By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — A stalemate over the pace of confirmations has delayed the Senate’s yearly August recess, for now, as President Donald Trump declares that his nominees “should NOT BE FORCED TO WAIT” and as Democrats slow the process by forcing procedural votes on almost all of Trump’s picks.

Caught in the middle, Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he will keep the Senate in session over the weekend, at least, to hold confirmation votes while also negotiating with Democrats to speed up consideration of dozens of nominees. The two sides haven’t come to agreement yet, and it’s still unclear if Trump, who has been publicly calling on Republicans to cancel their break, would be onboard with any bipartisan deal.

Thune said Friday he was leaving some of the negotiations to Trump and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

“That’s how this is going to get resolved,” Thune said. “We’ll see where that leads.”

Senators in both parties are eager to leave Washington for their annual break, when many of them tour their states to talk to constituents. Republicans in particular are eager to return home and sell the massive tax and spending cuts package they passed in July as Democrats vow to use it against them in the 2026 midterm elections. The House, which has no role in the confirmation process, fled Washington a week ago.

But Trump has other plans.

“The Senate must stay in Session, taking no recess, until the entire Executive Calendar is CLEAR!!!” Trump posted on social media Thursday night, after a meeting with Thune at the White House. “We have to save our Country from the Lunatic Left. Republicans, for the health and safety of the USA, DO YOUR JOB, and confirm All Nominees.”

Thune said this week that Republicans are considering changing the Senate’s rules when they get back in September to make it easier to quickly approve a president’s nominations — and to try and avoid a similar stalemate in the future. Democrats have blocked more nominees than usual this year, denying any quick unanimous consent votes and forcing roll calls on each one, a lengthy process that takes several days per nominee and allows for debate time.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Friday that Senate GOP leadership was “going back, drafting a specific rule for us to react to” as they try to plot a path forward.

It’s the first time in recent history that the minority party hasn’t allowed at least some quick confirmations. Thune has already kept the Senate in session for more days, and with longer hours, this year to try and confirm as many of Trump’s nominees as possible.

Democrats have little desire to give in, even though they too are eager to skip town after several long months of work and bitter partisan fights over legislation. Schumer has said Democrats have blocked quick votes because, “historically bad nominees deserved historic levels of scrutiny.”

There are more than 150 nominations on the Senate calendar, and confirming them all would take more than a month even if the Senate does stay in session, if Democrats draw out the process.

The standoff is just the latest chapter in an ever-escalating Senate fight over nominations in the last two decades. Both parties have increasingly used stalling tactics to delay confirmations that were once quick, bipartisan and routine. In 2013, Democrats changed Senate rules for lower court judicial nominees to remove the 60-vote threshold for confirmations as Republicans blocked President Barack Obama’s judicial nominations. In 2017, Republicans did the same for Supreme Court nominees as Democrats tried to block Trump’s nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Still, Thune says, the Democrats’ current delays are a “historic level of obstruction.”

In his first year as leader, Thune has worked with Trump to quickly confirm his Cabinet and navigated complicated internal party dynamics to pass the tax and spending cuts package, which Trump sees as his signature policy achievement.

Yet the president is applying increasing pressure on Thune and his conference, trying to control the Senate’s schedule and calling out three Republican senators in social media posts this week — including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the senior-most Senate Republican who worked closely with Trump to confirm his picks for Supreme Court in his first term.

Trump criticized Grassley for keeping with Senate tradition and working with home state Democrats on some judicial confirmations, saying that he got Grassley re-elected “when he was down, by a lot.”

Opening a committee hearing on Thursday, Grassley defended the practice and added that he was “offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults.”

Trump also criticized Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley for working with Democrats on a stock trading ban for lawmakers. And in a post late Thursday, he counseled Republicans to “vote the exact opposite” of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, a moderate who has worked with Democrats on spending bills this year and frequently opposes Trump.

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributedto this report.

A Plymouth Township police officer who helped rescue an elderly couple from a house fire last year is now facing his own life-threatening battle with brain cancer.

Watch Christiana's story in the video player below: Plymouth Township police officer who saved elderly couple now fighting brain cancer

Tyler Cannon, 35, a husband and father of three young children, was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was rushed to the emergency room after suffering from severe headaches.

Despite the serious prognosis, he's approaching his diagnosis with remarkable courage.

"He has an astrocytoma grade 4, but it's kind of an interchangeable diagnosis basically I think more known as the glioblastoma, which is the worst type of brain cancer that you can get," said Kristi McCann, Cannon's wife's cousin.

Cannon was part of a team of four Plymouth Township police officers who were named Officers of the Year after bravely rescuing a couple in their 70s from a house fire in November. Now, the community is rallying around him as he faces this personal challenge.

Related Story: Bodycam footage shows officers rescuing couple from fire in Plymouth Township Bodycam footage shows officers rescuing couple from fire in Plymouth Township

"He is just saying there is no other option. I'm gonna fight this. I'm gonna beat it. That's the option. I'm gonna see my kids grow. I'm gonna see them get married, have their own children. That's his mentality, extremely positive," McCann said.

Cannon recently underwent an awake craniotomy to remove part of the tumor in his brain.

"All went well with the surgery. They got out as much as they could," McCann said.

Plymouth Township Police Chief James Knittel said Cannon has told him he wants to be back on the job.

"He's a warrior defending our citizens. This battle with brain cancer, he's taken on the same attitude, the same philosophy," Knittel said.

The community has already raised over $47,000 through a GoFundMe campaign, and plans are underway for a golf fundraiser on September 21 at Lakes of Taylor Golf Course.

McCann says the family has gone through a lot, and their hope is to alleviate as much financial burden as possible.

"Because they need to focus on him getting well and fighting this," McCann said.

The police department is creating "Cannon Strong" t-shirts and providing support in various ways.

Thin Blue Line of Michigan has also started a donation drive.

"In their time of need, our family here at the police department is gonna step up and we're gonna do everything we can for him," Knittel said. "The township of Plymouth is behind him. The board of trustees here at the township of Plymouth have all reached out to me and asked how they can help, so we're gonna tackle this as a family, and Tyler is gonna fight this, and we're gonna be in his corner. We're gonna have his back."

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

President Donald Trump lashed out after the U.S. Labor Department reported that just 73,000 jobs were added in July, pushing the unemployment rate from 4.1% to 4.2%.

The department also issued a sharp correction, revising its May and June estimates downward by 258,000 jobs.

President Trump, without providing evidence, claimed the jobs data was inaccurate and blamed Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Biden-appointed commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

RELATED STORY | US employers added just 73,000 jobs in July as labor market weakens

We need accurate Jobs Numbers, he said. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.

Scripps News reached out to the Labor Department and McEntarfer for a response, but has not received a comment.

The stock market fell Friday following the release of the jobs report and President Trump's latest announcement on tariffs. He is imposing a new rate on countries that missed his Aug. 1 deadline to reach trade deals. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 500 points in midday trading.

Despite the negative indicators, President Trump insisted the economy is "booming," while also criticizing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates.

Jerome Too Late Powell should also be put out to pasture, President Trump said.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday called for the firing of the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures after a report showed hiring slowed in July and was much weaker in May and June than previously reported.

Trump in a post on his social media platform alleged that the figures were manipulated for political reasons and said that Erika McEntarfer, the director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, should be fired.

“I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on Truth Social. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified.”

Friday’s jobs report showed that just 73,000 jobs were added last month and that 258,000 fewer jobs were created in May and June than previously estimated.

McEntarfer was nominated by Biden in 2023 and became the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in January 2024. Commissioners typically serve four-year terms but since they are political appointees can be fired. The commissioner is the only political appointee of the agency, which has hundreds of career civil servants.

Trump focused much of his ire on the revisions the agency made to previous hiring data. Job gains in May were revised down to just 19,000 from 125,000, and in June they were cut to 14,000 from 147,000. In July, only 73,000 positions were added. The unemployment rate ticked up to a still-low 4.2% from 4.1%.

“No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers,” Trump wrote. “She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes.”

The monthly employment report is one of the most closely-watched pieces of government economic data and can cause sharp swings in financial markets. The disappointing figure sent U.S. market indexes about 1.5% lower Friday.

While the jobs numbers are often the subject of political spin, economists and Wall Street investors — with millions of dollars at stake — have always accepted U.S. government economic data as free from political manipulation.

A jury in Florida awarded plaintiffs $329 million in damages on Friday in a case that blamed Teslas Autopilot driver assistance feature for a 2019 crash that killed a young woman and gravely injured her boyfriend.

Tesla has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the case and said it plans to appeal the decision.

The company released the following statement after the jury's decision:

"Todays verdict is wrong and only works to set back automotive safety and jeopardize Teslas and the entire industrys efforts to develop and implement life-saving technology. We plan to appeal given the substantial errors of law and irregularities at trial. Even though this jury found that the driver was overwhelmingly responsible for this tragic accident in 2019, the evidence has always shown that this driver was solely at fault because he was speeding, with his foot on the accelerator which overrode Autopilot as he rummaged for his dropped phone without his eyes on the road. To be clear, no car in 2019, and none today, would have prevented this crash. This was never about Autopilot; it was a fiction concocted by plaintiffs lawyers blaming the car when the driver from day one admitted and accepted responsibility."

The crash involved a Tesla Model S whose driver had been using the car's Autopilot technology in the moments before he smashed into an SUV in Key Largo, Florida. The driver of the Model S said he reached down to pick up his cellphone, taking his eyes off the road and colliding with the parked SUV.

RELATED STORY | Lawsuit against Tesla includes claim the automaker hid data after fatal crash

The collision killed 22-year-old Naibel Benavides Leon and critically injured her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo. Both were standing next to the SUV when it was hit by the Tesla.

The plaintiffs had claimed that the company deliberately hid information about the crash, and accused Tesla of encouraging drivers to over-rely on Autopilot.

"This car was not safe and destroyed our lives," Angulo said in an exclusive interview with Scripps News before the trial. "We all need to do what we have to do to hold Elon Musk and Tesla accountable."

Angulo's attorneys believe Tesla "engaged in a scheme to hide" data produced by the Tesla Model S during the crash. An expert witness for the plaintiffs discovered the existence of the data after Tesla had testified it had turned over all information from the car.

Tesla has since testified it did not realize there was missing data.

FROM THE ARCHIVES | Tesla settles lawsuit over fatal crash involving self-driving software

Two right-wing fraudsters charged in a robocall scheme aimed at suppressing turnout of Black voters in Detroit in 2020 pleaded no contest to felony charges Friday. Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, who have a history of spreading hoaxes and outlandish conspiracy theories, face up to seven years in prison when they are sentenced in Wayne County Circuit Court on Dec. 1.

By STEVE PEOPLES, AP National Politics Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats are launching a nationwide summer blitz designed to force vulnerable Republicans to defend President Donald Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill — especially Medicaid cuts that will leave millions of Americans without health care coverage.

Republican leaders in Washington, meanwhile, have encouraged their members to promote more popular aspects of the bill during smaller controlled appearances where GOP officials are less likely to face difficult questions or protests.

The Democratic National Committee’s “Organizing Summer” will feature events in all 50 states, beginning with Alaska, Texas, Colorado and California over the coming week. The party’s message will be reinforced by online advertising and billboard trucks at state and county fairs in the coming days targeting vulnerable House Republicans in Pennsylvania, Michigan and New Jersey, among other states.

“As Democrats, our job is to ensure that every American across the country understands the devastating impacts of this bill,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said. “Democrats will be holding events, highlighting Republican hypocrisy, and ensuring Americans across the country know exactly who is responsible for taking away health care, food, construction jobs, and nursing homes in order to give massive handouts to billionaires.”

The massive Republican-backed tax and spending package that Trump called “big, beautiful” and signed into law on July 4 may ultimately become the defining issue of next year’s midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress for Trump’s final two years in office.

Republicans are touting the bill as a tax cut for all Americans, but polling suggests that U.S. adults have been slow to embrace the GOP’s message. The new law will add $3.4 trillion to federal deficits through 2034, leave more than another 10 million people without health insurance and leave millions of others without food stamps, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

For much of the year, Republican officials have avoided town hall meetings with constituents or public appearances where they might face protesters or unscripted questions from voters. GOP members of Congress may be slightly more visible this summer, however, according to a memo distributed this week by the House Republican campaign arm.

The memo encourages Republicans to be proactive in selling Trump’s bill during the August recess, although the National Republican Campaign Committee suggests its members focus on tax cuts in smaller settings they can control.

Among the NRCC’s suggestions outlined in the memo: “Visit a local hospital and discuss how you voted for no tax on overtime,” “stop by a restaurant to highlight your vote on no tax on tips” and “work the counter at a local store and chat about your work to lower costs.”

The monthlong August break “is a critical opportunity to continue to define how this legislation will help every voter and push back on Democrat fearmongering,” the Republican memo says.

Democrats are planning a decidedly more public campaign this month than their Republican rivals, although they’ll also offer “multi-day intensive bootcamps” as part of a training program for political operatives and community leaders.

Events are being planned for all 50 states with special focus on 35 of the most competitive congressional districts in the country. Current and former Democratic officials will be featured, including former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who emerged as a leader against gun violence since her 2011 assassination attempt.

As part of the new effort, the Democratic National Committee is also launching a new digital advertising campaign initially targeting vulnerable Republicans in Iowa, Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia. That’s in addition to the DNC sending mobile billboard trucks to county fairs in the districts of Republicans in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

“Trump’s big ugly bill: $4 trillion giveaway to billionaires. The rest of us pay the price,” read the billboards, which will feature the name and face of each Republican congressman.

And as Republicans search for an effective message to sell Trump’s bill, Democrats are increasingly confident.

“The big, ugly law is a political disaster,” said Viet Shelton, spokesman for the House Democrats campaign arm. “Everyone hates it and vulnerable House Republicans know it, which is why they’re scared to face their constituents in person during the August recess.”

By Kate Ruder, KFF Health News

More states are passing laws to protect information generated by a person’s brain and nervous system as technology improves the ability to unlock the sensitive details of a person’s health, mental states, emotions and cognitive functioning.

Colorado, California, and Montana are among the states that have recently required safeguarding brain data collected by devices outside of medical settings. That includes headphones, earbuds and other wearable consumer products that aim to improve sleep, focus and aging by measuring electrical activity and sending the data to an app on users’ phones.

A report by the Neurorights Foundation, an advocacy group that aims to protect people from the misuse of neurotechnology, found that 29 of 30 companies with neurotechnology products that can be purchased online have access to brain data and “provide no meaningful limitations to this access.” Almost all of them can share data with third parties.

In June, the American Medical Association called for greater regulation of neural data. In April, several Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether companies are exploiting consumers’ brain data. Juliana Gruenwald Henderson, a deputy director of the FTC’s Office of Public Affairs, said the agency had received the letter but had no additional comment.

Although current devices gather relatively basic information like sleep states, advocates for brain data protection caution that future technologies, including artificial intelligence, could extract more personal and sensitive information about people’s medical conditions or innermost thoughts.

“If you collect the data today, what can you read from it five years from now because the technology is advancing so quickly?” said Democratic state Sen. Cathy Kipp, who sponsored Colorado’s 2024 neural data protection bill when she was in the state House of Representatives.

As both excitement and trepidation about AI build, at least 28 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands have enacted some type of AI regulation separate from the privacy bills protecting neural data. President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” included a 10-year halt on states passing laws to regulate AI, but the Senate stripped that provision out of the budget reconciliation bill before voting to approve it on July 1.

The spirit of laws in Colorado, California, and Montana is to protect the neural data itself, not to regulate any algorithm or AI that might use it, said Sean Pauzauskie, medical director for the Neurorights Foundation.

But neurotechnology and AI go hand in hand, Pauzauskie said. “A lot of what these devices promise is based on pattern recognition. AI is really driving the usability and significance of the patterns in the brain data.”

Cristin Welle, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said that AI’s ability to identify patterns is a game changer in her field. “But contribution of a person’s neural data on an AI training set should be voluntary. It should be an opt-in, not a given.”

Chile in 2021 became the first country to adopt a constitutional amendment for neurorights, which prioritize human rights in the development of neurotechnology and collection of neural data, and UNESCO has said that neurotechnology and artificial intelligence could together pose a threat to human identity and autonomy.

Neurotechnology can sound like science fiction. Researchers used a cap with 128 electrodes and an AI model to decode the brain’s electric signals from thoughts into speech. And two years ago, a study described how neuroscientists reconstructed the Pink Floyd song “Another Brick in the Wall” by analyzing the brain signals of 29 epilepsy patients who listened to the song with electrodes implanted in their brains.

The aim is to use neurotechnology to help those with paralysis or speech disabilities, as well as treat or diagnose traumatic brain injuries and brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Elon Musk’s Neuralink and Synchron, funded by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, are among the companies with clinical trials underway for devices implanted in the brain.

Pauzauskie, a hospital neurologist, started worrying four years ago about the blurring of the line between clinical and consumer use of neural data. He noted that the devices used by his epilepsy patients were also available for purchase online, but without protections afforded by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in medical settings.

Pauzauskie approached Kipp two years ago at a constituent meetup in his hometown of Fort Collins to propose a law to protect brain data in Colorado. “The first words out of her mouth that I’ll never forget were, ‘Who would be against people owning their own brain data?’” he said.

Brain data protection is one of the rare issues that unite lawmakers across the political aisle. The bills in California, Montana, and Colorado passed unanimously or nearly unanimously. Montana’s law will go into effect in October.

Neural data protection laws in Colorado and California amend each state’s general consumer privacy act, while Montana’s law adds to its existing genetic information privacy act. Colorado and Montana require initial express consent to collect or use neural data and separate consent or the ability to opt out before disclosing that data to a third party. A business must provide a way for consumers to delete their data when operating in all three states.

“I want a very hard line in the sand that says, you own this completely,” said Montana state Republican Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, who sponsored his state’s neural data bill and other privacy laws. “You have to give consent. You have the right to have it deleted. You have complete rights over this information.”

For Zolnikov, Montana’s bill is a blueprint for a national neural data protection law, and Pauzauskie said support of regulatory efforts by groups like the AMA pave the way for further federal and state efforts.

Welle agreed that federal regulations are needed in addition to these new state laws. “I absolutely hope that we can come up with something on a national level that can enshrine people’s neural rights into law, because I think this is going to be more important than we can even imagine at this time.”

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting will shut down after Republicans pulled federal funding from the organization.

For 60 years, the nonprofit has distributed federal money to public media stations and producers, supporting educational programming, local journalism, and emergency communications across the country.

Despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB, we now face the difficult reality of closing our operations, said CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison.

The closure will result in job losses. CPB said most staff positions will end on Sept. 30, the close of the fiscal year. The organization said it would maintain a small transition team through January 2026 to handle final responsibilities.

RELATED STORY | House passes $9.4 billion in cuts to public broadcasting and international aid

President Donald Trump urged Republicans to rescind CPBs funding, arguing that government support of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence. They passed legislation to do that in July.

In addition to CPBs closure, the funding cuts are expected to significantly affect rural public radio and television stations that carry National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting Service programming.

PBS President Paula Kerger told Scripps News that some rural public television stations could be forced to shut down.

By LORNE COOK and JOHN LEICESTER

BRUSSELS (AP) — President Donald Trump’s administration says it is weighing what to do with family planning supplies stockpiled in Europe that campaigners and two U.S. senators are fighting to save from destruction.

Concerns that the Trump administration plans to incinerate the stockpile have angered family planning advocates on both sides of the Atlantic. Campaigners say the supplies stored in a U.S.-funded warehouse in Geel, Belgium, include contraceptive pills, contraceptive implants and IUDs that could spare women in war zones and elsewhere the hardship of unwanted pregnancies.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said Thursday in response to a question about the contraceptives that “we’re still in the process here in terms of determining the way forward.”

“When we have an update, we’ll provide it,” he said.

Belgium says it has been talking with U.S. diplomats about trying to spare the supplies from destruction, including possibly moving them out of the warehouse. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Florinda Baleci told The Associated Press that she couldn’t comment further “to avoid influencing the outcome of the discussions.”

The Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which managed foreign aid programs, left the supplies’ fate uncertain.

Pigott didn’t detail the types of contraceptives that make up the stockpile. He said some of the supplies, bought by the previous administration, could “potentially be” drugs designed to induce abortions. Pigott didn’t detail how that might impact Trump administration thinking about how to deal with the drugs or the entire stockpile.

Costing more than $9 million and funded by U.S taxpayers, the family planning supplies were intended for women in war zones, refugee camps and elsewhere, according to a bipartisan letter of protest to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio from U.S. senators Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski.

They said destroying the stockpile “would be a waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars as well as an abdication of U.S. global leadership in preventing unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths — key goals of U.S. foreign assistance.”

They urged Rubio to allow another country or partner to distribute the contraceptives.

Concerns voiced by European campaigners and lawmakers that the supplies could be transported to France for incineration have led to mounting pressure on government officials to intervene and save them.

The executive branch of the European Union, through spokesman Guillaume Mercier, said Friday that “we continue to monitor the situation closely to explore the most effective solutions.”

The U.S. branch of family planning aid group MSI Reproductive Choices said it offered to purchase, repackage and distribute the stock at its own expense but “these efforts were repeatedly rejected.” The group said the supplies included long-acting IUDs, contraceptive implants and pills, and that they have long shelf-lives, extending as far as 2031.

Aid group Doctors Without Borders said incineration would be “an intentionally reckless and harmful act against women and girls everywhere.”

Charles Dallara, the grandson of a French former lawmaker who was a contraception pioneer in France, urged President Emmanuel Macron to not let France “become an accomplice to this scandal.”

“Do not allow France to take part in the destruction of essential health tools for millions of women,” Dallara wrote in an appeal to the French leader. “We have a moral and historical responsibility.”

Leicester reported from Paris. Matthew Lee contributed from Washington, D.C.

DETROIT — If you didn’t know this before Thursday, you should know this now, unequivocally.

Tigers’ president Scott Harris isn’t trying to win press releases. He isn’t trying to win the trade deadline. He’s trying to build winning and championship baseball teams for now and for years to come.

And if his plan, his methods, don’t generate big headlines or sweeping approval throughout the fan base, he can live with that.

“It’s important that we continue to build through development and continue to build for the growth we can access from within,” he said Thursday after trading for five relievers and two starting pitchers at the trade deadline. “It’s one of the reasons why this organization is so healthy and we have a nine-game lead and a farm system that’s winning a ton.

“I have to balance that. That’s the job. And if that subjects me to criticism, like, I totally understand it. But I’m never going make moves to avoid criticism if they are not in the best interest of the organization.”

You should also know now, unequivocally, that his faith in the talented young group of players both at the big-league level and coming up through the system is unshakable. Which is at least partly why the Tigers didn’t land any of the marquee names that were available — like third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who is now a Mariner.

There was an outside assumption the Tigers needed to acquire another right-handed bat, preferably one with power. And Harris, by all accounts, stayed in the conversation for Suarez right up until the deal was made with Seattle.

“I’m not sure our body of work over the first half suggested that we needed to add a right-handed bat,” Harris said.

Certainly not enough to warrant parting with any of the club’s top-tier prospects for a short-term boost, which was the cost.

“The central question we asked ourselves over and over again, is the player available better than the player we have? Do we believe in the player available more than we believe in the player we have now?”

He’s not just talking about Zach McKinstry, who has been the primary third baseman. Or righty hitters like Andy Ibáñez  or Jahmai Jones or even Justyn-Henry Malloy. He’s also talking about the prospects such a trade would cost — Max Clark, Kevin McGonigle, Bryce Rainer, Thayron Liranzo, Josue Briceño and others.

“Every decision or non-decision is a bet,” Harris said. “If you decide to trade for a player, you are betting on that player. If you make a non-decision, which is a decision in itself, you are betting on the player you have. We’re betting on the player we would have had to give up to acquire that player.

“I think these guys have earned (that trust). We did what we did because we believe in these players. They are still getting into their prime years and they will continue to get better.”

Harris didn’t buy into all the outside noise about “seizing the moment,” nor is he swayed by any illusionary window of opportunity. To him, that’s a far too restrictive and narrow approach.

“We have a real opportunity in the American League this year, but I kind of hope we have a real opportunity every year,” he said. “If we run out the best version of us, we can beat a lot of teams and I think we’ve demonstrated that over the last year.”

They were the winningest team in baseball from the All-Star break last year through the All-Star break this year. They have a nine-game lead in the division. They have one of the highest-rated farm systems in the game. Seize the moment or build on the momentum?

“We want to be good every year, really, really good every year,” Harris said. “I don’t think we thought about this deadline as different from future years. I always want to sit in front of you and say we’ve got a real good baseball team and we’ve got a lot of chances to get better.

“I think I can credibly say, we have a really good baseball team by our competitive standing right now. I think I can also credibly say we got better (at the deadline). And I can credibly say that we have some players coming in our farm system, both for this year and for future years, that are going to help us get even better.”

The Tigers didn’t land Suarez. They didn’t land the marquee relievers like Jhoan Duran, David Bednar, Ryan Helsley or Camilo Doval. They didn’t land many players the casual fan would recognize, let alone celebrate.

But maybe, by incrementally strengthening both the rotation and bullpen — building a deeper and diverse pitching staff that manager AJ Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter can maneuver around different types of lineups — they got better nevertheless.

“My job is to make the best decisions for this organization,” Harris said. “I understand everybody wants to go grab the flashiest name and not give up any good players. But that’s not an option. We can’t do that.

“If we’re going to grab those players, we’re going to give up some really talented players and I didn’t think that was in the best interest of our organization.”

Harris pointed to the emergence of rookie Troy Melton, who the Tigers believe will be a swing-and-miss weapon in the bullpen down the stretch and into the playoffs. He pointed to Dillon Dingler, who scuffled mightily last September but has emerged as the team’s primary catcher. He mentioned Wenceel Perez, in the organization since he was 16, who is just now impacting the lineup in multiple ways.

Those are examples of players who at one time were sought after by teams either over the winter or in past trade deadlines.

“It comes with a real cost that is sometimes invisible to the casual observer,” Harris said. “If you move players you really believe in, sometimes it makes you worse. Sometimes if you go grab the flashiest player, you have to trade a better player to get that player. I’m hyper-conscious of that.

“I am not averse to doing those deals, but the specific asks were for players we think might actually be better than the player we would be acquiring — obviously on different timelines.”

You don’t have to love his methods. But you would be hard-pressed to dispute the results up to this point.

“In my tenure here, I have made some really unpopular moves in drafts, free agency and trades,” Harris said. “But I think one of the reasons we’re here (in first place) is that a lot of the non-moves or non-decisions actually set us up better for the future than they would have in the press release that comes right after the deadline.

“We’ll see if I got it right.”

“If we don’t split now, it’ll be much harder later.” How many relationships reach that ledge, where one person says something to that effect to their partner? Many, that’s how many. Too many to quantify.

In “Together,” the droll, fiercely well-acted codependency horror movie, Alison Brie delivers the news to Dave Franco, when their characters, Millie and Tim, a put-together schoolteacher and a coming-apart musician, have gotten a little too close in tricky, arguably unhealthy ways. But is it too late? Are they stuck with each other?

The Australian writer-director Michael Shanks makes his feature debut here, and for a movie so ardently devoted to body horror — a literalization of this couple’s particular dynamic — it has an unusually sprightly sense of humor. Brie and Franco, as you may know, are a married couple, and “Together” uses their ease with each other’s bodies and verbal rhythms to highly useful ends. Even when Shanks hits the primary theme of his movie a little too insistently, the actors are vivid throughout. Brie, especially, is spectacularly effective in every emotional register, in the keys of D (Distress), E (Eh what’s going on with our suction-lips?) and C (Commitment is all).

After a murky, fragmented prologue indicating another couple’s recent disappearance, “Together” gets down to its cautionary tale of city folk giving the country a try. Like “Se7en” and various other genre thrillers, this one’s intentionally dislocated so that it could be any big city — though probably New York, or possibly London— and any charming little town a couple of hours away. (The movie was filmed near Melbourne and Victoria, Australia.)

At a going-away party for Millie, whose new teaching job requires her and Tim’s move to a nice little burg on the train line, Tim suffers a mistimed and painfully public proposal of marriage. Millie is thrown for a loop, and the pause Millie takes before responding, two, maybe three seconds, lands like a day and a half. Brie is a wizard of timing and naturalistic cadence, and the film’s strategic introduction to their characters works like a flop-sweat charm.

After the move-in upstate, things seem initially better yet very quickly worse. The new house has an unexplained odor. Tim, insecure and itchy for a sense of career purpose, commits to a band tour, while Millie befriends a genial faculty colleague (Damon Herriman) who lives down the lane. The woods near Tim and Millie’s house are lovely, dark and deep, plus strange: Remnants of a ruined chapel of some kind have settled into the mucky earth. More suddenly, these two fall down into a literal and metaphoric well of trouble, a hidden entrance to an underground cavern laden with secrets as well as a pool of clear water that looks safe enough to drink.

From there “Together” escalates in cannily paced fashion, thanks to director Shanks’ forward momentum and editor Sean Lahiff’s destabilizing visual rhythm. After their underground discovery the couple isn’t the same. The teacher down the lane offers a sympathetic ear and some insights to Millie, who confesses her doubts about Tim, who cannot leave her alone for long. The neighbor responds with advice from Plato’s “Symposium” and Aristophanes’ theory (as written by Plato) of two human beings completing each other, aka the “Jerry Maguire” principle. “Together” relies on much blood and some severing of body parts, true, but from one angle it’s a romcom with an all’s-well capper that “Jerry Maguire” didn’t have the nerve to try.

Filmmaker and screenwriter Shanks goes a bit far with his completion-theory thesis, with the Spice Girls’ “2 Become 1” on the soundtrack and perhaps one too many examples of the physical extremes undergone by Millie and Tim. The effects, however, are pretty terrific, especially in the neighborhood of the eyeballs. I’ve probably said too much, but it’s in the elegantly wrought teaser trailer, and while “Together” has a very different authorial voice (male) than last year’s “The Substance” (female), “Together” tells its fantastical tale a lot more efficiently.

It works, I think, largely because Shanks has the guts to write a male protagonist (though Millie has the edge, on the page and in the performance) who is no hero, no villain, just a mass of garden-variety insecurities, all too reliant on his partner for a sense of direction. Maybe these times have made it easier for male filmmakers to lay off redemption arcs and stalwart heroics, and lean into chaos and the humor of despair.

But an actor always has the last word in a character’s life, and here the key actor is Brie. While the combination of Brie and Franco serves the story well, in nearly every moment they share on screen she’s the one who makes urgent sense, both dramatic and comic, of every new relationship obstacle. On paper, Millie’s doubts conveniently fade when the story requires as much, and that’s very much a product of the man who wrote and directed this film. On the screen, with Brie, you buy it. And unless your ick tolerance is low to low-medium, you’ll likely roll with the merry ick of “Together.”

“Together” — 3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for violent or disturbing content, sexual content, graphic nudity, strong language, and brief drug content)

Running time: 1:42

How to watch: Premieres in theaters July 31

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

By ALEXANDRA OLSON, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The Senate confirmed Andrea Lucas to another term as commissioner of the country’s workplace civil rights agency, demonstrating firm Republican support for her efforts to root out diversity programs, roll back protections for transgender workers and prioritize religious rights in the workplace.

Democratic lawmakers and prominent civil rights groups fiercely opposed Lucas’ confirmation, saying she has subjected the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to the whims of the president, who elevated her to acting chair in January and, in an unprecedented act, fired two of the agency’s Democratic commissioners before their terms expired.

Lucas, who was first appointed to the EEOC in 2020, secured another five-year term with a 52-45 party-line Senate vote on Thursday night, but it will be up to President Donald Trump if she continues as chair.

Lucas has firmly aligned the EEOC with Trump’s civil rights agenda, declaring during her confirmation hearing last month that she doesn’t consider the agency to be independent, a position she acknowledged was a shift from her previously stated views.

In compliance with Trump’s executive order declaring two unchangeable sexes, the EEOC dropped lawsuits on behalf of transgender workers and stalled progress on others. Lucas has also leveraged the EEOC’s enforcement powers to help the Trump administration target private institutions over their DEI programs or allegations of antisemitism. Her confirmation came a week after the EEOC secured a $21 million settlement with Columbia University over allegations of harassment against Jewish employees, part of a broader agreement with the Trump administration to restore federal research money.

“I look forward to continuing the historic progress this agency has made since the start of the second Trump Administration under my leadership — from securing multiple settlements with some of the world’s largest law firms to disavow DEI and embrace merit-based hiring and other employment practices, to obtaining the largest EEOC settlement to date for victims of antisemitism on behalf of Jewish employees at Columbia University,” Lucas said in a statement following her confirmation.

Democrats have assailed Lucas’ leadership as part of the Trump administration’s wider attempts to increase his authority by politicizing agencies long considered to be independent.

“In just a few short months as Acting Chair, Andrea Lucas has warped the mission of the EEOC beyond recognition and weaponized the agency to green light discrimination, roll back protections for people who are sexually assaulted at work, and intimidate anyone who challenges President Trump,” Sen. Patty Murray said in a statement.

Last week, legal and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against the EEOC claiming that is has unlawfully refused to enforce federal protections for transgender workers.

But Republican senators and some business groups and religious institutions have praised Lucas’ leadership, especially her commitment to rolling back Biden-era guidance and regulations strengthening protections for transgender workers and women seeking abortions, birth control and fertility treatments.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported Lucas’ confirmation, saying in a statement that she “believes in finding balance in EEOC policies and decisions.”

The EEOC, which investigates employment discrimination in the private sector, was created by Congress under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The dismissals of the commissioners left the EEOC without the quorum needed to make some major decisions. That will change if the Senate confirms a second Trump nominee, Britanny Panuccio.

By LINDSEY BAHR, Associated Press

The best of the internet’s cat videos are coming to the big screen this weekend. Cat Video Fest is a 73-minute, G-rated selection of all things feline —silly, cuddly, sentimental and comedic—that’s playing in more than 500 independent theaters in the U.S. and Canada.

A portion of ticket proceeds benefit cat-focused charities, shelters and animal welfare organization. Since 2019, it’s raised over $1 million.

The videos are curated by Will Braden, the Seattle-based creator of the comedically existential shorts, Henri, le Chat Noir. His business cards read: “I watch cat videos.” And it’s not a joke or an exaggeration. Braden watches thousands of hours of internet videos to make the annual compilation.

“I want to show how broad the idea of a cat video can be so there’s animated things, music videos, little mini documentaries,” Braden said. “It isn’t all just, what I call, ‘America’s Funniest Home Cat Videos.’ It’s not all cats falling into a bathtub. That would get exhausting.”

Now in its eighth year, Cat Video Fest is bigger than ever, with a global presence that’s already extended to the UK and Denmark, and, for the first time, to France, Spain, Japan and Brazil. Last year, the screenings made over $1 million at the box office.

In the early days, it was a bit of a process trying to convince independent movie theaters to program Cat Video Fest. But Braden, and indie distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories, have found that one year is all it takes to get past that hurdle.

“Everywhere that does it wants to do it again,” Braden said.

Current theatrical partners include Alamo Drafthouse, IFC Center, Nitehawk, Vidiots, Laemmle and Music Box. The screenings attract all variety of audiences, from kids and cat ladies to hipsters and grandparents and everyone in between.

“It’s one of the only things, maybe besides a Pixar movie or Taylor Swift concert, that just appeals to everybody,” Braden said.

And the plan is to keep going.

“We’re not going to run out of cat videos and we’re not going to run out of people who want to see it,” Braden said. “All I have to do is make sure that it’s really funny and entertaining every year.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris says the U.S. political system is "broken."

Harris made the comment on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," her first interview since losing the presidential election to Donald Trump.

Asked whether her decision not to pursue the California governors office was because she hoped to run for a different office possibly president again Harris told Colbert, "No."

RELATED STORY | Former Vice President Kamala Harris says she will not run for California governor

"For now, I don't want to go back into the system. I want to travel the country, I want to listen to people, I want to talk with people, and I don't want it to be transactional where I'm asking for their vote," she said.

Harris added that she wants to remind Americans that the country was founded on the idea of democracy, and that people have the power to change what they dont like about their government.

"You can never let anyone take your power from you, and for me, that's what I would like to remind folks of," Harris said.

RELATED STORY | Kamala Harris sounds alarm on authoritarianism in high-profile speech

The former vice president was in the presidential race for 107 days following President Joe Biden's decision to drop out.

She has since written a book about the whirlwind experience.

"There are things I would do differently," Harris said, while noting she was grateful for her team and supporters who rallied around her candidacy.

Her memoir, "107 Days," is scheduled to be released on Sept. 23.

By LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors said they now expect music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs could face a prison sentence “substantially higher” than the four to five years they once thought he was likely to face after his conviction on two prostitution-related charges.

They made the observation late Thursday in a Manhattan federal court written submission in which they also opposed Combs’ request this week to be released on $50 million bail while he awaits an Oct. 3 sentencing.

In early July, Combs, 55, was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges carrying potential life prison terms but was convicted of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution for arranging for girlfriends and male sex workers to travel to engage in sexual encounters that he filmed.

Each prostitution-related charge carries a potential maximum 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors said after the verdict that they thought federal sentencing guidelines meant to prevent wide disparities in sentencings for the same crimes would likely call for a prison term of four to five years. But they said Thursday they believe the guidelines range “will be substantially higher,” raising the risk Combs will flee.

Judge Arun Subramanian will have wide latitude in determining a sentence and can choose to ignore the guidelines, which are not mandatory. Combs’ lawyers have said they believe the guidelines, if properly calculated, will call for 21 to 27 months in prison.

On the day of the verdict, prosecutors won a bail fight after defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo argued Combs should be freed immediately on bail.

Subramanian denied the defense request, saying Combs had not met the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence a “lack of danger to any person or the community.” But he said Agnifilo could renew the request.

In doing so Tuesday, Agnifilo cited other cases he said were comparable to Combs’ conviction in which defendants were granted bail. And he cited severe conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Combs has been held since his September arrest at a New York hotel.

He also said Combs was being treated unfairly for engaging in a “swingers” lifestyle in which he and his girlfriends sometimes invited male sex workers to join them in multiday marathon sex performances.

Prosecutors said in their filing Thursday that Combs’ conviction on the prostitution-related counts carried a mandatory requirement that he remain in jail prior to sentencing, unless he could prove exceptional circumstances, which they said he cannot.

They said he should also remain in prison as a danger to the community, a claim that Agnifilo disputed in his papers.

“Sean Combs will not be violent to anyone. As we said in court, this jury gave him his life back, and he will not squander his second chance at life, nor would he do anything to further jeopardize his seven children not having a father, and four of his children not having a parent at all,” Agnifilo wrote earlier this week.

Prosecutors also said conditions at the federal lockup had improved considerably before Combs was arrested. A federal judge in January 2024 had blasted conditions at the jail, including its extensive lockdowns and inadequate medical care.

Prosecutors said cases cited by Agnifilo in which other defendants received bail were not comparable to the crimes Combs was convicted of carrying out, particularly because of his propensity for violence.

“The defendant’s extensive history of violence — and his continued attempt to minimize his recent violent conduct — demonstrates his dangerousness and that he is not amendable to supervision,” they wrote. “The defendant utterly fails to establish by clear and convincing evidence, as required, that he does not pose a danger to the community.”

Two conservative activists and conspiracy theorists pleaded no contest to voter intimidation charges in Michigan on Friday.

Watch below: Conservative activists accused of voter intimidation appear in Detroit courtroom in 2020

Conservative activists accused of voter intimidation appear in Detroit courtroom

Jacob Wohl, 27, from Fairfax, Virginia and Jack Burkman, 59, of Arlington, Virginia, plead no contest to four charges. They are:

One count of election law bribing/intimidating voters, a 5-year felony;  One count of conspiracy to commit an election law violation, a 5-year felony;  One count of using a computer to commit the crime of election law intimidating voters, a 7-year felony; and  Using a computer to commit the crime of conspiracy, a 7-year felony. 

Attorney General Dana Nessel says the men orchestrated robocalls to thousands of Detroiters with false messages made to deter residents from voting by mail. Those calls were made in late August of 2020 and went out to 12,000 residents with phone numbers registered to an address with a Detroit zip code.

After five years, Im glad this case has finally reached a resolution, Nessel said in a statement on Friday. Deceptive and racially targeted suppression schemes will not be tolerated in Michigan. My office will continue to pursue and prosecute voter intimidation, no matter how long it takes, to ensure that Michiganders can exercise their right to vote free from fear and deception.

Wohl and Burkman have been called right-wing operatives with "Project 1599." State officials say the group is behind the calls.

The men have previously faced charges in other states, and were ordered to pay $1.25 million in fines in New York and were sentenced to register people to vote in Ohio.

According to the AG's office, the calls promoted falsehoods including:

Voting by mail would pub voters' information in a public database that could be used by police to track people with outstanding warrants Voting by mail would pub voters' information in a public database that would be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts The DCD were attempting to utilize vote by mail records to track people for mandatory vaccines

Both the Michigan Court of Appeals and Michigan Supreme Court upheld the charges against the men.

Its believed around 85,000 robocalls were made nationally, though an exact breakdown of the numbers of calls made to each city or state is not available.

Both men will be sentenced on Dec. 1.

Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been transferred from Florida to Texas, according to federal prison records.

Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence following her conviction on sex trafficking charges, had been held at FCI Tallahassee, a low-security federal correctional institution in Florida. She is now at Federal Prison Camp Bryan, a low-security facility in Bryan, Texas.

It remains unclear why Maxwell was moved. While not commenting on her specific case, the Federal Bureau of Prisons outlined general reasons for inmate transfers.

"Some of the factors include the level of security and supervision the inmate requires, any medical or programming needs, separation, and security measures to ensure the individual's protection, and other considerations, including proximity to an individual's release residence," a spokesperson said. "The same criteria apply when making decisions for both initial designations and re-designations for transfer to a new facility."

Maxwells case has drawn renewed attention after the Department of Justice and FBI released a joint memo stating that a review of the Epstein case found no incriminating client list. The memo angered many of President Donald Trumps most loyal supporters, who have called for greater transparency.

Amid the backlash, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche met with Maxwell in Florida. Her attorney said Maxwell answered questions truthfully during the meeting.

Its unclear whether the prison transfer was related to that meeting. Maxwell has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her conviction, and her attorney has said she would be open to receiving a pardon from Trump. The president has said he has not considered it.

Detroit voters will take a key step toward choosing a new mayor in the municipal primary on Tuesday, when nine candidates will appear on the ballot in the citys first open-seat mayoral race in a dozen years.

Related: Which Detroit mayoral candidate most aligns with your priorities? Take this quiz and find out

The top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan primary will advance to the November general election. The winner will replace outgoing three-term Mayor Mike Duggan, who is running for governor of Michigan as an independent.

The crowded field includes former police chief James Craig, city council member Fred Durhal, former city council president Saunteel Jenkins, Triumph Church pastor Solomon Kinloch, attorney Todd Perkins and current city council president Mary Sheffield. Also in the running are businessmen Jonathan Barlow and Joel Haashiim and three-time mayoral hopeful DaNetta Simpson.

Scroll to the end of the article to see our interviews with all nine Detroit mayoral candidates

Sheffield leads the field in campaign fundraising. She brought in nearly $1.3 million since entering the race in December, more than double the roughly $574,000 Jenkins raised. Kinloch raised about $408,000, while Perkins and Durhal each raised more than $250,000. Sheffield also had about $451,000 in the bank heading into the final two-week stretch before the primary, more than double the rest of the field combined.

Sheffields major endorsements include the Detroit Free Press and the Michigan branch of the SEIU labor union. Jenkins was endorsed by The Detroit News and former Mayor Dave Bing, Duggans immediate predecessor. Durhal has the backing of the mayors of Lansing, Grand Rapids and Pontiac, all of whom are former colleagues from the state Legislature.

Although Michigan voters do not register by party and candidates for mayor do not run on a party label, most candidates in the field identify with the Democratic Party. Craig, on the other hand, is a Republican, having sought the GOP nomination for governor in 2022 and the U.S. Senate in 2024.

The Detroit electorate is overwhelmingly Democratic. In 2024, voters in the city supported Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump by about a 9-1 ratio.

The city faces a vastly different situation than it did when Duggan was first elected in 2013. In July of that year, it became the largest U.S. city ever to file for bankruptcy. The city now has a budget surplus, 12 years of balanced budgets under its belt and projected economic growth for the next five years. Homicides and violent crimes are down, while the citys population is up for the second consecutive year, according to the U.S. census.

Still, the next mayor will face numerous challenges, including a shortage of affordable housing and vast economic disparities along racial lines.

The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when its determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

Michigans mandatory recount law does not apply to Detroits mayoral primary. Instead, candidates may request and pay for a recount, with the payment refunded if the recount changes the outcome. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Heres a look at what to expect on Tuesday:

Primary day

Detroits mayoral primary will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

Whats on the ballot

The AP will provide vote results and declare winners in Detroits nonpartisan primary for mayor. Detroit, as well as cities and towns across Michigan, will hold a variety of other municipal elections on Tuesday, but they will not be included in the APs vote tabulation.

Who gets to vote

Any voter registered in Detroit may participate in the mayoral primary.

What do turnout and advance vote look like

There were about 518,000 registered voters in Detroit as of late July.

In the 2021 mayoral primary, turnout was about 14% of registered voters. About 67% of votes in that election were cast before primary day.

As of Thursday, more than 41,000 ballots had been cast before primary day. Michigan adopted early in-person voting starting with the 2024 election season.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the Aug. 2024 state primary, the AP first reported results in Wayne County at 8:21 p.m. ET, or 21 minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended the following day at 9:17 a.m. ET with about 98% of total votes counted.

See WXYZ interviews with all of the mayoral candidates in the videos below

Jonathan Barlow

One-on-one with Detroit mayoral candidate Jonathan Barlow

James Craig

One-on-one with Detroit mayoral candidate James Craig

Fred Durhal III

One-on-one with Detroit mayoral candidate Fred Durhall III

Joel Haashiim

Full interview: 2025 Detroit Mayoral candidate Joel Haashiim speaks to 7 News Detroit

Saunteel Jenkins

One-on-one with Detroit mayoral candidate Saunteel Jenkins

Solomon Kinloch

One-on-one with Detroit mayoral candidate Solomon Kinloch

Todd Perkins

One-on-one with Detroit mayoral candidate Todd Perkins

Mary Sheffield

One-on-one with Detroit mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield

DaNetta Simpson