A Pontiac teen accused of shooting to death a Warren teen in January is scheduled for a preliminary exam in late March where evidence will be presented for a judge to determine if there’s probable cause to advance the case to Oakland County Circuit Court for possible trial.
Kqualin Isaac Douglas, 19, is charged with second-degree homicide for the death of Cornelius Traves Murphy Jr., 19, whose body was discovered on Jan. 8 near a home in the 100 block of North Jessie Street in Pontiac. A caller had reported seeing a man lying in a field and not breathing, the sheriff’s office said.
The man — subsequently identified as Murphy — had been shot in the chest, the sheriff’s office said.
Kqualin Douglas booking photo
Investigators said the shooting happened Jan. 7. Douglas turned himself in to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office a few weeks later.
The preliminary exam is scheduled for March 30 before 50th District Judge Ronda Fowlkes Gross.
Along with second-degree homicide, Douglas is charged with tampering with evidence, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He’s held in the Oakland County Jail with bond set at $300,000.
As stated in his obituary, Murphy was the son of Cornelius T. Murphy, Sr. and Chantell Hunter. He’s also survived by eight siblings, and several other relatives and friends.
Roughly one thousand protesters gathered outside Romulus City Hall this week to voice opposition towards plans for a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center. Among the crowd were concerned residents, public officials, faith leaders, and Michiganders from across the state.
Melody Karr was one of the many protestors picketing the building. She said she lives just an hour away from the detention facility that opened last year in Baldwin and has been to multiple demonstrations protesting it’s opening.
“We don’t need any more concentration camps in Michigan. Anybody that’s paying attention can see that we’re not concentrating on the worst of the worst, that they’re running rampant over our constitutional rights,” said Karr.
City officials say they oppose the detention center
The demonstration preceded the weekly City Council meeting, where a resolution opposing any detention center within city limits was unanimously passed.
Following the vote, Romulus Mayor Robert McCraight said he and the city are doing everything they can to stop the development of an ICE detention facility. Citing his letter of opposition sent the previous week to ICE Director Todd Lyons and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, McCraight said a detention center would conflict with current zoning regulations and be too close to residential homes less than a quarter mile away.
McCraight said that, despite not hearing from any officials on the federal level since news broke, he would do what he could to prevent the plans from moving forward.
“While I’m sitting in this position as mayor, we will not issue a permit or certificate of occupancy for this structure unless we’re mandated by a federal judge,” said McCraight.
As the mayor spoke, demonstrators could be heard chanting outside the building. Only 49 of the protestors outside were let into the meeting due to safety codes set by the fire marshal. Those in attendance reiterated their opposition during public comment.
Residents urge more action
Dan Doyle lives less than a mile from the proposed detention center. He urged the city to do more to stop the plans.
“I’m requesting immediate action. Cut the utilities, condemn the building, demo it, take it under eminent domain, whatever you can do. Make it impossible for them to use our neighborhood for these concentration camps,” said Doyle. “This will not be solved by a harshly worded letter or a resolution. We need action.”
Outside in the bitter cold, protestors continued their picket at city hall. Darrin Camilleri, who represents Romulus as a member of the Michigan Senate, was one of many public officials who came to support demonstrators. So far, Camilleri has been one of the only state legislators to reach out to Romulus officials after the plans for a detention center went public. He said he has been working with the city to uncover details about the building purchased by ICE.
“We know that an auto supplier, they put a bid in to buy this building, but ICE came in and outbid the auto supplier. So the Trump administration is literally taking away American jobs from our community that would love an opportunity like that,” said Camilleri. “Now we’re getting stuck with a detention center that no one wants, and it’s down the street from where people live. It’s down the street from where kids go to school.”
Outside of ICE Detention Center
The building, located at 7525 Cogswell Street, was previously owned by the real estate investment firm Crestlight Capital. John Coury, managing partner at the firm, said he can’t disclose the selling price or the specific agency the building was sold to due to a signed non-disclosure agreement, according to reporting from Crain’s Detroit Business.
Pattern of quiet-buying
Secrecy surrounding these purchases aren’t unique to Romulus, either. In Social Circle, Georgia, officials were blindsided when they heard of plans to convert a warehouse in the city into a detention center. The previous owner of the warehouse, a commercial real estate firm called PNK Group, said they signed an NDA and couldn’t disclose any information to the city or residents. One month later, a deed for the warehouse was obtained that showed the federal government paid over $100 million more than the most recently assessed price.
When asked by WDET if the Romulus warehouse was purchased for an inflated price compared 2025 assessed value of $6,988,500, Crestlight Capital did not respond for comment.
At the time of writing, the city of Romulus has not received any documents indicating how much the property was purchased for.
Southfield ICE offices
Earlier this month, the city released a statement saying offices in Southfield’s One Towne Square were to be leased by the US General Services Administration (GSA) to “support administrative and legal functions associated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
The statement aligns with reporting from last year that showed the GSA was working with ICE to acquire offices across the country to expand it’s operations
Statements from REDICO, the landlord of the office space, said the lease was with the GSA, not ICE, and “the lease explicitly prohibits any law enforcement, detention or similar activities to take place on the premises.” REDICO’s statement prompted the city to remove their statement on the purchase from its website.
When asked about the city’s removed statement, Southfield Mayor Kenson Siver said he has only heard from REDICO, not GSA or ICE, and the city doesn’t have authority to intervene in tenant/landlord issues as long as they are compliant with zoning laws.
Still, residents and lawmakers are on edge amid the confusion. During the Southfield City Council meeting that took place the same time as the Romulus demonstration, residents packed the building to speak out against any potential presence of ICE in the city.
Protesters wait to be let in at the Romulus City Council meeting. Most are turned away, told that the room already reached capacity.
Southfield resident Lauren Fink said the city still needs to do more to address the offices potentially used in association with ICE.
“I’ve seen statements intended to calm our anxieties about this office opening here in our own community, telling us that this office cannot house armed and uniformed agents,” said Fink. “There seems to be this idea that the work being done by people in offices like this is acceptable, but the work being done by the people they enable is not. That kind of attitude is what allows the horrors of an authoritarian regime to continue.”
Southfield City Council unanimously passed a resolution “affirming community safety, civil rights, and local policy” during the meeting. The resolution does not mention the lease with GSA or the planned office.
A call for community action
Following the possible expansion of ICE in the metro Detroit area, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib released a statement condemning the encroachment and urging more collective action from the community.
“Across the country, people are coming together and fighting to prevent this massive expansion of ICE’s network of abuse and cruelty. We must organize and use every tool at our disposal to keep ICE out of our neighborhoods,” said Tlaib.
The Southfield office and planned detention center in Romulus come as the Trump administration massively increases the budget for ICE and plans on spending $38.3 billion to turn warehouses across the country into detention centers. Both actions have been made possible through last year’s passing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which has allocated billions of federal funds for the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
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.
A pair of social media trolls — including one who sports a “Make America Great Again” red hat — have been arrested for trying to light a Black woman’s boots on fire during a clash on a Manhattan street filled with racist insults, police said Thursday.
The demented duo, known online as “ScrubsNYC,” were nabbed late Wednesday, just a few hours after cops released their images and asked the public’s help tracking them down. They were wanted for a bizarre hate crime on W. 26th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea on Feb. 19.
Michael Santiago, 31, and Michael James, 33, were hit with a slew of charges including attempted assault, criminal mischief and menacing, all as hate crimes, as well as aggravated harassment, arson and criminal tampering. The two suspects live in the same apartment building on the Upper East Side, according to cops.
The pair, known online as "ScrubsNYC" were arrested late Wednesday, just a few hours after cops released their images in connection with a reported hate crime on W. 26th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea on Feb. 19. (NYPD)
The two approached the 54-year-old victim about 2:50 p.m. and were chatting her up when the provacateur in the MAGA hat began spewing a racist tirade that was caught on camera and posted online.
“I want to f— you right up your n—– a–,” the man in the MAGA hat screamed. “I want to f— a slave. You’re my slave. You’re my slave.”
The woman casually pulled out her own phone and began recording the creeps, throwing insults right back at them.
“Of course you do,” she said of their comments about bedding her. “I could never ’cause you’re a slave — you’re a slave to my Blackness.”
The suspect told the woman, “kiss me,” and she replied saying she “would never.”
“That’s your bitch, not me,” the woman said casually, motioning to the camera man recording the entire exchange.
NYPD
The pair, known online as "ScrubsNYC" were arrested late Wednesday, just a few hours after cops released their images in connection with a reported hate crime on W. 26th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea on Feb. 19. (NYPD)
At one point, one of the provacateur’s asked to kiss the victim’s pair of boots. She agreed, but when he knelt down he set one of her boots on fire with a hand-held blowtorch.
The hair on the boots were singed but the flames quickly petered out, the video shows. Cops say the $89 pair of boots were ruined.
The woman didn’t appear to notice as she continued to trade insults with the creep.
“I just burned your boot,” the provocateur said.
“Of course you did,” the victim replied.
“I want to impregnate you, let’s f—,” the MAGA hat sporting suspect said.
“Of course you want to impregnate me and contaminate my race,” she replied. “Your mother’s a f——.”
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
Michael James is pictured in custody outside the Midtown South Precinct station house on Thursday. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
The victim reported the incident to police after she realized her $89 boots were damaged. She also gave cops images of the two suspects from her recording of the bizarre exchange.
Scrubsnyc boasts about being the “biggest streamers in New York right now” in one of their online videos.
One video shows the pair lying in traffic and angering strangers with their bizarre rants.
“Yeah, right here bro! Do something!” one angered resident screams at them on the sidewalk in one clip. “Do something! Then don’t f—ing run your mouth! Get the f— out of here!”
Barry Williams/ New York Daily News
Michael Santiago is pictured in custody outside the Midtown South Precinct station house on Thursday. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Many of the videos show the MAGA hat-wearing provocateur being forced to leave an apartment building or a bodega. In one quick clip, a bodega patron throws a drink at him. In another, a woman knocks the red hat off his head.
“They tell you that the city never sleeps,” Scrubsnyc wrote in the opening of one video. “But they don’t tell you about the ones who keep it awake.”
Michael James, left, and Michael Santiago are pictured in police custody outside the NYPD Midtown South Precinct station house on Thursday Feb. 26, 2026 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Sheriff Michael Bouchard is worried about people who want to keep tabs on federal agents for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and the U.S. Border Patrol in Oakland County.
There’s confusion between the federal agents in masks and unmarked cars and undercover sheriff’s deputies assigned to the narcotics enforcement or fugitive apprehension teams, he said.
“We’ve had people show up at these high-risk (sheriff’s) raids … running up with their phones and trying to insert themselves, thinking it’s ICE,” he said. “But it’s a very dangerous situation. If a suspect opens fire, the (people with phones) would be in the middle of it.”
Deputies working undercover must wear masks and use unmarked cars for their own safety and the safety of anyone who helped them as part of a criminal investigation, Bouchard said, adding that suspects would recognize an unmasked undercover officer, make the connection with the person who helped the officer, endangering their lives.
Police dispatchers get calls every week from residents who think ICE agents were at a mall, a school or other location, “but that never happened,” he said.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard. (Peg McNichol/MediaNews Group)
Those are just a few things people don’t understand about the difference between deputies’ and ICE activities.
Another, he said, is that deputies don’t work with ICE.
“The U.S. Supreme Court held that immigration is under federal authority and it’s a federal government job,” he said. “We don’t have the authority, nor do we want the authority, to arrest someone simply for being in this country illegally. But if they’re in our custody and suspected of a crime, we will alert ICE.”
Bouchard said ICE agents would be informed when that person would be released from custody, but if federal agents are not present at that time the person would go free.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald issued a statement last week opposing the presence of ICE in the county.
She reminded people that basic constitutional rights include “the right to be free from unlawful arrest, regardless of immigration status.”
McDonald said she expected any legal violations by federal, local or county officers to be “fully and transparently investigated by independent authorities.”
Facebook video
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. (FILE)
Federal agents do not have absolute immunity from prosecution, according to the think tank Brennan Center for Justice, which has offices in New York and Washington D.C., however federal officials can impede state or local investigations.
After the shooting deaths of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents, federal officials opposed an investigation by Minnesota officials and would not share information with the state. Deaths during law-enforcement incidents are typically investigated by a separate, independent law-enforcement agency.
A criminal case has advanced for a Royal Oak man charged with felonious assault and other crimes for allegedly crashing his vehicle multiple times into another — with infant occupants — and then fleeing the scene.
The case against Brian Robert Bock, 54, was bound over to Oakland County Circuit Court on Thursday at the conclusion of a preliminary exam in Troy’s 52-4 District Court.
According to police, on Feb. 3 a woman reported that she was rear-ended while stopped at a red light at Big Beaver and Crooks roads; her car was then struck by the same vehicle multiple times before it went on the road’s shoulder to get around her and drove away.
No injuries were reported, police said.
Brian Bock booking photo (Troy Police Dept.)
After reviewing dash camera video from a witness, police caught up with Bock in a vehicle with heavy front-end crash damage — then arrested him.
Along with felonious assault, Bock is charged with malicious destruction of personal property valued at more than $1,000 but less than $20,000, reckless driving and failure to stop at the scene of a property damage accident. He’s held in the Oakland County Jail with bond set at $50,000.
Bock is scheduled for arraignment in the higher court on March 10.
For the MDOP charge, Bock could face up to five years in prison and a hefty fine if convicted. Felonious assault is punishable by up to four years in prison and/or a $2,000 fine; the other crimes he’s charged with are misdemeanors.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Their family spent years opposing Venezuela’s socialist system.
The government retaliated by sending men to beat the father, a state oil company worker whom it accused of being uncooperative. Other relatives were threatened.
The situation became so untenable that the family fled the country for the United States in 2021 after it obtained refugee status, according to one of the daughters, a 24-year-old clothing salesperson who was interviewed by The Associated Press.
The six siblings and their parents settled in Minnesota in 2023, living peaceful lives until the Trump administration said it was casting new scrutiny on refugees. One priority is those admitted to the U.S. under former President Joe Biden, whom the government accuses of prioritizing quantity over detailed screening and vetting, with an initial focus on 5,600 refugees who settled in Minnesota and are not yet permanent residents, making them particularly vulnerable.
Last month, three masked officers got out of a black SUV with tinted windows outside a St. Paul apartment complex, handcuffed the Venezuelan woman and her mother and told them their legal status was under review, according to the woman, who asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation.
In January, a federal judge ordered a temporary halt to the arrest and detention of refugees in Minnesota while a lawsuit challenging the “revetting” continues. The judge ordered the immediate release of all refugees detained in Minnesota, and those taken to Texas.
Three refugees told The Associated Press that whatever happens, the rounds of inconclusive interviews with immigration authorities well after they thought their status was safe has them questioning their futures in the U.S. and living in constant fear.
The young woman from Venezuela hasn’t returned to her job at a clothing factory. A man who fled persecution in Myanmar won’t walk on the streets of Minneapolis without a letter from his church appealing for immigrants to “be treated humanely.” A Congolese refugee arrested in St. Paul despite her refugee status says “everything that’s happened feels like a movie.”
A change in US treatment of refugees
Welcoming refugees has been a source of bipartisan agreement in the U.S. since Congress passed the Refugee Act with overwhelming support in 1980.
The act helped make refugee applications some of the immigration system’s most heavily scrutinized. Government decisions that someone was persecuted for who they are or what they believe are rarely second-guessed, and revisiting refugee status that’s already been granted is a major blow to legal tradition, advocates say.
“They’ve been heavily vetted and were admitted by the government with approval,” said Beth Oppenheim, chief executive officer of HIAS, a major refugee aid group.
Once a refugee is admitted to the U.S. through the resettlement program, the only way to strip them of their status is to prove that they should never have been admitted, Oppenheim said. That is why the Trump administration is interviewing people again, she said.
Matthew Tragesser, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a written statement refugees “are REQUIRED to be subject to a full inspection after a year within the United States.”
“This is not novel or discretionary; it is a clear requirement in law,” he wrote.
While it is correct that refugees must apply for green cards one year after admission — a change of status that brings a renewed layer of scrutiny — the administration is breaking with decades of tradition by revisiting initial decisions to admit people as refugees, and then detaining them while they are under review.
“Arresting, detaining, and rescreening refugees are all new changes which will inflict grave harm on vulnerable populations,” said Smita Dazzo, deputy director of U.S. programs at HIAS.
Venezuelan refugees pose for a photo on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Cottage Grove, Minn. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
Venezuela to Minnesota to Houston and back
In January, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took the Venezuelan women to Houston on a flight where migrants were shackled at the wrists and ankles and forbidden from talking. The daughter said she was told she was there for green card interviews and isolated in a cold room with no food, water or anything warm to cover her. She said she refused to sign documents without an attorney present.
“They told us, ‘Your status is worthless. You’re illegal,’” she said. “What we went through is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone … We were supposed to arrive in this country with refugee status, and we thought we would be protected here. But right now, at this moment, it is quite the opposite.”
The women were released after successfully filing habeas corpus petitions in federal court, part of a flood of last-ditch attempts at freedom under a Trump policy denying bond hearings in immigration court. Friends of their attorney drove them back to Minnesota at their own expense. Since then, the younger woman has been too afraid to leave the house.
A Venezuelan refugee poses for a photo on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, in Cottage Grove, Minn. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
The pastor who received a letter and went to the interview
Saw Ba Mya James, a 46-year-old ethnic Karen father of three who fled military persecution in Myanmar, arrived in St. Paul last year after obtaining refugee status with help from a local church.
Despite a pending green card application, the Anglican pastor did not attend church for weeks after friends advised him to avoid going outside.
“I was told to stay at home, so I listened, and I prayed to God with my family,” James said.
James received a letter Feb. 2 ordering a “post-admissions refugee reverification” at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services St. Paul field office, according to a copy reviewed by The Associated Press.
During an interview that lasted several hours, an officer pressed James with questions he said he already addressed extensively before being admitted to the U.S. The officer said the review was needed because an inexperienced employee handled James’ initial vetting.
Within two weeks of the interview, James got another letter asking that he and his family provide fingerprints, which his attorney took as a positive sign.
Still, James remains wary of being detained. He faithfully carries his church sponsors’ letter appealing for him and other immigrants to “be treated humanely as fellow image-bearers of God.”
The Congolese refugee arrested arriving at work
A Congolese woman settled in the Twin Cities area in November 2024 with refugee status, working in the hospitality business as the breadwinner for her husband and four children.
She said an immigration officer approached her parked car when she arrived for work at 7 a.m. on Jan. 14 in St. Paul, saying he knew her name and that she was a refugee. After telling her to exit the vehicle to answer questions, he handcuffed her despite her efforts to show a work authorization document and identification.
The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears reprisals, was flown to Houston to be questioned in detail about her experiences in the Congo, Uganda and the United States. She and other refugees refused to sign documents to be sent back to their home countries. She was released Jan. 18 without any ID documents to book a flight to Minneapolis. A manager at her company flew to Houston and drove her 17 hours back home.
“If I told you I’m feeling OK, I’d be lying to you,” she said.
Salomon reported from Miami.
Saw Ba Mya James, an ethnic Karen refugee from Myanmar, stands for a portrait in St. Paul, Minn., on Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
By BARBARA ORTUTAY and KAITLYN HUAMANI, AP Technology Writers
Social media addiction has been compared to casinos, opioids and cigarettes.
While there’s some debate among experts about the line between overuse and addiction, and whether social media can cause the latter, there is no doubt that many people feel like they can’t escape the pull of Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and other platforms.
The companies that designed your favorite apps have an incentive to keep you glued to them so they can serve up ads that make them billions of dollars in revenue. Resisting the pull of the endless scroll, the dopamine hits from short-form videos and the ego boost and validation that come from likes and positive interactions, can seem like an unfair fight. For some people, “rage-bait,” gloomy news and arguing with internet strangers also have an irresistible draw.
Much of the concern around social media addiction has focused on children. But adults are also susceptible to using social media so much that it starts affecting their day-to-day lives.
Recognizing signs of compulsive use
Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and the medical director of addiction medicine at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, defines addiction as “the continued compulsive use of a substance or behavior despite harm to self or others.”
During her testimony at a landmark social media harms trial in Los Angeles, Lembke said that what makes social media platforms so addictive is the “24/7, really limitless, frictionless access” people have to them.
Some researchers question whether addiction is the appropriate term to describe heavy use of social media, arguing that a person must be experiencing identifiable symptoms. These include strong, sometimes uncontrollable urges and withdrawal to qualify as addiction.
Social media addiction is not recognized as an official disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the standard reference psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners use to assess and treat patients. That’s partly because there is no widespread consensus on what constitutes social media addiction and whether underlying mental health issues contribute to problematic use.
But just because there is no official agreement on the issue doesn’t mean excessive social media use can’t be harmful, some experts say.
“For me, the biggest signpost is how does the person feel about the ‘amount,’ and how viewing it makes them feel,” said Dr. Laurel Williams, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. “If what they discover is they view it so much that they are missing out on other things they may enjoy or things that they need to attend to, this is problematic use. Additionally, if you leave feeling overwhelmed, drained, sad, anxious, angry regularly, this use is not good for you.”
In other words, is your use of social media affecting other parts of your life? Are you putting off chores, work, hobbies or time with friends and family? Have you tried to cut back your time but realized you were unable to? Do you feel bad about your social media use?
Ofir Turel, a professor of information systems management at the University of Melbourne who has studied social media use for years, said there was “no agreement” over the term social media addiction, and he doesn’t “expect agreement soon.”
“It’s obvious that we have an issue,” Turel said. “You don’t have to call it an addiction, but there is an issue and we need, as a society, to start thinking about it.”
Noninvasive tips to reduce social media use
Before setting limits on scrolling, it’s helpful to understand how social media feeds and advertising work to draw in users, Williams said.
“Think of social media as a company trying to get you to stay with them and buy something — have the mindset that this is information that I don’t need to act on and may not be true,” she added. “Get alternate sources of information. Always understand the more you see something, anyone can start to believe it is true.”
Ian A. Anderson, a postdoctoral scholar at California Institute of Technology, suggests making small, meaningful changes to stop you from opening your social media app of choice. Moving the app’s place on your phone or turning off notifications are “light touch interventions,” but more involved options, like not bringing your phone into the bedroom or other places where you tend to use it, could also help, Anderson said.
Tech tools can also help to cut back on tech overuse. Both iPhones and Android devices have onboard controls to help regulate screen time.
Apple’s Screen Time controls are found in the iPhone’s settings menu. Users can set overall Downtime, which shuts off all phone activity during a set period of their choice.
The controls also let users put a blanket restriction on certain categories of apps, such as social, games or entertainment or zero in on a specific app, by limiting the time that can be spent on it.
The downside is that the limits aren’t hard to get around. It’s more of a nudge than a red line that you can’t cross. If you try to open an app with a limit, you’ll get a screen menu offering one more minute, a reminder after 15 minutes, or to completely ignore it.
If a light touch doesn’t work
If a light touch isn’t working, more drastic steps might be necessary. Some users swear by turning their phones to gray-scale to make it less appealing to dopamine-seeking brains. On iPhones, adjust the color filter in your settings. For Android, turn on Bedtime Mode or tweak the color correction setting. Downgrading to a simpler phone, such as an old-school flip phone, could also help curb social media compulsions.
Some startups, figuring that people might prefer a tangible barrier, offer hardware solutions that introduce physical friction between you and an app. Unpluq, for instance, is a yellow tag that you have to hold up to your phone in order to access blocked apps. Brick and Blok are two different products that work along the same lines — they’re squarish pieces of plastic that you have to tap or scan with your phone to unlock an app.
If that’s not enough of an obstacle, you could stash away your phone entirely. There are various phone lockboxes and cases available, some of them designed so parents can lock up their teenagers’ phones when they’re supposed to be sleeping, but there’s no rule that says only teenagers can use them.
Yondr, which makes portable phone locking pouches used at concerts or in schools, also sells a home phone box.
Seeking outside help
If all else fails, it may be a good idea to look for deeper reasons for feeling addicted to social media. Maybe it’s a symptom of underlying problems like anxiety, stress, loneliness, depression or low self-esteem. If you think that’s the case, it could be worth exploring therapy that is becoming more widely available.
“For people struggling to stay away — see if you can get a friend group to collaborate with you on it. Make it a group effort. Just don’t post about it! The more spaces become phone free, the more we may see a lessened desire to be ‘on,’” Williams said.
FILE – A group holds hands outside a landmark trial over whether social media platforms deliberately addict and harm children, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun, File)
A former Cherry Creek School District teacher was arrested Monday on suspicion of child sex assault after a former student came forward, police said.
Robert Combs, 56, was arrested on investigation of five counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and three misdemeanor counts of abusing public trust as an educator, according to Arapahoe County court records.
Combs was a CTE Engineering and Technology Teacher at Grandview High School, 20500 E. Arapahoe Road, between 2002 and late 2025, according to a letter sent to parents and families by the Cherry Creek School District.
The school district placed Combs on administrative leave in October 2025, when Grandview Principal Lisa Roberts was first made aware of the sexual assault allegations by the Aurora Police Department, police wrote in his arrest affidavit. Combs was officially “separated” from the school district on Nov. 13, according to the letter sent to parents.
“The safety and security of our students and staff is our highest priority,” school district officials wrote in the letter. “We appreciate your partnership in these critical efforts. We are committed to keeping you informed about all aspects of your child’s education.”
Aurora officers responded to Grandview High School on Oct. 30, after a former student reached out to Roberts to apologize for lying to her in 2022 and said they were considering reporting Combs, according to the affidavit.
The student previously denied having an inappropriate relationship with Combs to Roberts in 2022 after a security guard and other teachers came forward with suspicions about the nature of the two’s relationship, the affidavit stated. At that time, the student said Combs was “like a father.”
Roberts encouraged the student to report Combs and also contacted the Aurora Police Department in October to report the incident on her own, according to the affidavit.
The unidentified victim first met Combs in August 2021 when the student joined a high school club the man advised, the Technology Student Association, according to Combs’ arrest affidavit.
Other teachers at Grandview High School also recommended that the student reach out to Combs for assistance with getting into a military academy, police wrote in the affidavit. Combs helped the student with interview preparation, essay writing and physical training.
In February 2022, Grandview students and staff attended the association’s state conference in Denver, according to the affidavit. Combs allegedly encouraged the then-underage student to come back to his hotel room, where they kissed and he “expressed romantic feelings” for them.
The victim told Aurora Police they “felt shocked and unsure how to respond,” according to the affidavit.
Combs’ interactions with the student after the conference “became more frequent and increasingly inappropriate,” police wrote in the arrest affidavit.
The student would meet Combs after school to work on applications, and those meetings often turned intimate, the student told police. Combs also sent the student inappropriate photos and text messages.
Combs and the student had sex in classrooms, offices and closets at the high school almost every day between March 2022 and May 2022, according to the arrest affidavit. They would also drive to empty parking lots and have sex in cars.
The student told police that it felt like they “owed” Combs for his help, the affidavit stated.
Combs and the student’s relationship ended in December 2022, according to the affidavit. The student blocked his number and “ceased all contact” with Combs in February 2023, but didn’t come forward about the relationship until October 2025.
Police advised Roberts of the specific sexual assault allegations made toward Combs late that month, at which point Combs was suspended and escorted out of the school, according to the affidavit.
Combs is next scheduled to appear in court on March 20 for a preliminary hearing, court records show. He posted a $50,000 surety bail on Monday.
CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, CO – MARCH 13: Cherry Creek school bus drivers get their buses ready at the Cherry Creek Bus terminal March 13, 2014 in time for their route. The largest single cut at Cherry Creek Schools was to transportation. The district had to increase the walking distances for middle and high schools in 2010 (Photo by John Leyba/The Denver Post)
That matters, because without an ID, you can’t get a job, sign a lease, open a bank account — you can’t even prove you’re you.
One in five people who leave Michigan prisons end up going back. The state says that’s the lowest it’s ever been. But what does a second chance actually look like when you walk out the door with so little?
Rick Speck knows this firsthand. He was released in 2014 after 15 years in prison. He didn’t have an ID. Now, he’s the deputy director of Nation Outside — a Michigan reentry nonprofit run by those who were formerly incarcerated.
He spoke with Robyn Vincent about his experiences and what our state and culture would look like if we believed more deeply in second chances.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
When someone is in distress, who should respond to the call for help? Police officers or social workers?
After the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter Movement, police departments reformed. Throughout the country and around Michigan, police hired mental health professionals — or co-responders — to respond to 911 calls, alone or with cops.
Now, the question of who should take the lead on distress calls has become all the more pressing. Last month, this query was thrust into the public eye once again. That’s when Ypsilanti residents became upset after a SWAT team had a 30-hour standoff with someone they say was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Hillary Nusbaum is a co-responder supervisor for the Oakland Community Health Network. Her organization partners with Oakland County police departments by having co-responders work alongside police officers.
Producer Sam Corey spoke with Nusbaum about what a co-responder does and when they should be called to take action on a 911 call.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
President Trump lashed out at the U.S. Supreme Court after it ruled his use of certain tariffs was illegal.
Trump noted he had other options, including blocking all trade with other nations.
“I can destroy the trade. I can destroy the country,” the president said. “I’m even allowed to impose a foreign country-destroying embargo. I can embargo. I can do anything I want. But I can’t charge $1.”
Trump later said he would impose a new global 15% tariff, though it initially began at 10%.
Congress would have to extend the tariff in about five months. The president could potentially get around that provision by announcing a new round of levies at that time.
Many businesses are weighing the impact of the tariff upheaval, including Detroit’s Big 3 automakers.
The head of the trade association MichAuto, Glenn Stevens, Jr., says car companies had anticipated the High Court’s decision.
Listen: SCOTUS tariff ruling extends uncertainty for Detroit automakers
The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Glenn Stevens, Jr.: It was pretty much assumed that the justices would rule this way based on some of the preliminary arguments. We also felt that there would be a response from the administration that they might use additional or new tools if the Supreme Court ruled this way. And we have seen the president state that. I think it does reaffirm the power of Congress according to the U.S. Constitution, in the case of this particular act. But it leaves a lot of uncertainty with our industries and in our economy.
Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: The High Court ruled on the reciprocal tariffs on other countries. But they’re still allowing levies imposed ostensibly to protect national security. The 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts still stands, except for imports covered under the North American trade deal. So, how do you see the Supreme Court decision affecting the auto industry in particular?
GS: It affects a portion of it. But not by any stretch all of the tariffs and trade deals that have been put in place since Jan. 20 of last year when the America First Trade Policy Act was issued. Yes, the national security tariffs remain in place. The unfair trade practice tariffs remain in place. Those are very tied heavily to China. Those are significant. But anything that did deal with this Emergency Powers Act has been struck down now.
What happens from here, we don’t know. There will be court challenges. The question of whether companies will be able to get a rebate, so to speak, on what they paid, there was no direction from the court on that. So, again, we have a lot of uncertainty moving forward. And then we have a new wild card, which we anticipated, where the president said that he’d use fair trade and anti-dumping subsidy tariffs. And there’s a whole process for that.
QK: And how would that affect the auto industry?
GS: It’s such a complex supply chain. It depends on where the vehicles are assembled. It depends on what is the country of origin where the components come from. For example, a lot of the parts and the components are still exempt on this continent under the current USMCA agreement. But if you’re importing parts from other countries outside of that agreement, it does impact you, the 25% on imported vehicles does apply. So it’s actually quite complex and has been for some time. And this may muddle it up a little bit more.
QK: The trade deal between the US, Mexico, and Canada was coming up for review this year. It’s vital for automakers in particular, considering the cross-pollination of parts and vehicles between the three countries. But with this new Supreme Court decision, do you think the president may have a lot less leverage to push for a new USMCA deal that he would like?
GS: I’m not so sure about the less leverage. What I do know is our organization and many others that are related to the industry, we remain steadfast that we need to get to a renewed and strengthened USMCA agreement. We are stronger together with Canada and Mexico in the current supply chain.
Are modifications and some things needed to be adjusted? Yes. Where that goes, we’re not sure. Discussions are at a bit of a stalemate. But we have quite a bit of runway yet up to July 1st with regards to that.
QK: Canada reached a deal recently with China to sell some Chinese vehicles in that country. The Ford Motor Company has talked about perhaps trying to set up their own deal with Chinese automakers. General Motors has said they did not want that type of a thing. In light of what’s happened with tariffs now, how do you think all that might play out?
GS: Let’s look at the Canada situation first. Prime Minister Carney has a tentative agreement with China to import a small quantity, a very controlled number, of electric vehicles. That was a significant development that has drawn some criticism from the White House. It may complicate things. Again, I underscore that it’s tentative. There are a lot of other things going on with regards to trade and we’re not really certain where this is going right now.
QK: Some automotive analysts have forecast that the impact of tariffs would force car companies to raise prices on new vehicles this year. Now we have this Supreme Court decision. Even if it only affects the auto industry to an extent, as you said, it does not totally rid it of any of the difficulties companies might suffer from having tariffs. So where do you see it going now in terms of potential price increases?
GS: That’s hard to say. It’s probably not going to impact things too directly. At this point, most of the companies have absorbed as much of the increases they can within their supply chains. Affordability of vehicles is an issue. The average in our country is about $50,000 for a new vehicle. That’s a high number. Anyone who sells, distributes, or makes vehicles in this country is very hesitant to raise those prices any further. We have seen some creep.
We’ve seen some certain charges increase, like destination charges on the delivery of a vehicle, and that’s been one way the extra cost has been passed through. But there haven’t been significant increases. Most of the time in any type of consumer product, when prices go up, they don’t tend to come down too quickly. So that’s not good for the consumer.
QK: One of the things you’ve mentioned several times is the uncertainty of the situation. I’ve heard many business executives over the last year or so complain that one of the hardest things about tariffs is the uncertainty they create for people trying to make a business plan. Now we also have this Supreme Court ruling. In your view, is this making it even more uncertain now?
GS: It could, yes. The key words the in last year have been instability and uncertainty. If you apply those two words to just about anything, they’re not good. Especially if you apply them to the automotive industry. It is a long lead time, complex supply chain business that requires stability and certainty to make capital decisions, to look at its workforce, to look at supply chains. We do have new tariffs now. That doesn’t give stability and certainty.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
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.
The Detroit Red Wings haven’t qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2016. It’s the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
But they’re on the verge of snapping that streak.
The Wings stand in third place in the NHL’s Atlantic Division as they enter the final 24 games of the regular season.
The golden boy returns
The last time they reached the playoffs, Dylan Larkin was a rookie. Today, he’s the team captain. He’s also an Olympic champion.
The U.S. men’s national hockey team beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the gold medal game of the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. Larkin was on the ice when teammate Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal.
Detroit Free Press hockey writer Helene St. James spoke with Larkin after the emotional contest.
“It was probably a good 45 minutes after the game ended,” she says. “He was still in his skates, still had is medal around his neck, and he’s like, ‘I’m not taking either off.'”
Larkin scored two goals in six Olympic games and won the most face-offs of any player. St. James says the emotional lift of winning gold could carry him and the Wings through the final third of the season.
“I know how excited he is, ” she says. “He just wants to lead the Wings into a playoff spot and end that nearly 10-year playoff drought.”
Raymond shines for Sweden
Larkin wasn’t the only Red Wing at the Olympics. Lucas Raymond played for Sweden. Moritz Seider competed for Germany. Neither team made it past the quarterfinals. Lucas was the third-leading scorer at the games with one goal and eight assists.
Because their Olympics ended early, St. James says Raymond and Seider should have some extra rest before the season resumes.
How far they go depends on their health.
“This is when the games get really tough,” she says. “There’s no leeway to take anything easy.”
The Red Wings might not be the only ones who get a golden bounce. Many of the players on the U.S. team came up through the national development program in Plymouth. That includes Jack Hughes and goalie Connor Hellebuyck. St. James says Hellebuyck deserves as much credit for beating Canada as anyone.
“He singlehandedly kept his teammates in it in the second and third periods when the shot disparity was so much in the Canadians’ favor,” she says.
Hellebuyck stopped 41 shots against Canada. President Donald Trump hailed the Commerce Township native as a hero during his State of the Union speech. Trump also said he planned to award Hellebuyck the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Generation inspiration
St. James says winning gold is good press for the national development team and youth hockey in general, both boys and girls. The U.S. also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the women’s gold medal game. Farmington Hills native Megan Keller scored the game winning goal.
The American women dominated the Olympics, outscoring their opponents 33-2.
“I don’t know how both games cannot inspire young children to want to take up the game,” St. James says.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
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.
If approved, water hyacinth and water lettuce would be considered illegal to sell or transport 30 days after they are officially listed. The Callery pear, common buckthorn, glossy buckthorn, and Japanese barberry would become restricted starting January 1, 2028. These regulations would prevent the sale or purchase of these plants but would not impact property owners who already possess them.
Officials state that these plants can pose risks to Michigan’s environment, economy, and public health. They have the potential to displace native species, damage infrastructure, and in some cases, host ticks that carry diseases.
Trusted, accurate, up-to-date.
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.
In her final State of the State address, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will discuss the next phase of her administration’s agenda, reflecting on progress made over the past seven years and describing what comes next. Her focus will include strengthening employment opportunities, easing financial pressures for residents, maintaining strong support for education and literacy, expanding housing development, and pursuing additional priorities moving forward.
Grocery stores offer colorful produce aisles, where pyramid-shaped mounds of apples, oranges and lemons sit waiting for your inspection.
In that moment, you might wonder — how did the prices on those apples and oranges and lemons come to be? Who decided on that particular number?
Food prices are influenced by many factors. And in recent years, the numbers have been going up.
In 2022, food prices increased by almost 10% — the largest increase since 1979. And while they haven’t increased as much since then, fruits and vegetables are still becoming pricier. Lettuce, for example, is up over 7% since last year. Why? And how much have prices changed because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and immigration policies?
Bill Loupée is the COO of Ben B. Schwartz & Sons wholesaler, which operates out of Detroit. He spoke with Robyn Vincent. .
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
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.
Sixty years after voters narrowly approved the first millage to establish Oakland County Parks, officials say the system is undergoing a fundamental shift.
County officials recently unveiled a plan to revamp and grow its parks system. It’s called Mission 26 and it aims to help the county’s residents easily access the outdoors, especially in urban areas.
The focus on reshaping the county’s parks is funded by a public millage passed in 2024.
Oakland County Parks Director Chris Ward says it’s a green vision for the county’s future. “We know people are struggling financially, but the fact that they, you know, demonstrated such overwhelming support for that proposal shows how deeply people in this county value recreation and the outdoors,” Ward says.
The county is expanding urban partnerships, including at Pontiac Oaks County Park, and plans to open Oak Park Woods at Sheppard Park and convert a Southfield golf course into a nature preserve.
The county also launched the Co-Creation Lab to allow residents to help guide the future of the parks system through a new online portal,
If parks are considered part of the county’s preventive health and wellness infrastructure, Ward says their success must be measured by how actively they are used.
“Empty parking lots represent a missed opportunity to reach people,” Ward says.
WDET strives to cover what’s happening in your community. As a public media institution, we maintain our ability to explore the music and culture of our region through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
A 76-year-old man was arraigned Tuesday morning on multiple charges in connection with the non-fatal shootings of a woman and man in West Bloomfield last Saturday.
At arraignment before 48th District Judge Diane D’Agostini, bond was set at $3 million for Fawzi George Kased of West Bloomfield, charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, discharging a firearm in or at a building, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and four counts of felony firearms.
Assault with intent to murder carries the highest penalty, up to life in prison.
The victims are reportedly recovering from their injuries. The shootings were targeted and not random, according to West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young.
Police spotted the suspect — later identified as Kased — while he was driving. He was pulled over and exited the car while holding a rifle, but dropped it when ordered to by officers, police said.
As previously reported, the case unfolded shortly before 9 a.m. when a resident of the Thornberry Apartments — near Maple and Farmington roads — contacted police and said another resident of the apartment complex tried unsuccessfully to force their way in the apartment with an object that looked like a stick. A few minutes later as officers began searching the area for the suspect, police received another call from someone who identified themselves as a family member of an employee at the Maple View liquor store on Maple Road just east of Farmington Road, reporting that the employee had been shot and was driving himself to the hospital. While officers were enroute to the hospital, additional calls came in from residents of the Thornberry Apartment complex, reporting gunshots in the area.
Kased’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 5 for a probable cause conference. A preliminary exam is scheduled for a week later, both to be held before Judge Marc Barron.
The Oakland Press has reached out to police for additional information, including the possible connection between the victims and Kased, and what may have prompted the shootings. Continued coverage of the case is planned.
A new report examining fraud risk in Minnesota government programs describes longstanding vulnerabilities dating back to the 1970s and repeated inaction by state leaders despite nearly a half-century of warnings.
Gov. Tim Walz’s director of Program Integrity, Tim O’Malley, on Monday released what he described as a “roadmap” to address those vulnerabilities, which he said were driven in large part by a culture in state agencies “more based on compassion than compliance.”
“That’s misplaced. If state workers want to provide services, want to directly help people in need, then they should go work for a provider. They should deliver the wheelchairs. They should do the bed baths. They should take people to medical appointments,” he said at a news conference announcing the report’s findings. “The state has a responsibility to make sure those things happen by protecting state (taxpayer) money.”
Every governor and Legislature had been made aware of problems in programs for the last 50 years, according to the review, but plans to strengthen protections against fraud in state welfare programs were never executed effectively.
O’Malley’s report comes after allegations of hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud at the Department of Human Services and Department of Education, and speculation that the fraud could reach the billions. Overall, he found that “inadequate accountability” in agencies was largely to blame.
“Recent events have revealed longstanding vulnerabilities in multiple facets of state administration and leadership and priority setting to specific elements such as enrollment, oversight, data sharing and investigative capacity,” the report said. “These weaknesses have been exploited repeatedly over decades by organized networks of providers, intermediaries and recipients, resulting in significant financial losses, erosion of public trust and inadequate delivery of essential services to vulnerable Minnesotans.”
Questions remain about who exactly has been held responsible for fraud in state agencies — if anyone. Past reports from the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor have pointed to issues with “inadequate oversight” and “pervasive noncompliance” in how the state handles payments and grants.
In December, Walz said there were state employees who should have “done more” and that they were “no longer working in the state.”
Former Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead resigned in January this year, before federal prosecutors brought charges in connection with significant fraud in children’s autism programs and housing stabilization services supported by the agency.
In late 2022, Education Commissioner Heather Mueller announced she would not seek reappointment in Walz’s second term, months after the first charges in the $250 million Feeding Our Future case.
And days before federal prosecutors announced charges tied to housing stabilization in September, it emerged that the assistant commissioner with the program was no longer working with the agency.
Neither DHS nor Walz has said whether Eric Grumdahl, assistant commissioner of Homelessness and Housing Supports, lost his job due to fraud in the program, which was expected to cost $2.6 million a year when it launched but ballooned to over $105 million in 2024.
Fraud czar
Walz, a Democrat, appointed O’Malley in December as scrutiny mounted on his administration’s handling of widespread fraud in state government programs. As program integrity director, O’Malley was tasked with creating fraud prevention measures across agencies and working with the outside financial audit firm WayPoint.
O’Malley was superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension under Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He’s a former FBI agent and interim chief judge for the state Court of Administrative hearings, and for a decade handled allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
When Walz announced his appointment of O’Malley as state fraud czar on Dec. 12, federal investigators estimated Minnesota had lost hundreds of millions of dollars to fraud in recent years, with former assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson speculating total theft could top more than $1 billion.
That estimate ballooned to at least $9 billion just a week later when Thompson announced another round of criminal charges in Medicaid fraud cases. Thompson told reporters he believed more than half of the $18 billion in federal money the state distributed through “high-risk” Medicaid programs since 2018 could have been lost to fraud.
Officials with the Minnesota Department of Human Services have disputed that estimate. Walz, who suspended his campaign for a third term in office just weeks after Thompson’s remarks, described the $9 billion figure as speculative and defamatory.
The report recommends changing agency culture, boosting accountability measures, modernizing technology and oversight.
It also recommends that state lawmakers, who returned to the state Capitol last Tuesday for the 2026 legislative session, pass several bills to support a “modern fraud‑prevention infrastructure.”
They include ending direct appropriations — which present a high risk of fraud — as well as ending grants without dedicated fraud prevention funding and requiring bills that create or modify programs to have a fraud prevention component.
O’Malley told reporters Monday that he had “independence and autonomy” to go where the facts took him and that the governor had not tried to influence his work.
Senate GOP leader calls report ‘lip service’
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, called the report an example of Walz “lip service” on fraud, saying it was little more than a compendium of existing public issues in state programs.
“They don’t have to wait for the Legislature. They have the tools to really get started if they need help,” he said. “We’re happy to figure out a bipartisan way forward. But the response has been so lackluster. We need to get going on this.”
O’Malley’s hiring was the latest in a series of moves Walz has made to address fraud allegations in state agencies.
In January 2025, the governor directed the creation of a fraud investigation unit at the BCA. The Department of Human Services moved to shut down a Medicaid-funded housing stabilization program beset by fraud after news emerged in July of a federal investigation into several providers.
Earlier this month, a Walz-ordered third-party audit assessing the 14 Minnesota Medicaid programs at high risk for fraud found the state could safeguard $1 billion in the next four years by changing its policies on payment reviews.
State officials described the report as the “first phase” of developing a payment review process for the high-risk programs.
Gandhi permanent appointment
Before O’Malley shared the findings of his report on Monday, Walz announced the permanent appointment of Shireen Gandhi as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which has been the subject of significant fraud allegations recently.
Shireen Gandhi. (Courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Human Services)
The post had been vacant for more than a year. Gandhi had served as interim commissioner since the resignation of former Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead in January 2025, before federal prosecutors brought charges in connection with significant fraud in children’s autism programs and housing stabilization services supported by the agency.
Walz praised Gandhi for her leadership during troubled times at the agency.
“Over the past year, she has demonstrated steady, decisive leadership at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, strengthening program integrity, rooting out fraud, and ensuring taxpayer dollars reach the Minnesotans who rely on these services,” he said in a news release.
Gandhi will serve in the remaining months of the Walz administration. The governor, who is no longer seeking a third term, leaves office next January.
Republicans welcomed the appointment, calling it “long overdue,” though they expressed skepticism about the governor’s choice.
“Commissioner Gandhi has worked at DHS for years, including in compliance and oversight, while billions of taxpayer dollars were lost to fraud. For the past 13 months, she has served as interim commissioner as Minnesota’s fraud epidemic has made international news,” House Republican Floor Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said in a statement. “That’s not accountability. That’s failure rewarded.”
Tim O’Malley, who will serve as director of program integrity for Gov. Tim Walz, speaks to reporters in the governor’s reception room at the Capitol in St. Paul on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. O’Malley is interim chief judge of the Minnesota Court of Administrative Hearings and was superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension under Gov. Tim Pawlenty. (Alex Derosier / Pioneer Press)
A Troy woman is facing a charge of first-degree child abuse after a 13-month old child suffered serious brain damage, allegedly while in her care, officials said.
An arraignment is pending for Swapna Hari, 44. The complaint was filed on Feb. 24 in 52-4 District Court for the alleged Sept. 3, 2025 incident.
The crime is punishable by up to life in prison.
According to the prosecutor’s office, Hari claimed the infant fell backward while eating and started choking. The infant was hospitalized with severe head trauma and brain damage.
The prosecutor’s office said the injuries suffered are inconsistent with a backward fall or choking.
“In a single moment, this healthy and happy 13-month-old child suffered a life-changing injury, allegedly at the hands of this defendant,” Prosecutor Karen McDonald stated in a news release. “Our office sees too many cases of childhood brain injuries caused by abusers. These are physical injuries that often never heal completely. It’s heartbreaking and horrifying to learn a caregiver would harm a child instead of protecting them.”
The Oakland Press will report further on this case as additional information becomes available.
Login
