Those planning to vote in-person during the general election this fall may be presented with a unique variety of “I Voted” sticker designs created by Michiganders.

The Michigan Department of State announced Wednesday it has selected nine winning designs from the state’s first ever “I Voted” sticker design contest, which will be made available for clerks to hand out to voters at the polls on Nov. 5.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson congratulated contest winners in a news release issued Wednesday, adding that she was “overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and creativity from the people of our great state.”

“Now,” she says, “let’s use the same energy in casting a vote this November. I encourage every eligible voter to make a plan now to have your voice heard – vote with an absentee ballot, at an early voting site, or on Election Day – and feel proud to wear a sticker designed by a fellow Michigander.” 

More than 480 designs were submitted during the contest, which launched in May, and over 57,700 public votes were cast for the winners, according to the state.

Three winning designs were selected from three separate categories: elementary/middle school (grades K-8), high school (grades 9-12), and general entry — open to Michigan residents of all ages.

Submissions received were narrowed down to 25 semifinalists from each category by the Michigan Collegiate Student Advisory Task Force before the contest opened up for a public vote.  

Check out the winning designs from each category in the photo gallery below.

For more information about voting and elections in Michigan, visit michigan.gov/vote. 

As polls and political pundits work to predict the still evolving presidential race, an expert in Michigan says if the vote is close, one group “could potentially decide the state.”

Erick Gonzalez Jeunke is a political analyst specializing in Latinx politics at Michigan State University. In an interview with the Michigan Public Radio Network, he said the state’s 400,000 eligible Latinos voters could hold the key to winning in Michigan, if the campaigns reach out to them.

Listen: Political analyst says Michigan Latino voters ‘could potentially decide the state’

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michelle Jokisch Polo, WKAR News: In 2020 Joe Biden won the presidential election in Michigan by fewer than 200,000 votes. With more than 300,000 eligible Latino voters in Michigan, this group could prove vital in the state. How are parties engaging this voting bloc?

Erick Gonzalez Jeunke: I haven’t seen a lot of engagement for specifically this voting block. What that means is what they should have been doing and what I haven’t seen a lot of, but a lot of this happens behind the scenes, obviously, are registration drives. One of the gaps for Latino voters nationally, and then of course here in Michigan, is not just turning out to vote, but being registered to vote. A large part of that gap — about 70% of eligible voters — are even registered to vote. And so that’s part of the big gap. I mean, this is one of the lingering things, if you account for that, once you just look at registered voters, Latinos turn out at about the same rates as other groups, but the gap is really in getting individuals registered to vote. So that requires a lot of work, that requires the parties caring about these voters. Now when we get into this part of the season, a lot of the parties both nationally and here in Michigan, either leave that up to other groups, or they say, ‘look, we have limited resources. We can’t go out and mobilize people who aren’t registered.’ So a lot of that work takes place in the years and months that lead up to these elections.

MJP: This time around, it seems that there may have been fewer young democrats showing up to vote like they did in 2020, in the state primary election. Why do you think this is and tell us about the young Latino vote in November?

EGJ: I think it’s probably due to a not very competitive set of federal races, and then earlier in the year, a not very competitive presidential primary. But it’s also just an enthusiasm gap. We’re right in the middle of seeing this change with the change at the top of the ticket from Biden to Harris. I was just looking at some national polling data today, and what’s happening here in the Midwest and in Michigan is that Harris has seemed to have activated — particularly younger voters’ — enthusiasm about this race. So paying attention, getting excited, and that excitement turns into actual voting. It can turn into knocking on doors. It can turn into working for the campaign. So it’s still a little bit early to see what the overall effect of this is, but the early signs indicate that a change at the top of the ticket may reverse some of this lack of enthusiasm that we saw in the primaries, and particularly for younger Latinos.

MJP: How important do you think the Latino voting bloc is for the state’s general election?

EGJ: It depends how close the race is. It could potentially decide the state, and yet that depends on if the parties do the work to mobilize and get Latinos who aren’t registered, registered to get folks to turn out. So unfortunately, we won’t know until after the election. And it comes down to how close is Michigan actually going to be? It’s looking a lot less close than it did a month ago. But things could change, and we could go back to a really close race, if I had to put money on it right now, that it’s probably not going to be as close as we thought it was a month ago. But if it’s close, the Latino vote could be really, really important, and the Democratic and  Republican parties could say, ‘boy, we really should have done more work to mobilize Latino voters in Michigan, because we could have taken it.’ And I think both parties would say the same thing about Pennsylvania andWisconsin.

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Erick Gonzalez Jeunke, political analyst specializing in Latinx politics at Michigan State University.

The presidential election is a few months away, and American Muslim voters are weighing out their options for the next president.

Youssef Chouhoud, an associate professor of political science at Christopher Newport University in Virginia, studies trends involving American Muslim voters. He says this year many American Muslims are concerned about Gaza.

“Certainly one of if not the top, if not for some American Muslims, the only issue that they care about is the crisis in Gaza, and so that holds particularly heavy weight this election cycle,” Chouhoud said.

He says American Muslims are nestled within the American fabric, concerned about the economy, climate change, health care and immigration policies.

After 9/11, Chouhoud says, American Muslims were against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says after 2010, many focused on domestic issues.

But he says that changed after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel — during which Hamas killed 1,200 people — and the invasion of Gaza that followed, where the latest death toll stands at more than 40,000 Palestinians killed.

Chouhoud says many American Muslims view themselves as part of the extended Muslim nation, or the ummah.

“One of the beliefs in Islam is that anything that affects one part of the Muslim ummah affects you as well,” he said.

Chouhoud says many American Muslims also have close connections to Gaza.

“Everybody in the American Muslim context, is probably only one degree removed from somebody in Gaza,” he said.

Chouhoud says American Muslims are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to voting for the next president.

“They don’t, by and large, support a Trump presidency, for the reason that during the Trump administration, and you know, the explicit policies that Trump wanted to and has enacted have negatively affected American Muslims.”

He says many American Muslims say they do not feel like they belong to either Republican or Democratic parties.

“The sense of homelessness, I think, that American Muslims feel politically, is something that weighs heavy on them, and something that you know is going to probably continue from now until they go into the voting booth,” he said.

Chouhoud says things are likely to remain up in the air until the November elections.

Read more:

• DNC hosts first ever panel on Palestinian human rights
• Uncommitted delegates at DNC aim to put pressure on Harris’ Gaza policy
• ‘Uncommitted’ delegates hold DNC sit-in after refusal to allow Palestinian speaker at convention

A Michigan Court of Claims judge acted quickly Tuesday to deny Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to be removed from the state’s presidential ballot. That’s after Kennedy suspended his campaign last week to back Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Kennedy wants a court to reverse the determination of election officials in the Secretary of State’s office that he missed the deadline for removing his name as the nominee of the Natural Law Party of Michigan. Kennedy is trying to end his candidacy in Michigan and other swing states where he could siphon support from former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

“Plaintiff, a public figure, does not want to represent to the citizens of Michigan that he is vying for their votes for the position of President of the United States,” said Kennedy’s legal filing. “Keeping his name on the ballot against his wishes compels this speech and subjects him to derision, anger, reputational harm, and loss of good will by those who would vote for him based on this speech and later find out their vote was wasted and in vain.”

Kennedy argued the deadline cited by the state elections bureau applies only to down-ballot races and not to candidates for president.

Court of Claims Judge Christopher Yates dispatched the case very quickly, noting the urgency of resolving election-related questions this late in the cycle. Yates wrote the law is “clear and conclusive” that election officials in the Secretary of State’s office are not empowered to go along with Kennedy’s “self-serving act”

“Elections are not just games,” he wrote, “and the Secretary of State is not obligated to honor the whims of candidates for public office.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel praised the ruling.

“Michigan election law in this instance is unambiguous and the Department of State made the correct decision,” she said in a written statement. “…The law does not apply less because a candidate changes their plans. I appreciate the Court making a quick and wise ruling on this matter.”

Kennedy’s Michigan attorneys did not reply to a request for comment or plans to appeal.

If history is any guide, it is highly unlikely that Kennedy would win Michigan’s 15 electoral votes. The last third-party candidate to win Michigan was former President Teddy Roosevelt, who left the Republican Party to run as the candidate of the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party in 1912. That helped Democratic nominee Woodrow Wilson unseat Republican incumbent President William Howard Taft.

The Detroit Lions kick off the 2024 NFL season in an unfamiliar role — Super Bowl contender.

The team has never played in one and hasn’t won a league championship since 1957. They came close last season, leading for most of the NFC title game before the San Francisco 49ers came back to win, 34 to 31.

Die-hard Lions fans have endured more than 60 years of dashed hopes and dismal play, during which one family has owned the franchise — the Fords.

Author Bill Morris has written a new book, “The Lions Finally Roar.” It focuses on the team’s history of failure and its more recent success.

A door closes, a window opens

William Clay Ford, a grandson of Henry Ford, bought a share of the team in the 1950s and became the sole owner in 1963.

Morris says frustration motivated Ford’s interest in the Lions.

“I think it was a sort of reaction to a rejection he suffered inside Ford Motor Company,” Morris said.

William Clay Ford designed the Continental Mark II in the 1950s. Morris says Ford was immensely proud of the car. But at $10,000, it was too expensive for most consumers.

“Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Liz Taylor all wanted to have one for themselves, which they bought, but not many other people did,” Morris said.

The author notes the company lost about $1,000 for every Mark II it made. William Clay Ford’s older brother, Henry Ford II, killed the project. Morris says that was a major blow to the younger Ford, and a big reason why he took an interest in the Lions.

“He saw that as a fallback and a way to make his mark, since he couldn’t do it inside the Ford Motor Company,” Morris said.

A dynasty of despair

William Clay Ford owned the Lions from 1963 until his death in 2014. During those 50-plus years, the team had 13 winning seasons and won a single playoff game.

Morris says Ford cared deeply about the Lions and wanted them to be successful.

“The players, for the most part, adored him,” Morris said. “He was, personally, a very likeable man, and people who knew him loved him.”

The problem, Morris says, was that Ford hired a string of executives — including Russ Thomas and Matt Millen — who were not good at their jobs.

“He had never really run a business,” Morris says. “He had a knack for choosing the wrong people and sticking with them for reasons that nobody really knows to this day.”

Read more: Why do the Detroit Lions wear “Honolulu” Blue?

New owner, new hope

After Ford died, his wife Martha became the sole owner, but the team fared no better on the field. Mrs. Ford relinquished control of the Lions and passed it on to her daughter, Sheila Ford Hamp, in 2020. The team won five games in Hamp’s first year. She fired head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn and brought in a new regime in 2021.

“Chris Spielman, a former Lions player came in,” Morris said. “Then they came up with a general manager, Brad Holmes, and a coach, Dan Campbell, who were really smart choices as it would turn out.”

At first, it didn’t look like it would work out. The Lions lost 10 of their first 11 games in 2021 and started 1-6 the following season.

Morris says, like her father, Hamp remained loyal to the people she hired despite the rough start.

“She walked into the practice facility in the middle of that season and said, ‘I understand it’s going to be tough, and we’re going to stick with these guys,'” Morris said.

After that, the team won eight of its last 10 games, finishing 9-8 in 2022. The next year, the Lions claimed their first division title since 1993 and won back-to-back home playoff games for the first time in franchise history.

A liability becomes an asset

Morris says while loyalty may have been her father’s weakness, it’s been Hamp’s strength so far.

“She stuck with the right people, unlike her father, who stuck with the wrong people,” Morris said.

The book arrived in stores on Sept. 3, 2024. The Lions open the 2024 season against former franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field on Sunday, Sept. 8. Detroit beat L.A. in last season’s playoffs.

Like everyone else who is eligible to vote, young people matter in politics. But the difference between young people and everyone else is that they turn out to vote in much lower numbers.  

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

That’s true for almost every generation of young Americans. But that doesn’t mean politicians don’t try to get them to the polls anyway.  

Kamala Harris’ campaign is working hard to get young people to vote in higher numbers during this presidential election. That’s why Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost and Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield are meeting with voters at a Detroit Cafe on Friday.

To talk more about local efforts to turn out young people for Harris, and how young Detroiters feel about the Democratic presidential ticket, BridgeDetroit reporter Malachi Barrett joined The Metro. 

Use the media player above to listen to the interview with Barrett.

More headlines from The Metro on Aug. 30, 2024:

• Detroit Documenter Meghan Rutigliano and Coordinator Noah Kincade joined the show to give us a better sense of Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals and its member training session that took place on Aug. 26. 
• The Carbon Athletic Club is one of those places in Detroit that makes you wish the walls could talk. The members-only club has nearly 80 years of history. WDET’s Jack Filbrandt bellied up to the bar with Club President MaryBeth Beaudry to discuss the history they’re preserving and the service they provide the community today.  
• A collective of social justice organizations have teamed up to create a space for art and justice to thrive in Detroit. Kwaku Osei, executive director of the LOVE Building, joined the show to discuss its mission.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

Supporters of increasing the state’s minimum wage and earned sick leave received a ruling from the Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday that’s in their favor. This week on MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben sat down with Crain’s Detroit Business senior reporter Dave Eggert to discuss the ramifications of the ruling on the state’s businesses. 

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode:

• The origins of the adopt and amend legislative tactic
• The future of minimum wages in Michigan
• Michigan businesses’ reaction to the increase in minimum wage and earned sick leave

The Michigan Legislature’s controversial “adopt and amend” tactic refers to the legislature adopting a ballot measure before allowing it to go to voters and then amending it significantly during the legislative session.

The Michigan Supreme Court’s 4-3 ruling on Wednesday found that the legislative tactic — used by the Legislature in 2018 to gut a voter-approved ballot initiative to increase the state’s minimum wage — was “unconstitutional” because it circumvented the petition initiative process.

“It was very controversial in the moment. The legislature at the time was controlled by Republicans,” Eggert said. “Ballot initiatives generally are thought to generate extra turnout, particularly on those issues, probably for Democrats; for Republicans and business groups, they feel like the laws were unwieldy.”

The ruling, which will allow for an increase to the state’s minimum wage and tipped minimum wage — as well as an expansion of the state’s earned sick time laws — will have a big impact on local businesses.

Some critics of those changes suggest exemptions for small businesses.

“Do they go and try to go back to exempting all businesses with 50 or fewer employees? That could be a pretty tough lift in the Democratic-led legislature” Eggers said.

The new minimum wage law will take effect in February 2025. 

More from WDET:

• How Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling on minimum wage, sick leave will affect workers and businesses
• Michigan Supreme Court sets stage for minimum wage boost
• Karamo forcibly removed from Michigan GOP convention; party chooses Fink, O’Grady for state Supreme Court

More from Gongwer:

• Impossible Or Inevitable? Adopt-And-Amend Fallout Continues

Now that the major parties have officially selected their nominees for president and the conventions have passed, how do the two stack up?

Subscribe to Created Equal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Recent polls show Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris leading former President Donald Trump following the Democratic National Convention. Now, the attention turns to the first and only scheduled debate between the two — set to take place on Sept. 10.

But what other opportunities lie ahead for the two candidates to make an impact on the presidential race?

To discuss this, Washington Post columnist E.J Dionne, political analyst Jessica Taylor, and WDET reporter and All Things Considered host Russ McNamara joined Created Equal on Thursday.

Guests:

• Jessica Taylor is the Senate and Governors Editor at Cook Political Report.
• Russ McNamara is a reporter and host of All Things Considered at WDET
• E.J. Dionne is the Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and a columnist for the Washington Post.  He says mocking former President Trump is a new strategy for the democrats.

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

More than a year after state lawmakers eliminated the five-year waiting requirement for certain immigrants to qualify for Medicaid, the state is now opening coverage for immigrants who are under the age of 21 and pregnant.

The Michigan Legislature allocated $6.4 million from the 2023-2024 general fund to get rid of the five year eligibility waiting period for legal residents joining dozens of other states across the country in providing the benefits.

States have had the option to waive the five-year waiting period since 2009 through the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act.

“There might be people who have maybe previously thought they weren’t eligible for benefits, it might be a good time to go and see if they’re able to sign up, and their local offices should be able to get them signed up if they’re lawfully residing,” said Elinor Jordan, supervising attorney at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the coverage extends to lawfully residing children and pregnant women, including green card holders, immigrant survivors of battery or extreme cruelty and their family members, as well as those with temporary protected status.

Public policy experts estimate the expansion could benefit nearly 10,000 people statewide.

“This policy change would bring Michigan closer to covering all children—and providing affordable, quality care to thousands more children in our state—while aligning our state law with that of most other states,” stated Simon Marshall-Shah, policy analyst at the Michigan League for Public Policy, in a 2021 analysis of the policy.

The change also includes postpartum coverage for up to a year for qualifying recipients. Before the expansion, legally residing pregnant individuals were eligible for Medicaid coverage for emergency services, including some prenatal and postnatal care.

Jordan says the move makes coverage much more comprehensive while also preventing medical debt for some people.

“We often work with clients, who are lawful residents and are contributing so much but have this crushing medical debt,” she said. “It can really take away from their productivity and their ability to full engage in their communities.”

Eligible Medicaid recipients can apply for the program directly on the state’s health department website.

Wayne County officials met this week to discuss the lack of transparency from the federal government following a unilateral decision to haul radioactive waste from a site in New York where the Manhattan Project was developed, to a metro Detroit landfill.

Officials were not aware of the shipment until the Detroit Free Press reported last week that the waste was being moved to be stored at a landfill in Van Buren Township by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Republic Services’ Wayne Disposal is one of five landfills identified by the corp that can handle the waste.

“When permits and sites are expanded we need to know what can we do as a county commission to have a say in these decisions?” said Wayne County Commission Chair Alisha Bell at Tuesday’s meeting.

Officials voiced similar concerns last year, when a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the city of East Palestine, Ohio, releasing toxic chemicals like the known carcinogen vinyl chloride into the environment.

Nearly 15% of the solid waste and about 7% of the liquid waste removed from that derailment were eventually disposed of in metro Detroit, yet local officials weren’t notified of their transport until the chemicals were already here, The Detroit News reported.

Just a few weeks after the East Palestine derailment, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Van Buren Township. While there was no evidence of that derailment resulting in the exposure of hazardous materials, it only added to intensifying concerns in Michigan about the transportation of hazardous waste to disposal sites in the state.

Those concerns where echoed on Tuesday by both residents and local officials in attendance. However, Patrick Cullen of Wayne County’s environmental services department said the decision was made by the federal government — not the county — and cannot be blocked.

U.S. Reps. Rashida Talib and Debbie Dingell were both present at the meeting and expressed concerns about the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) not having higher restrictions on what materials can be transported in.

“When’s the last time they denied a permit? I want to know that.” Talib said. “Because every permit I’ve seen come forward to the state seems to get approved or delayed because they need more information.”

Bell suggested the commission could take action to help make the county more unattractive for companies looking to store waste by establishing protocols and enforcing them with fines, increasing tipping fees, and tracking permits of these companies.

In a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Republic Services, Dingell reiterated that the lack of notice to local officials and the public about the hazardous waste shipment only heightened anxiety about the potential risks associated with transporting those materials through local communities.

“While I understand this facility is licensed at both the federal- and state-level and must adhere to strict regulations that ensure the community is protected, my constituents remain concerned about the impact on their health and environment,” the letter read. “Given the recent history of hazardous waste disposal incidents in Michigan, it is imperative that we take every precaution to protect our community.”

A representative from EGLE was present at the meeting via Zoom, but technical difficulties prevented them from providing a clear response.

A town hall is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 4 with the county and local officials to further discuss the transport.

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment Tuesday against Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election that keeps the same criminal charges but narrows the allegations against him following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents.

The new indictment removes a section of the indictment that had accused Trump of trying to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to overturn his election loss, an area of conduct for which the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion last month, said that Trump was absolutely immune from prosecution.

The stripped-down criminal case represents a first effort by prosecutors to comply with a Supreme Court opinion that made all but certain the Republican presidential nominee won’t face trial before the November election in the case alleging he tried to thwart the peaceful transfer of power.

It comes days before prosecutors and defense lawyers are expected to tell the judge overseeing the case how they want to proceed in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, which said presidents are presumptively immune from prosecution for official White House acts. The high court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who now must analyze which allegations in the indictment were unofficial actions — or those taken in Trump’s private capacity — that can proceed to trial.

Prosecutors and Trump’s legal team will be back in court next week for the first hearing in front of Chutkan in months, given that the case had been effectively frozen since last December as Trump’s immunity appeal worked its way through the justice system.

In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump called the new indictment “an act of desperation” and an “effort to resurrect a ‘dead’ Witch Hunt.’” He said the new case has “all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY. ”

The special counsel’s office said the updated indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, was issued by a grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in the case. It said in a statement that the indictment “reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions.”

The new indictment does away with references to allegations that could be deemed as official acts for which Trump is entitled to immunity in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling. That includes allegations that Trump tried to enlist the Justice Department in his failed effort to undo his election loss, including by conducting sham investigations and telling states — incorrectly — that significant fraud had been detected.

In its opinion, the Supreme Court held that a president’s interactions with the Justice Department constitute official acts for which he is entitled to immunity.

The original indictment detailed how Jeffrey Clark, a top official in the Trump Justice Department, wanted to send a letter to elected officials in certain states falsely claiming that the department had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election,” but top department officials refused.

Clark’s support for Trump’s election fraud claims led Trump to openly contemplate naming him as acting attorney general in place of Jeffrey Rosen, who led the department in the final weeks of the Trump administration. Trump ultimately relented in that idea “when he was told it would result in mass resignations at the Justice Department,” according to the original indictment. Rosen remained on as acting attorney general through the end of Trump’s tenure.

The new case no longer references Clark as a co-conspirator. Trump’s alleged co-conspirators were not named in either indictment, but the details make clear their identities. The new indictment stresses that none of the other co-conspirators “were government officials during the conspiracies and all of whom were acting in a private capacity.”

The new indictment also removes references to Trump’s communications with federal government officials — like senior White House attorneys — who told him there was no evidence of fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 election. It also removes references to certain Trump statements, including a claim he made during a White House press conference two days after the election about a suspicious dump of votes in Detroit.

The new indictment still includes one of the more stunning allegations brought by Smith — that Trump participated in a scheme orchestrated by allies to enlist slates of fraudulent electors in battleground states won by Democrat Joe Biden who would falsely attest that Trump had won in those states.

It also retains allegations that Trump sought to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to reject legitimate electoral votes, and that Trump and his allies exploited the chaos at the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to further delay the certification of Biden’s victory.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote in his majority opinion that the interactions between Trump and Pence amounted to official conduct for which “Trump is at least presumptively immune from prosecution.”

The question, Roberts wrote, is whether the government can rebut “that presumption of immunity.”

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the ruling. In an excerpt from an interview with CBS News’ “Sunday Morning” that aired Tuesday, she said: “I was concerned about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual under one set of circumstances. When we have a criminal justice system that had ordinarily treated everyone the same.”

Story by Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press. Associated Press writers Mark Sherman, Lindsay Whitehurst and Maya Sweedler contributed to this report.

There likely was no busier man at last week’s Democratic National Convention than transplanted Michigander Pete Buttigieg.

The U.S. transportation secretary stresses he’s using his personal time to campaign for the Harris-Walz ticket — and he seemed to be the go-to spokesperson for the media.

Buttigieg, who was on the list of potential Harris running mates, is viewed by some pundits as a possible gubernatorial candidate when Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited out after 2026.

But Buttigieg says he’s focusing now on helping Democrats maintain the enthusiasm shown at the convention all the way through to Election Day.

Listen: Buttigieg says Dems will ‘bottle’ energy from DNC to propel presidential ticket

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Pete Buttigieg: We’ve got many, long weeks ahead. But what we’re going to do is we’re going to take the joy and the positive energy [from the convention], we’re going to bottle it up and we’re going to use it to propel us through the weeks ahead. Of course, on every campaign there are curveballs, there are setbacks. Although I do think it is notable that in the many weeks since Kamala Harris became our candidate, she hasn’t put a foot wrong. People kept saying, “Is this the honeymoon? You know, this is a few days, then it gets real.” The energy has been sustained. The momentum has been sustained. But as she keeps reminding us, we still need to remember that this is an underdog effort.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Any concerns about the protests regarding Israel and Gaza at the convention and whether or not that could actually have a significant impact on the campaign going forward?

PB: That’s one more point of difference between us and the Trump-Vance ticket. Not just the approach she has, to bringing peace to the Middle East, but also the approach she’s bringing to engaging protesters and demonstrators. She’s reaching out to those parts of our party that are so concerned. Versus this idea you hear from Trump about basically turning the military on protesters. We understand the legitimate concerns of those who have spoken out and will continue to engage.

QK: When you talk to voters about what their number one issue is, there still seems to be a lot of worries about the economy. You obviously have a big background in the Midwest, as well as with issues like infrastructure and so on. What do you see that a Harris administration could do that a Trump administration would not, in terms of trying to help lower prices, etc?

PB: The biggest concern in the economy is around prices. And economists who have analyzed the Trump plan believe it will add $3,900 a year to a family’s expenses, because he wants to add all these additional charges (tariffs) on imported goods. You contrast that with the Harris plan that’s very focused on lowering costs. Also, if we want to talk about economic performance, let’s talk about jobs. There was a manufacturing recession under Trump, and that’s even before COVID. Right now, there’s a manufacturing boom the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades. A construction boom as well, because the infrastructure policies that Trump failed to deliver, this administration has. These are the kinds of things that are explaining why you’ve had in these last few years the most job creation in any presidency in history. Now we’ve got to pair that with continued work to drive prices and inflation back to baseline. And that’s exactly what you’re seeing right now.

QK: How do you make voters feel that? I hear people recite the data and then people say, “Well, I’m not really feeling that in my own house.”

PB: We got to meet folks where they are. This is a real concern, you can’t wave it away. That’s exactly why Harris is being criticized now for being too aggressive in trying to bring prices down. But I think that’s the right kind of focus that demonstrates concern for what voters are feeling. We also, though, need to make sure that there’s no attempt to rewrite history and have people forget about the manufacturing recession and other problems that happened during the Trump years.

QK: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer campaigned on “fixing the damn roads.” You’ve been a Michigan resident for a while now. She is term limited out after 2026. Would you think about running for governor yourself?

PB: I sincerely am not sure what the future holds for me. I’ve got the best job right now and, of course, I’m not speaking in that capacity. But I also am having the best time when I’m not at my day job, campaigning for a ticket and a party that I really believe in. Between the two, those things are taking about 120% of my capacity.

QK: Are you really having the best time? It’s so politically divided now it seems like it would just be hell at times to deal with from the inside.

PB: Well, look, it’s hard work, but it’s hard work that’s worth doing. I believe in politics as a force that, if you understand it in the right way, can make our lives better. As I shared with the convention audience, I recognize the fact that the simple existence of my family — just what goes on at our dinner table — is only possible because of political involvement, political courage and political action that brought about things like marriage equality. Whatever the biggest issue is that’s affecting somebody’s life, chances are it either gets better or worse depending on the political choices we make. Of course it’s hard. But that doesn’t mean it has to be a death match. And part of why I think Americans are ready to change the channel away from the Trump show, part of why folks are just more and more tired of that, is that most Americans don’t view the political process as something that has to be all about negativity and grievance and revenge. It can be a process of engaging our neighbors, and of course it’ll be tough sometimes, but it can also be really uplifting.

It’s really great speaking to the Michigan audience, in particular, because that’s where the infrastructure and the manufacturing results of the Biden-Harris vision are not just playing out, but very much at stake. The job creation and the clean energy economy that’s bringing back so many blue collar jobs in the industrial Midwest, that will either be developed or it will be destroyed, depending on who the next administration is led by. I want to make sure it’s developed so we create even more jobs.

Use the media player above to listen to the interview with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will remain on the Michigan presidential ballot, despite his announcement Friday that he is suspending his campaign and backing former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee.

“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign reached out to the Michigan Bureau of Elections late this afternoon in an attempt to withdraw his name,” said bureau spokesperson Cheri Hardmon, adding that the campaign was informed the deadline to remove his name from the ballot had passed.

Kennedy is on the state ballot as the nominee of the Natural Law Party of Michigan. That party’s state nominating convention was held back in April.

Hardmon said the party could have held a new nominating convention any time until the state’s August presidential primary.

“The Natural Law Party held their convention to select electors for Robert Kennedy Jr.,” she said. “They cannot meet at this point to select new electors since it’s past the primary.”

Kennedy’s quixotic campaign sought the Natural Law Party of Michigan nomination because it was easier and less expensive than gathering thousands of signatures required to get on the state ballot as an unaffiliated independent candidate.

Now, Kennedy said, he wants to be removed from the ballot in states where his candidacy could hurt Trump’s chances. Michigan is considered a swing state, and recent polls show Trump in a close race with Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Natural Law Party seeks to apply the principles of transcendental meditation to government. Kennedy has no prior affiliation with the party or the transcendental meditation movement. The advantage of a big name for a minor party is the likelihood of winning enough votes to automatically qualify for ballot access in future elections.

The Natural Law Party of Michigan and the Kennedy campaign did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Michigan’s new climate laws require utilities to transition to entirely “clean” electricity sources by 2040. As the state’s Public Service Commission figures out what that will look like, it has to pay special attention to the Upper Peninsula and the natural gas plants that went online there just five years ago.

The U.P. is a huge area with many rural communities, and power can be unreliable. Over the years, some utility rates have been among the highest in the state and even the country.

But Chair Dan Scripps said when it comes to the energy transition, the region may have a leg up.

“Largely because of the hydroelectric assets — the dams across the Upper Peninsula — the Upper Peninsula actually gets a significant higher amount of its electricity from renewable resources than the rest of the state,” he said.

Energy crossroads

Transitions in the U.P. are nothing new.

In 2013, the iron ore mining company now called Cleveland-Cliffs switched from the coal-burning Presque Isle Power Plant to a different provider. (That was made possible by a 2008 law that allowed mining companies to choose where they got their energy.)

The Cliffs mining company was the Presque Isle plant’s biggest customer, using around 85% of the load. With federal pollution standards looming as well, the Wisconsin utility that ran the coal plant, We Energies, announced plans to shut it down.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which manages the region’s transmission, rejected those plans. MISO reasoned that it would destabilize the grid. And the cost of keeping the coal plant open was pushed onto customers in the U.P., hiking rates higher.

After years of wrangling between the state, feds, mining companies and utilities, the Public Service Commission agreed to replace coal with natural gas.

“This new gas-fired generation is a critical piece in shaping the future of energy supplies in the U.P. — a future that is cleaner, more reliable and affordable for U.P. residents and businesses,” said then-chair of the commission Sally Talberg in a 2017 news release.

The commission approved a plan to spend $277 million on two natural gas stations. It was proposed by Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corp., a U.P.-based subsidiary of the Wisconsin utility WEC Energy Group.

The plants are in Baraga and Marquette counties and hold a total of 10 reciprocating internal combustion engines, known as RICE units. They went online in 2019 and were built to last for decades, according to UMERC, which serves around 42,000 customers.

Scripps said the natural gas units “were put in place to solve a very specific concern, and in partnership with the largest customer — again, the mines in the Upper Peninsula.”

As part of that agreement, Cleveland-Cliffs pays back half of the $277 million over 20 years, and residents and businesses pay the rest.

Natural gas conundrum 

If the utility keeps using those natural gas units as is, it might not be able to meet what’s required under Michigan’s clean energy law.

The legislation specifically mentions these natural gas plants as a hurdle and directs the public service commission to figure out what to do.

According to Scripps, this might require a more flexible approach, like reducing or offsetting their emissions instead of shutting them down.

“How do you effectively get to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 but maybe with more flexibility around carbon capture and that sort of thing,” he said, saying that reasoning has been used in other parts of the state.

The law allows for natural gas that’s paired with carbon capture and storage, when emissions are trapped and then stored deep underground, a technology that’s still being developed.

Burning natural gas generally emits less carbon dioxide than coal. But it’s still a fossil fuel made up mostly of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. And groups like the climate think tank RMI argue that many comparisons of coal and gas only consider end-use emissions, and don’t account for methane leaks during production or transportation. According to an RMI analysis published last year, those leaks can put the climate impacts of natural gas on par with coal.

Reliability and cost

The Upper Peninsula’s instability — and the lack of affordable energy — can have serious consequences for people living there.

People in the U.P. say that “a squirrel sneezes and the power goes out,” according to Tori McGeshick, a member of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.

McGeshick, who now lives in northern Wisconsin, works as a climate resilience coordinator for the tribe and the U.P. organizer for the advocacy group We the People MI. She wants energy decisions to include more input from tribal nations.

Unreliable power has had a profound effect on her community, McGeshick said, especially elders and people with specific medical needs in remote areas.

“A lot of my elders live like 15 to 20 miles on the outskirts of town, and they experience the outages the most. And a lot of the elders that I’ve spoken to have medical issues,” she said. “That’s when it just becomes a survival issue.”

For her, this process is about energy justice for the entire region.

“If you’re constantly raising the utility rates and expecting us to pay these rates, but then also not giving us the reliability that should come with it, then it’s a problem,” she said.

Some Yoopers are strongly in favor of keeping natural gas. During the commission’s public hearing in Marquette at the end of July, some said they’ve already footed the bill for the natural gas plants and that it was important to energy security.

“Access to affordable and reliable energy is key to keeping the Marquette Iron Range competitive and viable for another 177 years,” said Michael Grondz of Ishpeming, who works at the Cleveland-Cliffs Tilden mine and is the vice president of the United Steelworkers Local 4950. “Cleveland-Cliffs has made great progress to reduce emissions by replacing the Presque Isle Power Plant with the modern gas RICE generators, while reducing the cost and making local electricity supply more reliable for families like mine all over the Upper Peninsula.”

Others believe a compromise can be worked out, and don’t think the state’s laws necessarily need to change.

“Renewables continue to be more and more efficient,” said Abby Wallace, a member of the Michigan Environmental Council and a student at Northern Michigan University who spoke at the public hearing in July. “There are ways that the RICE units could be made more efficient themselves. And I think it’s premature to say that the U.P. in no way could meet the goals that the rest of the state are being held to in the legislation.”

And not everyone agrees that natural gas is key to energy security. Roman Sidortsov, an associate professor of energy policy at Michigan Technological University, said gas prices are variable and hard to predict.

“People tend to forget that fossil fuels, and oil and gas in particular, it’s incredibly volatile business,” he said. “There’s very little stability in the prices.”

Sidortsov, who was a member of the state’s U.P. Energy Task Force several years ago, said the U.P. deals with different environmental factors and customers than the rest of the state. And the grid was built to serve industries that aren’t as robust as they once were.

He thinks a lot of the region’s demand can be met with distributed generation — getting power through smaller, more localized sources of energy, something energy experts have discussed for years.

The model of large, centralized power plants has worked for the Lower Peninsula and other parts of the country, he said, “but it’s perhaps not the most efficient way to produce and deliver power when you are talking about the geography of the Upper Peninsula when the distances are vast.”

The Public Service Commission has to recommend what to do with the natural gas units and determine how feasible renewable energy is in the U.P. It must submit a report to the governor and legislature by December 1.

People can reply to public comments on the commission’s energy transition study until Sept. 13.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Independent presidential candidate Cornel West must appear on the ballot in the battleground state of Michigan, a judge ruled about a week after West was disqualified.

Court of Claims Judge James Robert Redford wrote in a decision released Saturday that West’s campaign submitted the proper number of signatures to qualify for the ballot and that presidential candidates are not required to file affidavits of identity. The ruling came after the Michigan Bureau of Elections informed West on Aug. 16 that he would not be certified because the affidavit of identity he submitted was not properly notarized.

Redford also rejected the state’s findings that West’s affidavit was incorrectly notarized.

West, a leftist academic, progressive activist and long-shot presidential candidate, is at the center of multiple legal and political battles as Democrats and Republicans seek to use the impacts of third-party candidates who could take support from their opponents. Republican allies in states such as Arizona have sought to keep West on the ballot amid Democratic fears he could siphon votes from Vice President Kamala Harris.

In Michigan, the state Democratic Party, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and a voter backed by a Democratic-aligned political action committee had challenged West’s candidacy.

Benson’s office plans to appeal Redford’s decision, a spokesperson said.

West’s campaign called the opinion a “decisive victory for democratic principles and voter choice.”

“We are grateful for this affirmation and promise to continue championing the rights of all voters,” West said in a statement.

The Michigan court opinion came a day after West lost a legal challenge to appear on the Pennsylvania ballot. It also came one day after third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent campaign for the White House and endorsed Republican Donald Trump.

Story by Isabella Volmert, Associated Press

This episode of the Detroit Evening Report includes Donald Trump’s most recent campaign visit in metro Detroit, a health safety alert on cinnamon and more stories you should know.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trump and Vance campaign in metro Detroit this week

Former President Donald Trump was in Michigan today to address a conference of the U.S. National Guard Association. It’s part of a series of events planned in the battleground state this week. Trump’s appearance comes as he and his running mate JD Vance criticized Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz over his service in the Army National Guard.

The visit is also an effort to counter the momentum generated by Vice President Kamala Harris’s historic nomination to head the Democratic presidential ticket. Vance is set to deliver a speech in Michigan about the economy tomorrow and Trump will do the same at a steel facility in the state on Thursday.

WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter contributed to this story.

Arab American museum receives $100K grant to produce doc on drone warfare

The Arab American Museum in Dearborn received a $100,000 Joyce Award grant to produce a theatrical series about the implications of drone warfare. Writer, director and performer Andrea Assaf will collaborate with the museum to create work that “confronts the militarized use of drone technology, the ethics of remote control warfare and the human cost of war.” “DRONE” will be a multimedia piece with live theater, museum and digital design — informed by community conversations with Arab Americans, veterans and anti-war activists in Dearborn.

The 2024 Joyce Awards uplift collaborations between artists of color and community organizations in the region. Assaf is one of five winners this year.

Health alert issued on cinnamon due to high levels of lead

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) says the list of contaminated cinnamon products has increased since July. These cinnamon products have high levels of lead. MDHHS encourages consumers to stop eating or selling the products and throw them away.

Some of the brands of cinnamon include El Chilar, Marcum, SWAD, Shahzada and La Frontera. For a full list, visit fda.gov.

Youth coalition focuses on reproductive rights

The Michigan Youth Reproductive Justice Coalition is hosting a statewide initiative to organize youth around reproductive rights. The group is hosting a Zoom event on September 12 from 5:30-7 p.m. to connect organizers and build power on and off college campuses. People who are interested in joining can fill out a form through the Michigan Student Power Alliance 2024 interest form.

Detroit’s health department will host its 3rd annual block party next month, offering free health screenings and resources to residents. The program kicks off on Sept. 7 with a safe sleep walk and rally at 11 a.m. and then a block party from 12-4 p.m. at 100 Mack Avenue at John R Rd. in Detroit.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

President Biden personally thanked more than 100 members of the U.S. government earlier this month for their help in negotiating the recent prisoner exchange with Russia.

The massive deal brought Michigan native Paul Whelan back to the U.S after being held in Russia since the end of 2018 on charges of espionage that both he and federal officials say are bogus.

Some experts believe the exchange could set a model for how nations engage in such so-called “hostage diplomacy” in the future.

Northwestern University Assistant Professor Danielle Gilbert works with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on matters concerning wrongful detentions.

She says duplicating the kind of deal that gained Whelan’s release will not be easy.

Listen: Why the deal that freed Whelan, Gershkovich may be hard to duplicate

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Danielle Gilbert: These are extremely difficult negotiations. Not only are we talking about some of the fiercest adversaries that have to come to the table to come to an agreement in terms of the United States and Russia; but also the challenge of bringing together all of these other parties, getting other governments to agree to put their own prisoners on the line to participate in this complex multi-party swap. This was extremely advanced negotiation that took place at the highest levels of government over the course of quite some time. And that all of it was held as such a tight secret until the actual release was also pretty spectacular.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: There are reports that Germany wanted Putin opponent Alexei Navalny as part of any deal that would include Whelan in exchange for a Russian assassin that was held by Germany. And then Navalny passed away a few days after the deal was supposedly struck. Yet it seemed Germany’s willingness to make a deal continued and that seemed to open the pathway to the eventual exchange. Does it surprise you that Germany would actually, finally partake in such an effort?

DG: Vladimir Putin and his government continually pushed for the release of Vadim Krasikov, the FSB assassin who was imprisoned in Germany for murder. But the United States government didn’t have the power to release Krasikov, that was something that was only up to Chancellor Scholz and the government of Germany. So that took some really difficult conversations behind the scenes. President Biden was drawing on the friendship and the alliance with Germany, speaking to Chancellor Scholz and representatives at the highest level of the German government. And not only about the importance of their alliance, their partnership and friendship with the U.S. and opposition to what Russia was doing in this particular case, but also ensuring that the ultimate deal — the prisoner swap — included Russian dissidents, political opponents to Vladimir Putin. That those people would be released from detention and they’d be able to come to Germany. Countries like the United States and its Western democratic partners and allies are being targeted by autocratic states like Russia.

QK: Beyond the number of nations involved in the swap, the sheer multitude of prisoners involved in the exchange seems to be far different from what one would normally think of in a hostage deal, which is sterotypically a one-for-one prisoner swap. Do you think similar hostage deals that could happen in the future are also likely going to have to include many, many more countries and in effect “enlarge the pie” of what is being offered in any exchange?

DG: It’s a great question. It remains to be seen. I think in past prisoner swaps with Russia, we really have seen that one-for-one dynamic. Russia wrongfully detains an American and they demand the specific release of a Russian who was arrested in the United States. And those deals, while they might be controversial, are about as straightforward as they can get in terms of prisoner swaps. This one (involving Whelan) was extremely complicated because of the number of countries involved, the number of prisoners, the complicated choreography. In an ideal world, the countries that are frequent targets of this kind of attack are going to start really working together to deter the practice going forward.

Read more: Family of Novi man released from Russian prison say they can finally exhale

QK: One of the criticisms of the exchange has been that it rewards Russia and by extension any other country that would follow suit for taking Americans hostage that the government believes could be used as trade bait. How do you think the U.S. can combat that kind of approach?

DG: That requires coordination among allies, drawing on the tools of the international system. How can they punish a state like Russia for engaging in this practice? There might be sanctions on hostage takers, it might result in prosecution or other means of drawing on a country’s own legal system. And thinking about ways to exclude Russia from the things that it might enjoy in the international system.

QK: The U.S. is already involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. There’s few other examples that would be testier for governments to be dealing with than an ongoing war. And yet this deal seems to have achieved Russia’s goals. So in the future would actions like sanctions be sufficient? Is there something else that countries can do to try to deter this type of hostage-taking?

DG: That’s the real million dollar question. It’s the question that gets me up in the morning. Government officials in the United States and a lot of other frequent targets, countries like Canada, the U.K. and Australia are putting their best minds to work to figure this out. The commission that I’m a part of at CSIS is also working on this question and hoping to make recommendations to the next U.S. presidential administration on how they might think about deterring this practice going forward. One big part of it has to do with prevention. Let’s say the U.S. government can’t put more sanctions on these countries that are already so heavily sanctioned. Well, what can the U.S. government do to prevent its citizens from traveling to places like Russia in the first place? How can they increase education? How can they engage the private sector that requires employees to travel to make sure that Americans who are going to these places are aware of the risks that they might be facing, understand other countries’ laws and hopefully stop traveling to places that the U.S. government strongly urges Americans not to visit, like Russia.

Use the media player above to listen to the interview with Danielle Gilbert.