By Max Bryan, mbruan@detroitnews.com

Birmingham has filed a lawsuit in Oakland Circuit Court to block the sale of The Community House after its nonprofit operator announced plans to cease in-house operations in 2026.

The Community House Association announced Nov. 3 that operations in its 1930 building at 380 Bates St. will not be required as the association transitions into the Birmingham Area Community Foundation, which will provide scholarships for students and support for smaller area nonprofits. The association said in the announcement that the new owners of the building are “yet to be determined” but that current operations would cease July 1, 2026.

In response, the city filed a lawsuit on Nov. 25 “to enforce deed restrictions” that it alleges require the building “to be held exclusively as a community center for use by the residents.”

“(A sale) would permanently deprive the residents of the City of Birmingham of a unique civic and charitable asset intended for their benefit,” including 33 full-time and 16 part-time employees, the facility’s childcare program, event rentals and programs, the lawsuit reads.

The association executed a trust in 1930 to be held for the building and its operations. The trust prohibited a sale or transfer to a private interest if the association were to be dissolved, the lawsuit states.

In response to a 1989 petition to modernize the trust, the state required the association to hold The Community House in accordance with the 1930 trust. It required them to convey the land and any construction on the property to the city if The Community House were to be dissolved, the lawsuit states.

The city claims in its lawsuit that The Community House must be transitioned into either “a Birmingham charitable, benevolent, or educational organization” chosen by nearly all of the trustees or given back to the city to be used as a nonprofit community center.

Alison Gaudreau, president of The Community House, said that the organization communicated to the city could submit an offer for the building but “responded by filing a lawsuit.”

In a statement to The Detroit News, Gaudreau acknowledged there are “strong emotions” about The Community House’s future.

“There are many assumptions being made about what is happening with the sale of the building,” said Gaudreau in a statement. “We agree with the city that the building should be used for charitable purposes and those are the only conversations we are having with potential buyers. We are only speaking with non-profit organizations who would continue to use this space to benefit the community.”

The city asks in the lawsuit for Oakland County Circuit Court to issue an injunction between The Community House and its potential sale on grounds that it would violate deed restrictions and court orders.

“A private sale would permanently terminate the property’s nearly 100-year role as a public, nonprofit community center and would irreversibly extinguish the public’s beneficial interest, which is harm that cannot be remedied by monetary damages or subsequent litigation,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit was filed eight days after Birmingham Mayor Clinton Baller announced at a city commissioners’ meeting that the commission “will use each and every available means” to keep the building “a community asset.” The commission was scheduled to discuss the city’s lawsuit in closed session during its Monday meeting.

For more than a century, The Community House has hosted debates, served as a gathering place and has provided programs, events and partnerships with other nonprofits. a lawsuit on Nov. 25 “to enforce deed restrictions” that it alleges require the building “to be held exclusively as a community center for use by the residents.”

By Jennifer Pignolet, jpignolet@detroitnews.com

The three newest additions to the Detroit Zoo are working on their roars.

The zoo on Monday announced the birth of three healthy African lion cubs to 9-year-old lioness mom Amirah and dad Kalu.

“As a first-time mom, she has been wonderfully calm, attentive and nurturing, spending her days bonding closely with her little ones in a cozy, quiet den,” the Detroti Zoo said in an announcement.

A fourth cub was stillborn, the statement said, a “natural part of life for many wild species.”

The healthy cubs were born Nov. 23 and 24.

“African lions are vulnerable to extinction and endangered in some regions due to habitat loss, declining prey, disease and human-wildlife conflict,” the zoo said. “Welcoming these cubs is not only heartwarming — it’s a meaningful milestone in the Detroit Zoo’s commitment to conservation and the future of this iconic species.”

Amirah and her cubs will remain in their den away from the public for the time being, the zoo said. The other members of the pride, Kalu and Asha, will be free to roam in and out of their outdoor habitat during this period. The zoo said it anticipates it will be a few months before guests are able to view the cubs, when they are more mobile and able to roam larger spaces.

“We can’t wait to share more updates, photos and milestones as this joyful new chapter unfolds!” the zoo said.

The announcement comes less than a week after the zoo announced the birth of a baby giraffe.

By Melissa Nann Burke, mburke@detroitnews.com

Washington ― U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin has been assigned around-the-clock police protection, her office said, following calls by President Donald Trump on Thursday morning that the Michigan lawmaker should be arrested and possibly put to death over a video that she made with other Democrats.

Slotkin told NBC News that she has received “hundreds and hundreds, if not, you know, closer to 1,000 threats” since the video first picked up traction in the news earlier in the week and then Trump suggested on Thursday that her message was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

Now, a U.S. Capitol Police officer is following Slotkin around everywhere she goes to ensure her safety, her office said late Thursday.

The Holly Democrat had posted online the video recording of Democratic veterans in Congress on Tuesday. The video features Slotkin and five other lawmakers who contended that the Trump administration is pitting the uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against U.S. citizens, and urged them not to follow unspecified illegal orders: “Don’t give up the ship.”

Trump accuses Slotkin, other Democrats of ‘seditious behavior, punishable by death’

Trump lashed out at the Democratic lawmakers on Thursday in a torrent of posts on his Truth Social platform.

“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL,” Trump wrote. “Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”

The second-term Republican president followed up with other posts about the Democratic lawmakers: “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, told reporters Thursday that he’d requested extra security for Slotkin and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who was also in the video. Schumer railed against Trump’s language toward the lawmakers on the Senate floor, saying the president’s language “is an outright threat, and it’s deadly serious.”

“When Donald Trump uses the language of execution and treason, some of his supporters may very well listen,” Schumer said.

The other Democrats in the video with Slotkin besides Kelly were U.S. Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire.

Trump’s social media comments suggesting Slotkin and the other Democratic lawmakers could face execution for their remarks prompted the president’s spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, to argue the lawmakers had encouraged service members “to defy the President’s lawful orders.”

At a White House briefing Thursday with reporters, Leavitt said “no” when asked whether the president wants members of Congress executed.

“The president expects his Cabinet officials in the administration to follow the law and to demand accountability and hold people accountable for their dangerous rhetoric,” Leavitt said. “And I would just add that if this were Republican members of Congress who were encouraging members of the military and members of our United States government to defy orders from the president and from the chain of command, this entire room would be up in arms. But instead, it is the other way around, and I think that’s quite telling.”

 

Saline quarterback Tommy Carr, the grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, has switched his college commitment to the Wolverines.

He had been committed to Miami of Ohio.

Carr (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) is ranked a three-star prospect by 247Sports. He is ranked the No. 7 player overall in Michigan in 2026 and the No. 29 quarterback nationally in the 2026 recruiting class.

Saline’s run in the Michigan high school football playoffs ended Friday night with a 42-28 loss to Detroit Cass Tech in a Division 1 regional final. Carr led Saline to a 10-2 record this season, passing for 2,797 yards and 37 touchdowns

Carr is the younger brother of Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr and the son of former Michigan QB Jason Carr.

Michigan’s 2026 recruiting class has 25 commitments and is ranked No. 10 nationally by 247Sports.