A newly released tranche of Justice Department records tied to Jeffrey Epstein includes a handwritten letter addressed to Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused hundreds of young athletes over nearly two decades.
Unseasonably warm weather may be the forecast for late December, but once winter finally sets in, it will be ice fishing season. Anyone looking for one of the country’s best fishing spots need look no further than the mountains along the Front Range of Colorado — more specifically, Lake Granby.
That’s according to FishingBooker, a website that connects anglers with guiding companies and excursions across the U.S. The site recently named its top 10 ice fishing destinations, in no particular order, and Lake Granby was the sole Colorado locale to make the list.
Located at nearly 8,300 feet in elevation, Lake Granby offers alpine serenity as well as plenty of lake trout and kokanee salmon to make your fishing excursion both peaceful and invigorating, FishingBooker said.
“The lake’s clear waters and high elevation make for a picturesque outing, and the experience often feels like a true wilderness escape,” the site said. “Local guides and outfitters will also help ensure your time on the ice is both safe and successful.”
Plus, there’s more to do than just fishing, FishingBooker touted, from snowshoeing to relaxing at a mountain lodge. “The combination of solitude and natural beauty makes it a standout location,” it added.
Lake Granby was one of 10 places featured on FishingBooker’s list, alongside Green Bay in Wisconsin and Flathead Lake in Montana. See the full list here. If you’re a newbie to the sport, don’t forget to check out these tips before you go.
Andrea Perry of Leadville caught 18 inch rainbow trout at frozen Antero Reservoir with the assistance of George Mingus, a professional guide at Tumbling Trout Fly Shop, on Jan. 5, 2019.
The holiday season is the perfect time to get lost in a good mystery or thriller.
A particularly well-crafted one can take your mind off the stress that comes with the end of the year, and the books make great presents for friends and family (or for yourself — you deserve it). They’re also a staple of airport bookstores, so it’s easy to find one to keep you company on your next flight. (Maybe don’t pick a T.J. Newman novel in that particular circumstance, though.)
Finally, you’ve got a lot to choose from — we combed through a bunch of bestselling mysteries and thrillers published this year, and found 32 standouts.
You’re bound to find something to keep you on the edge of your seat.
British author Feeney is one of the most reliable thriller authors in the game. Her new book follows Grady Green, a London author whose wife, Abby, goes missing near a cliff; a year later, Grady goes to a small Scottish island, where he spots a woman who looks exactly like Abby — and then things get even weirder.
“Best Offer Wins” by Marisa Kashino
This darkly funny novel follows a publicist desperate to find a house in Washington, D.C., and who keeps losing bidding wars. When she finds the perfect home, she decides she’ll stop at nothing to get it. Kashino’s debut novel became a bestseller after being selected for the “Good Morning America” book club.
The 20th novel in Penny’s massively bestselling series of novels featuring Armand Gamache, a Quebec police inspector, sees the lawman and his associates discover a terrorist plot involving domestic terrorism and officials in high places.
L.A. author Clark’s third book featuring Trevor Finnegan, an ex-LAPD cop who now works as a private investigator, finds his hero trying to find out who killed his half-brother’s girlfriend in Malibu — and uncovering a large-scale conspiracy.
“The Dentist” by Tim Sullivan
In this novel, British filmmaker and author Sullivan introduces his readers to Detective Sergeant George Cross, an investigator who’s on the autism spectrum. Already a success in the U.K., the series launched in the U.S. in October and will continue rolling out books in 2026 (the follow-up, “The Cyclist,” is in stores in January with more coming in February, March and beyond).
“Count My Lies” by Sophie Stava
Southern California author Stava’s debut novel follows Sloane Caraway, a habitual fabulist who lies her way into a job as a nanny for a rich family, and discovers they might not be who they seem. Hulu is developing a limited series adaptation of the novel, starring Lindsay Lohan and Shailene Woodley.
“Dead Money” by Jakob Kerr
Lawyer and debut novelist Kerr drew on the 15 years he lived in San Francisco for this novel, which follows Mackenzie Clyde, a problem solver who works for a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and who tries to solve the murder of a tech startup CEO.
The latest novel from prolific British author Jewell hit the No. 1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list. It follows three women who are drawn into the orbit of a handsome, mysterious man who might be harboring dark secrets.
“Don’t Open Your Eyes” by Liv Constantine
Constantine is actually the pen name for two sisters, Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine, and their debut novel, “The Last Mrs. Parrish,” is in the works as a film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jennifer Lopez. Their latest novel follows Annabelle Reynolds, a woman with a good life who is beset by nightmares that start to come true.
“Exit Strategy” by Lee Child and Andrew Child
The 30th novel featuring ex-Army police officer Jack Reacher — and the sixth since Andrew Child came on to write or co-write the series launched by his brother — sees the towering vagabond helping a young man with a gambling addiction who is being blackmailed by a shadowy criminal.
“The First Gentleman” by Bill Clinton and James Patterson
The third novel by the former president and the thriller king, following “The President Is Missing” and “The President’s Daughter,” tells the story of Cole Wright, a former professional football player who has been accused of killing his girlfriend almost two decades ago. Complicating matters is that Wright’s wife happens to be the president of the United States.
“Fog and Fury” by Rachel Howzell Hall
L.A. author Hall is known for her standalone novels and her series of books featuring Detective Elouise Norton. She kicked off a new series this year with this novel, which follows Sonny Rush, an L.A. cop turned private eye, who hopes to escape her former life by moving to a calm seaside town. Those plans go awry when the body of a teenager is found by a hiking trail.
“Gone Before Goodbye” by Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben
Witherspoon has long been connected to literature as the founder of her mega-popular book club. She teamed with thriller author Coben on this novel about a former Army surgeon who takes a job treating a Russian oligarch. Complications, needless to say, ensue.
“Happy Wife” by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores
A pick for Jenna Bush Hager’s “Today” show book club, this novel follows Nora Davies, a 29-year-old woman in Winter Park, Florida, who marries Will Somerset, a wealthy lawyer and single dad. The day after Nora throws a birthday party for her husband, he disappears, and she goes in search of him.
British television host Osman scored a huge hit with his debut mystery novel, “The Thursday Murder Club,” which Netflix recently adapted as a movie. His latest novel, the fifth in his series of cozy books about crime-solving retirees, sees them trying to find a man who has disappeared and possibly been kidnapped.
“The Intruder” by Freida McFadden
Physician and author McFadden is having a big year: A film based on her bestselling thriller “The Housemaid,” starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, is scheduled to open on Christmas Day, and she’s published three novels in 2025 alone, including this one about a woman who finds a young girl, covered in blood and grasping a knife, outside her isolated cabin.
“Julie Chan Is Dead” by Liann Zhang
This debut novel by the Canadian author shot up the bestseller lists shortly after its release; it tells the story of the title character, a supermarket cashier who discovers the body of her identical twin sister, a popular influencer, and proceeds to pretend to be her — only to discover she was keeping some seriously dark secrets.
“King of Ashes” by S.A. Cosby
One of the most prominent breakout authors of the past several years, Cosby has developed a reputation as a master of the Southern noir genre. His latest novel follows a family being stalked by a dangerous drug gang; it is being developed as a Netflix series backed by the production companies of Steven Spielberg and Barack and Michelle Obama.
Canadian author Prose took the mystery world by storm in 2022 with her bestselling novel “The Maid,” about Molly Gray, a hotel housekeeper suspected of murdering a wealthy guest. In her latest book, Molly learns that she owns a lucrative artifact, just before it’s stolen in a brazen heist.
“Murder Takes a Vacation” by Laura Lippman
Lippman is best known for her novels featuring Baltimore private eye Tess Monaghan (soon to be a television series). Her latest book focuses on a side character from those books, Muriel Blossom, who meets a man on her flight to a vacation to France; he turns up dead not long after.
“Nemesis” by Gregg Hurwitz
L.A. author Hurwitz launched his popular Orphan X series of thrillers, featuring Evan Smoak, an ex-assassin who now helps people who need it, in 2016. The 10th installment in the series finds Smoak trying to track down his former best friend to get revenge after a betrayal (and an 11th is coming in February).
“The Proving Ground” by Michael Connelly
Attorney Mickey Haller is back in the eighth installment of Connelly‘s The Lincoln Lawyer series of novels, which has been adapted into a Netflix series starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. In this novel, Haller files suit against an AI company after its chatbot advises a teenage boy to murder his ex-girlfriend.
“Not Quite Dead Yet” by Holly Jackson
Jackson is well known to young readers for her popular A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder books. This year, she made her adult fiction debut with this novel — a “Good Morning America” book club pick — about a woman assaulted by an intruder, who learns that she will die of an aneurysm, and has only a few days to solve her own murder.
Rose had a massive hit with her 2020 novel “The Perfect Marriage,” about Sarah Morgan, a defense lawyer whose husband is suspected of killing his mistress. In this follow-up, Sarah is dealing with infidelity on the part of her new husband, just as the case against her first one is reopened.
“She Didn’t See It Coming” by Shari Lapena
Lapena had a breakout hit in 2016 with her thriller “The Couple Next Door.” Her latest novel tells the story of a woman who disappears without a trace from the luxury condominium she lives in with her husband and daughter.
“The Unraveling of Julia” by Lisa Scottoline
Beloved legal thriller author Scottoline’s new novel follows Julia Pritzker, a woman still reeling from the murder of her husband in a mugging, and who is shocked when she finds out that she has inherited a large sum of money, a vineyard, and a villa in Italy from someone she doesn’t know — and finds herself embroiled in a deadly conspiracy.
“Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man)” by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Sutanto introduced her titular amateur sleuth — an elderly owner of a San Francisco tea shop — in the 2023 novel “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.” In this follow-up, Vera is determined to solve the murder of a social media influencer with a shadowy past.
“We Are All Guilty Here” by Karin Slaughter
You might know Slaughter as the author of the Will Trent series of novels that have been adapted into the ABC show starring Ramón Rodríguez. Her latest novel kicks off a new book series, focusing on Emmy Clifton, a sheriff’s deputy in a small Georgia town searching for two missing teenage girls.
Reese Witherspoon gave her imprimatur to this novel about a man and his children who live on a remote island near Antarctica, and who discover a woman who has washed ashore after a storm — and who might not be who she says she is. Amazon named this the best book of 2025.
“The Widow” by John Grisham
Grisham needs no introduction to legal thriller fans who have long read his novels like “The Firm” and “The Pelican Brief.” This year, he published his first-ever whodunit, about a lawyer representing Simon Latch, an elderly widow who is murdered, leaving Simon as a suspect.
“You Belong Here” by Megan Miranda
In her latest thriller, the “All the Missing Girls” author tells the story of Beckett Bowery, a woman who has done her best to stay away from the Virginia college where her parents taught, and where a tragedy upended her life. When her daughter receives a full scholarship to the school, she realizes that she can’t escape her past.
There are plenty of great mysteries and thrillers out in 2025. (Courtesy of the publishers)
A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a young medical patient and seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least five people and setting off a search in waters along the Texas coast, officials said.
Four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child, Mexicos Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press. Two of the passengers were from a nonprofit that provides aid to Mexican children with severe burns, including transports to a Galveston hospital.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.
Mexicos Marines said in a statement that it is sending its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.
The crash took place Monday afternoon in Galveston Bay near the base of the causeway that connects Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders and search teams rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination along the Texas coast that is about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of Houston.
Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He said he picked up two police officers who directed him through thick fog to a nearly completely submerged plane. Decker jumped in the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.
I couldnt believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in," he said. "And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.
He said he also pulled out a man sitting in front of her who had already died. He described both of them as dressed in civilian clothes.
Mexico's Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation, which provides emergency transports to children with life-threatening burns to Shriners Children's hospital in Galveston, according to the nonprofit's website.
The foundation said in a post on social media, We express our deepest solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honoring their memory and reaffirming our commitment to providing humane, sensitive, and dignified care to children with burns.
The statement from Mexicos Navy said the plane had an accident during its approach to Galveston but did not elaborate.
Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on the social platform X.
A spokesperson from NTSB said they are aware of this accident and are gathering information about it. The Galveston County Sheriffs Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.
Its not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.
I call this the “So This Is Christmas Cocktail.” But the drink, from my cookbook “The Full Plate,” is perfect for any family celebration, whether it’s actually Christmas or not.
In the cold winter months, the Champagne keeps you warm and the rosemary reminds you of the crisp, fresh air.
First, make the rosemary simple syrup, then combine with the other ingredients.
Rosemary Simple Syrup
Combine ½ cup water, ½ cup sugar, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 2 cardamom pods and 2 small fresh rosemary sprigs in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Strain, transfer to a lidded jar, and refrigerate; the syrup will keep for up to 2 weeks.
So This Is Christmas Cocktail
This image released by Voracious shows a recipe for a Champagne cocktail made with pomegranate juice, from the cookbook “The Full Plate: Flavor-Filled, Easy Recipes for Families with No Time and a Lot to Do” by Ayesha Curry. (Voracious via AP)
Ingredients
½ ounce (1 tablespoon) Rosemary Simple Syrup
½ ounce (1 tablespoon) pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon fresh pomegranate seeds
Champagne, for topping glass
Rosemary sprig, for garnish
Directions
In a Champagne flute or highball glass, combine the rosemary syrup, pomegranate juice and pomegranate seeds. Top off the glass with Champagne and add a rosemary sprig for garnish.
This cover image released by Voracious shows “The Full Plate: Flavor-Filled, Easy Recipes for Families with No Time and a Lot to Do” by Ayesha Curry. (Voracious via AP)
Ayesha Curry is the bestselling author of “The Seasoned Life” and “The Full Plate,” and is an entrepreneur, television host and restaurateur. She is mom to four children, and wife to basketball star Stephen Curry. She lives in the Bay Area.
Excerpted from “The Full Plate” by Ayesha Curry. Copyright (copyright) 2020 by Ayesha Curry. Photograph by Eva Kolenko. Used with permission of Voracious, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
This image released by Voracious shows a recipe for a Champagne cocktail made with pomegranate juice, from the cookbook “The Full Plate: Flavor-Filled, Easy Recipes for Families with No Time and a Lot to Do” by Ayesha Curry. (Voracious via AP)
By Maria Salette Ontiveros, The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS — A new version of the common flu is spreading globally, and health officials are monitoring this evolving strain of influenza A(H3N3) Subclade K, which has been increasingly detected worldwide.
Seasonal influenza activity has increased globally in recent months, with influenza A viruses accounting for the majority of detections, according to the World Health Organization.
Health officials are closely monitoring a growing subgroup of influenza A(H3N2) viruses known as J.2.4.1, also referred to as Subclade K.
The WHO says detections of this subclade have risen rapidly since August 2025 based on genetic sequence data shared through the global GISAID database.
Current epidemiological data do not indicate increased disease severity associated with subclade K, the WHO says, though its spread reflects the continued evolution of seasonal influenza viruses.
What is subclade K?
Subclade K is a genetically distinct subgroup of influenza A(H3N2) viruses, according to the WHO.
These viruses have drifted genetically from related J.2.4 viruses and carry several amino acid changes in the haemagglutinin protein, which plays a key role in the virus’s attachment to human cells.
Influenza viruses commonly undergo such changes over time. Global surveillance tracks these shifts to assess potential impacts on transmission, severity, and vaccine effectiveness.
Where is subclade K circulating?
The WHO reports that subclade K viruses were first detected at increased levels beginning in August 2025, particularly in Australia and New Zealand.
Since then, the viruses have been identified in more than 34 countries over the past six months, including the U.S.
Detections are increasing in many regions of the world, except so far in South America, according to the WHO.
What is happening in America?
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that influenza activity in North America remains relatively low but is increasing, driven mainly by detections of influenza A viruses.
During the 2025 southern hemisphere influenza season in the Americas, transmission exceeded the seasonal threshold in mid-March and mainly remained at low to moderate levels, the CDC says.
The CDC reports a predominance of influenza A(H3N2) in both the United States and Canada, with growing detections of the A(H3N2) subclade K.
Are symptoms different?
The WHO says there is no evidence that infections caused by subclade K produce symptoms that differ from or are more severe than those caused by other seasonal influenza A(H3N2) viruses.
Seasonal influenza symptoms typically include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headache and fatigue. Severity can vary based on age, underlying health conditions and immune status.
Do vaccines still protect?
Early estimates cited by the WHO suggest that seasonal influenza vaccines continue to protect against severe illness and hospitalization in both children and adults.
While effectiveness against symptomatic infection may vary from season to season, health officials say vaccination remains one of the most effective public health measures, particularly for people at higher risk of influenza complications and their caregivers.
Even when circulating viruses differ genetically from vaccine strains, vaccines may still reduce the risk of severe outcomes, the WHO says.
What happens next?
The WHO says it continues to monitor global influenza activity and viral evolution, while supporting countries in surveillance efforts and updating guidance as new data emerge.
Health officials note that changes in circulating influenza viruses are expected each season and are routinely assessed through international monitoring systems.
Early estimates cited by the World Health Organization suggest that seasonal influenza vaccines continue to protect against severe illness and hospitalization in both children and adults. (Dreamstime/TNS/Dreamstime/TNS)
The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.
If you’ve ever decided to save less cash in your retirement account so you could do more traveling or support an expensive hobby, you might be “soft saving” (and not even know it).
Soft saving is about choosing to spend money on things you enjoy today and stashing money away less aggressively for your later years. People who take this approach are more concerned about what they’re doing tomorrow than what they’ll be doing at age 65 or 70.
“Soft saving is being more mindful about your lived experience now and not being willing to sacrifice too much in favor of your future yet,” says Rebecca Palmer, a certified financial planner in Washington, D.C., and head of guidance for financial planning platform Fruitful. “So, the balance between prioritizing future you versus current you.”
Is soft saving new?
While revenge saving has gotten more attention recently, soft saving isn’t a new phenomenon — for years, people have chosen current wants over elevated saving for future needs. But today’s soft saving trend is a purposeful mindset shift.
Jesica Ray, a certified financial planner with Brighton Jones in Washington, D.C., recently talked to a young client who didn’t want to focus on retirement savings. “They said, ‘I’m not going to do that because I don’t really care what’s in that bucket when I’m 50 years old, I care about using that money now and knowing it’s not tied up in some retirement account that I can’t access until I’m 59,’” Ray says.
Soft saving is often attributed to Gen Zers who’ve watched their parents navigate strict rules around money and budgeting — and they don’t want to take that same approach.
“I really felt allergic to this idea of budgeting when I was getting my own financial life together,” says Nicole Lapin, a Los Angeles-based financial expert, author and host of the “Money Rehab” podcast. “It felt really scary. It felt like, ‘Wow, I can’t have any fun.’ Where are the extras?”
The pros and cons of soft saving
In some cases, soft saving serves as a gentle entry to a consistent savings habit, which can be a boon for people feeling anxious about how to approach financial planning.
“Soft saving invites people to just start,” Palmer says. “It does need to be consistent for it to work, though. It can’t be just, ‘Oh, I’ll save a little when I want to.’ Consistency here is really important so it can be increased later.”
One disadvantage, however, is that if your savings rate is smaller as a person in your 20s, it may be tough to boost it in your 40s — especially if you’ve experienced lifestyle creep and have more financial obligations like a mortgage and children. It’s easier to downsize your savings rate than to upsize it.
The advantage to starting with a higher savings percentage, Palmer says, is that “if stuff comes up, you might need that space.”
Is soft saving smart for long-term goals?
“I actually don’t think this is an irresponsible strategy,” Ray says. “I like the idea of reframing the conversation to, ‘Is your money supporting the life that you want to have today?’”
Good financial planning is about being aware of your decisions, Ray says, and she does her best to make sure her clients understand the pros and cons of their choices. If they understand the tradeoffs and choose to take certain steps anyway, “I think that’s OK,” she says.
Palmer points out that it’s important that people don’t stop investing for retirement, even if it’s not a huge percentage. “If they don’t do some investing for the long term early on, they’re going to miss out on a massive amount of compounding interest, and later you have to work twice as hard to get half as far,” she says.
How to find the middle ground
Soft saving doesn’t mean no saving — it means saving some while giving yourself room to enjoy your life.
The key to making soft saving work is to keep an eye on future you — are your choices going to force you to work until age 75? If so, you may want to tweak your approach. Consider having a financial professional run the numbers on your planned savings rates over time.
“What I do is show them, ‘If you do that, here’s what that means for the lifestyle you can afford when you’re in your 50s and 60s,’ so they understand the impact of the choices that they’re making,” Ray says.
To set yourself up for success, try saving first and spending what’s left. Lapin refers to it as making your “end game” money moves first. “I like to think about paying my future self, that old lady Nicole,” Lapin says.
And make sure you’re leaving room in your budget for some extras. “Whatever that small indulgence is for you, allow for it in the overall plan so it keeps you on track and keeps you from binging later on,” Lapin says.
In the end, soft saving is a great way to get started, Palmer says, but you have to couple it with a consistent system for bumping up your savings over time.
“Don’t rely on memory or willpower or ‘shoulds,’ — automate your soft savings,” Palmer says. “Then maybe have a check-in point for increasing that. Bump it up a little every quarter, every year, whatever that cadence is so you’re slowly building the space for more savings over time.”
DETROIT — The back end of the Tigers’ bullpen next season will feature the game’s No. 1 and No. 13 active saves leaders, as well as their saves leader from 2025.
According to Elias, it’s the first time a team will start a season with three relievers who posted at least 20 saves the previous season.
Not too shabby.
“It just feeds into the mindset of our bullpen,” said Kyle Finnegan, who spoke Monday for the first time after returning to the Tigers on a two-year, $19 million deal with a mutual option for 2028. “We have a lot of different guys who can do a lot of different things. Anytime you can get more options to throw in leverage, it’s a huge advantage.”
Finnegan ranks 13th on the active saves list with 112. Kenley Jansen, who signed last week, tops the list and ranks fourth all-time with 476 saves. They join Will Vest, who posted 23 saves last season.
“You look at a lot of the teams in the postseason last year,” Finnegan said. “Those teams, their bullpens are built with multiple guys you can throw out there in the eighth or ninth innings and have confidence they can get it done.
“The more ‘closers’ you have on your team, the better.”
Finnegan, who was only a Tiger for two-plus months last season, knew enough to supply air quotes around the word closer. Manager AJ Hinch may have a bullpen loaded with potential and capable closers, but that doesn’t mean he is going anoint any of them with that specific label or role.
And all three are OK with that.
“You just want to win,” said Finnegan, echoing what Jansen said last week. “You do whatever it takes to win. If you need me to pitch the sixth, great. If you need me to pitch the ninth, great. We want to be there for whatever matchup they think is best and have no ego in terms of when we pitch.”
Finnegan agreed to his contract before the Tigers agreed to terms with Jansen (one year, $11 million). But he was pumped at the news.
“To add a guy like Kenley Jansen is insane,” he said. “The guy is a Hall of Famer. I’m excited to see how he goes about his work and watch him do his thing. We’ll just be able to complement each other and pick each other up when a guy is down or needs a rest that day.
“It’s just a huge advantage to have those options.”
Bolstering the bullpen, both in back-end quality and overall depth, was Mission One this offseason for the Tigers’ front office.
“We were targeting impact arms that could help the team win games in different situations,” general manager Jeff Greenberg said Monday. “We got two guys with real track records of finishing off games. And we have a manager in AJ who is so good at finding ways to get the most out of these guys, putting these pieces together and using our guys in the right situations to get these wins.”
The Finnegan reunion seemed like a fait accompli. Both sides expressed a desire to run it back after the season. But when no deal was struck during the club’s exclusive negotiation window in November, Finnegan tested the free-agent waters.
“I did have a fair amount of interest,” Finnegan said. “I just tried to navigate those teams and those offers. But I knew the Tigers were going to be there all the way and it finally came together. I was super happy to be back.”
Finnegan, 34, will earn a base salary of $8.75 million next season and $8 million in 2027, with up to $500,000 in performance bonuses (for games finished) in each year. The club option for 2028 is for $10 million with a $2.25 million buyout.
“It became an exercise in trying to find alignment on something that made sense from the club’s side and from the player’s side,” Greenberg said. “He earned the right and the opportunity to see what his market was. That’s just part of the process. But throughout that process, we stayed very engaged with his representation and we had healthy conversations and we found an agreement.”
Finnegan had one of the most dominant stretches of any reliever last season when he came over from the Nationals at the trade deadline. The Tigers encouraged him to use his splitter more and four-seam fastball less and the results were immediate.
He didn’t give up a run in his first 12 appearances from Aug. 2 through Aug. 31. He barely gave up any base runners (three hits, three walks) and he struck out 19 in 14⅓ innings, earning three wins and four saves.
But he missed 19 days in September with a right adductor strain and ended up allowing six runs over his final 11 innings, including the postseason.
“Physically, I felt great,” he said. “I think the challenge was just, when you are on a roll like that, you just don’t want to stop and break that momentum. I felt like I was throwing the ball well, just the results weren’t quite as good. I am confident that if we had played another couple of weeks, I could find a way to get right back in that groove.”
Reflecting on the end of the season, Finnegan is convinced the heavier splitter usage is the right way to go. The offseason refinements will come on his fastball and slider.
“I had a huge amount of success when I made that initial change and I think there’s more meat on that bone,” he said. “With the fastball, I’ve been working the last couple of years to increase the vertical movement (ride) and make it more true so I can use it at the top and also snipe at the bottom of the zone.
“When I throw my splitter, I need to be aware of using my fastball at the bottom of the zone so it doesn’t become, like, if the ball is down, it’s a split and if it’s up it’s a fastball. It’s just finding ways to keep hitters guessing and off balance. That’s the name of the game.”
Finnegan said he feels “hungrier than ever” this offseason and part of that is leaving last season with some unfinished business.
“Absolutely,” he said. “We accomplished so much last year. But at the end of the day, there’s only one team that’s happy at the end of the year and unfortunately, it wasn’t us. The mission every year starts with winning the division, then trying to make the playoffs and trying to win the World Series.
“There were some of those things we didn’t accomplish and that’s what going to drive us through this offseason and into spring training.”
Kyle Finnegan posted a 1.50 ERA and had 23 strikeouts in 18 innings out of the Tigers’ bullpen last season. (ROBIN BUCKSON — The Detroit News)
The Powerball jackpot has jumped to an eye-popping $1.7 billion, after the 46th drawing passed without a big winner.
The numbers drawn Monday night were 3, 18, 36, 41, 54 and the Powerball 7.
Since Sept. 6, there have been 46 straight drawings without a big winner.
The next drawing will be Christmas Eve on Wednesday, with the prize expected to be the 4th-largest in U.S. lottery history.
Powerball’s odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the game’s many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.
The estimated $1.6 billion jackpot goes to a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the game’s cash option, which for Monday night’s drawing would be an estimated $735.3 million.
Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Esta fotografía del miércoles 17 de diciembre de 2025 muestra boletos de la lotería Powerball, en Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Foto/George Walker IV)
Joselyn Walsh was working from her Pilsen home last month when her phone began to ring. It was a special agent from the FBI, the caller said, and they needed to speak with her.
Unfamiliar with the number, the 31-year-old part-time researcher, part-time garden store worker dismissed the call as spam. But then her cell sounded again. This time, Walsh googled the 10 digits flashing up at her.
Sure enough, it was the FBI headquarters in Chicago. And they had a warrant out for her arrest.
“How is this possible?” Walsh wondered.
Walsh is among six protesters facing federal conspiracy charges in one of the most high-profile cases to emerge from Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s mass deportation mission in Chicago this fall. They are accused of conspiring to forcibly impede a federal immigration agent at a September protest at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview.
Charged alongside four Democratic politicians and one political staffer, Walsh is arguably the least known of the group, known as the ‘Broadview Six.’ She said she doesn’t know her co-defendants and still doesn’t know why, among the hundreds that went to protest outside of the west suburban processing center during the two-month operation, she’s been singled out in federal court.
The case stands to test the impact and bounds of protest in the second Trump administration.
“I think (conviction),” said Steven Heyman, a law professor with the Chicago-Kent College of Law, “would send a real strong message that the government is capable of taking severe measures to suppress, I would say, legitimate dissent.”
Walsh remains confident in her innocence. But she’s keenly aware of what’s at stake.
“There’s the reality of wow, years in prison are on the line here,” she said. Still, the charges have also sharpened her resolve, spurring her to speak louder.
Weeks after her indictment, she continues to use her voice, often performing as part of a protest music collective and sometimes, returning to Broadview. Her co-defendants, by themselves and through attorneys, have denounced the charges as an attack on the First Amendment and maintained they will not be deterred. They’re not alone.
After an arraignment hearing in the case outside of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse downtown just over a month ago, dozens of protesters gathered under the red sculpted arches of Federal Plaza.
The conspiracy charges against Walsh and her co-defendants stem from a protest outside the building nearly three months ago. Alongside Walsh, charged are congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 45th Ward Democratic Committeeman Michael Rabbit, Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw, and Andre Martin, who is Abughazaleh’s deputy campaign manager.
The group is accused of surrounding and damaging an ICE vehicle during a Broadview protest on the morning of Sept. 26. An 11-page indictment alleges the group “crowded together in the front and side of the Government Vehicle” and pushed against it “to hinder and impede its movement.”
Protesters surround a federal SUV and try to prevent it from driving to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview on Sept. 26, 2025. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Prosecutors further allege protesters scratched the car’s body, broke a side mirror and a rear windshield wiper and etched the word “PIG” into the paint.
The indictment includes the conspiracy count — which carries a maximum sentence of six years in federal prison — as well as several other counts of impeding a federal officer, each punishable by up to one year in federal prison.
Walsh started protesting in Broadview early on into the blitz. She flocked to the facility to sing.
A lifelong musician from rural Missouri, Walsh said she’d often read about the goings-on in the world growing up. But she was inspired to start taking action after 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, while she was at college in St. Louis.
“(It) was this moment of, I think, recognizing how … power and control works in our country and in our world,” she said.
Since moving to Chicago six years ago, Walsh has grown into her advocacy. After working at a food and farming nonprofit in the city — work Walsh says was, and still is, important to her — she found herself wanting to delve into community organizing. She hit her stride through music.
Dave Martin, from left, Joselyn Walsh and Joseph Ozment sing pro-Palestinian carols with other activists near the State/Lake CTA station, Dec. 14, 2025, in Chicago. In October, a federal grand jury indicted six people, including Walsh, on conspiracy charges stemming from a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
For the past two years, Walsh has performed in a citywide collective of people working to bring “the power of music to protests,” she said. Called Songs for Liberation, the group includes musicians and non-musicians alike (even “shower singers,” Walsh noted). The group started as Songs for Ceasefire in support of Palestine but has grown to encompass a broader mission to dissent through song.
“Protests don’t necessarily have a lot of music,” Walsh said. “But (we think it’s) a really powerful thing.”
The collective often performs at events and protests, sometimes by invitation and sometimes just by members’ interest, with appearances ranging from marches outside the Democratic National Convention last year to caroling outside Christkindlmarket.
The Broadview protests, which became a flash point against the Trump administration’s crackdown, were a natural fit for the collective. For weeks through the blitz, and even still today as immigration enforcement continues, some amalgamation of members would travel out to the facility and through the clashes and commotion and force, perform.
“No human is illegal here,” Walsh sang with the collective one morning in Broadview, her performance captured in a video posted online. A gas mask hung around Walsh’s arm as she strummed a guitar. “We refuse to be controlled by fear.”
Andrew Walsh isn’t surprised by his daughter’s activism. While she was a shy kid, he recalled that she’s always been fiercely compassionate. And she’s long been privy to conversations about morality and politics. Her mother is a minister. Andrew is a religion professor at a small college in Missouri, whose research focuses on the intersection of religion and social issues.
Andrew said he’s proud of his daughter. And terrified.
“(But) we can’t simply submit in fear,” he said. “Because if we all submit in fear, we’ve seen in history how that turns out.”
Sept. 26 started out just like any other day of protesting and singing, Walsh recalled, but what did stick out to her was that it felt like “there was a whole other level of random impunity.” That morning, federal agents fired baton rounds, tear gas and other less-lethal ammunition at about 200 people gathered outside the Broadview processing center, the Tribune reported at the time.
Walsh remembered leaving early after a foam baton round struck and put a hole in her guitar.
“We’re just singing and then all of a sudden, I feel this impact,” she said. After a moment of disbelief, Walsh walked away, drank water, spoke with some friends and ultimately, went home.
Joselyn Walsh, right, and other musicians play and sing in the protest area near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility on Oct. 10, 2025, in Broadview. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)Joselyn Walsh holds her guitar on Oct. 10, 2025, near a hole she said was caused by federal agents shooting pepper balls and baton rounds at musicians, protesters and reporters near the Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Broadview. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Walsh, on the advice of her attorney, couldn’t speak to the crux of the indictment, though she did call the government’s allegations “totally baseless.”
In a video of the confrontation cited by the Department of Justice, a black SUV is seen slowly rolling through a crowd of people as they chant, “up, up with liberation, down, down with deportation!” As the car inches forward, footage shows some protesters hitting the hood and windows as they try to block its movement. In another video that has circulated widely online, a guitar briefly flashes into frame.
A request for comment sent to the Department of Justice was forwarded to an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, who declined to comment because the case was pending.
“Federal agents perform dangerous, essential work every single day to enforce our immigration laws and keep our communities safe,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an October statement when charges were announced. “When individuals resort to force or intimidation to interfere with that mission, they attack not only the agents themselves but the rule of law they represent.”
The FBI called Walsh a month later. She’d been continuing to protest, while balancing her research job and taking shifts at a Humboldt Park garden store. Also due to get married in June, Walsh and her partner have been planning a wedding and had a tasting set for the day the FBI rang. They canceled their appointment.
The news of her arrest warrant left Walsh shocked and confused.
“I’m just sitting here, wracking my brain, like what possibly could have happened?” she said.
There’s been a growing trend in protests giving way to conspiracy charges.
Last year, San Francisco prosecutors charged 26 protesters with federal conspiracy after they allegedly blocked the Golden Gate Bridge for hours to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Amid the immigration protests in Los Angeles this summer, an activist was indicted on a federal conspiracy charge after he was accused of handing out face shields during an anti-ICE demonstration, though the charges have since been dropped. In Washington, nine people are facing a federal conspiracy charge tied to an immigration protest outside a Spokane DHS office earlier this year.
The First Amendment protects individuals’ right to express their views on the government, said Heyman, the Chicago-Kent College of Law professor. Those protections do not extend to “true threats of violence” or false and defamatory statements — but they do extend to sharp criticism, Heyman said.
In his estimation, “most of the kinds of criticisms that these protesters are making about ICE and the Trump administration (are) 100% protected by the First Amendment,” Heyman said.
Where problems arise is that, generally, conduct is not constitutionally protected, he said.
“If they’re physically blocking an ICE vehicle and surrounding it and trying to prevent it from passing and so forth, basically that’s not protected under the First Amendment,” he said. Still, he said he believes that prosecuting the protesters for felonies, especially for conspiracy, is “an extreme overreaction.”
But with Walsh’s case, there’s also the matter that two criminal laws are at issue — impeding by force and conspiracy — and the burden is on the government to prove the statutes were violated, Heyman said.
Recent weeks have seen other cases out of the blitz fail to hold up in court. Last month, a federal judge dismissed charges against a woman shot by a Border Patrol agent after she allegedly rammed his vehicle in Brighton Park. And this month, a case was dismissed against Lakeview comedy club manager whom federal authorities had accused of slamming the door on the leg of a Border Patrol agent during an October immigration arrest.
For the higher charge against the Broadview protesters, prosecutors would have to show that they actually engaged in a conspiracy, Heyman said. That could be done in two ways, by demonstrating protesters had an outright agreement to conspire or had reached an implicit understanding they were going to commit a crime, according to Heyman. He noted the latter is vague and could be hard to prove.
Joshua Herman, who is representing Abughazaleh in the case, wrote in an email statement to the Tribune that the particular statute invoked by prosecutors in their conspiracy charge also does not require proof of an “overt act” — only an unlawful agreement.
“How these specific individuals,” he stated, “who were amongst a crowd of other (protesters) could spontaneously form such an unlawful agreement is a question the government will need to answer.”
He added that the statute cited is also rarely used and, to his knowledge, hasn’t been employed to prosecute protest activity in this way, despite it being on the books for well over a century.
Heyman said it’s unlikely Walsh and her co-defendants would receive the maximum sentence should they be convicted. But the case in itself, he added, conveys intimidation.
“The Trump administration is trying to send the message that they will tolerate no opposition to their immigration crackdown,” Heyman said.
He compared the case to prosecuting political opponents.
At a status hearing for the legal battle earlier this month, defense attorneys asked federal prosecutors to turn over White House communications related to a “selective prosecution” argument.
Brad Thomson, Walsh’s attorney, contends that with this case, the government is prosecuting people for protesting together.
“That’s a real danger,” he said, “when you’re trying to have a society that has a robust discourse about the actions of the government.”
When the indictment against Walsh came to light, “it definitely rocked our community,” said Jack Sundstrom, a musician who’s performed with Songs for Liberation for the past six months. Sundstrom, like Walsh, performed with the collective in Broadview.
“It’s scary and terrifying, and it would be a lie to say that this isn’t something that keeps me up at night sometimes,” the 25-year-old Glenview resident said. But in his circle, he went on, there’s also “very much a sense of we’re going to keep doing this work.” He especially intends to keep organizing through music.
“As the song goes, the people united will never be defeated,” he said. “So I am going to continue doing what I do for as long as I can.”
Walsh hopes this doesn’t keep people from speaking out.
For her and her fiancé Joseph Ozment, it’s been a surreal few weeks since her charges were unsealed. But while scary, it’s been motivating, said Ozment, who’s also involved with Songs for Liberation.
“If they’re angry at us for this,” he said, “I think it’s for a good cause.”
They’ve also been reconciling what they’re facing with what they’re fighting for.
“I get to sleep in a warm bed,” Ozment said. “I know that … I’m not going to be whisked away in the middle of the night, and my family aren’t going to know where I am.”
The parallel, Walsh said, has only emboldened her more.
“It’s great that some of us have these rights,” she said, “and it’s awful that not all of us do. We need to keep fighting for that.”
Joselyn Walsh at her apartment on Dec. 10, 2025, in Chicago. Walsh is a musician and activist who plays with a group of musicians called Songs of Liberation. Walsh is among six protesters facing federal conspiracy charges in one of the highest-profile cases to emerge from Operation Midway Blitz. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)
Less than 10 days before the end of his administration, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is set to speak later this afternoon on the city's budget surplus.
This is Duggan's last scheduled press conference as Detroit's Mayor. He's running as an Independent candidate in the 2026 gubernatorial race.
Duggan will be recapping the 2024-25 Fiscal Year and speak on the city's budget surplus. Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield will decide what to do with that money.
We plan to stream Duggan's press conference live, on both our website and our social media pages. You can watch later this afternoon (1 p.m.) at the link below.
Watch our previous coveragefrom Duggan's last few months
Spotlight on the News One-on-one with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan as he prepares to leave office Mayor Mike Duggan proposing Detroit Reserve Fund Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks at food bank
WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicaid programs made more than $200 million in improper payments to health care providers between 2021 and 2022 for people who had already died, according to a new report from the independent watchdog for the Department of Health and Human Services.
But the department’s Office of Inspector General said it expects a new provision in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill requiring states to audit their Medicaid beneficiary lists may help reduce these improper payments in the future.
These kinds of improper payments are “not unique to one state, and the issue continues to be persistent,” Aner Sanchez, deputy regional inspector general in the Office of Audit Services told The Associated Press. Sanchez has been researching this issue for a decade.
The watchdog report released Tuesday said more than $207.5 million in managed care payments were made on behalf of deceased enrollees between July 2021 to July 2022. The office recommends that the federal government share more information with state governments to recover the incorrect payments — including a Social Security database known as the Full Death Master File, which contains more than 142 million records going back to 1899.
Sharing the Full Death Master File data has been tightly restricted due to privacy laws which protect against identity theft and fraud.
The massive tax and spending bill that was signed into law by President Donald Trump this summer expands how the Full Death Master File can be used by mandating Medicaid agencies to quarterly audit their provider and beneficiary lists against the file, beginning in 2027. The intent is to stop payments to dead people and improve accuracy.
Tuesday’s report is the first nationwide look at improper Medicaid payments. Since 2016, HHS’ inspector general has conducted 18 audits on a selection of state programs and had identified that Medicaid agencies had improperly made managed care payments on behalf of deceased enrollees totaling approximately $289 million.
The government had some success using the Full Death Master File to prevent improper payments earlier this year. In January, the Treasury Department reported that it had clawed back more than $31 million in federal payments that improperly went to dead people as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave Treasury temporary access to the file for three years as part of the 2021 appropriations bill.
Meanwhile, the SSA has been making unusual updates to the file itself, adding and removing records, and complicating its use. For instance, the Trump administration in April moved to classify thousands of living immigrants as dead and cancel their Social Security numbers to crack down on immigrants who had been temporarily allowed to live in the U.S. under programs started during the Biden administration.
FILE – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is seen, April 5, 2009, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
St. Brown, who was listed Monday as a non-participant on the team’s estimated practice report, was not known to have an injury as Sunday’s game ended. Lions coach Dan Campbell said he’s unsure if the injury is serious.
“We’ll know more a little bit later. This is just something that just popped up when he came in today, so hopeful this is just some type of irritation from the game,” Campbell said Monday. “That’s what I’m hoping. But I’ll know more tonight.”
St. Brown caught four passes for 54 yards in Detroit’s loss to Pittsburgh and was in the game until the very end. He caught a would-be go-ahead touchdown pass that was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on Isaac TeSlaa, then caught a pass on the final play of the game, which he lateraled to Jared Goff for a would-be score as time expired. St. Brown was called for offensive pass interference on his route, and the game ended quickly after officials sorted it out.
St. Brown has tallied 98 catches for 1,194 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
Practice report
The Lions provided an estimated practice report on the first day of this week’s practices before Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium.
St. Brown, defensive back Avonte Maddox (back) and offensive tackle Taylor Decker (shoulder) were all non-participants.
The Lions had nine players limited: offensive linemen Trystan Colon (wrist), Graham Glasgow (knee), Christian Mahogany (fibula) and Giovanni Manu (knee); defensive linemen Marcus Davenport (shoulder), Alim McNeill (abdomen) and Al-Quadin Muhammad (knee); wide receiver Tom Kennedy (abdomen) and cornerback Amik Robertson (hand).
Pittsburgh Steelers’ Joey Porter Jr. (24) reacts after breaking up a pass for Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) in the endzone during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (REY DEL RIO — AP Photo)
DETROIT — Defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard stood at the podium last Thursday and, for the umpteenth time this season, tried to distort reality.
The question was about how the Los Angeles Rams’ rushing offense ran buck wild on the Lionsin a loss on Dec. 14. And, as he’s done at many points throughout this disappointing campaign, Sheppard pointed out that the Lions’ overall performance wouldn’t have been that bad if you take out all of the biggest plays that went against them.
“You can’t play this game of taking plays away, but nobody — and I can stand on the table behind this — nobody has just lined up and ran the ball down our throats,” Sheppard said.
Then, with the league’s 28th-ranked rushing offense, the Pittsburgh Steelers ran the ball down the Lions’ throats in Sunday’s 29-24 loss. It was the Steelers’ most rushing yards (230) since 2016 and the most allowed by the Lions since 2022. In the home finale. With the season on the line.
The Lions (8-7) are now on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention with two games remaining — one Detroit loss or one Green Bay Packers win will officially end it. But whether they make the postseason does not change the notion that failure to confront reality has been the one ugly wart on this team’s face all season, and the primary reason why it’s fair to doubt the strength of the culture that has built this team.
After three and four seasons with coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, respectively, this year was always going to present its challenges. But after failing to keep the ship aimed in the right direction, this upcoming offseason feels even more critical.
Lions coach Dan Campbell opted to go with guys he trusted during a critical offseason, hiring an in-house, first-time defensive coordinator in Sheppard and hiring a second-time offensive coordinator in John Morton. Morton had his play-calling duties stripped in Week 10, and Sheppard’s defense has been one of the league’s worst over the last month.
Morton passed the buck amid struggles, while Sheppard downplayed concerns about his unit until they eventually became so glaring that it forced the Lions to drive right off the road.
In a long line of concerning trends that have emerged over the last year, chief among them is the coaching staff’s willingness to make excuses or bend reality to make things seem different from what they truly are, and it started in Week 1. In Sheppard’s opening statement after the Green Bay game, he said that if you took out a 48-yard completion and a 17-yard touchdown pass on back-to-back plays, the Lions’ performance was actually quite good.
“I’m not a math major but I believe that’s 65 yards. You take that off of (185), you’re looking at 120 yards passing on the day,” Sheppard said.
And in that specific context, maybe he wasn’t entirely wrong. The Lions’ defense held running back Josh Jacobs to 3.5 yards per carry, an impressive mark, and kept quarterback Jordan Love under 200 passing yards. But as the Lions’ defense started to show genuinely concerning trends down the stretch, this messaging never wavered.
Sheppard will tell you he won’t make excuses. He’ll tell you things are being addressed. But he’ll also, with a high degree of regularity, tell you that the biggest concerns stemming from a game are overblown, and that the stats make the performance look worse than it actually was. And now, over the last five games, the Lions are allowing 458.6 yards per game. For context, the Cincinnati Bengals have allowed the most yards per game this season at 402.8.
There’s no way to contort this one: Over the most important stretch of the season, the Lions’ defense has been the worst in the league.
And sure, they’ve got injuries. The team didn’t have All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph (knee) for more than half the season, just lost Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch (Achilles) and cornerback Terrion Arnold (shoulder) for the year, and cornerback D.J. Reed hasn’t looked the same since coming back from his hamstring injury.
As the Lions withstood countless defensive injuries en route to a 15-2 record last season, it was easy to understand why. They didn’t make excuses. If anything, it was a mere extension of the gritty mentality that had come to define the Lions’ identity under Campbell. They seemed to thrive on finding a way.
But outside of Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal, neither of whom suited up this season, this front seven is completely healthy. There is absolutely no way to square how a defense with this much talent has so consistently come up short in the biggest moments.
Inherited issue
Now, if I can momentarily come to Sheppard’s defense: This is a defense that he inherited, and over the four years that Glenn was in charge, there were very few stretches where the Lions’ defense actually looked much better than what we’ve seen from this year’s unit. Sheppard is running the scheme Campbell wants him to, which Glenn ran before him, with the players already in place before Sheppard was promoted this past offseason.
I’ll actually tip my cap to Sheppard for being a little more flexible than Glenn on a week-to-week level. With their passing defense in shambles, Sheppard called zone coverage on a season-high 82.2% of passing plays. It just didn’t produce a winning level of defense. And really, Sheppard is just one of many culprits; the flavor of the week after a bold proclamation blew up in his face.
Campbell hasn’t made excuses for the team’s play, but his blind optimism that everything would work itself out, that all of the adversity they faced in the back half of the season would only prepare them for a Super Bowl run, that he could hire a longtime coach with very little actual play-calling experience and continue operating the best offense in the league, hurt his team.
I see the vision, even in hindsight, with Morton. If all had gone well, they would’ve had a play-calling offensive coordinator for potentially years to come. I can buy the argument that it’s a better option than continuing to develop new, young play-callers who will inevitably leave for better opportunities.
But it ultimately blew up in Detroit’s face. Morton couldn’t hack it, and by Week 10, when he’d lost his play-calling duties, he’d pointed the finger more times than one can count. Over and over, Morton would say everything with the scheme was fine; players simply needed to win their one-on-ones.
Here’s the third sentence of Morton’s opening statement after Week 1, when the Lions sputtered their way to six points before a miraculous one-handed touchdown catch by Isaac TeSlaa tightened the score in a 27-13 loss: “The bottom line is, this is about execution and the details of everything.”
Three questions in, he was asked if there’s anything that can be done to help attention to detail for an offensive line with two first-time starters and a 33-year-old center who was changing positions for the third straight season.
“Look, we’re running plays that these guys have done,” Morton said at the time. “Now, there’s some new guys in there, but the bottom line is, you’ve got to go execute and we didn’t do that every single play. We just didn’t.”
Following a shocking 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings — which, if won, would have put the Lions just a half-game out of the playoffs in the present day — he was asked what the worst part was of watching the Minnesota film.
Jahmyr Gibbs was dominated in pass protection down-in, down-out, by the Vikings’ “cross-dog blitz,” as the Vikings’ front seven made life hell for the Lions’ offense that also couldn’t get the run game going. Gibbs was held to 25 rushing yards on nine carries.
Pittsburgh Steelers’ Jaylen Warren runs for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Rey Del Rio)
Here’s Morton on the run game: “I mean we had things for it, we had chances. Again, I’m going back, ‘Oh, one guy didn’t do that. Nope, we didn’t get it and it could’ve been big.’ I mean you guys watch the game and when you watch it in detail and everything, ‘Man, if he would’ve got that. Oh, if we would’ve done this.’ That’s the biggest thing.
“We had a good scheme.”
I’m in the camp that Campbell’s play-calling helped the offense, even as they’ve continued to put up subpar rushing performances in the second half of the season, but it’s clear he didn’t have the structure in place to handle the game-management aspects of his job.
Against the Rams last week, Campbell wasted one of his challenges on a 1-yard difference in ball placement on a play where L.A. had blown past the first-down marker. Not only was he not allowed to challenge the play, costing him one of his two challenges and a timeout, but even if it had been a challengeable play, I can’t wrap my head around why he’d take such a risk for a measly yard.
These little missteps have occurred on a seemingly weekly basis, and you can point to several of them as major inflection points in losses.
Against Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Lions were forced to burn one of their second-half timeouts when they only had 10 players on the field before a fourth-and-2. That timeout would’ve come in handy on the final drive, when the Lions were operating with just one timeout while trying to punch in the go-ahead score.
In a pivotal Thanksgiving clash with Green Bay, the Lions had 10 players on the field before Green Bay’s first third-down attempt of the game, as they were gashed for an explosive run. Then, later in that contest, the Lions’ defense was flagged in the red zone for having 12 players on the field.
Ultimately, Campbell is the captain of this ship and is responsible for the lack of attention to detail on both sides of the ball. And the Lions’ attention to detail has plainly been terrible.
Not enough contributors
Lastly, we have Lions general manager Brad Holmes. With Arnold’s season-ending injury, the Lions are getting zero offensive or defensive contributions from any 2024 draft pick besides left guard Christian Mahogany, who was the offensive line’s lowest-graded run and pass blocker, per PFF, in his return to action on Sunday.
Of the 21 players drafted since 2023, seven of them are giving the team regular offensive or defensive contributions. Four of those players are rookies, and one of those rookies is Miles Frazier, who’s a reserve player in a unique guard rotation.
Sure, injuries heavily impact these numbers. But I can’t help but notice that for a guy who preaches depth, Holmes has no problem giving up bites at the apple to get his guys. Now, as the Lions suddenly have long-term concerns at multiple positions, the Lions are short a third-round pick after trading three of them to move up for TeSlaa, and have gotten extremely little from their most recent classes.
The Packers have also dealt with injuries to players from recent draft classes, including their own third-year tight end, Tucker Kraft, who’s been lost for the season with an ACL. But they drafted 24 players in 2023 and 2024 alone, and as some have fallen by the wayside due to injury, plenty more have stepped up. Outside of the injuries, Green Bay is getting regular contributions from more than a dozen players from those classes alone.
Culture crumbling
It should be noted that everything the Lions achieved in 2023 and 2024 was because of Campbell and Holmes. Yet, the culture they’ve built seems to be falling apart at the seams as the Lions’ season goes with it.
The occasional early playoff exit is certainly understandable, if not expected. This is a league built on parity. But a completely lost season in which most of your best players are in the prime of their careers is a legitimate travesty when you consider how talented this roster is.
Again, the Lions could very well shock the world and make the playoffs. But the simple fact of the matter is that they have a .400 winning percentage over their last 10 games. Every move they’ve made has been to become a sustainable contender, but somewhere in that pursuit, they forgot to be a contender in the here and now.
And yeah, you could talk about the injuries, or the calls that have gone against Detroit in its losses, or the tough schedule and division, but those would be excuses.
Right now, the Lions — from the top down — need a heavy dose of honesty and reflection.
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (0) fumbles against the Pittsburgh Steelers during an NFL football game in Detroit, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. (RICK OSENTOSKI — AP Photoi)
The U.S. Department of Justice has released thousands more documents related to its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after missing the deadline on Friday to release its entire cache of records as required by law.
The Justice Department says some of the documents include "untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump."
"To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already," the department said.
Scripps News is going through the files and will update this story with significant developments.
All of the files were supposed to be released on Friday under the law. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said that the delay is due to the department's review of documents to ensure victims are protected.
"The same individuals that are out there complaining about the lack of documents that were produced on Friday are the same individuals who apparently dont want us to protect victims," Blanche told NBC's Meet the Press.
However, a group of his survivors on Monday accused the agency of legal violations and demanded accountability. The group said that the partial release on Friday made it nearly impossible for any of them to find documents that were relevant to their particular cases or their search for accountability. They also claim the DOJ didn't communicate to them or their representatives what documents were withheld in the release and why.
Powerballs odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the games many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.
The estimated $1.6 billion jackpot goes to a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the games cash option, which for Monday nights drawing would be an estimated $735.3 million.
Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Flu cases are rising, not only here in Michigan, but also across the country, which is bad news as people travel through airports to gather with family this holiday season.
Right now, Michigan is experiencing a high level of flu activity, up from a moderate level from just the week before. According to the Center for Disease Control's most recent flu map, Massachusetts, Connecticut, South Carolina, and Idaho are seeing high activity levels, and a few stats are already in the 'very high' activity range. The latest stats from the CDC show that there have been at least 4.6 million fly cases reported across the country. More than 49,000 people have been hospitalized, and 1900 have died.
So, what can you do to protect yourself as you head through the airport over the next few weeks? We asked a doctor.
Watch Ryan's report in the video player below
What to do to protect yourself from the flu as you travel for the holidays
There is a lot of concern from health experts as people travel here through DTW with those flu cases on the rise.
Im super sick right now, and I definitely dont wanna give it to anyone else," said Windsor resident Ethan Brett.
Brett is flying to Bermuda Springs, Florida, with his entire family for the holidays. They all planned it months in advance, but Ethan said he almost didn't make it.
Had to bear down on this family trip," he said. "And, I was thinking about staying home. I didnt sleep last night before the flight. I was just coughing all night. But, you know, I decided just to tough it out for the flight, drug myself up with some cough medicine.
Ethan did get a diagnosis from his doctor.
(They) said it was bronchitis," Ethan said. "But, I definitely dont think, I dont think its bronchitis.
Many passengers traveling out of Detroit Metro Airport are trying to stay safe as flu cases continue rising nationally.\
When I get in the plane, I wipe everything down, the arms, the table, you know, even the head rests they said. Really? Yep, yep. Just wipe away," said Windsor resident Debbie Piece.
The CDC believes the dominant strain causing the surge is Subclade K, a mutation of Influenza A.
Infectious Disease Doctor Jarod Fox with Orland Health says that staying up-to-date with vaccines is critical for those groups.
"Influenza vaccine, our COVID-19 vaccine, getting our boosters, especially for the immuno-compromised and the elderly. The RSV vaccine as well for the older population, our pneumococcal vaccine as well," Dr. Fox said.
And for the millions traveling for the holidays, Dr. Fox said to avoid touching your face. He also recommended wearing a mask and washing hands frequently to help decrease risk.
So, did Debbie ever consider not going on the flight?
Nope. [Laughter] You have to live your life. Right? You cant be afraid," she responded.
If you do have flu symptoms, health experts say you should stay home until you feel better overall and have not had a fever for at least 24 hours.
The holidays are considered one of the most joyful times of the year. But between shopping, cooking, and family dynamics, it can also become a big cause of stress.
According to the American Psychological Association, around 40 percent of adults in the U.S. say their stress increases during the holiday season. But experts I spoke to say there are things you can do to make this time of the year feel less hectic.
Watch Demetrios' report in the video player below
Therapist, nutritionist speak on managing emotions and diets during the holiday season
As holiday celebrations kick into full gear, there's a lot to look forward to. But for some, it doesn't come without added pressure.
"I think it's the expectation of getting gifts for everyone and trying to find a way to make everyone happy," said Royal Oak resident Antonio Dixon.
The stress around the holidays leaves people with different ways to manage it.
"It would be nice to have a little bit of time off to spend more time with your family and friends, but I think you should just worry about the time you can spend with them, not stress about everything else, because that's really what matters," said Diana Evans, who was visiting Royal Oak on Monday.
Heather Rae is the President and CEO of Common Ground in Pontiac, which provides mental health services. She said one of the biggest holiday stressors is overcommitment. This makes it critical to have a plan.
"When you know you're going to be going to some events where it's going to be stressful, think about not necessarily staying the whole time," Rae said. "But have that plan, and it's ok to set boundaries."
She also said limiting comparisons is a big help.
"Those soundbites that we see on social media are just that, they're soundbites," Rae said. "They're often not representations of real life, so be gentle with yourself."
Another place that can create worries during the holidays is the dinner table.
Ashlee Carnahan is the Manager of Nutrition and Education Services at Henry Ford Health. She says there are ways to enjoy your favorite meals without feeling guilty.
"We all go into the holidays setting ourselves up to fail, and we don't want to do that," Carnahan said. "Make half of your plate fruits and vegetables. That way, you can stuill eat the really healthy stuff and feel good but also treat yourself.
Carnahan emphasized the importance of making longer-term lifestyle changes.
"That's going to make you feel overall successful, especially around the holidays, and eliminate that anxiety of eating this and not that."
By JAMES POLLARD and LINLEY SANDERS The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Most Americans aren’t making end-of-year charitable giving plans, according to the results of a new AP-NORC poll, despite the many fundraising appeals made by nonprofits that rely on donation surges in the calendar’s final month to reach budget targets.
The survey, which was conducted in early December by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found that about half U.S. adults say they’ve already made their charitable contributions for 2025. Just 18% say they’ve donated and will donate again before the year is over. Only 6% report they haven’t given yet but will do so by December’s end. The rest, 30%, haven’t donated and don’t plan to.
But weaker income gains and steep price inflation meant that lower-income households had less money to redistribute. Other surveys have also found a yearslong decline in the number of individuals who give.
December still serves as a “very important deadline” for donors, according to Dianne Chipps Bailey, managing director of Bank of America’s Philanthropic Solutions division. She cited estimates from the National Philanthropic Trust that nearly one-third of annual giving happens in the final month.
“December 31 does provide a target to make sure that they’ve given what they intended to give before the year is over,” Bailey said.
Few donate on GivingTuesday
Perhaps no day is more consequential for fundraisers than GivingTuesday. Beginning as a hashtag in 2012, the well-known celebration of generosity now sees many nonprofits leverage the attention to solicit donations on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Americans donated an estimated $4 billion to nonprofits this most recent GivingTuesday.
But Americans were much more likely to make a Black Friday purchase than a GivingTuesday gift this year. Just under half say they bought something for Black Friday, according to the poll, compared to about 1 in 10 who say they donated to a charity for GivingTuesday.
“Black Friday gets the lion’s share of things,” said Oakley Graham, a 32-year-old from Missouri. “And then you’ve got GivingTuesday a couple days later. Most people have probably spent all their spending money at that point.”
Graham said his family has “definitely tightened the financial belt” in recent years. He and his wife are dealing with student loan debts now that the Trump administration suspended their repayment plan. Their two young children are always growing out of their clothes. It’s good if there’s anything left for savings.
He still tries to help out his neighbors — from handiwork to Salvation Army clothing donations.
“Not that I’m not willing to give here and there,” he said. “But it seems like it’s pretty tough to find the extra funds.”
Checkout charity proves more popular
Another avenue for nudging Americans to give is more widely used, even if individual donations are small. The AP-NORC poll found that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they donated to a charity when checking out at a store this year.
Graham is among those who reported giving at the cash register. As an outdoorsy person who enjoys hunting and fishing when he can, he said he is “always susceptible to giving for conservation.” He said he likely rounded up once or twice at Bass Pro Shops for that reason.
“With the finances, I don’t do a lot of buying these days. But a couple cents here or there is like — I can do that,” he said. “It doesn’t sound like much. But I know if everybody did it would make a difference.”
The poll found that older adults — those over 60 — are more likely than Americans overall to donate at store checkouts.
One Texas architect’s unusual process for year-end donations
About one-quarter of Americans plan to donate in the last weeks of the year, and Chuck Dietrick is one of them. The 69-year-old architect applies what he calls a “shotgun approach” as the year comes to a close.
He and his wife give monthly to Valley Hope, a nonprofit addiction services provider where their son did inpatient rehab. And then there are eight or so organizations that they support with end-of-the-year gifts.
“We’re doing our own thing,” he said. “I don’t do Black Friday or Cyber Monday, either … So, I don’t do the GivingTuesday thing.”
Dietrick estimates their household donated somewhere between $501 and $2,500. The Dallas-Fort Worth area couple mostly contributes to organizations that have touched their lives or those of their friends.
There’s the Florida hospice that Dietrick said did a “super job” caring for his mother. He has relatives and friends who served in the military, so he also gives to the Disabled American Veterans and the Wounded Warrior Project.
“I would rather give a smaller amount of money to a variety of institutions that I care about rather than giving a big chunk of money to one,” he explained.
Giving plans went unaffected by federal funding cuts or the shutdown
Most 2025 donors say the amount they gave wasn’t affected much by this year’s federal funding cuts or the government shutdown, according to the AP-NORC poll, although about 3 in 10 say those situations did impact the charities they chose to support.
The survey suggests that, while private donors mobilized millions to fill funding gaps and hunger relief groups saw donation totals spike last month, many Americans did not respond with their pocketbooks to the nonprofit sector’s newfound pressures this year.
Jeannine Disviscour, a 63-year-old Baltimore teacher, is among 2025 donors who say the cuts prompted them to give more.
“I did not donate on GivingTuesday,” she said. “But I did donate that week because I was feeling the need to support organizations that I felt might not continue to get the support they needed to get to be successful.”
She estimates her household gave between $501 and $2,500. That included support for National Public Radio. Congress eliminated $1.1 billion allocated to public broadcasting this summer, leaving hundreds of NPR stations with some sort of budget hole. She said she wanted to ensure journalism reached news deserts where residents have few media options.
Living in an area that is home to many refugees, Disviscour also donated her time and money to the Asylee Women Enterprise. She said the local nonprofit helps asylum-seekers and other forced migrants find food, shelter, clothing, transportation and language classes.
“There is a gap in funding and there’s more need than ever,” she said. “And I wanted to step up. And it’s in my community.”
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Sanders reported from Washington.
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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
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The AP-NORC poll of 1,146 adults was conducted Dec. 4-8 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Chuck Dietrick poses for a portrait at his home in Anna, Texas, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
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