By MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 68th annual Grammy Awards will take place Sunday with a dramatically different tone than last year.

The 2025 award show was completely reimagined and refocused to relief efforts following the devastating Los Angeles-area wildfires. In 2026, focus has been placed once again on the music, where Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny and more will go head-to-head.

Comedian Trevor Noah will host for a sixth and final year and history could be made when some of the biggest names in music gather. Here’s some key things to know ahead of Sunday’s show at the Crypto.com Arena.

How to watch the show and red carpet

The main show will air live on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 1.

The Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.

Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the Grammys live; Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.

The premiere ceremony will take place just ahead of the Grammys’ ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, 12:30 p.m. Pacific at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It can be streamed at the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com.

The Associated Press will stream a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com ahead of the Grammys on Sunday.

Who’s nominated at the 2025 Grammys

Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 Grammy Award nominations with nine. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer/songwriter Cirkut follow with seven nominations each.

Sabrina Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas and Serban Ghenea all boast six nominations. Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile and Tyler, the Creator have five each.

Who’s attending and performing at the Grammys

Doechii, Harry Styles, Carole King, Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, Jeff Goldblum, Karol G, Lainey Wilson, Marcello Hernández, Nikki Glaser, Q-Tip, Queen Latifah and Teyana Taylor will present at the 2026 Grammys.

Performers include Justin Bieber, Clipse, Pharrell Williams, Sabrina Carpenter Bruno Mars, Rosé, Tyler, the Creator, Lady Gaga and all eight of this year’s best new artist nominees: Leon Thomas, Olivia Dean, global girl group Katseye, The Marías, Addison Rae, sombr, Alex Warren and Lola Young.

Reba McEntire, Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson will take the stage for the in memoriam. Ms. Lauryn Hill will pay tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack. Post Malone, Andrew Watt, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan and Slash will honor Ozzy Osbourne.

By MARIA SHERMAN, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Sunday’s Grammys mark a return to normalcy after the 2025 show was altered to focus on Los Angeles-area wildfire relief efforts.

“I think we will see some history-making moments,” Recording Academy CEO and President Harvey Mason jr. told The Associated Press. “With artists being nominated in categories they haven’t been previously nominated in, and a new crop of talent coming through the system this year — I think we’re going to see some really exciting results.”

Here’s how to watch the 2026 Grammys, including how to stream and where you can see music’s biggest stars walking the red carpet.

How do I watch the Grammys?

The main show will air live from LA’s Crypto.com Arena on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Paramount+ premium plan subscribers will be able to stream the telecast live, too. (Paramount+ essential subscribers will have on-demand access the next day.)

The Grammys can also be watched through live TV streaming services that include CBS in their lineup, like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV and FuboTV.

The Premiere Ceremony will take place ahead of the Grammys telecast, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern from the Peacock Theater. It can be streamed at the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and on live.GRAMMY.com.

How can I watch the red carpet?

The Associated Press will stream a four-hour red carpet show with interviews and fashion footage. It will be streamed on YouTube and APNews.com.

Before I tell you why you should watch the new documentary about Mel Brooks, I will tell you that 25 years ago, he told me, “You may be right. I have done everything there is to do in show business. … Everything except to be tall. That’s the one thing I’ve never accomplished, being tall. But I’m looking forward to that.”

He was a relative youngster then, 74 years old, but at a very important point in his life. He was generally regarded as a comedic giant, and why not? He had spent his life making people laugh, first as a Catskills comic and then as part of a glittering writing team (along with Woody Allen and Neil Simon) for Sid Caesar’s pioneering TV programs “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hour”; as the co-creator of “Get Smart”; as the 2000 Year Old Man on a series of best-selling comedy albums with pal Carl Reiner; as movie writer, director, producer and actor in such films as “The Producers,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles.”

But he had not had a critical or box-office hit since his 1977 Hitchcock spoof “High Anxiety.” And there he sat on a cold December day in 2000 in New York, taking a big risk, for many believed that the success or failure of the musical version of “The Producers” he was overseeing would provide the final sentence to his career.

Well, we all know what happened. “The Producers” would open in Chicago, move to Broadway and win a record 12 Tony Awards. The career carried on, and now here is Brooks, as charming, smart and, of course, funny as ever, as the centerpiece of a thoughtfully thrilling documentary now airing on HBO Max. “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!,” exclamation point more than justified.

It may be a bit long at almost four hours (in two episodes, now streaming), but it is impossible not to enjoy. Its length is forgivable since one can sense the excitement and affection of filmmaker Judd Apatow, who interviews Brooks at length. Apatow, along with co-director Michael Bonfiglio, has previously also captured in documentary form George Carlin and Garry Shandling.

Drawing on ample archival footage and candid interviews, he and Bonfiglio take us back to the beginning with Brooks (born Melvin Kaminsky), the youngest of four boys of a widowed mother in Brooklyn, all of them off to World War II, all safely returned, with Brooks telling Apatow, “War changed me. If you don’t get killed in the Army, you can learn a lot.”

His career moves to the raucous Sid Caesar writers’ room and we do also hear, rather wistfully, from Brooks’ three children and his first wife, former Broadway dancer Florence Baum, before he was off to moviemaking in California in the early 1960s. His granddaughter Samantha is charming.

You will hear Brooks tell a terrific Cary Grant story (one he has told many times over the years on the various late-night talk shows where he has been a frequent guest) but, more tenderly, tales of his courtship and marriage to actress Anne Bancroft. Gene Wilder shares feelings that go far deeper than director and star. And we get details of Brooks’ long friendship with writer-director Reiner, from the early 1960s to their sharing dinners together as widowers every night watching “Jeopardy” on TV.

Bancroft died in 2005; their son, novelist Max, is tender in interviews. Reiner’s wife Estelle died in 2008 and Reiner in 2020. Hearing Reiner’s son, filmmaker Rob, talk about his father and Brooks gives one a chill, knowing this was one of the final conversations before he and his wife Michele Singer Reiner’s December murders.

The number of people with whom Brooks has shared his creative life will impress and perhaps surprise you. There’s Richard Pryor, who did a bit of writing for “Blazing Saddles,” who says, “He’s a loving man. It’s about love with him.”

The late director David Lynch credits Brooks with saving his career by hiring him to direct “The Elephant Man” after seeing Lynch’s “Eraserhead.” In addition to his own movies, Brooks produced such films, through his Brooksfilms, as “The Fly,” “My Favorite Year,” “Frances” and others, taking a rare low profile lest his name lead moviegoers to think they would be seeing comedies.

Naturally, we hear from a large crowd of showbiz folks and all of them — Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Sarah Silverman, Conan O’Brien, Josh Gad, Robert Townsend, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and others — are complimentary. There must be someone in that backbiting swamp that is Hollywood who isn’t a Brooks fan, but such a person is not to be found here.

Whatever your relationship with Brooks beforehand, this film will enrich it. Will you understand what makes him tick? I don’t know, and you won’t care. Just spending time with him is satisfying enough.

His famously quick wit has not lost a step. When Apatow asks, “You lost your father at an early age?” Brooks quickly replies, “No, no. My father died.”

His ability to recall names and places and laughs is, frankly, astonishing. He is not only able to remember but to enjoy, to savor. We should all be so lucky.

In the film, he says, “Sometimes my comedy is just to celebrate the joy of being alive.” And as he has said many times in his many years, he has always used humor as “a defense against the universe.” Few, if any, have done it better.

rkogan@chicagotribune.com

By MARK KENNEDY, AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Some people see the glass as half full and some as half empty. Marc Shaiman is something else entirely.

“I’m not even happy with the glass,” he says with a laugh.

The award-winning Hollywood and Broadway composer and lyricist cheerfully likes to call himself an “Eeyore” and “a card-carrying pessimist” despite many of his biggest dreams coming true.

“Just as soon as something good happens, something bad’s going to happen,” he tells The Associated Press. “I am always waiting for that other shoe to drop, and it inevitably drops.”

His career and personal ups and downs are on full display this winter with Tuesday’s publication of his memoir, “Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner,” which is filled with funny stories from a man who has helped fuel popular movies and musicals for decades.

“I’ve been lucky enough to do a lot and I’ve been lucky enough to have an outrageous longevity. I thought, ‘Let me write it down, finally,’” he says.

Tales of Bette Midler, Stephen Sondheim and the ‘South Park’ guys

The memoir charts the New Jersey-born musical prodigy’s rise from Bette Midler’s musical director in his teens to scoring such films as “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Mary Poppins Returns” and Broadway shows like “Hairspray” and “Catch Me If You Can.”

He’s worked with Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Luther Vandross, Raquel Welch and Rob Reiner, sparred with producer Scott Rudin and had a spat with Nora Ephron (“I’m certain she’s in heaven, telling all the angels she doesn’t like harps,” he writes). He also played at the White House and was a force in the early days of “Saturday Night Live.”

There was the time in 1999 that he got legendary composer Stephen Sondheim so high on pot at a party in his apartment that the iconic composer collapsed three times. “I’ve killed Stephen Sondheim,” he thought to himself. (Sondheim asked him to tell the story only after he died.)

He tells the story of hearing Meryl Streep repeatedly working on a song for “Mary Poppins Returns.” Moved, he and his writing partner, Scott Williams, knocked on her door to say how impressed they were by her dedication to rehearse. “Well, guys, fear can be a powerful motivator,” she told them.

“I’m mostly just trying to show how human everyone is — even these bold-faced names,” Shaiman, a two-time Grammy winner and two-time Emmy winner, says in the interview.

Shaiman isn’t above mocking himself, as he does for becoming an inveterate pothead and cocaine user. “I should go into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the only person who put on weight while being a cocaine addict,” he writes.

There are stories about how a misunderstanding over an unpaid bill with Barbra Streisand left him shaken for days and the time he insulted Harry Connick Jr. (Both would later reconcile.)

Then there was the time he found himself dressed in an ostentatious powder-blue suit and feather boa alongside Matt Stone and Trey Parker on a red carpet for “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” — they were dressed as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez.

One lesson from Shaiman: ‘Show up’

One lesson Shaiman hopes to teach aspiring artists is to go for it: “What you can do is show up. Show up to everything. Say yes to everything because I’m a good example of that.”

He tells the story of Midler organizing a world tour and offering his services but being told she was only hiring local Los Angeles people. So he withdrew all his money from the bank, hopped on a flight from New York and called her from a phone booth: “I’m in L.A. Where’s rehearsal?”

“Even if you don’t get the job, keep your spirit up because someone in that room is going to remember you for another thing. That’s the thing I think to really learn from the book,” he says.

As a sign of Shaiman’s pull on Broadway, the audiobook will feature performances by Crystal, Short, Matthew Broderick, Megan Hilty, Nathan Lane, Katharine McPhee and Ben Whishaw, among others.

“I had included a lot of lyrics in the book and then I suddenly realized, ‘What, am I going to sing them all or speak them all?’ So I started calling friends, some who had sung those songs and some who had sung the demos,” he says.

Crystal met Shaiman at “Saturday Night Live” and quickly hit it off. In a separate interview, Crystal called his friend funny and quick to improvise, with an almost photographic memory of music.

“Look at his range: From ‘Misery’ to the beautiful score from ‘The American President.’ And I brought him in on ‘61(asterisk)’ and then the ‘Mr. Saturday Night’ score,” Crystal says. “He’s just so uniquely talented as an artist.”

Despite being a Tony Award winner in 2003 with “Hairspray” and earning two other nominations for “Catch Me If You Can” in 2011 and “Some Like It Hot” in 2023, Shaiman is flustered by Broadway.

His last two shows — “Smash” and “Some Like It Hot” — earned great reviews but closed early, a victim of high costs and fickle audiences.

“I wish the shows kind of stunk and I could go, ‘Oh, man, that really stunk. People are really not liking this,’” he says. “But when they’re enjoying it?”

Shaiman really has nothing else to prove and yet he laughs that his skin has gotten thinner — not thicker — over the years. He’d like to take it easy, but that’s not what Eeyores do.

“I don’t know how well I’ll actually do with retirement, but I’d like to give it a try.”

By HILLEL ITALIE

NEW YORK (AP) — From her house up high in Colorado’s Elk Mountains, author Shelley Read can only look out in amazement at the worldwide success of her debut novel, “Go as a River.”

“There were upward of 30 translations already secured before the novel was introduced in the U.S.,” says Read, a fifth-generation Coloradan who lives with her husband in Crested Butte, in a home they built themselves. “And that is when I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ It’s thrilling, scary, magnificent.”

Published in 2023 by Spiegel & Grau, “Go as a River” received little major review attention beyond trade publications when first released and its honors are mostly regional, including a High Plains Book Award and a Reading the West Book Award. But her novel has been a hit in the U.S. and well beyond, appearing on bestseller lists everywhere from North America to Scandinavia and selling more than 1 million copies. Mazur Kaplan, co-founded by producer Paula Mazur and independent book seller Mitchell Kaplan, is working on a film adaptation. Eliza Hittman, whose credits include the award-winning “Never Rarely Sometimes Only,” is expected to direct.

Read’s 300-page novel spans from the 1940s to the 1970s, and centers on a 17-year-old Colorado farm girl’s ill-fated romance with an itinerant Indigenous man and how it haunts and changes lives for decades to come. “Go as a River” proves that some books can break through without high-profile endorsements or author name recognition. It also adds the 61-year-old Read to a special list of first-time authors — from Frank McCourt to Louis Begley — middle aged or older who finally get around to that book they had been meaning to write and receive wide acclaim.

“What she’s done is unusual,” says Spiegel & Grau co-founder Cindy Spiegel. “Every now and then someone comes along who has a vision that they’ve held for many, many years and they really do write it down. Most people don’t.”

A native of Colorado Springs, Read is a graduate of the University of Denver who has a master’s degree from Temple University’s creative writing program. She is a longtime educator who parsed and absorbed so many books, with works by Virginia Woolf and Czeslaw Milosz among her favorites, that one of her own inevitably came out on the other end.

A teacher with a story of her own

For nearly three decades, she taught writing and literature among other subjects at Western Colorado University. During that time, a character kept turning up in her thoughts, the germ of what became her novel’s protagonist, Victoria Nash. There was something about Victoria, an empathetic quality, Read related to. But she had her career and two young children, and “was just trying to keep my head above water as a super busy mom and with a lot of very intense challenges.”

With Victoria unwilling to leave her be, Read began jotting down notes on Post-its, napkins and other papers that might be around. With her husband’s encouragement, she took early retirement and committed to completing her book. She had written stories in her early years, but had never attempted a full-length narrative.

“I had no idea where it was going. I had no intentions about where it was going, because I had never written a novel before,” Read says, speaking via Zoom from her home. “Once I figured out this was going to be a novel, I was like, ‘Oh no!’ I have studied novels thousands of times throughout my life, but I never even considered that I would write one.”

Read stepped down in 2018 and by the following year had finished a manuscript, drawn in part from such historical events as a 1960s flood in Iola, Colorado, and from her lifelong affinity for the local landscape. First-time authors of any age struggle to find representation, but during a 2017 writers conference at Western Colorado University, Read had met Sandra Bond, a Denver-based agent. A “Colorado girl,” Bond calls herself.

“We hit it off immediately,” Bond says. “We have very similar backgrounds in growing up in Colorado.”

Writing is rewriting

Read’s manuscript “knocked my socks off,” Bond remembers, but it wasn’t an easy sell. The second half of the book “didn’t quite meet the standards of the first” and Bond didn’t have the editing skills to fix it. “Go as a River” was turned down by 21 publishers before Spiegel signed it up. Spiegel & Grau, which began as a Penguin Random House imprint and reopened in 2020 as an independent a year after PRH shut it down amid a corporate reorganization, has worked with authors ranging from Ta-Nehisi Coates and Sara Gruen to Iain Pears and Kathryn Stockett.

“I had a feeling Cindy might be able to see how to guide Shelley in revising the second half — what was really working and what wasn’t and why,” Bond says.

Spiegel and Read worked on revisions — the finished version is entirely from Victoria’s perspective; the original draft shifted narrators midway. Meanwhile, the publisher showed the manuscript to the international agent Susanna Lea, who “read it one sitting” and quickly arranged for meetings with foreign publishers. It was mid-July, and she remembers tracking down publishers in Norway and Finland and other parts of Scandinavia at a time of year when book executives usually are on vacation.

“Suddenly, they were all reachable,” she says.

Read is working on a second novel, set in southeastern Colorado, where her homesteader-grandparents lived. Meanwhile, royalties from “Go as a River” allowed her a few indulgences, from installing solar panels on her house to a little travel, not to mention paying off college tuition for her son and building up the family retirement savings.

“Not too sexy,” she acknowledges. “We’re still do-it-yourselfers, & I still drive an old Toyota pickup. The main thing about the royalties is that I get to be a writer for a living, and that is a dream come true.”

By Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH — Still suffering from a post-holiday drag? After the fun of Christmas and New Year’s, it’s completely understandable if you’re having a hard time snapping back into a routine.

The fact that it’s still getting light too late and dark too early — we won’t set our clocks forward for spring until March 8 — only adds to the funk that is a Western Pennsylvania winter, marked by gray skies, a freezing mix of snow and rain and slushy sidewalks.

After a steady diet of festive desserts, rich and hearty sides and too much alcohol, “everyday” cooking might feel daunting on a busy weeknight. A relaxed holiday schedule has left many of us out of practice in getting dinners on the table at a set time. And if you’ve over-indulged over the past few weeks, you might be trying to eat less to shed those extra holiday pounds.

We get it. It can be tough to get back on track and re-establish home cooking habits, especially when the frozen dinner aisle and takeout make it so easy to compromise. That’s why it’s often best to start the process with baby steps — simple meals that don’t call for lots of ingredients or take too much time (or effort) start to finish.

To help inspire you, we’ve assembled five flavorful recipes that each require no more than six everyday ingredients and only take about a half hour to prepare on the stovetop.

Don’t love washing pans? Me either! All of the following are made and served from a single skillet, guaranteeing easy cleanup.

There is a slight catch: All five dishes assume you have kitchen staples like vegetable oil or extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic cloves, unsalted butter, sugar and various spices already on hand.

All prove, however, that sometimes the simplest dinners are the best ones, and they don’t have to be boring.

Easy Lemon Chicken

PG tested

I’ve made this dish for my family too many times to count, and still it’s a favorite. You can use less butter if you’re trying to cut down on fat and calories. For a gluten-free dish, dust the chicken in cornstarch or almond flour instead of all-purpose flour.

I think it’s best on rice, but kids love their noodles!

2 whole chicken breasts, boned, skinned and halved

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups unbleached flour

Salt and pepper

2 lemons

Chopped fresh parsley

Cooked rice or noodles, for serving

Wash and dry chicken breasts. Pound them flat between two pieces of waxed paper or inside a resealable plastic bag with a mallet or rolling pin.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour flour in a plastic bag, season with salt and pepper, and drop the breasts in to coat. Shake off excess flour.

Turn heat up to moderately high and put chicken breasts in the skillet. Depending on how thin you’ve pounded them, they should cook approximately 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through and still tender. When they’re done, season with salt and pepper, remove to a plate and set aside while you make the sauce.

Add 2 remaining tablespoons of butter to the chicken skillet and melt, scraping up brown bits in the pan.

Juice 1 lemon and slice the other. Add juice and lemon slices to skillet and cook until bubbly, then return chicken to the pan, spooning sauce over. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Serve with rice or cooked noodles.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Rigatoni with Tomato Cream Sauce

PG tested

Nothing is more comforting in winter than a bowl of pasta with red sauce. Here, crushed tomatoes simmer with cream and grated Parmesan to create a super-fast super-savory sauce for rigatoni. Add a simple green salad and loaf of crusty Italian bread for a complete meal.

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon concentrated tomato paste

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Salt, to taste

Red pepper flakes, to taste

4 cups cooked rigatoni or penne noodles

In a deep skillet, heat butter until melted.

Add tomatoes to pan, crushing them with a fork or potato masher. Simmer, stirring often, until the tomatoes have broken down, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt.

Stir in heavy cream and tomato paste and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Stir in Parmesan cheese and toss to combine. Taste, add salt and, if you like some spice, a few pinches of red pepper flakes.

Add cooked pasta to pan and toss to combine.

Serve in warmed bowls, with extra Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Pork and Coconut Pineapple Rice

PG tested

If there ever was a marriage made in culinary heaven, it has to be pork and pineapple. This easy recipe pairs bite-sized chunks of sweet, juicy pineapple with tender bites of teriyaki-marinated pork tenderloin. The combo is piled high on a bed of creamy, equally tropical coconut rice.

For pork

1/4 – 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into bite-sized chunks

20-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained, or 1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed

Olive oil, for sauteing

For rice

2 cups jasmine rice

1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened full-fat coconut milk

1 1/2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

Generous pinch of sugar

Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Marinate pork in 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Rinse rice in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear. Use a large fine-mesh sieve to drain any remaining water and place rice in a pot.

Add coconut milk, water, salt and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.

Once it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for 5 minutes, then fluff and cover to keep warm.

While rice is cooking, prepare pork. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a nonstick skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Add pork, discarding the excess sauce. If you add all the sauce with it, it will steam the meat instead of caramelizing it.

Leave pork undisturbed in the hot pan for a few minutes to get better caramelization. Throw in pineapple and cook for 2-3 minutes so it gets saucy and caramelized, too. If desired, add a few additional tablespoons of sauce after everything is brown.

Portion cooked rice into bowls and top with a scoop or two of the saucy pineapple pork. Finish with chopped cilantro and slices of pickled jalapeño, if you happen to have any in the fridge.

Serves 4.

— Adapted from pinchofyum.com

Skillet Tortellini with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

PG tested

Tortellini are great for last-minute meals because they are so easy to cook and go with many different sauces. In this recipe, they are cooked directly in the pan with sweet Italian sausage along with sweet cherry or grape tomatoes.

The original recipe calls for dried tortellini, but I substituted frozen pasta. Fresh basil adds both color and freshness. If you have some grated Parmesan in the fridge, add that, too, for a cheesy finish.

1 pound bulk sweet or hot Italian sausage

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

12 ounces frozen cheese tortellini

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering.

Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add 1 cup water, tortellini and a pinch of salt and bring to boil.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender, about 10-12 minutes.

Stir in tomatoes and cook until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with olive oil to taste and sprinkle with basil.

Serves 4.

— Adapted from “Five Ingredient Dinners” by America’s Test Kitchen

Single-Seared Garlic Shrimp Tacos

PG tested

Tacos are a welcome weeknight meal because they don’t take a lot of time or effort. These feature quick marinated shrimp and an easy green cabbage slaw. They’re simple but super satisfying.

Both flour and corn tortillas work; just be sure to warm them on a hot skillet or in the microwave before stuffing them with shrimp and cabbage to keep them pliable.

2 limes

Salt and pepper

2 cups thinly sliced cabbage

1/2 small red onion

4 teaspoons, plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

24 large shrimp (about 1-1 1/2 pounds), peeled, deveined and patted dry

1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (about 1/2 cup)

8 corn or flour tortillas, warmed in a microwave or on a hot skillet

In large bowl, whisk juice from 1 lime, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Mix in cabbage and onion. Set aside, tossing occasionally, while you prepare the shrimp.

In medium bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons oil, half the minced garlic, chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add shrimp and stir to combine. Allow to marinate for 5 minutes.

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat 1 teaspoon of oil until shimmering.

Add half the shrimp in an even layer and cook, undisturbed, until deep golden brown on the bottoms, about 2 minutes. Stir, then transfer to plate.

Repeat with another 1 teaspoon oil and the remaining shrimp, but leave shrimp in pan. Return first batch to pan.

Add remaining minced garlic; cook over medium, stirring, until the shrimp are opaque throughout, about 1 minute.

Transfer to a clean plate or bowl.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and cilantro to the cabbage mixture and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide the shrimp among the tortillas (3 to each), top with cabbage mixture and serve with lime wedges.

Serves 4.

— Adapted from “Milk Street Shorts: Recipes That Pack a Punch” by Christopher Kimball

©2026 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Melody Baetens, The Detroit News

DETROIT — Change your perspective heading into the new year with a visit to Detroit’s new Museum of Illusions.

The attraction debuted on Woodward in the Himelhoch building near Grand Circus Park in early December. It’s the 67th Museum of Illusions that has opened around the world. Each location features exhibits and artwork specific to the city.

In Detroit, there’s a vibrant mural of what looks like a Motown singer with eyes that are always locked on you, and a “reversed room” inspired by the auto industry. Look for the illusion that makes you look like you’re sitting on — or hanging from — the marquee of the historic art deco Majestic Theatre a few blocks up Woodward.

“We have received the warmest welcome from the Motor City,” said Museum of Illusions CEO Kim Schaefer at a museum preview in December. “We feel like we are truly family here.”

“We’ve been around for a decade now and this is number 67 and we are proud of being all over the globe,” she said, adding that the museum is filled with “nods to the beautiful, vibrant, historic nature of what makes Detroit so special. We’re excited to be here.”

The first Museum of Illusions opened in Zagreb, Croatia, a decade ago, and it has become the largest and fastest-growing chain of privately held museums in the world.

The wheelchair-accessible, hands-on museum is set up like a path, with guests taking about an hour to get through and experience everything, depending on how crowded it is. Visitors are invited to touch, climb and take plenty of photos.

Your camera is as essential to your visit as your eyeballs, because some of the illusions aren’t fully effective until you see your photo. This includes the Beuchet Chair, which places two people in a room for a forced-perspective trick that works best once a third person takes a photo. The museum walls give tips on taking the best photographs.

Others don’t require a camera, like the giant pinscreen, a full-body-size version of the famous desk toy; strike a pose, press yourself into it and then view your impression on the other side. Gaze at the grid illusion and see dancing black spots that aren’t really there. Like many of the installations, the museum offers text that explains the science behind it.

Hold on tight in the vortex tunnel, which is a stationary platform with a revolving tunnel around it that makes you feel like you’re spinning into oblivion. (Just close your eyes to recenter yourself.)

Like any museum, there’s a gift shop, which is a whole Woodward-facing storefront. They sell Museum of Illusions apparel and giftable toys that challenge the mind. The museum is rentable for weddings, birthdays, corporate team building and field trips.

If you go

Museum of Illusions

Open 10 a.m. daily

1545 Woodward, Detroit

moidetroit.com

Admission starts at $24.72

©2026 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

If you’re tired of visiting places trod by millions of tourists previously, perhaps you should consider looking in less likely spots this year.

A cheat sheet for that can be found in Afar’s primer, “Where To Go in 2026: Places That Are on the Rise and off the Beaten Path.” The travel-media brand has collected two dozen destinations that serve as a “better way to travel the world: responsibly, creatively and with eyes on places long overlooked.”

Think of Buffalo, N.Y., whose Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor is getting a resurrected jazz club and a pioneering Black radio museum in 2026. Or West Cork, Ireland, a wild and enchanting side of the island that visitors don’t often patronize, or Rabat, Morocco, which is rising as a cultural hub with new museums and a rockin’ summer music festival.

Residents of Northern California might perk up their ears at the inclusion of the Columbia River Gorge, a rugged and waterfall-blessed region in Oregon and Washington that’s within striking range. Here are the first 10 on the list in alphabetical order; for more check the full guide.

Afar’s places on the rise and off the beaten path

1 Adelaide, Australia

2 Albuquerque, N.M.

3 Birmingham, Ala.

4 Bucharest, Romania

5 Buffalo, N.Y.

6 Columbia River Gorge, Oregon and Washington

7 Da Nang, Vietnam

8 East Antarctica

9 Eleuthera, Bahamas

10 Far East London

Source: afar.com/magazine/the-best-places-to-travel-in-2026

Originally, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” was to land on TV screens in mid-2025.

The gods had other ideas.

This third HBO series set in the world that author George R.R. Martin introduced with his “A Song of Ice and Fire” collection of fantasy novels finally arrives this week, mere months before the highly anticipated return of the second, “House of the Dragon,” in the summer.

While “Dragon” is much like “Game of Thrones,” the beloved (until it wasn’t) adaptation of “A Song of Ice and Fire” — an hourlong series chock full of drama, scheming, battles, magic and, of course, dragons — “Knight” is a small-scale, half-hour affair largely grounded in reality while still taking place in the realm of Westeros.

Look at it as an appetizer for the meal that will be the third season of “Dragon.”

“Knight” is based on Martin’s “Tales of Dunk and Egg” novellas, with this first six-episode season an adaptation of 1998’s “The Hedge Knight.” Dunk is the titular figure of that book and the TV series, the towering Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), while Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) is a diminutive boy who comes to squire for him.

Their adventures take place about a century after the events being chronicled in “Dragon” and about 100 years before those of “Thrones.” It is a time when the winged, fire-breathing creatures are thought to be extinct and one of relative peace in the realm’s seven kingdoms — or nine, depending on how you are counting.

Showrunner Ira Parker — who has produced and written on “Dragon” — is the writer or co-writer of each “Knight” installment, helping to lend it an unmistakable consistency.

We are introduced to Dunk as he buries the hedge knight for whom he squired, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), and who, Dunk will come to insist, knighted him shortly before dying. Not long after this, we watch as he relieves himself (no, sigh, the second one) behind a tree, the camera still able to catch much of the, um, glory.

Man, it’s great to be back in Westeros!

Unable to conjure a more promising plan, the near-coin-less Dunk decides to ride for Ashford Meadow, soon to be the site of a tournament where he intends to compete in the jousting event. Along the way, of course, he encounters Egg, who asks to be his squire. Dunk initially rejects this idea but soon relents, allowing the lad to be his aide and promising to keep him fed, if not much beyond that, in exchange.

To compete, Dunk must convince others he is a knight — if only a hedge knight, a class of wandering warriors who, we learn, often must sleep in the hedges because no lord will have them. In this pursuit, he meets men with important last names, such as charismatic enjoyer of life Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) and Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (Bertie Carvel), the heir to the all-important Iron Throne in King’s Landing. The latter is unlike some other powerful members of his family — not just because he has short, dark hair but also because he is thoughtful, measured and kind.

Dunk’s life is complicated when he runs afoul of one of Baelor’s nephews, Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen (Finn Bennett), son of Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell), Baelor’s younger brother. Dunk was in the right, of course, protecting a Dornish puppeteer, Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford), who was having a bit of satirical fun at the Targaryens’ expense, but that matters little considering the power wielded by Aerion.

Egg stands by Dunk, but he will need more formidable allies if he is to survive the trial to come.

“Knight,” with its basic story and Dunk’s relatable values — informed by a late-season flashback episode in which a younger version of the character is portrayed by Bamber Todd during a crucial point in his adolescence in the slums of Flea Bottom — is appealing in its simplicity. That said, even with most episodes around 30 minutes, it could use a bit more excitement and action.

Former rugby player Claffey is a nice find for everyman Dunk, and Ansell (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”) brings some clever touches to the complicated Egg. However, there’s more crackle to this series when it involves certain supporting players, including the aforementioned Carvel (“The Crown”) and Ings (“The Gentlemen”).

As has “House of the Dragon,” “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” serves as a reminder of just how well Martin has fleshed out both the geography and overall mythology of Westeros. (Relatedly, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to learn that this series is keeping a little secret, one no doubt already known to many well-steeped in Martin’s world-building.)

While “Knight” is, again, only so filling, you’ll get no objections here that it already has been renewed for a second season, which you’d expect to adapt Martin’s second novella in the series, 2003’s “The Sworn Sword.”

The gods are good.

‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’

What: Six-episode first season of half-hour series set in author George R.R. Martin’s Westeros.

Where: HBO and HBO Max.

When: 10 p.m. Sundays starting Jan. 18.

Rated: TV-MA.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — The revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another” won best picture, musical or comedy at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards.

“Hamnet” won best picture, drama at the ceremony Sunday night.

Entering the night, “One Battle After Another” topped the list of nominations with nine, followed by “Sentimental Value” with eight.

Comedian Nikki Glaser hosted the ceremony from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. The night marked Glaser’s second consecutive year as host.

The first award of the night went to Teyana Taylor, who won female supporting actor, motion picture for “One Battle After Another.”

The Golden Globes bill themselves as Hollywood’s booziest bash. The awards show was broadcast on CBS and is available to stream through Paramount+.

Here’s a list of winners at Sunday’s Golden Globes:

Motion picture, drama

“Hamnet”

Motion picture, musical or comedy

“One Battle After Another”

Male actor, motion picture, drama

Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”

Female actor, motion picture, drama

Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”

Female actor, motion picture, musical or comedy

Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You”

Male actor, motion picture, musical or comedy

Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”

Female supporting actor, motion picture

Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”

Male supporting actor, motion picture

Stellan Skarsgard, “Sentimental Value”

Motion picture, non-English language

“The Secret Agent,” Brazil

Motion picture, animated

“KPop Demon Hunters”

Director, motion picture

Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”

Screenplay, motion picture

Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”

Cinematic and box office achievement

“Sinners”

TV series, drama

“The Pitt”

TV series, musical or comedy

“The Studio”

Male actor, TV series, drama

Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”

Female actor, TV series, drama

Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus”

Female actor, TV series, musical or comedy

Jean Smart, “Hacks”

Male actor, TV series, musical or comedy

Seth Rogen, “The Studio”

Limited series, anthology series or made for TV movie

“Adolescence”

Male actor, limited series, anthology series or made for TV movie

Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”

Female actor, limited series, anthology series or made for TV movie

Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”

Male supporting actor, television

Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”

Female supporting actor, television

Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”

Original song, motion picture

“Golden” from “Kpop Demon Hunters”

Original score, motion picture

Ludwig Göransson, “Sinners”

Stand-up comedy performance

Ricky Gervais, “Mortality”

Podcast

“Good Hang With Amy Poehler”

By ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nikki Glaser went hard then eased up in her monologue to open Sunday’s Golden Globes.

In her earliest jokes she suggested stars in the room might be in the Epstein Files and took a shot at CBS, the network airing the show.

“There are so many A-listers, and by A-listers, I do mean people who are on a list that has been heavily redacted,” she said. “And the Golden Globe for best editing goes to the Justice Department.”

She segued into mocking the recent woes at CBS News and its killing of a critical “60 Minutes” story about the Trump Administration sending immigrants to a prison in El Salvador.

“The award for most editing goes to CBS News,” she said. “Yes, CBS News: America’s newest place to see BS news.”

She didn’t bring up Venezuela, a subject she told The Associated Press this week she was considering mentioning, but worried it would already be old news in the chaotic moment. And there was no mention of ICE.

Glaser also told the AP she was struggling to find a joke about Julia Roberts, saying she was so beloved and respected that nothing Glaser tried with her comedy club test audiences was landing.

She found a way to come at it sideways.

“Just like the podcasters nominated tonight, I should not be allowed to be this close to Julia Roberts,” she said, and got the big laugh she was looking for.

It was Glaser’s second time hosting the show. She was quickly rehired after getting strong reviews in her first outing last year. She was hired the first time after the ruthless roast she gave the attendees of the Netflix roast of Tom Brady. She’s been kinder on the Globes, but her jokes still had some bite.

She made the obligatory joke about Leonardo DiCaprio dating young women.

“You’ve worked with every great director. You’ve won three Golden Globes and an Oscar,” she said. “And the most impressive thing is that you were able to accomplish all of that before your girlfriend turned 30.”

She then went meta and apologized for being so obvious.

“Leo, I’m sorry I made that joke, it’s cheap. You know what, I tried not to, but like, we don’t know anything else about you, man. Like, there’s nothing else, like open up!” she said, getting a bigger laugh than she did for the first joke, especially from DiCaprio himself.

She focused on the lean frame of Timothée Chalamet in her inevitable joke about the nominee — and later winner — for “Marty Supreme,” calling him “the first actor in history to have to put on muscle for a movie about ping pong. This is true. He gained over 60 ounces.”

During the show, she stood in the audience and gave a presentation on the ballroom’s layout.

“To my right are the tables for ‘Hamnet,’ ‘All Her Fault’ and ‘Bugonia,’” she said, “an area we’re calling ‘traumatized woman alley.’ We’ll never find out where ‘traumatized men alley’ is because they’re not allowed to tell us.”

Like last year when she merged “Wicked” and “Conclave” into the aborted gag song “Popeular,” she started at one point to sing a deliberately hacky song.

This time she pretended to accidentally say “K-Pong Demon Hunters” before shedding her dress to show athletic wear underneath, grabbing a ping pong paddle-shaped microphone and merging “Marty Supreme” with “KPop Demon Hunters” to the tune of the latter’s best original song winner “Golden.”

“Marty” co-star Fran Drescher soon stepped out to cut Glaser off, saying in her famous nasal rasp, “You have to stop singing, your voice is so annoying.”

But Glaser was also on the receiving end of one joke, from Judd Apatow, who told a story before presenting best director.

“Nikki Glaser used to be our babysitter,” he said. “That’s true. She was our babysitter. And she’s like, ‘I do standup comedy.’ And then I went online to watch her set and it was all about smoking reefer and having weird sex and then she stopped being our babysitter.”

By BEATRICE DUPUY, Associated Press

Ariana Grande, Teyana Taylor, Timothée Chalamet and a sea of other stars said goodbye to color at this year’s Golden Globes, opting instead for black. And many in the crowd stuck with tried and true old Hollywood glamour Sunday.

But even in basic black, the red carpet had plenty of personal flourishes and playful embellishments.

Risk-takers Taylor, a winner for “One Battle After Another,” and Jenna Ortega went with “whale tails,” aka the tops of thongs, peeking out the backs of their black gowns. Taylor did it with her custom slinky Schiaparelli gown that showed off a deep low-cut back with a glittery low-hanging bow thong. Ortega, keeping it goth, wore a Dilara Findikoglu gown with black shoulder tassels and a black thong.

“I thought that was such a cheeky callback to Y2K fashion,” InStyle Fashion Director Kevin Huynh said. “I was just like, wow, you wouldn’t expect that on a red carpet.”

Grande left behind her “Wicked” character’s signature pink color for a black Vivienne Westwood couture dress but brought back her ponytail. Other notable celebrities in black included Ayo Edebiri, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus and Mia Goth.

Edebiri chose a black off-the-shoulder Chanel dress embellished with jewels on the shoulders from Matthieu Blazy’s Métiers d’Art 2026 show.

Celebrities held onto their gowns and watched their steps as they posed for photos on high stairs that served as the red carpet. Like the Met Gala, they lined up at the bottom and had to perilously climb their way up.

The 83rd Golden Globes gives a glimpse into how celebrities will showcase their original take on fashion as the awards season progresses. Since 1944, the show has honored the best in film and television.

The carpet, at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, is a chance for nominees to make a statement, though some are beholden to fashion houses who pay them as ambassadors.

Several, including George Clooney, wore Giorgio Armani. The fashion world lost Armani in September, but his eponymous brand lives on.

“It was nice to see so many attendees, including Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson, wearing the brand and pay tribute,” said Véronique Hyland, fashion features director for Elle.

Pops of color hit the carpet

Not all celebrities followed the black dress trend.

Host Nikki Glaser, who held hosting duty for the second time, wore a strapless satin blush-pink corseted satin gown with a full skirt by Zuhair Murad. Emma Stone stunned in a butter yellow Louis Vuitton skirt set.

“Sinners” star Wunmi Mosaku stunned in a flowy yellow Matthew Reisman gown. The mother-to-be revealed her baby bump on the carpet. Mosaku’s co-star Hailee Steinfeld showed off her pregnant figure on the carpet in a peach colored gown.

Stars shone in metallics. “Sentimental Value” actor Renate Reinsve twirled on the carpet in a shimmery silver tasseled dress by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Louis Vuitton. Her co-star Elle Fanning’s Gucci dress was embroidered with Norwegian flowers in honor of their Norwegian drama film.

Rising star Chase Infiniti reflected back the carpet and all its stars in her mirrored corseted gown by Nicolas Ghesquiere for Louis Vuitton.

“She’s now Louis Vuitton ambassador, which I think kind of shows her potential as a star,” Vanity Fair style writer José Criales-Unzueta said. “So much of what happens behind the scenes helps define what we’re looking at, whether it’s a deal, whether it sponsorship, whether it is brand ambassadorship.”

Claire Danes eschewed the academic, laid-back tailored looks of her “Beast in Me” character for an effortlessly elegant, couture gown designed by her close friend Zac Posen for GapStudio. Posen and Danes’ friendship and creative collaboration began in high school.

Posen began working on Danes’ Golden Globe gown in November. As both creative director for Gap and GapStudio designer, Posen told The Associated Press that elevating the American essential into eveningwear is part of his creative process for the brand.

For Danes’ look, Posen transformed the concept of the classic Gap pocket T-shirt into an off-white silk jersey couture gown with subtle bugle beaded detailing and embroidery. The shimmering dress featured a low scoop back and front pocket detail.

“Claire has a great elegance to her and is deeply inherently sophisticated, but yet cool,” Posen said. “Those elements fit perfectly with one of our icons that has built and defined our brands, the pocket tee.

Is sheer dressing still in?

Celebrities are keeping the sheer dressing trend alive with no signs of it slowing down. Lisa of Blackpink wore a black sheer Jacquemus dress, and Jennifer Lopez posed in a see-through dress by Jean-Louis Scherrer.

Jennifer Lawrence walked the carpet in a floral sheer dress by Sarah Burton at Givenchy and accessorized her look with a glamorous floral silk stole.

“Just to go out in a naked dress that leaves very little to the imagination is one thing but what Jennifer Lawrence did was such a romantic approach to it,” Huynh said. “I think that really says a lot to Sarah Burton, the designer of Givenchy. She is a woman designing for women.”

Men choose traditional looks

The male nominees didn’t stray too far from traditional looks. Colman Domingo pared down his typical colorful suits for a black suit by Valentino adorned with silver leaf brooches down his lapel. Timothée Chalamet, a winner for “Marty Supreme,” has become one to watch for his fashion choices. Departing from his past colorful looks, Chalamet wore a black velvet vest and jacket from Chrome Hearts with black Timberland boots. Chalamet’s partner of three years, Kylie Jenner, did not walk the carpet with the actor, but viewers captured her in a custom silver column look by Ashi Studio. It was hand-embroidered with a fan-shaped crystal bead neckline.

After his viral premiere orange look for “Marty Supreme,” Criales-Unzueta said Chalamet decided on a more traditional movie star style by choosing all black.

“Heated Rivalry” star Hudson Williams brought the cummerbund back but with a laid-back twist. The breakout star paired a white-peak lapel dinner jacket with an unbuttoned silk shirt. Williams, along with his co-star Connor Storrie, were presenters during the ceremony. Storrie wore a black tuxedo jacket by Saint Laurent, with black tie and shades.

“It’s really just sexy takes on classic menswear with just those little bit of edge to things,” Huynh said.

Jenna Rosenstein, beauty director for Harper’s Bazaar, noted Storrie’s hair transformation. He plastered his trademark curly locks into a shaggy, retro-inspired mullet. Among the women, beauty highlights included the swoopy bobs of Edebiri and Gomez, she said.

“If there’s one thing you should invest in after this carpet, it’s a really good round brush, a can of hairspray and a statement lipstick,” Rosenstein said.

AP writer Leanne Italie contributed to this report.

The Golden Globes bill themselves as Hollywood’s booziest bash. Political tension and industrywide uncertainty are the prevailing moods heading into Sunday night’s 83rd Golden Globes hosted by Nikki Glaser, a comic known for her roast appearances.

How to watch and stream the Globes and red carpet

The Golden Globes kick off at 8 p.m. EST on CBS while streaming live for Paramount+ premium subscribers. E!’s red carpet coverage begins at 6 p.m. EST.

The Associated Press is hosting a livestream show with a mix of stars’ arrivals, fashion shots and celebrity interviews. It is available on YouTube and APNews.

For decades, Avenida Revolución in Tijuana was a bustling tourist zone, attracting U.S. visitors with its colorful souvenir shops, restaurants and nightlife.

But at some point, popular interest in the historic district faded.

State and city officials have been trying to revitalize the area for some time to attract more tourists, with hopes of making it a place locals want to hang out, too.

The latest move involves closing off a few blocks to vehicles to make way for a pedestrian promenade. Visitors can now wander from Fourth to Seventh streets along the 136-year-old avenue.

When unveiling the $1.3 million project in October, Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila pledged to restore more public spaces to promote cultural, musical and recreational activities.

“This is what Tijuana deserves,” she said in a video posted on social media. “These spaces represent Tijuana.”

So far, it seems to be working.

Isabel Hernández and her fiancé, Ramón Félix, are street vendors who craft bracelets and necklaces on a bench in the area to sell later in the day. One recent Saturday morning, the couple was particularly busy, preparing for two events taking place on different blocks of the same stretch of the avenue within a few hours — a food festival followed by a Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

The couple said many visitors have come to check out the revamped spot, surrounded by hotels, coffee shops, pharmacies and restaurants.

Officials said people can expect more artistic activities in the plaza, such as music and theatrical performances.

“They come with their children, play with them for a while, have some ice cream, and stay for a bit,” Félix noted.

Tijuana’s landmark 

Avenida Revolución is at the center of much of the city’s history. In 1889, it became the first street in the city to be paved and provided with utilities, boosting its draw as a commercial and tourist hub. Throughout its history, the avenue has had five names, adopting its current one in 1932.

The concept of creating a pedestrian square was inspired by other cities, said José Carlos Robles, president of the Association of Merchants and Tourism Entrepreneurs of Avenida Revolución. He cited several examples, including the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego, which has experimented with a pedestrian promenade.

Robles said that Tijuana was missing that experience in its downtown area. “When you visit any city, you always want to go downtown and see the historic sites,” he said.

Robles said that some businesses reported increased sales after the opening of the pedestrian plaza and that the project has attracted others to open their businesses on the popular avenue, which is better known by locals as “La Revu.”

The project has faced some opposition, as some businesses were not on board with the idea. A vendor from a souvenir shop within the pedestrian plaza said the change didn’t help the business because it relies more on international tourists who come by bus or car than on locals who walk through the area.

U.S. tourists, including those traveling for medical reasons, still frequently visit Avenida Revolución. But there was a time when it was far more popular, recalled José Gabriel Rivera, head of the Baja California Historical Archive.

In the Prohibition era, when alcohol was banned in the U.S., people flocked to Tijuana to drink and gamble. It was around this time that the world-famous Caesar salad was created in the area.

In the 1980s and ’90s, Avenida Revolución was a mecca for San Diegans looking to party. Some took advantage of the fact that the legal drinking age in Mexico is 18 instead of 21.

However, that all changed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when crossing the U.S.-Mexico border became a more rigorous endeavor. Reports of cartel-related violence in the city around that time also discouraged many visitors.

This led to a binational tourism crisis, Rivera said, prompting a shift in focus to attract local tourism.

Rivera welcomed the ongoing efforts to improve the ever-changing avenue and its surroundings, but noted that it could be more attractive to locals.

“The Avenida Revolución is a landmark and icon in Tijuana’s history,” he said. “It’s important to develop different types of policies to revitalize it.”

On a recent Saturday, locals Óscar Díaz and his mother, Sanjuana Nachez, ran an errand a few blocks away and took the opportunity to visit the food festival and explore the new pedestrian plaza.

Díaz reminisced about the late ’80s, when he used to party in the area. He said that back then, it was common to see many visitors from the United States. “Many people from San Diego came,” his mother echoed. But nowadays, not as many, they said.

“It was about time they renovated the Revolución,” he said. “Hopefully, it will attract tourism.”

Local life

For the past three years, Mariana Sánchez — known on social media as Nana en Tijuana — has been giving walking tours of her hometown. Her bilingual tours begin on Avenida Revolución. As she points out, to understand the city, you have to go back to where it all began.

Throughout her time working in the industry, she has noticed the interests of tourists changing. She said that many want to “experience life as we live it.”

“They want to know where we go, what we eat and how we get around,” she said. “Many people are searching for that feeling of local life.”

That still often includes the souvenir shops and famous salad at Caesar’s Restaurant, which long ago relocated onto Avenida Revolución. But tourists are also venturing farther from downtown, trying the numerous taquerías scattered throughout the city or attending a Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles soccer game or a Toros baseball game, Sánchez said.

Caesar’s, which many agree is one of the most touristy places on the avenue, is situated within the new pedestrian plaza. Visitors can no longer valet park in front of the restaurant. Instead, they must look for public parking nearby.

While Sánchez welcomes the idea, she said there is still work to be done. For instance, although the avenue is closed to vehicles, the side streets are not, which may confuse pedestrians and drivers.

“It’s an interesting time to analyze and rethink tourism strategies,” she said. “The pedestrian plaza has presented new opportunities for some vendors, as well as some challenges that need to be considered.”

Charlie Polinger achieves a lot with relatively little with his feature directorial debut, “The Plague.”

Getting a wide release this week, this slice of psychological horror is quite effective despite its small scale and a cast consisting largely of little-known young actors.

A cross between “Lord of the Flies” and … some other movie set at a youth water polo camp, “The Plague” explores, as Polinger puts it in his directorial statement, “the clumsy liminal space between childhood and adolescence, when the id grows too fast and too strong for the conscience to keep up.”

Also the film’s writer, Polinger found inspiration for the story when he unearthed old journals from when he was 12. He read his tales of a youth sports camp, where boys told tall tales of a mysterious “plague” that had infected one unfortunate kid — it was the reason for his acne-covered face and was turning his brain to “mush.”

That is the situation 12-year-old Ben (Everett Blunck) encounters when he joins the second session of a water polo camp after moving to the area from another city in summer 2003. A bunch of the boys — led by the charismatic Jake (Kayo Martin) — have ostracized another with a skin issue, Eli (Kenny Rasmussen), which they make very clear as they accept Ben into their fold.

“Those aren’t regular pimples,” Jake tells Ben as they sit on the bottom part of a bunk bed, several feet from Eli. “Those are plague pimples. That’s a plague face.”

Jake proceeds to fill Ben’s head with more disturbing details, including the fate of the unfortunate boy who supposedly gave the plague to Eli. (Spoiler alert: He’s said to be spending his time in a mental institution playing “Jenga.”)

You can tell from Ben’s face that he doesn’t believe any of this to be true — mostly, kinda, probably — but he does as instructed, scrubbing his skin quickly after any physical contact with the outcast. He’s just trying to fit in, especially after Jake gives him a hard time about having trouble pronouncing “t” sounds, earning him the cruel nickname “Soppy” as a result. We’ve all been there — if roughly, not precisely.

That’s why “The Plague” feels so authentic for its first long stretch: It’s relatable in a way you may not enjoy thinking about, even if you were more follower than leader, more Ben than Jake, in your youth.

As the film progresses, however, Polinger skillfully blurs the line between childhood nonsense and reality in a really potent and, at times, downright chilling way, as Ben takes the inevitable turn away from Jake and toward Eli — despite the latter’s odd social behavior. (To be clear, Eli’s idiosyncrasies feel authentic for an outcast kid … at least for the most part.)

With the help of collaborators who include director of photography Steven Breckon, production designer Chad Keith and sound designer Damian Volpe, Polinger creates an aesthetic that evolves from lovely (the opening underwater shots) to unsettling (well, you’ll see).

Plenty of heavy lifting is also done by the aforementioned actors, with Blunck (“Griffin in Summer”) compelling as a pre-teen everyman — not exactly cool but able to vaguely fake it — and newcomer Rasmussen, who throws himself into the role of a boy trying to make the best of being separated from the group at camp.

The standout, though, is Martin, who, as the ringleader, straddles the line between angel and devil, aided by an often-present smile that can be read either way. (Also into skating and boxing, the youth has about a million Instagram followers.)

Joel Edgerton (“Boy Erased,” “Train Dreams”) portrays the only meaningful adult role, that of the boys’ coach, Daddy Wags, and he turns in solid work, both when his character lays into Jake for his behavior and later tries to comfort Ben.

Know that a viewer isn’t likely to find much comfort in “The Plague.” It isn’t a fun experience, the film dipping its toes into such upsetting topics as self-mutilation, but it is impactful.

Without hinting at the nature of the conclusion, Polinger sticks the landing, leaving the viewer wanting more — not of “The Plague” but of him.

‘The Plague’

Where: Theaters.

When: Jan. 2.

Rated: R for language, sexual material, self-harm/bloody images, and some drug and alcohol use – all involving children.

Runtime: 1 hour, 38 minutes.

Stars (of four): 3.

By The Detroit News

Michigan endured a turbulent year in 2025, marked by acts of violence at places of worship and businesses. The year also brought high-profile oustings and departures at several universities, the auto and battery industries tapping the brakes on electric-vehicle investments, and the state emerging as a prime target for AI companies seeking to build massive data centers.

From a historic ice storm in northern Michigan to severe flooding in Detroit early in the year — and a bomb cyclone to close it out — Michigan’s calendar was bracketed by harsh and often punishing winter weather.

But not all the news was grim. There was plenty to celebrate, including a compass university team finding national success on the ice and a Detroit rock band earning induction into the music industry’s most prestigious hall of fame. And some of the year’s most captivating moments were delightfully unexpected, from a small houseboat’s improbable voyage across the Great Lakes to other stories that charmed and amused us.

The past 12 months hold a lot to unpack. Here’s a look back at 25 memorable stories that made Michigan’s year truly one of a kind.

Big House bombshell

The University of Michigan fired its head football coach Sherrone Moore this month after an investigation found he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Moore, 39, was then arrested at the Pittsfield Township apartment of the staffer, jailed and charged with third-degree felony home invasion and misdemeanor stalking and breaking and entering. Players said they were shocked by the scandal. Former coach Jim Harbaugh described it as a tragedy and recommended Moore take care of his family and get spiritual guidance. Moore was eventually replaced by Kyle Whittingham, 66, who spent most of his career at Utah, including since 2005 as head coach.

More: Michigan fires football coach Sherrone Moore for ‘inappropriate relationship’

Wayne and Grand Blanc Twp. church attacks

A pair of church attacks unfolded in Michigan in 2025. A member of CrossPointe Community Church in Wayne ran over a gunman on June 22 after seeing 31-year-old Brian Anthony Browning, of Romulus, drive erratically toward the church, then exit the vehicle in a tactical vest carrying a long gun and handgun and start shooting at the church. Two church members shot at Browning and killed him. Wayne police Chief Ryan Strong credited them with preventing a mass shooting.

More: Police credit staffers for stopping gunman at Wayne Co. church: They ‘prevented a mass shooting’

Three months later, four people were killed and others wounded on Sept. 28 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township by 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford of Burton. Police say Sanford drove his truck into the side of the church, set the building on fire using gasoline and fired several rounds. The attack was motivated by Sanford’s anti-Mormon beliefs, the FBI later said. Church leader Bishop Jeffrey Schaub said their members were shaken and hurting after the attack but said they could find joy again through faith.

More: ‘Targeted violence’ claims four victims, suspect at Mormon church in Grand Blanc Township

More: ‘God’s hand of protection was over us,’ says member of Wayne church security team who stopped gunman

Mass stabbing at Walmart

Up north, 11 people were injured in a mass stabbing at a Walmart store near Traverse City on July 26. The attacker, 42-year-old Bradford James Gille of Afton has struggled with serious mental health issues. Police say he swung a 3.5-inch blade at shoppers before others stopped him in the store’s parking lot. Gille was declared incompetent to stand trial. Gille’s mother, Beverly Gille, said she is sorry for the fear and violence he caused and described her difficulty finding him mental health care throughout much of his life. “I’m his mother,” she said of Bradford. “I love him. … The mental health thing has been dropped, and this is what we’re going to continue having until they resolve it.”

More: Sheriff says Traverse City Walmart stabbings started near checkout lanes

More: Son ‘living in torment,’ trapped in his own body, mother of Walmart attacker says

Ex-Pistons stars guarded by feds

Former Detroit Pistons star Malik Beasley was caught up in a federal gambling investigation amid financial problems worth more than $8 million, Detroit News reporting revealed. He was then investigated by the NBA for gambling improprieties. Beasley’s lawyer said he “has not and will not cooperate with any pending federal investigations” and did not provide information to the FBI, which later brought federal charges against former Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups or others accused of profiting off a sprawling gambling scheme impacting the league.

More: FBI just one problem facing Malik Beasley amid $8M in escalating financial problems

More: Former Pistons star Chauncey Billups charged in federal gambling probe

A tale of two presidencies

Santa Ono announced in May that he would resign as University of Michigan president to seek a position as head of the University of Florida. He made the announcement after less than three years in Ann Arbor and after campus unrest over student protests of Israel’s war in Gaza and Ono’s dismantling of UM’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The Florida Board of Governors blocked Ono’s appointment, citing his former embrace of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Ono later joined the Ellison Institute of Technology, founded by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

More: Ono plans to leave UM for University of Florida’s presidency

To the north east, Wayne State University moved to oust its first female president, Kimberly Andrews Espy, in September after she had been on the job for two years. University leaders and some senior faculty were dissatisfied with her performance. Some on the university board of governors were upset with Espy’s communication with them after placing former School of Medicine Dean Dr. Wael Sakr on administrative leave without disclosing her reasoning. The board agreed to pay Espy roughly a year’s salary, $760,449, and two years of health care coverage as part of a separation agreement after she resigned.

More: Wayne State University moves to oust President Kimberly Espy

Feds target Chinese nationals at UM

Six Chinese nationals tied to the University of Michigan were charged in 2025 with federal crimes related to smuggling biological material into the country. The criminal cases unfolded as President Donald Trump’s administration moved to revoke Chinese student visas nationwide. One of the students, Chengxuan Han, in September was sentenced to time served and returned to China. Some of the researchers are tied to UM life sciences professor Shawn Xu’s campus lab. Xu is cooperating with investigations into his laboratory and has not been informed that he is the target of any investigation, his lawyer said.

More: Chinese scholar at UM tried to smuggle biological pathogen into the U.S., feds say

Ford HQ moves down the street

Ford Motor Co. is relocating its headquarters to its new product development center west of Oakwood Boulevard in Dearborn, called the Hub. Local leaders cheered the move as a sign of the automaker’s commitment to the city. The company will demolish its nearby Glass House headquarters and turn the area into an outdoor community space. Bill Ford, executive chairman, said announcing the move was an emotional moment.

More: Ford to get new hometown HQ, Glass House to be demolished

More: Ford’s new Dearborn world headquarters to help the automaker operate differently

Boy dies in Oakland County hyperbaric chamber explosion

Thomas Cooper, 5, was killed after the hyperbaric chamber he was receiving treatment in exploded Jan. 31 at the Oxford Center in Troy. Prosecutors allege three employees and the owner of the Oxford Center disregarded safety protocols and failed to follow the manufacturer’s recommended guidelines for that type of treatment. The owner of the Oxford Center, Tamela Peterson, safety director Jeffrey Mosteller and primary manager Gary Marken are charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in connection with Thomas’ death. Chamber operator Aleta Moffitt is charged with involuntary manslaughter and intentionally placing false information on a medical record.

More: Boy, 5, dies in Troy hyperbaric chamber explosion

Feds indict ex-Michigan coordinator Matt Weiss

The federal government formally accused former University of Michigan co-offensive football coordinator Matt Weiss of hacking into college athletes’ accounts and stealing photos of students, primarily female, engaging in explicit sexual acts. UM surveillance footage shows him entering team offices at Schembechler Hall seconds before investigators said he hacked into the accounts and stole photos. Weiss is charged with unauthorized access to computers and aggravated identity theft.

More: Feds indict ex-Michigan coordinator Matt Weiss, accuse him of stealing ‘intimate’ photos

Michiganders captivated by small houseboat that reached Lake Huron harbor

An Ontario man’s hand-built houseboat, Neverlanding, kept afloat by 110 plastic barrels, captivated Metro Detroiters’ attention as he navigated it from Harrow, Ontario, to the tip of Michigan’s Thumb. Pilot and boat builder Steve Mylrea had a dream of meeting a poor fisherman in Africa and giving him a houseboat. It inspired him to take the estimated 10-year voyage through the Great Lakes and across the ocean to Africa. For now, the ship is on shore.

More: Michiganians captivated by small houseboat that reached Lake Huron harbor

More: Great Lakes prove challenging in ‘eccentric’ Canadian’s houseboat voyage

Tariffs impact Michigan

Michigan companies of all stripes felt the pain of higher import costs amid President Donald Trump’s import tax hikes that took effect in the spring — from toy stores, to pet food suppliers, to bridal shops. And perhaps no industry was scrambled more than Michigan’s all-important auto sector, thanks to its layered North American supply chains that have long relied on parts and vehicles crossing the Canadian and Mexican borders. Still, the tariffs’ impacts on the overall economy and inflation have been milder than many experts and executives predicted. The Trump administration reined in some of the highest tariff rates that were briefly in effect early on, or provided other avenues for savings, while automakers and other firms also have been quick to adapt.

More: Collaboration sustains auto suppliers amid tariffs, but challenges loom

More: Autos sector keeps racking up tariff costs from Mexico, new data shows

More: Michigan farmers grapple with inflation, low crop prices and tariffs

Autos pivot on EV, make plans to reshore in U.S.

Tariffs and lower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles contributed to major strategy pivots by the Detroit Three automakers. General Motors Co. announced a $4 billion investment in Michigan, Kansas and Tennessee to move production of full-size SUVs and trucks to the United States from Mexico and Canada.

It also canceled production of electric Chevrolet BrightDrop commercial vans in Canada and cut jobs at U.S. EV plants. Ford Motor Co. announced $19.5 billion in special charges starting in the fourth quarter and extending into 2027 with the cancellation of F-150 Lightning production and a next-generation electric full-size truck and commercial van. Stellantis NV announced a record $13 billion U.S. investment to shift production to the U.S. and away from Mexico and Canada. The automaker also canceled plans for an all-electric Ram 1500 REV pickup.

More: Ford to redeploy EV unit plants for gas, hybrid and energy storage products

More: GM plans $4 billion push to move production from Mexico to U.S.

More: $13B investment to boost production shows ‘we trust our U.S. plants,’ Stellantis CEO says

Whitmer’s roller coaster

It was a year with ups and downs for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as she broke with the strategy of other high-profile Democratic governors in 2025 and attempted to establish a positive relationship with Republican President Donald Trump. Whitmer appeared with Trump to announce a new fighter mission at Selfridge in April. That came a few weeks after a photographer caught Whitmer covering her face with a blue folder while appearing in the Oval Office with Trump. Later in the year, a semiconductor project that Whitmer hoped would come to Michigan, with federal incentives, fell through.

More: Selfridge is getting a new fighter jet squadron

More: Whitmer says she didn’t want her picture taken when she hid her face in the Oval Office

More: Whitmer’s long sought semiconductor manufacturing project near Flint falls through

White Stripes in Rock Hall

Iggy Pop inducted Jack and Meg White of Detroit garage rock duo the White Stripes into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this fall. Jack’s thank-you speech at the ceremony doubled as a love letter to Detroit — and his absent “sister” Meg, who chose not to attend, but helped him with his speech. “I thank you and all of Detroit,” said White, name-checking a mélange of city favorites such as Gold Dollar, the Gories, the Dirt Bombs, the Hentchmen, Coney Islands and the Detroit Zoo.

More: Jack White thanks Detroit, gives message from Meg White as duo inducted into Rock Hall

Two children die in Detroit casino garage

Two Detroit children, 2-year-old A’Millah and 9-year-old Darnell Currie Jr., died Feb. 10 of carbon monoxide poisoning while staying in a van with their family in a Greektown casino parking lot. Their mom had reached out to Detroit’s homelessness hotline several times. The children were among 45 homeless Detroit residents who died this year, according to the Pope Francis Center. Their tragic deaths became central in the conversation about affordable housing in Detroit and took place as Census data showed Detroit’s child poverty increased to 51% last year.

More: 2 children freeze to death in van at Detroit casino, police say

More: Family of kids who froze to death reached out at least three times to Detroit’s homeless response team

More: Mourners pack funeral at Detroit church for two children who died in van

LIV Golf debuts in Michigan

LIV Golf hosted its first competition in Michigan this year at The Cardinal at St. John’s Resort in Plymouth Township in August. The resort built the course with exactly this in mind — hosting an elite professional golf tournament. It was controversial because LIV Golf is funded by Saudi Arabia, a nation with significant human rights abuses, yet more than 40,000 people attended over the tournament’s three-day run. Compared to the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club, the LIV tournament felt akin to a festival, with thumping electronic music, pyrotechnics and lots of beer.

More: LIV Golf’s Michigan debut opens some eyes

Sheffield elected Detroit’s first female mayor

Mary Sheffield, 38, made history as Detroit’s first female mayor in November when 77.4% of voters chose her over the Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. The three-term city councilwoman will succeed Mayor Mike Duggan, who is leaving office to run for Michigan governor. Sheffield is a fourth-generation Detroiter who comes from a long line of civil rights advocates. She is considered more politically progressive than Duggan and has vowed to keep the city’s momentum moving forward while spreading its fortunes to more neighborhoods, residents, and businesses. “At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: a Detroit that works for everyone,” Sheffield said at her victory party.

More: Mary Sheffield makes history, defeats Kinloch to become Detroit’s next mayor

More: Sheffield’s dominant victory in mayor’s race spanned geography, race and income

History at the Big House

On a picture-perfect late September evening in Ann Arbor, a record-setting 112,408 fans filed into Michigan Stadium for Zach Bryan’s sold-out concert, making the first show at the storied venue the highest attended ticketed concert in U.S. history. The 29-year-old Oklahoman’s show set a second record to boot, with $5 million in merchandise sales, according to the promoter. The set followed appearances by openers John Mayer and Albion, Michigan, country/Americana duo the War and Treaty.

More: Zach Bryan, 112,408 fans set new U.S. concert attendance record at the Big House

WMU wins national title in college hockey

The Broncos made history when Western Michigan University’s hockey team clinched a national championship title in April after besting Boston University in a 6-2 game at Enterprise Center in St. Louis. Linemate Iiro Hakkarainen said it was the best moment of his life. Kalamazoo residents welcomed the team back with a parade.

More: Broncos best Boston U to capture first hockey national title

Historic financial commitment for MSU athletics

An East Lansing couple, Dawn and Greg Williams, made a $401 million commitment, the largest private one of its kind in the university’s history, in December. The couple earmarked $290 million specifically for athletics and another $100 million for a new initiative that aims to boost NIL offers to student athletes. University officials and athletics leaders said they are grateful to the Williams family and said the money will strengthen the school’s commitment to its student athletes.

More: Gift to MSU ranks as one of largest in college athletics history

MEDC’s turbulent year

In June, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office raided the Lansing headquarters of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in an ongoing investigation into a $20 million state grant awarded to Democratic donor and Metro Detroit businesswoman Fay Beydoun. Nessel said the raid was necessary because the MEDC was stonewalling the investigation and suggested the agency’s funding should be cut off until it can improve its oversight. The agency has said it has been cooperative with the attorney general’s probe.

More: Whitmer appointee, donor gets $20M business grant with disputed sponsor

The raid came amid building criticism in the Legislature of the agency’s handling of legislative earmarks and large jobs-for-cash incentive programs.

Later in the year, the state’s economic development arm lost out on a multibillion-dollar semiconductor development in Mundy Township, and, in October, the MEDC announced a controversial battery parts plant planned by Gotion in Big Rapids was in default of its agreement with the state. In the annual budget passed in early October, the Legislature and governor cut off additional funding for the state’s flagship economic development program, the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund.

Immigration crackdown sparks outrage

President Donald Trump’s escalation of mass deportations and border enforcement impacted Michigan, especially in Metro Detroit, where there are immigrant enclaves and international border crossings. Immigration advocates in April said more than 90% of foreign nationals stopped by U.S. agents at the Detroit-Windsor crossing were stopped after taking wrong turns onto the Ambassador or Detroit-Windsor tunnel, and some families, including with children, were held without access to attorneys. In December, U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement officials said a Bulgarian man, Nenko Gantchev, died in custody at the North Lake Processing Center in northern Michigan. Thousands of people in Michigan joined protesters from across the country in No Kings rallies in protest of Trump’s immigration policies and authoritarian governance.

More: Deportations were supposed to target bad guys. Most ICE arrests in Michigan capture non-criminals

More: Death of man in ICE detention facility in Michigan under investigation

Rise of data centers

A sales and use tax for data centers passed by Michigan lawmakers in 2024 kick-started data center development in 2025, raising fears among Michiganians about the facilities’ potential impact on electricity prices, water supplies and land use in rural communities. More than a dozen data center projects have been unveiled in Michigan so far, and more are expected as tech companies seek to build the facilities that power the internet and burgeoning artificial intelligence industry. The biggest and most controversial data center project is in Saline Township, where 250 acres of farmland will be converted into a facility used to train artificial intelligence products. The Saline Township project will move forward after a contract between the developer and DTE Energy Co. won approval from the Michigan Public Service Commission in December.

More: Energy regulators approve Saline Township data center contracts with conditions

More: Data centers raise electricity prices, economists warn. Will you see it in your bill?

Former House speaker ordered to stand trial

A district court judge decided in May that former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican from Levering, and his wife, Stephanie Chatfield, should stand trial on felony charges that they embezzled political funds. Meanwhile, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office reached plea deals with two of Lee Chatfield’s top aides, Rob and Anne Minard, who are expected to testify at the trial in the fall of 2026.

More: Ex-House Speaker Chatfield, wife to face trial in Michigan Capitol corruption case

More: Former Michigan House speaker’s top aide gets plea deal, will testify against ex-boss

February flooding in Detroit as main breaks

Around 2 a.m. Feb. 17, some southwest Detroit residents on Beard and Rowan streets heard a “loud bang,” according to city officials. A 54-inch steel water transmission line that lay underneath this dense residential area had burst. About one square mile, filled with some 400 homes, was awash in icy water, flooding streets and basements. Members of the Downriver Dive Team rescued dozens of residents and pets by boat. Hundreds, if not more, local residents rushed to help during the weeks of cleanup. Residents from about 200 homes were put in hotels at the city’s expense. Besides replacing the water line, clearing the streets of water and debris, the city replaced 118 furnaces and 118 water heaters. The cleanup took about two months and cost about $8 million to $10 million, according to officials from the city and the Great Lakes Water Authority. It was one of the largest water main breaks in a neighborhood in at least 10 years, officials said.

More: ‘This was a failure,’ mayor responds to water main break in southwest Detroit

By Nicole Dieker, Bankrate.com

No one wants to deal with the inconvenience of long lines every time you have a flight to catch. Instead, you can take a leisurely stroll through airport security by enrolling in TSA PreCheck. This trusted traveler program allows people to access a separate security line at the airport and eliminates some of the hassles involved in clearing airport security … for a price.

A TSA PreCheck membership costs $77 and remains valid for five years, so it’s relatively affordable. However, you may get that fee back if you have one of the top travel credit cards. Many of these cards reimburse the TSA PreCheck or Global Entry fee by granting a credit of up to $120. That means you can make the most of your card benefits and offset part of your annual fee by learning how to get TSA PreCheck with your credit card.

Here’s how to get TSA PreCheck by using your credit card.

How does TSA PreCheck work?

TSA PreCheck is an official trusted traveler program set up through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. It requires you to go through a short online application and in-person interview where you’ll be fingerprinted and have your photo taken.

After you’re approved, you’ll have access to dedicated security lines and expedited security procedures at many U.S. airports, allowing you to keep your laptop and travel-sized liquids in your bag. Plus, you’ll keep your wait time to a minimum since 99% of TSA PreCheck members wait less than 10 minutes to make it through security, according to the TSA.

How to get TSA PreCheck free with a credit card

There are several ways a credit card can help you get TSA PreCheck for free:

—The easiest way is by paying for a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application with a card that reimburses it. You’ll automatically receive a statement credit to cover the cost.

—You could use the rewards you’ve earned through an airline or hotel loyalty program to pay for it.

—You could use your credit card rewards to cover the fee.

Using a statement credit to get TSA PreCheck

Nearly 40 credit cards offer an application fee credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, and that includes business credit cards and co-branded airline and hotel credit cards. However, it is important to note that most travel credit cards that cover TSA PreCheck come with an annual fee of anywhere from $95 to $695.

While there are travel credit cards with no annual fee, it’s uncommon for them to include a TSA PreCheck benefit. That said, occasionally you may be able to find a travel card with this benefit and no annual fee — but there will likely be a catch.

For example, the Capital One Spark Miles for Business card, which comes with no annual fee the first year, offers an up to $120 reimbursement credit for Global Entry and TSA PreCheck every four years. However, this card charges an annual fee every year thereafter.

Using a loyalty program to get TSA PreCheck

Many airline and hotel loyalty programs allow you to redeem the rewards you earn for TSA PreCheck. Some of these programs include:

—IHG One Rewards

—Marriott Bonvoy

—Orbitz Rewards Platinum Members

—United Mileage Plus

However, this method usually isn’t the best option since you’ll typically spend $100 or more in rewards — which is more than the cost of a TSA PreCheck membership. If you have a bank of points or miles that are about to expire, then it could be a decent option.

These loyalty programs also occasionally offer promotions and deals on TSA PreCheck, which may help you to get a discounted membership or a free membership with certain levels of elite status.

Using credit card rewards to get TSA PreCheck

If you’re not interested in a travel credit card or paying an annual fee, rewards from one of the top cash-back cards could help you cover your TSA PreCheck fee. These credit cards allow you to earn rewards or welcome bonuses that you can then redeem as statement credits to cover your TSA PreCheck application.

Bankrate’s take: If you travel internationally and would like to shorten your trips through customs, consider applying for Global Entry instead of TSA PreCheck. Global Entry includes all the benefits of TSA PreCheck plus expedited customs screening for travelers entering the United States, and membership costs $120 for five years.

Which credit card with TSA PreCheck credits is right for you?

When determining which travel credit card is right for you, take a few factors into account, including the card’s

—annual fee

—general rewards structure

—additional benefits

You’ll also want to think about how it fits into your current spending habits and lifestyle. If a particular card is only appealing because it pays for TSA PreCheck, then you should consider a different card that better aligns with your spending habits and interests — even if that card is just a general rewards card that will help you to earn enough cash back to cover the application fee.

Keep in mind that many business, airline and hotel credit cards offer a TSA PreCheck benefit. If you own a business, you may want to consider a general business travel credit card (which offers more flexibility) or a credit card for an airline or hotel that you use frequently (which will offer airline- or hotel-specific perks).

The bottom line

If you want to get TSA PreCheck for free, there are a lot of credit cards out there that can help you cover the cost.

Whether you choose a card that reimburses your TSA PreCheck fee or a card that helps you earn rewards to cover the fee, you’ll have plenty of options to save on the cost of your TSA PreCheck membership. And once you’ve got that TSA PreCheck stamp on your boarding pass, you’ll be able to save time (and effort) at the airport.

©2025 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The overriding theme defining television in recent years has been a fear of the new. Which is why reboots and spinoffs continue apace, with old titles brought back from the dead (“Scrubs”) or from the not-so-distant past (“The Night Manager”) and intellectual property milked within an inch of its life (somehow HBO has yet another “Game of Thrones” series coming our way).

It’s as if everyone in Hollywood ran out of new ideas all at once. Don’t blame writers, but executives who are rapidly shepherding their industry towards irrelevance with an over-reliance on reworked IP, while original ideas are left unproduced. In better news, the winter Olympic Games are this year, with the opening ceremony taking place Feb. 6 on NBC. (The Super Bowl is that Sunday as well.)

“The Pitt”

The Pittsburgh-set medical drama from “ER” showrunner John Wells is back for a second season, premiering almost exactly a year after it first debuted. Imagine, a streaming series returning on a reliable schedule! Dr. Robby (“ER” veteran Noah Wyle) is back once again, overseeing the managed chaos, student doctors and medical residents of his emergency department. One of the best examples of competency as comfort, something we could all use more of at the moment in real life. From Jan. 8 on HBO Max.

“The Night Manager”

Stylish and prestige-y as hell, Season 1 of this Tom Hiddleston spy drama premiered (squints) eight years ago. Welp, this is how TV works today. Season 2 follows Hiddleston’s character across the UK, Spain, Colombia and France as he “races to expose a conspiracy designed to destabilize a nation.” From Jan. 11 on Amazon. 

“Hijack”

The first season of this “Die Hard” ripoff starring Idris Elba took place on a seven-hour flight from Dubai to London. For the entirely unnecessary second season, the setting is now a subway in Berlin that’s been taken hostage. If Elba’s character doesn’t say “Why does this keep happening to me?!” at any point, then what are we even doing here? From Jan. 14 on Apple TV.  

“Ponies”

“Game of Thrones” alum Emilia Clarke stars in this 1977-set Cold War thriller about two women (the other is played by Haley Lu Richardson) who become CIA operatives after their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in Moscow. The pair become “ponies” in the parlance — persons of no interest — in order to uncover the truth of what really happened. From Jan. 15 on Peacock. 

“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

Another “Game of Thrones” spinoff. A prequel, this one takes place a hundred years before the events of “GoT,” as two unlikely heroes wander through Westeros: “A young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.” From Jan. 18 on HBO. 

“Steal”

Here I am typing “Game of Thrones” again because the show’s alum Sophie Turner returns to TV in this thriller about a heist at a British pension fund investment company: “But who would steal billions of pounds of ordinary people’s pensions and why? DCI Rhys (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) is determined to find out, but as a recently relapsed gambling addict, Rhys must keep his own money problems at bay while dealing with the secret agendas and competing interests at the center of this far-reaching crime.” From Jan. 21 on Amazon.  

“Drops of God”

I really liked the first season of this emotionally engrossing drama about two young wine experts who battle for a massive inheritance. The series was also criminally underseen, likely because: 1) Apple’s approach to promotion leaves much to be desired; 2) there are no recognizable (American) stars; and 3) that title, which makes sense once you’ve seen the show, but otherwise … nope. It’s back for a second season and if you’ve been missing that frisson of discovery in your TV viewing, this one is worth seeking out. From Jan. 21 on Apple TV.  

“Bridgerton”

Not a fan of this show, but plenty are, so mark your calendars. The Shonda Rhimes historical romance returns for Season 4, with a focus on the family’s second-eldest son, Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), who falls for a servant who sneaks into a masquerade ball. Netflix is chopping the season into two parts. From Jan. 29 on Netflix; the second half premieres Feb. 26.  

“Dark Winds”

This adaptation of Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee novels, with their stories of the Navajo Tribal Police in the 1970s, continues with a fourth season about a missing Navajo girl, which takes our investigators out of their usual setting and sends them to the underbelly of organized crime in Los Angeles. A tick or two better than your typical cop show, star Zahn McClarnon is reason enough to watch. From Feb. 15 on AMC.  

“Scrubs”

The medical comedy from the early aughts is back, reuniting the old gang: J.D. (Zach Braff), Turk (Donald Faison), Elliot (Sarah Chalke), Carla (Judy Reyes) and John C. McGinley’s memorably tangy Dr. Cox. New cast members include Vanessa Bayer and Joel Kim Booster. The premise appears to be the same as it was, picking up where the show left off. From Feb. 25 on ABC.

“Scarpetta”

A crime thriller based on Patricia Cornwell’s book series about the forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta, played by Nicole Kidman. According to the marketing blurb: “With skilled hands and an unnerving eye, this unrelenting medical examiner is determined to serve as the voice of the victims, unmask a serial killer, and prove that her career-making case from 28 years prior isn’t also her undoing. Set against the backdrop of modern forensic investigation, the series delves beyond the crime scene to explore the psychological complexities of both perpetrators and investigators, creating a multi-layered thriller that examines the toll of pursuing justice at all costs.” From March 11 on Amazon.  

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, Associated Press

As technology distracts, polarizes and automates, people are still finding refuge on analog islands in the digital sea.

The holdouts span the generation gaps, uniting elderly and middle-aged enclaves born in the pre-internet times with the digital natives raised in the era of online ubiquity.

They are setting down their devices to paint, color, knit and play board games. Others carve out time to mail birthday cards and salutations written in their own hand. Some drive cars with manual transmissions while surrounded by automobiles increasingly able to drive themselves. And a widening audience is turning to vinyl albums, resuscitating an analog format that was on its deathbed 20 years ago.

The analog havens provide a nostalgic escape from tumultuous times for generations born from 1946 through 1980, says Martin Bispels, 57, a former QVC executive who recently started Retroactv, a company that sells rock music merchandise dating to the 1960s and 1970s.

“The past gives comfort. The past is knowable,” Bispels says. “And you can define it because you can remember it the way you want.”

But analog escapes also beckon to the members of the millennials and Generation Z, those born from 1981 through 2012 — younger people immersed in a digital culture that has put instant information and entertainment at their fingertips.

Despite that convenience and instant gratification, even younger people growing up on technology’s cutting edge are yearning for more tactile, deliberate and personal activities that don’t evaporate in the digital ephemera, says Pamela Paul, author of “100 Things We’ve Lost To The Internet.”

“Younger generations have an almost longing wistfulness because because so little of their life feels tangible,” Paul says. “They are starting to recognize how the internet has changed their lives, and they are trying to revive these in-person, low-tech environments that older generations took for granted.”

Here are some glimpses into how the old ways are new again.

Keeping those cards coming

People have been exchanging cards for centuries. It’s a ritual in danger of being obliterated by the tsunami of texting and social media posts. Besides being quicker and more convenient, digital communication has become more economical as the cost of a first-class U.S. postage stamp has soared from 33 to 78 cents during the past 25 years.

But tradition is hanging on thanks to people like Megan Evans, who started the Facebook group called “Random Acts of Cardness” a decade ago when she was just 21 in hopes of fostering and maintaining more human connections in an increasingly impersonal world.

“Anybody can send a text message that says ‘Happy Birthday!’ But sending a card is a much more intentional way of telling somebody that you care,” says Evans, who lives in Wickliff, Ohio. “It’s something that the sender has touched with their own hand, and that you are going to hold in your own hand.”

More than 15,000 people are now part of Evans’ Facebook group, including Billy-Jo Dieter, who sends at least 100 cards per month commemorating birthdays, holidays and other milestones. “A dying art,” she calls it.

“My goal has been to try to make at least one person smile each day,” says Dieter, 48, who lives in Ellsworth, Maine. “When you sit down and you put the pen to the paper, it becomes something that’s even more just for that person.”

The singularity of a stick shift

Before technology futurist Ray Kurzweil came up with a concept that he dubbed the “Singularity” to describe his vision of computers melding with humanity, the roads were crammed with stick-shift cars working in concert with people.

But automobiles with manual transmission appear to be on a road to oblivion as technology transforms cars into computers on wheels. Fewer than 1% of the new vehicles sold in the U.S. have manual transmission, down from 35% in 1980, according to an analysis by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

But there remain stick-shift diehards like Prabh and Divjeev Sohi, brothers who drive cars with manual transmissions to their classes at San Jose State University along Silicon Valley roads clogged with Teslas. They became enamored with stick shifts while virtually driving cars in video games as kids and riding in manual transmission vehicles operated by their father and grandfather.

So when they were old enough to drive, Prabh, 22, and Divjeev, 19, were determined to learn a skill few people their age even bother to attempt: mastering the nuances of a clutch that controls a manual transmission, a process that resulted in their 1994 Jeep Wrangler coming to a complete stop while frustrated drivers got stuck behind them.

“He stalled like five times his first time on the road,” Prabh recalls.

Even though the experience still causes Divjeev to shudder, he feels it led him to a better place.

“You are more in the moment when you are driving a car with a stick. Basically you are just there to drive and you aren’t doing anything else,” Divjeev says. “You understand the car, and if you don’t handle it correctly, that car isn’t going to move.”

Rediscovering vinyl’s virtues

Vinyl’s obsolescence seemed inevitable in the 1980s when compact discs emerged. That introduction triggered an evisceration of analog recordings that hit bottom in 2006 when 900,000 vinyl albums were sold, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. That was a death rattle for a format that peaked in 1977, when 344 million vinyl albums were sold.

But the slump unexpectedly reversed, and vinyl albums are now a growth niche. In each of the past two years, about 43 million vinyl albums have been sold, despite the widespread popularity of music streaming services that make it possible to play virtually any song by any artist at any time.

Baby boomers expanding upon their decades-old album collections aren’t the only catalyst. Younger generations are embracing the lusher sound of vinyl, too.

“I really love listening to an album on vinyl from start to finish. It feels like I am sitting with the artist,” says 24-year-old Carson Bispels. “Vinyl just adds this permanence that makes the music feel more genuine. It’s just you and the music, the way it should be.”

Carson is the son of Martin Bispels, the former QVC executive. A few years ago, Martin gave a few of his vinyl records to Carson, including Bob Marley’s “Talkin’ Blues,” an album already played so much that it sometimes cracks and pops with the scratches in it.

“I still listen to it because every time I do, I think of my dad,” says Carson, who lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

After starting off with about 10 vinyl albums from his dad, Carson now has about 100 and plans to keep expanding.

“The current digital age of music is fantastic, too, but there’s nothing like the personal aspect of going into the record store and thumbing through a bunch of albums while making small talk with some of the other patrons to find out what they’re listening to,” Carson says.

Paul, the author of the book about analog activities that have been devoured by the internet, says the vinyl music’s comeback story has her mulling a potential sequel. “A return to humanity,” she says, “could turn out to be another book.”