Today is Monday, June 23, the 174th day of 2025. There are 191 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On June 23, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Education Amendments of 1972, including Title IX, which barred discrimination on the basis of sex for “any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Also on this date:

In 1888, abolitionist Frederick Douglass received one vote from the Kentucky delegation at the Republican convention in Chicago, making him the first Black candidate to have his name placed in nomination for U.S. president.

In 1931, aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from Roosevelt Field in New York on an around-the-world flight that lasted eight days and 15 hours.

In 1947, the Senate joined the House in overriding President Harry S. Truman’s veto of the Taft-Hartley Act, designed to limit the power of organized labor.

In 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected president of Egypt.

In 1969, Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief justice of the United States by his predecessor, Earl Warren.

In 1985, all 329 people on an Air India Boeing 747 were killed when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland after a bomb planted by Sikh separatists exploded onboard.

In 1992, mob boss John Gotti was sentenced to life after being found guilty of murder, racketeering and other charges. (Gotti would die in prison in 2002.)

In 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union after a bitterly divisive referendum campaign, toppling Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the drive to remain in the bloc.

In 2020, the Louisville police department fired an officer involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor more than three months earlier, saying Brett Hankison showed “extreme indifference to the value of human life” when he fired 10 rounds into her apartment.

In 2022, in a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Americans have a right to carry firearms in public for self-defense.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Author Richard Bach is 89.
• Computer scientist Vint Cerf is 82.
• Actor Bryan Brown is 78.
• Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is 77.
• Musician Glenn Danzig is 70.
• Former “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson is 69.
• Actor Frances McDormand is 68.
• Golf Hall of Famer Colin Montgomerie is 62.
• Actor Selma Blair is 53.
• French soccer manager and former player Zinedine Zidane is 53.
• Actor Joel Edgerton is 51.
• Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is 48.
• Rapper Memphis Bleek is 47.
• Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson is 46.
• Actor Melissa Rauch (“The Big Bang Theory”) is 45.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walked off the court for the final time this season, collapsed into the arms of coach Mark Daigneault and finally smiled.

It was over.

The climb is complete. The rebuild is done. The Oklahoma City Thunder are champions.

The best team all season was the best team at the end, bringing the NBA title to Oklahoma City for the first time. Gilgeous-Alexander finished off his MVP season with 29 points and 12 assists, and the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers — who lost Tyrese Haliburton to a serious leg injury in the opening minutes — 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

“It doesn’t feel real,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, the Finals MVP. “So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief. It’s crazy to know that we’re all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours and we deserve this.”

Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Chet Holmgren had 18 for the Thunder, who finished off a season for the ages. Oklahoma City won 84 games between the regular season and the playoffs, tying the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls for third most in any season.

Only Golden State (88 in 2016-17) and the Bulls (87 in 2015-16) won more.

It’s the second championship for the franchise. The Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA title in 1979; the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. There’s nothing in the rafters in Oklahoma City to commemorate that title.

In October, a championship banner is finally coming. A Thunder banner.

The Pacers led 48-47 at the half even after losing Haliburton to what his father said was an Achilles tendon injury about seven minutes into the game. But they were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter as the Thunder built a 13-point lead and began to run away.

Bennedict Mathurin had 24 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana, which still is waiting for its first NBA title. The Pacers — who were 10-15 after 25 games and were bidding to be the first team in NBA history to turn that bad of a start into a championship — had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the series, but they simply didn’t have enough in the end.

Home teams improved to 16-4 in NBA Finals Game 7s. And the Thunder became the seventh champion in the last seven seasons, a run of parity like none other in NBA history.

Pacers forward Pascal Siakam was part of the Toronto team that won in 2019, Thunder guard Alex Caruso was part of the Los Angeles Lakers team that won in the pandemic “bubble” in 2020, Milwaukee won in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Pacers forward Thomas Bryant and Denver prevailed in 2023, and Boston won last year’s title.

And now, the Thunder get their turn. The youngest team to win a title in nearly a half-century has reached the NBA mountaintop.

The Thunder are the ninth franchise to win a title in NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s 12 seasons. His predecessor, David Stern, saw eight franchises win titles in his 30 seasons as commissioner.

“They behave like champions. They compete like champions,” Daigneault said. “They root for each other’s success, which is rare in professional sports. I’ve said it many times and now I’m going to say it one more time. They are an uncommon team and now they’re champions.”

— By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Basketball Writer

EAST LANSING – Lake Orion’s Connor Fox picked up where he left off last year and had the lead through the first day of the 47th Michigan Junior State Amateur Championship presented by Imperial Headwear.

The defending champion shot rounds of 4-under 67 and 2-under 69 for a two-round 136 total Sunday at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West Course. It earned him medalist honors for the stroke play competition in the championship, and he will start match play Monday as the No. 1 seed.

The 16-18 age players in the overall division played 36 holes on Sunday to determine the field for a 32-golfer bracket for match play. The golfers playing in the 15-and-under division will play 18 holes on Monday to fill out an 8-golfer bracket. Match play rounds follow on Tuesday and the semifinal and championship matches for both age divisions are on Wednesday.

Like the weather, Fox warmed up and built a lead. He said being the medalist wasn’t really on his mind, though.

“Once you get to match play the seeds don’t really mean anything, so I wasn’t really thinking about being medalist, but it’s still pretty cool to be medalist,” he said.

He said the weather was anything but cool and made it tough to play.

“It was really hot,” he said. “It was tough. I think towards the end I was feeling it, but I just tried to keep my hands dry.”

Cody Rowe of Pleasant Lake shot 68 and 71 for 139, finishing second by three shots.

Adam Thanaporn of Ann Arbor shot 69 and 73 for 142, Sutton Schroeder of Gowen, who shot rounds of 70 and 72 for 142, and John Cassidy of Grand Rapids, who shot a pair of 71s for 142, tied for third.

Fox, who will join the Michigan State golf program this fall, played well in last week’s Michigan Amateur Championship at Belvedere Golf Club in Charlevoix. He was among the top 25 in stroke play and won a first-round match before being knocked out in the round of 32.

“I just had some little things to clean up that I didn’t do well in the Amateur, and I cleaned them up and scored well and played really well today,” he said.

His plan for match play is simple.

“I want to keep doing the same things I’m doing,” he said. “I don’t want to go in like I’m trying to control the match and just make par,” he said. “I want to just keep thinking about making as many birdies as I can.”

TAMPA, Fla. — You don’t accept excuses, but facts are facts, as they say.

And the fact is, this has been an arduous week for the Tigers.

They played their 12th game in 14 games Sunday, including a long, split doubleheader at Comerica Park on Thursday, a flight that got to Tampa at 3 a.m. Friday, night game Friday, noon games Saturday and Sunday — in dense 90-plus-degree heat and against the hottest team in baseball.

“It’s brutal,” manager AJ Hinch said before the game Sunday. “Guys are banged up and tired and frustrated with a couple of the losses. … It’s part of it. It’s not been great. We’re not playing our best through it.

“But we’re going to keep working, keep trying to deal with the circumstances. But yeah, not good.”

At least the flight home was a happy one.

Wenceel Perez lined an opposite-field, two-run homer, on an 0-2 fastball from lefty reliever Garrett Cleavinger, breaking a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning and helping the Tigers snap a three-game losing streak and salvage the finale with a 9-3 win against the Rays at Steinbrenner Field.

“It’s huge,” said Riley Greene, whose fingerprints, glove prints, were all over this victory. “We lost the first couple of games, had a couple of rough days with delays and a doubleheader. But at the end of the day, we still have to win a baseball game and that was a good one to win.”

The Tigers, at 49-30, still have the best record in baseball and a healthy nine-game lead in the Central Division. Even after a 20-game stretch where they played .500 baseball.

“Our reset button has been pretty good,” Hinch said. “But we’re not trying after win totals in June and we’re not after any recognition. We just reset and play the next series. I love this team for a lot of reasons but one of the main reasons is that we come to play every day.”

The Tigers blew the game open with a six-run ninth against reliever Forrest Whitley, keyed by a three-run blast by Parker Meadows. Spencer Torkelson sliced an RBI double. Perez also singled in a run. And, in keeping with the theme of the week, the game was delayed 18 minutes by a sudden shower before the Tigers even made an out in the top of the ninth.

From the outside looking in, it felt like a badly-needed win, if only to steady a brief wobble. But that’s not the view from the inside.

“We’re not going to take the mentality of every time we win, we’re great, and every time we lose, we suck,” Hinch said. “That’s not how you get through this type of schedule, and it’s not how you get through this type of season.

“We will be fine.”

They expect Casey Mize to be fine, too, though he left the game with the trainer one batter into the sixth inning. The heat index Sunday was over 100 degrees and that absolutely was a factor.

“Just started cramping in my right leg,” said Mize, who pitched a solid five innings, allowing only a solo home run to Junior Caminero, who has hit 19 of them this season. “And it continued when I got (to the clubhouse) in other body parts. It was a really hot day.”

Mize grimaced after throwing a 92-mph fastball to Caminero. Mize had been firing it between 94 and 97 mph before that.

Immediately, Hinch and trainer Kelly Rhoades came to the mound.

“We were worried (about cramping) beforehand because he’s had that before,” Hinch said. “He wanted some more time and was really hoping I would give him some warm-up pitches. But not in this heat, at this time in the season, where he was (80 pitches) and where he was in their lineup (middle).

“He had a short leash in that inning, anyway. I just took him out, very prematurely, because of the cramp.”

Mize the competitor wanted to keep pitching, especially in what was a 1-1 game. But Mize, the teammate, understood it was the right move.

“I felt like I could’ve continued but I think it turned out great,” he said with a smile. “In retrospect, it looks like the right call. I wish I could’ve pitched through the inning but I understand why, it was smart to get me out of there.”

In a lot of ways, this turned into the Riley Greene Show this weekend. He homered twice on Friday, and on Sunday he doubled twice and scored twice.

He also did his level best to keep Mize’s track clean with three outstanding defensive plays in left field in the first four innings.

“He made some great plays out there for me, for sure,” Mize said. “Like he always does for everybody. He can change the game with his bat.”

And his glove.

With a runner on and no outs in the second inning, Greene ran a long way toward the left-field line, laid out and caught a slicing bloop off the bat of Jake Mangum. With a runner on third and two outs in the third, he tracked a slicing foul ball to the side wall, leaped up and nearly went all the way over the wall to make the catch.

In the fourth, he tracked a laser into the left-field gap and took extra bases away from Jonathan Aranda.

“We’ve got to play 27 outs,” Greene said. “You can’t give them anything, especially in this ballpark. Anything can happen. We’ve already seen that here.”

Later, with the Tigers protecting the two-run lead in the eighth, Greene made another sliding catch after a long run, taking a hit from Caminero. Brandon Lowe was on first base with no outs, so it was another critical catch.

“Their offense has been pretty relentless on the other side, especially this last month,” Hinch said. “You have to record as many outs as you can when you can. They put balls in play, they run the bases and this is a big outfield. As small as right field is, left field is big. Riley came up huge.”

The Tigers bullpen, which got a much-needed break Saturday because starter Sawyer Gipson-Long ate 6.1 innings in bulk relief, locked down the final 12 outs, though the last three took a bit.

Tyler Holton and Chase Lee got five outs. Tommy Kahnle got four big outs before the Tigers blew it open. Lefty Brant Hurter, who threw 31 pitches Saturday as the opener, started the ninth, but couldn’t find the plate.

He threw 18 pitches, just seven strikes, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit-batsman.

Brenan Hanifee was summoned and got through the ninth, allowing a two-run single by Taylor Walls.

“I know you’re trying to get me to make a bigger deal out of this (win),” Hinch said. “But honestly, we just come to play every day. Obviously it’s an important win before an off day. We want to salvage a game here and it’s been a rough go. But it is what it is.

“It doesn’t help us or hurt us on Tuesday.”

Reset and move forward.

A 44-year-old Detroit man was shot and killed and three others wounded during a party at a Royal Oak Township park early Sunday morning, according to Michigan State Police.

Troopers from the Metro Detroit Post said the shooting was reported at 1:45 a.m., Sunday, June 22.

In a post on the social media platform X, state police said no arrests have been made and no motives have been determined. Detectives were gathering evidence and conducting interviews on Sunday.

State police were alerted to the shooting from an open 911 call during which the dispatcher could hear banging sounds and screaming in the background. Additional 911 calls were received about a shooting at the park

When troopers arrived, they found the 44-year-old with a gunshot would to his head. They administered first aid and the victim was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

There was a large crowd in the park from a party. Initially, they were not cooperative in leaving the crime scene, police said.

During the investigation, police learned of three additional victims being treated for gunshot wounds at three different local hospitals. They have been identified as a 33-year-old male from Detroit, a 15-year-old from Macomb and a 19-year-old from Detroit. The gender of the teens was not provided by police.

According to its website, there are three parks in the township: Civic Center Park, located between Ithaca and Majestic avenues; Mack-Rowe Park, located between Reimanville Avenue and Bethlawn Boulevard, and Grant Park, located off Cloverdale Avenue between Garden Lane and Westview Avenue. It’s not clear from the X post in which park the shooting occurred.

Troopers from Metro North, Metro South, and officers from Oak Park arrived and assisted with securing the scene.

TAMPA, Fla. — The question was put to Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch before the game Sunday: Has your faith in the opener strategy waned?

The last three games in which an opener was used to start the game ended in lopsided losses, including Saturday when opener Brant Hurter was charged with four unearned runs in the first inning.

Even though the strategy hasn’t been the direct cause-and-effect in every loss, it’s been a far less reliable play over the last month since injuries to starting pitchers Reese Olson and Jackson Jobe dinged the rotation.

Seemed like a good time to check on Hinch’s commitment to the strategy. Has it lessened?

“No,” he said. “The strategy is sound. I think the opener part is a little bit misconstrued as, it’s good when it works and bad when it doesn’t. It impacts things you don’t necessarily see all the time.”

It impacts the opponent’s lineup construction, Hinch said. It impacts how they space their hitters (right-handed and left-handed), which can impact decisions later in the game. And most importantly, when it works, it allows Hinch to dictate when to insert the bulk-innings pitcher.

“It’s a good strategy because the top of the lineup, which are generally their best hitters, don’t see the same pitchers all the time,” Hinch said.

Like in Game 3 of the ALDS last October when the Tigers used the strategy and blanked the Guardians, 3-0, and Jose Ramirez went hitless and faced a different pitcher in each of his four plate appearances.

That’s the gold-star example of the benefits of the strategy. It hasn’t worked quite as cleanly this season.

“When it doesn’t work, you feel like the other way would’ve worked out,” Hinch said. “It’s like football when you go for it on fourth down, or basketball when you run a fast-paced offense. When it doesn’t work, it sucks. And when it does work, it’s awesome.

“But that’s a hard way to live when you are trying to strategize against an opponent.”

The Tigers fell into a 4-0, first-inning hole on both Friday and Saturday. They used a traditional starter on Friday (Jack Flaherty) and the opener on Saturday.

“Like, I get the questions and I get the frustration,” Hinch said. “But I get frustrated when our starter gives up runs in the first inning, too. It’s not because of a certain strategy.”

The reason Hinch used the lefty Hurter on Saturday was to combat the lefties at the top of the Rays lineup. Hurter ended up yielding a double to lefty Jonathan Aranda and walking lefty Josh Lowe. He also struck out lefty Brandon Lowe, but Lowe reached on a passed ball by catcher Jake Rogers.

All of which torpedoed the inning, and the strategy.

“After 24 hours, you think about yesterday’s game,” Hinch said. “If we get through that first inning, three up and three down, is a good strategy or a bad strategy? Good strategy. But that’s the best part of sports. We have these reactions and these emotions that the other way would’ve been better.

“We don’t like it when something doesn’t work out. But it doesn’t make the strategy poor.”

It’s not a personnel issue, either. The Tigers’ bullpen, although it’s been heavily taxed over the last three weeks or longer, is still built to handle any type of strategy, be it an opener or even straight bullpen games.

“There are times when maybe the strategy needs to be questioned,” Hinch said. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach with us or with any team. But if you ask managers around the league whether they care or not if they have to face an opener strategy, most guys don’t like to compete against it.

“It’s a pretty solid strategy when the opponent doesn’t like it. It’s not an exact science and it’s not perfect. But it’s a strategy and it’s been effective for a while now and there’s no reason to abandon it.”

Around the horn

The Tigers have been charged with 11 unearned runs in the last six games.

… Reliever Alex Lange (lat repair) made his second rehab outing at West Michigan on Saturday. He allowed a run and two hits with two strikeouts, throwing 20 pitches and 15 strikes. “I watched it,” Hinch said. “Looked like he came through it well. But with him right now, we’re in live BP, first day of spring mode.”

… Matt Vierling (shoulder) had been in an 0-for-10 rut in his rehab assignment with Toledo, but he broke out with three hits Saturday. He’s still only being used as the designated hitter. He is expected to start playing the field soon.

… Andy Ibáñez, who was optioned to Toledo on June 6, is 9 for 42 (.214) this month, with a .327 on-base percentage and .565 OPS.

By Owen McCarthy, The Detroit News

Geopolitics haven’t historically complicated annual fireworks shows, including the marquee extravaganza over the Detroit River scheduled for Monday — but that could be changing.

Many of the show’s viewers watch from the Detroit River’s south bank in Canada, a country where many have been offended by President Donald Trump’s musings about making it the 51st U.S. state. And nearly all fireworks in the United States are imported from China, Trump’s biggest adversary in his global trade war.

The trans-Pacific tension appears to be affecting the festivities already: Zambelli, the Pennsylvania-based company that supplies and sets up the Ford Fireworks display, said it ate higher production costs this year rather than pass them on to the Detroit-based Parade Company, which hosts the event, and Ford Motor Co., the event’s lead sponsor.

And Zambelli is warning that tariff “volatility” — a concern voiced by many economists and business leaders — could threaten the fireworks industry’s ability to meet the high demand it is likely to face for Fourth of July 2026, marking the United States’ 250th anniversary.

Whether Trump’s rhetoric around Canada will have much impact on the event — which, in past years, was billed as a celebration of the countries’ close ties — is still unclear. But Windsor restaurant manager Brad Dunlop of Jose’s Bar and Grill said he thinks a tariff-induced slowdown in manufacturing there might actually free up more Canadians than in past years to watch the fireworks.

And like any other year, the company putting on Monday night’s show said the national anthem, “O Canada,” will be sung, and the nation’s maple leaf flag will be flown from a helicopter.

“It’s not our position to make political statements and things like that,” said Tony Michaels, the president and CEO of the Parade Company, adding: “I hope our neighbors enjoy the show.”

Impact on costs, supply

Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, said that costs for this year’s Fourth of July celebrations will be virtually the same as last year’s because fireworks companies can still rely on inventory they had shipped from China before Trump’s tariffs went into effect. That bodes well for upcoming fireworks displays across Metro Detroit.

It’s next year — when communities will want to go all out with their fireworks for the nation’s 250th birthday — that worries Heckman. That’s a central reason her association is calling on the Trump administration to grant a tariff exemption for fireworks similar to the one it approved in 2019.

“We support America First policies,” Heckman said. “Our base probably supported the current president. It’s not political for us, we’re just trying to make the case for ‘you understand our unique reliance on China, and we should be exempt again.'”

According to the APA, 99% of the world’s consumer fireworks and 90% of its professional display fireworks come from China.

Zambelli, which supplies pyrotechnics for Ford Fireworks and is a member of the APA, said that it has already seen cost challenges this year, and is also hoping for a tariff exemption: “Unlike other industries, we cannot shift sourcing quickly or renegotiate pricing within our tight seasonal windows,” the company said in a statement to The Detroit News. “Looking ahead to 2026 and the nation’s 250th anniversary, stability in trade policy will be essential.”

Zambelli President Michael Hartman said in a separate statement that this year his company absorbed higher production costs for the Ford Fireworks display rather than pass them on to Parade Company. He said that to produce the same quality of show in 2026 as it’s putting on this year, Zambelli would need to see increased contributions for the fireworks display from the “good people” at the Parade Company and its sponsors.

Michaels, the president and CEO of the Parade Company, said that while his company negotiated with Zambelli to pay the same for the fireworks display this year as it did last, the firm would consider paying more next year if necessary.

“We at the Parade Company, like every other company, negotiates their price. It’s good business” Michaels said. “So absolutely, if (Zambelli’s) price goes up next year, we will take a look at it, see where it’s at, and then we make decisions from there, just like any other well-run business.”

Trump’s frequently fluctuating tariff policies have hampered the fireworks industry’s ability to plan business decisions for the future and have already strained supply, according to the APA and Zambelli. Those concerns closely mirror those expressed by industries across the economy amid on-again, off-again tariffs.

Trump’s 125% tariff on Chinese imports in early April took effect during peak shipping season for the fireworks industry, Heckman said. That led large sectors of the industry to cancel orders, figuring that they had enough inventory for the Fourth of July and couldn’t afford the tariffed shipments anyway.

Michigan Fireworks Co. in South Lyon was one such company: “We could not take something that was 50 bucks and sell it to someone for $125,” said Eric Konopka, the store’s owner. “Good conscience wouldn’t let us do that. It wasn’t worth it.”

Canceled shipments were then left in Chinese factories, which Heckman said had a compounding effect. Fireworks production facilities have to be extra cautious not to overcrowd their space, given the explosiveness of what they’re producing, so most factories halted their production at that point: “We lost a couple months of critical manufacturing time.”

That will mean limited fireworks supplies, which will compound once more with the 30% tariff currently on Chinese imports — a trend Heckman called “unsustainable.” And that’s not to mention the possibility that the rate will revert back to triple-digits when Trump’s 90-day pause on higher Chinese tariffs expires in early July.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now, which is making it very difficult for these small, multi-generational family businesses, including Zambelli, to make business decisions,” she said, referencing the Pennsylvania-based company that supplies and sets up the annual pyrotechnics in Detroit.

Konopka, the owner of the fireworks store in South Lyon, said prices for the “bigger stuff” in his shop are largely the same as last year because he’s relying on inventory ordered last July and shipped to the United States in January, before tariffs went into effect.

Still, Konopka said he recently “allowed one container to come in for some little stuff,” gesturing toward a rack of sparklers and small fireworks, when the tariff rate was at 30%. Prices on those goods have risen by about $1, he said.

“If you’re in our store from this year to last year, 95% of the stuff is exactly the same price,” he said.

However, Konopka said the fireworks “tents,” commonly set up outside of grocery stores, and other fireworks retailers that weren’t able to stock up before tariffs went into effect will inevitably be hurt as they look toward New Year’s and next summer.

“You will see significant firework shortages at the end of this year,” he said.

Konopka, who works as a financial adviser, owns the fireworks store as a “hobby” with his wife Jessica, a nurse. Though Trump’s tariffs will make his job in the fireworks industry “difficult,” he said tariffs are a necessary tool to motivate countries to strike more balanced trade agreements with the United States.

Feet away sat a box of “Make America Great Again” fireworks, with an AI-rendered Trump celebrating in front of the White House, red and yellow fireworks lighting up the skies.

New questions over U.S.-Canada relations

In times past, the fireworks over the Detroit River have been expressly billed as a celebration of neighborly appreciation between the United States and Canada. Established in 1959, the Detroit-Windsor International Freedom Festival ran for decades as a days-long celebration in late June and early July, according to the Detroit Historical Society. They commemorated both Canada Day on July 1, and Independence Day on July 4.

Then in 2007, the festivities were separated into two autonomously operated events. But the fireworks display — which has been sponsored by American companies Hudson’s, Target Corp. and now Ford Motor Co. — has maintained its Canadian appreciation. A helicopter flies a Canadian flag overhead, and the event kicks off with both countries’ national anthems.

This year’s Ford Fireworks, though, come at a time of unprecedented tension between the United States and Canada. Trump’s tariffs have hurt the country’s economy, and his flirtations with annexation have angered many of the famously friendly Canadians, with some even booing the U.S. national anthem at NHL games.

That presidential static is slowing Canadians’ travel to the United States this summer, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The number of people crossing into Michigan from Canada fell 13% in April and 16% in May.

Nevertheless, Brad Dunlop, the manager of Jose’s Bar and Grill in Windsor, said he thinks Windsorites will have no problem staying in Canada and “spending the money in our own country” to watch the fireworks, where the view is better anyway.

“We have the bigger waterfront,” he said.

Dunlop said the “Trump ordeal” has frustrated plenty of Canadians and caused them not to travel to the United States, but that he thinks attendance in Windsor for the fireworks will be the same as always, if not even higher this year. He attributes that to the tariff-induced slowdown in manufacturing in Windsor, which he said could free up more people’s schedules.

And, given the cost-effectiveness of watching fireworks amid Canada’s economic woes, Dunlop said he thinks people in Windsor will be especially motivated to attend the festivities.

“With the economy the way it is, especially in Windsor with manufacturing — it’s a free show,” he said. “I think you’re going to see families go down because it’s something you can do for free.”

The Houston Rockets are acquiring 15-time All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns in a blockbuster deal struck Sunday, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press.

The Rockets are giving up Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green and six future picks — including the No. 10 selection in Wednesday’s opening round of this year’s draft — according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was still pending NBA approval.

It ends weeks of speculation about where Durant would end up. Many teams were involved at various times, including Miami and Minnesota, but in the end Phoenix accepted the Rockets’ offer.

ESPN first reported the trade.

Fans learned of the news while Durant was on stage in New York at Fanatics Fest NYC, and when they began reacting, Durant started smiling broadly.

“We’re gonna see, man,” Durant said from the stage. “We’re gonna see.”

Boardroom, the ever-growing media company that Durant and his business partner, Rich Kleiman, co-founded in 2019, teams up with Fanatics on a number of projects. The panel that Durant was set to appear on there Sunday was called “Global Game Changers.”

He certainly figures to change the game for the Rockets.

Houston finished No. 2 in the Western Conference in the regular season, albeit 16 games behind No. 1 Oklahoma City. It now adds a two-time champion to its young core as it looks to make another jump next season.

Durant averaged 26.6 points this season, his 17th in the NBA — not counting one year missed because of injury. For his career, the 6-foot-11 forward is averaging 27.2 points and seven rebounds per game.

The move brings Durant back to the state of Texas, where he played his one year of college basketball for the Longhorns and was the college player of the year before going as the No. 2 pick in the 2007 draft by Seattle.

Houston will become his fifth franchise, joining the SuperSonics (who then became the Oklahoma City Thunder), Golden State, Brooklyn and Phoenix. Durant won his two titles with the Warriors in 2017 and 2018, and last summer in Paris he became the highest-scoring player in U.S. Olympic basketball history and the first men’s player to be part of four gold-medal teams.

Durant is a four-time scoring champion, a two-time Finals MVP and one of eight players in NBA history with more than 30,000 career points, joining the club on Feb. 11.

Durant is under contract next season for roughly $50 million before becoming a free agent in 2026.

His departure from the Suns was expected and ends a disappointing 2 1/2 years in the desert. Durant never enjoyed consistent team success despite being part of a trio that included star guards Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

Durant was acquired by the Suns from the Brooklyn Nets in a four-team trade-deadline deal in 2023, just days after new owner Mat Ishbia bought the team for roughly $4 billion. Phoenix gave up a lot to acquire the then-34-year-old, sending young standouts Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson, along with four future first-round picks, to Brooklyn.

___

— By TIM REYNOLDS, AP Basketball Writer

AP Sports Writer David Brandt in Phoenix contributed to this report.

DETROIT ― There are few bigger boosters for Detroit on the national scene than NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico, who was at Detroit Golf Club this month to preview the seventh playing of the PGA Tour’s Rocket Classic.

The News caught up briefly with Tirico, 58, the network’s lead host for golf coverage who lives in southeast Michigan, to talk about the success of the Rocket and the future of the tournament, which is under contract through 2026 with Rocket holding an option for 2027.

Here are the highlights of that interview, which has been edited lightly for length and clarity:

Question: What have you seen from the Rocket since it debuted in 2019?

Answer: Events take a while to figure it out, right? And this event had it figured out a lot better than most from the start. I keep leaning back on 2020, the COVID year, to be able to pull the event off, that was a very Detroit-centric moment for this event, ‘We’re going to make it through here.’ And it has stayed true to its creation, and stayed very true to the people of Detroit, which is really cool. And along the way, the best part to me, Tour players have come here and loved it. The guys who come here love being here. They love playing here. You get a lot of repeat customers. That says a lot about how this event is run. I can’t give enough credit to Dan (Gilbert) and all the Rocket folks. I mean, what they have put into this is more than most sponsors put in, and Detroit, again, has benefited from their efforts.

Q: You’ve been around the country (and the world), seen a lot of events. What do you make of how this event puts its city on display, as compared to other events?

A: Look, you have and you will again go to the suburbs when Oakland Hills hosts the U.S. Open (in 2034 and 2051) and all these USGA championships. … This has a different feel because it’s in the city limits. This has a different feel because there’s a city vibe. When you look at the gallery here, it looks different from the gallery that you see at most PGA Tour events. It’s just a fact. And I think that texture to this event makes it really unique and really cool. If you had the same event 35 weeks in a row, the (PGA) Tour would be monotonous and boring. I think the … ability to have that kind of feel to it really adds to this. And I love the fact it’s Detroit, and it’s stayed uniquely Detroit.

Q: It remains a weird time in golf, with the PGA Tour and LIV. They’re still trying to figure things out, and the Rocket still doesn’t have an extension. What kind of void would it be if the tournament went away?

A: I think it’d be a void for the Tour. I really do. I think the fact that so many events look alike, and this one has something special to it. It’s what the Tour needs. They need more events like this, more (than just) non-signature events that are the same 50 guys playing against each other. This allows brand-building, great stories, to develop guys who change the course of their careers (for example, inaugural Rocket Classic winner Nate Lashley). In addition to getting big names here, you look at it, there’s no tournament in Chicago. You have no tournament in Cleveland. A lot of the big cities in the Midwest don’t have the PGA Tour on a regular basis. I think being here is something that should be a priority for the Tour, and (something) they should put a little more attention on. And I think if it wasn’t here, it would be a shame. And I hope we don’t have to talk about that day.

 

Rocket Classic

When: June 26-29

Where: Detroit Golf Club

TV: Thursday-Friday: Golf Channel, 3-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: Golf Channel, 1-3 p.m., CBS, 3-6 p.m.

Defending champion: Cam Davis

Tickets: Starting at $73; details at RocketClassic.com

CHARLEVOIX – A stunning, seeing-eye 60-foot birdie putt on No. 16 tied the match, and a two-putt par from 20 feet wrapped it up on No. 18.

Caleb Bond, a Michigan State University golfer from Williamston beat PJ Maybank, a University of Oklahoma golfer from Cheboygan, 1-up, in tense and birdie-filled championship match at the 114th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland Saturday at 100-year-old Belvedere Golf Club.

“As much as you can wish to win every week, it’s really hard,” said Bond who with the victory will have his name inscribed on the historic Staghorn Trophy and earn a USGA exemption into the U.S. Amateur Championship later this summer.

“To win an event like this, especially with match play takes a lot of luck and a lot of help. I think that’s always the goal and I think having to give that speech with the trophy is something you play through your head ever since you were a kid. Winning is always the goal, and you just kind of keep your head down and hit one shot at a time out there.”

Birdies were winning holes, and Bond went 1-up on the first hole with a birdie, and Maybank tied it on the second with a birdie. Bond had the biggest lead in the match at 2-up, but Maybank holed a 30-foot flop shot from heavy rough for a birdie at No. 7 and then won No. 9 with a par to tie the match through nine holes.

Maybank made a birdie on No. 10 to take his first lead, but Bond tied it at No. 12 with a birdie. Maybank made a birdie on 15 to lead again, and then Bond dropped the dramatic putt at 16.

“I made a little bit of a mistake in my driving in the rough there, especially with that pin (hole location off the front right edge),” he said. “I hit a decent wedge, but it had to be 60 feet. PJ missing the green there gave me a little bit of an opportunity. I didn’t expect to make it. I just focused on the speed and kind of finding a good line. That was pretty fortunate and just a good putt that went in the hole.”

Bond earned his spot in the finals with a 4 and 2 semifinal win over Zach Koerner of Laingsburg, his former roommate at Ferris State University before he transferred a year ago to MSU.

Maybank, meanwhile, topped Adam Burghardt, a former Wayne State University golfer from Clinton Township, 1-up in another match that stretched for all 18 holes. The semifinals were delayed until the afternoon because of rain and lightning, and the championship match didn’t start until 5 p.m.

Maybank said Bond played great in the final.

“I didn’t hit a very good iron shot (on 18) and had about a 50-footer downhill, and uphill and back downhill again and I left it 10-feet short and missed that unfortunately,” Maybank said. “All he had to do was get his par. Hey, but he played awesome. He deserves it. I thought I had him when I was 2-up, but then he made that freaky 60-footer on 16. I guess that’s golf. You lose a lot more than you win that’s for sure.”

Bond said beating Maybank, a two-time Michigan Junior State Amateur champion and top-level recruit out of high school, was a full-circle moment.

“I know how good PJ is and it was great to see him come back to the Michigan Am this year,” he said. “I think everybody appreciates great competition. There are so many great players here. I played PJ in the semifinals of the Michigan Junior (State Amateur) and lost on 18. It was my turn to win on 18 this time and that was pretty awesome.”

Bond gave an emotional speech during the trophy ceremony and made sure to thank his parents, Alexis and Brian Bond, and his 15-year-old sister Cara, who caddied for him. She said she isn’t a golfer, but she enjoyed carrying the bag.

“It was an incredible week,” Bond said. “The kind you dream about, and it feels amazing to be going to the U.S. Amateur.”

TAMPA — No strategy can survive a lack of execution.

And recently, the Detroit Tigers’ strategy of using an opener ahead of a bulk reliever, such a weapon at the end of last season, has been doomed by shoddy execution, be it by the opener, the bulk operator, the defense or all of the above.

Lefty opener Brant Hurter was charged with four unearned runs in the first inning Saturday and for the third time this season, the Tigers have lost three straight games.

The Tampa Bay Rays, winners in seven of their last nine, coasted to an 8-3 victory over the Tigers at Steinbrenner Field.

It was second straight game the Tigers fell behind by four runs in the first inning.

“That’s what we try to do,” said catcher Jake Rogers. “Punch first. That’s what we’ve done to a lot of teams. But Tampa is hot right now and playing a good brand of baseball.”

Hurter got the first three hitters out in the first inning, striking out two of them. But Brandon Lowe, the No. 2 hitter, reached first base on a third-strike passed ball by Rogers. Lowe whiffed at a 91-mph sinker but the ball seemed to handcuff Rogers. It hit off his glove and went to the backstop.

“I’m not going to make excuses,” Rogers said. “It needs to be caught. It was a sinker away. It kind of caught a seam and cut on him and I botched it and hit it to the backstop. Which is not what you want from me. It was a crucial point in the game and it led a much larger inning.”

The Rays turned that extra out into four, two-out runs. But that’s not all on Rogers. Hurter struck out right-handed hitting Junior Caminero for the second out with Lowe still at second base.

He never got the third out.

“The reality of that first inning is that Hurter couldn’t get the lefties out,” manager AJ Hinch said. “That inning turned into a mess. But in that situation (using Hurter to open), we were hoping to get the lefties.”

Lefty Jonathan Aranda doubled and then Hurter started spraying pitches. He walked righty Christopher Morel and, with the bases loaded, walked lefty Josh Lowe. He then forced in another run by hitting Jose Cabellaro. His day ended after switch-hitter Taylor Walls plated two with a single.

“Giving up the extra base runner is painful,” Hinch said. “Especially when you look back at it. But even in the moment, we were still in a good position to get out of it. I’m not worried about Hurter, at all. It was a bad inning for him.”

Sawyer Gipson-Long finished the first inning but his mission at that point was more of a recovery than a rescue. With the bullpen covering 14 innings over the last three games, including the doubleheader Thursday, it was paramount for Gipson-Long to eat innings.

That he was able to pitch through the seventh inning was the biggest positive of the day for the Tigers. He gave the bullpen a chance to reset for the finale on Sunday.

“That was big,” Hinch said. “Big for him, first off. We want to get him going. The word is out that we pound the zone early. He threw a ton of first-pitch strikes and they were first-pitch swinging from 12:10 p.m. (game time) on.

“It was good that he could get us into seven innings and be able to hold his stuff.”

Gipson-Long went 6.1 innings, his longest outing this season, and was charged with four runs.

“It’s not a traditional start but I know I have to go out there and eat up innings,” he said. “I need to get into the later part of the game for my team and if I can do that, I can put us in a good spot.”

He was dinged by three solo homers, two of them in the fourth inning, by Danny Jansen and Caminero, his 19th homer this season. Morel launched a 434-footer in the seventh.

“I thought I pitched my game pretty well,” said Gipson-Long making his fourth start back after recovering from elbow and hip surgeries. “Solo homers, they’re not something you want, but they’re not going to beat you in the long run. If I keep throwing strikes, everything evens out.

“I feel like staying in the zone, not walking people, throwing to contact, that’s a good approach against any team.”

Gipson-Long’s performance certainly put the Tigers in a good spot for Sunday. So did an incredible, 13-pitch dogfight in the eighth inning by Jahmai Jones.

“You try to put pressure on teams, even in defeat,” Hinch said.

With a couple of pinch-hitting moves in the eighth, Hinch forced the Rays to use two relievers in the eighth inning get a third reliever warm in a blowout game.

Righty-swinging Jones pinch-hit for Zach McKinstry against hard-throwing lefty Mason Montgomery. He fouled off five 3-2 pitches, all of them at 98 and 99 mph. On the 13th pitch, Jones lofted an RBI double to the wall in left center.

“I just went up there battling,” Jones said. “The guy’s got a very good heater, as you could see. The biggest thing was just trying to get a barrel to the ball on a guy that throws 100. All it was was just try to fight and battle.”

The 13-pitch at-bat, plus right-handed hitting Dillon Dingler’s presence on the on-deck circle, forced Rays’ manager Kevin Cash to bring in one of his leverage relievers, Kevin Kelly.

“You’re just trying to create a little bit of an advantage for tomorrow by putting up good at-bats later today,” Hinch said. “Our guys play the whole game.”

It seemed odd, using Dingler to pinch-hit for lefty Parker Meadows against a funky righty like Kelly, but there was a method to the madness. Kelly ended up throwing 21 pitches to get five outs.

“Wanted Kelly in the game,” Hinch said. “We wanted to make them use as much pitching as we could. If I leave (Meadows) in, he’s going to leave his lefty (Montgomery) in. Bringing Dingler in got Kelly in for two ups.”

Just little nips at the Rays’ heels as they’re running away with a convincing win that could trip them up at some point on Sunday.

“We play tomorrow, twelve o’clock,” Hinch said, on any possible overreaction to a three-game losing skid. “Come watch us if you’re here, watch us on TV if you’re not. We have a good team. We’ll be fine.”

TAMPA – Riley Greene gets down to this part of the country, just a couple of hours away from his home and family outside of Orlando, once a year during the baseball season. And usually, Team Greene comes out in hordes for this series against the Rays.

So, does he have a lot of family here for this one?

“No,” he said.

Huh?

“So, it’s my godchild’s first birthday and everyone is going to that instead of watching Riley play,” he said, with a wistful shrug.

More than 100 people were expected to attend young Riker’s first birthday bash in the Orlando area.

“At least my parents are here and my sister,” Greene said.

The rest are missing quite a show.

Greene, in case you’re not paying attention, is on a tear. He hit two home runs and knocked in four Friday night, giving him 17 homers and 59 RBI on the season. He’s got 29 RBI in his last 29 games and he’s making a strong run at player of the month honors for June, slashing .353/.400/.618 with a 1.1018 OPS with four homers and 19 RBI entering play Saturday.

“I really haven’t changed much,” Greene said. “Just trying to get a good pitch to hit, put my body in a good position to hit the ball and see what happens.”

Damage happens. Lots of damage.

He’s slugging .526 on the season. The last Tiger to have 59 RBI on June 21 was Miguel Cabrera, who had 71 in 2013. He is one of three American League players to have at least 17 homers, 59 RBI and 35 extra-base hits, joining Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.

Still, he contends that nothing has really changed. He’s not consciously chasing power. Except for significantly more tilt in his swing, his mechanics and approach are mostly the same as last season.

He was asked before the game Saturday if he went into last offseason consciously trying to add more slug to his offensive profile.

“To be honest, no,” he said. “Just kind of did the same stuff over and over again like I’ve done the past offseason. I just think it comes with being on time and getting a good pitch to hit.”

This has always been Greene’s primary focus. It’s what manager AJ Hinch asks him after just about every at-bat – did you get a good pitch to hit. Here’s why that’s so important:

Greene, overall, is slugging .554 against fastballs and .580 against breaking balls. When he’s ahead in the count, he’s slugging .826 on fastballs, .773 on breaking balls and .727 on off-speed pitches.

Impressive.

“I think it speaks to my approach,” Greene said. “It speaks to another year under my belt. More experience is huge. And maybe I’m getting a little stronger. Who knows?”

For all of Greene’s production, the Tigers, still with the best record in baseball, have hit a bit of a plateau. They came in Saturday on a rare losing streak (two games) and had split their last 10.

And Saturday’s 12:10 p.m. start meant they would be playing at least 37 innings of baseball over the last 60 hours with more than three hours of rain delays and a two-hour, late-night, early-morning plane ride mixed in.

“We just flush it,” Greene said. “Yesterday was yesterday. It doesn’t really matter because we can’t change what happened. Just focus on today. This is just part of it. We can’t complain about it and say it’s a tough stretch. At the end of the day, that’s just kind of an excuse.

“People go through it. It is what it is. We just have to figure it out and play through it.”

By Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News

Michigan hospitals would take an estimated hit of more than $1 billion a year if a Medicaid cut proposed in the Republican-led U.S. Senate this week were to become law, according to the industry group that represents them.

Hospitals across Michigan already operate on average with a negative margin, and some ― especially rural facilities with higher shares of low-income patients on Medicaid ― are likely to reduce services and staff or even shut their doors under the proposal, according to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association.

“What’s in the Senate version, I want to be very clear, is specifically cutting Medicaid. It’s not addressing waste, fraud and abuse,” said Laura Appel, MHA’s executive vice president for government relations and public policy, in a dig at Republicans’ messaging on Medicaid reforms.

“It’s cutting the funding that Michigan uses ― as do 48 other states ― to support Medicaid,” the government health care program for mostly low-income residents.

Appel was referring to a provision in the Senate Finance Committee’s proposed version of President Donald Trump’s so-called “one big beautiful bill” that would gradually shrink states’ use of so-called provider taxes from a safe-harbor threshold of 6% to 3.5% by 2031. The Medicaid reforms are part of a larger tax cut and spending bill that is the cornerstone of Trump’s second-term agenda.

The $1 billion impact that the Michigan hospitals group has estimated is specific to the GOP-run Senate’s changes. It doesn’t account for a projected spike in uncompensated care that hospitals would encounter due to coverage losses as a result of other provisions in the legislation, such as expanded Medicaid work requirements and twice-annual eligibility assessments for Medicaid participants.

“We’re going to keep pushing right up until the very last vote to protect coverage and funding, because cutting funding is cutting coverage is cutting care,” Appel said. “We’re going to keep taking care of people. But it’s already hard enough. Let’s not make it harder for people to get the care that they need.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Tuesday that reducing the Medicaid provider tax rate that states may charge represents “important reforms.”

“We think they rebalance the program in a way that provides the right incentives to cover the people who are supposed to be covered by Medicaid,” Thune said.

“But we continue to hear from our members specifically on components or pieces of the bill that they would like to see modified or changed or have concerns about. And we’re working through that.”

Pressure to rein in Medicaid use

Medicaid is a health insurance safety net for low-income adults and children funded jointly by the states and the federal government. Every state except Alaska imposes provider taxes to help finance the state share of Medicaid costs.

Michigan uses provider taxes ― with federal approval ― on hospitals, nursing homes, ambulance companies and health insurers (managed care organizations) to generate 20% or $3 billion of the state’s share of Medicaid program costs. The extra tax leads to higher payments from the U.S. government, which critics argue is a loophole that lets states abuse the system and swell enrollment in the program.

In a report last month, the state health department said Michigan’s hospital provider tax was projected to generate enough revenue in fiscal year 2025 to support $5.84 billion in Medicaid payments to Michigan hospitals, including the federal matching funds that the tax revenue draws down.

But if the hospital provider tax were limited to 3%, reimbursement payments to Michigan hospitals would decline $2.33 billion, according to estimates by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. (The state hasn’t provided a revised estimate based on the 3.5% limit proposed by the Senate.)

Michigan is one of 22 states that could be required to lower their provider taxes on hospitals or health plans because their rates are currently more than 5.5% of patient revenues, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. So Michigan hospitals would feel the impact of the new limits almost immediately if the provision goes into effect in 2027.

The reduced provider tax limits only apply to states like Michigan that have expanded Medicaid. Some experts view the change as a way for Congress to pressure these states to drop their expansions, rather than face the drastic cuts to provider taxes that would devastate state budgets.

“States are going to be in a bind: Either raise other taxes ― income taxes, sales taxes ― or they’re going to cut other parts of the budget like K-12 education or most likely make big cuts to their Medicaid program,” said Edwin Park, a research professor and Medicaid policy expert at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

“This is an attempt to really roll back the Medicaid expansion,” Park said. “The clear intent is to undermine financing of the program.”

Michigan expanded Medicaid eligibility under Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in 2014. The Medicaid program known as Healthy Michigan currently enrolls 749,000 low-income adults, according to state figures. Overall, Medicaid provides health care coverage to more than 1 in 4 people in Michigan, totaling 2.6 million beneficiaries, including 1 million children, according to state data.

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, last week embraced the proposed federal spending cuts to Medicaid and food assistance, despite their potential to blow a $3 billion hole in the state budget.

“I can’t force (Democratic Gov. Gretchen) Whitmer’s administration … to spend tax dollars wisely,” Hall said at the White House.

“But President Trump and the Congress can, because they’re the ones who are entrusting her with the dollars. So if they just pay out accurately and don’t pay out fraud, they won’t get penalized.”

That kind of language grinds on J.J. Hodshire, president and CEO of Hillsdale Hospital, who is “disgusted” by lawmakers claiming that the average Medicaid participant is a 27-year-old man playing video games in his parents’ basement. In his rural south-central Michigan community, Medicaid covers the pastor of a local church, farmers, pregnant moms and grocery-store workers ― the working poor, Hodshire said.

“This is me speaking as a Republican. This is me speaking as someone who has supported his party, but you’re also talking to someone who has been on the recipient side of Medicaid growing up one of seven children of my parents, when we were on Medicaid,” Hodshire said.

“This notion that Medicaid is for the lazy or those that are refusing to work isn’t true,” he added.

Hodshire estimated that the Senate’s proposal to limit provider tax rates would result in his hospital losing $6 million a year in reimbursement payments. That amount would reduce services at Hillsdale Hospital, and he predicted that it would result in hospital or program closures in some communities.

“Board rooms across this country are gonna have to make tough decisions. One side might say, ‘They’re just fear-mongering that you’re going to lose your Medicaid. You’re not going to lose your Medicaid,’” Hodshire said. “That might be true. But where are they going to get those services if their local hospital is closed?”

More revenue losses

The Senate’s proposal keeps language that passed the U.S. House in late May that would freeze states’ provider taxes and prohibit certain types of taxes because of how they’re structured using variable rates.

Michigan’s Insurance Provider Assessment (IPA) tax generates about $450 million a year toward the state’s base Medicaid costs, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and would be prohibited under the GOP’s proposal, posing another hit for the state budget.

The Michigan Association of Health Plans has estimated that changing the variable IPA tax to equalize the rate would result in a 300% tax increase on commercial insurance providers in the state ― something that would be passed along to customers through premium increases, said Dominick Pallone, executive director of the industry group representing health insurers.

However, the current bill text makes no provision for states to revise the tax to eliminate the variable rates that are no longer allowed, Georgetown’s Park said.

Michigan and other states are also barred under the legislation from creating a new provider tax or increasing existing taxes to replace the lost revenues.

“It’s a little bit like changing the speed limit and then giving a ticket to somebody who sped before you changed the speed limit,” Pallone said.

A proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also seeks to bar certain provider taxes on managed care plans that lack uniformity in seven states, including Michigan. Neither the legislation nor the proposed rule would guarantee a transition period for the states to adjust.

While Michigan’s health plans would like to see the provider taxes continue, it’s “pretty clear” that Congress won’t allow them to operate as they have in Michigan, Pallone said.

“Now, we’re just really asking for a three-year timetable, so that we can have some very difficult conversations in Lansing about how deep and how broad the cuts to Medicaid will have to be,” Pallone said. “And giving us several years to get there would be helpful.”

On the insurer side, he said, the cuts would likely mean lower reimbursement rates paid to Medicaid providers, which would hit rural hospitals hard and could prompt closures. Health plans would also, where allowed, use more prior authorizations to “squeeze” out low-value care, Pallone said.

“It’s pretty dire consequences here of reducing this without being able to find revenue sources to offset it,” Pallone said.

Gabe Schneider, director of government relations for Munson Healthcare ― the state’s largest rural hospital system ― was in Washington, D.C., lobbying Michigan lawmakers this week, urging them not to support the changes by the Senate Finance Committee, he said.

Munson has eight hospitals across 24 counties in the northern Lower Peninsula — an area that includes 140,000 people who receive insurance through Medicaid, he said.

Schneider said he’s reminding lawmakers that Munson can’t turn away Medicaid patients just because their reimbursement rate is being slashed. That loss of revenue will hurt all patients, he said.

Munson’s medical facilities across northern Michigan include hospitals in Cadillac, Charlevoix, Frankfort, Gaylord, Grayling, Kalkaska, Manistee and Traverse City.

“We are the sole community hospital where we’re at, and so patients can’t just go down the road by 15 minutes and get to another hospital because there are no other hospitals,” Schneider said.

“In rural areas, this really has an outsized impact because we’re talking about services that are really critical for our patients and our communities that we serve.”

Nursing homes hit

Provider taxes on skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities that care for people with disabilities would be exempt from the new limits.

However, Michigan’s provider tax on nursing homes wouldn’t be allowed under the prohibition against differential rates, said Melissa Samuel, president and CEO of the Health Care Association of Michigan, which represents nearly 370 nursing facilities in the state.

“If you’re a state that needs to fix your provider tax after May 1, 2025, you wouldn’t be eligible for the exemption,” Samuel said. “It’s clear that they’re directing us to fix it, but in doing so, it’s almost like you’re being penalized.”

Michigan’s skilled nursing facility tax generates $680 million toward the state budget, according to HCAM. The Senate’s new proposed limit would mean a $120 million cut in reimbursements to skilled nursing facilities, Samuel said.

She anticipated the cut would hit labor and benefits and potentially prompt owners to reduce hours or staff, which would in turn limit the number of patients who could be admitted and cared for.

Like Pallone, the Health Care Association is hoping for a transition period to restructure the provider tax so it can continue to be used in Michigan, Samuel said.

“I know there’s language around ‘fraud’ and ‘misuse’ of the provider tax. But the skilled nursing facility tax came in under (Republican Gov.) John Engler in the ‘90s. It’s very straightforward in the state of Michigan and goes directly into skilled nursing reimbursements,” she said.

“We assume that the restructuring of our provider tax is something we’ll have to do, because it was in both the House and Senate versions. That’s something we’re willing to do. But give us another glide path to do that, so then, how much do we have to close the gap?”

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said he was “deeply frustrated” that GOP senators are pushing for cuts to Medicaid in their bill and said he’d oppose it.

“The bill would take away health care and food assistance from millions of Americans, and hundreds of thousands of Michiganders, in order to give a tax cut to billionaires,” Peters said in a statement.

“It would increase our nation’s deficit and put our country on worse financial footing, all while hurting hardworking families. I will never vote for a bill that does that.”

Ethan Daniel Davidson is no stranger to releasing music — he’s put out 13 albums since the end of the ’90s, after all.

But his latest, “Cordelia,” represents a bit of creative sea change for the Birmingham-based singer, songwriter, author and philanthropist.

After recording his last several albums locally — with a crew of Detroit-area musicians that includes his wife, Gretchen Gonzales Davidson, His Name is Alive’s Warren Defever and others — Davidson journeyed to Mississippi to make the seven-track “Cordelia” as well as a follow-up, “Lear,” that will be released later this summer. He recorded at Zebra Ranch Recording Studio in Coldwater, Mississippi, opened by the late Jim Dickinson, whose credits include the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, the Replacements and many more. It’s now operated by his son Luther Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars, who co-produced “Cordelia” and “Lear” with David Katznelson.

The two played on it, as well, joined by musicians who have worked with Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris and others, with Rayfield “Ray Ray” Hollomon added to provide the sacred-style pedal steel sound Davidson wanted for the album.

“Every once in a while, you want to change and get out of your comfort zone,” Davidson, 55, the adopted son of the late Detroit Pistons and Guardian Industries owner Bill Davidson, explains while walking around his home. “It had been a long time, for me, working with the same group of people. I was ready to try something new, and you kinda challenge yourself, too, working with people you haven’t met before.

“It was a little bit of self-awareness for me. I had been letting myself slide a little bit, get too comfortable — not that I think I’ve put out any crap, but I wanted to freshen it up. I thought these songs were really good, and they deserved my attention.”

The Mississippi Delta also exerted a special pull, Davidson adds.

“I think Mississippi has always been one of my musical homes,” he says. “So much of the music I’ve absorbed my whole life come from Mississippi — other places, as well, but Mississippi factors big in my musical psyche. So just being down in that environment it was like, in a way, being back home.”

Davidson and the Mississippi gang recorded 25 songs, many dating from the COVID period or before, over the course of five days in the studio. One, “Your Old Key,” is a new version of a track from his 2012 album “Silvertooth,” which marked his return to record-making after a seven-year break. “The version that’s on ‘Silvertooth’ is, like, the first time that song was ever played. It was made up in the studio, in front of the microphone,” Davidson recalls.

“When I went down to Mississippi, these guys had listened to some of my back catalog, and they wanted to record a few of those (songs), too, to see what would happen. We recorded a number of the old songs, but doing ‘Your Old Key’ again and putting a sped-up version on this album seemed to fit with what we wanted to do. The guys were like: ‘That’s a great song. It’s got great changes in it.’ I was very flattered by that. I always believed in it and thought it was a good song.”

The “Cordelia” crew also encouraged Davidson to open up and extend some of the song arrangements more — notably “Gasoline,” “a love song about a middle-aged arsonist who gets released from jail and reconnects with his old flame” — that stretches beyond the nine-minute mark.

“Just letting these guys play was something I hadn’t done in a really long time — not since the first album, I think,” notes Davidson, a Lahser High School and University of Michigan graduate who began writing music while living in Alaska during the 1990s. “I’m not a soloist. I don’t jam. But I do like to hear guys that can really do it, and do it well. I like being part of that. I’m just plugging along with my rhythm guitar behind the drummer and listening to everybody else.

“It’s something people haven’t heard from me in a long time. There’s a couple more like that on the (‘Lear’) record, too.”

The music remains a part of a broad creative universe for Davidson, who also executive produced the 2019 documentary “Call Me Bill: The William Davidson Story.” In addition to working with the William Davidson Foundation that his father founded, he’s also the board chairman for Detroit Opera and serves on the boards of the Detroit Institute of Arts and Motown Museum. And he maintains what he calls a “rabbinic side hustle” whose studies have led to a couple of books with another, inspired by the Leviticus passage about the Blasphemer, in progress.

“It’s all part of the same piece, in a way,” Davidson explains. “I regard my whole musical practice, or whatever it is, really being more about my own psychotherapy practice. It’s a way of figuring out what’s going on inside of me and healing myself. It’s about trying to understand what’s inside of me, unpack what’s inside of me.

“My attitude is if people like it, that’s great — and if people don’t like it, that’s great. (laughs) Whatever. I never cared about being some big star. It’s all just a way of expressing what’s inside me, and maybe somebody else will connect with it.”

Ethan Daniel Davidson celebrates the release of his new album, “Cordelia,” with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 26 at the Detroit Public Theatre, 3960 Third Ave., Detroit. 313-974-7918 or ethandanieldavidson.com.

The Michigan State hockey team is returning a lot of key pieces from a Big Ten championship-winning squad. It’s about to get even stronger.

The Spartans’ recruiting class this year includes a number of top prospects, including fourth overall draft pick Cayden Lindstrom, projected second-rounder Eric Nilson and the CHL’s leading goal scorer two seasons ago in Anthony Romani. The class may even include Gavin McKenna, the projected top pick in next year’s draft, who Michigan State is firmly in the running to commit.

Among Michigan State’s underrated additions, though, is Ryker Lee. In a draft class of heavy hitters, Lee could make an immediate impact. The 18-year-old Illinois native is the reigning USHL Rookie of the Year. He’ll also be an NHL Draft pick next week, likely early in the second round.

Lee comes to Michigan State from the USHL’s Madison Capitols, where he played one season after four years at prep school Shattuck-St. Mary’s — the same program that developed Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini, among others, and the same one where Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale cut his teeth as a head coach.

Like many of the Spartans’ recruits, Lee pledged because he wanted to play for Nightingale and his staff.

“The main thing was the coaching staff and their belief in me as a player and how they want to develop guys,” Lee told The Detroit News. “And then obviously, Michigan State is a great school with all the athletics and being a Big Ten school. Good education, it’s not too far from home. My brother also goes there, so I think just a lot of things lined up for me going there.”

Lee arrives with a reputation as a strong playmaker and scorer who is rounding out a complete game. His coach at Shattuck, Tom Ward, compared him to a mix of Cole Eiserman and Celebrini in style, and mentioned there are shades of MSU Hobey Baker winner Isaac Howard in the mix, too.

But one of Lee’s most important attributes may be his patience, especially when joining such a loaded team. It’s part of the reason why so many things have “lined up” for Lee to begin with.

Take his senior year for example. Some hockey players are constantly trying to get to the next level in a sprint. Lee certainly had his opportunity to do so when Madison offered him a roster spot right out of training camp in 2023. But Lee credits much of his success in hockey to the values he learned at Shattuck — work ethic and patience — and he decided to return for his senior year.

That extra year paid off. Once a very undersized player for his age group, Lee hit a growth spurt that took him to his current 6-foot stature. His playmaking and scoring were honed with the disadvantage of being smaller than everyone else. Both areas grew more confidence as Lee could hang physically with anyone on the ice.

“He was going from the littlest guy to a regular-sized guy, which is great for him because he’s got a good game,” Ward told The News. “He’s a great kid, and it was just a matter of time. He had to be patient.”

“That was a question mark — I think for everybody — when he was younger,” Madison coach Andy Brandt told The News, “was just what was his size going to end up being? We all know now that he sprouted up near 6 feet tall, although slight. He’s a competitive hockey player that still wins battles. I think again, if you’re looking at the biggest improvement for him, it’s going to probably come off the ice in terms of developing some muscle mass.”

When he finally did get to Madison, Lee made an outsized impact. He led his team with 31 goals and 68 points, fourth-most in the USHL.

“When he has the talent that he has, he garners respect from his teammates right away because they see how talented he is,” Brandt said. “I think where Ryker separates himself is his work ethic along with his skill and what he can do. He’s the hardest worker. He’s one of the most communicative guys we had. He drove energy for our practices because he enjoyed being on the ice. He’s a special player in that regard.”

That’s pretty much the M.O. for a Nightingale recruit, but the Michigan State coach didn’t promise anything to win Lee over. In fact, it was the opposite that helped seal the deal.

Lee’s commitment came with no guarantees of ice time or role from Nightingale. Both have likely dipped with every commitment that joins his class. But in reality, that’s one of the other areas that attracted Lee to Michigan State.

“A lot of times, teams will try to recruit you and promise you things,” Lee said. “They don’t do that at Michigan State, and I like that. I think you gotta go in and you gotta earn everything.”

Lee’s track record suggests that won’t be a problem. He played for Shattuck and Madison programs that had other top players, and he fit in well. His personality helps him fit in with an established unit. His coaches suggest he isn’t one to come into a room and make demands or alienate himself, but he also isn’t a pushover begging to fit in. He exists comfortably within himself, and that benefits him joining a culture that’s well intact with a number of strong leaders in the mix.

“He knows he’s gotta go there and just shut up and do his job and earn respect from these guys,” Ward said. “But at the same time, he’s not going to back down. He’s not going to kowtow to these guys. … He’s going to go in there and earn a spot and earn ice time. And if guys aren’t ready to go compete with them, they should be ready because he’s a competitive little guy, and he likes the puck, and he wants to go get it.”

That mentality is important when joining a Michigan State team that has so many key returners driven by a distinct mission to make up for last postseason’s early exit. Lee understands what drives Michigan State’s locker room. He sees it as an opportunity for him to learn.

“I think it’s a good thing that we have a lot of guys coming back and older guys that can kind of show me the way and lead the way, and I can learn a lot from them as people,” Lee said. “But also, they’re great players. So it’s going to be fun to play with them and chase that goal of winning a national championship. I know that they’re going to come back with a bad taste in their mouth, and, yeah, I want to win, too.”

Few of music’s icons are, or have, demonstrated the art of aging with grace — and defiance — than Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan.

The two Mount Rushmore-caliber singers, songwriters and song interpreters have logged more than 60 years of performing and recording each. On Friday night, June 20, at the Pine Knob Music Theatre they reprised their 2024 pairing at the top of Nelson’s annual Outlaw Music Festival bill, each of 65-minute their sets acknowledging the ravages of time (Nelson’s 92, Dylan 84) but still tapping into the creative drive that has kept each consistently on the road (again) throughout those decades.

Their methods are similar; both Nelson and Dylan (still basking in the triumph of last year’s biopic “A Complete Unknown”) have stripped their presentations down to stark core that frames the songs and their vocal performances within rudimentary arrangements. They still deploy sophisticated nuances and occasional bursts of virtuosity, but their approaches allow them to treat even their best-known tunes as living, breathing material open to re-interpretations both dramatic and subtle.

It’s not always crowd-pleasing; it wouldn’t be a Dylan show, after all, if some of the 13,000-plus fans at Pine Knob weren’t grumbling about the changes he made to favorites such as “Simple Twist of Fate” or “All Along the Watchtower.” But the ovations were strong throughout the night, in recognition of legendary stature as much as artistic adventure.

Earlier sets from Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Trampled By Turtles showed that Nelson and Dylan have passed those lessons down to those following in their wake, while Kalamazoo’s Myron Elkins opened the nearly seven-hour show with a half-hour set that highlighted his just-released new album “Nostalgia For Sale” and brought Michigan-bred blues guitarist Larry McCray on for a number.

The sun came out for the first time just before Dylan, in a dark suit and open-neck white shirt, led his quintet on the stage for a mostly low-key 15-song exposition that found him in confident voice and showcased his acumen on piano (and occasionally harmonica) as the other musicians meandered around the melodies and loose structures that were delicate but never tentative. Dylan would often start a song on his own and let the band members work their way in — which worked particularly well on renditions of “Forgetful Heart,” “Under the Red Sky,” “Desolation Row,” “Love Sick” and a sinewy “Gotta Serve Somebody.”

As is his wont, Dylan sampled beyond his own songbook as well, covering George “Wild Child” Butler’s “Axe and the Wind” and Charlie Rich’s “I’ll Make It All Up to You” and slotting Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Share Your Love With Me” in front of Dylan’s own blues-celebrating “Blind Willie McTell.” The concluding “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” meanwhile, sent its own message — not to overthink what was being played, or how it was being performed, but to enjoy the music on its own merits, as well as another opportunity to experience a legend and his legendary work.

Nelson, meanwhile, hewed to the familiar as he and his acoustic quintet rolled through a spirited 21-song performance that also embraced his colleagues’ music and was loaded with hits; in fact, favorites such as “Whiskey River,” “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” “On the Road Again” and “You Were Always on My Mind” were played within the first 10 songs and 20 minutes, a mark of just how deep a well Nelson was drawing from.

Despite battling an obvious cold (lots of coughing and nose-blowing), Nelson picked his shots throughout and delivered sturdy renditions of “Still is Still Moving to Me,” “I Never Cared For You” and “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground,” wringing solos from Trigger, the battered acoustic guitar whose tone at times also showed signs of wear and tear. And even when guitarist Waylon Payne took over lead vocals on songs such as Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues,” Hank Williams’ “Move It On Over” and Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” Nelson stayed present and engaged, while longtime harmonicist Mickey Raphael provided accents and solos — as well as accordion during Tom Wait’s “Last Leaf.”

Defiance and celebration were themes as Nelson promised during that latter that “if they cut down this tree I’ll come back as a song.” He offered his wish to “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” and admonished music executives to “Write Your Own Songs,” then brought Rateliff, some Night Sweats and members of Trampled By Turtles back for a joyous medley of “Will the Circle Be Unspoken?” and “I’ll Fly Away.” And if there was a finality intended with “The Party’s Over” and Hank Williams “I Saw the Light,” there was no question Nelson will fly away on nothing but his own terms.

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By KELVIN CHAN, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — “Have you seen the cats?”

That’s a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they’re free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost.

If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don’t return as expected.

If you’re worried about your furry friend’s whereabouts, technology can help you keep tabs on them.

How pet tech works

Dedicated pet trackers are collar-worn devices that typically use GPS signals to pinpoint the location of the animal wearing them. They use a 4G cellphone signal or your home Wi-Fi connection to relay the position to a smartphone app.

There are many products on the market. Tractive, Jiobit and Pawfit are among brands that offer trackers for both dogs and cats. Devices for the latter are generally smaller and lighter.

Dog trackers with integrated collars are available from Fi and Whistle. PetTracer is a cat collar that uses both GPS and radio signals from a home base station. FitBark, also for dogs, has an Apple Watch app to monitor location and other activity.

Garmin has a range of GPS dog collars that work with handheld devices resembling walkie-talkies, but they’re pricey and aimed at outdoors enthusiasts like hunters.

Phone signals

Most trackers let you designate a safe zone on a map, usually your house and surrounding area, and alert you if your pet has left it.

They usually operate on the 4G LTE spectrum commonly used by wireless carriers. It typically has the longest range of any cellular signal, said Andrew Bleiman, Tractive’s executive vice president for North America.

That means strong connectivity in most of Europe and North America “unless you’re in a really far flung place like the middle of a national park,” Bleiman said.

What it costs

Exact price depends on brand and model. Most devices sell for less than $100. However, keep in mind you’ll also have to pay a subscription fee for the cell service to function.

While that could cost $100 or more a year, for some pet owners it’s worth the “peace of mind,” Bleiman said.

Battery life

The collars usually have a built-in rechargeable battery but battery life varies. Most will be last at least two to three days before they need charging, and a lot longer in ideal conditions.

One big factor is signal strength. The battery will drain faster if the device has to work harder to pick up the GPS or connect to Wi-Fi. Some save power by not sending coordinates in the safe zone.

Other features

Like fitness watches for humans, pet tracking apps offer health and activity monitoring features. You can see how long your cat or dog has spent resting or exercising on a daily or hourly basis.

But be aware, a tracker is “not going to keep your pet in the backyard,” Bleiman said. It will only “alert you when they leave the virtual fence area that you set up.”

How to use it

This One Tech Tip was inspired by Maple, who once went AWOL for days. It turned out he was hanging out in a backyard 10 doors down the street. We only found out after the residents got hold of a pet microchip scanner to look up our contact details to let us know so we could retrieve him.

Tractive provided a loaner device to try. Using the included breakaway collar, we put it on Maple, who clearly didn’t like it at first. He dashed out the back door and jumped through a hole in the fence.

Over the next day, I used the Tractive app to monitor his movements. It showed his travels back and forth onto various neighboring properties. He came back to rest for a few hours around midnight, went out to prowl again around 3 a.m, then came back after an hour to nap some more.

It was fascinating to see where he was spending his time. According to the app’s “heatmap,” one of Maple’s favorite spots was the same backyard where we had to retrieve him previously.

Losing track

About 24 hours after I attached the Tractive collar on Maple, I noticed he was no longer wearing it. It had somehow come off.

If you can’t find your pet’s exact location, or the device gets lost, Tractive has a “radar” feature to pinpoint it with your phone’s Bluetooth. Other brands have similar features.

On the app’s map, I could see it was in a nearby backyard and that I was getting closer because the circle was getting bigger. But I couldn’t figure out where it was and, not wanting to disturb the neighbors, I gave up.

Bleiman recommends using a harness for cats that don’t like collars, but I’m not convinced.

Microchips

It’s common for cats and dogs to be implanted with microchips, with the details added to a database. That makes it much easier to reunite owners with lost dogs and cats, even if they’ve strayed hundreds of miles away or gone missing for years.

Pet microchips, about the size of a grain of rice implanted just below the skin, are legally required in some European countries. There’s no federal law in the U.S., though some places like Hawaii now require them, so check with state or local authorities.

But there’s some confusion about what microchips can do. Because they don’t have a power supply, they can’t be tracked in real time. Whoever finds your pet would need to take it to a vet or a shelter to can scan the device for contact details.

Air Tags and similar devices are another option

Many pet owners use Bluetooth trackers like Apple’s Air Tags, Samsung’s SmartTags or similar devices from Tile, Cube and Chipolo, which rely on low-power signals relayed by passing smartphones.

Bluetooth trackers have a range of 100 to 500 feet, depending on the model. The batteries last for months if not longer, and there’s no need to pay for a subscription.

However, they’re not specifically marketed for pets. That hasn’t stopped pet owners, judging from many recommendations they’ve posted in online forums.

Chipolo advises that its round plastic trackers are only for “in-house pets like house-trained cats and smaller dogs” and warns against using them on “larger dog breeds and outdoor cats.”

Still, they can be a solution for some pet owners.

“Bluetooth is a totally reasonable solution if you’re in a downtown urban core,” Bleiman said. “But pets move fast. And if you’re in a wooded park, or you’re in a suburban area — let alone a more rural or wilderness area — it’s pretty unlikely your pet is going to be close to a Bluetooth device.”

Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.

By Nada Hassanein, Stateline.org

More American children and teens die from firearms than any other cause, but there are more deaths — and wider racial disparities — in states with more permissive gun policies, according to a new study.

The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics on June 9, analyzes trends in state firearm policies and kids’ deaths since 2010, after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago. The ruling struck down the city’s handgun ban, clearing the way for many states to make it easier for people to buy and carry guns.

The study authors split states into three groups: “most permissive,” “permissive” and “strict,” based on the stringency of their firearm policies. Those policies include safe storage laws, background checks and so-called Stand Your Ground laws. The researchers analyzed homicide and suicide rates and the children’s race.

Using statistical methods, the researchers calculated 6,029 excess deaths in the most permissive states between 2011 and 2023, compared with the number of deaths that would have been expected under the states’ pre-McDonald rules. There were 1,424 excess deaths in the states in the middle category.

In total, about 17,000 deaths were expected in the post-decision period, but 23,000 occurred, said lead author Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in an interview.

Among the eight states with the strictest laws, four — California, Maryland, New York and Rhode Island — saw statistically significant decreases in their pediatric firearm death rates. Illinois, which was directly affected by the court’s decision in the McDonald case, and Connecticut saw increases in their rates. In Massachusetts and New Jersey, the changes were not statistically significant.

The rate increased in all but four (Alaska, Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota) of the 41 states in the two permissive categories. (Hawaii was not included in the study due its low rates of firearm deaths.)

Non-Hispanic Black children and teens saw the largest increase in firearm deaths in the 41 states with looser gun laws. Those youths’ mortality rates increased, but by a much smaller amount, in the states with strict laws.

Experts say the study underscores the power of policy to help prevent firearm deaths among children and teens. The analysis comes less than a month after the release of a federal report on children’s health that purported to highlight the drivers of poor health in America’s children but failed to include anything on firearm injuries — the leading cause of death for children and teens in 2020 and 2021, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Trauma surgeon Dr. Marie Crandall, chair of surgery at MetroHealth medical center and a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, researches gun violence. She previously practiced at a Jacksonville, Florida, urban trauma unit, where she frequently saw children and teens caught in gun violence.

“When I see children come in with 10 holes in them that I can’t save — that is a loss. That is a completely preventable death, and it is deeply emotionally scarring to have to have those conversations with families when we know, as a society, there are things we could do to de-escalate,” said Crandall, who wasn’t involved in the new study.

In her state of Ohio, firearm death rates among children and teens increased from 1.6 per 100,000 kids in the decade before the McDonald decision to 2.8 after it, according to the study. Ohio was categorized in the group with the most permissive laws.

The study adds to previous research that shows state laws around child access to firearms, such as safe storage and background checks, tend to be associated with fewer child firearm deaths.

“We know that child access prevention decreases unintentional injuries and suicides of children. So having your firearms locked, unloaded, stored separately from ammunition, decreases the likelihood of childhood injuries,” Crandall said. “More stringent regulation of those things also decreases childhood injuries.”

But she said it’s hard to be optimistic about more stringent regulation when the current administration dismisses gun violence as a public health emergency. The Trump administration earlier this year took down an advisory from the former U.S. surgeon general, issued last year, that emphasized gun violence as a public health crisis.

Faust, the lead author of the new study, stressed that firearm injuries and deaths were notably missing from the Make America Healthy Again Commission report on children’s health. He said the failure to include them illustrates the politicization of a major public health emergency for America’s kids.

“It’s hard to take them seriously if they’re omitting the leading cause of death,” Faust said. “They’re whiffing, they’re shanking. They’re deciding on a political basis not to do it. I would say by omitting it, they’re politicizing it.”

Faust and pediatric trauma surgeon Dr. Chethan Sathya, who directs the Center for Gun Violence Prevention at the Northwell Health system in New York, each pointed to the development of car seat laws and public health education, as examples of preventive strategies that helped reduce childhood fatalities. They support a similar approach to curbing youth gun deaths.

“We really have to apply a public health framework to this issue, not a political one, and we’ve done that with other issues in the past,” said Sathya, who wasn’t involved in the study and oversees his hospital’s firearm injury prevention programs. “There’s no question that this is a public health issue.”

In Louisiana, which the study categorized as one of the 30 most permissive states, the child firearm mortality rate increased from 4.1 per 100,000 kids in the pre-McDonald period to 5.7 after it — the nation’s highest rate. The study period only goes to 2023, but the state last year enacted a permitless carry law, allowing people to carry guns in public without undergoing background checks. And just last month, Louisiana legislators defeated a bill that would have created the crime of improper firearm storage.

Louisiana Democratic state Rep. Matthew Willard, who sponsored the safe storage legislation, said during the floor debate that its purpose was to protect children. Louisiana had the highest rate of unintentional shootings by children between 2015 to 2022, according to the research arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, which advocates for stricter gun access. Willard cited that statistic on the floor.

But Republican opponents said Willard’s proposal would infringe on residents’ gun rights and make it more difficult for them to use guns in self-defense.

“Nobody needs to come in our houses and tell us what to do with our guns. I think this is ridiculous,” Republican state Rep. R. Dewith Carrier said during the debate.

Another Republican opponent, state Rep. Troy Romero, said he was concerned that having a firearm locked away would make it harder for an adult to quickly access it.

“If it’s behind a locked drawer, how in the world are you going, at 2 or 3 in the morning, going to be able to protect your family if somebody intrudes or comes into your home?” Romero said.

Gun violence researcher Julia Fleckman, an assistant professor, and her team at Tulane University in New Orleans have started to collect data on the impact of the state’s permitless carry law.

“It places a disproportionate impact on really vulnerable people, really, our most vulnerable people,” Fleckman said, noting kids bear the brunt of legislators’ decisions. “They don’t have a lot of control over this or the decisions we’re making.”

In South Carolina, another one of the most permissive states, the mortality rate increased from 2.3 to 3.9 per 100,000 kids in the time before and after the McDonald decision. South Carolina Democratic state Rep. JA Moore, who lost his adult sister in the 2015 racist shooting that killed nine at a Charleston church, said state policy alone isn’t enough. He implored his colleagues to also examine their perception of guns.

“We have a culture here in South Carolina that doesn’t lend itself to a more safe South Carolina,” said Moore, who added he’s been advocating for background checks and stricter carry laws. “There is a need for a culture change in our state, in our country, when it comes to guns and our relationships with guns as Americans, realizing that these are deadly weapons.”

And investing in safer neighborhoods is crucial, he said.

“People are hurt by guns in places that they’re more comfortable, like their homes in their own neighborhoods,” he said.

Community-based interventions are important to stemming violence, experts said. Crandall, the Cleveland surgeon, said there’s emerging evidence that hospital-based and community-based violence prevention programs decrease the likelihood of violent and firearm-related injury.

Such programs aim to break cycles of violence by connecting injured patients with community engagement services. After New York City implemented its hospital-based violence interruption program, two-thirds of 3,500 violent trauma patients treated at five hospitals received community prevention services.

After her 33-year-old son was killed in her neighborhood in 2019, Michelle Bell started M-PAC Cleveland — “More Prayer, Activity & Conversation” — a nonprofit collaborative of people who have lost loved ones to violent crime. She’s encountered many grieving parents who lost their children to gunfire. The group advocates and educates for safe storage laws and holds peer grief support groups.

She also partners with the school district in a program that shares stories of gun violence’s long-lasting impact on surviving children, families and communities and nonviolent interpersonal conflict resolution.

“Oftentimes, the family that has lost the child, the child’s life has been taken by gun violence, there are other children in the home,” she said.

“It’s so devastating. It’s just so tragic that the No. 1 cause of death for children 18 and under is gun violence,” Bell continued.

The decision to “pull a trigger,” she said, changes a “lifetime of not only yours, but so many other people.”

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Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.

©2025 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline.org

Nine months after Monroe County Hospital in rural South Alabama closed its labor and delivery department in October 2023, Grove Hill Memorial Hospital in neighboring Clarke County also stopped delivering babies.

Both hospitals are located in an agricultural swath of the state that’s home to most of its poorest counties. Many residents of the region don’t even have a nearby emergency department.

Stacey Gilchrist is a nurse and administrator who’s spent her 40-year career in Thomasville, a small town about 20 minutes north of Grove Hill. Thomasville’s hospital shut down entirely last September over financial difficulties. Thomasville Regional hadn’t had a labor and delivery unit for years, but women in labor still showed up at its ER when they knew they wouldn’t make it to the nearest delivering hospital.

“We had several close calls where people could not make it even to Grove Hill when they were delivering there,” Gilchrist told Stateline shortly after the Thomasville hospital closed. She recalled how Thomasville nurses worked to save the lives of a mother and baby who’d delivered early in their ER, as staff waited for neonatal specialists to arrive by ambulance from a distant delivering hospital.

“It would give you chills to see what all they had to do. They had to get inventive,” she said, but the mother and baby survived.

Now many families must drive more than an hour to reach the nearest birthing hospital.

Nationwide, most rural hospitals no longer offer obstetric services. Since the end of 2020, more than 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies, according to a new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform, a national policy center focused on solving health care issues through overhauling insurance payments. Fewer than 1,000 rural hospitals nationwide still have labor and delivery services.

Across the nation, two rural labor and delivery departments shut their doors every month on average, said Harold Miller, the center’s president and CEO.

“It’s the perfect storm,” Miller told Stateline. “The number of births are going down, everything is more expensive in rural areas, health insurance plans don’t cover the cost of births, and hospitals don’t have the resources to offset those losses because they’re losing money on other services, too.”

Staffing shortages, low Medicaid reimbursement payments and declining birth rates have contributed to the closures. Some states have responded by changing how Medicaid funds are spent, by allowing the opening of freestanding birth centers, or by encouraging urban-based obstetricians to open satellite clinics in rural areas.

Yet the losses continue. Thirty-six states have lost at least one rural labor and delivery unit since the end of 2020, according to the report. Sixteen have lost three or more. Indiana has lost 12, accounting for a third of its rural hospital labor and delivery units.

In rural counties the loss of hospital-based obstetric care is associated with increases in births in hospital emergency rooms, studies have found. The share of women without adequate prenatal care also increases in rural counties that lose hospital obstetric services.

And researchers have seen an increase in preterm births — when a baby is born three or more weeks early — following rural labor and delivery closures. Babies born too early have higher rates of death and disability.

Births are expensive

The decline in hospital-based maternity care has been decades in the making.

Traditionally, hospitals lose money on obstetrics. It costs more to maintain a labor and delivery department than a hospital gets paid by insurance to deliver a baby. This is especially true for rural hospitals, which see fewer births and therefore less revenue than urban areas.

“It is expensive and complicated for any hospital to have labor and delivery because it’s a 24/7 service,” said Miller.

A labor and delivery unit must always have certain staff available or on call, including a physician who can perform cesarean sections, nurses with obstetric training, and an anesthetist for C-sections and labor pain management.

“There’s a minimum fixed cost you incur (as a hospital) to have all of that, regardless of how many births there are,” Miller said.

In most cases, insurers don’t pay hospitals to maintain that standby capacity; they’re paid per birth. Hospitals cover their losses on obstetrics with revenue they get from more lucrative services.

For a larger urban hospital with thousands of births a year, the fixed costs might be manageable. For smaller rural hospitals, they’re much harder to justify. Some have had to jettison their obstetric services just to keep the doors open.

“You can’t subsidize a losing service when you don’t have profit coming in from other services,” Miller said.

And staffing is a persistent problem.

Harrison County Hospital in Corydon, Indiana, a small town on the border with Kentucky, ended its obstetric services in March after hospital leaders said they were unable to recruit an obstetric provider. It was the only delivering hospital in the county, averaging about 400 births a year.

And most providers don’t want to remain on call 24/7, a particular problem in rural regions that might have just one or two physicians trained in obstetrics. In many rural areas, family physicians with obstetrical training fill the role of both obstetricians and general practitioners.

Ripple effects

Even before Harrison County Hospital suspended its obstetrical services, some patients were already driving more than 30 minutes for care, the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported. The closure means the drive could be 50 minutes to reach a hospital with a labor and delivery department, or to see providers for prenatal visits.

Longer drive times can be risky, resulting in more scheduled inductions and C-sections because families are scared to risk going into labor naturally and then facing a harrowing hourlong drive to the hospital.

Having fewer labor and delivery units could further burden ambulance services already stretched thin in rural areas.

And hospitals often serve as a hub for other maternity-related services that help keep mothers and babies healthy.

“Other things we’ve seen in rural counties that have hospital-based OB care is that you’re more likely to have other supportive things, like maternal mental health support, postpartum groups, lactation support, access to doula care and midwifery services,” said Katy Kozhimannil, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, whose research focuses in part on maternal health policy with a focus on rural communities.

State action

Medicaid, the state-federal public insurance for people with low incomes, pays for nearly half of all births in rural areas nationwide. And women who live in rural communities and small towns are more likely to be covered by Medicaid than women in metro areas.

Experts say one way to save rural labor and delivery in many places would be to bump up Medicaid payments.

As congressional Republicans debate President Donald Trump’s tax and spending plan, they’re considering which portions of Medicaid to slash to help pay for the bill’s tax cuts. Maternity services aren’t on the chopping block.

But if Congress reduces federal funding for some portions of Medicaid, states — and hospitals — will have to figure out how to offset that loss. The ripple effects could translate into less money for rural hospitals overall, meaning some may no longer be able to afford labor and delivery services.

“Cuts to Medicaid are going to be felt disproportionately in rural areas where Medicaid makes up a higher proportion of labor and delivery and for services in general,” Kozhimannil said. “It is a hugely important payer at rural hospitals, and for birth in particular.”

And though private insurers often pay more than Medicaid for birth services, Miller believes states shouldn’t let companies off the hook.

“The data shows that in many cases, commercial insurance plans operating in a state are not paying adequately for labor and delivery,” Miller said. “Hospitals will tell you it’s not just Medicaid; it’s also commercial insurance.”

He’d like to see state insurance regulators pressure private insurance to pay more. More than 40% of births in rural communities are covered by private insurance.

Yet there’s no one magic bullet that will fix every rural hospital’s bottom line, Miller said: “For every hospital I’ve talked to, it’s been a different set of circumstances.”

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