By Melody Baetens, Adam Graham, Francis X. Donnelly, The Detroit News

It was cold and it was sloshy and it didn’t make a bit of difference Friday night.

When you’re attending the premier social event of the year, the last thing on your mind is meteorology.

The forecast for the Charity Preview gala, which opens the Detroit Auto Show each year, was shiny tuxedos, glittering gowns, bubbly champagne and, oh yeah, cars.

All this finery transpired within the confines of the Huntington Place convention center, where 6,000 revelers oogled the latest designs from automakers.

The oglers sported some fancy designs of their own. Their jewelry alone put the glitz into the social spectacle.

Like most years, the fashion was black-tie with a dash of Motor City swagger and wintertime ritz.

Women have been hip to the fact that the hard, freshly carpeted floors of the showroom can be tough if you’re wearing heels, and many opt for flats. Complimentary comfy slippers were at the ready, piled high near the stage area.

Also spotted were a few gals in expensive sneakers.

Mia Talbott of Rochester Hills rocked an emerald satin mini dress with modern gold jewelry and black-and-white Jordans.

“They’re really comfy and they’re also my favorite pair of shoes,” said the young car fan, who was attending the event for the second time with her mom, Lori Talbott. “I like how they’re every day, but when you style them right, they can be fancier.”

During the entertainment portion of the evening, longtime “Masked Singer” judge Robin Thicke performed a brief 19-minute set that included his hits “Lost Without U” and “Blurred Lines.”

But it was a step down from 2025’s headliner, Flo Rida, who ignited a dance party on stage and brought out Flavor Flav to hype up the crowd, turning the buttoned-up Charity Preview setting upside down. Thicke didn’t bring any of that energy or excitement, and his set was seemingly over before it even got going.

A local guy did a much better job.

Trick Trick performed a 25-minute set on a large stage at the back of Huntington Center. Joined by his brother Diezel, a Detroit sex symbol in his own right due to his heavy Tubi presence, Trick took the stage and was greeted by a rumble of bass that echoed throughout the show floor.

The Detroit rapper had the tux- and gown-clad crowd throwing their hands in the air as he performed songs like “Bet She Wanna Smoke,” “My Name is Trick Trick” and “Booty Bounce,” the 1995 single that put him on the Detroit map.

Crowd faves “Welcome 2 Detroit” and “From the D” followed, and Trick served as a proper scene-setter for headliner Thicke.

Trick left the crowd with some parting words of unity.

“Listen,” he told the crowd. “It don’t matter what political party you represent, there’s always one Detroit.”

Besides fun and fashion, some do-gooderism also abounded.

As Carolyn Clifford and Glenda Lewis welcomed the growing crowd ahead of the ribbon cutting, the WXYZ-TV anchors talked about the financial impact of the event. Clifford said the gala has raised more than $125 million for local children’s nonprofits.

“At the heart of the night is impact,” said Clifford.

Proceeds from the $400-a-ticket event will go to six children’s charities in southeastern Michigan. The final tally won’t be known for several weeks but organizers hope to raise an additional $3 million for the charitable groups.

Todd Szott, auto show chair, echoed the importance of the charity support.

“What you make possible tonight through your support and your presence and your belief has a real and lasting impact on children and families across our region,” he told the crowd.

Lewis introduced the newly elected mayor of Detroit, Mary Sheffield, who said the auto show has had a great economic effect on the city.

Her Honor said the event generated $370 million in economic activity last year and $8 billion over the years.

“The auto show is such an important time and event for our city throughout the years,” she said. “It is more than just cars in glamour. It really is about the heart of our city. It is about the meaningful impact that this event has on our community.”

For former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, it was his first Charity Preview not as the city’s chief executive since 2013. But it felt just like the others, especially when snow fell on the same day as the gala, he said.

He didn’t mind the snow and thought the event was smart to return to winter after giving summer a try.

“Crowds come in from all over, and all you hear is, ‘the city looks incredible,’” he said.

Duggan said he didn’t have any official duties during the soiree, including making speeches, and he was fine with that, too.

“I’m adjusting to retirement without a problem,” he joked.

It may be a short-lived retirement as Duggan is currently running for governor.

Jalen Rose is many things ― a Detroit native, media mogul, and former NBA star, but until Friday night, he was never an attendee of the Charity Preview.

He not only corrected the last part of that, but doubled down as the evening’s master of ceremonies.

“This is incredible,” Rose said. “It’s a celebration of vehicles, and a celebration of the city.”

Rose said he loved that everyone dressed to the nines, and said no one does that better than Detroit. He was among the fashionistas, wearing a black suit, black rimmed glasses and a black hat with a red underbrim.

Marissa Bennett of Richmond floated through Huntington Place with a dress made of magazine-style paper ads for Vernors, Better Made potato chips, the city’s sports teams and everything else that screams Detroit.

Bennett was constantly stopped by people asking about the outfit, which had a plastic base and was held together with tape and glue.

Standing beside Bennett was Matt Richmond of Pontiac, who designed the dress and assembled it just a few hours before the show.

“It’s pretty crazy. You can’t go more than a few feet without someone stopping and asking about it,” Richmond said. “It’s a showstopper.”

Emerald and similar shades of green were prominent, not only via sparkly gowns but also accents on men’s tuxedos. It may be an ode to cash money or inspired by the latest “Wicked” film.

State Sen. Stephanie Chang was more Glinda than Elphaba in a pale pink, almost-cream gown with sparkling accents, which she purchased at Detroit’s Peacock Room.

“It’s a super fun event, great for networking, but also you get to see all the cars,” she said. “So many great things, but I think the most important thing is raising money for really important organizations.”

Chang said she was especially happy with the financial support for the Children’s Center, which helps kids with mental health and foster care placement.

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel has been coming to the Charity Preview for years and said he always enjoys meeting people. He said the event also is a great way for the region to show off its attributes.

“It’s not about being a politician, it’s about being a people person,” he said. “It’s a target-rich environment for people who like people so I love it.”

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Rashunda Jones scored 23 points, and No. 15 Michigan State rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half to beat Oregon 85-81 on Sunday for the Spartans’ eighth straight win.

Ines Sotelo scored four points and Jones made a pair of free throws in a 6-0 spurt that gave Michigan State the lead for good, 78-75, with 2:46 remaining. The Spartans trailed by as many as 16 points early in the second quarter.

Jones finished 9-of-12 shooting that included two 3s for Michigan State (16-1, 5-1 Big Ten). Grace VanSlooten added 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Kennedy Blair scored 11 points, and Emma Shumate and Jalyn Brown each had 10.

Katie Fiso scored 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting and had nine assists to lead Oregon (14-4, 2-3 Big Ten). Sofia Bell and Mia Jacobs added 18 points apiece for the Ducks. Ehis Etute chipped in with 11 points.

Oregon opened on a 10-2 run and led 31-21 at the end of the first quarter. The Ducks scored the first five points of the second to stretch the lead to 36-20, but Michigan State answered with a 24-7 run and led 44-43 at the break. Bell made four 3s for 12 points in the first half for the Ducks. Shumate scored all 10 of her points in the first half to lead the Spartans.

The then-16th ranked Spartans avenged last season’s 63-59 loss at home against the Ducks.

Up next

Oregon: At No. 14 Iowa on Thursday.

Michigan State: At home against No. 25 Nebraska on Thursday.

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and JIM MUSTIAN The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The woman shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday was Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who had recently moved to Minnesota.

She was a U.S. citizen born in Colorado and appears to never have been charged with anything involving law enforcement beyond a traffic ticket.

In social media accounts, Macklin Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom.” She said she was currently “experiencing Minneapolis,” displaying a pride flag emoji on her Instagram account. A profile picture posted to Pinterest shows her smiling and holding a young child against her cheek, along with posts about tattoos, hairstyles and home decorating.

Her ex-husband, who asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of their children, said Macklin Good had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school Wednesday and was driving home with her current partner when they encountered a group of ICE agents on a snowy street in Minneapolis, where they had moved last year from Kansas City, Missouri.

Video taken by bystanders posted to social media shows an officer approaching her car, demanding she open the door and grabbing the handle. When she begins to pull forward, a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the vehicle at close range.

In another video taken after the shooting, a distraught woman is seen sitting near the vehicle, wailing, “That’s my wife, I don’t know what to do!”

Calls and messages to Macklin Good’s current partner received no response.

Trump administration officials painted Macklin Good as a domestic terrorist who had attempted to ram federal agents with her car. Her ex-husband said she was no activist and that he had never known her to participate in a protest of any kind.

He described her as a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger. She loved to sing, participating in a chorus in high school and studying vocal performance in college.

She studied creative writing at Old Dominion University in Virginia and won a prize in 2020 for one of her works, according to a post on the school’s English department Facebook page. She also hosted a podcast with her second husband, who died in 2023.

Macklin Good had a daughter and her son from her first marriage, who are now ages 15 and 12. Her 6-year-old son was from her second marriage.

Her ex-husband said she had primarily been a stay-at-home mom in recent years but had previously worked as a dental assistant and at a credit union.

Donna Ganger, her mother, told the Minnesota Star Tribune the family was notified of the death late Wednesday morning.

“Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” Ganger told the newspaper. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.”

Ganger did not respond to calls or messages from the AP.

___

Mustian reported from New York.

By Summer Ballentine, sballentine@detroitnews.com

A nearly four-decade-long business partnership between The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press ended Sunday, Dec. 28, pitting the newspapers against each other financially at a time when few other U.S. cities support two major papers.

Free Press owner USA TODAY Co., formerly known as Gannett Co. Inc., and MediaNews Group — owner of The News — in June opted against renewing the longstanding agreement, thus ending among the last such tie-ups in the country. The companies have not provided further reasoning behind the split.

The News announced Friday it will launch a Sunday edition Jan. 18, at which point it will once again print newspapers all seven days. Other changes include makeovers for the detroitnews.com website and mobile app, an updated print design and a refreshed eNewspaper, Editor and Publisher Gary Miles said. The changes are expected to take place during a roughly month-long transition period.

The end of the Detroit joint operating agreement (JOA) marks the end of an era in U.S. newspapers. Aside from a contentious Las Vegas partnership that was ruled invalid earlier this year, the Detroit JOA was the last major JOA still in existence, and the only one in which both newspapers emerged to print seven days and compete on all digital platforms.

“To the JOA’s credit, there are two newspapers to this day in metropolitan Detroit,” said Mark Silverman, who was editor and publisher of The News from 1997 to 2005. “So that’s clearly a positive. And both newspapers had very different editorial page positions. That’s a positive for a community.”

Joint operating agreements were cost-saving measures allowed by the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970, which permitted two newspapers in the same city to merge their business operations to protect diversity in opinion and newsgathering. If approved by the federal government, the newsrooms continued to compete, but companies saved overhead costs associated with newsprint, printing presses and distribution.

“Even in the federal government, there was some understanding of the value of journalism and the value of preserving those voices,” said Carole Leigh Hutton, a former Detroit News editor and the Free Press’ former editor and publisher.

In virtually all cases outside of Detroit, newspapers concluded their partnerships with mergers, one partner shuttering its operations or the smaller paper dramatically curtailing operations.

Bitterly contested in court when it was first proposed in 1986, the Detroit joint operating agreement remains a subject of debate over whether it was a success, although its primary stated goal — preserving two editorial voices — was fulfilled.

“Ultimately, what it intended to do was to keep two papers in Detroit,” said the Poynter Institute’s Kelly McBride, who advises news organizations on best practices. “So yeah, I guess that means it was successful. Clearly, I don’t think Detroit would have two papers now if the (joint operating agreement) had not existed.”

But McBride and former editors of both papers said it’s difficult to separate the role of business partnerships in the survival or death of newspapers compared to the existential loss of funding widely blamed on digital advertising.

“It’s been a really tough environment for newspapers,” Hutton said. “And they have gone to online-only in a lot of places. Many have just gone away. So it’s not far-fetched to think it would have been tough to continue to have two nameplates in this particular area, and I think the JOA probably did keep two nameplates alive. But again, it’s hard to know.”

Ed Wendover, a former Plymouth newspaper publisher who fought the Detroit papers’ partnership in court, said the outlets survived in spite of their agreement. Free to compete on all levels without being tethered financially, the papers “would be stronger than they are today and have more circulation,” Wendover said.

Silverman expressed a similar sentiment, saying that “the business aspect of the JOA was a hindrance to both newspapers.”

“The positive was that it kept two newspapers going,” he said. “The negative was that the business staff tried to serve too many masters and didn’t serve either very well.”

In addition, a bitter newspaper strike marked the early years of the JOA, costing the publications both subscribers and brand loyalty.

“The mismanagement under the JOA drove readers away, and advertisers will always play follow-the-readers. It’s a double-edged sword seeing the JOA end,” Wendover said.

Why did the Detroit papers partner?

In the years before the joint operating agreement, The News and the Free Press were locked in a financially draining, “old-fashioned, intense newspaper war,” said The News’ editorial page editor Nolan Finley, who at the time worked as an editor on the paper’s city desk.

Lucrative ad sales were at stake, and advertising rates were based on circulation, said former News reporter Bryan Gruley, whose 1993 book “Paper Losses: A Modern Epic of Greed and Betrayal at America’s Two Largest Newspaper Companies” details the path toward the joint agreement. Both papers steeply discounted subscription prices to beef up readership numbers and increase the prices they could charge for ads.

“You couldn’t throw a stone in Detroit without meeting someone who got a free Free Press or a free Detroit News that they never paid for and that landed on their doorstep every morning,” Hutton said. “Everybody knew that was part of the war.”

In response, The News ― then owned by Gannett (recently renamed USA TODAY Co.) ― and the Free Press ― then owned by now-defunct Knight Ridder ― in 1986 filed for federal approval to merge business operations in a 100-year partnership, leaving separately owned and competitive newsrooms.

Wendover, the former Plymouth publisher, led opposition to the partnership and sued to block it. He said vying for permission from the Reagan administration reflected poorly on the newspapers’ editorial independence and would reduce journalistic competition between them.

Once the deal was before federal judges, scrutiny increased over claims that the Free Press was in imminent danger of failure if not for the agreement. The reason: federal law on joint-operating agreements required one paper to be failing.

“They were saying these are not failing newspapers,” said Gruley, who covered the legal battle. “They’re not failing because the economics are bad. They’re failing because they’re choosing to fail, knowing that maybe we can push the other guys out and then maybe we get the whole banana, the whole enchilada.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled 4-4 on the case, allowing the agreement to take effect in 1989. The pact was renegotiated as a 20-year deal in 2005 when newspaper ownership changed; Gannett bought the Free Press and sold The News to MediaNews Group.

“I remember that when it came about, it was a matter of survival,” said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor. “And I think local media matters. I think it’s important that there are two newspapers with different perspectives, and I’m someone that thinks we need more media, not less. People need to be able to go to places where you can really get the facts. And I hope both papers survive.”

Although the rise of digital advertising at the expense of newspapers wasn’t what prompted the tie-up, former Free Press publisher Dave Hunke said the timing of the agreement was unwittingly prescient.

“The JOA was necessary from an economic standpoint to keep two newspapers in place,” Hunke said. “We were within a couple of years heading into the deepest financial crisis this country had seen since the Great Depression, and the business was not good.”

The role of journalism and how to pay for it

The papers’ upcoming split once again raises questions about the market for two dailies and whether current economics can support both outlets.

“People wanted two fiercely independent competitive newspapers in that town,” said Hunke, who became president of the joint business operations when the partnership was reconstituted in 2005. “People wanted their newspapers. And they wanted them competitive, and they wanted them separate.”

Throughout the agreement, Detroit maintained its rare status as a two-paper town.

“It kept two fairly strong newspapers in Detroit with opposing … editorial page viewpoints,” Finley said. “So we’re the only market you could say that about in the country, where you have two competitive, fairly equal newspapers, one on the right (and) one on the left that people can choose from.”

Silverman said both papers served readers well during the JOA.

“The News always had a certain journalistic personality embodied by its name: The News,” he said, adding that during his time in Detroit, the Free Press was known as “the friendly Freep.”

Both newspapers won Pulitzer Prizes during the partnership and “changed lives in the community,” Hutton said. She cited coverage of former Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who was convicted 12 years ago of federal racketeering and tax evasion charges after being accused of running a criminal enterprise out of City Hall, rigging bids and pocketing more than $840,000 in bribes and kickbacks.

“Even though there’s a whole political entity out there that likes to trash it and say that journalism is harmful and anti-American, it’s quite the opposite,” she said. “If you think about it, journalism is about preserving the ideals and making sure that people know what’s happening because it’s our money, and it’s our government, and it’s our right, and it’s supposed to be our decision. And it’s just not possible for the average person to oversee what’s happening in the world the way journalists should be overseeing it for them.”

Leadership at The News has said the split will allow the outlet to operate more closely with its sister papers in Michigan, including the Macomb Daily, The Oakland Press, The News-Herald in the Downriver area, and The Morning Sun in mid-Michigan, which share the same ownership as The Detroit News.

Hutton said the success of the papers “all comes down to: What do the advertisers think?”

“You got to unlock the business solution, somehow,” Hunke said. “But you cannot take the shortcuts on the news side. Good journalism, in the end, I swear it will win. I just wish somebody could find a way to unlock the economics.”

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 Lions in 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.

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.

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Before she takes office next month as Detroit’s first woman mayor, Mary Sheffield quietly got married over the weekend. The news was confirmed Monday in a statement by Sheffield’s transition team, Rise Higher Detroit. “Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield and her fiancé, Rickey Jackson, Jr., exchanged vows in a private ceremony over the weekend in Detroit,” the […]

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DETROIT (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 13 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and the Detroit Pistons rallied to beat the Portland Trail Blazers 122-116 on Friday night.

Cunningham also had three assists in the quarter and finished

with nine. Jalen Duren added 18 points and eight rebounds.

Detroit allowed 22 points off turnovers. The Pistons averaged only 15.0 points off turnovers in their 15-2 start, but have been over 20 in seven straight games while going 4-3.

Deni Avdjia had 35 points for Portland. Jeremi Grant had 29, and Shaedon Sharpe 28 — and the rest of the team had 24.

Detroit took a 112-110 lead on Cunningham’s steal and layup with 2:22 to play, and Duncan Robinson scored five points in the next two possessions to make it a seven-point game.

Avdija had 29 points in the first three quarters, helping Portland to an 85-84 lead. The Pistons scored 65 in the first half, but only got 19 points in the third.

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his knee and be out four to six weeks, the team said Friday.

Jets coach Scott Arneil said Friday that Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goalie, had been trying to play through a knee injury, and the timing is right to get it taken care of. Hellebuyck is from Commerce Twp., and attended Walled Lake Northern High School.

“Obviously, he’s, what is it, 10 years, he’s been pretty healthy,” Arniel said. “And this has kind of been nagging on him here since training camp. It’s something we’ve kind of known about, he was trying to play through it, would be good days, bad days, just something that, timing’s right, get it done now.

“A lot of schedule ahead of us, so that was really just the thinking. Sat down, talked to him, obviously the medical staff, everybody, agent. This was the time to do it.”

The surgery comes less than three months before the start of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament in Milan, Italy.

Hellebuyck is 8-6-0 with a 2.51 goals-against average and .913 save percentage this season for the Jets (12-7-0), who entered a game Friday against Carolina in third place in the Central Division.

The 32-year-old Hellebuyck won his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP and his second straight — and third career —Vezina Trophy in 2024-25, helping the Jets to the best regular-season record in the NHL. He also won the award as top goalie in 2019-20.

Hellebuyck was not included in the first group of six players announced for the United States’ Olympic preliminary roster, but was widely expected to be added to the team.

Eric Comrie is expected to take the Jets starting role in Hellebuyck’s absence. He is 4-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .908 save percentage this season.

In a corresponding move, the Jets called up goaltender Thomas Milic from the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose.

“Obviously we’ve been really fortunate to have Helly be healthy and available,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “His durability is something to marvel at. Obviously now without him, you can’t replace a guy like that.

“But we’re super confident in Coms and Milly and our defensive game. But definitely, we’ve been fortunate to not have him out of the lineup for a whole lot of years.”

Hellebuyck, who last played on Nov. 15 in a victory over Calgary, was 47-12-3 last season. He has a career record of 330-191-44 with a 2.56 GAA and .918 save percentage and 45 shutouts.

By Ben Strauss and María Luisa PaúlThe Washington Post

CHICAGO – As the Trump administration intensifies a nationwide mass deportation campaign, immigrant parents are scrambling to secure emergency caretakers for their children – flooding legal clinics and naming friends, acquaintances or teachers as temporary guardians.

A Chicago volunteer worker agreed to become a guardian for nine children, using an obscure state law that dates to the AIDS epidemic.

A teacher in Maine recently agreed to be an emergency guardian for one of her students if his parents, both of whom are undocumented, are deported.

And a business owner in Oregon ended up with temporary custody of her friend’s children for four months when the parents were both detained.

Fear of being separated from her son recently led Rosa, an Ecuadorian asylum seeker and single mom in Chicago, to search online for help with a question she never thought she’d face: What happens to my child if I get deported?

The search led her to information about short-term guardianship, or tutela temporal in Spanish, which allows parents to designate a trusted adult to temporarily care for their children under certain conditions without giving up parental rights. In Illinois, the four-page legal document is free and requires no lawyer or notary.

It gives people the authority to make decisions about education and medical needs if parents are unable to care for their children.

“I don’t know if I will come home from work any day; this is my plan,” Rosa said of the short-term guardianship agreement. (Like several others interviewed for this article, she spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation from the federal government.)

Across the country, the effects of the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign have had a chilling effect on immigrant communities – both the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and those here legally.

Perhaps nowhere has it been more pronounced than in Chicago, where law firms advertise services on Spanish language radio for parents in need of a plan for their kids if they get detained.

Sometimes parents are seeking help from U.S. citizens they’ve only recently met. Aleah Arundale, who helps a network of immigrants with necessities like food and rent money in Chicago, has made short-term guardianship arrangements for nine children from four families. “The greatest fear for them is: ‘What happens if I get taken?’” Arundale said. “They think I’m the best chance to get their kids back.”

There’s no data to quantify short-term guardianship arrangements since the requirements vary by state. But lawyers report they are being inundated. Clinics are popping up across the country, and one specialist said they usually see two or three cases per year but now receive hundreds of requests each week for information.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the surge of interest in guardianship agreements. The Trump administration has deported more than 400,000 people this year, DHS has said. It has also doubled the number of people detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities. As of late September, ICE is holding nearly 60,000 people in custody. It’s unclear how many of those are parents.

The White House has said it is targeting criminals, but some of those who have been detained are asylum seekers, longtime residents, people with pending immigration cases or even U.S. citizens. A Syracuse University research group has found that more than 70 percent of those detained by ICE do not have criminal records.

At a time of heightened anxiety, some immigrants said guardianship planning has become one of the few things they can control. “It helps me breathe,” said one mother, an asylum seeker from Venezuela, who completed the Illinois form with Arundale. “And it took 10 minutes.”

– – –

Hundreds every week

Rosa arrived in Chicago four years ago. She cleans an office with a work permit, but a highly publicized federal immigration raid in her neighborhood sent her into a panic.

After Rosa learned about temporary guardianship, her church connected her with Rebekah Rashidfarokhi, an attorney and director of guardianship and immigration programs for children at Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, which offers pro bono representation.

The two met virtually this month to discuss the process.

Unlike adoption or more complicated guardianship procedures that require court approval, short-term guardianship in Illinois needs just the signatures of two consenting parties and two witnesses. Parents can revoke the arrangement at any time. It can last up to a year.

The form is helpful for enrolling a child in school or going to the doctor, Rashidfarokhi said, because it is recognized by state law. It has no federal authority, so it cannot be used to get a passport. (Several parents said that if they are deported they hoped it could also help make international travel and reuniting with their children easier.)

The guardianship does not kick in immediately but takes effect with a specified event. Rashidfarokhi instructed Rosa to be specific about the conditions: “In case I am detained by immigration.”

Rosa said she left Ecuador after her husband was abusing her and threatening her children. She has lived in fear in recent weeks, she said, but also knowing she must make logistical plans. She has been preparing documents, including proof of custody of her son after her divorce. She spoke to a woman, a dual American and Ecuadorian citizen, she met taking English classes at a community college to be her designated guardian. The woman agreed.

She has avoided talking too much about any of it with her 13-year-old son.

“He is confused about what is happening,” Rosa said. “But I am his mother, and I have to do it.”

Rashidfarokhi has been a family law attorney for two decades. Most years, she handles two or three short-term guardianship cases. Now, hundreds of people are requesting information every week, with families and community groups flooding her with requests for clinics and presentations. At one clinic earlier this year, 100 families showed up. (Rashidfarokhi said it’s difficult to quantify how many people fill out the form because many of the consultations she does now are virtual since so many people are afraid to leave their homes.)

Mayra Lira, an attorney with Public Counsel in Los Angeles, said she has seen similar demand for guardianship clinics in her city, where the Trump administration has also carried out immigration raids.

Lira described seeing parents make short-term guardianship plans as “dystopian,” adding that allegations of unlawful arrests and racial profiling have also brought green-card holders and U.S. citizens to the clinics.

“Everyone is afraid of being targeted,” she said.

– – –

‘We want people to know what to do’

The legal framework for Illinois’ short-term guardianship didn’t exist until the late 1980s. It was conceived of primarily to assist HIV-positive parents, many of them low-income, who were worried the state would assume custody of their kids if they died. It took several years of lobbying before Illinois amended its probate law.

“It was revolutionary at the time,” said Linda Coon, a lawyer who spearheaded the effort. “I knew it would help our clients but could never imagine it would be used by thousands of people today.”

Its uses have expanded over the years. During the early days of the pandemic, an executive order in New York state allowed medical workers to designate a temporary guardian. Several states – including Maryland and New York, as well as the District of Columbia – amended statutes during the first Trump administration to recognize immigration detention or deportation as an event that could give designated caregivers temporary parental rights. California passed a law last month that created a new short-term guardianship process for parents who could be detained or deported.

Today, guardianship conversations are happening in all types of settings, some not even planned by parents.

A teacher in Maine said she agreed to be a temporary guardian for one of her students after the parents broke down crying in a meeting over what might happen to their child if they were deported.

“I will do that every single time,” the teacher said. “I shouldn’t have to. I should just be able to teach my kids.”

Mimi Lettunich, an Oregon resident, took care of a friend’s four children after the family was detained by federal agents. (She has a pending U.S. visa and her children are U.S. citizens.) When Lettunich picked up the children, she was handed a coloring book with a note from their mother that said: “I will miss my babies. … I talked to them that they need to obey you.” The note also included a reminder for one of her kids’ upcoming orthodontist appointments.

Temporary guardianship allowed Lettunich to take the kids to doctor’s appointments and enroll them in a new school.

Lettunich’s friend was eventually released, and the two are now working on a handbook to help families facing the same circumstances. One of its strongest recommendations: arrange for short-term guardianship.

“We want people to know what to do,” Lettunich said. “Because you never think it’ll happen – until it does.”

The Detroit Lions bounced back from last week’s lackluster showing against the Minnesota Vikings with an offensive clinic in a 44-22 road win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

Here are all the sights from the game:

Detroit Lions offense is commanding in 44-22 road win at Washington

Dan Campbell calls plays, Lions plaster Commanders with dominant offense

Autonomous car company Waymo says it plans to deploy its “robotaxi” service in Detroit this winter. In a series of announcements Monday, Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., said it planned to launch the service in Detroit, in addition to San Diego and Las Vegas: Waymo is headed to Motown! Detroit is […]

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Stage musical adaptations of movies and TV shows are buyer-beware propositions.

It’s, over the years, proven not easy to capture such productions in the flesh, with songs added. The ratios of success to failure largely tilts in the latter direction, with a fair number of attempts also follow under the category of “meh.”

So “Back to the Future: the Musical?” As Doc Brown would say, “Great Scott!”

With an emphasis on the great.

At the Detroit Opera House through Nov. 9, the treatment of the hit 1985 sci-fi comedy — which premiered days before the pandemic shutdown during 2020 in England and on Broadway in 2023 — ticks off all the boxes that make for a winning musical of any kind, regardless of its source material. The songs — by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard, save for those couple of Huey Lewis & the News hits from the film. The acting is on a high level, the choreography energetic. And, as an adaptation, it makes tweaks to the plot that are clever enough to make it work on stage but without losing any of the original, joyous and tongue-in-cheeky spirit of the movie.

It adds to that, in fact. Musical numbers such as “It’s Only a Matter of Time,” “Got No Future,” “It’s Only a Matter of Time,” “Future Boy” and “For the Dreamers” dig into the existential struggles Marty McFly (Lukas Hallauer) and Doc Brown (David Josefsberg) are experiencing in their quests to make some sort of mark on the world. That’s added emotional content that brings welcome dimension to the goings-on in Hill Valley, both in 1985 and 1955, where Marty unwittingly travels back to in the infamous DeLorean.

And the car, Flux Capicitor and all, is front and center in “Back to the Future’s” most striking visual moments, as the production uses scrims, screens and video projections to simulate the time travel experience in a seamless fashion that will impress “BTTF” die-hards — including those who dress up in character for the show — and casual theater fans.

Key lines from the film, meanwhile, pop up with applause-generating regularity, and the Under the Sea school dance sequence is recreated in all of its Chuck Berry-predicting glory. The new or changed aspects of the script work so well that they belie any complaints about what might be missing — and even at times make the story that much more enjoyable.

It is, in the end, a great deal of fun — right down to the video screen messages pre-show and during the intermission — which is exactly what it should be.

The performances are strong from top to bottom. Hallauer channels plenty of Michael J. Fox into his Marty, even looking the part — and, like Josefsberg, has the gift of opening his mouth wide enough that his moments of comic angst can be seen and felt in the top row of the balcony. Josefsberg, meanwhile, plays Doc a bit more like Beetlejuice than Christopher Lloyd but injects a bit more of a human touch into his film counterpart’s zany eccentricity.

A perhaps unexpected standout is Cartreze Tucker as future mayor Goldie Wilson, a character that’s given more real estate in the musical and nearly steals the show with his gospel-flavored “Gotta Start Somewhere.” Mike Bindeman nails Crispin Glover’s demeanor from the film but brings more physical comedy to the role, as did Jenny Dalrymple (an understudy for the show’s media night) as Marty’s future mom/seductress Lorraine Banes.

And Central Michigan University grad Nathaniel Hackmann brings the right amount of comedy to Biff Tannen — a role he created for the Broadway production — particularly in the slapstick of “The Hill Valley School Fight Song” and “Something About That Boy.”

All of that makes for a wholly enjoyable and even timeless kind of trip back, and forth, in time. And if you are a fan of those Huey Lewis tunes (“The Power of Love” and “Back in Time”), don’t leave during the bows; there’s no moment of this party that should be missed.

“Back to the Future” runs through Nov. 9 at the Detroit Opera House, 1526 Broadway St. (313)237-7454 or broadwayindetroit.com.

The longtime activist has confronted drug dealers and predatory landlords, led searches for missing people, and organized countless rallies for justice

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