticizing Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, a tack that Carr parroted throughout the hearing.
“Joe Biden is no longer president,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., shot back at one point.
FILE – Then-President-elect Donald Trump talks with Brendan Carr before the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024 in Boca Chica, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Pool via AP, File)
The hearing was also included the two other commissioners, Olivia Trusty and Anna M. Gomez. Each gave opening statements, with Gomez, a Biden appointee, saying that the FCC has “undermined its reputation as a stable, independent and expert-driven regulatory body.”
“Nowhere is that departure more concerning,” Gomez said, “than its actions to intimidate government critics, pressure media companies and challenge the boundaries of the First Amendment.”
Carr was nominated to the FCC by both Trump and Biden and unanimously confirmed by the Senate three times. But he has more recently shown more overtly right-wing views, writing a section on the FCC for “Project 2025,” the sweeping blueprint for gutting the federal workforce and dismantling agencies in Trump’s second term.
Since becoming chairman this year, Carr has launched separate investigations of all three major broadcast networks. After Kimmel’s comments on the September killing of Kirk, who was a Trump ally leading voice of the right, Carr said: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Cruz was unflinchingly critical at the time, saying “I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying.”
While Cruz did not repeat those words Wednesday, they were repeatedly invoked by Democrats.
Carr seemed to surprise some on the committee with his statement that the FCC “is not an independent agency.” Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., asked Carr whether he considered Trump to be his boss and whether he had taken orders from the president or his inner circle.
“I don’t get into the specifics of conversations I’ve had,” Carr said.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., noted that the FCC’s website described it as an “independent U.S. government agency overseen by Congress.” Soon after, the website changed, removing “independent” from a section describing its mission.
Sedensky reported from New York.
FILE – Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr speaks during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)
Garo Danayan learned what it’s like to have an extra $1,000 to spend at Christmas on Wednesday.
“It’s already spent,” he joked. The Huntington Woods resident won the top prize, a $1,000 check, by entering Oakland County’s annual Local Gems contest. For the third year, the county’s economic development department invited people to take selfies at local businesses and share the images with the county to enter a random drawing for cash prizes. Genisys Credit Union supplied the cash.
More than 1,000 people submitted contest entries from some of the county’s estimated 35,000 small businesses.
Danayan took his selfie at a Ferndale gift store, The Rocket, where Local Gem winners were announced on Wednesday.
The Rocket’s owner, Eli Morrissey, said he was grateful for people who spend money locally and have supported his shop for 12 years.
“We need to save our brick-and-mortar businesses,” Morrissey said. “They are the character of our communities … I appreciate the support so much.”
Bret Rasegan of Rochester Hills won $500 for his selfie at McCauley Chiropractic in Rochester and Julie Decker of Oak Park won $250 with her selfie at The Vintage Farmhouse in Holly.
County Executive Dave Coulter said he was very proud of small businesses for all they do to support the community.”
Small businesses, he said, “give back to the community in a way Amazon never could.”
Oakland County executive offices. (Peg McNichol/MediaNews Group)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump intends to preview his agenda for next year and beyond in a live speech from the White House on Wednesday night. His remarks are coming at a crucial time as he tries to rebuild his steadily eroding popularity.
The White House offered few details about what the Republican president intends to emphasize in the 9 p.m. EST speech. Public polling shows most U.S. adults are frustrated with his handling of the economy as inflation picked up after his tariffs raised prices and hiring slowed.
In 2026, Trump and his party face a referendum on their leadership as the nation heads into the midterm elections that will decide control of the House and the Senate.
Trump has said that he thinks more Americans would back him if they simply heard him describe his track record. Administration officials say investment commitments for new factories will reverse the recent decline in manufacturing jobs and that consumer activity will improve dramatically as people receive increased tax refunds next year.
“It has been a great year for our Country, and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” Trump said in a Tuesday social media post announcing the speech.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump would discuss his achievements this year and his plans for the remainder of his second term.
Trump has been omnipresent on social media and television this year with his impromptu news conferences and speeches. But addresses to the nation often can be relatively sober affairs, as was Trump’s June address describing the U.S. bombing of nuclear facilities in Iran.
The president has eschewed the messaging discipline that’s common among most politicians, an authenticity that appeals to some voters and repels others.
In a speech in Pennsylvania last week, he said his tariffs might mean that American children should have fewer dolls and pencils, while confirming a previously denied story from his first term in 2018 that he did not want immigrants from “shithole” countries.
On Monday, Trump on his social media site blamed Rob Reiner’s vocal objections to the president for the killing of the actor-director and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner.
Employers were adding on average 122,750 jobs a month during the first four months of this year. But since Trump announced his broad tariffs in April, monthly job gains have averaged a paltry 17,000 as the unemployment rate has climbed from 4% in January to 4.6%.
Trump’s team has blamed Democratic lawmakers for shutting down the government for the job losses reported Tuesday during October. The president continues to blame his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for any challenges the nation might face over inflation or ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Donald Trump speaks during a Mexican Border Defense Medal presentation in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
On a scale of 1 to 10, NOAA rated this year’s bloom between 2 and 3, which is mild. Compare that with 2011’s very severe bloom, which peaked between 9 and 10.
NOAA researcher Rick Stumpf says each bloom is different. He and his colleagues use several factors to rate each one.
“The mildness is a reflection of how much bloom there is,” he says. “The amount of biomass, the quantity, and how severe it is over the peak 30 days.”
Weather is a big factor
The amount of rainfall in the spring also affects the bloom’s development. Algae feed on phosphorus, a common chemical in farm fertilizer. When farmers apply it to their fields, rain will wash some of it into streams and creeks. That water then flows into the lake through the Maumee River in Ohio.
Algae can grow close to shoreline areas as in this photo of Lake Erie from 2017
Stumpf says lower-than-average rainfall in 2025 meant less phosphorus for algae to consume, and thus a milder bloom. He also says this year’s growth started later than usual.
“The last few years, the bloom’s been pretty well-developed in July,” Stumpf says. “This year, it wasn’t until well into August when you had the greatest quantity of bloom.”
Stumpf says one way farmers can limit the amount of phosphorus in the lake is to test their fields for it early.
“If you’ve got enough phosphorus in the field, you may not have to fertilize for a couple of years, and that can make a big difference.”
Navigating the shutdown
Stumpf says the federal government shutdown in October did affect some of NOAA’s observations. But he says by then, researchers had enough data to rate the bloom accurately.
“We do a lot with satellite data, and that data has continued throughout this year’s bloom,” he says.
That data will also help NOAA figure out what other factors affect harmful algal blooms and how they’ve changed over the last 25 years.
The size of each bloom doesn’t necessarily reflect how toxic it is. For example, the 2014 bloom was rated moderate to severe (5 out of 10). But it produced enough toxin to contaminate Toledo’s municipal water system that year.
In general, Stumpf says algal blooms can harm people and animals who are exposed to them. He says the best way to prevent that is to avoid areas of green scum on the surface of the lake.
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