Some words seem designed to get under our skin. Maybe it’s because they’re overused, maybe because they remind us of a particular workplace, or maybe we just don’t like the way they sound. “Proactive” is one of those words for some people.
A listener named Irwin Weiss wrote to us about his dislike of it, prompted by something he heard from his local school superintendent. The school district had decided to reroute its buses around a bridge that’s in poor shape, even though the government says the bridge is safe and hasn’t closed it. The superintendent explained that the district was acting “proactively in advance.”
That phrasing caught Weiss’s attention. And for good reason: “proactively in advance” is redundant. If you’re doing something proactively, you’re already doing it in advance.
However, someone might add those extra words for emphasis. “Proactively in advance” really drives home the idea that the action happened before there was an immediate need to take it. "Proactive” itself isn’t redundant. Someone can be active without anticipating a future problem or need. Being proactive means taking action rather than waiting to react.
The word also has a longer history than its corporate-jargon reputation might suggest. It originated in psychology in the 1930s, in the phrase “proactive inhibition,” and by the 1950s had broadened to describe people or actions that anticipate problems and take initiative.
To hear more about how “proactive” went from a psychology term to a staple of the business world, and why some people find it so irritating, listen to the audio above.
The Avon Players Community Theatre 2026 production of <i>Come From Away</i> in Rochester Hills, Michigan.(Bryan Clifford / Avon Players Community Theatre)
Michiganders are part of many stories about September 11, 2001.
One of the lesser-known stories of 9/11 is coming to theaters across Michigan. A remarkable confluence is happening on stages from Southeast to West Michigan, up north to the Thumb. Come From Away, by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, is a musical about the town of Gander, Newfoundland, where 38 airplanes carrying thousands of travelers from all over the world diverted the morning of 9/11. No fewer than seven theaters chose to stage the production this month, with more coming in October, November, and next spring.
Cynthia Kortman Westphal was musical director for the show’s first national tour, after its successful run on Broadway. She now chairs Musical Theater at the University of Michigan’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. She’s also helping direct a student production of the show next month. Kortman Westphal was living in Manhattan in 2001. When producers first approached her, she felt deep reservations. But within five minutes of watching the New York production, she was convinced.
“What I love about the script and the score,” Kortman Westphal told us, “is that so much of the text is from the actual transcripts of interviews the writers did with the folks in Gander. … So much of the dialogue is actually what people said.”
Come From Away is a Tony-award-winning story of briskly-paced first- and second-person oral histories. Some characters represent citizens of Gander, who saw their town’s population more than double, as the “plane people” arrived over a matter of hours. Others are travelers themselves: fearful, frustrated, and almost all emotionally adrift.
Stagecrafters' 2026 production of <i>Come From Away</i>, in Royal Oak, Michigan.(Anthony Morrow, Bureau, Detroit. / Stagecrafters)
As the people of Gander reach out to house, feed, and care for the strangers, their stories entwine in surreal and unexpected ways.
“At its most core level, it's about human kindness, humanity at its best under extremely difficult circumstances,” said Kortman Westphal. “It really is about casseroles and sandwiches and toilet paper and blankets and toothpaste and diapers and cat food.”
The production's Newfoundland setting is well represented in its score, drawing heavily from the province’s Irish, English, and Scottish roots. Many Michigan theaters are tapping in live performers from regional Celtic music communities.
“One thing I really love,” Kortman Westphal said, “is … the musicians are not only on stage for the entire show, but at times they come out from behind their instruments. They come onto the stage, they become the bar band.”
While no single written work can encompass the range of experiences 9/11 imposed, Come From Away speaks to a remarkable range of memorable people, drawn together under duress. Kortman Westphal recalls one of her favorite memories of the tour was speaking to audience members about their own stories.
“Everybody has some story of where they were that day.”
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks after the signing of an oil agreement between the US and Venezuela at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)(Pedro Mattey/AP Photo/Pedro Mattey / AP)
In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region and used emergency powers to keep it operating. Environmental groups and three states — Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota — went to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the states and the groups, saying there was no real emergency under the law.
The section of the Federal Power Act that allows emergency orders “is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop," Appeals Court Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel.
By reversing the Campbell plant's “long and carefully planned retirement ... the results are disruptive," Pillard wrote. There was “no ‘emergency’ within the meaning” of the statute, she added.
The Michigan case is one of several legal disputes that have emerged across the country as the Trump administration uses emergency powers to force a half-dozen coal-fired plants from closing. The orders are raising ratepayer bills, critics say, and adding air and water pollution that could otherwise have been avoided.
Keeping the Michigan plant open cost at least $135 million in 2025 alone, officials said.
Ted Kelly, U.S. clean energy director at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the court ruling rejected the Trump administration’s nationwide effort to force “unreliable, aging coal plants that are bleeding money and polluting communities to stay online.”
The Energy Department's “unlawful actions attempted to make families and businesses in the Midwest wastefully pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a coal plant that should have been shut down over a year ago,” Kelly said Friday. The Campbell plant and other aging sites are “incredibly expensive, dangerous to our health and break down frequently,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy issued a statement that included unsubstantiated claims.
"The Energy Department's emergency orders, including at Campbell, prevented blackouts and likely saved hundreds of lives during peak capacity events this past year. The Energy Department’s emergency orders were essential for keeping the lights on during Winter Storm Fern," the spokesperson said.
The statement continued, "At the peak of the storm, coal generation in impacted regions increased 25% compared to the same time last year. In Michigan, the J.H. Campbell Coal Plant in Michigan operated at over 650 MW every day between January 21-February 1. Rest assured, the Department of Energy will continue to protect and defend energy security for all Americans."
Michael Lenoff, an attorney with Earth Justice, one of the groups that sued the Energy Department on the issue, said the department's claims about prevented blackouts and saved lives are demonstrably false, based on data from the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator – the regional electric grid that includes Michigan.
"At the most grid-stressed times during Winter Storm Fern, Summer 2025, and Summer 2026, MISO had unused available excess generation far exceeding the amount of power being supplied by the coal plants subject to [DOE] orders," he said.
Lenoff also disputed that keeping Campbell operational is necessary for grid reliability. In fact, it's the opposite, he said.
"Campbell’s output since the orders began on May 23, 2025, demonstrates its unreliability and the dangers to grid reliability of relying on old coal plants. For instance, on June 23, 2025, the grid’s most stressed day that summer, Campbell Unit 1 suddenly dropped offline in the middle of the day. Meanwhile, Campbell Unit 2 was already offline that day, had been offline since May 23, and has barely been able to stay online during the entire term of the 202(c) orders."
The Department of Energy did not say if it will appeal the vacating of its original order to the U.S. Supreme Court.
There is another factor that could keep the dispute from being resolved for some time. The Court of Appeals order applies only to the DOE's first order in the Campbell plant case. Subsequent orders – the most recent of which was issued less than a month ago – have renewed the directive that Consumers Energy keep the plant running. Lenoff said if the DOE does not rescind those orders, his and other groups will sue again.
In a statement, Consumers said the plant is still running while it reviews the court ruling.
"While that happens, we are continuing to comply with the current 90-day Department of Energy order that keeps the Campbell plant operating. Ultimately, we will follow the law and work to ensure that everyone who benefits from power from the Campbell plant across the Midwest pays their fair share."
Editor's note: Consumers Energy is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
The emerald ring gifted to writer Kathy Gibbons by the owner of Lehto's Pasties.(Kathy Gibbons)
Last week, we took a crash course on the history of the pasty: a savory pocket of dough filled with beef, potato, and rutabaga. The dish has become distinctly regional food in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Today, we shared the story of one particular recipe that made its way into thousands of homes, and the writer that helped make it happen.
Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood (19) reaches but is short of the goal line pylon as Western Michigan safety Kouri Crump (26) makes the tackle the during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026, in Ann Arbor, Mich.(Paul Sancya / AP)
The University of Michigan is facing a federal lawsuit for alleged hazing within the Michigan men’s hockey program.
In football, the NCAA has announced a clarification of the rules for timekeeping after the controversial end to a game between Michigan and Western Michigan University.
For more on those stories and other sports news, Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined host Doug Tribou on Morning Edition.
Doug Tribou: In a new federal lawsuit, 16 former members of the University of Michigan men's hockey team say they were subjected to sexualized hazing that bordered on torture. The lawsuit was first reported by TheDetroit Free Press. The alleged abuse happened between 1984 and 2001.
In a statement, the university said it "denies that it is any way responsible or liable for the claims alleged" and notes that it enacted an anti-hazing policy in 1982. What stands out to you about this suit and the response?
John U. Bacon: Well, a few things. One, sad to say, hazing has been — or was — endemic to the sport of hockey for decades at the NHL level, at the college level, even the high school level. So some of this does not surprise me. Some of it does.
Michigan, of course, as you said, has pushed back entirely. I am surprised to hear in the claim from the litigants that they tried to reach out to Michigan, and Michigan would not respond — in other words, try to settle or something. That surprises me.
And I do want to be clear here: Although hazing was very common in hockey circles for many decades, it doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it legal. So, what happens next remains to be seen.
DT: And a note here that since the lawsuit became public, former Michigan hockey head coach Red Berenson has denied that he or any of his coaching staff were involved in the hazing. He acknowledged that staff members were aware that players had hazing rituals for other players.
Turning to other sports news, Week 1 college football games often get a lot of attention, but the Michigan-Western Michigan game on Saturday is already a leading contender to become the most hashed-and-rehashed game of 2026.
As many of our listeners are already well aware, the referees said there was one second left after a play that appeared to end the game with the Broncos ahead. Then, in that one second, Michigan scored and won the game. The NCAA has since clarified that the in-stadium clock is the official clock — which the refs did not use in their decision — but Michigan’s victory will stand. What do you make of all this?
JUB: Well, it barely matters what I make of all this, Doug, because we'll be talking about this again next week, I guarantee you. I've often joked about not turning a one-day story into a two-day story. This will be a two-week story, I'm sure.
A few things have come out. One, the NCAA has since clarified that the in-stadium clock is the official clock, as you said. Okay, great. They should have told the referees that before the game on Saturday, because apparently there are two clocks they're working off of. One is the stadium clock that we can all see, the one you see on TV. And then there's the super-secret double-probation clock that apparently the referees actually use. And that one had a second left on it. So that one is going to be cleared up, I think, in the future.
But what it also clarifies here, Doug, is that right now nobody's in charge of college athletics. Who's making the rules? The Big Ten, the NCAA, the various conferences, etc.? It's a big mess, of course, and although Michigan will be credited with the win, it has to go down as the least satisfying Michigan victory of all time.
DT:John, I keep thinking about how millions upon millions of fans in stadiums and at home, and even coaches and players have assumed in-stadium clocks were the official clocks. That's why everybody's looking up at the scoreboard during the game...
JUB: [Laughs] Suckers!
DT: [Laughs] Well, John, before the game against Western Michigan, the Wolverines were ranked 16th in the nation. In the latest Associated Press poll, Michigan is unranked. And on Saturday they’ll host Oklahoma at noon at the Big House. The Sooners are ranked 11th in the country. How do you like Michigan’s chances?
JUB: How about not good, Doug? [Laughs] Because even though they are credited with the victory, that was a pretty horrible performance for a first game against a very good MAC team, it must be said. But it's still a MAC team. And offense, defense, not much was working very well. [Michigan quarterback] Bryce Underwood did not look any better than he did last year. So right now the point spread is 5.5, favoring Oklahoma. That strikes me as very low.
DT: Michigan State is coming off a 30-20 win over Toledo. Now the Spartans will host Eastern Michigan Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in East Lansing. What does Michigan State need to work on in its second straight game against a Mid-American Conference opponent?
JUB: Well, they're truly rebuilding under Pat Fitzgerald, their new coach. They looked better against Toledo last weekend. They'll have to look better again against Eastern Michigan, a very well-coached team by Chris Creighton. I've been amazed that he's not been picked up by bigger colleges than EMU. He's done a very good job there where it's historically very hard to win. But it's basically all the fundamentals: don't let a MAC team hang around longer than you have to; watch the football, of course; and try to finish your drives. Very fundamental stuff.
DT: The Lions will open their 2026 regular season on Sunday afternoon when they host the Saints at Ford Field. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. The Saints are coming off a rough six-win season. The Lions had a winning season in 2025, but missed the playoffs. What will you be watching for in Week 1?
JUB: Well, is it last year's team or is it the year before? The year before they had a real run at a Super Bowl. Last year, of course, they basically fell apart, in part due to injuries, it must be said. But this is really, I think, a telling season for both Jared Goff, the quarterback for the Lions, and Dan Campbell, the head coach. If they make a playoff run, they'll keep rebuilding for the future. If they don't, they might have to tear it all apart. Kind of like the oh, I don't know, Tigers, Red Wings and pretty much every other team here in this state.
DT: [Laughs] The Pistons are in better shape! The Pistons shouldn't get lumped in there.
JUB: [Laughs] When does that season start, Doug? I forget.
Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can play the full audio of the interview near the top of this page.
The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Yousef Rabhi speaks at a forum June 24, 2026.(Edith Pendell / Michigan Public)
Ann Arbor tends to be the most progressive outlier in Michigan politics. The Democrats who run Ann Arbor are fully aware of this, and their hope for the midterms is to get their message to appeal to a majority of voters statewide. Republicans, however, are working to paint progressive democrats as extreme as they defend an increasingly unpopular president.
“I've always believed that Ann Arbor is uniquely positioned in the state to be a leader sometimes, we feel like we're an island surrounded by, you know, the rest of the county, the rest of the state,” said Yousef Rabhi, who won the Democratic primary in the race to be Mayor of Ann Arbor. “And, you know, we think of our highway boundary almost as like a moat or a wall. And I really, you know, one of the things I really want to try to do as mayor of Ann Arbor is to break that down.”
Rabhi is a democratic socialist who beat Ann Arbor’s incumbent Mayor Chris Taylor. He’s part of an emerging generation of democratic socialists and progressives challenging their party’s establishment base. And those new progressive Democrats are increasingly finding success in communities outside of Ann Arbor.
In Michigan’s Seventh Congressional District, which includes Lansing, progressive William Lawrence beat moderate candidates to become the Democratic Party challenger to Republican Representative Tom Barrett. In the Michigan US Senate Democratic primary race, progressive Abdul El-Sayed beat the more centrist Haley Stevens. The question for Democrats is whether progressives can make their politics work in a purple state like Michigan, famous for its razor thin margins?
Washtenaw County GOP Chair Jason Rogers doesn’t think so. He is campaigning for the District 15 seat in the Michigan State Senate against Democrat Felicia Brabec.
“Republicans remain the real big-tent party for those left behind by the Democrats’ radical turn,” said Rogers.
The Democratic Socialists of America support policies like the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Recent polls show there is a growing population of voters who like those policies.
Pew Research found that about a third of American Democrats like candidates who self-identify as democratic socialists. And a CNBC poll found that almost half of 18-to-34 year olds see democratic socialism positively. Rabhi says some voters are going for farther left candidates because those candidates have a clear vision for a better future.
“What we're seeing right now is a moment in the Democratic Party where you know, folks are demanding better from their leaders, from the people that have been in office, you know, for a long time,” Rabhi said. “And I think that what I'm hearing time and time again is that people want solutions. They want bold leadership.”
Christopher Taylor has been Ann Arbor’s mayor for more than a decade. He disagrees that there is a major shift in the Democratic electorate, and says he lost because of a variety of factors.
“Certainly elements within the Democratic Party are increasingly sensitive to corporate power, but that's always been a constituency,” Taylor said
Moderate Democrats worry that candidates like Rabhi can’t win elections against the GOP statewide because their policies seem too extreme to most Americans. That’s not a problem for Rabhi himself, who almost certainly will win the November election in Ann Arbor.
But other progressive candidates face constant questions about electability. El-Sayed has said that he does not identify as a socialist. Taylor declined to comment on races outside of Ann Arbor, but expects that the GOP will continue to define socialism as an un-American threat.
“The Republican Party's electoral strategy is based on fear tactics and misrepresentation, and I expect that to be in full force come November,” Taylor said.
Rogers says these progressive candidates are extreme and they are a threat to the American republic. But Rabhi argues that policies like the ones he and El-Sayed support aren’t extreme. He says they’re American values in the tradition of FDR’s New Deal, and actually very basic necessities.
That sounds different from his earlier argument that voters want someone with a bold vision. But Rabhi says in this political climate, advocating for affordability and against corporate interests has become bold.
“Frankly, I think that message resonates whether you're a Democrat, or Independent, or a Republican. And that's why I think that these candidates can and will win come November,” Rabhi said.
Polling in the US Senate Race remains tight, but one MSU poll shows El-Sayed five points ahead of Republican nominee of Mike Rogers. According to another average of five polls done by 270ToWin, an election poll tracker website, El-Sayed is currently leading Rogers by an average of five points.
Rabhi plans to campaign for other Democratic candidates between before the general election in November. It’s one way he feels he can break down that wall between Ann Arbor and the rest of the state.
“This election isn't just about supporting, you know, the progressive candidates that won their primaries, but it's also supporting, you know, the whole Democratic slate. We have a broad and diverse slate of candidates who are running," he said.
The Broadway play Come from Away takes place in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada starting on September 11, 2001. It is based on real-life events when 38 planes, carrying close to 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on actual Gander residents and the stranded travelers they housed and fed in their small town.
The show is brilliant, funny, and moving. But one thing that it does particularly well is capture the enormous outpouring of goodwill the United States and the people of the United States received in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Our friends and allies rallied to our aid to support and, in some cases, sustain us.
And what have we done with that goodwill? Well, honestly, we certainly didn't build on it. In fact, in the past 21 months, the current administration has actively set about destroying it. Don't believe me? Ask our (possibly now former) friends and allies.
And here we are 25 years later — a cranky old barfly full of regrets but tragically incapable of recognizing how those regrets came to be. What was marketed as America First is in reality America Only.
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
The Michigan Senate resurrected nine bills Thursday that Governor Gretchen Whitmer vetoed earlier this summer.
The Senate had passed each of the policies at least once before, over a year and a half ago, during the last legislative term. The House approved the legislation at that time too. Both were under Democratic control, but they failed to transmit the bills to the Democratic governor before the end of the term.
Then, when Republicans took control of the House the following term, the House continued to sit on the bills rather than deliver them to the governor, sparking a drawn-out legal fight that the Democratic-controlled Senate ultimately won.
Whitmer vetoed the bills the same day as the Senate’s state Supreme Court victory. She cited concerns about timing and logistics, including date references that had already passed.
Now, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said it’s time to try getting the bills to the governor once more.
“She’s clearly called to have these bills to be returned to her desk once again. We’re taking her at her word on that, and we, of course, have felt that this was an important policy priority to get done,” Brinks told reporters after the votes Thursday.
Brinks said she believed the governor should have signed the bills instead of vetoing them.
While many of the bills passed Thursday along party lines, some Republicans did support a package that would give corrections and conservation workers access to the state police pension system.
Supporters argued it would be a way of fixing dire staffing shortages at the state’s prisons.
State Senator Thomas Albert (R-Lowell), however, was skeptical.
“To think that an employee is going to gut out 20 years or more at a job that mandates overtime and does not pay well relative to jobs with significantly less risk for a pension alone is an oversimplification,” Albert said from the Senate floor.
Other policies would lower healthcare premiums for state employees, allow new funding mechanisms for some Detroit museums, and strengthen wage garnishment protections for people in debt.
State Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) sponsored the wage garnishment bill. He said Michigan’s current laws let debt collectors take too much.
“We allow debt collector to even seize, not just tax returns but also the Earned Income Tax Credit, unlike most other states,” Irwin said during a floor speech.
State Sen. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater) opposed the bill, saying it would “arbitrarily” shield people from paying debts.
“It’s going to hurt our small businesses. It’s going to hurt the people that would be the recipients of collecting that money,” Lindsey said.
The bills are likely to stall out in the Michigan House, where Speaker Matt Hall is already casting doubt about their future.
“Democrats have had two years to bring these bills back and negotiate with me after they blew it, but they chose to wait and pull a campaign stunt,” Hall said in a written statement.
“I’m the best dealmaker in Lansing, and they could have come to me anytime," Hall said. "If Democrats actually want these bills to move, they need to be ready to make a real deal on our plans to eliminate state property taxes, lower electric rates, and create the health care cost review board. Democrats want to play politics with these bills, but I’m more interested in passing major reforms that actually lower people’s costs.”
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Some education advocates in Michigan urged Governor Gretchen Whitmer Thursday to decline participation in a new federal tax credit for making donations to scholarship programs.
Starting next year, people can qualify for a new tax credit, up to $1,700, if they donate to an pre-approved scholarship program for K through 12 students.
Families that are eligible to receive those scholarships must be at or below 300% of the area's median gross income.
Pamela Pugh, the president of the State Board of Education in Michigan, said the overwhelming majority of schools that have scholarship programs are private, so it's likely that's where most of the money would go.
And because the income limit for scholarship recipients is generous, private schools could be in a better position to gain students, at the expense of public schools.
Pugh said the tax credit is really a voucher program, designed to weaken public schools by transferring tax dollars to more affluent families to lower the cost of attending private schools.
"So instead of asking, 'how can public schools get a piece of a voucher money,' we should be asking, 'why aren't we fully funding the public schools that educate our children in the first place,'" she said.
The nonpartisan congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the tax credit could reduce federal revenue by about $26 billion over 10 years.
The Michigan Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, also opposes opting into the program.
The group said public schools are unlikely to be able to get any of the scholarship funds, since by law, they already provide essential services at no cost.
"For public schools to see any significant revenue as a provider of eligible services under the federal voucher program, they would need to begin charging fees to students for services not mandated by state law. Doing so is incompatible with the mission, purpose, and role of public schools in our communities," the MEA said in a statement.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer said she is waiting to obtain full guidance from the U.S. Treasury before making a decision on opting in.
Republican leaders and Trump administration officials have been pushing her to join the program for months.
Republican gubernatorial candidate John James, a metro Detroit congressman, supports the tax credit.
"I want to make sure our parents have the resources they need and opting into the Education Freedom tax credit is priority one for me,” he told reporters last week.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, currently Michigan's secretary of state, said in a statement that she is open to any policy that gets more resources into state schools.
"But let’s be clear," the statement continues, "Donald Trump is not being transparent about where the money from this program will go or how it will improve educational outcomes. As governor, I can’t commit taxpayer dollars to a program under Trump’s control with zero transparency or assurance it will deliver for Michigan students. That’s reckless and irresponsible."
Benson's statement added she is highly skeptical of the program's design and intent.
“The Trump administration has not even released final guidance for the implementation of this program, and frankly everything we’ve seen from this administration tells us we cannot simply take them at their word when it comes to doing right by our students, parents, and teachers."
The Gordie Howe International Bridge pictured in November 2025.(Courtesy Photo / Gordie Howe International Bridge)
As the nation pauses to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Michigan’s border crossings with Canada will temporarily close.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the Gordie Howe Bridge, the Ambassador Bridge, the Blue Water Bridge, the International Bridge in Sault Ste. Marie and the Detroit-Windsor tunnel will be closed briefly around 9 a.m.
The agency said the crossings will close for approximately 30 minutes, while ceremonies including the playing of taps and a moment of silence are observed.
The agency said normal operations will resume immediately after ceremonies are concluded, though the closings are expected to cause some residual delays as border traffic resumes.
Today, Western Michigan University president Russ Kavalhuna reflected on the controversial outcome of the Bronco's game against the Michigan Wolverines. The game represented an important chance for both teams to get an early season win. It also was a key revenue opportunity for Western’s athletic department, which received more than $1 million for playing a Big-10 team.
We also talk with Rick Williams, an artist widely known in Detroit’s sneaker world as a designer, entrepreneur, and co-founder of the Burn Rubber boutique. He's also a musician and tap dancer. Design and dance come together in his new project, Introducing Metal Feet.
And, an anthropologist who studies vaccine hesitancy talked about trends in vaccination rates. Today, Grand Valley State University’s Kristin Hedges tells us why the number of children attending school with a vaccine waiver is the highest it's been since 2013.
Plus, a story from Harvest Public Media explored why many farmers are choosing to fix their old tractors rather than buying new equipment.
GUESTS:
Russ Kavalhuna, president of Western Michigan University
Rick Williams, Detroit-based artist, designer, and musician
Kristin Hedges, associate professor of anthropology at Grand Valley State University; co-chair of the Society for Medical Anthropology Special Interest Group Anthropological Responses to Health Emergencies (ARHE)
Emma George-Griffin, reporter for WCMU Public Radio
It might not feel like fall quite yet, but football season is officially upon us! Whether you’re looking for a game to attend or looking for ways to completely avoid the sport, Michigan Public has you covered. We’ve gathered some of our favorite events from across Michigan this weekend. Check out these fun, interesting, and timely events, handpicked from event calendars by Michigan Public.
Planning to go to any of these events this weekend? Let us know how much you enjoyed it by emailing digital@michiganpublic.org.
The 1996 University of Michigan men's ice hockey team, posed with trophies.(Robert Kalmbach / Bentley Historical Library)
Sixteen former University of Michigan hockey players have filed a lawsuit against the university claiming the Ann Arbor school’s hockey program adopted sexualized abuse as part of its standard hazing traditions.
The lawsuit covers the years 1984 to 2001.
The complaint filed in federal court alleges the hazing included forced shaving of genitals, tying men’s testicles to hockey helmets or buckets weighted with hockey pucks, simulated sex acts, threatened outright sexual assault, and in some cases, anal penetration.
Some of the victims of the alleged abuse were as young as 17 years old according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges longtime head coach Red Berenson not only knew about the sexualized hazing, but also directed and facilitated it for years. Berenson is a legend in college hockey, with the 4th most wins in NCAA history and two national championships.
He is in both the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.
Berenson acknowledged hazing in the hockey program in 2012.
The complaint filed in federal court in Detroit states:
“Coaching staff, many of whom were former players, knew of the abuse and took no action to stop it. Some coaching staff stopped by each year to observe the shaving and genital tying ritual. When one player reported the abuse and sought help from then-Assistant Coach Mel Pearson, Pearson replied, “keep your head down, don’t piss them off, and just get through it.”
Pearson served as Assistant Coach from 1988-2011 and then Head Coach from 2017 to 2022.
The suit is seeking unspecified damages against the Regents of the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan, for Sex and Gender Discrimination in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 which prohibits sex discrimination in education, including discrimination in the form of sexual hazing.
In a statement, a university spokesperson described the allegations in the complaint as “disturbing," but said "many elements of the complaint are misleading.”
"The university denies that it is any way responsible or liable for the claims alleged," the statement continued.
The University of Michigan has had an anti-hazing policy since 1982.
Editor's note: U of M holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
A crowd at a town hall meeting hosted by the University of Michigan listens to audience questions and a panel's answers about a proposed research computing center in Ypsilanti Township.( University of Michigan on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlexIlb50Ms" target="_blank" link-data="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000179-84c8-d933-ad7f-f5f846b10000","_type":"ae3387cc-b875-31b7-b82d-63fd8d758c20"},"cms.content.publishDate":1789022851460,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-95e3-dada-a9ff-fdeb3d1e0000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.content.updateDate":1789022851460,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-95e3-dada-a9ff-fdeb3d1e0000","_type":"6aa69ae1-35be-30dc-87e9-410da9e1cdcc"},"cms.directory.paths":[],"anchorable.showAnchor":false,"link":{"cms.directory.paths":[],"attributes":[],"linkText":"YouTube","target":"NEW","attachSourceUrl":false,"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlexIlb50Ms","_id":"000001a0-8a12-d9db-afe3-8f973e6f0000","_type":"ff658216-e70f-39d0-b660-bdfe57a5599a"},"_id":"000001a0-8a12-d9db-afe3-8f973e6f0001","_type":"809caec9-30e2-3666-8b71-b32ddbffc288"}">YouTube</a>)
The University of Michigan said it wanted to begin a dialogue with Ypsilanti Township residents at Wednesday night's town hall meeting, to discuss its proposed "advanced research center," in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory.
That dialogue did not take place.
Instead, a hostile crowd cursed, harangued, and insulted the five U of M officials on the panel, which also included an official from DTE Energy, to express their anger and fear about what they say is a data center by a different name.
U of M Professor of Engineering Steven Ceccio is the project lead for the center. Through a barrage of interruptions, he attempted to explain why the university feels the facility is needed, and why the industrial site near a local Ford plant was chosen.
Ceccio said the facility would only be about 1/10 the size of the mega data center in nearby Saline Township; it would focus on research that could spur dramatic improvements in clean energy and cancer treatments. And he said the project is working on a way to cool the facility without drawing water directly from the Huron River.
Residents demanded specific details, such as how much noise the facility would make, which the panelists said they did not know yet. Audience members at the town hall said the site had Native American remains on it, that the University is destroying its reputation in the area, and that property values, water and air quality, and quality of life in nearby residential areas would plummet.
One after another, residents demanded, or begged, the university to scrap the plan.
Many accused the panelists of lying. Karen Lovejoy-Roe, an Ypsilanti Township Board member, said the university initially misrepresented the project to her and other board members. She said the university is disrespecting a historically hardscrabble, working class community.
"We don't want it here," she said. "We don't need it here. Our children, our grandchildren, we've been hurt enough."
Ypsilanti Township resident Shalina Nicohl Rankin asked Ceccio and the rest of the panel whether any of them had the authority to stop the project. She was told no — only the U of M Regents could do that.
"And you want to bring Los Alamos to our back yard, that's who you want to be in business with? You want to be part of the techno surveillance state?" she asked. "We want you to leave, and when you come back in October, bring the regents."
U of M officials allowed the meeting to be extended an extra hour, to allow those in line to express their feelings and ask questions. The university plans to hold a second townhall meeting on October 1.
Editor's note: The University of Michigan holds Michigan Public's broadcast license.
Michigan’s two major-party U.S. Senate candidates are clashing on how to improve education.
Republican former Congressman Mike Rogers is facing Democratic former public health official Abdul El-Sayed in November’s election to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Gary Peters.
Wednesday in Pontiac, Rogers pointed to recent data showing less than 40% of Michigan third graders are reading at their grade level.
“It’s not just Pontiac, it’s not just Detroit. It’s everywhere. Can’t read at the fourth-grade level. Start doing the math. That is a disaster,” Rogers told reporters.
To address the problem, Rogers says he would channel federal money into programs teaching phonics skills.
El-Sayed’s campaign hit back at Rogers.
“Mike Rogers is being bankrolled by Betsy DeVos, and he’s doing her bidding to defund public education by supporting vouchers, cutting jobs for teachers,” said campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak.
Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at a rally at the University of Michigan on August 26, 2026.( C-SPAN)
Some liberal Jewish faith leaders have called for Michigan Democrats and the party’s U.S. Senate nominee to do more to be a welcoming community for Jews who have felt alarmed by recent rhetoric.
Nonnegotiable Michigan says it wants Abdul El-Sayed to be more conscious of how he criticizes Israel and its American lobby.
Rabbi Josh Whinston, at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor, said using terms like “bloodthirsty” to describe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government plays into antisemitic stereotypes.
“There are people he could influence, that would do us harm because of those kinds of comments, that do not make the distinction that he’s trying to make between Israel and the Jews. People do not hear that on the far ends of the spectrum,” Josh Whinston said during a press conference announcing the coalition.
Nonnegotiable Michigan has five points they want the Michigan Democratic Party and the El-Sayed campaign to commit to. The group wants Democratic leaders to be to be more forceful about supporting Jewish safety, self-definition, sovereignty in Israel, rights to political participation, and “a better future for the Middle East.”
Congregation Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Aaron Starr said he’s concerned about how often Israel is criticized compared to other nations.
“When the only Jewish state in the entire world ... a tiny sliver of the Middle East ... is singled out, as opposed to all the bad actors in the entire world, we can’t help but hear antisemitism,” Starr said.
Nonnegotiable Michigan is supported by the Zioness Action Fund, the campaign arm of a group formed for progressive Jews who also identify as Zionist.
The new coalition echoes 2024’s Uncommitted Movement, which called for then-President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to end their support for Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza. El-Sayed supported the movement, though he later endorsed Harris for president.
While Uncommitted called for pro-Palestine activists to have a greater voice within the party, Whinston said he wants Nonnegotiable Michigan to keep Jews from being left out.
Whinston said he’s not asking El-Sayed to compromise his beliefs.
“Broaden the tent, Dr. El-Sayed. That’s what I’m asking. Broaden the tent, find a way to thread this needle. Be in communication with us and let’s figure this out together. It will be important,” Whinston said in an interview Wednesday.
El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon. But he has recently tried to smooth over relationships with some Jewish Democrats who voted against him during the party’s primary election last month.
El-Sayed, a Muslim former public health official who has said his family has faced prejudice for their faith, has also said often that he cares about Jewish safety like that of his own daughters. He recently met with Jewish community leaders and apologized for past comments some found hurtful.
Republican John James slammed Democrat Jocelyn Benson’s running of the Michigan Secretary of State office.He cited hundreds of non-citizens turning up on state voter rolls and thousands of misprinted drivers’ licenses.(Steve Carmody / Michigan Public )
Democrats and Republicans are hurling allegations of incompetence and questionable decisions at each other’s candidate for Michigan governor.
Congressman John James and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are locked in a tight race to succeed outgoing Governor Gretchen Whitmer in November’s general election.
Republican James slammed Democrat Benson’s performance as Secretary of State Wednesday, pointing to thousands of misprinted drivers’ licenses and hundreds of non-U.S. citizens that a state audit found had been on Michigan’s voter rolls before being canceled.
“It is either incompetence, corruption, or both, and either one is disqualifying to be the governor of the state of Michigan,” said James.
Benson’s campaign defended her record as Secretary of State, claiming she has cut wait times at branch offices and made Michigan a national model for secure, transparent elections.
“For the past eight years, Jocelyn Benson has proved she knows how to fix broken systems, “said Benson Press Secretary Rajan Srinivasan.
As for the misprinted driver's licenses, the campaign blamed a third party vendor for the error. Pointing out the Secretary of State office identified the error, corrected it, and has sent out new IDs.
Democratic Party officials in turn criticized James for allegedly failing to report scores of stock trades as required by federal law.
James "traded hundreds of stocks over his time in Congress and broke the law by failing to disclose 145 trades," said Michigan Democratic Party spokesman Derrick Honeyman.
"In June, his family bought stocks in Elon Musk’s SpaceX, even as James sits on a committee that oversees the company,” Honeyman said.
James dismissed the allegations, claiming they have previously been “debunked.”
“I never traded a single stock. But when I heard about it, we owned up to it. We went to ethics and now I’m in compliance,” said James.
In response to the recent backlash from the University of Michigan versus Western Michigan University football game last Saturday, the NCAA said it is implementing new guidelines to verify that all college football games will have a standard timing protocol.
In the memo, which was obtained by The Athletic reporters, said, "The official time for all college football games is the time displayed on the in-stadium game clock. When a replay review requires time to be restored or otherwise adjusted, the replay official's decision will be based on the embedded game clock contained within the program feed. If the broadcaster is unable to provide an embedded game clock, the replay official will use the game-clock graphic displayed as part of the broadcast feed. This timing protocol should be followed consistently at all institutions and game sites.”
Had this new policy been in place Saturday, based on the clock shown on the NBC broadcast, U of M wouldn’t have received additional play time, changing the outcome of the game and allowing the Broncos to win 12-7. Instead, with the addition of a second to the clock after time appeared to have expired, the Wolverines were able to complete a Hail Mary pass, giving them a 13-12 edge.
The Athletic reporter Austin Meek joined Stateside's April Baer to discuss the NCAA's new procedure.
"What this memo was clarifying is, what the [Mid-American Conference] said in its letter, is that the the protocol is actually to use what people have access to on TV, even if you have access to something more precise, because not everybody has access to that," Meek said.
"A lot of other conferences don't have access to this technology that the Big Ten has that allows them to get extremely precise and granular on that replay. And so for uniformity, I think this this memo was clarifying, 'let's use the technology that everybody has access to.' So the protocol is the same in all cases. And it's not different depending on what technology you have access to."
On the televised play, the ball was still in the air when the clock reached zero on the countdown. The extra second on the clock prevented WMU's upset win over U of M in what would have been, historically, their only victory against the university.
Two hours after the game, the Big Ten explained in a statement, which read: "It was determined [Western Michigan University defender Micah Davis] started his jump from an established out-of-bounds position and made contact with the ball with one second remaining on the clock. A side-by-side view of the play and the game clock, using a direct shot of the game clock in the stadium, was used to determine the final ruling."
Mid-American Conference Commissioner John A. Steinbrecher inquired Tuesday about the NCAA overturning the result, stating that the College Football Playoff selection committee should announce the Broncos as the "actual winner” in “its evaluation and deliberations.”
"I recognize that the Oversight Committee does not ordinarily alter results recorded on the field," Steinbrecher wrote in a letter to the NCAA. "Nevertheless, the circumstances of this game are extraordinary. The final outcome was directly affected by a replay officiating error resulting from the failure to follow an established and specific protocol governing precisely this type of end-of-half timing situation."
But the NCAA said that its football playing rules do not include a mechanism to overturn the outcome of a game. Also, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) oversight committee "does not have the authority" to reverse an outcome.
In the same email, the NCAA contends that it has no obligation to alter the official score or give Western the victory.
Meek said the NCAA has an obligation to viewers, though. “I do think that the public perception matters," Meek said. “And I think that there's no doubt that the public perception is very much on Western Michigan's side. Michigan may have won the game, but Western Michigan clearly won the battle of perception.”
He said while it's unlikely that the ruling gets overturned, WMU might get special consideration when it comes time for bowl games.
Meek said that the College Football Playoff Selection Committee may decide, for example, "We're going to give Western Michigan credit for that, or at least we're not going to penalize them for losing this game, when when we all saw that for all intents and purposes, they did win."
As for a lawsuit, Meeks says he doesn't think one will be filed.
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